Still Here - Winter Solstice - Redemption

Gosh, that looks like it could be a deep theological discussion.  Hey, wait, don't leave; it just looks that way is all that I am saying. 

About two hours ago the time the world was supposed to end according to the Mayan calendar.  All that happened two hours ago was that we passed the winter solstice.  The good news is that the days will begin to get longer.  I need that; I really need that. 

As I understand it, we do not have the whole Mayan calendar.  The missing parts might be important for us to be able to understand it.  Anyway, the speculation is that if the Mayans survived, they would have made a new calendar.  We make new calendars every year..  The most fascinating thing about this is that the Mayans could so closely determine the winter solstice for so many years ahead of the time they made the calendar.  For how long have we had the tendency to dismiss the natives of the Western Hemisphere as ignorant savages?  The native cultures were very rich and complex.  We should never forget that.  If we do, it is to our own detriment.

No pictures of the snowfall are forthcoming.  It was not a very attractive one.  During the day yesterday, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up.  While there were blizzard warnings elsewhere, our winter misery was not severe enough to call one here.  The temperatures may be low enough to enable us to make a couple ice luminaria for Christmas.  We shall have to see how that develops. 

Redemption:  Yesterday was a day of redemption for me.  

1.  Someone who will remain unnamed because I cannot remember who it was spilled water on the sleeve I use to cover my rolling pin.  Needless to say that completely did the sleeve in.  Horror of horrors, I could not find rolling pin sleeves anywhere.  When I got mine more than forty years ago you could find them everywhere.  Without the sleeve, it was extremely difficult to roll out pie pastry..  I was dreading Christmas because we (that should really be I) are committed by the extended family to bring pie because no one lese in the extended family makes pie. 

2.  I have been having a lot of difficulty producing satisfactory baked goods.  Last weekend I made date nut bread.  It tasted okay but it did not look good.  I also made gingerbread; it tasted okay but it looked awful.  I thought long and hard about it and decided that it might be the presifted flour I was using.  It's texture was a little strange and not soft and silky like what I am used to. 

Yesterday I baked.  First was the gingerbread with the flour I am accustomed to using.  The results were perfect. 

The lesson I learned is that presifted flour does not absorb liquids the same way regular flour does.  That can have a significant effect on the finished product. 

Next was the pie crust.  Because I could not easily find a sleeve or sock for the rolling pin, I made my own with some white cotton ribbing.  I did a little experimenting and determined how big to cut the ribbing and how to seam it so it would not impede the process of rolling out the crust.  It works.  I used my trial crust to make this chiffon pie.