November 14, 2021- dark and dreary

It seems like it has been a long time since the sun was shining. Actually it really has only been maybe 3 days. I do not know why that seems longer in November.

While it is chilly and a little wet and the dark is coming, earlier in the week it was wonderfully light, particularly early in the morning. We actually had 3 days in a row with the temperature in the 60's.  The last red and yellow covered trees were rather grand. They were all the more impressive with the knowledge that they were not going to last. Indeed the rain and wind and falling temperatures on Thursday brought a  lot of the last leaves down.

I took advantage of the extra hour of daylight before work to get the last of my bulbs planted. It was a good felling. After that I sort of coasted the rest of the week, at least as to garden work. I was so pleased to have all my bulbs planted. 

Yesterday Katie sent me a 8 big allium bulbs ....along with the world's biggest amaryllis bulb.

This is what my many amaryllis aspire to look like.

I potted the new arrival up and gave it water.  We will see how long it takes. Any guesses? I think it might bloom for Christmas. At this point it has no green spout coming.

Speaking of spouts coming...

here is that tillandsia I showed you a little while ago.

I think it is going to be special, again about Christmas.

Last week's cattleya has quickly had all the buds bloom.

It was joined this week by the white one. It reliably blooms in the fall.

Here are just a few of the outdoor impressions this week.

I do think the fall crocuses have bloomed their last while the sun shone. We will see. It is suppose to jump back up to the 60's for a single day on Tuesday. That is my target day for planting the allium.

This great annual is so hardy several overwintered last winter. I call all silver annuals dusty miller.

The hellebores really stand out this time of year. They are so green and healthy looking.

Some of the epimedium are evergreen. This one is Black Seas.

Of course the hellebores are accompanied by the pulmonaria.

Most of the leaves on the tree peonies came off with the rain on Thursday. They do show next spring's buds.

Julia's recipe

Meringue shell with lemon curd and whipped cream

This is a spectacular dessert. It takes a bit more time but most of the time is waiting rather than doing. If one were going to have a holiday dessert buffet or a bunch of people for dinner (for whom pumpkin pie would not be required), I would say make this. I hope there will be a time when inviting people for dessert will not seem like risky business. Not yet. As for a name, I can't call it lemon meringue pie because that is something else (also very good). My sister in law Lynn has a recipe similar to this one which she calls Lemon Angel Pie. Not descriptive, exactly, but nice. 

The ingredients:

First for the meringue shell:

3 egg whites;

3/8 teaspoon cream of tartar;

a pinch of salt; and 

3/4 cup white sugar.

For the filling:

3/4 cup of white sugar;

3 tablespoons cornstarch;

1/4 teaspoon salt;

3/4 cup water;

3 egg yolks;

1 tablespoon lemon zest;

1/2 cup lemon juice;

1 tablespoon butter.

For the topping: 1 cup whipping cream; maybe 1 tablespoon white sugar. 

I am showing 1 lemon and 1 lime (half hidden behind the cornstarch) among the ingredients. I had a lime that was becoming forlorn. Unless you have a giant lemon, it will probably take 2. 1 tablespoon of zest is good. If you are short, anything over 1-1/2 teaspoons will be okay. 

This video shows separating eggs

Once the eggs were separated, I started on the meringue shell. 

I started by beating the egg whites until they were just a bit frothy and then I added the pinch of salt and the cream of tartar. The rule of thumb when beating egg whites is 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar per egg. 

I turned the oven on to 275 degrees.

Here is a video of whipping egg whites and adding sugar. When the egg whites began to look like meringue (white, a bit glossy), I started adding the sugar gradually, beating all the while. When the egg whites held stiff peaks, they were ready. By "held stiff peaks," I mean when I lifted the beaters out, the egg whites in the bowl and on the beaters were in peaks that did not flop over. 

I put a piece of parchment on a rimmed sheet pan and dumped the egg whites onto the parchment. Then I used a silicone spatula to spread the egg whites into roughly a 9-10" circle with the sides a little higher than the center. 

I baked the meringue shell for 1-1/2 hours. Then I turned off the oven and left it in the oven for another 1 hour. Then I took it out and let it get completely cool. 

You see what I say about taking some time. But one does not need to do anything more than set a timer and be close enough to hear it and turn off the oven. 

While the meringue was cooling, I made the lemon curd. It's pretty much just like making the filling for traditional lemon meringue pie. 

I started by mixing the cornstarch, salt and sugar in a saucier. And by grating the lemon and lime, juicing the fruit and adding bottled lemon to get to 1/2 cup.  

Then I added the water to the saucier, whisked it in well and turned on the heat to medium high. After a few minutes (of pretty constant stirring), the mixture turned clear and began to thicken. It came to a boil; I turned the heat down a bit and boiled it (stirring constantly) for 1 minute. 

Next up: egg yolks. The egg yolks were waiting patiently in a little bowl. I scooped/poured some of the hot mixture into the yolks, whisking to make sure the eggs did not curdle. (They didn't.) Then I poured the yolk mixture into the saucier, whisked it in well, brought to a boil again and cooked it at a low (not furious) boil for another 1 minute.

I took the pan off the heat and whisked in the zest, butter (cut into smaller pieces to facilitate melting) and juice. 

Whisking. 

When the whisking was done, there was another period of waiting. The curd had to cool to room temperature so it would not discombobulate the meringue shell. 

Here is the completely cool meringue shell - practically weightless. 

I cooled the curd in the pan on the counter. I used the parchment that had been under the meringue shell to cover the curd. I pushed the parchment down until it made contact with the curd so a "skin" would not form on top during cooling. Saran wrap or waxed paper works too. 

When the curd was cool, I used a spatula to plop it onto the meringue.

I spread it around gently. Then more waiting. The whole confection needed to be refrigerated (I used the parchment again) overnight! 

Next day, I whipped the cream and plopped and spread it. Time to eat.

We ended up eating our Saturday dessert on Sunday afternoon. If to be eaten on the same day, start in the morning and shorten the final refrigerated waiting from overnight to 5 hours or so. 

It held up beautifully, both on first slicing and later. It did need to be refrigerated, with the whipped cream and all. After a day or two, the meringue shell began to soften from the curd, but that was not a bad thing. Save this recipe for the time when festivities worthy of the effort are possible again.

Odds and Ends

I should mention that the winter picture contest is coming soon. I usually like to start it the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I should begin my selection. That is particularly a good thing to do while the wind howls outside.

I did bring inside a rather large Persian Shield plant. I should start making cuttings before long.

I am down to about 5-6 plants in the garage at this point. I brought inside 2 of the epiphyllum hookeri yesterday. Those were the two that had buds. They got to stay outside longer (but sheltered in the back garage if the frost was predicted.) They did not bloom outside after all. The buds looked good but it just did not happen. 

The plants were really lopsided, with branches 2-3 feet. I gave them quite the trimming. I will start the trimmings after the cuttings have hardened a little on the cut ends. That takes 3-4 days.

I realized the other day that I will start some seeds inside on January 1. That really is not too far away.

I am going to think about  the list of things I look forward to in the garden 2022.

One thing will be all the new crocuses. 

Be safe.

Philip