Kesslerville

Kessler family blog....

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Sara and Rosa in Tennessee




Last weekend, Sara and Rosa went to Summertown, Tennessee to see Sara's (94 year old) Aunt Edith. Edith's son Martin was one of the founders of the Farm commune in Summertown, and Edith moved down there to be closer to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren (Martin now lives in Nashville).

Here's Sara's report: Martin's son, Silas who is a builder, built a gorgeous house for Edith next door to him and his family, and they're taking impressive care of her, along with Bonnie, Martin's ex-wife. They live about 5 miles away from the Farm. Silas took us on a tour of the Farm. It's HUGE. The photo of me and Rosa is in front of the Farm Store. The bus/house combo is NOT where Edith lives - it's one of the houses still on the commune.

And of course Edith sends her love to everyone. She's very happy in her new home and remembers the Kesslers fondly. She says this is the best move she ever made.

I Promised Rosa a Waffle Recipe

I promised Rosa a waffle recipe, but I started thinking that if I was going to write it down, I might as well share it with everybody at once. I actually have several different waffle recipes. I’ll start with the simplest one.
Classic Buttermilk Waffles: Beat 2 eggs in a mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of buttermilk, 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening (vegetable oil or melted butter).
Variations: For a richer batter, use 3 eggs, 1 ¾ cups flour, and ½ cup of shortening instead of the amounts above. If you use regular milk instead of buttermilk, omit the baking soda. I am told you can use yoghurt or sour cream in place of buttermilk, but I haven’t tried it; if you use sour cream, you need less shortening.
Raised Waffles: For more interesting waffles, try this raised waffle recipe. The night before you want to serve the waffles, sprinkle one package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast on to ½ cup of warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes. Add 2 cups of warm whole milk, 1 stick or less of melted butter (or ½ cup vegetable oil), 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix these ingredients until smooth in a very large mixing bowl (it expands!). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it overnight on the counter top (if it is very warm and you don’t have air conditioning, you can put it in the refrigerator). The next morning, add 2 beaten eggs and ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. Stir well and make the waffles (this batter is very thin.) You can store this batter for several days in the refrigerator in a (large) covered container.
World’s Best Waffles (Jim’s Not-So-Secret Recipe): Combine one recipe of the Buttermilk Waffles with one recipe of the Raised Waffles. This is a very good waffle.
Additions and Toppings: Top waffles with any combination of fresh strawberries, raspberries, peaches or bananas, toasted nuts, chocolate chips, real maple syrup, chocolate syrup and/or whipped cream that appeals to you (I’m a strawberry, maple syrup and whipped cream guy, but you’ve got to be true to yourself). Sara likes to put some of the toppings in the waffle batter, but I think it interferes with the waffleization process and makes it harder to clean up, especially if you have a good non-teflon waffle maker (see next paragraph.)
Other Useful Facts: Modern day waffle makers are good, but because the Teflon coating on the waffle grids can’t stand really high temperatures, they never get as hot as old fashioned cast-iron waffle makers did. This means that they take longer to cook and never get quite as crisp as in the old days. If you can find an old fashioned no-teflon waffle maker at a second-hand store or garage sale, buy it (but watch out for frayed cords). You may need to season it every now and then with a little vegetable oil, but once it’s clean and seasoned, the shortening in the waffles should keep it non-stick, at least if you keep the fruit and chocolate out of the waffle batter. Once it’s been seasoned, don’t clean it with anything abrasive or with soap and water. (Treat it like a good omelet pan.) When you use an older wafflemaker, remember that they can cook very fast and can get very hot.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

58 days left

Hey Everyone,
Once again, it's the 22nd. I am sure you all know what that means by now. There is exaclty 57 days and 20 minutes until my 21st birthday. For those planning to attend this would be the time to start preparing. I suggest 4 crunches every morning (after 3 bowls of Captin Crunch), 2 pull ups during the day (while watching The Simpsons), and of course the ever poppular push up (after reaching for an assortment of munchies before watching Seabiscut and/or Shark Boy and Lava Girl). Let's get ready to party. =)
Peace
Oren

Sunday, February 12, 2006

No particular reason





It' s been a while since the last post, so, for no particular reason, I thought I would post a picture of Bonkers and (as a tribute to Josh) a few photos of Adams Donut Shop. We missed the brunt of the Blizzard of '06; we just got a few inches, just enough to make things scenic. Sara and
Rosa will be going to Tennessee next weekend to see Sara's Aunt Edith (age 94), who is living on a commune with her grandchildren. I will try to post a photo or two when they get back.

Monday, February 06, 2006

just for the record,
the following people have confirmed that they will be attending the oren kessler 2006 event on April 22nd:

Josh Kessler
Rosa Kessler
Pippi Kessler
Jonah Geffen
Dan Geffen
Avi Feldman