Sweet Morning

Not the least of which because we made two different kinds of syrup!

The first was Vanilla-Brown Sugar Syrup from Joy the Baker. Our love for banana-walnut pancakes is well-documented, and Joy actually has an AWESOME-looking recipe for them on the same page as the syrup. However, it's a little more complicated than what we're used to--including separating the eggs and beating the yolks apart from the whites--so since we're lazy, we decided to stick with our old standby, even though her pictures look good enough to eat.

However. She also has a recipe for homemade syrup, which solves a problem that's been eating away at me for awhile. I love syrup on my pancakes. I hate that most storebought syrup is nothing more than caramel coloring and high-fructose corn syrup. I love the idea of using real maple syrup, but hate the fact that a modest-sized jug runs $8-12 no matter where I look. In these lean economic times, I just can't justify it. This quandary has left my hands tied for some time, so we've been eating our pancakes with butter and/or jam; but sometimes, you just want syrup on your pancakes!

Enter the following, which is still pure sugar, but it's made fresh from scratch and is as wholesome (relatively speaking) as the ingredients you put in it.

Vanilla-Brown Sugar Syrup

(from Joy the Baker)

1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups water

3 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine brown sugar, water, butter, and salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan and bring to a oil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil until syrupy and reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and vanilla, then let cool to warm or room temperature.

It was so good. We made a half batch and as promised, it reduced by about half again within 15 minutes. A half batch was enough for two generous pancake eaters, or 3-4 more moderate pancake eaters, so we wound up with just a little bit leftover. I questioned the lemon juice but added it anyway, and was glad I did; it lent just a little bit of depth to what would otherwise have been too one-dimensionally sweet.

Our second syrupy concoction comes via Making A Home and Family and is the basis for a homemade Starbucks' Gingerbread Latte. YUM! Having recently purchased these tiny espresso cups and saucers for less than $1 apiece (which we've realized we will probably recoup in no time due to the fact that we're now drinking about 1/4 of the amount of espresso we used to at one serving), we were delighted to have something so delicious to put in them.

She details how to make the whole thing out of steamed milk and espresso, but because we're pretty individualized in our preferences for the espresso-to-milk ratio, and because we also plan to add it to regular coffee in the morning, I just focused on the syrup.

Which couldn't be easier! Here's what she says to do:

Gingerbread Syrup

Put 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla in a small saucepan. Bring to boil on the stove and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.

Worked like a charm, although I would even increase the amount of spice next time. We added about a teaspoon to our espressos, and MAHAF recommends 1/4 cup for a full latte. This is definitely something we'll be making again!

Cheap Recipe: Salmon Patties

In our continued effort to live ever more frugally, and because a can of salmon struck us recently as an excellently cheap source of protein, we decided to try out the recipe on the label and see what we thought. We only had $0.98 and our pride to lose!

Salmon Patties

Ingredients:

1 can salmon (drained and flaked)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used 1 slice of whole-wheat bread)
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced green pepper (omitted)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp black pepper
Splash of lemon juice

Combine all ingredients and shape into patties; fry until lightly golden on each side.

While the Cuisinart worked impeccably for crumbing the bread, I wonder if I shouldn't have then mixed everything else in by hand. The patties turned out to be almost too moist and seemed to have some difficulty sticking together.

Below is my reaction when I realized that canned salmon IS FULL OF BONES AND SKIN:

However, the finished product actually turned out quite good. Particularly after a run in the Cuisinart, the bones and skin were indistinguishable, and are supposedly a great source of calcium. All right then. We decided that we would make these again.

Of course...

Since we were gone all day yesterday, and forgot to tell Scratches where we were going...
It's kind of Patches to try to "bury" it for him, but we saw right through that. Oh, well...what would an otherwise perfect day be without a few cat turds on the bath mat?

Super Saver Saturday

Since we're going to be traveling three out of the next three months, and I don't get paid when I don't work, money for luxuries is pretty tight right now. At the same time, all work and no play is no fun. So Matt and I set out today to have as much fun as we could, close to home...for free.

For whatever reason, northern Virginia (and Virginia on the whole) has a ton of wineries. They vary widely in their level of swankiness and how much they charge for a tasting. Our favorite ones have tastings for free.

Today we checked out two. The first was Fabbioli Cellars, a small family-owned winery which is now a new favorite.

We arrived at 11, right when they opened, and were treated to a friendly, low-key, informational (and most importantly, free!) tasting of of several (probably 8 or so) of their wines, from white to red to a port-style pear wine. In addition to grapes, they also grow their own pears and blackberries, which are also featured in some of the wines. Delicious! Like our old favorite the Gray Ghost (whose tastings are also free), we liked just about everything we tasted. We've found that this is kind of a theme; either we like everything at a given place, or nothing. There's rarely an in-between.

The second place we went to was Tarara, which is a winery as well as a bed and breakfast, and offers things like private paddle and wine tours on their manmade lake. It was nice, but clearly catering to an upscale clientele--not really our kind of place. The tastings cost $5-10 per person and since we weren't in the paying market today, we just strolled the grounds a little bit before heading back out.

While we were out and about, we were fortunate enough to stumble upon Temple Hall Farm Park, a working farm which specializes in preserving heritage breeds of animals. AHHHH! Talk about right up our alley!

Me with the aptly named large black hog

Trying to keep up with this peacock, who wasn't so interested in being photographed

Hog nose!

We didn't take part in the pony rides...

but that didn't stop us from getting up close and personal with them!

A friendly goat

An assortment of squash (or are they gourds?)

We spent an enjoyable hour or so interacting with the ponies, goats, chickens, pigs, and turkeys, before we ate the lunch we had packed--Mexican casserole.

Mexican casserole has recently been declared an official binge food,
necessitating consumption with chopsticks

We then hit up a couple of antique stores, not because we planned to buy anything, but just to browse. And take silly pictures.

A few other images that money can't buy:

This evening, we made salmon patties for dinner (more on that later) and then went for a stroll down to Lake Anne. We took in a the sights and visited the Reston Used Book Shop, where we used a store credit we had to buy a used copy of A Sand County Almanac, a hippie classic. Here are some images of Lake Anne at night:

The final tab for the day? $0!

Putting the O Back in Birth?

(c) 2008 Jada Shapiro www.birthdaypresence.net

On October 24th, I'm planning to head to Baltimore with a few of my nursing friends and see the film Orgasmic Birth. From what I've seen and read about the film, it's less about having an orgasm in childbirth than it is about being receptive to the sensuous, transcendent, and intimate nature of birth. As Marsden Wagner says, the same elements that you need for lovemaking--to be safe, secure, and uninterrupted--are essential to a successful and healthy birth. Ina May is in the film as well, and notes "It is possible to have an ecstatic birth—in fact, that is the best natural high that I know of. And these states of consciousness are best reached when a woman is fully aware and fully awake." Pretty reasonable sentiments, I think.

I've wondered about the name, even found it a bit off-putting, and felt concerned that if I found it to be such, I could only imagine it was a hundred times more so to the rest of the population who doesn't have a well-stocked collection of birth DVDs already. I was interested to read an explanation of the title over at Citizens for Midwifery (who also review the film here)--apparently, the filmmaker considered a number of more accurate, less-sensational titles but couldn't find backing for it until she went for the O. Kind of unfortunate, but I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Citizens for Midwifery has a great reminder up about Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Like CfM blogger Molly, I'm passionate both about birth and about victims of domestic and sexual violence, which is why I volunteer for RAINN and plan to become a SANE at my earliest opportunity. I've always felt that the two go hand in hand: I care deeply about women, and can't stand to see them stripped of their power as women or as mothers. Additionally, there is evidence that abused women tend to choose midwifery care in larger numbers than nonabused women, likely in large part because they desire a cooperative and egalitarian relationship with someone who will relate to them in such an intimate way. For that reason, I feel like midwives have a huge role to play in supporting victims of domestic and sexual violence, and I would love to see SANE training become at least an optional part of every nurse-midwifery curriculum. Think of the difference it would make if each CNM in the country volunteered even a couple of hours a month to providing skilled, compassionate exams for rape victims.

Indeed, CfM Molly bemoans the lack of medical interest in an issue that threatens women's lives: "Three women each day in the U.S. are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends and 500 women each day are raped or sexually assaulted. Knowing this, I can't help but wonder why the AMA finds it worthwhile to target homebirth..." She also has some quotes about similarities between domestic violence and the violations many women experience while giving birth.

"Abuse in the medical setting is also about power and control, the pregnant or laboring woman is often blamed for her situation, and verbal and emotional abuse can be similar. Because we are taught to “trust your doctor”, and in fact there is an explicit assumption of trust in the “fiduciary relationship” between the woman and her doctor who is an “expert”, most of us do not think about the possibility of abuse, and many of us stay with the OB or feel we have no choice about our health care providers or settings, especially when we are in labor..."

Fall

photo by amishah

I don't know if there's anything in the world more beautiful than fall in Virginia.

I'll still take the midwest when it comes to hearth and home and a place to put roots. But there's something about the colors changing on all these old trees, and the mountains, and the sky, that make up something so lovely it almost hurts to look at it.

I've always felt fall to be a very reflective time and that's sort of what's going on around here. Nothing eventful, really, just spending a lot of time turning over the soil of our lives, putting things to rest in some areas, and preparing ourselves for new growth in others. It takes a lot of our time, but there isn't a whole lot to write about it afterward.