Letter from Ansel Adams to Cedric Wright, June 10, 1937

Dear Cedric,

A strange thing happened to me today. I saw a big thundercloud move down over Half Dome, and it was so big and clear and brilliant that it made me see many things that were drifting around inside of me; things that relate to those who are loved and those who are real friends.

For the first time I know what love is; what friends are; and what art should be.

Love is a seeking for a way of life; the way that cannot be followed alone; the resonance of all spiritual and physical things. Children are not only of flesh and blood — children may be ideas, thoughts, emotions. The person of the one who is loved is a form composed of a myriad mirrors reflecting and illuminating the powers and thoughts and the emotions that are within you, and flashing another kind of light from within. No words or deeds may encompass it.

Friendship is another form of love — more passive perhaps, but full of the transmitting and acceptances of things like thunderclouds and grass and the clean granite of reality.

Art is both love and friendship and understanding: the desire to give. It is not charity, which is the giving of things. It is more than kindness, which is the giving of self. It is both the taking and giving of beauty, the turning out to the light of the inner folds of the awareness of the spirit. It is a recreation on another plane of the realities of the world; the tragic and wonderful realities of earth and men, and of all the interrelations of these.

Ansel

Letter from Ansel Adams to Cedric Wright, June 10, 1937

Beaver Lake, Lakeview Park, Asheville, NC. Oil on panel. Gifted.

Chez Panisse Blueberry Cobbler

This one is an easy recipe to make. The pastry dough is versatile, so you could use it with any fruits or berries like, raspberries, strawberries, or peaches.

I made it with blueberry the other day and it was yummy. A few days ago we picked up two quarts of local strawberries on our way back from Princeton. I didn’t want the mold to get to them before we could enjoy the rest of them, so I decided to make strawberry cobbler using the same Chez Panisse Blueberry Cobbler recipe.

The trick to making a nice crust is not to over mix.

Following the recipe, I mixed the dry ingredients to distribute the baking powder, salt, and sugar in the flour;

then I cut the cold butter into approximate cubes and used a fork or something similar to roughly get the butter distributed into the dry mix but not worrying about the lumps of butter as long as the dry ingredients are coated with most of the butter;

then I added the heavy cream and roughly mixed until all the dry ingredients were moistened.

I modified the recipe by using a whole stick of butter, which is around 111 grams.

The dough should look something like the picture. It is moist and lumpy looking, and it will almost hold its shape. The recipe instructs to make small patties to place on top of the berries.

I roughly make patty-sized portions and place them on top of the berries, leaving gaps in between so the juices could ooze out. No fussing is necessary. If it doesn’t look perfect or pretty, don’t fret, it will turn out good no matter how it looks.

I nearly over-baked. The crust could have turned too brown or too toasted had I not watched it.

I think it is an easy recipe. It was quick to make and tasty. People will think you had spent hours making it.

You can get the recipe here: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/9291-chez-panisses-blueberry-cobbler

My first “sourdough” bread

This is my first sourdough bread, but it is not a sourdough bread. Who cares, it turned out tasty, and this is all that matters!

It has a thin crunchy crust and a lightly springy crumb with a satisfying chewy texture.

I got this recipe online from a New Zealand pastry chef, Corentin Esquenet.

What I like about this recipe is that a dough starter is not used. Go online, and you will learn how fussy it is to baby a sourdough starter.

If you want to try this recipe, you should view his step-by-step video because he has a few essential tips like testing if your dough is over-proofed or under-proofed. Also, the 5-hour proof was in the video but not mentioned in the text. Like, oops.

It is a simple recipe that does not need a mixer but your hands. Clean hands. And patience. And this human construct that is, time.

Recipe and video here: https://storybites.co.nz/recipes/faux-sourdough-bread

Chef John’s Kumquat Marmalade

I bought too many kumquats. I found Chef John’s Kumquat Marmalade recipe and tried it.

It was not as fussy as I had imagined. It costs more than buying marmalade off the grocery store shelves, but it is worth the extra few dollars and effort.

Just because I was curious, I used palm sugar instead of regular sugar and added some freshly minced ginger. Tasty!

Gâteau aux pommes

Funny that food seems fancy and more appetizing in French. But no matter how you dress a snail, escargot could never work for me.

I made this simple but very tasty cake following Chef John’s French apple cake recipe. This was my first try and it turned out delicious. This simple and delicious recipe is perfect for our upcoming family gathering on Christmas. A commenter suggested soaking the apples in rum. I think I will try their suggestion for the next time.

Click this link for Chef John’s French apple cake or gâteau aux pommes recipe with video instructions.

Serving suggestion: Keep it simple, refrain from over complicating a serving with competing additions. Serve by itself, or with a dollop of crème fraîche, mascarpone cream cheese, whipped cream, or ice cream on the side.

Persimmons, Mother Nature's Autumn Treat!

This old village –

not a single house

without persimmon trees

Matsuo Basho

Did you know that North America has its native persimmons, diospyros virginiana? However many of the persimmons consumed in this continent are from Asia, such as China, Japan, or Korea.

If you have bought any persimmons from one of your local produce markets, they are probably, diospyros kaki persimmons, also “Japanese” or “Oriental” persimmons.

This linked article by Francis Skalicky of the Missouri Department of Conservation is an interesting read on persimmons. For example, did you know that the North American persimmon seeds, diospyros virginiana, used to be roasted and grounded to make coffee substitutes?

An 1863 edition of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser reports “… the seeds of the persimmon when roasted and ground produces a beverage which cannot, even by old and experienced coffee drinkers, be distinguished from genuine coffee.”

Skalicky, Francis. “Facts of persimmon as interesting as folklore.” Missouri Department of Conservation, October 5, 2018, www.news-leader.com/story/sports/outdoors/2018/10/05/facts-persimmons-interesting-folklore/1486574002

Persimmon in front of self-portrait painting with persimmon in hand, The Offering.

Diospyros kaki is a deciduous tree native to China that was taken to Japan and Korea many centuries ago. Its fruit has been an important food in all three countries – and is now, according to one authority, the world’s major fruit. Common names include Chinese persimmon, Japanese persimmon, oriental persimmon, and kaki (柿). As suggested by the haiku, trees were widely planted in Japan and central to the lives of its people.

Kennedy, Corinne. “Persimmon: The Divine Fruit of Autumn.” Seatle Japanese Garden, November 21, 2019, www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/blog/2019/11/19/persimmon-the-divine-fruit-of-autumn

It is usually a chance encounter to find persimmons in produce stores in the area where I live. If a produce store has them, the only evidence it had them is the empty boxes that cradled them. So when they were not sold out, I did not hesitate to pick up two dozen of Mother Nature’s fall candy.

It is a treat by itself, thinly sliced and served over a bowl of oatmeal, in a salad dish, or drizzled with black mushroom soy sauce, garlic, sesame seed oil, Thai chilly, and some sugar to balance the hotness from the Thai chilly.

As for the sauce, there is no specific measure for this sauce, only a play of flavors according to your tastebuds. It was a fun experiment that had a nice dose of umami. Yumminess!

Easy eggplant snack

Our neighbor gave use some vegetables and I wanted to use them before the mold could get to them.

If you have two hours of nothing to do but relax, this is an easy and satisfying snack to make and ready in two hours in a 250° fahrenheit oven.

Make one-centimeter thick slices of some eggplants at an angle. Toss the slices in olive oil, season with season salt and black pepper, and add some dusting of Trader Joe’s Multipurpose Umami Seasoning Blend.

Arrange the eggplant slices on a tray and leave them in the 250° for two hours.

Meanwhile, go outside for a walk, read a book, meditate, take a short nap, or whatever else you do to relax. In two hours, you will have a nice vegan snack.

Comfort food on a budget

Here is my version of “risotto”. Yummy comfort food.

Pile on the shredded cheese!

If you know how to use a rice cooker to make Asian rice porridge or chok to some of us, then I think you will know how to make this dish.

Using a rice cooker that has a porridge setting*, I measured a cup of jasmine rice and rinsed it. In the rice cooker pot with the rice, I filled it with water to the 6-cup measurement line.

When done, scoop about a cup of the porridge into a bowl, and mix about a tablespoon of Vegemite (don’t knock it till you try it!) into the porridge. Then pile it on with shredded cheddar cheese. Seriously, pile it on. So much umami. It is so good. I think I shall have another bowl.

If you have access to vegan cheese, this could become a satisfying vegan dish.

If you want to try other chok recipes, you can find them here, https://www.tasteatlas.com/most-popular-porridges-in-asia, but I think mine is simpler and it will satisfy your hunger and your tastebuds. Seriously, if Julia Child, George Pepín, Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, or Sam Choy, made this, this would be hailed, haute cuisine!

*If you don’t have a porridge setting, then let it cook in the rice cooker for 80 minutes, or until it looks porridgey. I like mine a bit slushy. Sorry, I could not come up with a more appetizing noun.

Don’t knock it, or the men from down under will get you!

Buying bread from a man in Brussels

He was six-foot-four and full of muscle

I said, “Do you speak-a my language?”

He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich

And he said

“I come from a land down under

Where beer does flow and men chunder

Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?

You better run, you better take cover, yeah”

— Men At Work, “Down Under”

See, it has nutrition!

Modified “Pan de Cristal” Recipe

This recipe is quite easy to prepare because you do not have to do manual kneading or babysit it.

Ingredients

• 600 grams of bread flour (I like King Arthur Brand organic bread flour)

• 1/2 tsp of sugar

• 1 tsp of salt (Diamond Kosher Salt)

• 2 tsp of active dry yeast

• 600 grams of water

• 40-50 grams of raisins

Combine the dry ingredients

Dump all the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and fluff the mix.

Soak the raisins

Soak the raisins in the water for at least 20 minutes. This will plump up the dried raisins. If you want to speed it up, you can use the microwave to warm up the water. Be sure that the temperature is below 115º Fahrenheit before adding to the dry mix, otherwise, the high temperature could kill the yeast.

Add the soaked raisins to the dry ingredients

Mix the dough with the mixer on low for 10 minutes.

The dough will be wet, sticky, and become quite elastic.

Scrap down the dough into a ball.

(Unless you need the bowl, no need to remove the dough from the bowl)

Cover the bowl and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

Next Day

Gently remove the dough onto a clean surface dusted with a bit of flour.

Don’t worry about deflating the dough because it will double in size again in 1 to 2 hours, but the less you deflate it, the better.

Wet your hands before handling the dough because this is a sticky dough, and your wet hands will help the dough not stick all over your fingers.

Divide the dough into two portions.

Drop each dough into the lightly greased bread pan.

Cover to let them rise some more at room temperature (70º-74º Fahrenheit)

Meanwhile, while dough is rising

Nearing the end of the dough rise (like 30 minutes), turn on the oven to 475º Fahrenheit.

Place a pan of hot water on the lower oven rack.

(Be careful when you open the oven because of the heat and steam.)

Baking the Bread

When the dough looks like it has doubled in size, place them inside the 475º Fahrenheit oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the crust looks medium brown like nicely toasted bread on the outside (not burnt brown).

NOTE

Baking time could vary because ovens vary from one to another. So what you want to look for is the interior temperature of the bread between 160º and 200º Fahrenheit, and the exterior has a nice toasted color crust.

If you are serving this to someone who is vegan, use a neutral-flavor plant-based oil.

If you like, you can try other dried fruits. I like to soak them in water so that they plump up. You could even add a little bit of finely grounded cardamon (maybe 1/2 or 1 tsp). Be careful with how much cardamon you add because you could end up with an overly fragrant loaf of bread. Remember, you are not making fragrant candles or soap.