Cherry Blossom Pictures - March 19

Here's a batch of cherry blossom photos from Thursday evening. During this coronavirus pandemic I'm lucky to live near the Tidal Basin cherry blossoms. I can walk or run past them every evening while maintaining outdoor social distancing. 

How to eat popcorn

Like this:

Also it should be kettle corn. Here’s a recipe, sort of.

Mix together:
3 T popcorn kernels
2 T white sugar
1/8 t fine salt

Heat a medium saucepan with a tight lid to medium temperature. It all depends on your stove, unfortunately. The temperature is the most critical part so expect to burn a couple of batches as you figure it out.

Set a large heatproof bowl on the counter.

Pour 1.5 T oil into saucepan. It’s already hot, remember, so it should smoke a little but not too much. Add the popcorn and sugar mix. Put on the lid. Swirl the contents of the saucepan by lifting off the burner and rotating (horizontally). Hold the lid on with your other hand. Return to heat. Repeat this every 10-20 seconds until popping stops, 1-4 minutes. Dump the contents of saucepan into large bowl. Resist the urge to touch immediately.

Run some water into saucepan and immediately put the lid on to trap the steam and start melting the stuck sugar. If you got the temperature right there will be very little stuck or burned sugar. If you went too hot or too long it might burn more. Wash saucepan throughly and dry before making a second batch. Remember to preheat the pan.you can vary the sugar ratio or mix in spices too.

Eat right away. Popcorn gets soggy in the District. It tastes best when eaten with Japanese chopsticks.

Creamy Rice Pudding

I made this rice pudding with slight tweaks to the Stove-Top Rice Pudding recipe from The Best Recipe (first edition of the cookbook) by America's Test Kitchen. My major changes are the Arborio rice and the spices. The recipe says it serves 6 to 8, but really it serves me all  by myself for about three days of rice pudding happiness.

Extra Creamy Rice Pudding

1/4 t salt
1 c white Arborio rice

2 whole cinnamon sticks

2 c whole milk

3 c half-and-half

1/2 c sugar

2 t vanilla

In a large saucepan (heavy-bottomed 3 quart) bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add salt and cinnamon sticks and rice. Stir and cover. Simmer over low heat 15 minutes or until water is almost absorbed. Stir again. 

Add milk, half-and-half, and sugar. Bring to a simmer at medium-high heat then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook uncovered at gentle simmer for about 30 minutes, stir frequently to prevent sticking and scorching. Reduce heat as the pudding thickens and cook about 15 minutes more until thick. The pudding will further thicken when chilled, so stop at whatever thickness you like. 

Remove from heat and mix in vanilla. Let cool, then refrigerate. Eat warm or cold. Yum. 

You could try adding other whole spices to the rice for different flavors. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Food, delicious food! Spending the holiday with Nicole’s family in Pennsylvania.

Pawpaw Quest

I went on a pawpaw quest today and achieved success at the Takoma Park Farmers Market. Thank you to Two Boots Farm for bringing their great fruit to a pop-up sale. I found some new varieties to try, as well as the big, beautiful Shenandoah type. At $9 per pound they are expensive but worth it for the fun native fruit.

Here's what they look like:

I'll take another picture when I cut one open!

Weekend with Warren!

I'm home from a lovely weekend with Karl, Erin, and Warren. Really nice to see them all! I was able to be helpful with meals and Warren snuggles. He's big for his 7 weeks (15 pounds) but not coordinated so he is an awkward fit for the baby carriers. He likes napping on his people though, including snuggling with aunt Sarah while (not) watching ultimate frisbee.

We all went to Early Child Family Education class on Friday which was interesting to see. Very practical coping and socialization info for young parents. Saturday I ran 19 miles around the lakes (yep, still marathon training) which was lovely in the unseasonably cool yet sunny weather. We followed that with gardening and digging potatoes and I made Thai salmon curry for dinner.

I clearly need to plan more long weekends in the Cities.  

Warren was chillin' while parents gardened. 

Beautiful view of downtown Minneapolis across the lake in the middle of my run.

Tummy time to practice those neck and back muscles.

Hanging out with Daddy!

Snuggles with Aunt Sarah

Seven week family photo: Erin, Karl, and Warren.

July Photos

Here's a few summer pictures to share. I'll describe them in the captions. 

Shortcake at Kristie's place. I made the shortcake, lemon curd, and whipped cream and Kori brought blueberries to make it truly Fourth of July colors. We watched fireworks from the balcony after eating it!

The west lawn of the Capitol while listening to the concert practice.

A distant view of the Capitol Fourth megatron. The sunset put on a great show too.

This was dress rehearsal on the 3rd of July...much more comfortable than the crowded official concert on July 4!

Hardy hibiscus in the garden northwest of the Capitol.

They had both pink and red massed in the bed so of course I took a picture of both.

View of the Washington Monument from the rooftop bar of the Hyatt Place on 4th Street. June 26.