Chametz shrine

March 29, 2010

Shrine of *Chametz in the foyer belies the seat-of-the-pants factor of Pesach-ultra-lite. This is me nullifying my chametz.

And here’s another question for tonight: What kind of gawd would ask us to throw out locally grown soft whole wheat flour from the ancient fields of Osdorp?

Happy Passover, y’all.

• * - Chametz (also Chometz, Chumetz) refers to bread, grains and leavened products that are not consumed on the Jewish holiday of Passover, as well as all food items that are not specifically marked “kosher for Passover.” According to Jewish law, Jews may not own, eat or benefit from chametz during Passover. This law appears several times in the Bible. The punishment for eating chametz on Passover is karet (”spiritual excision”), one of the highest levels of punishment in Jewish tradition.
  Chametz is a product that is (a) made from one of five types of grains, and (b) has been combined with water and left to stand for longer than eighteen minutes without being baked.

  … The Talmudic enumeration (which has become the traditional list of those grains) is:
  Wheat, Barleym Spelt, Rye, Oats.
  

debra at 19:18 | Comments (6) | post to del.icio.us

Late blooming

March 28, 2010

Pots made with paper from junk mail.

Now that all the folks are gone I can start using my window sills again to get the kitchen garden started.

Filled with potting compost and seeds.

That crazy climate delivered us a bitter and lengthy winter, such that seasonally, we’re 6 weeks behind schedule.

Whatever sprouts out of these is going in the ground in May.

Crammed into waterproof containers, recycled packaging of purchases past.

You can make these with a wooden thingie.

My experience is that it saves time to plant 1-3 seeds per pot (I put a few extra since a lot of my seeds are past their sell-by date or are self-harvested) and then when the seedlings are ready to transplant (w/3-5 real leaves), I carefully cut the paper pot, folding it open, and then transplant pot and all into the new space. This is easier than growing seedlings in one big container and fishing around with fingers and sticks traumatising the little buggers, exposing their infant roots to the air.

And I’ve been vindicated by this two-step windowsill method, since none of the seeds I put straight in the ground at the kitchen garden have yet to show their heads (radishes, spinach, rocket, chives).

debra at 17:49 | Comments (1) | post to del.icio.us

Fresh blood?
Let me dispel the myth

February 15, 2010

An endive, dying a little in order to live a lot

Early last week I invited some of my lady posse over for dinner on Saturday. In the spirit of more is more, if only under less auspicious circumstances, I called upon this constellation of girls because not all of them had met, and I titled my invite, Fresh Blood.

Would you believe that every single one of those ladies arrived thinking that there was actually going to be a blood ritual at dinner? Not amplifying.

At the very least they came expecting a performance, or some blood in the food. Meat, maybe? Dang witches all got their noggins a-crankin’ that I would dish them up a challenging, blood-related evening, and they showed up behaving thusly. By the wee hours, one of ‘em had to be forcibly dragged out by her feet!

Way to rock the house, Ladies! I’m openly gloating that you hold my potential for visceral impact in such high esteem, but it’s time I dispel this myth. Fresh blood just means I invited new folk for you to meet.
Behave.
Let’s do it again real soon, K?!

debra at 9:44 | Comments (3) | post to del.icio.us