Eclipses, planets and comets- oh my!

Recently I thought about the interesting celestial events I have been fortunate enough to see and decided to make a list of them. Stargazing has been a passion of mine for some time and it started a number of years ago.

The first event I remember was an annular solar eclipse in 1984. It was May 30, and Josh, Jon and I went out to the old airport in Greensboro to see it. Of course we cautioned the older children like Josh, age 7 not to look at the sun except through special lenses on the telescopes. Jon was a baby and I just positioned his stroller facing away from the eclipse. Since it was an annular eclipse we didn't see the 'diamond ring' or Bailey's beads, but it was spectacular anyway.

Solar eclipse May 30, 1984     
Solar Eclipse Greensboro NC

Next was the Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. This comet was unique because it was visible for quite a long time and was easily visible with naked eye observing. It wasn't just a fuzzy ball in the sky, you could actually see the tail. It really did look like this picture.

Comet Hale-Bopp             

Even more rare than a solar eclipse is the transit of Venus. In 2004 I went to Atlanta to the Fernbank Museum to see the transit of Venus. It was actually an image that was transmitted from Europe and projected on the dome of the planetarium of the museum. The image was enormous and we didn't even have to wear protective lenses! Astronomers use the event to calculate the distance to the sun by taking 5 readings as the planet Venus moves across the face of the sun. We had to get up way before dawn to drive into Atlanta to see it. Afterwards they did give us a pair of the special dark glasses that were labeled 'Safe for Solar Viewing'. In 2004, no one alive had seen a transit of Venus. The next one after this was in 2012 and the next one will be December 12, 2017. Mark your calendar and don't miss this event!

Transit of Venus

Last summer Don and I traveled to the south west visiting Arizona and New Mexico as well as Colorado. While at the eastern end of the Grand Canyon on the South Rim we found a park service volunteer who had a telescope set up to observe the sun. We saw some amazing images of the sun, solar prominences, and sun spots.  I couldn't take any pictures of this with my camera but here is a picture from Google that shows sunspots like those we saw.

Lunar eclipses are more frequent and we have had several on clear nights. The next one is in soon, April 14-15, 2014. You'll have to set your clock to get up at 3:30 am, get that cup of coffee and be ready for the 3:46 am event on the morning of April 15th!
For Lunar Eclipses, no special lenses are needed, not even a telescope. Just go outside, hope for a clear night, and wait for the action. The links below have more information.

Total Lunar Eclipse in April 2014

Solar and Lunar Eclipses

Seeing the sky in a location with really dark skies is really spectacular. Last summer we visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado. For the first time on our trip, on August 29, 2013, we had clear skies. At midnight I went outside and was treated to an incredible view of the Milky Way, unlike I had ever seen it in North Carolina. At about 4:30am I went back outside and saw all of the winter constellations, Orion, Canis Major, Auriga, Taurus and the Pleiades, rising in the east.

When it is really dark, you can see lots more stars and the Milky Way is much more spectacular.












Right now there is lots to see in the night sky. Orion is one of my favorites.

Orion

Orion the hunter has some impressive stars. The 'orange' star on his upper left shoulder is Betelgeuse. Diagonally opposite on the lower right is Rigel. All of these stars are not the same size or distance away from Earth.














The chart below shows the relative sizes of planets, our sun and other stars. Follow the pictures beginning from 1 - 6 to see the relative sizes of these bodies.

Below is a diagram with Orion's stars named.

Obviously I get a little carried away with all of this. If you have a desire to learn more, go to the Three College Observatory for a public viewing night. There is no cost, but you do need to contact the astronomy department at UNC-G for a reservation. There is a calendar of public observing nights on their webpage.

Keep looking up...you never know what you might see!

Rosemary tomato soup and sourdough bread

Last summer I roasted the Roma  tomatoes that I grew in the garden. Below is a link to another post on this blog for roasting tomatoes. I have used them to make tomato soup and spaghetti sauce. This recipe produces a very thick soup/sauce. If you want a more liquid soup, add more chicken stock. If you process the cooked ingredients in a blender you will get a smoother soup, using the food processor preserves some of the texture. If you don't have roasted tomatoes, used canned.

1 leek
1 carrot
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
sprig of fresh rosemary
canned or frozen roasted tomatoes

Peel the carrot and onion. Remove the dark green part of the leek and chop the white and light green parts.

Dice the carrot and onion.

Peel and dice the cloves of garlic.

1 tsp minced rosemary (mince the rosemary, then measure)
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 quart bags of frozen Roma tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons salt (The chicken stock I use is home made and does not have any salt added. If you use commercial chicken stock, add less salt)
1/2 tsp pepper

3 cups of chicken stock

In a large pot, melt the butter and olive oil.

Add the diced carrot, leek and onion. Saute until tender but do not let them brown.

Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the minced rosemary, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the 2 quart bags of frozen roasted tomatoes, no need to thaw them, just add to the pot.
Add 3 cups of chicken stock, bring to a boil and turn down to simmer.

When the carrots and leek are tender, process the soup in a food processor or blender in batches. Return the soup to the pot, adjust seasonings if necessary and you are ready to serve.

If you like a creamy tomato soup, add some milk or cream to get the consistency desired.

And now for the bread!

The sourdough bread was made with the starter made from scratch, hereafter referred to as "George" to distinguish him from Marx and Engels who reside in the fridge. George was started on January 16th and has been fed twice a day since and is residing on the kitchen counter.
The sour tang is developing nicely.

The only ingredients to make this starter were flour and water. You begin with a whole wheat flour and spring water, then feed with all purpose flour and water. No yeast is added. Fermentation is a wonderful thing!


The King Arthur website has information for making a sourdough starter and recipes for making sourdough bread. The King Arthur site has lots of great recipes and a blog about sourdough.

Just before putting the loaf of sourdough into the oven, mist it with water and cut slits with a sharp serrated knife.

After 25 minutes at 425 degrees, the loaves are golden and smell fabulous!












These loaves rose more and had a softer texture than the first two I baked. One thing to remember about sourdough baking according to the folks at King Arthur, "it is more art than science". All I know is that it is yummy!

Baking Day

It may be frigid outside but it is warm in the kitchen. Overnight a loaf of sourdough bread and sourdough sweet rolls spent the night in the fridge. This morning they went back to the proofing box to rise a little more and then into the oven.

The recipe for this sourdough is one I have been working with for a time. There are two batches of sourdough in the fridge. One is named Marx and the other Engels *. One I started with the instant yeast and the other with the fresh yeast. I alternate using them, but by now I am not sure I can tell the difference in their performance. I use these starters for the recipe found on the page with the post about sourdough bread and starter.



I think that the overnight time in the fridge improved the outward appearance of the loaf.

To make the rolls, I just took a little less than half of the dough and rolled it out into a rectangle. I should say coax, because it doesn't want to roll really. Slather it with soft butter, and a generous amount of brown sugar. This time I put dried cranberries in the rolls because that is what I had on hand. Raisins, nuts, cinnamon also work well. Then beginning on the long end of the rectangle, roll the dough up and it will elongate somewhat as you roll. Place it seam down and cut into 6 slices. When you place them into a round greased pan, you need to place the 'seam ends' so that the seam is next to the edge, they like to try to open up as they rise. I baked them in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. They were done, the loaf took about 10 minutes longer. Check with an instant read thermometer. The desired temp is 200 degrees F.

 I put a glaze on the sweet rolls of fresh orange juice and 10x sugar on the rolls while they were still warm, but the bread just browned nicely on its own.

Nothing beats fragrance of fresh baked bread !

*Husband Don was a history teacher and years ago we had a couple of hamsters that he named Marx and Engels. They lived here at home for many years longer than a normal hamster life span. When one finally died, the other died within a few weeks. When I was reading about sourdough starters, one of the articles suggested 'naming' your starters. Since I had two at that point, Marx and Engels seemed like a good idea. At the moment they seem to have control of the lower shelf of the fridge.

My Dad's cornbread recipe

Recently I found a recipe that my father had typed on his old Royal typewriter for cornbread. The last line at the bottom of the page says "From Parker's Kitchen".

I have made it several times and loved the rustic texture and savory flavors. It is very simple to make.

Here is the recipe:
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp plain flour (I use King Arthur All Purpose)
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 whole spring onions, chopped including the green tops
1/4 tsp rosemary finely minced
1 large egg
2/3 cup buttermilk


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Sift the dry ingredients together (cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, & baking soda).

Dice the onions and rosemary.

Add the rosemary, onions, buttermilk and egg to the bowl and mix thoroughly.

I found I needed to add a couple more teaspoons of buttermilk to get the consistency I wanted.

Generously oil an 8 inch cast iron skillet and pour in the batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes until golden brown.

If you double this recipe it will make 12 corn muffins. I used a 1 3/4 inch diameter ice cream scoop to measure out the batter into each section. Just generously grease the muffin pan, including the top around each muffin so that the baked muffins will slide out easily.

You could make this ahead of time, mixing the dry ingredients and have the rosemary and onions chopped and ready to add. Once you add the egg and buttermilk, you need to be ready to put it in the oven.

Finding this recipe brought back lots of memories of my Dad.

I'll bet he made it to serve with the oysters he loved to roast on the grill. Thanks Dad!

Live animal cams on Journey North

On a previous post I mentioned the website Journey North. It has the most fabulous activities and information. The most recent email from them mentions that it is the season where the seal pups are born. Since sunrise is late and sunset is early, they have recorded video clips to share when it is dark. This location is an island off the coast of Maine.

Live seal cam on Journey North

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

A winter salad, think cranberry and orange!

Sometimes the inspiration for a salad lies in the ingredients for the dressing. In this case is it flavored olive oil and balsamic vinegar from Midtown Olive Press. I love this store because you can sample the olive oils and vinegars. I also like the fact that you can refill your empty, clean Midtown bottles in effect recycling them.

I was out of my favorite white balsamic vinegar (Honey Ginger) and went to the Midtown Olive Press location in Greensboro at Friendly Center. I tried the Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar and WOW, what a wonderful flavor. It pairs well with the Blood Orange Olive Oil which I also used when making the focaccia a few weeks ago.

The beautiful thing about this olive oil and vinegar is that you don't even have to 'make' a vinaigrette. Just sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the salad, Splash the oil and vinegar on the salad and you are done! No need for mustard or anything else.

Now what do I put in this salad? Beautiful mixed greens from the Greensboro Farmer's market, carrots, dried cranberries, sections from a clementine (they don't have seeds), and chopped walnuts.

Put the olive oil and vinegar in a bowl.

Add the slices of carrots and let them enjoy the flavors for a few minutes.

Peel the clementines, I used 4 for a salad for 3 people, add the chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, carrots and dressing to the greens in a large bowl and toss. I like to put this together immediately before taking it to the table so that the greens don't wilt.

The sweetness of the oranges, tart flavor of the cranberries and crunch of the walnuts and carrots made a delicious combination. The Blood Orange Olive Oil / Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar combination was a perfect pairing for this salad. 

Not even one morsel was left!

Yummy!

Vegetable soup--no tomatoes this time!

Let's see, in the fridge I have 1/2 of a fennel bulb, leeks, carrots & broccoli.

There is also some of the 4 hour roux and turkey stock left over from Thanksgiving. Add some red new potatoes, garlic and onions and it looks like we have the makings of a soup!

First, dice the onions, fennel, leeks, carrots and garlic. 

Saute these vegetables in 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. 

Once they are tender, add the minced garlic. 

Season with 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. I also added 1 teaspoon of Southern Spain Pinchito Spice and a pinch of Crushed Aleppo Chiles from Savory. Savory Spice Shop is at Friendly Center and is a fun place to explore new ways to season food. You can taste the spices and buy small amounts of their spice mixtures to try.

Cook the vegetable mixture about 2 minutes after adding the garlic. Then add the diced new potatoes.

I just happened to have the red ones, didn't peel them, just cut them up in 1/2 inch cubes. Cook the potatoes for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally and lower the heat to keep everything from burning.

I chopped the broccoli and cooked it in the microwave covered with saran wrap for 7 minutes.

Then add to the vegetable mixture. Cooking the broccoli in the microwave ensures that it will be tender.

Then I mixed about 2 tablespoons of Jon's 4 hour roux (equal amounts of butter and flour cooked over low heat for about 4 hours, stirring periodically) with about 3 tablespoons of the left over turkey stock and heated it in the microwave to get a smooth consistency. Add this to the vegetable mixture. The roux has already been cooked sufficiently to remove any flour taste so once it in incorporated add about 2 cups of the turkey stock. This stock was not a liquid in the fridge, it had been cooked down to the point where it changed into a gelatin when refrigerated. It quickly liquified in the hot pan when mixed with the vegetables. Cover the pan and let the soup simmer until the potatoes are tender. Add more liquid as needed.

Take about 3 cups of the vegetables and some liquid and put in the blender or food processor (the blender gives you a very smooth mixture) and process until completely smooth. Then add this back to the pan. Add about 1/2 cup of cream and 1 cup of shredded white cheddar cheese and warm through allowing the cheese to melt.

Making soup isn't hard. Onions, carrots, sometimes celery and garlic are a good beginning for most soups. Season the soup with salt and pepper and experiment with some of the other flavors in the spice rack. Add the seasonings before you add the roux and stock. (If you use a commercial stock instead of home made, you will probably need to add less salt when seasoning the vegetables at the beginning.) Let the spices cook and release their flavors. Then add stock, tomatoes or whatever else you want to try.

And to think that I was originally planning 

just a leek and potato soup! 

It was good enough to freeze the left overs!