Antigone: The Climate Wars
It was last January when we were in Hawai’i that we learned Ambiana had been cast as the lead in her high school U-32’s Spring Play. We were all excited to watch her performance and were utterly crushed when Covid-19 forced the closure of school 3 days before opening night. Like all things under Covid the play moved to Zoom and was produced later that year. It took Erin over 6 months but she finally edited it together and we are happy to share the Zoom Production of Antigone: The Climate Wars.
My Mommy’s Tapioca
My mother had some special recipes she made just for me. One was Steamed Artichoke which I would eat with a small bowl of melted butter to dip the leaves in but by far my favorite was her tapioca pudding. She made this for me through out my childhood and after I left home for college and beyond I would often find upon my return a bowl of tapioca awaiting me in the fridge.
She hadn’t made it for me in years and with her death this past Christmas I thought I would never taste the likes of it again so imagine my joy when Colleen unearthed the recipe in our overstuffed recipe folder. I at first tried to make it without the Jello Brand Tapioca but it fell flat. I went to 3 grocery stores in the area but none had the Jello Brand so I resorted to Amazon which of course had it and it came with free two day shipping!
I followed the recipe diligently, beat the egg whites, added the sugar and folded it into the pudding mix. It cooled in the basement all afternoon and after dinner I had the dessert I thought never would I taste again. It is a piece of my mother I hold dear.
In Ireland in 1994 travelling with my mother and my brothers Chuck and Tony we stopped one afternoon for lunch on our way to Glencolumbkille. We had sandwiches and with mine came a side of horseradish. My mother upon finishing her lunch looked over at it and asked wat it was. It looked a lot like tapioca pudding so that is what I told her it was. She paused and then asked me how it compared to hers. “I’m sorry Ma”, I told her but it’s better.” Again she paused then pulled it to her and taking a big spoonful took a bite. After we all recovered our breath from a long bout of laughter she said. “I deserved that. My pride made me want to see if you were telling the truth.”
The Ooni Koda Pizza Oven
Last week while the girls were on their Spencer/Hayden weekend I bought a pizza oven. I had read an article in Smithsonian Magazine about the Neapolitan Pizza tradition in Naples Italy and was looking online for a good pizza dough recipe when I cam across a link for a wood pellet fired portable pizza oven made by a company called Ooni. I was at once intrigued as it has always been my plan to build a wood fired pizza oven up at the Long House.
A wood pellet fired portable oven would simplify things considerably; No need to haul a ton of concrete block, bricks and sand up the hill, no need to collect firewood to fire the oven. I explored the link and found that not only was there a propane model but that the Aubuchon Hardware in Barre had it in stock for $50 less than the website! I quickly located 2 pizza peels from Capitol Kitchen in Montpelier and picked them up along with the pizza oven when I ran errands on Friday.
So when the girls got home last Sunday I had 5 pizzas ready to eat cooked at 950 degrees in our new portable pizza oven. The dough is easy and is ready in 2.5 hours. It stretches easily and makes a nice 12″ crust on the wooden peel ready to be put in the oven.
The steel peel is used to turn the pizza once it is in the oven to cook it evenly. It only takes about a minute for the pizza to cook turning it about every 15-20 seconds. The first two pizzas fell apart but I quickly got the hang of it.
A yummy pizza fresh from the Ooni Koda Oven
A happy family well fed on good homemade pizza
