Pannukakku – the traditional Finnish Oven Pancake – was my Grandmother’s version of comfort food
Finnish pancakes are the main comfort foods I remember from my childhood. Actually, it was pancakes and Finnish cardamom coffee bread, but I never did get my grandmother’s recipe for pulla (coffee bread). I do, however, have Mummu’s recipe for Pannukakku, also known as Kropsua, which I will share with you below.
If you’ve never made Pannukakku, you’re in for a treat. This is a custardy pancake that contains ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen, takes very little time to prepare, and bakes in the oven while you go do something else. My kind of cooking.
Pannukakku is a very adaptable dish. I’ve had this pancake for breakfast, dessert and even as the main course for lunch or supper. It is versatile, delicious and… I guess you could say… soothing. It reminds me of my grandmother… and childhood. Christmas, too. That’s when my mom would make Kropsua… on Christmas morning. Finnish oven pancakes are rich and filling – a little heavy for summer fare – but they are perfect for chilly fall and winter days.
I hope you have a chance to try my Pannukakku/Kropsua recipe and get a taste of this traditional Finnish comfort food for yourself. Who knows, it might even become one of your own family traditions.
Nothing stuck to my Lodge Logic Skillet
My new cast iron skillet worked perfectly for my oven pancake
The week I wanted to try making Pannukakku for the first time in many years, I received two frying pans from Amazon. One was a Plett pan for the small Swedish pancakes, which I’ve reviewed on another page. The other was this 10 1/4 inch pre-seasoned cast iron skillet from Lodge. This was my first purchase of a Lodge product and now I see why they get such great reviews.
How to make Finnish oven pancakes
3 things to be aware of:
(1) Where it says to “whisk” in the flour after using the electric mixer… use a whisk, not the mixer.
(2) Be careful how you pour the batter into the frying pan. The pan is hot and some of the batter could stick on the sides if you don’t pour carefully.
(3) When you place the pan in the oven (middle rack), try not to tip it too much. It’ll send the batter up the sides and you’ll have a lop-sided pancake, like I did.
A little lop-sided… but it tasted great
Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1 cup unsifted flour
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place well-seasoned 9-10″ cast iron skillet in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
With electric mixer, beat together eggs, sugar and salt in large bowl.
Beat in milk and (optional) vanilla.
Gradually whisk in flour until batter is smooth and well-blended.
Using a potholder, remove preheated skillet from oven and brush with oil.
Pour in batter.
Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden.
Remove to wire rack and let stand for 10 minutes. (The pancake will flatten a little.)
Serve with sugared strawberries or fruit preserves.
This recipe was made for holiday gift-giving, though it’s delicious any time of the year
Swedish Nuts Ready for Gift-Giving
If you’re looking for an inexpensive gift to give your family, friends, neighbors or office colleagues, here is a treat that is (a) homemade, (b) delicious and (c) inexpensive to make.
I’m talking about Swedish Nuts – pecans in this case – but any nuts will do.
For a minimal cost, you can create a whopping mound of candied nuts for your potlucks and get-togethers. The same recipe will make 3 or 4 small cookie tins of yummy sugar-coated pecans (walnuts, almonds, mixed nuts) with the very easy-to-follow recipe that you’ll see below.
I am not much of a cook, but I had these nuts for the first time a few Christmases ago and was hooked – very hooked. These Swedish Pecans are so tasty that you’ll have to make a batch for gifts and another batch for the house.
Awhile back our housemate made Swedish Nuts for the first time… and probably every weekend from Halloween to Christmas. We really love these nuts.
Because these nuts were such a big hit at home, I decided to try my hand at making Swedish Nuts to give my neighbors and lawn guy a nice, inexpensive gift for the holidays. My budget was a little tighter then and I wanted to see how many tries it would take me to get this recipe down pat.
Well, the recipe I’m about to share with you is one of those “what you see is what you get” recipes. I followed it precisely… and it came out precisely right. I was, quite frankly, amazed – and tremendously pleased.
Start with fresh, good quality nuts
If you use roasted nuts, you can omit the first step in the recipe. I personally love using pecans for this recipe, but I’ve had almonds, too, and they make a very tasty Swedish Nuts treat. Once you get the first batch down, try adding 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and/or 3/4 tsp cinnamon. I used organic Florida Crystals sugar, which is not quite white. Your end product will look a little different than mine if you use refined white sugar. My recipe calls for beating the egg whites to a soft peak. Other recipes call for a stiff peak, either before or after adding the sugar.
Place nuts on a 10 x 15 (or larger) cookie sheet or jellyroll pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
While the nuts toast, beat egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form.
Gradually beat in the sugar and salt.
Remove nuts from oven after 10 minutes and cool a little on a different plate (I used my other cookie sheet for this).
Slice the butter onto your baking pan and melt in the preheated oven.
Fold the toasted nuts into the egg white mixture, coating the nuts evenly.
Arrange the coated nuts in a single layer on the hot buttered pan.
Bake for 30 minutes in the 325 degree oven. Turn the nuts with a spatula every 8-10 minutes, making sure they all get into the melted butter.
At 30 minutes, your nuts should be a nice golden color and crispy on the outside. Don’t worry if they seem soft when you test a hot one. They firm up while cooling.
Place on aluminum foil to cool (I used two cooling racks with foil on top).
Test a few (try and stop me). When cooled, store in airtight containers.
Turning the coated nuts overYummy nuts cooling… almost ready to eat and/or store in a tin
For holiday gift giving, Amazon has a variety of Christmas-themed cookie tins. Choose your price, size and design, watching for the 4-star reviews or higher to ensure the tightness of the lids… and the freshness of your nuts.
Corningware stovetop cookware in Pyroceram came back and then became scarce again
Were you even aware that stove-top-safe Corningware had gone off the market for a few years?
My Corningware Stove-top Casserole
For a number of years, any home cook wanting to purchase Corningware cookware – that could be used on the stove top – had to settle for “vintage” pieces they could find on eBay or at garage sales. That’s because the company that bought the Corningware name in the late 1990s decided that the Pyroceram technology was too expensive to produce anymore.
It just wasn’t cost-effective… when the original cookware didn’t seem to ever wear out and was handed down from grandmothers to mothers to daughters (and sons, too).
The substitute products apparently worked okay, but you couldn’t take them from the freezer and place them directly into a hot oven, like you could with the Pyroceram pieces. And they had a stamp on the bottom saying they were not for stove-top cooking.
Well… shoot! My trusty old Blue Cornflower casserole dish is kind of the Superman of cookware.
And it came with a detachable pot handle for stove-top cooking.
Pyroceram was even used on the nose cones of anti-aircraft missiles in the late 1950s because of its ability to withstand extreme temperature changes. Just like the Corning pots in my kitchen.
Here’s why the original Pyroceram Corningware is sought after
With my “vintage” Corningware pans, I can:
Reheat frozen leftovers in the oven (or microwave) without thawing first.
Saute onions, mushrooms or whatever on the stove top on medium-high – or high – heat.
Bake macaroni and cheese, scalloped potatoes and more in the oven.
Create killer cheese sauces when a “heavy” pan is called for.
Safely heat foods in the microwave.
Soak my casseroles in water with dish liquid and clean off any stuck-on food easily. Repeat, easily.
Store food in the freezer… because all my dishes have tight-fitting glass lids.
In short, we “vintage” Corningware owners got used to depending on cookware that was versatile, sturdy, and safe. And that didn’t crack or shatter under extreme temperature changes.
The original Corningware was high-tech
Corningware Pyroceram was invented in 1953 by Dr. S. Donald Stookey of Corning’s Research and Development Division. He was researching heat-resistant materials that would withstand thermal shock on the nose cones of ballistic missiles… and then adapted this technology for cookware. That’s why the “original” Pyroceram Corningware dishes can go directly from freezer to stove top or oven without breaking. They were designed to withstand sudden temperature changes.
In 2008, you could buy stove-top Corningware again!
After a long period of not being able to buy new Corningware sets to replace those we had accidentally dropped or given away, we could breathe a little easier now, because the manufacturer had (finally) re-introduced some Pyroceram-based dishes. They didn’t offer many… but at least they started with Cornflower Blue.
And just in the nick of time, as baby boomers like me were starting to downsize and hand down our cookery items to kids and grandkids. In fact, I inherited two of my mom’s Corningware casseroles and was very happy to add them to my previously small collection… especially after learning that the company that took over Corning’s cookware division wasn’t making their new products with the same glass-ceramic material (Pyroceram) that was used to make my own indestructible dishes.
Corningware isn’t terribly sexy, as far as cookware goes… but you can’t beat the versatility of the Pyroceram casserole dishes. I use mine many times a week as saute pans, pots and casseroles… not to mention as storage containers and serving dishes.
I can’t imagine what I’d even replace them with, so I was delighted to see the “original” high-tech dishes available again… until, once again, they weren’t.
In 2022, stovetop Corningware was discontinued again, more or less
From what I could tell, the stovetop Corningware brand in the U.S. became part of Corelle Brands which sells one or two versions of stove-top Corningware. The reviews on those products were mixed, so if I were looking for more stove-top Pyroceram Corningware, I’d check first for used casseroles on Amazon or eBay and do an online search for “vintage stove-top Corningware with Pyroceram”. The keywords are CORNINGWARE, PYROCERAM, STOVE-TOP, ORIGINAL CORNINGWARE, VINTAGE CORNINGWARE.
AUTHOR’S NOTE My previous article on Stove-top Corningware with Pyroceram was more hopeful about its future. Now, not so much. If you’re lucky enough to have original Corningware handed down from parents and grandparents, thank your lucky stars. Corningware is not especially trendy… but it is versatile and sturdy and safe.
Thanks for reading “the updated corningware tales”
I appreciate books that push my buttons, making me look at things in new and slightly offbeat ways.
The case studies Chris Guillebeau showcases in The $100 Startup are of regular people, mostly in jobs, who unexpectedly found ways to create businesses in unique niches that suited them to a “t.” And that provided really useful products or services to clients who were willing to pay for them.
There’s the story of Michael, a sales professional, who was downsized after years in the same job, Sarah, who created a business because she couldn’t find what she wanted in the stores, and Susannah, whose hobby began generating more income than her day job. All three launched businesses very quickly – with very little startup money.
Michael accidentally became a mattress guru, delivering his products by bicycle. Sarah opened a yarn store that was profitable within half a year and acquired an international following. Susannah taught photography classes for fun… until it paid more than her job as a journalist.
The $100 Startup contains dozens of stories like these, each one motivating and instructive.
Chris Guillebeau researched 1,500 applicants to arrive at the business owners he documents in this book.
Each business owner chosen fulfilled these requirements:
The business owners were following their passion
They had low startup costs (mostly under $100)
Their annual NET income was $50,000 or more a year
No special business skills were required
The business stayed small – under 5 employees
A practical… and motivating business book
The $100 Startup isn’t a “touchy-feely” business book, either. The information is practical and well-researched as much as it is motivational. And it IS motivating. That was proven to me by the business ideas that kept arriving for me as I was reading about other people’s businesses.
Guillebeau provides some excellent “to-do” lists, such as “The 39 Step Product Launch Checklist.” And his “Seven Steps to Instant Market Testing” is very helpful for deciding if you really have an audience that will buy what you’re selling.
The book essentially walks you through the thinking process of launching a micro-business successfully, including how to price products and services.
Make sure you read Chapter 8 on product launches, where he tells the very cool story of how he launched his Empire Building Kit while traveling (and blogging) on Amtrak’s Empire Builder train. The launch earned $100,000 in 24 hours and a legion of fans who followed his story about the train ride.
This is why I read his book The Art of Non-Conformity next and pre-ordered his newest book The Happiness of Pursuit. I like the guy’s style.
Enriching the world with every business transaction
Guillebeau’s key concepts throughout the book reminded me of Wallace Wattles‘ idea of “enriching the world with every business transaction” by giving more in use value than you receive in cash value for your products and services.
The $100 Startup emphasizes that business owners are really searching for more freedom in their lives and they get it by providing increased value to others. This theme runs through the book and it’s what captivated me… I’m now a Chris Guillebeau fan.
Each state has its own rules for home based food businesses… links are provided below.
When the economy gets iffy, it might be the time to add a side hustle or launch your own home-based bakery or other food business. Each state has different food safety rules for home kitchens and the links below will take you to the pages where you can see if your food business ideas are viable and legal… or not. Best to know the info ahead of time before you spend money on a business launch. Here are the current links for all 50 states and Washington, DC.
Most links are clickable. For the PDF files, however, you’ll need to copy and paste the URL into a new browser tab.
31. New Mexico chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.env.nm.gov/ wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2021/08/2021-08-16-EHD-Homemade-Food-Act-factsheet.pdf
Here’s an example food label with home kitchen labeling requirements for Florida. This 3″ x 2″ label is available in my Zazzle shop… you can click the graphic to see how it looks on bread bags. You can easily revise the text with your own state’s required wording on Zazzle’s personalization template. If you design your own labels, feel free to use this format as a guide to make sure everything fits on the label.
Leftover mincemeat? Make mouthwatering mincemeat muffins!
What can you do with a cup or two of leftover mincemeat? Make the most delicious muffins in the world!
A few weeks before Christmas in 2015, I found a recipe for a very tasty apple dish that used a small amount of mincemeat for the filling. I was left with quite a bit of Robertson’s Classic Mincemeat as a result.
And even though I love mincemeat pie, I’m horrible at making pie crusts so I researched other ways to create a new dish with my mincemeat leftovers.
Here’s the recipe I found for leftover mincemeat: Mouthwatering Mincemeat Muffins. They’re wonderful with a little butter fresh and hot from the oven… plus they’re hearty enough to serve for a quick breakfast with a cup of coffee in the morning. When you make the recipe, feel free to add more or less mincemeat, depending on how much you have left over from other baking. You could also replace the apple with chopped pear. A dash of ginger could be fun, too.
These muffins freeze well, so why not make a double recipe while you’re at it. You won’t be disappointed. They are so scrumptious, you’ll go weak at the knees at your first bite. No kidding.
If you’re looking for a good recipe for holiday food gifts
Servings: 12 muffins
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Dry Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour. I used King Arthur
1/3 cup sugar. My preference is Organic Florida Crystals
1 level tbsp. baking powder
1 level tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt (or less)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (or pecans) (Optional)
Wet Ingredients
3/4 cup milk (I used whole milk)
1/3 cup canola oil or other light-tasting vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 cup mincemeat. Robertson’s Classic is all fruit
1 small tart apple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
Instructions
Filled muffin cups before baking
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Insert paper liners into 12 muffin cups
In a large bowl, blend the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt)
In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, vegetable oil and egg, making sure the oil is incorporated
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients
Add the mincemeat
Stir to combine, but not completely
Add chopped apple and nuts
Continue stirring until everything is blended, but do not use a mixer or blend too long (lumps are okay)
Fill muffin cups to top
Bake for 25 minutes (or until tops of muffins are golden)
Test with a toothpick (it’s a heavy batter… make sure it’s cooked through)
Serve warm
Recipe Notes
Robertson’s Classic Mincemeat: All Fruit, NO High Fructose Corn Syrup
This is the mincemeat I used for the muffin recipe. It’s all fruit (no meat like in the old days) and really delicious. My grocery store only had mincemeat with high fructose corn syrup, so I was happy to find Robertson’s Mincemeat at Fresh Market. I was pleased to see that Amazon carries it also, now that I’ve moved miles away from Fresh Market.
Still, yet, more, again until it stops. What is “it”? The world knows what “it” is. And “it” stops when enough people speak truth to power.
A government of the people, by the people, and for the people needs active people, not bystanders. Where is the best bang for your action’s buck? Are you brave enough to find out? A vote helps, yes. But apparently votes can be tampered with – on purpose or by accident. So what is your (lawful, non-violent) method for ensuring that a republic remains in the space between Canada and Mexico?
Here are a few steps ordinary people can take to make sure that the space between Canada and Mexico lives up to our expectations
Peaceful protests are one type of action. Heartfelt prayer is another. Group meditations to build higher consciousness are also a way to bring about healing and change. Standing in place silently in groups (socially distanced as needed) works, too… and gets attention without provoking others. Sit-ins and teach-ins have proven valuable in the past. Or how about songs written for these times… songs of hope and human kindness… songs that are easy to remember and sing. The 1960s had their anthems. The 2020s can, too.
It may take quite a while to right the ship called the United States of America, now that its hull integrity may have been compromised. As passengers on this vessel, many are feeling demoralized and betrayed, knowing what is happening but not knowing what to do about it. “Of the people, by the people, for the people” means we don’t get to just stand by and watch while the situation deteriorates. Maybe it’s time to start bailing, even as the ship’s officers continue to twiddle their thumbs or create more havoc.
So what can one individual do to help make an imperfect union more perfect?
Sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference
For example, if you’re a cook, feed people who are hungry. If you’re a writer, feel the truth and write about it. If you’re a musician, create an uplifting anthem. If you’re a walker, join a peaceful protest march.
If you’re a preacher, think about how Jesus taught the multitudes. If you’re a history teacher, give civics lessons everywhere you can. If you’re a senior citizen, what are you an expert in that is becoming a lost art… can you teach it to others?
Politicians are not the only ones with muscle in this game. We the people have a lot at stake and the time for passive watching is over. Unless you think going down with the ship is your path in life.
Dental and medical problems often require a soft foods diet. And for vegetarians, this can require a bit of extra research and creativity.
Has your doctor or dentist ever told you to eat a “soft foods diet” for a specific dental or health problem? And did you find out, like I did, that most soft food menu lists are not vegetarian-friendly, since they contain a lot of ground meat and fish suggestions?
For vegans, a soft food routine would be quite tricky, because so many of the recommended soft foods contain dairy or egg products. I mean, how many smoothies can one person drink in a day, never mind for a week or two… or 5 weeks, in our case? The first time. We had two more dental situations after that requiring soft foods.
In August my dentist sent me to have root canal surgery and my son’s orthodontist installed a TMJ dental appliance with the instruction to “eat soft foods – almost liquid” for a month.
This page represents my research, quick fixes and make-do efforts to satisfy the hunger pangs of a 6 foot 1 inch male with food that isn’t boring, that IS sufficiently filling and that is nutritious enough to keep us ticking.
Did I say it was for a whole month? And me with no juicer. Guess how I spent the first weekend? Shopping for a blender, Googling smoothie recipes and researching protein powders.
On top of this, we’re becoming more vegetarian in our diet, so food such as ground beef was out… and menu creativity was most definitely called for. This page is a research record of how we handled our soft food lifestyle for four weeks in a row (it ended up being 5 weeks). Here’s what we came up with.
UPDATE 1: The permanently-affixed appliance was removed after 5-1/2 weeks of eating soft foods (that’s a LONG time to completely overhaul a family’s eating plans). My son now has a TMJ dental appliance that can be removed for eating. Whoopee!
UPDATE 2: I just had oral surgery myself and created my soft foods grocery list from… my own web page. Sure did make it easier this time around.
Smoothies Were Top of the List for Soft Foods
First things first… we had to run out and buy a blender right away.
My basic recipe was 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 fresh banana, sugar or stevia to taste. No need to add ice cubes when using frozen fruit.
UPDATE 2: Tried a home made “Orange Julius” and it wasn’t bad. I didn’t have most of the ingredients that the recipe websites suggested. I live in Florida… why would I buy frozen juice concentrate? So I combined some real orange juice with vanilla ice cream and it tasted just like an Orange Julius drink. Next time I’ll try adding whey powder for some added protein. I’ve seen them add it at Orange Julius restaurants; I think that’s what makes the drink frothy.
Soft Foods for Breakfast – Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat
If you’ve ever had to prepare a soft foods diet for yourself or a family member, you’ll know what we’re going through. If you’re in this boat right now, I hope my research helps you in your own menu planning. And maybe my ah-ha’s will spur you on to even better ideas. I don’t think we can survive on ice cream and soup for a month.
I’m not much of a cook, so you won’t find too many recipes… at least until later in the month, when I’ve had a little more practice preparing mush three meals a day. And, while my tooth is currently covered by a temporary crown, I’m not eating anything chewy either. Mealtimes have become a bit of a challenge for sure.
The one meal that’s really easy, of course, is breakfast. Bless you, instant oatmeal! Thank goodness I already had some in the house.
Amy’s Organic Soups for Lunch
We had half a dozen cans lined up ready to use. Not only are we heading in a vegetarian direction, we’re now eating organic as much as we can manage… and afford. So the same trip to the health food store revealed a bonanza of wonderful Amy’s Organic Soups, which are lined up on the kitchen counter, ready to heat and serve… as you can see in the picture here.
So far, we’ve been very happy with Butternut Squash, Curried Lentil and Minestrone. Amy’s Vegetable Lentil Soup is a tried and true favorite and Field Day Spicy Chili was a big hit. Now that I’m planning our menus ahead, I can order by the case from Amazon, where the prices are 50 to 80 cents a can cheaper than at my health food store. Obviously, I could make soup from scratch and, depending on how long we’re going to need a soft foods menu, I may have to Google a few bean soup recipes… or buy a soup cookbook.
Here’s what we had for supper Sunday night – Mashed potatoes, soft mac ‘n cheese and peas
Saturday evening, my son’s 30th birthday – the day we should have been celebrating in higher style – we ended up at Panera Bakery. The Broccoli and Cheese Soup was a big hit and sufficiently nutritious to get us through that day. And because this is a temporary diet and my 6’1″ son is not overweight, he can handle the calories in the soup.
On Sunday, I made mashed potatoes with carrots in them (hence the orange specks), peas and leftover Panera macaroni and cheese. I wish I liked cooking more. I have no idea yet how we’re going to get through 4 weeks of this. Stay tuned, if you’re desperate for ideas. I’ll keep looking.
[NOTE] If you have a cholesterol issue, I’d steer away from Panera’s Mac & Cheese, however. It’s delicious – but with loads of cheese, according to one of their young cooks.
[UPDATE ON PANERA MAC & CHEESE] We recently found Panera’s Mac & Cheese for sale in Target – in a single serving size – and, on reading the list of ingredients, noticed the inclusion of chicken stock. Not quite vegetarian, in other words.
Birthday Cake was on the menu!
I asked… and the dentist said “okay”. Because our soft foods diet started the weekend of my son’s 30th birthday, we had to forego parties and chewy food. But the orthodontist said that birthday cake was considered “soft food.” Yahoo!
Here’s a picture of the birthday cake we got from Publix.
Here’s the soft food list that my research has come up with so far:
Soft cereals (oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat)
Ice cream
Pudding
Applesauce
Mashed potatoes
Mashed carrots
Macaroni
Bananas
Soft (pureed) fruits
Mashed pumpkin or squash
Baked beans
Pancakes (see my Swedish pancakes review below)
Scrambled eggs (we usually serve with grits)
Ground beef (not for “almost liquid” or vegetarian menus)
Yogurt and cottage cheese
Milkshakes
Soups (without crunchy bits)
Custard
Birthday cake!
Ramen noodles in broth
Ensure (recommended by the orthodontist… not gonna happen!)
Panera Macaroni and Cheese (better than my recipe, says my son)
Scalloped potatoes (soft, requires a bit of chewing)
Soft vegetarian chili worked well
Monday night was another Panera Bakery meal. My son’s a sucker for their Broccoli Cheese soup and mac ‘n cheese. Tuesday, I made scrambled eggs and grits. Then on Wednesday, we tried the chili we bought over the weekend at the health food store: Field Day Organic Spicy Vegetarian Chili.
We just added a little grated sharp cheddar and chopped sweet onions on the top and dug in. The texture worked well for my son’s dental situation and we’ll definitely get it again to make Cincinnati Chili when he’s allowed to chew spaghetti noodles.
If you’ve never had Cincinnati Chili, here’s how I make it. Basically, I boil spaghetti noodles, cook up some chili to put on top of the spaghetti, fresh-grate some sharp cheddar cheese and finely chop some sweet onion. You can get fancier, but this seems like enough steps for a chili-spaghetti dish. A little garlic bread and supper’s done.
Another winner: Swedish Pancakes – soft and yummy
I used Lund’s Swedish Pancake Mix the first couple of times and then made pancakes from scratch another. Though, I must admit… I like to have a box of Lund’s available for quick meals.
When we moved into our new apartment in April 2013, our next-door neighbor turned out to be a spiny orb weaver spider. At the time, I didn’t know what type of critter she was… I just knew that she was a pretty funky-looking arachnid, weaving a spider’s web that held her through windstorms, rainfalls, and dive-bombing birds.
I’m not typically a fan of spiders and shoo them away at the first (safe) opportunity. But this little lady was different and, so, we let her huge web stay in place and just let her be.
Until the lawn guys chopped off the palm frond that held her great big silky home in place.
The travels of this intrepid orb weaver are documented here and I hope you enjoy weaving your way (pun intended) through the Carlotta Saga. I don’t know yet if it has a happy ending. She’s had a pretty rough time of it.
I started calling her “Carlotta” because it’s the Italian version of Charlotte, the name given to another orb weaver… a very famous, fictitious spider who befriended a little piglet named Wilbur. You know who I mean, right? Except she wasn’t spiny… just “barny.”
Here’s another closeup of a spiny orb weaver spider
Looks a little like a crab, doesn’t it?
Source: Bob Peterson via Wikimedia Commons
While the spiny orb weaver spider may look ferocious, it’s actually harmless to humans… and beneficial for gardens.
Judging from the number of little wrapped-up bugs I saw in Carlotta’s finely woven web, I’m sure she was keeping our 2nd floor balcony free of flying insects, too.
With the fancy-sounding Latin moniker Gasteracantha Cancriformis, spiny orb weavers are colorful spiders that are easy to spot when they’re hanging in the middle of their beautifully-shaped webs. Carlotta has red markings similar to the orb weaver pictured here. I couldn’t get close enough to take a photo that showed her colors this well, though you’ll see her in typical upside down repose in the picture above (taken with my Panasonic Lumix from the side of the balcony).
Is Carlotta bringing me a message?
Why is this spider hanging around here?
When I told my friend, Ferne, the story about our little “web-centric” critter, she immediately said, “Spider Medicine.” Ferne’s very intuitive, so I got out my Medicine Cards and hunted for the card with the spider on it. You can see the #43 card in the introduction above.
Here’s “Spider Medicine” in a nutshell: “Weaving.” Go figure.
Spider Medicine Card
Animal totem lore says that Spider wove the first primordial alphabet. In fact, you can almost see the outlines of letters and symbols in any well-shaped web. What does an alphabet do? Make words. What do words do? Weave stories. Sheesh!
It sounds as if Carlotta’s presence is a reminder to start writing more. I got off track the past few months moving house a couple of times and haven’t written on my blog or anywhere else, for that matter. Until now. Thanks to a spider.
I love the Medicine Cards book because the information always hits true – and believe me, it hits. The Spider card description mentions how a spider’s body is shaped like the number 8, the symbol for infinity, suggesting “infinite possibilities of creation.” Not to mention it’s the female energy of the creative force. Oh, man… how big a two-by-four do I need to be hit with? “Create, create, create,” the book says.
Okay, okay, okay… I get it!
Carlotta’s Web – … before they cut the frond off the palm tree where she lived
Carlotta’s web
Carlotta lost this home when the lawn guys cut off the palm frond that held her web in place. You can see her in the middle of this amazingly complex dwelling-place she had woven.
For days, I saw her hanging onto a single brown leaf that just drifted and swayed about in the wind. I think she was building up her silky web supply during that downtime because she did create a web higher up in the tree later on.
Until one morning, there she was, hanging on a thread right above the railing of our balcony. The front railing, where I stand every day to watch the dolphins and take sunset photos.
Eeeek!
The saga continues below.
Carlotta’s next home was here
Carlotta’s next web started here
The spider moving-van
Humane spider removal
It was pretty unnerving to sit sipping coffee on the balcony with a spider hanging down in front of me, so I got out my trusty balcony broom and gently nudged the threads of Carlotta’s web over to the side of the balcony. I don’t go over there much and I wanted to direct her back toward the palm tree, where she had previously resided.
And it worked, pretty much. You’ll see a picture below of Carlotta suspended between the apartment building and the palm tree, creating a brand new web.
She stayed there for a few days and then… disappeared! I kept going out onto the balcony hoping she was just taking a rest, like she did after the palm frond-chopping incident but, so far, I haven’t seen her. I’ve walked around all the trees on our side of the building and… no Carlotta.
She’s a resilient little thing, though. She hung on for dear life through Tropical Storm Andrea, so I’m hoping I’ll look out one day, and there she’ll be again. I’ve seen the threads of her web glinting in the sunlight… just no sightings of Carlotta.
The saga continues… I hope.
The dot in the middle is Carlotta
Carlotta’s new web
The drama continues … but still no Carlotta
This past Thursday, I could see some of Carlotta’s web when the early morning sun was shining through it. So I took heart that maybe she was somewhere nearby… just out of sight.
Did the lizard eat Carlotta?
On Friday, I couldn’t see the webbing anymore, but this fairly large green chameleon (lizard thing) was looking down from the top branch of the palm tree. There he is in the picture to the right.
Oh-oh!
I sure hope Carlotta didn’t end up being a reptile’s lunch.
I’ll keep looking for her… but I’m starting to lose hope that she’s still around.
And it’s just possible that now she has served her “messenger” purpose for me, Carlotta has gone to bring her spider medicine to another blocked writer… who needs her more than I do.
Maybe.
Postscript: Two days ago, I searched the palm tree… again… for Carlotta and found – a very tiny spider making a very large web. I’m wondering if Carlotta did hide away to have babies and this is one of them. I can’t tell yet what kind of spider it is, though. It’s really, really small.
P.P.S. I haven’t seen the baby spider for days now. We have a lot of lizards here and I’m wondering if one of them caught hold of our itsy bitsy spider.
One year later… I’ve learned that spiny orb weavers live only one season and head off to spider heaven after they reproduce. This year, there’s a much smaller spiny orb weaver making a web under the stairs at our apartment complex. And it’s too dark to get a good photo.
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