How to make Thimble Soup (Yüksük Çorbası)

Thimble Soup from Zerrin Gunaydin on Vimeo.

For recipe and informative information, see Give Recipe.

Maybe it's because thimbles are so small...

Hello! I have to take some of the posts I have made offline because somebody somewhere has posted MANY "comments" about the pharmaceuticals they sell. I will not mention the purpose of the aforementioned pharmaceuticals because I don't want to even more comments on the this not-thimble topic. I will re-post the posts (sorry about the awkward diction) once I have deleted the myriad comments.

Thimble of Knowledge

Click on image to go to larger image at Dilbert.com.

Russian Niello Thimbles

There seems to be a lot of Russian niello thimbles on eBay and elsewhere lately, generally coming out of Yerevan, Armenia. Some of them have an all-over niello design while some are predominantly bas-relief or filigree with niello accents. I haven't handled one yet but the online photos are all fairly detailed and they seem to be genuine. I have seen one advertisement for a "Russian" thimble, also out of Yerevan, that looked more Iranian to me, but in that particular instance there would not have been a difference in the thimble's value.

Piercy's Patent

This Piercy's Patent thimble was recently (Nov 27th through Dec 7th) put up for auction by one of my favorite eBay sellers, Elegant Arts Antiques. The thimble has a sterling silver top with a tortoiseshell body decorated with a yellow gold floral design and cartouche and rose gold rim. I don't really care for the Piercy's Patent thimble one usually sees, which has sort of a slanted shield on its face, but I do rather like this design. It is still too expensive for me, though. The starting bid on the auction was US$50.00, with the ending price at US$1,176.79, which still did not meet the reserve price. It will be interesting to see what it will eventually sell for.

Cartier gold thimble from Simons Bros.

14K gold thimble from Simons Bros., size 9, marked Cartier, with crocheted hat thimble cozy.
US$70.99; 2 bids, starting at US$69.00.

29 Nov 2009.

Recipe: White Chocolate Chunk Thimble Cookies

White Chocolate Chunk Thimble Cookies
2 c. sugar
1 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tbsp. grated lemon zest
3¼ c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
2 c. Nob Hill Trading Co. White Chocolate Chunks
1 c. raspberry jam

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cream together sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat in eggs and lemon zest.
• Add flour, salt and baking soda, stirring until just combined.
• Stir in white chocolate chunks.
• Place heaping tablespoon-size balls on ungreased baking sheets; bake 10 minutes or until slightly soft in the center.
• Remove from oven and make a thumb-size indentation in the center of each cookie; fill with about 1 tsp. jam.
• Bake 5 minutes more or until cookies are lightly browned around edges.
• Let cool on baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool.

Nutrition per cookie: 230 calories, 2 g protein, 10 g fat (6 g sat., 0 g trans), 34 g carbohydrate, 0 g fiber, 30 mg cholesterol, 130 mg sodium, 4 points.
Prep: 10 minutes Cook: 15 minutes
Yield: about 36 cookies.

From: http://www.raleys.com

The Silver Thimble

By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

THE PRODUCTION OF A YOUNG LADY, ADDRESSED TO THE AUTHOR OF THE POEMS ALLUDED TO IN THE PRECEDING EPISTLE

She had lost her silver thimble, and her complaint being accidentally overheard by him, her friend, he immediately sent her four others to take her choice of.

As oft mine eye with careless glance
Has gallop'd through some old romance,
Of speaking birds and steeds with wings,
Giants and dwarfs, and fiends and kings ;
Beyond the rest with more attentive care
I've loved to read of elfin-favoured fair
How if she long'd for aught beneath the sky
And suffer'd to escape one votive sigh,
Wafted along on viewless pinions aery
It laid itself obsequious at her feet:
Such things, I thought, one might not hope to meet
Save in the dear delicious land of Faery !
But now (by proof I know it well)
There's still some peril in free wishing——
Politeness is a licensed spell,
And you, dear sir ! the arch-magician.

You much perplex'd me by the various set:
They were indeed an elegant quartette !
My mind went to and fro, and wavered long ;
At length I've chosen (Samuel thinks me wrong)
That, around whose azure rim
Silver figures seem to swim,
Like fleece-white clouds, that on the skyey blue,
Waked by no breeze, the selfsame shapes retain ;
Or ocean-nymphs with limbs of snowy hue
Slow-floating o'er the calm cerulean plain.

Just such a one, mon cher ami,
(The finger shield of industry)
Th' inventive gods, I deem, to Pallas gave
What time the vain Arachne, madly brave,
Challenged the blue-eyed virgin of the sky
A duel in embroidered work to try.
And hence the thimbled finger of grave Pallas
To th' erring needle's point was more than callous.
But ah the poor Arachne ! She unarmed
Blundering through hasty eagerness, alarmed
With all a rival's hopes, a mortal's fears,
Still miss'd the stitch, and stain'd the web with tears.
Unnumber'd punctures small yet sore
Full fretfully the maiden bore,
Till she her lily finger found
Crimson'd with many a tiny wound ;
And to her eyes, suffused with watery woe,
Her flowei-embroider'd web danced dim, I wist,
Like blossom'd shrubs in a quick-moving mist:
Till vanquish'd the despairing maid sunk low.

O bard! whom sure no common muse inspires,
1 heard your verse that glows with vestal firas !
And I from unwatch'd needle's erring point
Had surely suffer'd on each finger joint
Those wounds, which erst did poor Arachne meet;
While he, the much-loved object of my choice
(My bosom thrilling with enthusiast heat),
Pour'd on mine ear with deep impressive voice,
How the great Prophet of the desert stood
And preach'd of penitence by Jordan's flood;
On war; or else the legendary lays
In simplest measures hymned to Alla's praise ;
Or what the bard from his heart's inmost stores
O'er his friend's grave in loftier numbers pours:
Yes, bard polite ! you but obey'd the laws
Of justice, when the thimble you had sent;
What wounds your thought-bewildering muse might
cause Tis well your finger-shielding gifts prevent.

[From: The poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.]

Recipe: Thimbleberry Jam

Thimbleberry Jam

2 c. thimbleberries
2 c. sugar
3 half-pint jars with lids, sterilized.

• In a heavy saucepan, bring berries & sugar to a boil over medium heat.
• Cook for 5 minutes.
• Pour into jars and seal.

At auction at Bonhams

BRITISH & CONTINENTAL SILVER
& OBJECTS OF VERTU
Sale 16887
Bonhams, London, Knightbridge
2 Dec 2009

Lot 43: A 19th century gold thimble, unmarked, retailed by Shearo, Oxford, decorated with a strap and buckle motif, cased, length 2.4cm, diameter 1.6cm, weight 5.4gms.

Estimate: £200 - 250 (about US$334-418).

Update: Sold for £216 (about US$360) inclusive of Buyer's Premium.