October 2020 – A Musician's Travels

Spooky Sounds and Anthropomorphic Trees!

Sugar Free Spiced Apple Pie

Brilliant blue skies, vivid oranges, yellows and reds; this year the change of season seems especially beautiful!

**Steepletop Reserve- New Marlborough, MA**

With so much negative news in our daily lives and anxiety about the coming election, my hope is that this Halloween blog will bring a bit of humor, enjoyment and some delicious food to you!

On our recent walks through the woods, I have closely observed the burled and gnarly bark of the trees and with a slightly overactive imagination, I happily anthropomorphized their unique personalities; some scary or with attitude, others shy, wise, scared and surprised or just plain silly!

My first prize goes to to a tree with a big “schnozs”!

Other categories:

MONSTERS:

HUMOROUS:

WISE:

EVIL:

ATTITUDE:

SCARED AND SURPRISED:

SHY:

This little fellow reminds me of a Giocometti sculpture

CREEPY TOES:

Last weekend after walking at the Bullitt Reservation in Ashfield, Massachusetts, we drove around doing some leaf peeping and discovered a steep and dark dirt road with an old cemetery; an excellent spot for this slightly creepy, spooky and eccentric improvisation!

This week with excellent local apples, I made a spiced sugar free apple pie- I like to mix a few different varieties of apples; I particularly like the Honey Crisp variety. I use plenty of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom and I make the pastry crust using a recipe from Julia Child’s, Mastering The Art of French Cooking. The recipe calls for a combination of butter and shortening and it makes an easy to work with crust that is both tender and with a buttery flavor. For my version, I use whole wheat pastry flour and whole grain spelt flour which gives it a wonderful nutty taste. The apples are so full of flavor, that no sugar is necessary, although this would taste great with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Sugar Free Spiced Apple Pie

Ingredients for filling:

5-6 apples- peeled, cored and sliced into thin pieces.

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon each of ground nutmeg, allspice, cloves and cardamom.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Pastry Crust:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup whole grain spelt four

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter

3 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening (I like the organic Spectrum brand)

3 or more tablespoons ice water

Make the pastry crust:

In the bowl of a food processor combine flours, salt, butter and shortening until just combined.

Add the ice water and process until a ball shape forms. You may need to add more water a tablespoon at a time.

Take the ball of dough and cut into 2 pieces and refrigerate at least one hour. When you want to make the pie, bring the dough back to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees

Bring pastry dough to room temperature.

Roll out one of the balls of dough to fit a deep pie dish.

Place filling in pie dish.

Roll out next ball of dough to fit over top of filling.

Trim and crimp edges together.

Make an egg wash with one lightly beaten egg and brush over top of pie. This will make the top of the pie bake with a golden color.

Bake aprox. 40- 45 minutes until filling is bubbly and the top is golden brown.

I leave you with a vintage Halloween treat- a clip from the “talking trees” scene from the Wizard of Oz!

Enjoy and Stay Safe!! Happy Halloween!!

Hidden Treasures in the Woods

Salmon Cakes

The woods of New England are filled with old stone walls & foundations of long deserted homes and farms. I often feel that I am on a treasure hunt or an archeological exploration and I wonder what the houses, fields and farms looked like a few hundred years ago. All of the trees would have been cut down and instead of quiet woods, there would be bustling activity all around.

Recently on a walk at the Goodnow Preservation, part of the New Marlborough Land Trust, we discovered the site of an old paper mill; The Lower Carrol Mill. According to the New Marlborough Land Trust; using local wood pulp, the mill made newsprint and manila paper for the New York City market from 1855-1887. As we walked down a path towards the Konkapot River, the late afternoon sun filtered through the trees.

Through a light mist we could see remnants of the old paper mill; moss covered stones were stacked haphazardly on top of each other-time stood still. On a small knoll a lone piece of rusty machinery stood by itself. I imagined how the mill would have looked and sounded in the 1860’s with the tremendous noise of the machinery and sawdust flying as local wood was turned into pulp. The Carrol Mill, operated by water power, was one of nearly a dozen small industries on the Konkapot River.

Just a mile down the road from The Goodnow Preserve is another treasure; the Joffe Nature Sanctuary, also run by the New Marlborough Land Trust. It includes a lovely short walk that loops around a peaceful marsh.

There are several wooden benches throughout the trail- a perfect place to bring a book!

On one of our walks, I brought along my oboe. The previous day I had listened to a virtual online concert of Bach Cantata BWV 199 that our daughter, the singer Alicia DePaolo had just presented. It was a beautiful performance; the cantata is emotionally stirring and deeply satisfying on so many levels. It gave me the inspiration for this improvisation:

Joffe Nature Sanctuary

Since the pandemic started and we have been fortunate to spend more time in nature, I have felt myself becoming more attuned to the surroundings. I have come to appreciate the intricate patterns and designs in the trees, plants, roots, water and sky.

I see abstract images that often remind me of the Austrian painter, Egon Schiele.

**“A Tree in Late Autumn”-Egon Schiele**

This is the week of “Salmon Three Ways” from a mistakenly large order of salmon. So far, we have had Asian Soba Noodles with Crispy Salmon, Salmon Cakes and we are supposed to have Tandoori Salmon tonight. But, truth be told, both Paul and I are more than a bit tired of salmon! The Tandoori Salmon will be frozen and we are going to have Swedish Meatballs! Yes, there is a Swedish Meatball story, but it will be saved for another blog!

Salmon Cakes

Ingredients:

1/2 to 3/4 pound salmon fillet

1 egg

1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon sesame oil

few drops of hot chili oil

1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger root

1 large garlic clove finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Prepare Salmon Cakes:

Remove skin from salmon and cut fish into a few pieces.

Add all other ingredients into the bowl of a food processor.

Blend until mixed, don’t over process.

Form mixture into four salmon cakes. The mixture is quite sticky. I line a large plate with wax paper and drop spoonfuls onto the plate. Form the patties with a small spatula.

Chill until firm.

Heat medium size cast iron pan or non-stick skillet.

Add a tablespoon of olive oil.

Brown on one side and flip over. Cook a few minutes more.

Sauce:

2 tablespoons Veganaise

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Mix ingredients together in a small bowl.

Serve with lemon slices and sauce

ENJOY!!

Update: Autumn at Bryant Homestead

Asian Soba Noodles with Crispy Salmon

This weekend my husband and I decided to visit one of our favorite places, The William Cullen Bryant Preserve in Cummington, Massachusetts. I wrote a recent blog about our visits this past summer: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/musicianstravels.com/146

It was a perfect fall day with a chill in the air. As we drove up to the homestead, the sun was shining on a field near the old barn on the estate- a lovely spot to play my recorder!

https://youtu.be/E945Xy-AvMw

From the meadow, we stepped onto the trail that winds through the woods. As we looked up, the late afternoon sun filtered through a canopy of leaves and we both felt a familiar sense of comfort and tranquility.

The woods were noticeably quiet-no chirping of birds; only the small gurgle of the rivulet stream; a few chipmunks and squirrels scurried across the path carrying nuts in their mouths.

I looked down on the forest floor and saw a perfectly composed still life; a pine cone perched on a mushroom next to to tiny red leaf.

On the way back home, we stopped at a store in Great Barrington to pick up a food order. When we got back to our house, I saw that we were mistakenly given a very large piece of salmon. SO, this week there will be “Salmon Three Ways”. Tonight, it’s Asian Soba Noodles topped with chunks of crispy broiled salmon, ginger, sliced cucumber, julienned carrots and chopped peanuts. More recipes to follow for Tandoori Salmon and Salmon Cakes!

Asian Soba Noodles with Crispy Salmon

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1/2 to 3/4 pound salmon fillet seasoned with salt, pepper and sprinkled with dried thyme

1 package buckwheat soba noodles

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger root

1 small cucumber peeled and julienned

1 small carrot peeled and julienned

Ingredients for Sauce:

2 tablespoons tamari

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar

few drops of hot sesame oil to taste

1/3 cup finely chopped salted peanuts

Instructions:

Preheat broiler

Broil salmon until crispy on top and it is just done- do not overcook.

Let cool slightly and cut into small pieces- discard skin.

Bring a medium pot of water to boil and cook soba noodles until done.

Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Place in medium bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil, so the noodles do not stick together.

Stir in chopped ginger- you can also add chopped scallions if desired.

Make sauce:

Mix together tamari, brown rice vinegar, remaining sesame oil and hot sesame oil.

Pour over noodles and stir.

Add julienned cucumber and carrot to noodles.

Place salmon pieces on top.

Garnish with chopped peanuts.

Enjoy!!