Valborg pt 1

Celebrating Valborn in the US with best Jess Hasken and Will Conrad!

This is what I am TALKING about!

How on earth did I go shopping before they put cup holders on the carts?

The very best injera recipe

Decided to do some Ethiopian cooking (my very favorite food) and looked online for different recipes. Found three and decided to do them all - with VERY different outcomes!

Pictures:

1. Not recommended - teff only


2 - Not recommended - mixture


3 - THE BEST - very much recommended Swedish recipe


FYI: I have eaten and loved Ethiopian food all over Europe and the US, but have never had any in Ethiopia. I would hardly call myself an expert, but I do love to eat it!

So for anyone thinking about making injera and want it to be good on the first try, here is what I learned:

1. This first recipe is just Teff and water, left to sit for a couple of days. It had some mixed reviews and I must agree with those who hated it - it is pretty bad. It doesn't look like any Injera I have had, in the US or Europe (can't speak for Ethiopia cause I have never been) and it fell apart when cooking. Would NOT recommend this one.

2. This recipe is a mixture of Teff and regular flour. The color was alright, but from day one it separated and even thought I tried to save it by putting in some yeast, it turned out bad. Would NOT recommend it.

3. THIS is the best one by far! It is from a Swedish cook book by Genet Awalom (you can buy the book here, if you speak Swedish) and it worked wonderfully. Here it is, translated into English:

20-22 pieces (6-7 servings)

Day 1:
25 g yeast
2,5 cups lukewarm water
4,2 cups flour
2 cups teff flour

Day 2-3:
2 cups cold water
1,5-2 cups hot water

Instructions:

Day 1:
1. Dissolve yeast in 1 cup of water. Add the remaining water and flour and knead
to a stiff dough, preferably with a household assistant.

2. Cover the dough well (preferably with plastic lid) and let it stand at room temperature for 24-72 hours depending on how sour you want it.

Day 2 or 3:
1. Add 4-5 cups cold water and mix well.
2. Then add 3-4 cups boiling water and mix to a loose batter.
3. Put the lid and let stand at least a couple of hours at room temperature.


Baking
In households where one often majes injera / Taita we usually have a non-stick pan that used only for this. For good results, the frying pan be scratch free and without grease.

1. Put a (preferably heavy-based) non-stick pan on the stove and heat it slowly until heat rises from the surface. It should be almost at the highest heat setting.

2. Stir the batter thoroughly. Thereafter, the mixture stirred as little as possible.

3. Lift the pan with one hand and allow the other to pour the batter on one side.
Tip the batter around until it covers the entire surface you a very thin, even layer.
Wipe the pan with paper towel occasionally.

4. 4Put the pan on the plate and wait until almost the entire surface is covered by small "eyes". It takes 30-35 sec. Put the lid on for 10 - 15 sec. Injera / Taita is baked without fat, and only one side - do not flip it! The bottom should be smooth.

5. Use a spatule to lift the injera / Tait.

6. Let injera / Taita cool on a towel before placing on each other.
Source: Ethiopian & Eritrean cuisine for Swedish cuisine, Gennet Awalom 2005

What do you think? Anyone else have any good injera recipes?

John Wayne Marina

Walked Lakrits at the marina.

Earth day at Wild Birds

Bird id?

Drove past these strange lookin birds. What are they? Any ideas?

Date night

We experienced some amazing food yesterday, thanks to Jon's aunt and uncle who gave us a gift certificate to the Alderwood Bistro in Sequim. Really, really great eating and I tried some new things (truffle frieds are delish!) which is nice. Also, splurged on some good red wine so when I got home I promptly fell asleep on the couch at ten PM... Wow, I am getting old.

Pond part 2 (out of 3? 4?)

The water is in. So now I just need a pump and some plants!

For the Swedes

This blog is fun. I like keeping track of what I do, and take pictures. Also, it dramatically cuts down on the amount of time I have to spend sending mass-emails with updates to everyone. I can't, however, write about politics in the way that I would like to sometimes. I am sure most Americans don't give a crap about what the Swedes are up to politcally. And many of you might not know this about me, but I can be opinionated from time to time.

So, for all the Swedish-speakers out there, if you want to check out my other blog, where I write in Swedish about politics here in the US and back home, you can do that here.

I will keep updating both blogs, just with different content.

Heading out to do some horseback riding in the sunshine!

Eeeagle

I love watching them soar over our house. I keep a close eye on Lakrits, though - he is still not much larger than a chicken, and they like to get those.

Building a pond part 1

I have a vision of hanging out by a pond, sipping mimosas and watching the birds drink from the water. It probably won't work out like that, but I wanted to give it a shot. A quick internet search gave me a pretty clear idea of what I needed to do.

1. Dig a hole. I chose a so-called kidney shaped pool.



Lakrits helped.







2. Find a liner. I bough this at the Farm Coop for around 10 bucks.



3. Place liner in hole, fill up with rocks.





Tomorrow: Step 4 - making it look good and filling it up with water!

Planning our road trip!

In June, my family is coming over from Sweden and we are driving up from San Fran to Seattle.

This is what the plan looks like so far - if you have any ideas or thoughts, let me know! We are looking for fun things to do and see.


View Vägbeskrivning till Sequim, WA, United States in a larger map

Pub quiz champs!

Best.moment.ever! Went to the pub quiz at the Oasis for the first time with co-worker Braden and girlfriend Keri. WON, despite lack of pre-2000 political scandals due to Jon being a) Jewish and b) good at show tunes. Mazel tov!

Growing every day

New hobby

Jess and Will brought over this game a couple of weeks ago and it was so much fun! When I spotted it at Walmart yesterday I just had to have it. It is pretty addictive.

It's called monopoly deal, and as opposted to the real one, I actually win sometimes.

Best ice cream in Wa?

Mora in Poulsbo

The Swedish secret!

That I've never heard of...

Learning bad habits?

It won't be as cute when he is 150 pounds...

Horse & hound & SPRING

Today: Gardening, riding, longing, running with Susie, skypeing with drunk Staffan, playing with Lakrits.

Oh, also lying flat on the grass in the sunshine.

It wasn't a bad day at all.

Kptz training

Larry and I shared our best field recording tips with the volunteers. The technical side was all him, however- I was never too good with the cords!

Great night with great friends

Pic from last Sat. The blur? Played the Die Hard drinking game. Look it up, it is actually quite fun.

First day with just Lakrits

The others are gone and Lakrits seems to be rather confused. Where are his brothers and sisters? But we try to make up for it and he doesn't seem too sad. We are starting to try to teach him things but so far he comes roughly 25% of the time we call for him. Jon tried to take him out to play basketball yesterday but the sound of it scared him! One step at a time!

I love my job

Writing about small breweries in wa. Visited a great farm/cider place called Finnriver. On the way there I stopped to smell these lovely flowers.

And now they are gone!

Phew. Today the last puppy was sent home to her family. It's quiet. So, so quiet. Suddenly I feel exhausted. But there are things to do and people to see!