2022 Hats of the Month

Hat Challenge

2022! A new year but I'm facing the same old pattern of staying home a lot during these winter months. So, I decided to challenge myself to knit two hats each month. Why hats? In a northern climate, warm hats are definitely always useful. Also, hats do not require a lot of yarn, so I could use up wool in my stash to make these.  I would also end the year with a lot of hats that I could give as gifts to friends and family.

In addition, I decided that each hat should represent a different style or pattern so I didn't just end the year with a lot of watch caps! Depending on the pattern and gauge (yarn and needle size) that you choose, some hats can be knit in a day or two. Others, obviously, will take more time.  I added to my criteria that I should try to use a variety of needle sizes and weights of yarn during the year.

FEBRUARY

Hat 1. Elizabeth Zimmerman's Heart Hat

February features Valentine’s Day, so it is a month for hearts. My first project of February is Elizabeth Zimmerman’s “Heart Hat.” I knit this hat many times for my daughter when she was young. I have also given it as gifts and it is always a hit! 

                                           

A word about Elizabeth Zimmerman.

Elizabeth Zimmerman is a legendary knitter born in the U.K. but living most of  her adult life in Wisconsin in the United States. Considered a revolutionary knitter, she advocated for using round, flexible needles rather than rigid, straight needles that had been the norm. Zimmerman also tried to avoid endless finishing after the knitting was complete, especially sewing up seams, as well as to avoid purling, so knit most projects in garter stitch. She developed a yoke sweater pattern that was almost all knit 'in the round,' (on round needles.) She also helped to re-introduce 'picking' (Continental knitting) to American knitters who had learned the 'throwing' method. Some of her methods like 'I-cord', the Mobius scarf, the Baby Surprise Jacket and designing your own sweater are iconic Zimmerman contributions to knitting. Her book “Knitting without Tears” explains her method of sweater design that creates a knit item that fits.

I met Elizabeth Zimmerman in 1983 at a workshop of hers in Minneapolis and found her straight-forward, quirky and totally delightful. She signed my "Knitting Workshop" book with the sentiment, "Strick mit Freude." (If mobile phones had been around, I would have a photo to show off, too!) The book has many tips on knitting and the Heart Hat is featured (p. 107) as a project that uses I-cord as a border and for the ties for the hat. I-cord, indeed, makes a great border but can only be used successfully on garter stitch edges.

                                   

The Heart Hat pattern can be found in Wool Gathering (Elizabeth Zimmerman and Meg Swanson) entitled Five Hats, 1979 (for $1!) As somewhat of pack rat, I kept my "Wool Gathering" newsletters and I still go back to them for patterns.

                                     

Hat 2. African Motif Knitting 

When you search for the origins of knitting, historians look to knitted fragments and their place of origin. Knitted apparel like socks probably originated in Egypt between 500 to 1200 A.D. or Eastern Syria in the same period. Archeological finds in what is now England suggest that knitting spread to the islands around 1400 A.D. In Norway, remains of knitting garments date back to 1476 to 1525. Although the origins of knitting are what we call the Middle East, now most knitters look to the patterns and techniques of the British Isles, Scandinavia or South America. 

Taking a step away from these traditional knitting patterns, I looked for African or Egyptian motifs to knit into my second February hat. Lisa McFetridge, a designer on Ravelry, had designed a hat called "Out of Africa," which included two Andinkra motifs from the west coast of Africa along with other tribal motifs and surrounded them with bright hues such as those found in African printed fabric. 

Of course, this is not in anyway an "African" hat, but it does offer motifs other than snowflakes and reindeer and showcase symbols and motifs from the continent where knitting most likely began.

JANUARY

Hat 1.Mosaic Knitting (ala Barbara Walker Phillips)

My first hat of the month and year already had a destination--a hat for a friend. I chose a design using mosaic knitting, which means that you slip stitches and never knit with more that one color. I chose this method because I wanted to incorporate a couple of colors but didn't know if I had enough of the main color, a worsted weight wool in a deep violet. In mosaic knitting, you can achieve a colorwork appearance without carrying both yarns along the back. 

The pattern is adapted from a Ravelry pattern (Rainbow Maze Hat by Balls to the Walls Knits). However, instead of using sport weight yarn and size 4 needles, I used worsted weight yarn with size 8 needles and cast on 96 stitches. This works fine for the 6 stitch repeat pattern. I have made two hats so far adding contrasting colors in shades of blue, green and purple and a pompom in the main color. The hats generally only take a couple of days complete. 

Mosaic Hat with Pompom

Hat 2. Shetland Wool Week Kep 2021

Shetland Wool Week, according to the website, is a "world-renowned celebration of Britain's most northerly native sheep, the Shetland textile industry and the rural farming community on these islands." 

A note about the Shetland Islands. Some of you may watch the BBC detective series "Shetland," which is an introduction to the beautiful landscape and wildness of the area of bays and cliffs. The Shetland Islands are actually about 100 islands, fewer than 20 of them are inhabited, in Scotland. Crofters, or small famers, with a few acres of land, can graze sheep in the common grazing areas. The Shetland breed of sheep produces fine wool that is spun and knitted into distinctive patterns known as Shetland and Fair Isle. 

For the last sever years, Shetland Wool Week has celebrated with new patterns, including a free hat pattern, posted online. The pattern this year is "Da Crofter's Kep," designed by Wilma Malcolmson. I bought a kit that included the needed amount of Shetland Wool in these natural colors from Curlee Acres, a small Shetland sheep farm in nearby Wisconsin.

I really enjoy stranded colorwork knitting (also known as Shetland or Fair Isle) and this project gives row after row of color change, but usually never more than two per row. It is knit on size 2 or 3  (U.S.) stitches, so it takes awhile, but it's a small project and the color patterns keep the knitter motivated.                                                                                                                                       

New colorway in alpaca wool

One feature of these hats is the star that appears at the top when it is complete. It is always amazing to see this take place as you finish all the decreases in the pattern.

These hats can be knit in different shades of natural Shetland wool or similar weight fingering or light sport yarn in alpaca or merino wool. Of course, wool from Shetland sheep is the most appropriate for these 'keps' and mine came from Curlee Acres Farm in Centuria,Wisconsin. You can order Shetland wool and patterns online from them. Using a different colorway will give a distinctive effect, but all of them are beautiful.

Completed kit from Curlee Acres Farm

Knitting Selbu Norwegian mittens for Norway House exhibit

In the summer of 2021, through a group of neighborhood knitters I know, I was asked if I wanted to knit a Norwegian (Selbu) mitten for an exhibit along with others from the group. The mitten patterns came from the book "Mittens from Around Norway" by Nina Granlund Saether and would be part of an exhibit at Norway House later that year.. Scandinavian knitting was one of the styles that I had not attempted much in my knitting career. I had knit mittens from "The Swedish Mitten Book" by I. and I. Gottfridsson and also from Lizbeth Upitis' "Latvian Mittens." Now, I really wanted to try Norwegian mittens, a style on my bucket list of knitting styles, so I signed on to the project. I chose a typical black and white Selbu pattern from the book.

A note about Norway House, the organization creating and planning the exhibit. It is a Minnesota business and cultural organization that encourages and supports connections between Norway and the U.S. This cultural organization exists because about 16.5 of Minnesota's population claims Norwegian ancestry (2009 data, Wikipedia) The exhibit of the mittens from Saether's book, which would all be knit by local knitters, was planned for sometime in 2021, or 2022, as it turned out.

I received the pattern and wool in May, 2021 with a deadline of August. The wool, Rauma Finullgarn, is produced in northern Norway.

Norwegian Wool

 

The pattern I knit is called "Selbu Mittens with a Flower Border," page 132 of the book. It calls for a gauge of 7 sts to the inch and I used size 2 dp (U.S.) needles to get that gauge. After I received the pattern and the yarn, I got busy right away, not knowing how long these mittens would take.

A Glitch in Chart 1

There's nothing that throws a knitter more than a mistake in the pattern. "Blind knitters," an Elizabeth Zimmerman expression, expect to follow the pattern without any problems. This pattern begins with the cuff, which is folded under and stitched down to create a double layer of warmth at the wrist. However, when I got to the first pattern row on Chart 1 of this pattern, I was short one stitch. After tearing back and reknitting rows, I had to consider a mistake in the pattern, so I counted the repeats and the stitches in the chart. I even asked a fellow knitter to check the pattern. Sure enough, a 4-stitch pattern that repeats 18 times would add up to 72 stitches. However, there are only 71 stitches on Chart 1, so I would have to adjust to make the flower pattern work. Remember to question the pattern, trusting knitters!

After this little glitch, the rest of the pattern is accurate and the knitting progressed easily albeit slowly as I had to continue to check the pattern. After finishing the right-handed mitten, the pattern says to make a "mirror image" for the left mitten. At first, that might seem to be a confusing instruction, but it just means read the pattern from left to right (instead of right to left, as is normal).

Just the thumbs left!

I finished the hands of both mittens and only had to cast on for the thumb of each and complete those patterns at the same time. There is a contrasting pattern on the palm side of the mitten. The mittens were done well before the August deadline, which was later extended to November as the exhibit was moved to the winter with an opening date of January 22nd, 2022.

Strikkekos

The website for Norway House refers to this Norwegian mitten exhibit using the Norwegian term "strikkekos." This translates to "the feeling of coziness and conviviality that comes with contented knitting. Also, the act itself." What a great word to summarize the contentment that knitters feel when working on a project. German has a term "strickfreude", but I think "strikkekos" sums up my experience knitting these lovely mittens just perfectly.

The Temperature Scarf

The beginning of 2021--with the shadow of Covid still hanging over us--some neighborhood knitters put forward the idea of knitting a temperature blanket. This would give us a daily knitting goal when life's goals were focused primarily on staying well. It would also create a lasting memory of this year that would be a kind of knitted history. In fact, I dreaded the forced isolation of Covid and winter together, so signed on to knit a temperature project of some sort to motivate my daily knitting.

Much conversation was given over to this project--whether a blanket, scarf, shawl or whatever. Should it be only highs or both highs and lows? Should you indicate the days, weeks or months? How about precipitation? Barometric pressure? How many rows? colors? patterns? Everyone came up with a different alternative for noting the temperature of the 365 long days of 2021.

Knit a temperature scarf! That was my choice. The blanket-sized project seemed too big and would require too much yarn. The scarf, however, would be doable if very long...365 x 2 (down and back for a row) or 730 total rows. I planned to use leftover Britannia Shetland wool from ages ago and Felted Tweed by Rowan with some other yarns of similar weight and appropriate colors. Also, I chose just to indicate high temperatures and used a zig-zag pattern to indicate the ups and downs of temperatures in Minnesota. I inserted a black row between every week. I had no idea at the time how far up the summer would go or how far down the temps in February.

Off I started! I noted the day and checked the temperature and chose my colors. January was a decently moderate month for winter in Minnesota with temps in the 20s and 30s Fahrenheit.

February would show up with 10 days of the darker, more frigid side of Minnesota staying mostly in the single digits or below zero temperatures. From the 5th to the 15th, we ranged between -3 to 6 for the highs. I had no nice blues or purples so opted for gray and dark gray. These colors seemed appropriate for the mood of biting cold.

                        

Soon, winter gave over to spring, and that brought a change in hues from blue and gray to greens. That spring Easter was April 4th and it was a lovely, warm day of  77 degrees. Easter Monday was 83! You can see these are knit in bright red--a spring miracle, indeed!

                      

It was a long, hot summer. On June 1st, summer showed up with a vengeance when it hit 80 degrees. Days of 80s and 90s are knit in yellow, red and hot pink and account for much of the summer temperatures up until September 19th! There were a few days in the 70s, which are the greens.

             

In its turn, autumn arrived with a somewhat subdued color spectrum due to the very hot, dry summer.

                

After a year long endeavor, I ask myself why I did I do this? I have created an extremely long scarf that is not really useable in its current form.  Many yarn ends also remain to be woven in...a project for 2022, I guess! Maybe it could be converted to a body wrap, as a FB friend suggested, or a poncho or shawl? 

My takeaways from this knitting challenge were threefold: 1) I can follow through on a project for an entire year! 2) Every day is a link in the chain of experience and all are equally valuable. 3) The year 2021 had its ups and downs, hot and dry periods, and the Minnesota extremes, a year like most.

Update the Look of the Traditional HBC Blanket with Bold New Colors

That iconic blanket, the Hudson Bay Company's Point Blanket, or Trapper blanket, with its green, red, yellow and dark blue stripes on a off-white background, is an iconic image in the history of trading posts in North America. The blankets first appeared in Canada in the 1700s and were very popular with uses as bedding, a kind of currency and robes. 

Sadly, rumors about the use of bedding to spread smallpox to indigenous populations created a dark side to the HBC blanket. Although research has not conclusively linked the blanket to this practice, the shadow of these rumors falls over all blankets and bedding traded during that time, especially in Canada.

As the picture shows, the look of the wool blanket is very appealing with its clean, bold stripes standing out from the off-white background. 

Now you can create a version of this blanket with traditional or 21st century colors. The blanket can be easily knit or crocheted. The pattern given is for knitting the blanket in garter stitch.

I was interested in updating this look with a new color scheme. I chose to use a gray background with off-white, yellow, red and blue stripes to give it a fresh new look.

The dimensions of this blanket or throw is 31" x 31". It was knit out of Berroco Vintage Chunky wool on size 10 (US) round needles. The main color choice was smoke gray (6106) and the contrasting stripes were mochi/off-white (6101), Kingfisher blue (6158), orange (6140) and Sunny/yellow (6121). 

The directions are as follows:

Cast on 118 stitches

Hint on row edge: Slip the first stitch knit-wise at the beginning of EVERY row for an edge with a tighter bump, or slip purl-wise WTYF (with the yard in front) for smooth edge.

Knit all the rows as follows:

Knit rows 1-20 in grey. Knit every row ending on a wrong side row. 

Knit next 10 rows in off-white.

Knit next 10 rows in gray.

Knit next 10 rows in mustard yellow.

Knit next 10 rows in gray.

Knit next 10 rows in orange.

Knit next 10 rows in gray.

Knit next 10 rows in blue.

Knit next 40 rows in gray (middle of blanket.

Reverse these rows to finish the blanket.

When buying wool, you will need at least two skeins for each contrasting color and five to six of the main gray color. If you want to make it larger or smaller, adjust the amount of wool accordingly.

Enjoy this project!

On the Edge in the Co-op

Edginess, here meaning offbeat or fringe, is a trait I admire.  Without people who think differently or perceive things in a different way, or in a 21st Century term, "outside the box," innovation would die. Where would we be without those thinkers who were seen as "out of the mainstream", like Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin or Florence Nightingale and Susan B. Anthony?

Take the modern cooperative--started in the 1970s--as an example of an edgy idea. A cooperative

Co-op Ideals

initially organized to get better prices on bulk items (flour, oats, etc.) for its members, which could be anyone, and any surplus was turned back to the members. These still are part of the modern cooperative, but the 21st Century cooperative now goes well beyond the basic ideas of banding together for better prices to include supporting organic farmers, beef farmers who feed their herds grass, sustainable fisheries, local entrepreneurs, and more.

When I first joined the Lakewinds co-op in 1990, I was one of the first 1500 members. In an area of tens of thousands of people, only 1500 had chosen to support the future of food--'clean' food unrelated to the greater "food industry." I cut cheese, re-filled bulk containers, swept floors, washed containers, and watched as more and more people rejected the American food industry and embraced the co-cop ideal.  Now, there are tens of thousands of members in the co-op system and Lakewinds has three different stores.

The 'edge' is also an important concept when shopping. At the co-op the other day--a store that I visit all too frequently--I realized why I like its small size and compactness so much: it's mostly an "edge" store. 

Co-op Foods

What's that you ask.  If you think about the layout of the typical American grocery store, the edge consists of produce, meat, dairy, bakery, bulk area, and maybe a deli or frozen food area. That's really all you need.

What comes in between those edges are freezers and aisles of boxes, bags and cans of, mostly, things we don't need and could easily do without.  Okay, maybe some cleaning products are useful, or olive oil.  But you see what I mean.  The edge is essential.  The middle of the store is mostly superfluous.

So hence the word "edgy" takes on another meaning when it comes to food and shopping.  I like to eat "edgy", to coin a phrase.

Whether in ideas, shopping or people, the edge may be what we need the most.

The Gifts of the Cold

The winter cold surrounds us and leaks in through the key holes and cracks in the window frames. Embrace the cold and consider its many gifts. Cold has cleansing power and opportunities for renewal. You know the crispness of air so cold that it stings--it brings a sense of raw purity.  

Cold lets you be. When my international students ask me what to do in the winter, I quickly present a list of outdoor activities from skating to snow-shoeing. But in the blessed sub-zero cold, you have to stop much doing and focus on just being. Enjoy the gift of limited choices and quiet periods the cold presents you. 

Cold brings us clarity. We respect the cold. During long periods at home, matters are clearly defined.  Is there enough food for another day? Will the car start? Are the pipes frozen? Should I bring in more wood for the fire? Have I fed the birds and deer who gather around my bird feeder? Do I have a good book and my knitting? Am I wearing wool socks? Beyond these considerations, life waits for spring.

Cold encourages you to seek heat. Consider that deer sleep in the day in a sunny spot and move more at night. Their metabolism slows to maintain heat. So we gather around the fire or find a sun-filled corner to restfully soak in the heat of the sun.

Cold created introverts. The cold of winter requires you to retreat indoors, and the long nights of winter propel you further inward. These long periods with only a family member or two, a pet, or maybe no one for company create the perfect climate for losing yourself in yourself.  Those from northern climes guard their emotions and speech while those from warmer, southern climates effuse about life. The cold shaped those self-sufficient northern personalities who depend on the isolation of the winter to recharge. 

A Russian friend of mine told about her friend who walks no matter the cold temperatures or wind chill. To her, there is no such thing as cold weather—only bad clothes. Similarly, to me, cold brings no hardship--only gifts of peace, clarity and renewal. Embrace the opportunity to hug the fire and your loved ones. Let the rays of the winter sun lull you to sleep in quiet revelry.

Lemoncello Almonds

Now, I've lived a number of years, maybe not all in the greatest culinary awareness, but the last 30 years or so, however, I've lived in a major metropolitan area in the United States, so I've had access to a great variety of ethnic groceries and specialty food shops.  I've also had a chance to travel to many countries, including Austria, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, to name a few.  In that time, I've had a chance to sample a lot of food, main dishes, appetizers, salads, desserts, you name it.  I'm not one to shy away from trying out something new (unless it has been preserved longer than I've had my last toothbrush.)

Anyway, after all these years, imagine my great surprise that I have discovered a confection that ranks as my new #1 sweet sensation.  They are lemon confectionary almonds called "Lemoncello Almonds," and, to put it mildly, they are delicious.  The package describes the candy as "roasted almonds covered in white chocolate and lemon cream."  That's indeed how they taste. I found these in a modest little grocery near my home in a small display--not a specialty grocery or even a candy shop.

The makers of these lemony, white chocolate-covered almonds, the Sconza family of Italian descent, write a bit about their history.  The package explains, "Inspired by the fragrant lemon groves of Sorrento, Italy, the third generation of the Sconza family created this unique and delicious Lemoncello confection to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of their parnets, Jim and Carolyn. Our family promise to you has been the same since 1939, when Vincenzo made the first piece of candy in his kitchen."

Well, imagine that, 1939 and I just discovered them in 2014!  All those years wasted!  Well, at least I found them.  Hats off to Vincenzo who began a wonderful tradition.  I'm anxious to visit Sorrento and inhale some of that lemon aroma wafting through the groves! 

Honestly, this candy is just the right amount of almond, lemon and white chocolate.  If you've given up sugar, reconsider that decision, at least for one package of these.

Warning:  Don't open the package until you are ready to eat them ALL!
Buon appetito!

The Edge

At the co-op the other day, I realized why I like its small size and compactness so much: it's mostly an "edge" store.  Okay. What's that you ask.  If you think about the layout of the typical American grocery store, the edge consists of produce, meat, dairy, bakery, bulk (if it's a co-op) and maybe a deli or frozen food area.  That's really all you need.  What comes in between those edges are aisles and aisles of boxes, bags and cans of, mostly, things we don't need and could easily do without.  Okay, maybe some cleaning products are useful, or olive oil.  But you see what I mean.  The edge is essential.  The middle of the store is mostly superfluous.  So hence the word "edgy" takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to food and shopping.  I like to eat "edgy", to coin a phrase.

This is the question: To turn on the heat or not

Handknit wool socks

It's October in the eternally cold state of Minnesota (well, that's what we let them think.)  The dilemma among the ladies at the knitting group (yes, we knit wool socks to keep warm) tonight was "Did you turn on the heat yet?"  Only hardy souls like those in Minnesota would actually discuss whether it was cold enough to turn on the heat. (The low yesterday evening was in the 40's Fahrenheit.)  Actually, I haven't turned the furnace on officially even though my nose is cold and even my fingers are a bit numb as I type this.  Where does this hesitation to warm up the house come from?  Okay, I must admit that I have tried to warm up my immediate vicinity by making a fire in our fireplace the last two evenings to warm up the living room and then sitting in the easy chair immediately adjacent to it with my  knitting in hand . . . but the bedrooms are cold, for sure.  Let me make a stab at why this is even a topic.

Here is my thinking on the reasons:
We spend a lot of time sitting in natural gas-heated rooms--approximately five or six months or more (depending on whether you turn the furnace off in April or not--but that's another blog).  We just don't want to start drying out our nasal passages this early.
Maybe we just like to feel chilly so that we do have to put on all those self-striping wool socks and Icelandic sweaters that we knit. I quote a woman at knitting tonight, "I'd rather be cold than hot."  Spoken by a true Minnesotan.
Or could it just be that we like to boast that we have NOT TURNED THE FURNACE ON YET to our friends as a kind of badge of honor.  We like to boast that we are tough Minnesotans and can cheerfully endure endless months of cold and snow, no, deep cold and deep snow.  (Well, maybe I do exaggerate a bit on the "cheerfully" part.)  But you get what I mean.
I think I am putting an end to this as I just experienced an internal shiver while proofreading this blog.  I'm turning on the furnace; let the sinuses begin to dry up. Wait, maybe I could just plug in the space heater in the bedroom and wait until November to turn on the furnace?
Where do you stand on this quintessential question of this season?

Ramadan from a Minnesota Perspective

It is about half way through the month of Ramadan and I thought I'd post about the observance of this Islamic month--which many of you probably know as a fasting month.  Since my husband is Muslim, I have had an bird's eye view of the observance of this month from many different angles.

Okay--some of the basics to know.  Ramadan is actually the name of a month  in the Islamic calendar.  One of the pillars of Islam is the obligation to fast from sunrise to sunset during this month. Did you know observant Muslims who are smokers also have to abstain from smoking for that period?  This month also includes more donations to charities by Muslims as well as more social gatherings to break their fast and an opportunity for communal prayer.  These are called Tarawih prayers (taraweeh) and they happen at night during which long parts are recited from the Qur'an.   The pre-dawn meal that most Muslims get up to eat (if they want to function during the next work day!) is called suhoor and the meal to "break your fast" is called iftaar.  The lantern (fanoos) is the symbol of Ramadan (at least in Egypt).  This one is hanging in our porch and I light it at sunset.

If you have ever lived in a predominantly Muslim country during this month, you'll find that the whole month of Ramadan has a decidedly different rhythm from all other months.  Particularly, there are lots of accommodations to help people with fasting.  I noticed that people in Egypt would come to work later and leave earlier or maybe just move office hours to the evening--after the iftaar. Soccer games were scheduled for after iftaar, too.  Likewise with schools--the evening classes I was teaching at the American University in Cairo (AUC) were moved much later in the evening so that a late afternoon and early evening were set aside for people to get home to rest and enjoy iftaar.  This meant I was teaching until 11:00 p.m. at night!

The streets in Cairo come alive after iftaar. The evenings are the time for people to come out to do their shopping, visit friends, go to birthday parties, whatever couldn't be done in the day.  Or, if they stay home, there are specials on television--including serious drama series (like the life of Nasser or Isfahan, the singer) or game shows or stories of 1001 Nights (Alf Leila wa Leila).  Basically, the day gets tipped upside down with lots of activities simply shifted to the nighttime.  Streets are lit with colored lights, and special food is displayed and lanterns are hanging outside merchants' stores waiting to be bought.

Places like the bakery El-Abd would be flooded with buyers, too.

If you were living in a Muslim household (like I was), you fasted along with the family.  It would have been just too insensitive (in my opinion) to have eaten in front of everyone. The last two hours before iftaar were definitely the hardest for me--so I usually took a book and laid down during that period and usually fell asleep for part of it.  The food had been long prepared (Mama would have been up and cooking from early morning) and waiting to be devoured (the only verb that describes it!) Surprisingly to me, however, when the call to prayer came (if you couldn't hear the cannon blast from the Citadel--now on the radio), my husband's family didn't run to eat, but broke their fast with a couple of dates and went to pray in the street-side mosque by the building.  When they arrived back, however, the food would be inhaled!  There is a lot of food eaten during Ramadan--some of the Egyptian favorites that I like are the fruit soup you can use to break your fast (khoshaf), macaroni with bechamel sauce (macarona bilbechamela), and the desserts, especially qata'if  (no equivalent in English--but it's a small circle of risen dough stuffed with nuts (preferably) fried and then covered in sugar/lemon syrup.)  Rich, yes, but fabulous when they are still warm.

For most Muslims in Minnesota, the observance of Ramadan is largely a private, indoor occasion that is spent with family or Muslim friends at someone's home with occasional gatherings in community centers, apartment party rooms or at mosques for special dinners with programs or the Tarawih prayers. But if you want to get the 'street' atmosphere of Ramadan in Minnesota in a public location, it's almost impossible!  The closest thing is to go to Holyland in Northeast or the Marina restaurant on Lowry and University in N.E. Minneapolis.  At the Marina, the Egyptian owner puts up a big tent and serves a decent buffet of food from a variety of cuisines.  People sit around in the huge tent talking while children run around and the youth play soccer in the parking lot.  This is just a glimpse into the feeling of the nights of Ramadan.

Mixed Bag Book Club

Four years ago, some of my previous students-turned- friends were looking for a way to stay in contact and continue their learning.  I thought a book group would fit both needs, and so "Mixed Bag" book club began.

Now, admittedly, some of us leaned more toward the social aspect while others were interested in reading.  The group has room for both although we're tending to be more social than literary.  Here we are out for dinner at a local Asian restaurant. In the picture below, we are at a local art exhibit where our artist had one of her drawings displayed.  Most of the time, we meet in the community room of a local Lunds/Byerlys supermarket, but occasionally we get together at one of our homes to reconnect, eat and celebrate!

Among our group, we have an ex-librarian, a chef, two English teachers, a counselor, a dental hygienist, an artist and a computer programmer--quite an eclectic group.  Choosing a genre of book that fits all of us is indeed the challenge. Some are mystery lovers and fiction aficionados while others non-fiction buffs, armchair travelers or cross-cultural connoisseurs.  One thing that we usually agree on is that the book should be on the short side--around 200 pages if possible, but hopefully not more than 300.  This is actually the biggest challenge:  a quality book that is on the brief side!  We have had some success with that formula--even some books under 200 pages.  Here are some of our favorite books to date (though never unanimous favorites!):

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (1st Book--152 pages!)
I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
Nickeled and Dimed in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
China Dog by Judy Fong Bates
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andrei Makine
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb (144 pages!)
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (330 pages)
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan


Recently, we are passing around two books (thereby reducing costs and long waits for books, but alas, never having everyone on the same page, so to speak.):  The Piano Teacher and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  We had no idea that the latter book would become a movie and turn into such a desired read (the list at the public library is miles long!)  I was just thinking, ahh, a mystery. 


I am somewhat surprised but glad that the Mixed Bag Book Club has continued this long.  It does take the effort of at least one person to pick a date and set the place. We all try to contribute book ideas--but two or three active members will help to keep a book club going.  Also, having the option to just meet at the community room is nice when no one has the time to clean the house or make a dish.  Let's toast another four years to the "Mixed Bag" book club.

Unknown Garden Veggies

Unknown eggplant variety

With such a warm spring and, now, long hot summer, we are having an extra long growing season for Minnesota.  I always plant a garden and sometimes my exotic choices like okra and eggplant can't really mature in our usual window of growth.

However, this year the eggplants are already ripening on the vine.  Problem is . . . I don't recognize this variety as any kind of eggplant I know!!  I know the big, firm purplish eggplant we can find in the co-op, or the skinny little purple ones I grew last year, but here is an eggplant of a different shape and color.  No, these are not tomatoes--they are eggplants.  They have a lovely shade of orange-yellow with subtle stripes of green.  I hope these are ripe and I shouldn't have waited for them to turn another color.  Once I can identify them, I can figure out how to cook them!  If you know the variety or have a recipe for preparing them, I'd sure appreciate the help.

Here is this year's first big, ripe tomato sitting on the deck railing.  Last year we had lots of good luck with tomatoes, too.  These were the heirloom tomato variety.





Okay--I promise not to blog about vegetables for awhile.

Walking in the Woods with Oliver and Ahmed

The breeze sprang up and the humidity disappeared--ahh, a morning for a walk in the woods.  Just down the block from our house we have a small park where dogs can run off leash.  Well, our beagle more or less meanders, stopping to sniff every weed and leaf.  The breeze kept the mosquitoes at bay and freshened up the usual musty smells of a closed-off wooded area.  The dog's tail was up and his ears were back.

We had leaf hats on today--Ahmed getting excited about whipping off the top of a large weed with his whip-like branch, jabbing it and then making all sorts of temporary wearables with it.  Quite amusing.  This particular leaf also works well to swat mosquitoes should you wander into this glade on a still, muggy day.
I took a picture, of course.  The beagle kept sniffing along, oblivious to our silliness.  Maybe the other man walking his dog through the same little patch of trees wondered a bit, but he just smiled and kept up with his long-legged canine.  Just a sniff and a quick turn from Oliver to acknowledge the other dog--then back to work on a trail that never seems to end.

Lovely August morning.  Just a week until Ramadan . . .