roller derby world cup: first jam
December 2, 2011
Canada vs. France: first jam of the first bout of the first ever World Cup of Roller Derby. Two grand slams for Canada!
Jammer for Team Canada: Iron Wench, #516
Jammer for Team France: Francey Pants, #24
Shot with the Harinezumi digital, December 1 2011.
Posted by jodi on December 2, 2011 at 7.20am
notes on mustard, volumes 5, 6 and 7
December 1, 2011
In between our trip to Milwaukee for Americanthanksgiving and our trip to Toronto for Roller Derby World Cup, three more variations on the Lombard mustard were put up. Samples of the first four mustards came with us to Milwaukee to get tasted: Mustard #1 (Strong #1) is pretty much ready to eat (but is Very Strong and needs to be used With Caution); Mustard #2 (Strong #2) was deemed not yet ready and set aside to age further; Mustard #3 (Strong #3, the red wine vinegar variation) is also ready and in my opinion was the nicest of the three; Mustard #4 (Lombard #1) was by far the best and much milder than the rest although it too has a bit of a kick to it. The texture is a bit strange due to the softened creamed honey, but the taste is lovely.
Mustards 5, 6 and 7 are all further variations on the Lombard (from The Forme of Cury, 1390).
#5 (Lombard #2) (this is going to get so confusing; they’ll have to be given proper names when they’re bottled for gift-giving): used 50% white wine vinegar, 50% white wine (a Pelee Island Chardonnay, chosen based on proximity as it was the only white wine in the fridge). The mustard seed was initially soaked overnight in white wine vinegar. Liquid honey was used, and ground almonds used in place of bread crumbs.
#6 (Lombard #3): used 75% red wine vinegar, 25% Pelee Island Chardonnay. The mustard seed was initially soaked overnight in red wine vinegar. I thought about using red wine as well, but the white was already open. Liquid honey was used, and ground almonds used in place of bread crumbs.
#7 (Lombard #4): used 75% apple cider vinegar, 25% Makers Mark bourbon. The mustard seed was initially soaked overnight in Makers Mark. Like the others, this one has liquid honey and ground almonds. Oddly, although this mustard contained more liquid than the other two (we were running out of mustard seed and came up a bit short but inadequate note-taking made me forget that when adding the liquid later on), it was the thickest coming out of the blender, almost stiff. Perhaps it should have been thinned with a bit more vinegar, but oh well. This batch may end up being a complete disaster, as its taste on bottling was something between Everclear and acetone. We shall see.
Posted by jodi on December 1, 2011 at 8.56am
flashback
November 30, 2011
Running to get into a low, rumbling muscle car after buying a couple of 40-ouncers felt just like being a teenager again.
Our friend has been working for years on rebuilding his 1971 Road Runner, and while it’s still a work in progress, it’s finally back on the road. Just look at that gorgeous front end. I kind of want to marry it.
Posted by jodi on November 30, 2011 at 7.43am
pink!
November 28, 2011
(I KNOW. Haircut blogging. Yawn).
Posted by jodi on November 28, 2011 at 11.26am
five colours of the same fabric
November 21, 2011
Because I love it so much. I want to have this fabric in all the colours. You can’t see it here, but the pinstripes in the metallic gold version are white. Love! Lots of amazing new bandannas coming soon soon soon, y’all.
Posted by jodi on November 21, 2011 at 11.40pm
new acquisitions (a visit to london, ontario)
November 19, 2011
Arcade Fire :: The Suburbs
Cockney Rebel :: The Human Menagerie
Coeur de Pirate :: Blonde
Papa John Creach :: Inphasion
Dalis Car :: The Waking Hour
Divinyls :: What a Life!
Gang of Four :: Another Day/Another Dollar
Gorillaz :: Plastic Beach
Wanda Jackson :: Leave my Baby Alone
Judas Priest :: Point of Entry
Juicy Lucy :: Get a Whiff a This
The Klezmorim :: East Side Wedding
Meat Puppets :: Lollipop
Donny Osmond :: Alone Together
Peaches :: Impeach my Bush
Silver Convention (self titled)
Le Tigre :: Remix 12″
The Tubes :: Outside Inside
Bonnie Tyler :: It’s a Heartache
Neil Young :: Hawks & Doves
Various artists :: (Ronco presents) Get It On! (as seen on TV)
Posted by jodi on November 19, 2011 at 11.17pm
notes on mustard, volume 4
November 18, 2011
Moving on from the recipe used for the first three mustards, this one follows the recipe for Lombard Mustard found in The Forme of Cury. The recipe is as follows:
Take Mustard seed and waishe it & drye it in an ovene, grynde it drye. farse it thurgh a farse. clarifie hony with wyne & vynegur & stere it wel togedrer and make it thikke ynowz. & whan þou wilt spende þerof make it tnynne with wyne.
The modern version given to us by Edward fitzRanulf called for 1 cup mustard seeds, 0.5 cup white vinegar, 0.5 cup bread crumbs, 2 tsp. salt and 0.5 cup honey. Modifications for Mustard #4:
-blended yellow and brown mustard seed instead of using all brown, as usual; this was a double batch and we used all the yellow mustard seed we had, so the blend was something like a bit less than half a cup of yellow and a bit more than 1.5 cups brown
-substituted ground almonds for bread crumbs
-white wine vinegar (you are just never going to convince me that it’s a good idea to use straight up white vinegar for anything that isn’t pickles or washing windows)
-we used creamed honey softened in the microwave, but it occurred to me later that Edward probably meant for liquid honey to be used, because Americans don’t seem to use creamed honey like Canadians do: while living in Georgia creamed honey was difficult for me to find, and the first time I brought it to the studio one of my colleagues shouted, WHY ARE YOU PUTTING LARD IN YOUR TEA? So anyway, we’ll use liquid honey next time. The honey gave the mustard a grainy, sparkly quality that’s a bit odd looking, but on first tasting it was pretty nice, if still a bit strong.
The original recipe says to use vinegar AND wine, so for the next batch we’ll try a blend of wine vinegar and a dry white wine.
As for the first three mustards, #1 is finally settling down into something edible, and the strong bitter edge is all but gone. In fact, there seems to be little difference now between Mustards #1 and #2. We’ve used both in salad dressings with good success but have yet to try them on a sandwich.
Posted by jodi on November 18, 2011 at 8.13am
file under “awesome”
November 17, 2011
I’m sitting at the table cutting pictures out of old children’s encyclopædias and sorting them into 3 sandwich bag categories: dudes and ladies; animals; birds and bugs (because don’t ask), and tucked into one of the books was this adorable photo of some young cadets falling asleep on a bus trip:
The badge says “Royal Canadian Air Cadets 535 Leamington” (the book it was found in came from a yard sale in Leamington, Ontario). Somebody printed this themselves: the negative was scratched and dirty, the image is all crooked on the paper, and there are two little claw marks from where it was hung up to dry.
Posted by jodi on November 17, 2011 at 10.55am
future heirloom
November 16, 2011
This ugly old wedding dress is the raw material for a new project prototype: creating new and useful items out of what would otherwise sit folded in tissue forever, slowly fading, creases setting in permanently. You spent thousands on this dress, and possibly even dreamed of wearing it your whole entire life. Don’t store it under the bed where it’ll get knocked around every time you sweep the floor. Don’t store it in the basement where it’ll get ruined the first time you have a sewage flood! Instead carry the memory of your special day with you always, in the form of such practical items as: grocery totes. Placemats. A laptop case. Diaper soakers! (because after marriage comes the baby carriage, amirite?).
Any suggestions for practical and irreverent items (that people ACTUALLY USE) to add to the list will be welcomed and considered. I am especially excited about the grocery totes, but there must be something that can be done with all that lace. Kitchen curtains? Car rags? Ooh, car seat covers. Do people still use those?
Posted by jodi on November 16, 2011 at 1.56pm
photo
November 13, 2011
The crux of my hoser costume this Hallowe’en:
Old stubby bottle fished out of the Thames River at Fanshawe Park 15 years ago (or more). I made this fake circa-1979 50 label for it and carried it around with me all day.
Posted by jodi on November 13, 2011 at 1.37pm
