ethiopian green lentils

More spicy lentils!  Though, these are green and based on the Ethiopian lentils we eat.  Making these at home means that we do not drive across town.  I really liked them with the Indian rice I made since I did not have any injera in the house.  Maybe someday I will try but not today.

Actually, today I think I would like a large bowl of miso for dinner.  It is just how my chest is feeling. 

These lentils are yummy.   I make them in the slow cooker to make my life easier.  It will be an adjustment when I move to a cabin in a few years.  We do not plan to have electricity right off so a slow cooker may not happen.  A small pressure cooker may be needed!

ethiopian green lentils

2 cups green lentils

4 cups water

2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 sweet onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 morita pepper (I find mine vary in heat so you may wish to start with a half), minced

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (it is what I had in the house)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Put the lentils in the slow cooker.  Rinse very well.  Cover with water.  Put on low.  In a skillet, heat the oil.  Add the onion.  Let it get soft and start to brown.  Add garlic.  Sauté until golden.  Add the pepper.  Let cook until soft and very fragrant (you may need to step back.  This pepper can cause coughing fits while cooking).  Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Stir well and get everything hot.  Pour the skillet contents into the slow cooker.  I added the vinegar here but you can wait until ten minutes before serving so it has more punch.

Let cook until the lentils are cooked through.  You can even cook off a lot of the water.

More lentils for my tummy!

for L

Yesterday, I came home from work soaked in rain.  Today, I came home soaked because of the heat.  That is the way it will be for the rest of the summer and in to autumn.  I got home to Small Mister out playing with Auntie A.  Auntie A took Small Mister ice skating.  We have been sent pictures that she obviously tuckered him out.

Since there was no Small Mister in the house, I quickly grabbed the nine squares I needed to lay out so I can finish piecing the top together.  Small Mister's help right now for this stage of quilt construction is not very helpful.  He helps me sew many squares and cuts threads but laying out squares....!  They would be all over the room!

This quilt is for another little boy who is just about to start crawling and has the most wonderful smile.  I hope to get it finished before we leave town again but that may be a bit ambitious.  I do like to try.

power outages

Today I am very thankful for long summer nights, a treadle sewing machine, and relative coolness due to a thunderstorm. 

As I left work on my bicycle, a massive thunderstorm started.  I was totally soaked by the time I got home.  Every piece of clothing was wet.  And as I road home, I passed a tree down on power lines two blocks from our city home.  We have not had power, had power, and then not had power again as the lines were being fixed. 

I did get some sewing done.  Squares for nine square quilt squares cut and a new slip cut.  Small Mister helped me with a bit of sewing before we went out for dinner.  I have everything I need to cook without power but the whole family was looking for more coolness then we had.  And after cooking over a camp stove for the last ten days, I was very easy about going out.  What I had planned for dinner, needed an oven and I am not sure what I would have cooked on top of the stove.  I would have figured something out.  It is just a bit easier when you are prepared and I was not.

Currently, we have power.  Which is nice.  Who knows what the rest of the night will bring but that is okay.  It is time for sleep.

before I left

We are back.  We had a good time but did not get as much done as we would have liked.  One of the many snag piles is 2/3 done.  A bit of weed wacking was done so we can walk to the shed.  Our one clearing had grass and flowers that were four feet high.  I got a bit of sleep but the rest really came from a relief from the heat and being outside all day.  I kept thinking that I just pull weeds wherever I go.

It is very hard to be back.  My brain is creatively working at the level of a drop spindle.  I can spin for hours but not much else is going on.  But then the boyos really only slept today.  Small Mister is currently jumping off the walls because he has slept on and off all day.  I think I am going to have a difficult time sleeping tonight.

I made this hemp linen dress the week before I left.  It is another dress I modeled off others I have seen oniline.  French instead of Japanese this time.  The fabric is actually leftover from a skirt I made a couple years ago.  The skirt was just too stiff.  The sleeves on this dress are the skirt.  I had actually had planned to make two skirts so the rest of the dress comes from the rest of the fabric.  I like it.  It shines.

I am thinking I may order some softer linen so I can make this dress again but softer.  This one feels a bit dressy.

I am trying back into the swing of things.  I will see how it goes.

indian yellow rice

The last time we went to meatless Mondays at our favorite Indian restaurant, we had some yellow rice.  I know it was colored with turmeric but the flavor is pretty fabulous, especially with spicy lentils.  I was making spicy Ethiopian lentils and thought the rice would be a nice compliment.  It was so yummy!  I will be making this again.

indian yellow rice

1 1/2 cups of a mixture of white and brown rice (I used short grain because that was what I had)

2 cups water

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 cardamom pods

1/2 teaspoons turmeric powder

1/4 cup raisins

Wash the rice, in a pot or bowl.  Put the rice in a fairly large pot.  Cover with water.  Add everything else.  Bring to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer.  Simmer for ten minutes.  Turn the temperature down to low.  Cook for ten minutes.  Turn off the heat and let the rice sit in the pot on the burner for at least ten minutes.

Serve.

yum!

We are off to the mountain for the next week.  I am not going to even try to write here because I am lucky to come off the mountain anymore, let alone with a computer.  Have a lovely Independence Day and be safe.