Danger, Danger, Danger---Scotch Bonnet Peppers

So, you learn something every day.  OR you SHOULD learn something every day.  Yesterday and today I learned MORE about Scotch bonnet peppers.

In Rangeley at the IGA there was a big styrofoam plate of small round peppers.  I did not know what they were but wanted some peppers to go with some refried beans and tortillas.  I asked a woman who was near the peppers if they were hot peppers.  She said she did not know...so, since there were about 20 peppers for 99 cents, I purchased them.

When we got home from the IGA, I capped one of them, sliced off a little piece and put it in my mouth.  Well, I did not actually put it in my mouth, when the pepper touched my bottom lip, I KNEW I had made a mistake!  So spicy it hurt. I am not a person who likes to throw away anything I have spent hard-earned money to buy, so I left the rest of the peppers there on the counter.  When we packed up to come back to Vermont, I put the peppers in the cooler.

Last night I decided to dry the peppers since a male friend with whom I was discussing hot peppers told me his wife dried their hot peppers and froze them.  Sounded good, to I capped them, sliced them, seeded, them, and dried them. I put them in a couple of cute little glass jars and stored them in the freezer. 

Scotch Bonnet peppers, oven-dried

After washing up and putting the compost on the porch waiting for morning, I went about my business.  Later on I was finishing a few emails before getting ready for bed, I reached up to rub my sleep-itchy eyes.  BIG MISTAKE!  Man, did they ever sting!  I washed my hands again...you can be sure.

This morning I hopped into the shower and as I turned my face up into the lovely warm stream of water I rubbed my eyes with those same hands.  INSTANT BLINDNESS!  I could not believe it.  I had already washed my hands multiple times.  Eventually the burning blindness disappeared and I was able to go about my business.

Tonight, now twenty-four hours later,  I was having a discussion with Dear One, and was very touched by something that he had read to me.  When I reached up to wipe the tears from my eyes, you guessed it!  More stinging pain!  TWENTY-FOUR HOURS LATER!  After many many hand-washings...

So, when the smart people on the internet and other places suggest using kitchen gloves when working with peppers,  I believe I will do it in the future, especially if I do not know the breed of pepper.  Others might want to learn from my mistake.

Closer picture of dried and frozen Scotch Bonnet peppers.

Rangeley Vacation-Day Four

Today we started late and ate leftovers for breakfast (pizza and Reuben--got to get back on the vegan wagon tomorrow because I am feeling less human after three days of eating non-vegan.  Very surprising.) and mostly just relaxed today.

Many rows of knitting finished, then off to the ice cream social where we each had one small dish of vanilla ice cream with strawberries, chopped nuts, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream.  Dear One made a walking tour of the whole facility while I went to look for The Shed where there were some German sausage and Kraut Specials advertised for Oktoberfest.

Sadly, I could not find The Shed but I DID find Threads Galore.  Very nice people.  There were several items I could not walk out without, including some absolutely darling note cards, which I bought.  I also bought an 8 by 8 rotating cutting board.

After Threads Galore I went to The Red Onion again and purchased some cheese-y fries and some sweet potato fries.  They were very good.  After that I burned some frozen mixed vegetables.  So glad the smoke detector was far away!  Dear One was not as thrilled with the mixed vegetables. I had been knitting and failed to set the timer.  Oops!

As I was about to get up from the computer to get back to the final 10 rows of knitting which I am committed to finish tonight, J called and gave me the help I needed to use Sibelius 6 on my computer.  I have spent an excessive amount of time putting in the notation for "Now the Day is Over" for our Class Song for Saturday's 45th high school reunion.  I started a second time because I could not figure out how to have only four bars per line instead of 10 bars per line.  Enough for tonight. MUST DO THE KNITTING!

Rangeley Vacation-Day Three

There were still a few stems of kale in the bag so today I made some kale chips.  I did not add any extra salt which made them taste better.

Kale Chips....really yummy.

Today is a day for lots of knitting.  As it happens I awoke at 3:30 AM and worked until 6:30 AM on the shawl.  Still am sure I will not get it finished today, but maybe tomorrow.

Vegetable soup for my breakfast, with some pinto beans on top.  Omelet with mixed vegetables and mozzarella for Dear One.

After a couple of hours of "White Collar" he headed out to hike another mountain and I continued on the knitting.  As of this writing I have gotten through row 18 on the second chart which goes to Row 48.  Having taken off an hour for blogging and emailing, I am back to knitting.  After a while I hope to go for a walk around the circle and on down to the lake.

Dear One hiked to Piazza Rock on the Appalachian Trail and came home a happy sweat hog.  He was ready for some Red Onion pizza so I ordered some when I went to the library to pay my fee for the garlic class I attended last night.  There had been no indication on the signage that a fee was going to be charged so I had gone cash-free to the class.  The librarian took my fee out of petty cash and hoped I would be honest and come pay. 

While the pizza was cooking,  I went to the IGA and purchased Reuben sandwich ingredients. Yes, the Reuben at Red Onion was good, but I thought I could make more than one for the same price.  This proved to be true...

The knitting progressed to almost half done the second chart (working on Row 21 of 48 when I stopped for a walk) when it seemed a good time to walk around the loop.  I discovered that nearly all the cabins are inhabited this week.  The walk was lovely with a light breeze blowing and lovely clouds in a blue sky.

Rangeley Vacation-Day Two

Today was a big day!  First thing upon arising I made some fabulous vegetable soup which I had for breakfast, though Dear One ate his regular hard-boiled egg. 

Because we had read that there was a  Farmers' Market  in town on South Shore Drive which we had already scoped out yesterday, off we went.  I had recently watched a Mabel Ross wool spinning video and was edgy to find a fleece to comb with the dog comb I found.  I was hoping to find a sheep farmer at the market.

When we pulled up to the market we found five tent and five farmers. ONE OF THEM HAD A FLEECE ON HER TABLE!!!  So exciting. I made a beeline to her and asked a few questions.  She has Icelandic sheep, which have a two layer  coat.  She showed me her combs.  I think they were Louet mini combs.  Either way, they were single row teeth.  I had seen some at Halcyon Yarn in Bath, Maine when I was there two weeks ago. Seeing Joan using them with her Icelandic fleece made me wish I had gotten a pair...until I looked them up online and saw the price.  The dog comb was only ten dollars and will probably work.

Joan was willing to sell me an unskirted fleece for twenty dollars if I would come to her farm later in the afternoon.  Dear One was agreeable so we made it a plan.  Now we were free to look at the other tables.  There was some great -looking kale right next door so I filled a bag which turned out to be $2.35-worth. I was reminded of the giant armful of collards we bought in North Carolina when we were there last fall which cost  $3.00!!

Easy part of Bald Mountain Trail

After the farmers market off we went to hike the Bald Mountain Trail.  We both went: Dear One went all the way to the top.  I went up a few minutes and then came back and sat in the truck knitting on a neckwarmer I am making for the Grandmother's Project and spent the time listening to a Steve Havill detective story.

After the hike we went back to the cabin where I did a bit more knitting on the shawl then headed out alone to the Apple Sauce Icelandic Farm to choose a fleece.  I got a quick tour of the sheep and goats.

Blurry Icelandic Sheep

Mini Goat with lovely gray coat

Home again to more knitting, then off to  the Rangeley Library where there was a presentation on growing garlic in Maine.  I figured we had a similar climate so we could grown them in our garden.  Good presentation.  Dave really knows his stuff.  At the end of the evening he handed out bags of garlic bulbs to plant!  It turns out this is the perfect time for planting garlic so next week when we get home, out with the old garden and in with the prep for next spring!

On the way home from the library I stopped at The Red Onion for take-out onions and Reuben sandwich, which were very nice.

Rangeley Vacation-Day One

We slept very well in the queen room on the main floor of the cabin.  There is a master suite upstairs which is really nice but not being a fan of long stairways, we satisfied ourselves with the queen room, using the twin room as an extra dressing room.

The kitchen is large and very well provisioned.  They even supplied salt and pepper as well as plastic wrap and aluminum foil!  Plenty of cooking utensils and pots.  By far it is the best set-up we have found in resort kitchens.  We will use it to the fullest extent probably.

We did go to the coffee party and found there were warm cinnamon buns and blueberry muffins to go along with orange juice and hot chocolate.  While happily munching we met a lovely young family with twin girls about 2-2 1/2 years old.  The little girls were full of personality and opinions!  Delightful to watch.  Glad we could want and not manage!

After the party we went to the IGA to pick up a very few groceries, including a very inexpensive cheese pizza, then off we went to do a little exploring in the area.  We took the South Shore Drive around the lake then turned south on Route 17 to go to Height of Land which we had heard had a wonderful view.  We found this to be completely true.  Unfortunately we did not either one of us have a camera in the truck.  No problem: we will come another day.

We then went to see where the Appalachian Trail crosses Route 4, and did find it.  Dear one is considering a hike along the Trail, but will decide later in the week.

We ate the pizza with green peppers and sliced black olives for supper along with some bean burritos after I had spent a couple of hours knitting on the lace shawl I am knitting for White River Yarns. It is due the end of October but I am hoping to finish it this week.

Vacation in Rangeley, Maine

Having just completed a two-week course in Lifestyle Choices at Parkview Adventist Medical Center in Brunswick, Maine (more on this later!), I came home for two days then we were off on part of our vacation for this year.  {Just before I went to Parkview Bob had scheduled a time share exchange at the Rangeley Lake Resort.}

Sunday after Church we headed north on I-91, picked up Route 2 East then changed to Route 16 which took us to Main Street in Rangeley about four hours later.  The first half of the trip was in glorious sunshine where we enjoyed the gorgeous fall weather.  By 7 PM it was very dark and we dropped our speed a bit as the road was VERY curvy and felt narrow with the trees right up to the road when there were not rivers or lakes next to the road.

We were grateful that the small very light-colored deer we saw were not interested in crossing Route 16.  There was one first, then many miles later three more-two on one side of the road and one on the other.  Those guys were not sure what they were going to do as we approached but then made the right decision and headed away from us.  We saw a red fox, which did cross the road but far enough ahead that there was no problem, and a possible gray fox--it was larger than the red fox but not as large as a coyote would have been, so we decided it was a gray fox. 

We enjoyed that wildlife but having had the moose hit several years ago, and noticing all the signs which said, "Brake for Moose.  It could save your life.  HUNDREDS OF COLLISIONS" every few miles, we were very watchful.  About ten miles out of Rangeley Bob said, "Moose!", and there he was, walking down the edge of the road, heading towards Rangeley, too!  Large, dark, with a huge rack.  That really helped the sluggish blood pick up speed and start rushing through our (or at least, MY) veins.

We arrived at the resort just minutes before they closed the office for the night.  We picked up our keys, a binder of info, and a map, plus an invitation to a coffee party the next morning. 

We had no problem finding our cabin, though the entrance had a "speed bump" over the culvert at the end of our driveway.  Hopefully we will not need to make a fast getaway any time soon!

Cupsuptic Cabin

Sourdough English Muffins are YUMMY!

Probably two months ago I purchased some sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour.  It was quite pricey, in my opinion, but since the purchase I have made multiple batches and shared it with others.

 Yesterday when I was clearing out some more mature containers of food from our refrigerator, I found the second container of sourdough starter that I thought I had, but had not seen in several weeks.  I did not really think it was viable but since it only takes one cup of flour and one-half cup of water to "feed" sourdough starter, I gave it a try yesterday morning.  By late afternoon there were lots of little bubbles and the starter had nearly filled the quart container!  I was so pleased.  I decided to use some of it immediately.

Looking online for The Old Geezer Cookbook, which I thought I remembered had sourdough recipes in it, I spent time searching.  It turns out not to be The Old Geezer Cookbook, but is instead The Geezer Cookbook.  After searching through it, where I found lots of recipes I want to try, I did not find a sourdough recipe I wanted use so I continued looking.

Despite the fact that we have three packages of Thomas' English Muffins in our freezer waiting to be used, I found a recipe for Sourdough English Muffins at Sourdough Home.  This link just given is the recipe I used.  I may have put in a little extra sourdough starter last night along with fresh milk, not reconstituted dry milk, but either way, this morning the batter looked really ready to use just before 6 AM.  I sprinkled on the baking soda and sea salt and stirred it in well then dumped it onto our counter onto which I had spread one cup of flour (King Arthur's all-purpose flour).  I kneaded in all that flour and a little bet more then rolled out the dough to about one-half to three-quarters of an inch thick then cut out with my round cookie cutter which is a bit larger than 3 inches.

Having already put parchment paper on a cookie sheet and liberally sprinkled on cornmeal, I placed the muffins on the cornmeal, being careful to keep them one inch apart or a little more because I did not want them to touch and cause problems. I then sprinkled on more cornmeal on top and covered with a clean dish towel. 

Letting them rise for somewhat over an hour while I was downloading a new app to my iPod, and reading a somewhat spurious article from Dialogue, I spent the time quietly as no one else was up.  When the app was done downloading and installed, and after playing around with it a little while, I noticed the time was ready to check the muffins.  They were ready to cook! 

Starting the griddle on our stove as well as a heavy cast iron skillet to heat on medium low, I got ready to do the cooking by removing the smoke alarm from the ceiling and placing it under a fat pillow on the couch.  The other "getting ready" process was to remove a stick of butter from the refrigerator and apricot jam, as well.  no reason not to be prepared for a successful English muffin harvest!

When the surfaces were ready, I buttered them just a bit to give the muffins a delicious first taste on the tongue, then carefully put three on the griddle and three in the skillet and set the timer for 4 minutes.  I turned them over then let them cook another three minutes or so.  After the first batch, I set the timer for 3 minutes then cooked the second side at two and a half minutes. 

The muffins came out BEAUTIFUL!  Split open and spread with butter and apricot jam, they are not to be beat.  Here is a picture of them:

Fresh Sourdough English Muffins!

 This recipe made 18 muffins in the size cutter I used.

 It is nice when recipes are successful...