The Raven (excerpts)

Boo. Happy Halloween!

 THE RAVEN (excerpts) by Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849)
                        Written in 1845.....It follows a young man's loss of his love, Lenore, and the raven drives him into madness, especially when it never leaves...

 Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, came a tapping. Tapping at my chamber door. Only this and nothing more...

 Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating no longer. Here I opened wide the door; Darkness there and nothing more.

 Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning. Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; Tis the wind and nothing more.

 Open here  I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore.Perched and sat, and nothing more.

 But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only that one word, as if his soul in that one word did outpour. "Nevermore"

 But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird. Thinking what this ominous bird of yore meant in croaking "Nevermore".

 "Prophet" said I "thing of evil, prophet still, if bird or devil, on this Home by Horror haunted, tell me truly, I implore. Is there ....IS there balm in Gilead? tell me, tell me, I implore."

 Quoth the Raven "Nevermore!!"

 "Prophet" said I, "thing of evil, prophet still, if bird or devil. Tell this soul with sorrow laden, if, within the distant Aidenn, clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore." 

Quoth the Raven "Nevermore!"

"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore! Leave my loneliness unbroken. take thy beak from out my heart, and take they form from of my door.

Quoth the Raven "Nevermore!"

And that Raven, never flitting, ,still is sitting, STILL is sitting, just above my chamber door; and his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, and the lamp light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; 

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted nevermore......

Photographs 2018

There Were Two Brothers.....(a short story about Smokey and Spencer)

 ONCE UPON A TIME.....there were two brothers.....

 One liked to be a clown....

 One was gold like the sun...

 They were brothers. Side by side. Thru thick and thin...Thin and thick.

One had paws of grey. He liked to chase and dance.

 Smokey and Spencer. Together . In spring . When blossoms fell.

 In winter. Brrrrrrrr. In  snow. In  icy rain.

 In the fall. They hid in the dry grasses. And pounce.

 In  summer. Waiting on warm pavement for night to come.

 The neighbourhood cats  all came calling. One by one.

 But these two brothers were special.

 Even beautiful Cordelia knew .

  Their  happy place. Their time  together.

 Snakes were to be found. Hunting for snakes was THE best.

 Smokey liked to sun his paws. On the steps. Where we walked.

 Or reach for the sky. Early in the morning. Usually before Spencer. Smokey would be waiting.

 These two brothers........ Listened. Planned. 

 Leaves were made to be burrowed into. Days were long and wonderful.

 Both were  equally skilled at wowing   their fans, with daily visitations.

 Then Smokey went Home.  On this day last year. 

 Leaving Spencer to carry on. To remember him when he heard the wind breathing. Beside him. Always. 

 To tell his brother  to keep their trail  clear, through snow and rain.That it would be all right.

 In time, Spencer  found his niche.  Cat Plant (Scientia Cattus). One of a kind. He sits alone  at times. But yet not alone.  With the ghost of his brother leaping and running beside him....

 Once Upon a Time, there were two brothers........

UGLY PIE (Civil War)

"The cooking is everything. If not well done it is positively injurious; if well done, it is wholesome."-General Silas Casey ( 1862)

The more I look into food from civil war times, the more I realize that they were creative with what they could get. Where the apples were plentiful , desserts like pies were  made as often as possible. But as the war dragged on, even the apples were hard to find.I bet  this pie was  being made with nothing more than the fewest of ingredients. No apples, even. 

UGLY PIE , also known as Monster pie, or Molasses pie, was a treat during the civil war. Sugar was hard to come by but Molasses would have been readily available. A common staple.

A basic recipe would have been this: 5 green apples, or whatever was available, 1 tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp cinnamon ( if available) and 1 cup molasses. Fill a pie shell with this mixture and bake at 350 minutes for over an hour.
HOWEVER.....

I found another recipe, which probably was added to over time, but  still makes an UGLY Pie.....

Prep time: About 15 minutes

Cooking time: about an hour

9 inch pie crust or double pie crust. You can make your own or purchase a set in freezer section or store, or chilled dough.

6 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, sliced and diced.

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ cup molasses ( I halved this, cause I just wasn’t sure what it would be like.   ¼ cup makes for a dark pie. Some recipes call for a FULL CUP. Wowzers.)

5 tbsp flour

¾ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¾ cup raisins (optional if you do not like raisins)

¼ cup walnuts chopped (optional if you do not like nuts)

(It is said that is where it gets its name of “Ugle Pie” with all of the lumpy ingredients)

CRUMB TOPPING ( if using) ( I chose to do a plain crust top)

½ cup flour , ¼ cup butter cold,¼ cup brown sugar

METHOD:

1.    In large bowl mix apples, lemon juice and molasses

2.   Add in flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

1.    Toss to combine well.

2.   Stir in raisins and walnuts , if using.

1.    Place pie crust into a deep dish pie plate.

2.   Fill with apple filling.

"We have the best of food provided..." -Paymaster aboard USS Monitor

For TOPPING:

Place flour, cold butter, and brown sugar in a deep bowl. 

Using a pastry cutter, combine till you have coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over pie.

Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

8. Remove foil and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Around 1861, a Captain Sanderson wrote a cookbook  "Camp Fires and Camp Cooking, or Culinary Hints for the Soldier", A Union army cookbook with typical menus that the men would make. Most fare was basic: pork, beef, coffee, salt vinegar, some sugar, molasses, and veggies and fruit usually when they could find them. 

I wonder how many of them actually had the time to make Ugly Pie, the basic version, or if it was something reserved when they were home .

                  “Now, thats a pie!” ― James May

Photographs 2018