recipes

January 2025: Fire and Ice

/ Chris Thaiss / 1 Comment

Fire to the Ocean: Homeowner sifts through wreckage after the Palisades Fire, Jan. 13 (Brandon Bell/Getty Images). The Palisades Fire is still not fully contained two weeks after the blaze began, and more high winds occurred this week, but with some rain expected for the weekend.

In this month’s entry:

Apocalyptic Fires, Surprising Ice
Staying Warm with International Dishes
The January 2025 Photo/Video Gallery: Bird and Deer Resilience

Palisades Fire and Los Angeles city lights, from airplane (Reuters photo, January 8)

Our frozen lake, view toward downtown, windy morning, January 9

Apocalyptic Fires, Surprising Ice: Two Sides of the Same Oily Coin

Robert Frost, “Fire and Ice,” first published 1920

Chris:

It’s certainly common in this blog to talk about very different places and experiences, but this January seems to offer–I say “seems”–a brutally stark divide between the fires in Los Angeles and the snow and ice here in Northern Virginia and now through the Deep South. Sure, there’s a difference between the heat and sudden destructiveness of a fire and the combination of sudden danger and long-term deadening action of ice. But, as Frost’s poem makes clear, the contrasting forces both have the power to destroy the world–when weaponized by human desire and hate. So fire and ice, in their destructive power, have a lot in common.

Altadena, CA “neighborhood” after the Eaton Fire, Jan. 16 (Orange County Register); Almost 40,000 acres burned in the two fires; 12,000 homes, schools, libraries, and other structures were lost, and 60,000 or more people were left homeless–one of the worst disasters in California history

Indeed, the LA fires and the extreme “cold snap” now surprising the US South–snow fell in Tallahassee, FL, on Jan. 20, for example–both demonstrate the climate change that the unrestrained greed of the oil and gas cartel continues to bring to the planet and its inhabitants. The unprecedented fires in LA are the result of the rare–but increasing–confluence of a record drought afflicting Southern California and unusually strong Santa Ana winds producing gusts as high as 100 miles an hour. Together, the drought and the winds make wildfires in the parched chaparral landscape much more likely. Climate change science predicts that such a confluence of forces will become more common.

And not only in Southern California. The drought that stoked the fires there is stoking them across many states. According to the US Drought Monitor, as this blog reported in October, as much as 80% of the US is rated as from abnormally dry to being in moderate to severe to extreme to exceptional drought, as this December 2024 map shows:

US Drought Monitor, Christmas Day 2024 (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap.aspx)

The Onslaught of Ice in the Deep South

Ice, snow, and states of emergency from Texas to Florida to the Carolinas, Winter Storm Enzo (Weather Channel, Jan. 21). David Goodman of the NY Times reports (Jan. 21): “For many Texans, the arrival of snow brought back memories of the devastating winter storm of 2021, which crippled the state’s independent power grid and killed more than 200 people. So far, the state’s electricity market operator has said it has plenty of power.”

Some are calling it a “once-in-a generation” winter storm along the Gulf Coast (CNN, January 22: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/22/weather/winter-storm-south-wednesday-hnk/ ). So how is this icy, snowy Southern “Surprise” an effect of climate change? The steadily diminishing polar ice cap, perhaps the most dramatic effect of human-caused climate change over recent decades, is producing fluctuations in the “polar vortex” jet stream that are making seasonal weather forecasting more unpredictable across North America. So we shouldn’t be surprised that a sudden surge of very cold air is hitting the Deep South this January.  Again, what has been entirely predictable over the past 100 years or more is that the Earth is slowly heating. 

And so, the gradual heating produces

the polar ice cap melt that spawns

the fluctuations in the upper atmosphere that cause

the unexpected deep freeze and snows in the South.

In other words, it’s all part of a pattern brought about by our addiction to fossil fuels. That Northern Virginia is experiencing temps this week in the single digits (4 degrees Fahrenheit on the morning of 23rd) would not be surprising if Januaries in the past 20 years had been the typically cold winter months of years long past. But in January 2023 and January 2024, this blog described what amounted to early springs of budding trees–not a surprise, because gradual warming has been the trend, as the world and local temperature records demonstrate:

Hottest Year on Record in the DC region (National Weather Service) (Washington Post, Dec. 30): this map records “only” the last 145 years, but the trend is obvious

Heavy snowfall on our lake, view from south end park toward downtown buildings in distance, January 19, afternoon

Aftermath of one section of Palisades Fire in Malibu (photo Jan. 16, Orange County Register)

Is there anything we can do about this trend toward ever worsening destruction? Sure, but will U.S. society have the courage and even the awareness to really move steadily with determination away from oil and gas and toward clean energy? We have the technologies and the infrastructure–and the skilled workforce–to do so. But strong-arm politics is the stumbling block.

Just this Monday, January 20, the loudest mouthpiece for the oil and gas cartel was re-inaugurated as the President, and he has already nominated for his Cabinet men who are wedded to the cartel and dedicated to eliminating clean energy alternatives: solar power, wind power, and electric-powered vehicles. These people glory in the fact that the U.S. is already the world’s largest producer of fossil fuels, and they want that destructive leadership to intensify–to their benefit, but not to meet the needs of the people for a safe, productive environment.

According to the Energy Institute (Nov. 2024), the U.S. has been the world’s leading producer of oil and liquid gas since 2017, and further increased this lead under the Biden administration. Even oil companies see no need for this continued mining, as leases already approved go unpurchased. So why is further mining being pursued by the new President?

The result will be that in the next few years more and more events like the wildfires in California, the worsening hurricanes in Florida and the Gulf Coast, the extinction of fish species in the oceans, extreme drought in Texas, water shortages in more and more states, and many more climate-related disasters will occur. Costs already in the trillions have been racked up to repair and prepare for these events, with Americans paying for them in ever higher prices, in lost insurance, and in fear for their lives and homes. Politicians who don’t want to call these catastrophes what they are–“human caused”–will keep calling them “natural disasters,”  while nature and her creatures will suffer through our abuse.

A beautiful pair of Mallards push their way through the frozen lake, as snow falls, January 6

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Jean’s green pepper enchiladas, January 18

Staying Warm with International Dishes

Jean:

As the temperatures have dipped down and stayed down over the past couple of weeks, I have been inspired to serve comfort foods, hot in both temperature and taste.  Furthermore, we’ve been staying inside more than any time since Covid, as ice has built up outside, so reusing and repurposing leftovers and pantry items has been a priority.

I started with chili, of course—a staple of cold weather comfort food.  I never make chili the same way twice, but this time I was inspired by a recipe by Molly Yeh on the Food Network, except I left out the cinnamon because Chris doesn’t like the taste of Cincinnati chili (but I do).  That chili had no beans, so on another day I added chunky tomatoes and pinto beans for a different look and taste.

Green Pepper Enchiladas

My next inspiration came from watching “Moira Rose” make enchiladas on Schitt’s Creek.  (Yes, there’s a lot of TV watching involved when holed up inside by the weather.)  I don’t know her recipe, so I just pulled something together with leftover bean and corn chili as the filling, spinach tortillas for color, sliced green peppers for crunch, and a canned cheese sauce. They turned out perfectly and were photogenic, too!

West African Peanut Stew

Because Black History month is upcoming in February and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday is this week, I also made a West African peanut stew, which combined chard, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and chicken with the peanuts in a savory sauce with peanut butter, cumin, garlic, ginger, and onion. The plentiful, colorful stew was good for several days of leftovers. Chris particularly liked the chopped chard and tomato flavors, and peanuts are favorites of ours in any form. (The peanut stew was also a tribute to my late older sister, whose birthday was the same as MLK’s.  She worked in Africa with the Peace Corps in her youth.)

Orange Chicken and Tempura Green Beans for Lunar New Year

For Lunar New Year, I also checked out Molly Yeh and came up with her orange chicken recipe.  I decided to opt for our favorite cut, whole chicken thighs, rather than go to the expense and trouble of using chunks of chicken breast.  The point of this recipe for me is the delicious orange sauce, although you can buy a similar preparation in the Asian food aisles at many grocery stores.  Here is her recipe:  https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/orange-chicken-12245113.  I substituted whole seared chicken thighs that I then baked for 45 minutes in the sauce.

The coating on her chicken nuggets, although I didn’t use it, inspired me to try tempura green beans as a side dish. I checked around on the Internet and looked at various recipes for the tempura batter and ended up using something that was half rice flour, half all-purpose flour, a little baking powder and salt, plus enough sparkling water to make a batter that was neither runny nor too thick but just the right consistency to adhere to green beans dipped in it.  Then about 4 minutes in piping hot oil and a sprinkle of salt when they come out to drain on paper towels.  Great when hot, but a fine snack when cooled or rewarmed briefly as well.

The key to tempura really is the batter, and there are lots of ways to make a good one. You just have to experiment. I remember eating tempura shrimp one time in the kitchen of a Japanese neighbor who said she used some pancake batter mix for a coating that was a little thicker, puffier and browner than the typical tempura batter.  That was so delicious I think we ate the family’s entire week’s supply of shrimp; I just kept asking for more.

And for dessert: Japanese Mochi Bars

I decided to turn part of the rice flour mixture into mochi bars for dessert as well, since this mixture is the starch that is used to create the dense texture of mochi. I chose bar form because it’s easier than making the batter into balls: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022347-butter-mochi

I made these the afternoon after I made the tempura green beans, and they emerged from the oven just in time for an impromptu afternoon tea. Chris joined me after editing his new batch of bird photos. On a fifteen-degree January day, inside or outside activities can both be good choices. But tea and mochi bars back inside always work.

What can I say? If cold weather keeps me indoors, I turn to cooking. Let Chris go outside to commune with the birds. We both think I made the right choice.

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The January 2025 Photo/Video Gallery: The Resilience of Birds and Our Other Citizens

Male Cardinal calls and listens in a Cherry tree in the Southeast cove, as a Tufted Titmouse and a Downy Woodpecker also call from the nearby woods, on a cold, windy morning, January 7

Chris: They are hanging in there, marvelous creatures that they are. This blog continues to celebrate avian courage, as we note that H5N1 “bird flu” is now making its presence felt in Virginia, at poultry farms (so far 7 of them) in the Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) region. And cranes have now died of the disease at the Richmond (VA) Zoo (Dana Hedgepeth, Washington Post, January 22). We are constantly inspired by these small bundles of energy as we hear them calling and watch them surviving and building lives amid the snow and ice this month.

150 yards away, a beautifully-antlered White-tailed Buck stares at me from the snowy field north of the Lake Cameron dam, January 17

Faithful flock of Rock Doves huddle in the cold of the power stanchion west of the frozen lake, January 16

Citizens leave distinctive tracks across the frozen lake from the west bank, January 16

The White-tailed Buck ambles toward the woods west of the field, eyes me, then moves on, January 17

Song Sparrow perches in Persimmon against a snow bank above the north shore, January 17

Panorama toward the west bank of the lake from the southeast side in snow and ice fall, January 19, afternoon

House Sparrow in winter plumage scans from Mulberry tree on the Northeast corner of the lake, January 17

Amid a chorus of other birds, House Sparrow flits in dry Blackberry canes by the frozen lake, along north shore, January 19

Eastern Bluebird atop Katsura tree, Southeast side of the lake, January 19

Mockingbird dances in the Greenbriar on the Southeast bank of the frozen lake, January 16

Dark-eyed Junco camouflaged in Serviceberry tree, East side, late PM, January 16

Male Cardinal hides in Japanese Honeysuckle along the Southeast cove by frozen lake, January 16

Female Cardinal calls, listens, flits in Cherry tree, Southeast side, January 19

American Robin in Serviceberry tree, East side, late afternoon, January 16

American Goldfinch in snowfall in Katsura tree, afternoon, January 19

Four Rock Doves on a wire watch the frozen lake from the West side, January 17

View of frozen lake to gazebo from the Northeast corner, January 9

Pair of Mourning Doves in a Tulip Tree, North end woods as snow falls, January 6

Our large flock of Canada Geese all along the North shore of the lake, January 7

Seven Mallards in our lake amid ice as snow falls, January 6

American Robin pair on roof, Southeast side of the lake, on a very cold and icy January 22

And on to the month of Valentines with hopes for our own resilience among challenges!

December 2024: Closing the Year in Celebration and Hope

/ Chris Thaiss / Leave a comment

A small flock of Canada Geese swim past the west bank gazebo on our lake in a gentle snowfall, December 20

In this month’s entry:

Rains Return and So Do the Birds
Our Holiday Season Kitchen
More Holiday Celebrating with Family
Climate Log: Good News and a Dilemma
The December 2024 Photo/Video Gallery

A driving rain begins to attack the drought: looking north across our lake, December 11

A “Sort of” Winter: Rain, Cold, Ice, Warm Temps, and Yes, More Birds!

In last month’s entry, we lamented the ongoing drought and the disappearance of most of our late autumn  birds. Just at the end of November, we began to get some rain, and we’ve now had about two inches this month–a hopeful start to impacting the drought. It’s even been cold enough in the past two weeks–high teens to low 30s–to bring us a bit of snow and ice, though nothing sticks for more than a few hours, and warming is in the forecasts.

Panorama of the fountain and the sleet-covered lake from the southeast bank, Christmas Eve, morning

The even better news is that our mallards have returned, along with some songbirds we’d not seen for a while. Here’s hoping that the moisture keeps coming and, with it, even more birds. A warming trend is predicted by the end of the month, plus more rain, so we’ll see how much winter is still in store. Fingers crossed.

Seven Mallards on the frozen lake in the early morning cold, December 23

Our first sighting here of a Golden-crowned Kinglet, in the Willow Oak on the southeast bank, December 12

Look for more of our December birds in this month’s Photo/Video Gallery, later in this entry.

Our faithful flock of Rock Doves stop at the north end shore in the early morning cold, December 23

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More to Celebrate: Our Holiday Season Kitchen

Jean’s Pulled Pork Chili, with tomato, cheese, romaine salad garnish, December 9

Jean: Like many others, we have had patches of cold, rainy, snowy and icy weather already this winter, and more is probably yet to come. During these times, I like to make big pots of hot, hearty food that can be enjoyed for days without going out shopping or seeking food elsewhere from day to day. It also needs to be something we can change up to prevent monotony. To these ends, I got a 6-pound pork butt/shoulder to put in the Crockpot with broth, onions and garlic. I simmered it for most of a day to get it tender enough to cut down after it cooled. I didn’t weigh the big bone that I cut out, but I probably ended up with three pounds of meat.

Once I had the bone out and chunks cut, I made four dishes with the meat. Each required some more cooking with the vegetables and other additions appropriate for that dish.

  • First was a simple stew, softening the meat some further with potatoes and carrots.
  • Then my favorite, a Mexican posole, made by adding green peppers, jalapeños, green salsa, and hominy.
  • The next was a chili, simply adding chipotle and other spices, some different kinds of beans, canned tomatoes, and corn.
  • Fourth was barbecue, cooking sweet potatoes with the meat and topping with our favorite BBQ sauces: Kansas City BBQ for me (go Chiefs!) and a mustard-vinegar (Carolina) sauce for Chris. All yummy, stick-to-the-ribs food. I think I may go out and get another pork butt.

Chris’s Three Sisters Stew bubbles, as Christmas jazz plays, Dec. 21

Chris: For an alternative pre-Christmas celebration, we chose my vegan “Three Sisters Stew” (pictured above), based on the  traditional, Indigenous-named “three sisters”: beans, corn, and squash. These make complete protein, which I first wrote about in this blog in December 2022 in describing examples of “Blue Zones” cookery. Each time I make this hearty dish I vary somewhat the other ingredients I add, so I get new flavors, level of spice, color, etc. For example, this time I used 12 ounces of Beyond Meat (with avocado oil), which I sauteed with yellow onion, then added in cannellini and black beans (instead of kidney and pinto), then sliced fresh zucchini, canned sweet corn, and two cans of diced tomatoes with oregano and basil. A quarter cup of red wine and a dash of red pepper flakes completed the mixture. Once again, the dish was plentiful (enough for several days) and full of flavors.

In addition, Jean made a casserole of wild rice, mushrooms, celery, and white onions, to accompany the stew. The flavors of the two dishes were very different, but totally compatible, demonstrating once again the vitality and beautifully-varied characters of vegan recipes.

Split bowl of 3 Sisters Stew (L) and Mushroom/Wild Rice Casserole (R), with grape tomato and green olive garnish, December 23

And For Dessert…

Jean’s Tiramisu with Milano Cookies on top, Dec. 26

Jean: I love tiramisu.  We’ve seen it prepared in many ways, and I’ve tried different ways to prepare it myself, with varying degrees of success.  It should be pretty easy, right, layering cookies and cream?  What could go wrong?  See https://whatsgabycooking.com/classic-italian-tiramisu/.  The trick is to get the right amount of flavor and liquid from the coffee and any liqueur you want to use.  It’s easy to overdo it and get a soggy mess, or maybe taste nothing but whipped cream, although that’s not the worst that can happen, from my point of view!

This time, for our pre-New Year’s Eve party on the 28th, I was inspired by Chobani’s coffee flavored yogurt, and they even have a tiramisu flavor in their “Chobani Creations” line.  Not only do I love these, but I found a recipe for tiramisu that says you can substitute Greek yogurt for mascarpone (expensive!) and egg yolk in the traditional recipes.  https://pyskitchen.com/pyskitchen-recipe/tiramisu-without-mascarpone

I was having a little trouble getting my whipping cream to whip, so I did not whip or fold the whipped cream and yogurt (both flavors) together, but merely layered them over the lady fingers.  (Those were hard to find, but I finally scored some real Italian ones at Wegman’s.)   The result?  A soggy mess, and a little too sour for my taste with all the yogurt speaking louder than the whipped cream.  But Chris loves the “notes of sourness” (as he says) and so did our guests! You try it out, and adjust the recipe as you like. 

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Christmas: More Celebrating with Family

As described in last month’s entry, we had family from Georgia, from New York, and from across Virginia visiting for Thanksgiving. For Christmas, our get-togethers were of the local family members, but were no less festive, focusing on outstanding food (including the dishes described in the Holiday Kitchen section above), catching up on what everyone has been doing, and the exchange of presents.

Needless to say, many of the gifts were for the youngest members of the crew, who made the most of the occasion by spreading wrapping paper through the house and starting to get into the toys, books, and games. Again, three generations of revelers took part, including one precocious pup, who popped up in surprising places! For those who couldn’t be there in person, they were still with us through their cards, calls, and FaceTime.

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Climate Log: Good News for FEMA, but a Dilemma for the Incoming Regime

ABC News : “Driest Fall on Record,” Oct. 24, 2024

Warmest Year on Record in the DC region (National Weather Service) (Washington Post, Dec. 30): but Republicans still won’t acknowledge climate change or global warming, though they will appropriate hundred of billions for disasters

Just before Christmas, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill that I never thought we’d see: $110 billion (yes, billion) that “Provides much-needed relief to Americans struggling to recover from natural disasters” (https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-passes-critical-disaster-relief-americans). The terms “climate change” and “global warming” are never used in this massive relief bill, because Republicans are way too intimidated by their leaders and by the fossil-fuel cartel to admit these obvious truths. Nevertheless, the bill is the first of more and more that will be needed to address the effects (not the real causes, of course) of what the bill erroneously calls “natural disasters.”

Warming oceans, more intense storms, and coastal sea level rise combine to make unprecedented coastal damage more frequent, as this week in Santa Cruz, CA, as reported by Grace Toohey in the LA Times, December 28

Particularly noteworthy is that the two largest items in the bill are

  • $31 billion for “disaster and economic assistance to agriculture producers” and
  • $29 billion for “FEMA’s response, recovery, and mitigation activities related to Presidentially declared major disasters, including Hurricanes Milton and Helene.”

These open-ended statements leave ample room for further appropriations to address future disasters caused by extreme heat, drought, extreme storms, wildfires, sea level rise, etc. That the two main emphases here are “agricultural producers” and “major disasters” reveals Congress’s tacit, but unspoken, understanding that climate change will continue to devastate farmland, and will continue to produce hurricanes of unprecedented size, spread, and sudden emergence, like October’s Helene and Milton, which suddenly developed in the Gulf of Mexico very late in the hurricane season.

Burned out farm field we visited, New Market, VA, Aug. 2, in the midst of the 2-year drought in the Shenandoah Valley

Trump’s Response?

It is further noteworthy that the once-and-about-to-be President, Donald Trump, tried to force Congress to scuttle this bill, even at the cost of shutting down the government. Why would he do such a thing? Does he want to be known as a President who won’t provide disaster relief (as he failed to do in his first term in his callous lack of response in 2017 to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico)? Does he not want to meet the needs of the farmers in states like Texas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, who are suffering massive crop losses because of extreme heat and drought? Farmers in these states and others overwhelmingly supported him in his run to the Presidency, because he promised to help long-suffering rural America, and they believed him. But, his promises aside, he might be more concerned that passing such a bill will draw attention to the vast scope of a problem that he’s always claiming doesn’t exist, but which will continue to dog him throughout his final term and just get more painful, tragic, and costly to Americans.

Close-captioned TV weather forecast from CBS-affiliate in Central Texas, summer 2023 (clip from YouTube video)

Fortunately, enough of the Republican House members, aided by the votes of almost all Democrats, defied Trump’s effort to kill the aid, and so the money will flow, because the Senate and still-president Biden moved it forward immediately.  As the majority of the House realized, something bold had to be done, and even the President-to-be, despite his fearful wishes, had to give in. Remember, House members will be up for re-election in just 2 years, so they know, unlike their leader, that they can’t afford to ignore the needs of their constituents now.

But passing such an open-ended bill leaves President-elect Trump and all his fellow climate-change deniers in a dangerous spot.  Hundreds of billions in relief can pretty quickly turn into trillions, as the climate sins of the fossil-fuelers exact more and more sacrifices and pain. As lack of farm production destroys farms and ranches, and causes prices to rise for all of us, and as more and more of the country becomes harder to live in, people will blame the party in power, as they always do. At some point the people will demand answers as to why those leaders failed to admit that the hurricanes, warming oceans, wildfires, and burned-out fields could have been–and future ones still could be–avoided.

US Drought Monitor, Christmas Day 2024 (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap.aspx)

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The December 2024 Photo/Video Gallery

All photos and videos this month come from in and around our lake, all celebrating the increased precipitation and the return of some of our citizens, plus visits by a few welcome guests.

Our year-round residents: Song Sparrow munches grass in the field west of our lake, cold morning, December 23

Savannah Sparrow sips from the rainy north shore of our lake in the rain, Dec. 9

White-throated Sparrow poses for the camera, southeast cove, December 6

Male Cardinal munches seeds in an east bank tree, amid flurries, morning, December 20

Panorama toward downtown, partly frozen lake, early morning, December 23

Rare sighting of Red-shouldered Hawk not in a tree, but on the ground, eyeing bird in the brush, north end path, cold morning, December 19

Pair of Red-shouldered Hawks in Tulip Tree and Virginia Pine, southeast side woods, December 19

Sleet-covered inlet stream under bridge, early morning, Christmas Eve

Our fountain in the frozen lake, view toward downtown, December 23

Our resident flock of Rock Doves takes off from north shore, December 23

European Starling, brightly lit by the sunrise, scans from the dead Oak, east bank, December 23

Carolina Wren alights on a branch above me, calls friends, and feels the flurries on a snowy morning, December 20

Robins in late December! Wow! These cavort in a sugarberry tree in the north end woods, December 23

This Robin calls in the Sugarberry that same cold morning, December 23

American Crow, amid flurries, perches atop a Bradford Pear and Blackberry canes below the north end dam, December 20

Four Canada Geese swim mid-lake in the December 20 morning snowshower

Tufted Titmouse perches along the southeast path on a cloudy December 1

Red Fox, not often seen, watches me from the brush beside the north shore rocks, December 8

Mallard pair along the northeast shore in the rain, December 9

Rare visitor, male Hooded Merganser, swims in mid-lake, cold, windy December 6

Three Hooded Mergansers, 2 female and young male, along the east lake bank late afternoon, December 6

The Red Fox, ill with mange, explores the north shore rocks, then drinks from the lake, December 8

Blue Heron flies from north shore to west bank and through community, December 17

And so, weakened as we are, may we take wing and fly into 2025 in hope of a more just and thoughtful world.

October 2024: Way More Than Our Senses Can Handle

/ Chris Thaiss / Leave a comment

A feast of fall colors: from Oakleaf Hydrangea to the trees surrounding our lake, October 28

In this month’s blog:

Way More Than Our Senses Can Handle: So Much Beauty, So Many Extremes
Bounty from Our October Kitchen
More Exploration in Amish Country
Celebration of Dia de Los Muertos
The October 2024 Photo/Video Gallery: Fall Beauty Amid Deepening Drought

The Northern Lights, as seen from Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, Oct. 10 (Washington Post photo)

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Photo of Bat Cave, North Carolina, after Helene, from USA Today, October 10

A Month of Extremes: So Much Beauty, So Much Suffering

Chris:

I struggled to find a theme for this month’s blog entry, because so many conflicting emotions have been inspired this October. On the one hand, there is the astounding visual beauty of the fall colors–more intense than we’ve seen in years–and the astonishing surprise of seeing the Aurora borealis this far south; on the other, there is the utter devastation resulting from the unprecedented back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as the ongoing destruction taking place daily in Gaza, Lebanon, and Ukraine.

Bringing us daily joy is the love of our family members, our pride in their achievements, and our opportunities to make and enjoy good food and to make visits to new and familiar places. But tempering our joy is our anxiety over the upcoming elections, with so much at stake for our democracy. And even our pleasure in the fall colors is muted by seeing from day to day how intensifying drought across almost the entire U.S.  has hastened the loss of greenness, the stunting of crops, the dropping of the colorful leaves, and the early migration of local bird species. (Here in Northern Virginia it has not rained for more than month, a new record.)

Intensity of drought across the U.S., end of October. Source: U.S. Drought Monitor

So, as this entry proclaims in its photography and stories, we take immense pleasure in all the beauty we are so blessed to see, hear, taste, feel, and imagine. We want our entries to share some of that joy. But our joy is not unreflective. It is not a joy that ignores the suffering that goes on in the world, or that fails to ask how life can be made better for other humans and for all the species that are harmed by human actions. When we show photos and videos of the animals and plants where we live, that is  pure and beautiful joy, but it is beauty that we know is fragile, under threat, and so needing our attention and respect in order to keep it beautiful.

In particular, readers of this blog know that we call out the day-by-day degradation of our environment, as Mother Earth steadily heats up through the carbon pollution produced by the selfish greed of the fossil fuel cartels and of the politicians who promote them through their lies, crude insults, disinformation, and fear mongering. 

But we do not call out these harmful actions in order to rob people of joy. Indeed, one of the joys we try to express in these entries is that the fate of the Earth is not hopeless, but hopeful. Indeed, any person is capable of doing small things, day by day, to heal their own tiny bit of the environment. It is joyful to say that the degradation of the Earth is reversible, and so we celebrate acts and arts, large and small, through which people try to lead more nurturing lives and build a healthier future for our children and our fellow creatures. These small actions are beauty in themselves.

Produce stalls in the Central Market, Lancaster, PA, October 25

So this month’s entry relates three stories that show people trying to make life better in environmentally responsible ways: Jean’s description of her delicious pumpkin dessert, farmers in Pennsylvania living simply and producing nutritious foods of many kinds, and indigenous performers in Mexico creating art that honors the lives of their forebears who struggled against oppression.

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A Pumpkin Treat from Our October Kitchen

Jean’s Crustless Pumpkin Streusel Pie, just from the oven, October 15

Jean:

It’s pumpkin time of year.  Time to get a big pumpkin for your porch and maybe carve it for Halloween.  Time for a pumpkin drink from your favorite coffee shop.  And time for pumpkin pie–my favorite dessert other than tiramisu.  I need to work on a way to combine those, but I can’t figure out what the mashup name for the dish should be.

Meanwhile, because I was not yet seeing pumpkin pie in my favorite grocery store(s), but I really wanted to eat one, I thought it would be a good time to try out some other variations on the traditional recipe.  For years I have made it from the recipe on the Libby’s pumpkin puree can, with a can of sweetened condensed milk and a homemade pie crust from a simple Crisco recipe.  I thought all that was perfect.

But this week I didn’t feel like making pie crust.  I have always disliked rolling it out.  I’m not strong enough, I guess.  It just wants to sit there in a cold clump, resisting my efforts to move it far enough in any direction to get it rolled out as thin as it should be.  The most successful technique I have come up with is to put the right amount of dough for one crust on a 10-inch plate and press down on it with a similar plate.  When the dough is room temperature, this works to give me a round of the right size, which I can then cover and chill until ready to invert it onto the pie pan, fill, and bake. But sometimes I don’t even feel like struggling with that.  Of course I could have bought a frozen, pre-shaped crust, but I find those break very easily while I am trying to get them into the pan.

So I looked for crustless pumpkin pie recipes, and sure enough, they exist.  You’re essentially making a pumpkin custard or mousse.  Easy enough.  Who needs pie crust unless you really want to be able to cut out picture perfect pieces that stand up properly?  I just want to scoop the filling into my mouth, with loads of whipped cream.

Bowl, beaters, and some of the ingredients for whipped cream on Jean’s Crustless Pumpkin Pie, October 15

One other wrinkle.  I didn’t have a can of condensed milk and just wanted to get started on my pie in the morning because the baking, cooling, and chilling all take hours.  I didn’t want to go to the store for canned milk any more than for a frozen pie crust.  I wondered if I could make a pumpkin pie with either buttermilk or coconut milk, both of which I happened to have.  Take a look at these great examples I found:

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/easy-pumpkin-pie

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/buttermilk-pumpkin-pie-3363760

https://www.dishbydish.net/crustless-pumpkin-pie-gluten-free-dairy-free/

The last recipe above touts the benefit of a dairy-free, gluten-free pumpkin pie!

I’m not going to tell you what to do.  This is the sort of thing I love; look over the recipes and decide on the combination you want to try.  You probably can’t go wrong.

One other point, though. In place of the contrasting texture provided by a pie crust, I decided to try this streusel topping from ZoeBakes, since I also happened to have pepitas and a little buckwheat flour:

https://zoebakes.com/2018/10/21/buttermilk-pumpkin-streusel-pie/

I like a more pronounced ginger flavor, so I also crumbled some Trader Joes’ Triple Ginger Cookie Thins on top.  I belatedly realized I could also have used these to make a cookie crumb crust underneath, easier than dealing with pie dough.  Maybe next time.

You could also make this taste something like a pecan pie by using chopped pecans instead of pumpkin seeds in the streusel.

I’m not into making caramel sauce as Zoe does here, but I’m sure it would be great, especially if you want more of the pecan pie taste.  All I needed to do after cooling the pie was whip up some heavy cream with sugar (or sugar substitute), a little bourbon and vanilla and then garnish with a nice pecan half.  Enjoy!  We certainly are.

Serving of the crustless pie with whipped cream and pecan garnish

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Our Latest Exploration in Amish Country

Horses and buggies at AAA Buggy Rides in Ronks, PA, October 23

Chris:

Following our June visit to rural New York and Pennsylvania, as recorded in our June entry, we wanted to go back to Amish country in southeast Pennsylvania, because we enjoyed our two days there so much.  This time we visited the towns of Ronks, Lititz, and Ephrata and the city of Lancaster. Our 3 days total left us wanting still more.

Lititz, PA: the Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, oldest in the Americas, begun 1861 (photo October 24)

Lititz, PA: Chapel of the Linden Hall School, the oldest college prep school for women in the U.S., founded in 1746 (photo, October 24)

One of our objectives was to actually ride in one of the horse-drawn buggies that move at leisurely pace along the highways and byways through Amish country; buggies and teams that brave the roar and fumes of the cars and monstrous trucks that sweep by just a few feet away.  This we did on our first afternoon, in Ronks, on a two-horse buggy driven by our patient guide, Henry, and accompanied by a young couple visiting the U.S. from Holland. We’d actually been hoping that our trip would only be on the quiet back-country roads, far from the traffic, but both getting to farm country and then getting back required us to be buffeted and shaken by the speeding vehicles.

It was as if we were in two worlds at once: Henry, our horses, and we visitors were clopping slowly in the 18th century, while the traffic just an arms-length to our left had their own 21st century gas-powered agendas. Clearly, Henry and the team were calmly at home in their world and we picked up their vibe.

Short video of the start of our horses-and-buggy ride on Rt. 340 in Ronks, PA, October 23 

Our destination on the buggy tour was the Organic Valley Dairy Farm owned by the Esh family. Here are a few pics and videos of our hour-long visit with the residents.

One of two rows of cattle in the barn for feeding after being all day in the fields

A day-old calf feeds on Mom in the barn

The huge Belgian horses who work on the farm eat their afternoon meal in the barn

Equipment and baled hay at the Esh farm

Bald Eagle soars above the Organic Valley Farm

On our trip back, we pass a multi-generational home community not far from the Esh farm

The 7 of us clop down the road with the traffic back to our starting point in Ronks.

The Ephrata Cloister. A spur-of-the-moment destination for us was the historic Ephrata Cloister, founded in 1732 by Conrad Beissel, one of many religious fugitives from Europe who came, like the Amish, to the Pennsylvania colony because of its toleration of many religions. Very different from the Amish religion, Ephrata was a monastic community of men and women who practiced a celibate lifestyle, and who eagerly anticipated the second coming of Christ predicted in the Christian Bible. Though the last monastic resident died in 1813, the impressive and unique buildings remained and were restored beginning in the 1940s–a project that continues today.

Restored buildings of the Cloister, as designed by Beissel

Known for both the composition and performing of religious music, with over 1000 hymns, the Cloister men and women also became famous for their calligraphy and printing.

The restored room where hymns were written down for printing in the Cloister’s renowned German script

The well-maintained graveyard at the Ephrata Cloister, including the 1768 grave of founder Conrad Beissel

Lancaster’s Central Market, thriving today. Our final destination of the three days was the Central Market in Downtown Lancaster. Founded in 1730, the Market is the longest-running truly public market–not privately owned–in the U.S.  It’s 64 standholders come from throughout Lancaster County, and offer a wide variety of produce, dairy, meats and fish, ready-to-eat foods, baked goods, specialty food items, health and wellness products, and flowers.

Begun as just an open piece of ground in colonial Lancaster, the market’s growing number of vendors took more and more space on local streets as the Market’s fame spread. To house them, the beautiful building it now occupies was built in 1889. Open 3 days each week, it is truly a mecca for the region, and we gathered fresh produce and breads to carry home with us to Virginia, as well as the intention to visit again.

Front of the Lancaster Central Market, built 1889 (photo, October 25)

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Dia de Los Muertos at the NMAI, Washington, DC

Main altar for the Dia de Los Muertos celebration at the National Museum of the American indian, October 26

We traveled to nearby Washington for the first of two days of celebration of the Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) at the Smithsonian Institution’s NMAI on Saturday, October 26, just after our return from Pennsylvania. The National Museum, both here in DC and in its branch in New York City, honors the indigenous cultures of the Americas with exhibits and performances throughout the year. The annual Dia exhibition is one of its largest.

Through dance, music, and visual arts, the performances show how, unlike our Halloween’s fixation on scaring people, particularly children, through terrifying costumes and stories, the Day of the Dead celebrates those who have gone before us and the community’s mutual bravery in facing mortality and the ongoing threats to the community’s existence.

The following video excerpts record the first performances of the day, as described on the program’s website:

“Dance Performances by Grupo los Tecuanes: The name of the Danza de los Tecuanes (Dance of the Jaguar) is rooted in the Mixtec understanding of the duality of life and death and the fight of good against evil. The Danza de los Viejitos (Dance of the Old Men) is a humorous dance featuring dancers colorfully dressed as old men.”

Part of the Dance of the Old Men (Danza de los Viejitos) performed by Grupo los Tecuanes at the NMAI Washington, October 26

Part of the Dance of the Jaguar (Tecuanes) at the NMAI, October 26

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The last Monarch Butterfly of the year, with Bumblebee, relish the Asters on the south shore of our lake, October 4

The October Photo/Video Gallery: Missing the Music

As every month, the gallery features the residents and visitors to our small lake community in Northern Virginia, with perhaps a few pics and videos from other places. Overall, we are aware that the number of birds in the community this month is down significantly from one year ago, because of the drought. We miss the variety of waterfowl we had last year, and the sheer numbers of birds, who create a tuneful, harmonic chorus each day. We miss the music, and we hope the drought does not linger and that our residents return soon.

But still we have an amazing, colorful, creative, varied, enterprising community, well represented here in these photos and videos.

Fall colors show off the west bank of our mirror lake on the morning of October 28

Blue Heron on the west shore of the green lake, warm morning, October 28

Eight Red-bellied Cooters enjoy the sun on a log amid Greenbriar on the south shore of the lake, October 22

Ruby-crowned Kinglet–our first sighting here!–on the east bank of the lake, on a warm morning, Oct. 28

A new fall visitor, Eastern Bluebird, on a branch west of the lake, October 28; they came in profusion last year


Three House Sparrows in Willow Oak on the east bank of the lake, October 28

Six dozen Rock Doves and European Starlings on the stanchion to the west of the lake, warm morning, October 28

I stalk the Blue Heron, who is stalking along the west shore of the lake, October 28. Watch patiently

Turkey Vulture soars over the north shore of our lake on a sunny noon, October 20

On a visit to nearby Lake Newport, we listen to Carolina Wren calling, October 19

West side path, colors, shadows, fallen leaves, morning, October 28

Tufted Titmouse, always good at hiding, in Pokeberry bush, northeast corner of the lake, windy October 16

Winged Sumac, splendid in red, gold, and green, by the southeast cove, October 13

Immature Swamp Sparrow (rare sighting) on the porch by our feeder, east side, October 29

A newly arrived Dark Eyed Junco (welcome!) in Chinese Holly, east side, October 29

One of our Grey Squirrels enjoys munching our pumpkin on our east side Halloween display, October 26

Our last Orange Sulphur Butterfly of the year feeds on Carolina Horsenettle along the north end path on the morning of October 6

Our last Monarch of the year feeds on Asters, accompanied by Bees, as a jet flies overhead, south shore, afternoon, October 4

On to November in joy and hope! Happy Halloween, Happy Dia de Los Muertos, and Happy Diwali!