Well, I completed my first-ever (well, first-ever successful) bit of thread crochet:



This is the first doily in the "Kyuuto: Japanese Crafts, Thread Crochet" book. (They show it done in blue).

It's not PERFECT (I think I sort of misinterpreted some of the chartwork towards the edge so it buckles a little) but it's pretty good, I think, for a first effort at something I tried once and couldn't do.

***

I made Harvard Beets today. There are a lot of recipes out there, but the one I used is from the Settlement Cookbook.

It's the same basic recipe that my mother used over the years. I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive trying these, because I remember once or twice when I was a kid, I either asked to try these, or my father persuaded me to try them (Harvard Beets are one of his favorite vegetables) and my reaction was pretty much a classic Cooking Defcon 2. But I figured that I was older now, and I liked things with vinegar now, so it was worth a try.

Oh, and a word on beets: I'm not normally a fan of beets qua beets. What vegetable-lovers praise as 'that earthy flavor' is something I find distinctly off-putting. So for "earthy" vegetables, I must find some seasoning that either covers the earthiness or renders it less harmful-seeming.

So anyway, I made them. Slowly and experimentally put one of the slices in my mouth. Chewed it. Not bad. Not bad at all. Chewed a bit more. Good, in fact. Ate a few more slices and decided that they were pretty delicious, and had no hint of the offensive earthiness I've experienced in some of my other root-vegetable experiments.

In fact, I've concluded I like Harvard beets better than pickled beets, because they are less sharp in flavor, and because the sauce adds something nice - the bit of flour in it makes it almost a little "velvety" or something.

Definitely something I will be making again as it has the added virtue of being fast (especially if you use canned beets - which may also be a way of reducing the dreaded earthiness; I seem to remember my mom usually making beet dishes out of "real" beets, in other words, ones dug from her own garden, and they were pretty "earthy").

It also is the kind of recipe I think of as an "emergency" recipe, where all the ingredients are things you either have on hand otherwise, or that are a nonperishable item (the canned beets being the only thing I might not otherwise have on hand, but canned beets will keep 3 years or more on the shelf).

So here it is:

2 T butter
1 T flour
1/2 cup sugar (you can use less; I might next time, they seemed a bit sweet)
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup vinegar (I used white wine vinegar; some other recipes merely suggest using wine, so use what you have on hand. I think these probably would be good made with wine).
1/4 cup beet juice (or water, if you've cooked beets from scratch)
2 cups sliced boiled beets or 1, 1-lb can sliced beets.

Melt the butter over low heat, mix in the flour. Gradually add the sugar and liquid and stir until the sauce is clear and slightly thickened. Add the beets and heat through.

This is best when it's really piping hot but isn't too objectionable even at room temperature.

As for the name, I don't know for sure why they're called Harvard beets. They don't seem to be distinctly crimson, nor do they feature any ingredients particularly famous for coming from Cambridge MA. One site I consulted said that it was possible the dish was invented by a Harvard student, or that they're actually named for a British tavern whose name wound up being mispronounced as Harvard.

I don't really know, but they're good.

There is also a variant where you can put grated orange zest in the mix - probably not very much would be needed - and that might be good as well. I have seen a few online recipes that include pineapple and pineapple juice and I do not think that would be so good (too fruity) but your mileage may vary. Some recipes use cornstarch as the thickening rather than flour.

But I had good success with the recipe posted above, so it will probably be the one I continue to use.

There's also a crock pot recipe for them out there, but again - they're so fast to make on top of the stove that it seems kind of unnecessary to do in a crock pot. (It took me less than 15 minutes to whip them up.)