Author: Robinne Weiss

Excellent Chocolate Cake Recipe

/ Robinne Weiss / 1 Comment

2016-11-10-21-26-12-smIf you made my pumpkin cupcake recipe last week, you’ll have leftover cream cheese frosting. Here’s another amazing cake to use that leftover icing on. This comes straight from the 1997 edition of Joy of Cooking. It is an odd recipe, and making it takes more bowls than any other cake I’ve ever made. But it’s worth the extra washing up—rich and chocolaty!

 

In bowl #1, combine:
1 cup sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ cup buttermilk or yogurt

In bowl #2, combine:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

In bowl #3, combine:

½ cup buttermilk or yogurt
1 tsp vanilla

In bowl #4 (a large one), cream:
8 Tbsp (125 g) unsalted butter, softened

Gradually add and beat on high speed until light in colour and texture:
1 cup sugar

Beat in 1 at a time:
2 eggs

Beat in the cocoa mixture. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk mixture. Spoon into greased and floured pans (makes 2 9×2-in layers), or paper lined muffin tins (makes about 18).

Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-25 min for cake, 25 min for cupcakes.

Silent No More

/ Robinne Weiss / 2 Comments

I have been trying to stay quiet during this election season. The rancorous debate over which candidate was less evil didn’t need one more angry voice shouting. But I was reminded today by my fellow writers that we have a moral obligation to be the voice that describes a different world. A world that celebrates diversity. A world in which everyone is safe, and free, and has food, housing, and health care. A world in which racism and sexism are not tolerated. A world in which people care about one another—not just about those who look like themselves and who worship the same god, but about the sum total of humanity. A world in which people think and act for the good of the planet, not just for today, but for the future.

It is our obligation to imagine such a world.

It is our obligation to remind the world of our own sad history, and ring the alarm bells when we see Hitler rise again. It is our obligation to bare the subtle ugliness in today’s world for all to see, and to imagine how it could be different.

But it’s not just writers who have an obligation to speak up. It’s time for everyone who values diversity to stand and be counted.

That Trump rose to the presidency on a platform of hate is a damning indictment of American culture. A culture that stands silent as it watches injustice, prejudice, and hate play out in myriad subtle and not-so-subtle ways. We can no longer remain silent. It is time to point out the hate wherever it shows itself. It is time to stop accepting that ‘haters gonna hate’.

What does that mean, from a practical standpoint? It means being brave. It means withdrawing financial and other support for organisations that perpetuate racism and sexism. It means speaking up when a friend or co-worker says something dismissive about ‘others’. It means banishing your own hateful thoughts and actions (because we all have them). It means volunteering your time to help those in need. It means lobbying your legislators. It means getting involved in your own local politics.

It will take so many actions, little and big, subtle and overt, to change the culture of hate. None of us can do it alone. But I know we are not alone. From my vantage point here in New Zealand, I know that much of the world is with us. Let us do them together. Don’t wait for the new year to make your resolutions. Make them now. Stand firm. Speak out. Imagine a world of love, and make it so.

Ripgut Brome

/ Robinne Weiss / 2 Comments

2016-11-08-16-14-49Ripgut brome. How can you not be curious about a plant named ripgut brome?

I was certainly curious, after it took over my yard this spring. I’ve hauled countless wheelbarrow loads of ripgut brome to the compost pile, and I’m still finding it everywhere.

Ripgut brome (Bromus diandrus) is an annual grass native to the Mediterranean region. It probably arrived in New Zealand as a contaminant in grain, or in the wool of imported sheep. It’s a tall, sprawling plant, and seems to spring up overnight to suddenly form a dense thicket anywhere that isn’t regularly mown or grazed.

The leaves of ripgut brome are rough, and feel like sandpaper on bare legs and arms. They leave countless, fine scratches like paper cuts on the unwary weeder.

But the worst part of ripgut brome is the seed. Sharp, and covered in little hooks, the seeds catch and burrow into animals’ fur, eyes, skin, feet and intestines (I assume that’s where the name ripgut comes from).

And like all good weeds, it produces copious seeds (over 3000 per plant), aggressively outcompetes other plants, and is drought tolerant. It has also evolved herbicide resistance in some areas.

There’s only one thing for it on our property—to pull it up before the seeds mature. The good news is, that it’s got a shallow root system, so it’s not difficult to pull. The bad news is that it covers almost every inch of our acre and a half.

Sisyphus had it easy…

Rain

/ Robinne Weiss / Leave a comment

2016-02-24-20-57-32I wake
To the sound of rain.

It is not morning.

It is the rain
That has dragged me from sleep.

No.

Not dragged.

It has nudged me awake
Accidentally
Like my husband does
When he comes to bed
(Night owl that he is,
And me an early riser).

Like my husband,
The rain has lain down beside me.
A comfort,
Knowing he is there,
Knowing the rain is there
Watering the garden,
Making the grass grow in the paddock,
Tamping down the dust.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

/ Robinne Weiss / 4 Comments

2016-11-06-13-47-06-smIt’s been a cupcake sort of week here. I would hesitate to post yet another cupcake blog, but these are so seasonal for many of you, that I will anyway.

While you in the Northern Hemisphere are enjoying the autumn pumpkin harvest fresh, I’m trying to clear out the last of the frozen pumpkin puree from the freezer to make way for the peas that will soon be pouring in.

What better way to use pumpkin than in cake?

This recipe is adapted from a pumpkin cake recipe in King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking.

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 cup barley flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp allspice
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups cooked, pureed pumpkin

Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil, and sugar until it’s the consistency of mayonnaise. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the pumpkin, then the dry ingredients.

Spoon into paper-lined cupcake tins. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes.

Cool completely, then frost with cream cheese frosting and decorate with crystallised ginger.

If you want to bake this as a cake, be sure to line your pans with parchment—the barley flour makes for a very fragile cake—and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Frosting:

1 package (250g/8 oz) cream cheese, softened
85 g (6 Tbsp, 3 oz) butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups icing sugar

Beat the cheese, butter, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar. If the icing is too stiff, add milk by the teaspoon until it reaches the right spreading consistency (I generally don’t need to add any milk).

 

The Best Laid Plans…

/ Robinne Weiss / Leave a comment

2016-11-05-16-46-35-smBack in mid-August, I blogged about the to-do lists that get me through spring. I make a list and stick to it. That way, everything gets done.

But what if the plants don’t pay attention to the list?

I try to maintain consistency from year to year, and I document planting dates, plant-out dates, potting-up dates. So I know that if I plant my first batch of corn in trays on the 15th of October, it will be just ready to plant out on Canterbury weekend (around the 15th of November).

But this year, the corn was ready to plant out by the 30th of October.

The corn bed wasn’t ready yet. It’s always the last one I prepare, because it’s usually the last one to be planted out. I took the trays of corn seedlings out of my office, so they would have chilly nights to slow down their growth.

It didn’t help. The corn kept growing at a ridiculous rate.

I considered planting the corn in the beds designated for pumpkins, because they were ready. But that would have meant planting pumpkins in the same beds they were in last year. I had a lot of pest problems in those beds last year—I’d be foolish to plant the same crop there again this year.

Last weekend I got frantic. If I didn’t get the corn out to the garden in the next week, it would die in those trays.

Wednesday, I quit work at 2 pm and started preparing the beds. I got them weeded, and the soil turned. Then I realised I was going to need to turn the compost pile in order to get compost for those beds.

Turning the compost pile usually takes at least two weekends of back-breaking work.

This morning, I started on the compost pile around 6.30 am. By the time I’d turned a third of it into the empty compost bay, I was completely exhausted. And I’d only managed to get five wheelbarrow loads of compost for the corn (I really wanted nine).

So I compromised. Five loads of compost would have to be enough. I turned it in, raked the soil smooth and called the beds done. The corn was all in the ground before lunch. Whew!

Of course, it’s a week early. I have learned the hard way not to plant out too early here. My garden sits in a frost pocket. Chances are, the corn will get nipped by frost, but it was either that or watch them die in trays. Crossing my fingers and hoping for warm weather!

On-the-Fly Spinach Tart

/ Robinne Weiss / Leave a comment

2016-11-04-18-25-58-smMy plan was an easy dinner tonight. I’d been saving a few artichokes—letting them get big, so we could have steamed whole artichokes. I figured I’d make a salad with some leftover cous cous in the fridge, and maybe fry up some tofu crusted with herbs and parmesan cheese. Quick and easy.

Then I went to the garden and saw the spinach. Beautiful, glossy leaves, loving the bit of rain we’ve had recently. There was so much of it, I couldn’t resist.

So instead of a quick, easy meal, I made a spinach tart to go with those artichokes.

Dinner was a little late, but it was well worth it. There wasn’t a crumb left when we were through.

Trying to work quickly, I didn’t bother looking for a recipe. Here’s what I did.

I made a standard pie crust—enough for a single-crust pie. I rolled it out and lined my tart pan, then put it in the fridge to chill while I prepared the filling.

For the filling, I used:

Fresh spinach (maybe 1kg (2 lbs), coarsely chopped)

Fresh chives (a good handful, chopped)

Fresh dill weed (4 Tbsp, chopped)

1 cup grated goat cheddar

4 large eggs

salt and pepper to taste

I cooked the spinach and chives with a few tablespoons of olive oil until the spinach was well cooked, and most of the water had boiled off. I removed it to a bowl to cool. When it was cool enough to handle, I squeezed more water out of the spinach, and drained it off. (You want the spinach pretty dry, to keep the crust from getting soggy.)

I mixed in the dill, cheese, eggs, and salt and pepper, then poured the mix into the prepared crust. I baked it at 190°C (375°F) for about 40 minutes. I let it cool ten minutes before serving.

Instant Peanut Butter Cupcakes

/ Robinne Weiss / Leave a comment

2016-11-03-07-54-46-smI have always used the Mennonite Community Cookbook peanut butter cupcake recipe in the past. It makes a good, peanutty cupcake.

I had my mind on peanut butter cupcakes yesterday, but I had pulled out several cookbooks, to see if anything else caught my eye. I ran across this recipe in the 1997 edition of Joy of Cooking, and had to try it. It was perfect for my needs—I was only starting my baking at 9 pm, and needed something quick to make. But surely, this couldn’t work—no separate mixing of wet and dry ingredients, no beating air into the butter, just throw it all together…

Combine in a food processor:

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup brown sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ cup milk
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup chocolate chips

Pulse for a few seconds to mix. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Pulse until smooth. Fill cupcake tins two-thirds full (I poured the batter directly from the food processor bowl) and bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes.

I was dubious, but the result was fantastic—pretty cupcakes that taste great! Of course, cleaning the food processor takes a lot longer than cleaning a mixing bowl and beaters, but the speed at which I got the cupcakes into the oven was worth the extra cleaning.

A New Gardening Lexicon

/ Robinne Weiss / Leave a comment
A nice tidy rolag.

A nice tidy rolag.

I’ve noticed that the world of extreme gardening doesn’t have a very good vocabulary. There just aren’t the words to express the particular situations, actions, and states one experiences.

So I’ve developed my own gardening lexicon, to try to fill that gap in the English language. Here are a few of my words:

Chook—verb. To toss something to the chickens. E.g.: Just chook those weeds—they like them.

Chookable—adjective. Suitable for the chickens to eat. E.g.: Those weeds are chookable.

Dinger—noun. A rock in the soil, accidentally struck by a gardening tool.

Goat—verb. To toss something to the goats. E.g.: Goat these branches—they like them.

Goatable—adjective. Suitable for the goats to eat. E.g.: Those branches are goatable.

Grunter—noun. A weed that requires significant effort (and usually a tool) to pull.

Hum-dinger—noun. A particularly large rock in the soil, accidentally struck by a gardening tool.

Pop bead—noun. Insect pest. Name comes from the sound it makes when squished between the fingers.

Rolag—noun. A term borrowed from weaving. Weeds that have been hoed into a tidy roll, ready to be lifted into the wheelbarrow or thrown on the compost heap.

Squeaker—noun. A nest of mice, when overturned accidentally by a shovel or spading fork.

Superman tree—noun. A tree or shrub that looks difficult to cut, but is actually easy to cut, making the cutter feel like Superman. (See also Wonder Woman weed)

Twitch light—noun. Couch grass with unusually fine runners.

Twitch-on-steroids—noun. Couch grass with unusually thick runners.

Twitch-headed—adjective. Having weeded so much that you see weeds when you close your eyes.

Wonder Woman weed—noun. A weed that looks like a grunter, but is actually easy to pull out, and makes the weeder feel like Wonder Woman. (See also Superman tree)