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Thoughts from Quarantine

 

Deadly spikes in Covid19 cases have placed many counties in Oregon on a “stay at home” list.

So this week we didn’t do much exploring … unless you count our Kindle Unlimited reading lists.

There are bookcases in our home stuffed with traditional print books.

However, our current reading platform of choice is a 3 ½ by 5 inch screen in a ½ inch thick case.

The e-Reader in our case, a Kindle Paperwhite, can be filled and refilled. We have yet to reach its capacity with stories of adventure, mystery, sci fi and fantasy.

If you read genre fiction of any kind, a Kindle Unlimited membership is critical in these pandemic times.

There are hundreds of titles to choose from. They are quickly transferred to the e-reader for transport to riverside camp or just from bedroom to living room.

The beauty of a Kindle Unlimited membership is how easy it is to explore a wide variety of authors and story types.

You can purchase, often at reduced price, those titles you like to re-read. In many cases, there are how-to books loaded on the reader.

It will also store PDF manuals for software, and hardware we are working with.

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Give thanks … for deep-fried goodness

bei-gnet
|ben' yá| 

a square of fried dough eaten hot, sprinkled with 
confectioners' sugar
These powdered pillows of deliciousness are essentially donuts.

A restaurant in New Orleans that made beignets famous, has boxed a mix that is really pretty good.  However, we tried our hand at making them from scratch. We selected a New Orleans-style Beignet recipe featuring yeasted dough. It makes a difference.

The yeasted dough can sit in a refrigerator from 2 to 24 hours.

Once the dough is rested, you roll it out to a quarter inch thickness, then cut into two inch squares.

The cubes are dropped into a few inches of very hot peanut oil.  They are fried to a crispy-chewy golden brown, then dusted with powdered sugar and served warm.

It takes a bit of time but these simple treats are easy to make and wonderful to eat.

Print Recipe

New Orleans-style Beignets

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup warm water 110 to 115 degrees
  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 ⅙ tsps active dry yeast
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • ½ cup evaporated milk
  • 1 ¼ tsps vanilla extract
  • 3 ½ cups bread flour
  • ¾ tsps salt
  • 2 ½ Tbps unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 cups peanut oil
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Instructions

  • In a medium-size bowl, add the warm water, sugar, and yeast and whisk well to combine. Set aside for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture has bubbled up and become foamy.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg until smooth.  Beat in the vanilla and evaporated milk.  Beat in 1 ¾ cup of flour until smooth. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly pour in the yeast mixture being careful of splashing. Beat until smooth.  Add the butter and beat until incorporated.  Finally, beat in the remaining flour (1 ¾ cup) and salt. Beat until the dough is smooth and cohesive; about 2 minutes.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
  • Set a cookie cooling rack in a baking sheet and set to the side.
  • Put oil in a cast iron pan, about 4-inches, and heat to 360º F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a ¼ inch thick rectangle and cut into 2 ½ inch squares.
  • In batches, fry the dough until they puff up and are golden brown in color, about ½ minute a side. With a slotted spoon, transfer the beignets to the cooling rack and repeat. 
  • While still warm (but not hot from the oil) roll batches of the beignets in a bowl of confectioners’ sugar to coat and return to the rack to continue cooling or to a plate and serve ... this is the best way.  
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Winter’s Return

 

Winter’s start is always messy. The warm days of fall still linger and melt early winter snows. This week we’ve had a mix of weather … most of it wet … much of that snow.

The week ended with a winter storm watch for the Cascades making passes un-passable. We’re not looking to get far. At present we will enjoy a crisp morning stroll that includes untracked powder.

The snow fall we got at the beginning of the week came under a cold front and frocked pine bows.

However, by the end of the week the temperatures warmed and the snow it brought was deeper but also heavy and hard to shovel. By afternoon the city plows were clearing the rutted streets of a slushy mix.

 

The shift to consistent cold is coming, but for now we have to contend with this snow and rain mix.

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Nothing typical about this week

This week has been interesting to say the least.

For the last six months we’ve been observing pandemic guidelines. Now to be honest, I rather like the whole social distancing part. It’s nice not having someone crowd you at the checkout, so waiting 6 feet away is actually preferable.

But then,  just after Labor Day came the  wildfires. Oregon was hit with a series of blazes on the west side of the Cascades. Large fires, unlike anything that side of the state has seen.

 

The result … air quality at hazardous levels.

For the past week, or more, we’ve been inside, unable to spend any time outdoors. There have been small breaks with the worst of the smoke coming late afternoon and evening.

An eerie haze hangs over the landscape. Face covers, mandatory for interior travel, are now necessary outside as well.

Just taking Tip for a walk brings tears to our eyes.

Friday finally brought a shift in the weather. It rained for the first time in weeks. Wind direction shifted and moved dense smoke out of the Willamette Valley and into Central Oregon. Hopefully it will keep moving east and while the fires still burn the really bad smoke / air quality is on the way out.

In the meantime, we are getting caught up on reading, cleaning and home organizing projects.

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Oregon’s on fire … Lets have Tea

The perfect storm hit the west side of our state early this week and started what is likely to become a record breaking wildfire season.

Towards the end of the week, smoke from the thirty plus fires had put Portland and many parts of Oregon at the top of the list of the world’s most hazardous air quality.

We were just thinking about the Covid-19 pandemic and social distancing when proposing to host our annual Pumpkin Tea … Virtually.

It seems to have been a good choice, given the current state of the state.

Making use of Zoom (an online streaming site which has gained users with the pandemic), we got together with family members on Saturday morning.

The menu was simpler this year. In a package we mailed earlier in the week, we shared orange zest sugar cookies and a lemon pound cake, as well as TyPhoo tea.

We also included flashcards for a little bit of virtual fun. Everyone whipped up a batch of scones and gathered in front of their computers to share a cuppa.

Saturday morning came and it wasn’t as chaotic as feared … the one slight hiccup came in the actual invitation to the meeting that needed to be sent from the same computer hosting.

We chatted for about an hour, got caught up on the family news, and set up a repeat meeting for next month. So I guess in the overall craziness that is 2020, this year’s tea offered a moment of calm and normalcy, despite the smoke and chaos outside.

Print Recipe

Chewy Sugar Cookies

A quick and easy sugar cookie recipe with an orange / citrus flavor

Ingredients

  • 2 cups AP flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 16 Tbsp unsalted butter soften but still cool
  • 1 cup sugar plus 1/2 cup for rolling dough
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp Fiori di Sicilia optional: Vanilla Extract for vanilla flavor.

Instructions

  • Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower middle positions and heat the oven to 375º. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and spray them with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
  • Either by hand or with an electric mixer, cream the butter, the 1 cup sugar and the brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, as needed. Add the egg and Fiori di Sicilia; beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.
  • Place the ½ cup sugar for rolling in a shallow bowl. Fill a medium bowl halfway with cold tap water. Dip your hands in the water and shake off any excess (this will prevent the dough from sticking to your hands and ensure that the sugar sticks to the dough).
    Roll a spoon full of dough into a ball in the sugar and place on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, moistening your hands as necessary and spacing the balls about 2 inches apart.
    Using the butter wrappers, butter the bottom of a drinking glass and then dip the bottom of the glass in the sugar. Flatten the dough balls with the bottom of the glass until they are about ¼  inch thick, dipping the glass in sugar as necessary to prevent sticking.
  • Bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and their centers are just set and lightly colored, 12 - 13 minutes, rotating the sheets from the front to back, halfway through the baking time.
    Cool the cookies on the baking sheets, about 3 minutes; using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.
Print Recipe

Ultimate Lemon Cake

The best lemon cake ... ever.

Ingredients

Citric Sugar topping

  • 3 Tbsp bakers sugar (fine sugar)
  • 1/4 tsp citric acid powder

Cake

  • 3 sticks unsalted butter
  • 8 oz cream cheese room temp
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 pkg lemon instant pudding 3.4 oz
  • 6 Lrg eggs room temp
  • 3 cups cake flour sifted
  • 3 1/2 tsp lemon zest

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325, grease a 12 inch tube pan or bundt and sprinkle with about 2/3 of the sugar glaze on bottom and sides of pan.
  • Add room temp cream cheese, butter and salt to large mixing bowl, cream until smooth.
  • Slowly add sugar and instant pudding to bowl and cream until light and fluffy about 5 min.
  • Lower speed of mixer to medium and add flour one cup at a time until just incorporated. Do not overbeat. Add lemon zest and incorporate.
  • Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 min. or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • While still warm out of the oven, sprinkle top of cake with remaining citric sugar topping (you may have to make more) and allow to cool completely.