Day 54

Happy New Year !

It is cloudy here in Maine and I haven’t seen the moon today.  Crescent is the phase of the moon I love because it reminds me of growth. The moon is such a gift to us! Our cultures attach symbols and traditions to it. Maybe I am a selenophile ( a person who loves the moon – I should remember this word for the next word game).  I do look for her daily and sometimes chase moonrise photos.

We use so many markers of time to help us make sense of the world around us. I just finished my Christmas cards though my friends and family will probably not get them until mid January. I feel the sentiment in them is constant and is traveling towards them. I am giving myself time and permission to be in a different timeline. It is especially a good feeling when so much of what we do has to fit in a schedule that often doesn’t include our input and can’t accommodate how we move in the world.

I sometimes feel like my body is relying on a sundial to understand time. I haven’t seen the sun today either. I still associate January with summer vacations because I grew up in the Southern Hemisphere.  

I spent part of my morning putting away the corn we grew and dried and saving some seeds. We made tamales this past weekend. I used to associate corn with summer, but now it is winter fuel. It is the taste of summer and light that carries me through.

I would like to invite you to see how I cook/think/feel about time and food. I have submitted some Brazilian recipes like corn kvass, fermented rice cake and my multipurpose sourdough and fermented digestive cookie videos to https://cultures.group . The annual membership includes access to any event in 2022 and 2023, including all the Salt and Ceremony amazing sessions and associated videos, and the video archives from now until the end of 2023.

Fermented Cornmeal Lime Crescent

1 stick of butter, soften

½ cup of sugar

2 eggs 

½ cup squash levain (equal parts in weight of whole roasted blended squash, sourdough starter and flour)

1 cup of cornmeal

¼ tsp coarse salt

Zest of 2 limes.

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Lightly grease cookie sheets, or prep with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

In a bowl, by hand or with a mixer, cream butter, sugar and sourdough starter and beat well. Add cornmeal and salt.

Let the dough ferment at room temperature for the day. Transfer to the fridge for several days to continue fermenting if desired. When ready to bake, fill a pastry bag (or make a parchment paper piping bag or cone)

Use a 2A tip and pipe half crescent shape. Or make other shapes as desired. Bake 400F 10 minutes