Sunday, February 19, 2012

Yesterday, Peter Kevin went out to run some errands and came back with an armload of carnations.  I put them into bunches and then posed them with the penguin I made for him several years ago.  He's made with black velveteen and white satin and a beautiful embroidered velvet vest. 

I don't remember where I found the pattern but he came out really well.  He lives on our dresser.

The rest of last week passed quickly and on Friday we had our annual Talent Show for clients and staff.  It's always the week of Valentine's Day and always well attended. 

I was determined to take time out of the paperwork and phone calls and go.  I'm so glad I did, otherwise I would have missed this

We have a large Asian component to our services and they performed a Dragon Dance complete with drumming.  It was wonderful.

Unfortunately, I can't show you any of the other photos I took due to confidentiality issues but you'll just have to take my word for the fact that a fun time was had by all. 

I served lunch and clapped and danced and had a ball.  It was a perfect way to end the week.  I even managed to get things in order for Monday's clinics so it's all good.

I met Pk at the diner after he got done toasting a coworker who is leaving (with three job offers, an unheard of situation in these economic times) and we had a quiet dinner. 

The chores were done yesterday so today we are free to persue our hobbies.  I'm going to play around with some alpaca that I have washed and now have to card and see how it spins up.  If I don't like it, I won't bother washing and carding anymore of it.  It's a bag of alpaca that I bought two years ago at an Alpaca Fest for what at the time seemed like a good price.  However, it's not much of a savings if I don't like the way it cards and spins.  It's better to pay for well prepped fleece than buy some chopped pieces that I don't like.

I was going to take it to Em's and use the drum carder she got for Christmas but haven't gotten there yet so I'm relying on my limited skills with hand cards.

Pk is going to brave the cold (they took the wintry mix out of the forecast but it's still cold) and play around in the garage.  Right now, he's on his way to the bakery to get us some donuts.  It's been ages and we're feeling indulgent.  I'm going to cook some scrapple and eggs for breakfast. 

Scrapple is one of those things that you either love or hate.  It's a local thing .

Scrapple, also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name pon haus,[1][2] is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices. The mush is formed into a semi-solid congealed loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then panfried before serving. Scraps of meat left over from butchering, not used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste. Scrapple is best known as a rural American food of the Mid-Atlantic states (Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland). Scrapple and pon haus are commonly considered an ethnic food of the Pennsylvania Dutch, including the Mennonites and Amish. Scrapple is found in supermarkets throughout the region in both fresh and frozen refrigerated cases.
(photo and definition from wikipedia)

I slice the scrapple and lightly flour it and then fry it in a bit of oil.  It's good with syrup on it.  My mother used to serve it for dinner when I was a kid and I hated it (with a hot hot passionate hate).  As an adult, I like it but only for breakfast and only drenched in syrup.  Pk loves it and so we have it a few times a year.  It's probably not the healthiest thing to eat.......

Living in this area, we have a lot of dishes that are Mennonite/Amish in origin.  One of our other favorites is Mennonite Chicken.  The chicken pieces are floured ( seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika) and put into a cast iron frying pan.  Margarine is melted and poured over the top and the whole thing is put into the oven until it's brown and crispy.  The chicken is removed and some flour is added to the pan with some broth and it's thickened to gravy which is then flavored with sour cream.  It's truly delicious but once again. not terribly healthy.  These are things that we eat sparingly but they're real comfort food. 

This will be a short work week for us.  We have no plans for Thursday but Friday is the Art Museum.  I am so looking forward to it.  It's as much a gift for myself as for Peter Kevin. 

Enjoy your Sunday.

9 comments:

amy said...

Enjoying it! My kids have a shortened February vacation week due to make-up days from Irene, but we're planning to visit an art museum one of those days too. I visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam but wouldn't pass up a chance to go see an exhibit here, either. Have fun!

Galad said...

My great grandmother worked for a Pennsylvania Dutch family and learned how to cook all those wonderful, fat laden foods.

My mother did corn meal mush without the pork that was sliced and fried. I also hated it with a burning passion as a kid but have never made it as an adult. So many other things to waste my calories on :-)

Bells said...

I think scrapple sounds quite tasty! I love a loaf of any kind - and it sounds like it's the kind of dish that you make as a way to use up left overs.

The penguin is adorable! He's quite handsome.

roxie said...

I read a mystery story once where woman killed her husband by feeding him fried food and red meat, and nagging him to exercise till he keeled over with a heart attack. That's food for folks who do physical labor all day long. And oh, it tastes SO GOOD!!

Scrapple actually sounds quite yummy. I have helped make head cheese, and then ate it, so a little scrapple or haggis or whatever - if you fry it was bacon and onions, I'll eat it up!

Melodye said...

I love scrapple! We eat it the way you make it, but with grits and eggs!

Melodye said...

I love scrapple! We eat it the way you make it, but with grits and eggs!

Olivia said...

That penguin is lovely, I especially noticed his detailed feet.

Amy Lane said...

I gained five pounds just READING the recipe for Scrapple.

I saw your post on going to the museum-- I've been being an art docent for my children, and I SO LOVE learning about the art and the artists... it's been a lot of fun for me, and going to the museum sounds very cool!

Connelrtha said...

It holds enough to use during the night in advance of on auto-pilot turning down. 1 cup icing sugar; sifted While; with a traditional wood fireplace, people had to clean up not only the bark and dirt fall off, but also the ashes from burning.

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting here working on my sweater made with the cashmere yarn my husband gave me for my birthday last year. I’m further...