moving | Bring me my coffee

It’s just tooo hot. This weekend was a great lay-on-the-boat-and-do-nothing weekend. I only wish I were there. Instead, I’m running around trying to help my friend move away. And helping my new daughter (given to me for a year by same friend) move into our home. And going through the usual musical rooms routine that we seem to do every few months. In and out of the attic with furniture that is just “wrong”, rotating with furniture that might be alright. All in a home that was built 110 years ago, before central ac, when insulation was one of those new-fangled things that would never catch on. In short: It’s just tooo hot.

I shouldn’t whine. At this very moment, I’m taking a break in front of a window fan with a tall, chilly glass of my new favorite (non-alcoholic) beverage. Homemade ginger beer. Sugar free. Oh my.

For about 10 years I was a Girl Scout leader. I never liked scouting when I was a kid. Then it meant weekly lectures and coloring. Blah. When I got to be the leader, though, I made the rules. We got to do things. Real things. We made things to sell for real money.

Then we donated some, and with the rest we went apple picking. Every fall.

And skiing. Every winter. Most of the girls had never been skiing, and didn’t have a chance to ski other then on our annual trip.

We also went to a Dude Ranch. The horse I was given to ride was named Big Mac. I tried to not take it personally.

But mostly we went camping. A lot. I loved it. It was everything Girl Scouts was not in my childhood. We mostly stayed in tents like this one, just high enough above the lake to enjoy some nice cool breezes at night. Always sleep with your tent flaps open. Trust me on this one. And beware of the prankster- every encampment has one. This was ours. I am seeing this photo and it just takes me right back there. She’s a hoot. I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun we had together. If the GS nazi’s new they’d ban us from scouting for life. Maybe two lifetimes.

It was on one of our many, many camping trips that I discovered Ginger Beer. One of those hot, steamy days when the last thing I wanted to do was go off camp to a market. We must have needed something dreadfully, because off I went. There, in the (maybe 40 sq foot) so-called market, I bought an icy cold one. I was hooked.

I’ve toyed with the idea of making my own ginger beer many times. The image of dozens of glass bottles exploding in my pantry has held me back. Recently, I found a recipe for homemade ginger ale at MyOldSchool.com. This recipe involved simmering ginger and making a syrup, which was then added to seltzer. How absolutely brilliant!!! No fermenting. No exploding glass. I decided to adapt this, make it a bit stronger and sugar free, to create a sugar free ginger beer syrup.

Here is all you need: Ginger (2 lbs) ; Limes (optional) ; Stevia 1.5 cups (or whatever substitute sweetner you prefer) ; Seltzer

Start by peeling 2 pounds of ginger. It’s really easy; just scrape the outer skin with the side of a spoon and it slips right off. After peeling, slice all of the ginger and place it in a saucepan, just barely covering it with water.

Simmer for about 45 minutes, do not bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cover with a lid. After it cooled I refrigerated overnight. The next morning, I strained it (save ginger and candy it later) and added the Stevia, whisking gently over low heat until it had completely dissolved. After cooling, It’s ready to use.

Fill a large glass with ice. Add 1/2 of a lime (squeeze that thing for all it’s worth). Pour around 1/4 full with syrup. Top off with seltzer. You can use more syrup, or less if you prefer. It’s so gingery and refreshing. Takes me right back to that first icy cold ginger beer, lying on a cot in a tent with a gentle breeze off the lake.

This is what kept me up last night:

1) Money worries- I know, everyone has them.

2) Hubby- He doesn’t have insomnia over money worries. He should be up at night pacing, budgeting and sharpening pencils. Instead he is in bed. Snoring.

3) Snoring. See above.

4) Middle daughter. Avery. She is 13. That should say it all. She wouldn’t speak to me for the last 24 hours because I refused to let her wear a wig at the dinner table.

5) Older (16 year old) daughter. Syd (technically also a middle child). She is home, had a wonderful trip to Guatemala. She has more energy than a freshly caged monkey on caffeine. She thinks she will now see more of the world. Instead of going straight to college, she wants to take a year off and “bum my way through Europe, working at odd jobs”.

6) A dear friend just told me that this summer she is moving to NC. Her daughter Bailey, one of Syd’s best friends, does not want to move with her family. She plans to stay here and finish her senior year. “Here” as in with us. I will have 2 girls, both blonde beauties, in their senior year of high school. This did not keep me up at night. I love Bailey. She’s a welcome surprise (I had a few of those already, what’s one more?). No problem. What kept me up? Syd. She is so excited about having her twin move in that she was up chatting. Until 1am.

7) New job. Okay- this is probably what is really keeping me up. I applied for a per diem nursing position at the local hospital. Just for kicks. I didn’t really care how it worked out. Now I care. It’s a great place. In the past 20 years I’ve worked primarily (except for “filling in”) at 2 hospitals. The last time I applied for a job I was 44. Now I’m 53. That just seems so much older. I’m sure all the other nurses will be experienced; but I’ve never been one of the oldest. They look so young. They probably don’t know who all the Beatles are. Or that Led Zeppelin ever had a farewell tour. Never mind a dozen of them.

So what do you do when you have insomnia? I cook. As in bake. What can I bake that will heal the wounded heart of a 13 year old girl? What will help open the door for friendships at the new job? My favorite strawberry-buttercream filled cupcakes. What else?

You can make them with any kind of cupcake. They were something I first did for a picnic, I needed something that would travel well. I started with yellow cupcakes.

Then, I make my favorite buttercream frosting. It’s not like any other. In order to make this you need potato starch. It’s like corn starch, but potato. I found it in the kosher food aisle. This recipe is from an old baking book by Jim Fobel. It’s my favorite go-to book on baking. It’s the one thing Syd wants “when you die”. She doesn’t want a copy. She wants the same old, broken spined, cover-missing, stained one that I use. Sweet. Anyway, per Jim F, you put 3 Tblsp potato starch in a saucepan. Then, you whisk in 1 cup milk, followed by 2 egg yolks and 1 cup of confectioners (also called powdered) sugar. When it is all mixed you cook it over a medium heat until it’s thick. At this point you should cover with plastic wrap (Jim says to transfer to a bowl and cover. I don’t bother- who needs one more dirty bowl?). Now, while this cools down, in a large bowl with electric mixer (preferably upright) beat 2.5 sticks of softened butter. That’s right. It’s called buttercream for a reason. Trust me- it’s worth it. Now add another cup of confectioner’s sugar. The original recipe is for 1/2 cup, but you need the extra because of the moisture in the strawberries. Again, trust me. After 2 minutes of beating, start adding and beating in the cooling custardy stuff. It’s okay if it’s a little warm. but it shouldn’t be hot. Beat in just a little at a time. By the time you are done it should be really light and fluffy. Next you beat in 1 tsp of vanilla. Now for the best part: the strawberries! You should wash them thoroughly first. Then separate 12 or 13 berries of similar size and color. The rest you chop into a very fine dice. Ideally the bits should be all less than 1/4 inch in size. The reason for the size issue is that they need to fit through the end of your pastry tip. If you don’t have a pastry tip- no worries. I’ll tell you how to fudge it in a minute. So stir the berries into the frosting. An ideal mix is close to 50:50. Now, prepare a pastry bag and tip as if frosting a cake. Use the biggest tip you can find. I have a special tip made just for filling cupcakes- forget it. The opening is too small. If you don’t have a pastry bag/tip, put all the frosting into a good, sturdy freezer type storage bag. Close the top after pressing out the air. Squeeze the frosting down to one corner, twist the top to make it look like a pastry bag. Snip off just a bit of the lower corner to squeeze frosting through. If you are using this you’ll need to make a hole in the top of each cupcake (a chopstick works well). Now squeeze the frosting into the cupcake, as much as you can fit in without making it explode. The exploded ones still taste good, they just aren’t pretty. Make sure that a little extra frosting sits at the top. Use a little confectioners sugar in a small strainer to sprinkle over the top. Now carefully remove each cupcake and transfer to serving plate/carrier, etc. Slice the reserved strawberries in half and press each half onto the blob of frosting at the top of cupcake. Now doesn’t that look pretty? You can safely cover with plastic wrap and there is no mess. I dropped off a dozen to the new job. They went over well. The other dozen was for the family. After 2 cupcakes the 13 year old is now speaking to me.