Paella
First attempt at making paella. It was a fun challenge. Best part, is the social aspect of eating it. The process encourages everyone to participate on the preparations, and then, traditionally, you put the pan in the middle of the table and everyone eats from the pan, working towards the center.
This post is mostly about the pics. You don’t really need a recipe. But at the end of the pics, I’ll give you some pointers.
Pointers:
You can get the pans here: La Paella.
Get Bomba rice and real Spanish pimenton peppers, if possible. If not, roasted red peppers and a short grain rice will do.
Figure 1/2 cup rice per diner, and 4 cups of stock per cup of rice.
Cook over a hardwood fire if possible.
After browning the chicken, softening the veggies, you add the rice, stirring it to toast it a bit and spread it out in the pan. Then you add most of the stock all at once. No more stirring. Leave it. Just move the pan around to make sure the pan is evenly heated. Place shellfish on top of the rice.
You then adjust the heat to keep a steady simmer, aiming to have the rice become tender, absorb all the liquid and then just begin to crisp up on the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat, cover with a towel for about 15 minutes. Then eat!
Enjoy.
Welcome to Oz
Another fabulous show by the Nantucket Skating Club. Great because…
1) my kids did so wonderfully out there,
2) it forced me to get on skates for the second time in my life,
3) I didn’t hurt myself, and
4) it was such an entertaining show.
But beyond great because…
of all the community involvement and how many people came out to support the skaters!
Super Weekend
They called it a Super Moon. So aptly named as it framed a wonderful weekend of friends, cooking, family, moonborns, and the Dawn of Spring.
Long Exposure
I’m the new owner of a B+W ND 110 neutral density glass filter. When threaded on to the end of your lens, it allows you to increase your exposure by a factor of 1,000! It’s so dark that you cannot see through it looking through the viewfinder. This allows you to slow down the exposure to add intentional motion to your shot, even in bright daylight. I look forward to seeing what this will do to Nantucket Seascapes. Here’s the first two examples:
Coskata Woods
Was able to enter Coskata Woods today. I was denied access this past summer, by the M.O.U.S.’s, the Mosquitoes of Unusual Size. Apparently, like their smaller relatives, the Canadian Geese, they fly south for the winter.
It’s a magical place, even without the persistent buzz…
“My, she was yar”
First big storm of the winter, on Boxing Day, brought the mainland huge piles of snow, but brought us rain and hurricane-force winds. Strong enough to tear the Miss China, and it’s cargo of Dooley Dogs, from its mooring, and to see it beached up against Brant Point Light.