Pentagrams and the Finished Recipe

I thought I would show you some interesting pieces of jewelry I own. I had this ring made long ago. I designed it and I used gold I collected from my years of working in dentistry. People would leave their gold onlays and inlays and the dentist let me keep them. At each point on the star there is a g em stone. A green emerald on the top represents earth. The next stone is a citron representing the sun. Then a ruby which represents fire. A diamond to represent the wind. And finally, a sapphire representing water.


This is a necklace I also designed and had made by a local goldsmith.The gemstones match those on the ring. This is rather large, about 1 1/2 inches in width.


I bought this pentagram ring from Laurie Cabot's shop in Salem. She is the official witch of Salem.


I love this bat ring. It is very heavy gold. Click for a close up of his face.


You can even see his little feet.


This piece fascinates me. It came from France. It has a turquoise stone on the chest of a two headed winged creature. There are winged beetles on both sides and Fleur de lis on the points. Inside the triangle, the word abracadabra is spelled over and over again.


On the back are these words: De Vos Mains Grossieres Parmi des Poussieres Ecrivez Sorcieres Abracadabra V. Hugo

I know it is Victor Hugo and I assume it is a quote from his writing.


I used to know the story behind this but have forgotten it. My French is very limited. Someone out there help me.


So let's finish off yesterday's recipe. I made kummelweck rolls. First I pinched of balls the size of....i don't know what size they were. They looked like this!


I let them rest for 5 minutes.


Then rolled them in strips.


And tied them in loose knots.


Then folded one end over the top into the middle.


And looped the other end down under and up through the middle. This make a very nice braid.


Then they are brushed with egg whites and sprinkled with cracked course salt and caraway seeds.


They bakes at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.


Nice!


Then I melted 4 tablespoons of butter in a pan and whisked in 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.


Then I added beef stock.


I stirred it until it began to thicken.


Then added fresh cracked pepper.


And salt to taste.


And sprinkled in some dried french thyme.


Added a bit of Kitchen Bouquet.


Au jus


The rolls were all done baking.


Nice crumb.


A beef and weck with a side of horseradish and au jus.