The Pony Express: Orphans Preferred

This past fall, I embarked on a bit of a quilting journey. Around the Labor Day weekend, I learned of a "Pony Express Block Party" that was being sponsored by Northcott Fabrics. To make a long story short, the "party" involved a line of fabrics emphasizing the Pony Express and participating quilt shops located in the states through which the Pony Express ran. 

Those who participated in this block party were challenged to visit participating shops to acquire a free block pattern. Participants were then issued a challenge of creating a quilt featuring at least six different blocks from six individual participating shops.

Because I enjoy the history of the American West, I was intrigued by this "Block Party" and decided to start visiting some shops. I then decided to go ahead and create a quilt to enter in the challenge contest. Because some of the shops designed 12-inch blocks while others designed 6-inch blocks, I had to make some decisions about my own quilt's design. I opted to go with smaller blocks and then had to size down some of the block patterns. To add a little variety, I put them "on point" and created my own corner blocks. I hope that you will enjoy a few close up looks at some of the blocks.

This star pattern is actually featured twice in the quilt. Can you find the other version of it?

These arrowheads required curved seams. This was actually my first effort at sewing a block with curved seams. The points aren't as exact as I would like, but I enjoyed giving this block a try.

When turned on point, this block takes on a fun zigzag appearance. Interesting what a 90 degree shift can do to your perspective.

With this quilt, I also opted to be deliberate with how I designed the back. Rather than attempting to incorporate a panel featuring the map of the Pony Express route on the front, I centered it on the back. 

For those of you a little less familiar with the history of the Pony Express, it ran for only 18 months between April 1860 to October 1861. The length of the route was 1966 miles. Stations were located approximately 10 miles apart. Riders changed horses at each station and would ride for approximately 100 miles before being replaced by the next rider. The Pony Express allowed mail to be transported from Missouri to California in 10 days (up to 16 days during the winter). By comparison, transporting mail via stagecoach would take 24 days.

The identities of many of the Pony Express riders are shrouded in obscurity. No one knows the name of the first rider or the precise location in St. Joseph, Missouri, from which he departed. Advertisements for Pony Express riders give us some insight into their characteristics. They were to be young (18 years or younger), skinny, wiry expert riders who were willing to risk death daily. Advertisements also noted that orphans were preferred, suggesting perhaps, that these riders were regarded as expendable.

Reflecting on this history has also given me opportunity to reflect on our status both from the perspective of the world and from God's perspective. While the world may see us as obscure and expendable, we are raised to significance through what Christ has done for us. With the Advent season upon us, this particular passage from Galatians seems fitting for closing this post.

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 4:4-7

Turkey soup with a Minnesota North Woods flair

Now that November is finally here, I can "officially" begin my Thanksgiving preparations. As much as I enjoy the work of preparing everything for our Thanksgiving dinner, I also enjoy the immediate post-Thanksgiving season of putting those turkey leftovers to good use.
As I have shared before, our Black Friday tradition is to make turkey and andouille sausage gumbo. With as much turkey as we prepare, however, we still have plenty of leftovers for sandwiches, additional types of soup, and even to put into the freezer for later. For us, working with the leftover turkey is part of our Thanksgiving weekend fun. We will typically oven roast a medium sized turkey and then smoke two turkey breasts. We smoke one with cajun spices and one with herbs from the garden.
This soup includes wild rice which provides the Minnesota North Woods flair. Wild rice is actually the grain that comes from a grass. Three species of wild rice are native to North America. The one I will emphasize here is Zizania palustris, which is native to the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. This species was historically harvested by the Ojibwa This picture illustrates the traditional harvesting process with one individual tasked with paddling the canoe with others threshing the grain into the bottom of the canoe.

Wild rice has a distinct flavor and is also highly nutritious. Wild rice contains 4 grams of protein per 100 calories and is second only to oats in terms of protein content among grains. Wild rice is also a great source of lysine, dietary fiber and B vitamins.

Here is how we make this post-Thanksgiving favorite.

Ingredients

2/3 cup uncooked wild rice

2 cups water

6 tablespoons butter

1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 - 1 cup sliced carrots

1/3 cup flour

2 quarts turkey (or chicken) broth

2 cups chopped cooked turkey

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup half and half

Instructions:

1. Bring the wild rice and water to a boil in the saucepan. Simmer until the rice is tender, approximately 40-45 minutes (wild rice needs longer to cook relative to white rice). Allow the rice to set for about 5 minutes and fluff with a fork. Set aside until later.

2. Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion becomes soft. Stir in the celery and carrots and cook until they are slightly softened.

3. Stir in the flour and cook until it becomes a pale yellowish color (something like in the picture below).

4. Whisk in the turkey broth until no lumps of flour remain. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.

5. Stir in the wild rice, turkey, salt, pepper, and almonds. Here's an approximation of the turkey. Of course, you can include as much as you want. Simmer for another few minutes until the entire mixture is heated through. We like to include a mixture of our smoked turkey and our regular roasted turkey.

6. Stir in the lemon juice and half-and-half. Bring the soup almost to a boil (avoids the half-and-half separating out). Serve warm. Note: you can also freeze this soup as well. We typically double the recipe, enjoy a meal's worth and then freeze the rest.

Wishing you blessings as we anticipate the Thanksgiving season.