Each Little World

A taste of Nepal (and elsewhere)

Mark arrived home from the grocery store late Friday morning just in time to beat the snow storm. He then spent the afternoon cooking spicy Nepalese dishes which he proceeded to serve in courses spread out over a couple of hours. He cooked, we ate, we read by the fire and then he cooked some more.

Strange as it may seem, Madison has a wealth of fabulous Nepalese restaurants. We've been going to the grandmother of them all, Himal Chuli, for more than twenty years. We finally decided we needed to learn how to cook some of our favorite dishes at home, which is how Mark wound up buying Taste of Nepal by Jyoti Pathak.

We began our meal with Taareko Alu or Spicy Sauteed Potatoes from that cookbook. Mark had made these before and this time decided to cut them like chunky French fries and to serve them as an hors d'oeuvre with a glass of Guinness Black Lager. They are fabulous and would work well as a starch with any number of grilled or roasted meats.

This was followed by bowls of Dal a la Himal Chuli. There is nothing more comforting, more warming, more sustaining than Himal's Dal. We'd tried to replicate it at home without much success. I decided to look on-line to see if the restaurant had ever published the recipe; no such luck. But local blogger Jessie Bluejay experimented until she came up with her own recipe to recreate Himal Chuli's Dal at home.

We tried it and thought it was a match. This time Mark served us leftover Dal that we had frozen when we made it after discovering Bluejay's recipe not long ago. De-frosted, and heated up, it still held up quite well both in texture and flavor. Mark served the Dal with Capital Brewery's Winter Skal. We emptied our bowls before I thought to have Mark snap a photo.

(Note that Bluejay's recipe has a couple of visual glitches in it; they appear to be related to accent marks and do not affect the recipe itself or ingredient amounts).

The Dal was followed by Tsak Sha Momos or Tibetan Beef Dumplings, a recipe that appeared in the New York Times not long ago. Momos are a staple at Himal Chuli and these were close enough to their version to satisfy us. Mark served them with Potosi Brewery's Cave Ale and a No Cook Tomato Chutney from the Taste of Nepal cookbook, similar to the way they are presented at Himal. The Tibetan Hot Sauce in the NYTimes sounded too hot for the subtle flavor of Momos. 

He was going to also make a stir-fried Ramechhap-style cabbage (from Taste of Nepal), but we ate so many potatoes that we decided to forego that dish.

Huma Siddiqui is a native of Pakistan who has lived in Wisconsin for quite a number of years. She's well-known locally for her televised cooking show, spice blends, and her evocative book, "Jasmine in her Hair." Part-memoir, part-cookbook, this little volume focuses on "culture and cuisine from Pakistan." It is a touching family saga filled with fabulous recipes.

Here you can find more versions of Dal, as well as a recipe for Saag Aloo (spinach with potatoes), one of Mark's favorite dishes from Himal Chuli; though they add black-eyed peas. And Huma also has a recipe for Samosas: pastry stuffed with spiced potatoes. Huma deep-fries hers while they are baked at Himal Chuli. Either way, another great dish winter or summer.

Here's a little video of Huma cooking. Having worked as her assistant during some of the cooking classes she taught at Orange Tree Imports, I want to point out that — though you can't tell from this video — Huma is always wearing heels and never wears an apron. You will also notice that she never seems rushed or tense when she cooks. Being in a kitchen with Huma is an almost meditative experience. If you live in Dane County, consider taking one of her classes or sitting in on the TV tapings. At the very least you will want to add her lovely book to your cooking library.

 

Editor's note: Just caught up with last week's edition of Isthmus where I read that Himal Chuli was the first Nepali restaurant in the country when it opened in Madison in 1986.

Another snowy weekend

I don't think any of us really believed the mid-week weather forecast that predicted a big snowstorm for Madison and environs on Friday. But by about 11 a.m. yesterday morning, it was snowing steadily, if lightly. It didn't take long for the storm to get serious. Wet, heavy snow started to come down quickly and to stick to everything it touched: wires, roads and walkways and every tree and shrub were soon coated.

It was so gorgeous we kept running to different windows for different views. While many of our trees and shrubs were bowed down under the weight of the snow, nothing looked like it might turn into the garden crisis that resulted from a similar storm in 2009.

We took photos, ate in front of the fire and then went out after dinner to clear the driveway. When we were done with that chore, we threw a few snowballs at each other and toured the garden by snowlight and faint moonlight.

These photos show the drape and droop of the trees, except for the last picture which shows the geometric patterns made by shards of snow falling off the roof and onto the deck. Hard to reconcile the sticky snow on all the vertical surfaces and the crisp design on the horizontal deck.

Good-bye snowdrops. Hello snow!

Early last evening it started to snow: huge fluffy flakes that immediately stuck to everything they touched. It's wasn't long before it was the proverbial winter wonderland in the garden. I kept turning on the deck lights so I could enjoy the view. We got about 3.6 inches of snow, which may be the biggest storm of this very quiet winter. Here are a few shots of what it looks like this morning. At the moment, big clumps of snow are falling from the highest trees, knocking snow off the middle layer on its way down. 

First snowdrops

A gardening friend e-mailed me Saturday morning suggesting I look out my window because her snowdrops were up and blooming. Since my snowdrops are in a sunny spot right below the library window, it's possible to check on them without going outside. And as it happens, I had already checked on them Friday afternoon because a number of Upper Midwest gardeners had snowdrops on their posts for GBBD.

Mine weren't showing on Wednesday, but two days later and voila! Given this coming week's weather forecast of temperatures between 45-50 degrees F. and rain, I am expecting my snowdrops will definitely continue their growth spurt. Now I need to get out and check on the Hellebores, and see if there are any other surprises lurking in the far corners of the garden. 

Typically snowdrops are dug and sold just after blooming "in the green." This is a common practice in the U.K. where dozens of snowdrop specialists offer plants for sale each spring. It is so rare an occurance in the U.S. that I know of only two people who follow this practice. One is Carolyn of Carolyn's Shade Gardens. Alas for me, I forgot to check her website early enough and there are limited choices left.

The other source is Hitch Lyman of Temple Nursery. Hitch is very low-tech. You must buy his paper catalog; no on-line sales. But reading his descriptions and seeing Carolyn's photos will convince you to start a collection. And Hitch's catalog alone is worth ordering and reading. It is so beautifully written and produced, it is a treasure in itself. (Temple Nursery, P.O. Box 591, Trumansburg, New York 14886. The catalog is $3.00).

Mark shot the above photos around 2:30 p.m. yesterday. You can see that one group is barely up while a nearby clump are starting to open. These are Galanthus 'Flore pleno' or double snowdrop which is why they look so plump. 

Recall weather

I went for a walk today as I've been doing every day for the past week. The pavement was dry, the sun was out and the temperature was 52 degrees (Fahrenheit). So far it's pretty much been the winter that wasn't. We've only had a little over four inches of snow, compared to our typical amount of 20 inches by this point in the season.

My Thanksgiving Hellebore from the late Seneca Hill Perennials is blooming and my earliest daylily is sending up green spears. Because we haven't had extremely cold temps with this lack of snow cover, I think most things in my garden will be OK. I actually cut a foliage bouquet this afternoon of Hellebores, Arum italicum, Epimediums, Autum fern and a couple of small branches of Gentsch White hemlock.

The other day I took a break from my walk to introduce myself (and Mark — that's his shadow) to a neighbor who's been taking advantage of the nice weather to sit at the end of his driveway and get recall signatures. Ray Coleman (below) lives just around the corner from us and he's set up a signing station that's had a big spurt in drive-by signatures these last few days. 

Ray and his friends (below) are just a few of the thousands of Wisconsinites who've used the mostly warm and dry weather we've been experiencing for the last two months (the recall drive began on Nov. 15) to be out and about in their communities gathering signatures on the petitions to recall Gov. Scott Walker. The deadline for signing is Friday and our first real snow storm is scheduled to start sometime tonight.

The timing is just about perfect. Ray said he thought about just shoveling out his driveway and continuing his recall vigil until the weather forecasters began to talk about the 30 mile an hour winds and blowing snow. To say nothing of the 30 degree drop in temperatures compared to what we've been enjoying.

So he'll be turning in his petitions, but if you still need to sign, you can do so at the locations mentioned here. This site lists all the recall headquarters around the state; locally look for the Dane County east and west offices. You can also sign the petition (and turn in any signatures you've gathered) at the United Wisconsin locations here.

Happy Holidays!

Woke at 6 a.m. to the sound of the plow going down the street. Jumped out of bed, turned on the Christmas tree lights and pulled back the curtains to find the picture perfect Christmas view. Just enough snow to coat the landscape, but not enough to cause any problems. By 7 a.m. the morning rush of traffic had our street clean down to the pavement. And by 8 a.m. I had two pans of triple gingerbread in the oven. Could not ask for a better day — just a better governor.

Hope you have a lovely holiday. I'm going to take a little break until the New Year begins. See you then!

. . .

If anyone knows who took this photo, please let me know so I can credit them.

Waiting for Spring

At the beginning of March, when we felt so demoralized by the cold, snow and politics here in Wisconsin, I splurged on a breath of Spring at our local source for orchids, the Orchids Garden Centre and Nursery just down the road in Waunakee. I brought home two orchids: Phalaenopsis stuartiana 'Sogo' and this gorgeous Phalaenopsis 'White Dream' (below) which is almost in full bloom a month later. This week we are having warmer temps which are finally thawing the edges of the garden down by the street. A little thaw really helps when you're trying to get all those political yard signs stuck firmly in the ground.

Little things mean a lot

HE SAID:

Since the Legislature is adjourned until Tuesday, the weather is terrible, and I'm coming down with a cold, I'm taking the day off today. 

But I wanted to share a special moment from the time I spent on the Square yesterday. With the mixture of sleet, rain and snow I figured correctly that not many protesters would be inclined to march outside. So I deliberately dressed with that in mind: boots, rain pants, down jacket and rain hat. Over all of that I wore the rain poncho that John Nichols brought back for Linda from the 1999 World Trade Organization protest in Seattle Washington: "The Protest of the Century." Well, that was last century!

Compared to the several thousand protesters inside, there were maybe a hundred hearty souls, including one elderly woman with a walker, marching the eight blocks around the Capitol. We were encouraged once in a while by a driver with a raised fist and a honking horn. Then from several blocks away we heard the loud insistent blast of an air horn, joined by a second. Two City of Madison snow plows were driving side by side sounding their horns continuously as they made their way — not once, but twice — completely around the square, spreading road salt as they went.

It was a beautiful gesture that went a long way toward taking the chill off the day.

SHE SAID: I thought of those two guys as I was tossing and turning this morning at 1:30 a.m. and heard the snowplow scrape past our house.

You can find a minute-by-minute account of what's happening here at Madison's weekly publication, Isthmus.

And a nice history of how Wisconsin gave you the weekend and worker's comp, among many benefits ALL workers enjoy today.

Wicked weather

As long as we've lived in this house, I never remember a snowstorm like yesterday's. The wind was so strong that you could constantly hear it — over music, above TV, interrupting reading concentration. Made me think of the train sound that is your fatal warning that a tornado is about to blow you away. No idea how deep the drifts will prove to be once we go outside. 

No buses or cars on the road; school, city government and most everything else shut down; Madison and Milwaukee airports closed — wreacking havoc on Packers fans with Super Bowl tickets. Meanwhile, we are luxuriating in retirement; don't have to go anywhere or do anything except clear the driveway, a chore we are putting off a little while longer.

Pedestrians on Frances St. in Madison on Tuesday night. Photo by Craig Schreiner/Wisconsin State Journal.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: 01.15.2011

December in Wisconsin means nothing is blooming outdoors, but gardeners are rarely without flowers. No matter the season or the weather, this pair of crinoids are always in bloom. Crinoids — also known as sea lilies — are marine animals with a stalked body which attaches itself to a surface. They were common during the Paleozoic Era and are important index fossils. The name comes from the Greek: krinon (lily) and eidos (form). So, once upon a time, they were sea lilies but are now stone lilies. 

They larger dark grey one is about 12 inches across and 8 inches high and comes from China via Linden's. The smaller pale one is only about 4 inches x 4 inches and is from the Upper Midwest via Burnie's Rock Shop in Madison.

To see what's blooming in gardens around the world, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.