Successful Experiment

Hi!  Have you forgotten that I have a blog?  Believe it or not, I haven't forgotten.  But, hey, I'm here now so let's get on with it.

Birthday season in my family is just starting to taper off.  April is a challenging month!  Last weekend we had birthday celebrations for the mother in law and the niece...  mother in law turned 80 and niece turned 18.  So, that called for a party, of course!

Not that they needed more food or more desserts, but I needed to get some fruit out of the freezer so I volunteered to make a cherry pie.  I buy pie cherries and jam cherries from Fruithill Farm in Yamhill, Oregon.  You have to buy a 4 gallon bucket at a time.  You can get them either with or without sugar.  With sugar is recommended for pie cherries (it helps keep their color bright) and without sugar is best for canning and jam.

Two years ago I got a bucket of each.  Last year year I only got the cherries without sugar.  I make a lot of jam, but not that many pies.   I had several ziptop bags of cherries in the freezer at my parents house -- probably enough for a half dozen pies.  Well, my dad called a week or so ago and said that his fridge was misbehaving and he thought I should come and get the cherries before they defrosted.  I did so, and quickly. Those cherries are way too good and too costly to squander!  I brought them home and put them in my small chest freezer.

Besides the cherries, I had several small batches of berries frozen too.  I like to freeze berries individually on a plastic cutting board and then bag them up for later.  We love the berries in a mimosa!  I had several bags of strawberries, raspberries and one bag of blackberries.  Mostly from our garden, but some from the farmer's market.

So, I decided to make a cherry pie for the party and asked my partner if her mom would like that.  She said yes, but she'd rather have a raspberry pie.  I didn't have enough berries for a whole pie but enough for two medium sized tarts.

I have been searching for small pie pans for a long time and recently bought two new contenders.  One is a ceramic 5 inch deep dish (Chantal) and the other is a metal (Fat Daddio) 6 inch, much shallower.  They aren't exactly what I was looking for but this seemed like the perfect time to try them out.

I got the dough started and let it rest in the fridge.  Then I got the fruit into two separate pans on the stove.  It was at this point that I became frustrated with myself.  No matter how many times I dug through the pantry, I could not find any cornstarch.  What?!  No cornstarch?  How the heck was I going to thicken these juicy berries without a quick trip to the store?

People, let me tell you, it is possible.  At least, it's possible if you happen to be an avid jam maker and happen to have several kinds of pectin on hand.

Yes!  It's true!  I made a pie and two tarts using pectin to thicken the fruit instead of cornstarch!  I was pretty pleased with myself, I have to say.

For the berry tarts, I started with about 4 cups of mixed berries.  I like my pies to really taste like the fruit so I don't add much sugar to them.  I mixed a half cup of sugar and a teaspoon of powdered pectin together and added them to the pan.  I let the berries and sugar/pectin mixture cook down for about 15 minutes at a very low simmer.  They were pretty soupy even after I had poured off as much juice as possible.  After it had cooked down, I simply poured it in the pie crust and popped it in the oven.  Well, ok, I made a lattice top and brushed it with butter and sprinkled sugar on it, but you know what I mean...

We ate one of the berry tarts at home and took the pie and the deep dish tart over to the mother in law's house.  It was good!  I heard no complaints from the in laws but they are not a very effusive bunch.

So, the moral of this story is: pectin works in pies!

East Side of the Hawthorne Bridge

What the heck are those metal things at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge?  Is it a pair of sculptures?  Are they some fancy new signage?  This calls for a photo!  I'll get back to you with that...

Holiday eve

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and you know what that means.

The giant martini glass will be lit up on Friday!!!

It's a Portland tradition.  It's probably 20 feet tall, high up on the hill overlooking downtown PDX.

You know it's holiday time in Portland when the giant martini glass casts it's beneficent glow over us all.

Cheers!

Random Bike Stuff from the Streets of Portland

Bike Stuff

1.      Bike Commute Challenge

The Bike Commute Challenge took place during September here in Portland.  I didn’t manage a 100% biking rate this year, but I did pretty well.  I rode all but three days of the month.  I’ll have to be satisfied with that.

2.      12 people at the light this morning!  Didn’t all make it through the green!

The numbers are increasing.  There was actually a bicycle traffic jam at the intersection of Interstate and Oregon St, by the Rose Quarter.  Lots of people are riding to work and wearing real clothes, not bike gear.  

I like it! 

3.       Older Gal passing me up

Now, this is just funny.  On my ride to work, there is a street that has a gentle rise over the course of two blocks.  It’s a gentle rise but definitely noticeable.  I will either downshift or stand up and pedal.  So, I’m heading up the street one morning last week and behind me comes an older gal cruising along on her bicycle.  This, in itself, is not surprising.  People of all ages ride bikes, especially in Portland.  Nor is it surprising that she then passes me.  I get passed by people every day.  But, as she passes, I notice that she is both older and heavier than I am…  hmm… and, I’m in decent shape so how is she able to cruise right by?  Well, I don’t bother myself about it, but rather just keep on riding to work.  When I get to the bottom of the tram, I see that she is a couple of bikes ahead of me and we both ride up the hill.  After we disembark and walk through the building to the street, she hops on her bike, reaches down and clicks something.  The next thing I know there’s a gentle whirring sound and off she goes up the street.  It’s an electric assist bicycle!

4.       Need a bigger basket

As I mentioned before, I need to replace the basket on the front of Helen.  It got broken and bent in that crash.  And, it’s just too small.  I have been looking on line and at my local bike shops and I think I have one picked out.  BUT, I also have the collapsible rear basket on the right, which is where I put my backpack.  I asked my Pop if I could have the one off my mum’s bike to mount on the left side.  Then I will have three baskets and that’s enough cargo area for any trip to the store or the farmer’s market.  Ok, true, I usually walk to the store… but still!  And, just because Helen is such a beauty, I’m going to paint all the baskets brown to match her trim.  It’ll be a winter project.

September Update

Things keep happening, even if you don't read about them here.  Sorry about that!

So, that development on Burnside and 12th (do I need to add 'East side'? No.)  According to the sign posted on the chain link fence, it's going to be a senior residence.  A green one, apparently.  I think it might be affiliated with the church that owned (owns?) the parking lot that has become the property site.  We shall see!

That Lloyd Center parking lot remodel pissed me off.  The whole thing is to add storm water drainage and plantings and whatever...  and so the first thing they did was cut down the trees that were living in little islands in the midst of all that asphalt.  Fuckers.  Cut down trees in order to plant trees.  Don't people understand that trees are living things that have as much right to exist as we do?  I feel a rant coming on...

The Farmer's Markets have been fantastic this year.  I have lost count of how many jars of jam I have made so far this year.  Well over 100.  That makes me happy!  We also put up two dozen jars of pickles.  This year we did the hot brine to refrigerator method rather than the water bath method.  The pickles are fantastic!  We bought a small fridge for the basement and it is chock full.  But now, we are worried.  The pickles are so good that we'll surely run out before cucumber season comes back.  Might have to make another dozen jars...

I crashed on my bike last week.  It was on the East Bank Esplanade, where the switchback from the transit center, the East Bank bikeway and the Steel Bridge bikeway all come together.  Another gal and I got our signals crossed and ran into each other.  Then, a woman behind me crashed trying to avoid us.  It was a mess.  Fortunately, no one was badly hurt ~ including our bikes.  I took Helen in to the bike shop to be checked out and she is just fine.  Well, they said she's fine and I rode to work today but she definitely feels a little loose in the front end.  I'll be keeping an eye on her, that's for sure.  Wrecked my front basket, though.  I'll need to replace that.

The new bridge across the Willamette is coming along, and the University buildings beside it.  According to new releases, the first phase of the school buildings will open next fall.  The year after that the Dental School will take up residence there.  What will happen to the dental school building on the Hill?  Probably tear it down and build something bigger.  The bridge itself is slated to be completed in the fall of 2015.  It will serve light rail, pedestrians and bicycles.

The grass at Waterfront Park is being rehabbed.  Large chunks of the park are fenced off to get the grass back in shape.  We use this park a lot and the grass really takes a beating.  There's still the Race for the Cure coming up, but I think this year it will be down at the other end of the park, near River Place.  The geese are loving the new grass!

Well, that's it for now, gentle reader.  I'll try harder to stay up to date on the doings of pdx...

Lloyd Center follow up

Well, all I had to do was check the Lloyd Center website...

Seems that it will remain a parking lot, just a better parking lot.  Hmm.... a missed opportunity there, I think.
Here's what they say is happening:

The parking lot renovation happening in the Regal Cinema parking lot includes pedestrian connection, new landscaping, rain gardens and new and improved lighting.

At least there's new landscaping and rain gardens going in.  That's a good thing.

Lloyd Cinema stuff

What is happening in the Lloyd Cinema parking lot???

I DON'T KNOW!

There is construction fencing around almost the whole thing and giant equipment is digging up the pavement.  It looks very much like there is a large building planned for the space.  It's being dug up in the north-west corner of the lot (by the bus stop).

If they were smart, they would invest in a pay parking lot.  Tons of people park there to take the Max to work or to walk to their jobs in the Lloyd District.  Illegally park there, I might add.  I can be sanctimonious about it since I don't do it...  :-)  But, really, if you think about it, they can charge anywhere from $5 to $12 per day, and an attendant would only cost about $80 per day.  If they put in spaces for say, 300 cars, it would make money hand over fist.

Not sure what is going on, but believe me, I'll be keeping an eye on this one!