Rosemary for Remembrance

For all of us touched by Pregnancy and Infant Loss. You are not alone. We are not alone.

Pickles!

In a positive frenzy of fermentation today!

 

Mable's Pickles

Per quart jar:

1 pound pickling cucumbers - choose smaller ones

2 cloves garlic - no brown bits!

1 tsp alum

1 heaping T rock salt (cheapo ice cream salt is fine as long as it's clean)

1-2 good-sized heads of dill

Apple cider vinegar (ACV)

Water

Wash and trim cukes.

Place garlic, alum, salt, and dill in jars, then pack cukes in tightly, keeping them below the neck as much as possible.  Pour ACV in jars to just under half-full, then top off with cold water to just covering the cukes.

Close the jars. Invert them a couple of times a day til the salt is dissolved. Let cure at least a month.

Mead Experiment, part 1

At Zoie's request, I'm blogging this.

I just started a mead experiment using this method: "a sterilized, recycled glass jar (preferably restaurant-sized), one part honey, four parts water, a sprinkle of yeast, some raisins, a bit of lemon peel, and whatever the herb garden has too much of can be quite interesting. Stir several times a day until it starts bubbling, then ignore (except to taste every now and then)."

 I used a 1/2 gallon Mason jar, 1 part honey, 4 parts water, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 2 coins ginger, a chunk of lemon peel, and a scant 1/8 tsp bread yeast.

I suppose now I will have to continue to post updates!

P.S. I don't like the new Blogger behind-the-scenes format.

ETA: A friend pointed me to this very similar recipe.

Wordless Wednesday: Cream of Wheat

Letter to My Littles: Winter 2012

My darlings: I had a rough winter, and so I was unable to write you a letter in January. I still love you though, and you have both grown tremendously.

To my Infanta: you chatter and sing all day long, and dance whenever there is the slightest hint of music to do it to. Your thick, wavy hair (so like mine) curls to your waist, and looks amazing even if you haven't let me comb it in a week (or more). Have I mentioned your strong will recently? You continue to thrive at school, and when challenged, can read off any letters you see. You're also spontaneously doing simple addition and subtraction; not sums on a worksheet, but real-world math, noticing how many buses we pass on the way to school, or how many pieces of sandwich are left.

To Elessar: you are a toddler now, in everything but actually toddling. You'll get to the walking when you're ready, even though I'm starting to get a little anxious about it. You're so busy exploring and playing and learning to climb that you just haven't bothered with walking yet - although when you do finally let go, I know you'll be thrilled and wonder why you didn't do it sooner. You recognize photos of yourself - "Ewwy-a!" - and know how to make the touch screen on my phone go. In short, you are everything a mother could want in her 14 month old baby.

To my spirit babies: two more joined your number this winter, a major reason I didn't post a month ago. I kind of imagine you all watching us like the brothers' ghosts in Stardust, sitting in a group and sending love. I think of you often, and miss you always.