Remembering Esther

Today, Jews are celebrating the festival of Purim, which remembers and honours the story of Mordechai and Esther.  It’s a happy, raucous festival that has its roots in the past and its flowering branches right here in the present.  It’s a story of threats and intrigues, of reversals and successes, that has all the elements of the best adventures. 

For those unfamiliar with the story of Esther, it took place in the Babylonian city of Susa, about 6 centuries BCE. 

Aheasurus, the king of Persia, celebrated his ascension to the throne by throwing a 180-day-long party for all of his subjects.  Following the big celebration he hosted a smaller week-long feast for the dignitaries of his capital city.  While hosting this smaller party, he urged his queen—Vashti—to appear before his male guests so that he might show them her beauty.  The queen, being a modest woman, refused his request and was, as a consequence, put to death.

When Aheasurus grew lonely for a wife, he ordered his courtiers to bring him the most beautiful women in the land.  He would choose among them for a new queen to take the place of Vashti. 

One of the women brought to Aheausrus was Esther; a beautiful young woman who had been raised by her cousin Mordechai, a leader of the Jewish community. Esther was taken to the king against her will and refused to beautify herself in order to capture his attention, but the king chose her nonetheless.   Esther became Aheasurus’ queen but—instructed by Mordechai—did not tell him that she was a Jew.

Shortly after Esther became queen, Mordechai overheard a plot to assassinate the king.  He reported it, and the king’s life was saved.

At the same time, the king appointed a new prime minister—Haman—and issued a decree that all citizens show their respect to Haman by bowing down before him.  As a Jew, Mordechai was forbidden by his religious beliefs to bow down before any person.  He refused to bow down before Haman, and Haman, infuriated by the refusal, resolved to take revenge upon the Jews.  He was determined to punish them for their pride.

Haman offered the king 10,000 talents in exchange for permission to punish the Jews, but the king—no lover of Jews himself—told him "The money is yours to keep, and the nation is yours to do with as you please."[i] Haman, taking this as the king’s permission, sent a proclamation throughout the land, sealed with the king’s seal.  The proclamation ordered that, on the 13^th day of Adar, citizens would rise up and kill all the Jews in Persia.

When Mordechai heard about the proclamation to kill the Jews, he sent a message to Esther requesting that she intervene on behalf of her people. 

At first, Esther refused to intervene.  Anyone who entered the king’s presence unsummoned could be put to death, and she had not been summoned to the king in more than thirty days.  Mordechai persuaded Esther to act though, by reminding her that if she chose not to help and the people were saved by some other means, she and her descendants would reap the consequences.

Esther formed a plan to persuade the king by hosting two feasts for the king and Haman.  Mordechai stood at the gate as the king and Haman went in to the first feast, but again he refused to bow down.  Haman was so infuriated by Mordechai’s continued refusal to bow that he decided to hang Mordechai, and ordered a gallows to be built for that purpose.

At the same time Haman was having the gallows erected, the king was reviewing the royal chronicles and learned of Mordechai’s act to save his life.  When he next saw Haman, the king ordered him to honour Mordechai for his heroism by dressing him in royal garments and parading him through town on a royal horse. You can imagine how Haman felt about that!

At the second feast she hosted for the king and Haman, Esther pleaded with the king to spare the Jews and, in doing so, to spare both Malachai and herself.  The king became very angry with Haman for his plan to kill the Jews and, upon learning about the gallows intended for Mordechai, ordered that Haman be hung on the gallows instead.

Royal decrees could not be repealed so, to counter Haman’s plan, the king issued a new decree  permitting the Jews to defend themselves against their attackers. He also appointed Mordechai prime minster. 

On the 13^th day of Adar the Jews mobilized and killed the enemies who would have harmed them, including Haman’s sons, who lived in Susa.  Mordechai and Esther decreed that, from that time, the 13^th day of Adar would commemorate these events in the festival of Purim.  Purim continues to be celebrated to this day.

Why does this holiday continue to hold relevance centuries later?

• It’s a story of adventure and intrigue that captures the imaginations of those who hear it. 
• It teaches the importance of standing by your beliefs in the face of difficult consequences.
• It demonstrates that taking a stand and making difficult moral choices will be ultimately be rewarded. 

On a cultural note, Purim is the first Jewish festival to arise from the diaspora.  This was a triumph of Jewish people and culture surviving outside of Judea.  It’s celebrated by Jews worldwide.

If you’d like to learn more about the story of Esther, you can find a movie version  of the story on line here.

If you’d like to celebrate Purim with some traditional Jewish cooking, you can find some good recipes here.

Happy Purim to all my Jewish friends.  Standing by your beliefs is always something to be honoured, and remembering your history cause for celebration.  I’m wishing you joy today.

---

[i] http://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/645995/jewish/The-Basic-Purim-Story.htm

image source: Happy+Purim+wallpaper+2012+(1).gif

Hello Deer!

These are our friends Alfie and Peter.  We lived next-door to them for years and could not have asked for better neighbours. 

Alfie and Peter’s father-and-son bachelor household is mostly centered around sports, hunting and fishing.  Cooking has never been their strong suit.  I, on the other hand, don’t care at all for sports, or for hunting and fishing, but do love to cook. What Alfie and Peter do have in common with my husband and I is a love of good food, and of sharing that food in good company.  Over shared meals we’ve discovered many shared interests, and we've ended up fast friends.

Because there are only my husband and I in our household, there’s always a danger that my love of cooking will lead to overeating, and to eating too many of the wrong things.  I’ve always addressed these concerns by sharing the things I cook with friends and neighbours.  I used to bake eight or ten loaves of bread every couple of weeks and distribute them among my neighbours up and down the street.  I was also in the habit of sharing extra portions of supper or dessert with our bachelor buddies next-door. 

It was a kindness to me that our neighbours took this extra food.  It enabled me to experiment with new recipes and techniques without fear of excessive kitchen waste.  I shared the food I made without expectation of receiving anything in return but Alfie and Peter often reciprocated by sharing with us the fish they caught and the game they shot.   Both my husband and I enjoyed these wild meats very much.

We no longer live next-door to Alfie and Peter but we’ve stayed in touch.  We miss their pleasant company and are always glad to hear their news.  You can imagine then, how pleased we were when Alfie came to visit us this week.  It’s the first time he’s seen our new home and we were delighted to welcome him.

Alfie brought us a lovely housewarming gift:  A cooler full of venison and several salmon.  I cooked some of the venison last night and, while eating dinner, realized how much I’d missed having it on hand.  He couldn’t have given us a better present.

The word “venison” originated from the Latin word vēnor, which means “to hunt or to pursue,” and referred to all sorts of game meats.   Now, we understand it to specifically refer to deer meat.

Venison is a very lean meat, rich in protein, iron, and zinc but quite low in saturated fat.  It’s a good source of B vitamins, specifically niacin (vitamin B2), riboflavin (vitamin B3), vitamin B6, and vitamin B12.  These B vitamins bring with them a number of health benefits including a reduced risk of atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease, reduced risk of colon cancer, improved oxygen based energy production, a diminishment in the frequency and severity of migraines, improved immune system response, a reduction of the risk for osteoarthritis, and the more efficient conversion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats into energy. [i]

That’s quite a list of benefits!  I’m glad to know that venison is so good for me because it’s certainly delicious. 

So, thank you Alfie and Peter, both for your friendship and for the wonderful housewarming gift.  We’re very grateful to have them.

---

[i] http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=139

Young Artist Placemats

Years ago, Martha Stewart listed a laminating machine among her “Good Things,” citing it as a useful tool for making placemats, bookmarks and the like.  I’ve never been able to afford a laminator—or the very expensive laminating sheets that go with it—but I did like the idea of laminating personal artwork or pretty paper to make useful gifts. 

Sometimes you find yourself in need of a gift for Grandma, for a teacher, for a coach or a kids’ group leader, and you don’t have a lot of time or resources available to you.  Sometimes you need a way to mark everyone’s places at a daycare or playgroup table.  Sometimes you want a new place setting for the kids or mats for a themed birthday party.  Laminated placemats work well for any of these occasions.

Contact brand’s clear, self-adhesive plastic can be used in place of expensive laminating sheets and a laminating machine.  Sold as shelf lining paper, Contact paper is widely available in grocery stores, hardware stores, and discount department stores like WalMart. 

Although a little more challenging to manipulate than a laminating machine, clear self-adhesive plastic is much less expensive than lamination sheets.  With a little care, you can achieve excellent results that are less brittle and more durable than comparable projects made using a laminator.  (I’ve kept, and used, some of my placemats for decades.)

To make laminated placemats, you’ll need;

• A placemat you can use for a pattern, or a large ruler so that you can measure and cut some rectangles
• A sharp pencil
• Scissors
• Art supplies for making a picture (We used just crayons for this one but you can use whatever you like.  Crayons, paint, glitter glue, markers, coloured pencils, and stickers all work well.  Just try to avoid materials that will leave a raised surface.  You want the finished picture to be flat.)
• Poster board or cardboard cut from a large cereal box (You can buy poster board at most stationary or office supply stores and, quite often, at the Dollar Store.)
• Clear (transparent) Contact self-adhesive plastic

Use a pencil to trace your placemat shapes onto the poster board or cardboard.  (I’ve made a lot of these so I have a pattern.)  You can either trace around a placemat you like or you can measure and cut out 12 x 16-inch rectangles. 

Give the cut mats and art supplies to your kids, and set them to work decorating.  If you want to, you can suggest a theme.

When the kids have finished decorating their mats, allow time for any glue or paint to dry.

Make sure your work surface is clean.  Any bits of eraser, stray pieces of paper, or dust have a way of finding their way under the plastic. 

Unroll the Contact paper, with the backing sheet facing upward.  Lay your placemat on top of the paper (to use as a measuring guide) and cut two pieces of self-adhesive plastic, each slightly larger than the placemat.

Carefully remove the backing from the first sheet of self-adhesive plastic, making sure that it doesn’t curl up and stick to itself as you remove the paper. 

Make sure that the peeled plastic is lying flat, with the sticky side up.  Drop the placemat, picture side down, onto the sticky side of the plastic. 

Carefully trim away some of the excess plastic around the edges.

Remove the protective backing from the second piece of self-adhesive plastic, just as you did the first.  Leave it sticky side up.

With the placemat picture facing upward, drop the placemat—with its plastic covering attached—onto the sticky side of the second sheet of plastic.  Smooth it out carefully, making sure that there’s an edge all the way around the placemat where the two pieces of plastic are adhered to each other. 

Trim away most of the excess plastic, leaving about a quarter inch of clear plastic all the way around the mat. 

Check for air bubbles.  If there are any, pierce them with a pin and then smooth them out as best you can.

That’s it.  You’re done.

If you want to make a quantity of similar mats for use as themed place settings or for a fundraiser, you can glue wrapping paper to the poster board instead of decorating it with artwork. 

Cut the poster board to size, cover it with spray adhesive or glue from a glue stick, then drop it sticky-side-down on to the back (undecorated side) of a sheet of wrapping paper.  Trim the excess wrapping paper away so that the wrapping paper and mat are exactly the same size.  Proceed as directed above.  Your finished mats will look something like these:

_____________________________________________
This post is linked to Busy Monday hosted by A Pinch of Joy, to Making Mondays Marvelous hosted by C.R.A.F.T., to Think Pink Sunday hosted by Flamingo Toes, to Craft-o-Maniac Monday hosted by Craft-o-Maniac, and to Bedazzle Me Monday hosted by Everything Under the Moon.

A Ring Story

Some years ago I moved to Kelowna.  I was in need of a change and so, for a time, put island life behind me.  Kelowna’s bigger-town vibe and vivid arts community were interesting to me, its geography and flora a complete change from what I’d been accustomed to in my small town island home.

Shortly after my move, I went to work at The Titanium Workshop.  It was unlike anywhere I'd worked before.  The business was, at that time, located in the owners’ home.  All customer interaction was through email or by phone.  There was no dress code and, although regular hours of business were observed, there was no time clock. 

Although the workshop was a manufacturing business, producing titanium rings for sale through a website, the business was (and remains to this day) very much an artistic endeavour.  It started with a single ring, made by one of the owners as a gift for the other, and grew from that simple design to be much, much more.

Titanium rings were not common at the time the workshop started and there wasn’t equipment purpose-built for making them.  The workshop’s early rings were hand drilled and individually lathed, using equipment designed for making machine parts.  Their designs were, of necessity, simple but the workmanship was excellent.  The rings were precisely made and beautifully finished.

I soon realized that work at the workshop was a collaborative effort.  Although each member of our very small staff had a specific job, product creation was a collaborative effort to which each team member brought their own special skills.  

Frederique had training in graphic design and a strong visual aesthetic. 

Roy had crazy-good lateral thinking skills that enabled him to adapt equipment and develop techniques that were completely new and amazingly innovative. 

A number of talented machinists brought their technical skills to bear on solving production problems, coming up with new and better ways to carve titanium. 

Brain used his CAD skills and design savvy to bring customer ideas to life and to explore ideas of his own in three dimensions. 

Customers brought their ideas and requests to the workshop, affording our team an opportunity to step outside our own limitations and embrace concepts that would not otherwise have occurred to us.

As titanium rings grew in popularity, the workshop faced new competition in the form of rings cheaply manufactured in countries like China.  Frustratingly, the rings these overseas factories produced were often direct copies of designs that had originated through our hard work and, although they were mass produced (often from inferior materials) and finished to a much lower standard, their price tags had customer appeal.

Despite these challenges, The Titanium Workshop has retained its market niche, mostly through the original thinking and innovation that have characterized their business from the start.

They made titanium rings with gold inlays, then carved the inlays.  

They found a way to carve rings with prong style stone settings.

  

They made the first titanium ring with a multiple stone setting 

and have gone on to extrapolate those techniques into some amazingly creative designs.  

They developed and executed amazingly detailed carved designs, 

made specialized coatings, added bright accents of anodized colour,

and executed a myriad of custom designs, made to their customers’ requests.

Now they're working on developing a line of pendants, including this brilliant, Steampunk inspired design.  (The gears in this pendant actually turn!)

I worked at The Titanium Workshop for more than eight years.  As is often the case in a business where a number of creative people who work with different visions share a workspace, the path was not always smooth. It was, however, always stimulating, always challenging, and always a learning process.

My time at the workshop changed forever my outlook on what work can be.  It helped me to understand that there is more to employment than just earning a wage and that, while everyone may have a different vision, it is possible to work at something important to you and still find a way to earn a living.

At first glance, making rings may have nothing at all to do with writing blogs, but there is an interrelation here:  It’s about finding your one thing and working toward it.  It’s about meeting challenges and finding a way to make your vision work.  So, thanks Fred and Roy for the lesson.  I’m grateful to have worked with you.

________________________________________

Please note: This blog is not a paid endorsement.  Although they knew I was writing a piece about them, The Titanium Workshop did not see the contents of the piece until after it was published.

 All of the images in this post are property of Arnell Workshop Inc. d.b.a. The Titanium Workshop, and are used with their permission.  

Pancake Day

What does a group of English women racing down the street, tossing pancakes in cast iron skillets, have to do with the temptation of Christ in the desert? 

At first blush, nothing at all. 

But Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent. 

Lent is the season in the Christian liturgical calendar when congregants remember Christ’s forty-day fast in the desert.

Traditionally, Lent is a time when devout Christians give up certain luxuries. 

Historically, those luxuries have included oil and butter, milk and eggs. 

Prudent English housewives, not wishing to waste food, would use these ingredients to make pancakes the day before Lent. 

Thus, Shrove Tuesday became known as Pancake Day.

The race?

Well, folk tradition says that a diligent housewife was so busy making pancakes that she lost track of time until she heard the church bells ring.  Not wanting to be late, she rushed out of the house, pan and pancake still in hand.  

Whatever its origins, Pancake Day is our kind of observance.  We do love a good pancake supper at our house.

This Shrove Tuesday, we’ll be eating Pancake and Fried Egg Sandwiches, made with a fried egg between savoury pancakes flavoured with bacon and cheddar cheese, and served with a bright tasting pico de gallo. 

Here are the recipes so you can try them too.

Make the Pico de Gallo first.  You’ll need:

• 2 large tomatoes (I used Romas because they looked the least yucky.  It can be very frustrating to shop for tomatoes at this time of year.)
• 1/4 of a large red onion
• 1 jalapeño pepper (or more, to taste)
• 1 lime (or more, to taste)
• Cilantro or parsley to taste (Not pictured.  I usually add it but didn’t have it this time so we did without it.)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Dice the tomatoes and red onion in about a quarter inch dice. 

Finely dice the jalapeño.  (We prefer our salsas mild so I removed the seeds and ribs from the pepper.  If you want more heat, leave them in.)

Chop the cilantro or parsley.

Combine the diced tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, and cilantro or parsley in a bowl and stir them together.  Squeeze the lime’s juice over the vegetables.  Taste and season with salt and black pepper.  Add more lime juice if you think the mixture needs more acidity.

Set the Pico de Gallo aside to rest and let the flavours marry while you make the rest of the meal.

To make the pancakes, you’ll need:

• 1 cup buttermilk (If you don’t have buttermilk, put 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice in the bottom of a measuring cup and then add enough milk to make one cup.)
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 3 Tablespoons of canola oil
• 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 pound of bacon, finely diced and cooked crisp (One of our local farm markets sells locally produced, fruitwood smoked bacon. It’s very good but quite expensive.  They slice it right at the market and sell the oddly shaped ends from each rasher at a discount.  I used those ends in this recipe.  It’s a more affordable way to enjoy really good bacon.)
• 1 cup of grated sharp cheddar 

Beat the egg.

Mix the buttermilk, egg, canola oil, and cornmeal together, stirring until the mixture is very smooth and well blended. 

Whisk together the flour and baking soda.  Add them to the wet mixture, stirring just until the ingredients are combined.  The batter should be very lumpy. 

Add the bacon and the grated cheese and mix them through the batter.

Ladle the batter onto a pre-heated griddle and cook at medium heat until the pancakes start to set around the edges and little bubbles rise to the top. 

The bottom of the pancake should be lightly browned.

Turn the pancakes over and cook the other side until it’s lightly browned too. 

Keep the cooked pancakes warm in the oven while you cook a fried egg for each serving.

Make sandwiches by layering each fried egg between two of the pancakes.  Serve the sandwiches immediately, garnished with Pico de Gallo.  

Recipe note:  This pancake recipe makes six pancakes, enough for three sandwiches.  If you are using all of the pancakes for sandwiches, you'll need to fry three eggs.  The pancakes are quite filling so , if accompanied by a salad, the recipe will serve three adults.  
__________________________________________
pancake race photo:  jeffreyhill.typepad.com

Rhubarb Berry Jam

In the years after the Second World War, convenience foods were heralded as the greatest benefit ever to arrive in the home kitchen.  After the deprivations and shortages of the war years, it must have seemed miraculous to open a tin or package and find all the ingredients needed to make a meal.  So quick!  So simple!  And at the time, this food was also believed to be both wholesome and nutritious. 

The homemaker of the 1950’s had some unexpected hurdles to deal with.  It was a time of great social change with widespread emphasis on modern science as a beacon of hope for the future.  Anything modern or new or “space age” was greeted with great enthusiasm.  At the same time, the economy was in a recession that continued until nearly the end of the decade.

With many homemakers struggling to make ends meet, convenience foods took on a special glamour.  Cooking with convenience foods implied that you had the luxury to choose ease over affordability.

The jam recipe I’m going to share with you today originated some time during that post-war convenience food craze.  It’s made with fruit flavoured gelatin dessert powder instead of with pectin and it yields a smaller batch than most traditional jam recipes.  It relies upon refrigeration for preservation, rather than canning. 

This was the first jam I ever made, I think because—having never made preserves of any sort—I found the ingredients and cooking methods less intimidating than more traditional recipes.  That first batch turned out very well.  It had a nice texture, with pieces of rhubarb throughout, and a bright, pleasing flavour.

I’ve made this jam many times since and it’s worked perfectly every time.  To this day, it remains one of my favourite spreads.

If you’d like to make Rhubarb Berry Jam, you’ll need:

• 6 cups diced rhubarb (I used frozen this time)
• 3-1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• A 3 ounce package of strawberry or raspberry flavoured dessert gelatin (I used raspberry flavour)

In a large enameled or stainless steel pot, combine the rhubarb, sugar, and water.  Stir to distribute the sugar through the fruit. 

Cook and stir over high heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Boil the rhubarb, stirring to prevent scorching, until the mixture begins to thicken; 12 to 15 minutes. 

Remove the pot from the heat and sprinkle the gelatin mixture over the top of the fruit.

Stir the gelatin into the rhubarb for about 3 minutes, until it’s mixed through and the gelatin is completely dissolved. 

Ladle the jam into sterilized jars (you’ll have about 2-1/2 pints), cap the jars, and allow them cool to room temperature.

Store the jam in the refrigerator and use it within one month.  If you keep it longer than that, it’ll get very thick.

Try serving this jam with multigrain bread or stirred into yogurt.  My husband likes to use it as a topping for ice cream sundays.
___________________________________________
This post is linked to Makin' You Crave Monday hosted by Mrs. Happy Homemaker, to Craft-O-Maniac Monday Link Party hosted by Craft-O-Maniac, and to Recipe Party Time hosted by The Sweet Spot.

In the Pink

I've seen several rhubarb recipes on Pinterest recently, probably because Valentines Day is at hand and dishes cooked with rhubarb are often a lovely blushing pink colour.  There are, of course, also recipes using cherries and raspberries, but both of them are even more out of season than rhubarb is.

It'll be about three months before we see rhubarb in our local gardens but I have noticed it in the produce aisle lately.  I don't remember where it was imported from but I do remember the price, which was far higher than what I can afford to pay.  Fortunately, I still have some of last spring's rhubarb in the freezer.

Rhubarb makes a frequent appearance on our table.  Both my husband and I enjoy its tart flavour and appreciate its nutritional benefits--so much so that I was going to write a blog about rhubarb tonight.

Then I remembered that I'd already written one, last spring.

(Embarrassed blush here. I have a good memory, but it's short.  ;^)

I'll be sharing one of my favourite rhubarb jam recipes with you later this week.  In the meantime, you can find last spring's rhubarb post here.