tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346276432024-03-14T08:41:38.733-07:00Slowish FoodIn which a married, working-outside-the-home mother of two -- correction, three -- decides to take on the overprocessed, fast-food American lifestyle and slow things down for her family, one step at a time.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-36428421862208057542011-09-02T03:54:00.000-07:002011-09-02T03:54:42.298-07:00Tommy's Pumpkin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJDf-JdCWaa9UuGgFX0gt5M0R7R_-QRFUEiV6vVSrRNqv9OV8Zz3Z938U6GvUq8WUJFgHghCC0tVuoyPEZYGHwIMTqfd-KXE8RDnJs-6jUHZuNR6KDQlOeop7elg-fI0YkRsbQw/s1600/IMG_0325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJDf-JdCWaa9UuGgFX0gt5M0R7R_-QRFUEiV6vVSrRNqv9OV8Zz3Z938U6GvUq8WUJFgHghCC0tVuoyPEZYGHwIMTqfd-KXE8RDnJs-6jUHZuNR6KDQlOeop7elg-fI0YkRsbQw/s320/IMG_0325.JPG" width="320" xaa="true" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-R7x8_lwjTzNfFu6nNWh3sUNP27gwL82NF1bwMc1xFvQoVfaih32yE-mknfvvVfUeXeLqhNmw6K5S1329uu4KnEfAgtrBSSTfXpetk6oLTgAKTIS5hQ4kXhazs4xPINQ-VIHSA/s1600/IMG_0333.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-R7x8_lwjTzNfFu6nNWh3sUNP27gwL82NF1bwMc1xFvQoVfaih32yE-mknfvvVfUeXeLqhNmw6K5S1329uu4KnEfAgtrBSSTfXpetk6oLTgAKTIS5hQ4kXhazs4xPINQ-VIHSA/s320/IMG_0333.JPG" width="320" xaa="true" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVotAdIkE3cxm_vBROrhbS4URXjdEM55uP499K0nXc-x7lKCnspf_Yar2psQrb5FKyKtTAo4Yku_81QvgupsmQvxQt2jS3Gbqedqngwjl5rZhJ3pfs24H_rHuuYBQb8mAcR00pQ/s1600/IMG_0334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVotAdIkE3cxm_vBROrhbS4URXjdEM55uP499K0nXc-x7lKCnspf_Yar2psQrb5FKyKtTAo4Yku_81QvgupsmQvxQt2jS3Gbqedqngwjl5rZhJ3pfs24H_rHuuYBQb8mAcR00pQ/s320/IMG_0334.JPG" width="320" xaa="true" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUo2R02AKUj6fcnSaiPp18Aj_WRsEbjRE9gntKPgQx896exCHkwbvS3Hzirnt27y7bNLADhGGX_JGMl3OhhYpCojzGRk48QGyKx6b3gst49xN8E1Qq9xonJuYtIC1_qQ-fl0fTg/s1600/IMG_0335.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSUo2R02AKUj6fcnSaiPp18Aj_WRsEbjRE9gntKPgQx896exCHkwbvS3Hzirnt27y7bNLADhGGX_JGMl3OhhYpCojzGRk48QGyKx6b3gst49xN8E1Qq9xonJuYtIC1_qQ-fl0fTg/s320/IMG_0335.JPG" width="320" xaa="true" /></a></div>Tommy grew a pumpkin this year. It's small, and it was a hard-fought battle to get this little pumpkin for two reasons:<br />
<ul><li>As I've belabored to the point of becoming tiresome, our backyard is not sunny enough to grow anything bearing fruit.</li>
<li>Squash bores got into the squash vine, and this pumpkin was the sole survivor of that attack.</li>
</ul>The pumpkin's special because it was grown from a seed I saved from a pumpkin Tom picked during a kindergarten trip to a local pumpkin patch. Around early November last year, when Max and Tommy had friends over, I removed the seeds, saving and drying some and roasting the others. Then I cooked down the pumpkin and froze the pulp, and threw anything left over into the compost heap. It reminded me of fifth-grade social studies class learning how the Indians were respectful of the buffalo they killed, and used every last part.<br />
So Tommy's prize this year, a descendent of his kindergarten trip, will be cooked into the <a href="http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2010/04/wednesday-baking-pumpkinsweet-potato-chocolate-chip-muffins/">chocolate chip pumpkin muffins he likes</a>, with seeds saved for next year's sunny front-yard mini pumpkin patch.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-51553333618214676892011-08-13T18:14:00.000-07:002011-08-13T18:14:12.274-07:00Hints from Heloise: Gleaming CutleryA dear friend of mine gave us a set of cutlery for our wedding almost 14 years ago: <a href="http://www.nancysilver.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MARQT">Marquise by 1847 Rogers</a>. It sat in its case for about 12 years while I worried that it was too fancy for the likes of me and Phil. Since I pulled it out and started using it, it's slowly grown a layer of tarnish that I've hardly noticed. Others have. In fact, one neighbor has casually mentioned not once but twice that he thought maybe we shouldn't use my "fine" silverware because of the patina. I'm sure he was thinking more about the stained fork than my baked ziti. One day, I thought, I really need to sit down and spend a few hours cleaning that stuff up like the household help in the 1920s.<br />
Then I stumbled on a recipe the other day for cleaning silverplate. Here's what I did:<br />
<ol><li>Make a single layer of silverware in one of those disposable foil things you use for potluck baked ziti. The silverware needs to touch the foil. You can also line a pan or dish with foil.</li>
<li>Heat some water to boiling, and then pour it into a 4-cup Pyrex container. For 4 cups of water, add 1/4 cup baking soda. It's going to bubble up impressively when you add the soda.</li>
<li>Pour the boiling water and baking soda over the silverware and watch in amazement as the tarnish disappears. Just disappears.</li>
<li>Call your husband in from the porch where he's trying to have a quiet martini and do a little reading, and drag him in to watch the magic. Marvel that this will be your fourth-grader's first science fair project.</li>
<li>Invite your neighbor over for dinner -- something that will require a few pieces of cutlery -- so he can marvel at your sparkling home.</li>
</ol>For really stubborn spots, swirl the water around a bit. Then take out that silverware and add more. When the water cools, you can either re-heat it or make some more.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTKFA66sqxO2YFGXhwrfwx6BrWLIzilWAiWIczNNMkVYjVPdZWyQf2gfw_mVOUkECItd_uHE6fbwqJdCHA6jr_v842smK-Bh9uGw9aiPvqG8EXlZjuzKn_LGPe1BgLxNNbQhxyA/s1600/IMG_0301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTKFA66sqxO2YFGXhwrfwx6BrWLIzilWAiWIczNNMkVYjVPdZWyQf2gfw_mVOUkECItd_uHE6fbwqJdCHA6jr_v842smK-Bh9uGw9aiPvqG8EXlZjuzKn_LGPe1BgLxNNbQhxyA/s320/IMG_0301.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Brilliant!</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>In other Household Hints news, I finally paid attention to my kale, which I'd sort of OD'd on in the early summer and hadn't really noticed for a bit. I realized something was chewing the heck out of it. When I went to get rid of the tattered leaves, I found small green caterpillars having a party on my kale. A little Facebook research, and my friends informed me these are white cabbage moths, and the eggs are laid by the little white butterflies I always look at sanguinely when they flutter around the lavender. I couldn't find a good solution until I found the following on an Internet garden Q&A: Pay a kid 5 cents a caterpillar. Max made $2.50 today working next to me, and is eager to start his shift again tomorrow.<br />
Sometimes money DOES buy happiness.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-47382400018672092802011-08-11T04:23:00.000-07:002011-08-11T04:36:36.838-07:00Musings on the Tomato, with Lacto-Fermented Salsa<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Yes, it's been a long time since I've posted. I think this is a record. Yeah for me.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Last year my friend Dave pointed out that my anemic tomatoes weren't the result of the universe plotting against me, but simply that I'd not paid attention to their <a href="http://slowishfood.blogspot.com/2010/08/you-say-tomato.html">needing more sun</a> than my semi-wooded backyard would afford. Noted. This year I moved the tomatoes to the front yard, and while we've only had six plants, I've been beside myself with how they've thrived. Simply beside myself. If you have any doubt what sun can do for sun-loving plants like tomatoes, here are two heirloom tomatoes, one in the backyard (because I had some extra plants and a little extra room in the raised beds) and one in the front yard. Case closed. </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSLonbJls0cXu7WfZM1MVvlIZeTO3vtnuqm2V6pJHgADZc0CDQtZtl1Q53ieHn53xOAQyoXhmpXrOiXvrF4t_ur2HGX6kTfaiCIpnABAERyLVtbdnhDe1b8RPxfJFDJqhtRZ1NVQ/s1600/IMG_0154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSLonbJls0cXu7WfZM1MVvlIZeTO3vtnuqm2V6pJHgADZc0CDQtZtl1Q53ieHn53xOAQyoXhmpXrOiXvrF4t_ur2HGX6kTfaiCIpnABAERyLVtbdnhDe1b8RPxfJFDJqhtRZ1NVQ/s320/IMG_0154.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Sylvia explaining last May why we planted tomatoes out front.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>It's been a fun gardening year. I tried potatoes for the first time and am giddy that you can put a part of a potato under ground, and a couple months later dig under the resulting foliage and find... Potatoes. As Phil says, "honest potatoes." I planted a 4 X 4 box with Purple Haze potatoes and we've been eating on them for a bit. I can't find a good source for seed potatoes this fall, so I'm sprouting some myself, and sharing them with my dad, who's never grown potatoes but was fascinated when I told him about our experience this year. By the way, if you're thinking of planting potatoes, you might want to check out The Resilient Gardener, which devotes a whole chapter to spuds. One thing I learned from that book was to watch for the foliage to die, wait another week or two, and then dig up the potatoes. Apparently they keep growing and getting nutrients even while their foliage looks dead and as if nothing good is going to come of them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghWnJEqXsftOi-59es4GAJ24ZCEBpjVZhctphbX_LfTZzr45vm0HPLQWbIdnRIIhRSv0j65b_8a145eOn7vSE-HAqjXON91IgUPx9FDN1EzJdbDZZht4CQcyMGdmJsDS4b4C572g/s1600/IMG_0278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghWnJEqXsftOi-59es4GAJ24ZCEBpjVZhctphbX_LfTZzr45vm0HPLQWbIdnRIIhRSv0j65b_8a145eOn7vSE-HAqjXON91IgUPx9FDN1EzJdbDZZht4CQcyMGdmJsDS4b4C572g/s320/IMG_0278.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Backyard on the left; front yard on the right.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>So, back to the sun. I took Dave too literally. While I moved the tomatoes to the front yard, I didn't apply his lessons to all summer vegetables needing sunlight. So my first attempt at corn turned out miniature. The raccoons got it, and frankly, they could have it. Ditto the peppers, which were less than impressive other than one hot pepper plant that did me proud. So the plan next year is to expand the little garden plot next to the driveway , and stock it with tomatoes, peppers, corn, rhubarb, and everything else that's been struggling in the backyard. The raised beds in the backyard will be planted solely with the leafy greens and spring/fall vegetables that thrive there: radishes, lettuce, kale, chard, mache. <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Meanwhile, the tomatoes.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I will admit that my ultimate strategy is that we'll be able to grow all or most of our vegetables, and even fruit, on our little 1/4 acre suburban lot. But this year the thought of canning tomatoes made me tired. So very tired. So we're eating and enjoying them fresh, and I'm going to rely on the eight packs of Del Monte organic tomatoes at Costco to get through the winter. Sue me.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">That said, we've got an abundance of tomatoes, and even tomato-philes like me and Phil are a little overwhelmed. And we've got a raccoon problem that ends in slightly blemished tomatoes that are still mainly good, if a bit scratched or bitten here and there. Bring in lacto-fermenting. I'm a little in love with it. This is a way to get probiatics (you know... Jamie Lee Curtis yelling at you about a yogurt brand that helps keep you "on track") through crazy-quick and easy prep. No canning. Essentially, you're prepping vegetables (pickles, kimchi, sauerkraut) and then letting them sit at room temperature. The result is living food filled with good bacteria; canning, on the opposite spectrum, kills all bacteria -- bad and harmful as well as good.</div>So I'm loving lacto-fermented salsa, which uses up less-than-perfect tomatoes, takes about five minutes to make, and tastes phenomenal. (Phil, who is more sensitive to salt than me, says it's a bit salty; I haven't noticed.) I'm using a combination of the method from <a href="http://www.nourishingdays.com/2010/09/how-i-make-lacto-fermented-salsa/">Nourishing Days</a> and a very slight riff on the recipe from <a href="http://www.cheeseslave.com/2010/08/08/lacto-fermented-salsa/">Cheeseslave</a>. I'm tickled that the tomato, garlic, and hot peppers all come from my garden. Next year, the onions will, too. Here's what I've been doing.<br />
<br />
<strong>Lacto-Fermented Salsa</strong><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">1 small to medium onion<br />
2 cloves garlic</div>1 to 2 hot peppers, depending on your taste, split and seeded<br />
Juice from 2 lemons<br />
1 Tbsp. salt<br />
4 oz. whey or 1 Tbsp. salt<br />
About 3-4 decent-sized tomatoes<br />
If you like, fresh herbs like cilantro or oregano<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In a food processor, process the onion, peppers, and garlic. Now add the tomatoes and whir them a bit. I have a very small food processor, so I have to add the tomatoes, quartered, one at at time. If you're using fresh herbs, put those in and whir them a bit more. Now pour into a bowl, add the lemon juice, salt, and whey (or additional salt). You should have about a quart, so after it's all mixed up, pour it into a quart canning jar, making sure you have about an inch of headspace (space between the top of the salsa and the lid) and let it sit on the counter for a few days. The salsa should be pretty watery, and you'll want to be sure that stray pieces aren't clinging to the lid, as these could develop mold. In two or three days, taste your salsa; it'll be a little tangy and, in my opinion, crazy-delicious. Stick it in the fridge, and it'll keep for a long long time.</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiprLMJcVvgw9xK6ySBLG2N-HsOBhaIx0hfmewzRDomZFC53pzA_x0giVVzQJvWrIehyphenhyphenQKnV0I_JRKG995eLdk0GwoOz5Cqc15eRLAOCNQzdQEewkY5jrA-Zp-tf304gAVEp9gg/s1600/IMG_0279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" naa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiprLMJcVvgw9xK6ySBLG2N-HsOBhaIx0hfmewzRDomZFC53pzA_x0giVVzQJvWrIehyphenhyphenQKnV0I_JRKG995eLdk0GwoOz5Cqc15eRLAOCNQzdQEewkY5jrA-Zp-tf304gAVEp9gg/s320/IMG_0279.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delicious!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>If you're really into this, just double the recipe and use a half-gallon canning jar.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">For a lot more about lacto-fermenting, which used to scare the bejezus out of me, you might want to check the books <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Fermentation-Flavor-Nutrition-Live-Culture/dp/1931498237/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313061454&sr=8-1">Wild Fermentations</a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Traditions-Challenges-Politically-Dictocrats/dp/0967089735/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313061578&sr=1-1">Nourishing Traditions</a>.</div>Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-84032730668288035152010-09-14T03:50:00.000-07:002010-09-14T04:00:26.000-07:00Taking StockPhil and I recently cleared out and defrosted our deep freezer in anticipation of our annual quarter-cow purchase from a <a href="http://www.royerfarmfresh.com/">local farmer</a>. In the midst of organizing, using up, or throwing out Parmesan rinds that I saved in 2008 and was sure I would use to flavor soups, five bags of edamame, a large stock of beef from last year's cow, and various other treasures, I made a gruesome discovery. The chicken carcasses I'd been saving for making stock "some day" created a veritable graveyard of Ziploc-enclosed body bags stacked at the back corner of the freezer. This macabre collection needed to be used up or thrown out, and some Depression-era gene couldn't let me just toss what I felt held potential for putting up stock.<br />
<br />
Up to this point, I'd made stock once. Using the soup bones that had amassed with our cow delivery, I followed Julia's recipe in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Way-Cook-Julia-Child/dp/0679747656/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284460866&sr=8-1">The Way to Cook</a>. The recipe took our biggest pot, two years of soup bones, lots of vegetables, and six precious weekend hours. For my effort, I got two quarts of stock. Lovely stock, but the thought of devoting the next eight weekends to chicken stock wore me out.<br />
<br />
Then I found the <a href="http://www.nourishingdays.com/2009/02/make-chicken-stock-in-the-crock-pot/">slow cooker recipe on NourishingDays</a>, and I've since become a stock junkie, using up the chicken bones, as well as a turkey carcass from a turkey breast also found in the freezer. The stock is now frozen (in our newly defrosted and recently restocked freezer), lined up in quart canning jars, and waiting for winter soup making. It's crazy-easy, and because it uses kitchen leftovers, virtually free. I'm tickled pink every time I make stock. Tickled. Pink.<br />
<br />
I now keep a gallon Ziploc bag in my main freezer in our kitchen, and all the stock-appropriate scraps from vegetables and herbs go in there: onion skins, half a rosemary stalk, carrot peelings, celery that's gone limp.<br />
<br />
Here's how to make it:<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>Easy-Peasy Slow Cooker Stock</strong><br />
<br />
Two chicken carcasses, or whatever will fit in your slow cooker<br />
Water<br />
1 to 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar<br />
A couple handfuls of frozen vegetable leavin's<br />
<br />
Put the chicken carcasses in the slow cooker, and add enough water to cover. Pour in the vinegar, cover, and let it sit, without turning on the slow cooker, for about an hour. This tip from <a href="http://nourishingdays.com/">NourishingDays.com</a> lets you extract some of the nutrients from the bones. After an hour, add a couple handfuls of the vegetable droppings you've saved for stock, cover, and turn to low. Leave it alone for 24 hours. After 24 hours, strain through a coffee filter, paper towel, or cheesecloth, and either use the stock in a couple days, or freeze for later.<br />
<br />
<br />
Used to be I'd buy organic stock at Costco. Six four-cup (e.g.,one quart) boxes are around $10. This recipe in my cooker usually gives me about two quarts. FOR FREE, as I keep reiterating to my long-suffering husband. Just kitchen scraps. And water. I so love this.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-33464795261136922010-08-24T03:11:00.000-07:002010-08-24T03:48:16.440-07:00The Modified Compact Revisited<blockquote></blockquote><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 131px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 160px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508918083950005570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qBbDB0WcdbmReKWdSAE1Q14IZkzcad1XLpfygqCnOx56i_M4KHMfLHtVhy9ypyclSYEJ8p4BXI0vTYBisq9WpLsZzX7zonMHvcnkGelf2CX4MhzeucoVdujK3jBeatG7zDuQ4w/s320/thumbnail.jpg" /><br /><br /><br />At the start of the summer, with three kids going into camp or daycare (and the resulting costs), an oil spill gushing in the ocean and making it clear our days of relying on petroleum are numbered, and having felt more and more convicted about traveling more gently on the earth, I entered a <a href="http://slowishfood.blogspot.com/2010/05/modified-compact.html">modified compact</a>.<br />Max and Tommy are back in school, and my 10-week experiment is over. How did it go? Here's what didn't go strictly according to plan:<br /><ul><li>Let's get this out of the way immediately. I bought an <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">iPad</span>. Some of the motivation had to do with my job and being conversant in new forms of e-publishing and understanding what some have touted game-changing technology. But it would be disingenuous to say my boss told me she'd fire me if I didn't have an <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">iPad</span>. And, as you can guess, I didn't get this on Craig's List or at a garage sale.</li><li>When traveling for work, a publishing partner took us to a strip of new, locally owned shops and I bought this t-shirt because it made me laugh out loud, it was on sale, and I felt okay supporting the shop and the local goods.</li></ul><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 250px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508921761086190226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6baZT_Bdif6X0sZGaHetQWGK9lC1YZjn9nnIQFUQUj5uU4aMltZLO6pIgXzWwkpMb3r1rzWgVE6eFQmlqQ8twT9Ek-RGkfwrP57J2YgWybQZ461ynwuG3bbR-C1-lFYY3_NUaw/s320/uniteTINYgREF.jpg" /><br /><ul><li>I had not one but two benders at Fabric.com, my newest vice. I swore I wouldn't <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">succumb</span> to the $3/yard sales, but when some designer fabrics dropped to $2.50, I <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">succumbed</span>. I'm weak. I'll admit that. I convinced myself I was just buying it to make gifts for others.</li></ul><p>What did go well, and was surprisingly easy:</p><ul><li>I didn't buy new clothes for myself or the kids.</li><li>I didn't buy physical books, although read some good ones on my Kindle.</li><li>I didn't buy new, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">nonconsumable</span> gifts. I bought my dad some asparagus plants for his birthday. I bought Phil consumables for Father's Day and his birthday, and made him a gift. I made gifts for other family members who had summer birthdays, but I've yet to get them in the mail. I promise guys, they're coming!</li><li>I didn't even have to buy new canning supplies for the garden -- a loophole I'd left myself. A co-worker with a toddler, who has no time for canning these days, brought me some jars that were collecting dust in her house. (Thanks, Melody!)</li></ul><p>Phil and I have a pretty simple budgeting method: We pay our bills and ourselves first, and scrape off any extra money in checking to go into savings, or, if <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">checking's</span> tight, stop spending. So I can't tell you to the penny whether the compact actually saved money. Also, our income this summer was a little atypical, with the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">iPad</span> purchased from an <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">unsalaried</span> windfall, so I would have to do some heavy number crunching that I don't have the patience or time for to see whether this made a financial impact.</p><p>But it's definitely showed me that (<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">iPad</span> notwithstanding), new isn't always necessary.</p>Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-87825379985866364122010-08-20T03:30:00.000-07:002010-08-20T03:55:53.219-07:00Book Review: This Organic Life<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4aUWuywsNOm-cCPcSvzwzpdEqn1jPY2eLmMTbEZKGuNhVfLGnaNpyeeHcUR-sAs99RqpCy1FaojCErxCCpg65Zxp9OmbGuHynLUU5oBlx-unQLUhOYBVcFAaLE6k_HMbxq6snYw/s1600/This+Organic+Life.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 150px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507437826557161970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4aUWuywsNOm-cCPcSvzwzpdEqn1jPY2eLmMTbEZKGuNhVfLGnaNpyeeHcUR-sAs99RqpCy1FaojCErxCCpg65Zxp9OmbGuHynLUU5oBlx-unQLUhOYBVcFAaLE6k_HMbxq6snYw/s320/This+Organic+Life.jpg" /></a> Have you ever read a book that changed the way you viewed the world?<br /><br />For me, this past winter, one of those game-changers was <em>This Organic Life</em> by Joan Dye <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Gussow</span>. The friend whose slow-food eating <a href="http://slowishfood.blogspot.com/2006/09/epiphany-in-terry-cloth-robe.html">inspired me to start this blog </a>had referenced the book a couple times, but I never got around to reading it. It's not new; I'm very much a Johnny Come-Lately to the table of Joan.<br /><br />In short, the book chronicles Joan's 40-year-old garden, which moved to a new location when she and her husband moved from a large Victorian home to a funky house on the Hudson River in New York. The garden over the years had grown until Joan, a food advocate, was fairly insistent that she grow all the food she needed -- a huge and life-dominating undertaking. Through talking about the garden, sharing recipes, providing tips for better yield, and relating her noble battles with rodents, Joan also documents major life changes and how often the one constant in her life was the work to be done in the garden.<br /><br />I was <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">transfixed</span> by this book; it should be on the shelf (or in my case, loaded on the Kindle) of anyone looking to learn more about modern food culture, ways we can take back the family farm, and how to cook a delicious <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">potato</span> and kale soup.<br /><br />I had trouble envisioning the new space Joan and her husband moved to so I (and I'm not proud of this) <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">cyberstalked</span> her. I put her name into <a href="http://www.whitepages.com/"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">whitepages</span>.com</a>, then plugged the address into <a href="http://www.zillow.com/">z<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">illow</span>.com </a>to see an aerial view of the house. It's fascinating. The backyard, a not large suburban backyard, is plot after plot of garden beds that lead directly to the bank of the Hudson.<br /><br />Since reading the book, I've read some criticism of Joan. Some disagree that she can be such a staunch food advocate and organic gardener and still unabashedly advocate meat eating. I have no skin in this game. At this point in my life I'm not a vegetarian, and to me, her arguments for eating meat made sense, so I had no issue.<br /><br />Others have criticized her near-obsession with the garden and growing food, going so far as to contemplate integrating the ashes of a loved one into the garden to enhance the soil. Again, I have no criticism here. This is what she does. This is the constant she was able to come back to when everything around her felt like it was crumbling. Do ashes do more good in a vase on the mantle? Probably not.<br /><br />I did think she might be a bit of a challenging neighbor; she's borderline strident in her beliefs. And I was a bit off-put by her relaying her anger at an obnoxious neighbor who "stole" four carrots and an onion, forcing her to harvest the onions before they were ready in order to save them from further pillage. I personally love the idea of having enough vegetables to get to share; would it be so bad if she ran low on onions and had to buy some from a local source?<br /><br />That said, she's made me a firm believer in the power of kale, and the ability of regular folks on suburban plots to affect the food machine.<br /><br />The book contains about 30 recipes for using the bounty; they are generous with the butter and meat -- my kind of dishes.<br /><br />Now that the major gardening season is winding down, this would be a good read for starting to plot out next year's garden, or the next forty years of gardening.<br /><br />Two green thumbs up!Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-23114577868971218462010-08-18T03:22:00.000-07:002010-08-18T04:14:10.884-07:00You Say Tomato<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506693680599390434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUMdiT7KwI3kdqCukFohVibEZxw5bTJXjhEMWA5SxJVrVNQrjJhyphenhyphenkWAbfgp8LClY4GafswoE1qyz2bBZpMGUBTo9_DmROoDEWqP693UKXMxJvmvGvMY8_nS44GcKZeXTINjSKUEw/s320/081710+004.jpg" /><br />A couple months ago I was at the Meredith Corporation office in Des <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Moines</span> on business, and got to take a tour of the Better Homes & Gardens test garden. It was, as you might expect, jealousy-inducing and so peaceful and colorful, one just wanted to tuck in and take up residence. The garden manager explained that the garden is about 12 years old, "really quite young for a garden," and that they've continued to refine and hone it. As she said, "You're never really DONE with a garden." What a comfort to know that even the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">BH</span>&G staff, with their Better Garden, sees gardening as iterative.<br /><br />Which is a long way of saying that my tomato harvest wasn't what I expected. I have about 10 tomato plants in (three are grape and other tiny varieties that volunteered when we moved the old compost location). The tomato plants went insane in early summer, growing taller than me before they toppled over. I had visions of being overrun by tomatoes; handing out heirloom varieties to lucky neighbors and keeping the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">stovetop</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">canner</span> in constant use. I spent a lot of time researching what to do with my bumper crop once it came; perhaps a bit less (some might say no) research on ensuring the bumper crop.<br /><br />So we're getting a few tomatoes a day, and we're eating them now. I stand at the mangle of bushes and eat cherry and grape tomatoes off the vine. All in all very pleasant, but it's a good thing our winter eating isn't dependent on our Purple Cherokee harvest.<br /><br />Fortunately this past weekend an old friend and co-worker dropped by. Dave and I worked together my first job out of college, and have stayed in touch over the years. For the past decade he's been a a volunteer at <a href="http://www.ginkgogardens.org/"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Gingko</span> Community Garden </a>(that's him on the home page!), an urban garden that supplies fresh, organic produce to those in need. He took a quick look at my toppled tomato plants and had a few tips I'll be integrating next year:<br /><br /><ul><li><strong>Prune. </strong>Getting rid of the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">nonproducing</span> (but not downward-pointing) stems will mean a fuller stem and a better harvest. Let the plants more plant energy into creating the fruits, not more foliage.</li><li><strong>Move the tomatoes to a sunnier spot.</strong> My backyard gets ample morning sun to grow lots of things, but tomatoes need lots and lots of afternoon sun. In fact, the huge growth is likely less attributable to my green thumb as to the plants trying to grow and stretch and get themselves to a sunnier spot. Next summer, I'm putting them in the front yard where they'll have constant access to sun. (Dave reminded me, realizing I'm a pretty lazy gardener, that this will mean I'll need to water more often. Noted.)</li><li><strong>The sunnier spot goes double for the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">tomatillo</span> plants.</strong> I chalked up the fact that these plants only produced sad little empty husks to their being overwhelmed, nay intimidated, by the monster tomato plants. In fact, they probably needed more consistent sun.</li><li><strong>Stake.</strong> In years past, I've forgotten tomato cages until the plants were too big for them. So I was patting myself on the back over the fact that all were in cages this year. Dave reminded me that I also needed to stake them. This could save the current embarrassment of having a small step-ladder next to the garden trying to keep the fruit of toppled-over plants from touching the ground.</li></ul>With the garden doctor on hand, I also complained as a helpless victim about the bores that had eaten my zucchini plants. Rather than the bushels of zucchini these plants should have produced, I got one -- one -- before the vines rotted and had to be pulled up and replaced with kale. Dave explained that I could actually bury the nasty part of the vine and the healthy part likely would take off and continue growing and producing. Nice tip.<br /><br />He also tasted my basil and disagreed that it tasted "wrong" and "soapy," and I made a delicious pesto that night.<br /><br />I'm already planning next year's garden, what I'll do better, what I'll research, where I'll get seeds. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mucho</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">thankso</span>, Dave.<br /><br />In other news, this one headed off to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">kindergarten</span> last week. He's taking it like a champ, and has been excited about the bus and chill about having his personal style <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">succumb</span> to a uniform. I'm in denial that he's this big a boy.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506699438683506578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiof3DTFwrAQRnGLC7Gs1oYF9OhRWEUUuxCFXcUdShyphenhyphenXXtuj_XhWFEmBwGtDyY-vNLpIKplykHm_N6QovRXrP7y3psEzOqG0uLkakEAFmE0rr3QgOWmHdQIKiUXU8sSVJvVaf9zvA/s320/081710+011.jpg" /><br />I'm going to pretend that she's never going to grow up:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxqSzJK2JxR0xY0qn2iF0NJbvLt_cXJdKNDK4ieC35d-LoBAnDjps_jRPz4yT-Yj9y-E99_MFlctfDB7VM4dn068Ktl9sixGbf9XHPzKv_a_8gAaB3PnCa5XIWwB3-XW8W1tcFQ/s1600/081710+002.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506699672124338034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxqSzJK2JxR0xY0qn2iF0NJbvLt_cXJdKNDK4ieC35d-LoBAnDjps_jRPz4yT-Yj9y-E99_MFlctfDB7VM4dn068Ktl9sixGbf9XHPzKv_a_8gAaB3PnCa5XIWwB3-XW8W1tcFQ/s320/081710+002.jpg" /></a>So there.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-48820005369409838792010-08-17T02:54:00.000-07:002010-08-17T03:15:53.285-07:00Three Quick Recipes, Weekend EditionWe had guests this weekend. The kids were over the moon with extra friends on hand to play with, and Phil and I got to visit with two people we adore and who we don't see nearly enough of. When they left, the house was quiet(er), and it was too hot to cook. Sylvie and I tackled our out-of-control basil and made pesto for the first time ever while Phil and the boys were swimming.<br /><br />When the men got home, the kids had a quick dinner, during which Tommy complained of a sore throat. He went to a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">MedCheck</span> that confirmed strep. This left me about 15 minutes between getting his prescription filled and the start of Mad Men to make dinner for the local friends who come over for Don Draper and dinner every Sunday night. Fortunately, the pesto made a delicious pasta dish that whipped up quickly and was consumed in about 10 minutes.<br /><br />Monday, back to work, Tommy home with Grandma, I didn't think of what to make for dinner until I was driving home. The pantry and pressure cooker let me make dinner in about 10 minutes.<br /><br />One day I'm looking to get back to lingering over cooking. Not now. I've made peace with that.<br /><br /><strong>Pesto</strong><br />Fill a food processor with four (packed) cups basil leaves, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup pine nuts, and two peeled garlic cloves. Whir up until it's a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">smoothish</span> consistency. Then stir in 1/2 cup grated <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Parmesan</span> and a couple good-sized pinches of course sea salt. If you're not going to use it immediately, put it in the fridge covered by about 1/2 inch olive oil.<br /><br /><strong>Pasta with Pesto, White Beans, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes</strong><br />Start boiling about 8 to 10 ounces pasta like <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">rotini</span>. Meanwhile, heat up 2 Tbsp. olive oil and gently cook 1 minced garlic clove for about 2 minutes. Now throw in 1 can drained <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannelini</span> beans, about 1/3 cup pesto, about 1/2 cup white wine, and about 1/2 cup drained sliced sun-dried tomatoes in oil (I buy dried and reconstitute in olive oil). Let this simmer/bubble for about five minutes while it cooks down. By this point, the pasta's done, so drain it, add it to the pan with the tomatoes and pesto, stir it around, grab a bowl, and go check on the progress of Stirling Cooper Draper and Price.<br /><br /><strong>Crazy-Quick Rice and Beans</strong><br />Dump 1 cup jasmine rice, 1 can coconut milk, 1 can drained black beans, and 1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes into a pressure cooker. Cook on high 7 minutes. I didn't add spices, lest the kids turn up their noses (which they did anyway; sigh), but sprinkled some <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Adobo</span> seasoning and chili powder when it was done. Despite what the kids insist without trying it, I found it delicious.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-43479289437426328532010-07-29T17:39:00.000-07:002010-07-29T19:29:05.342-07:00Lavender JellyBack when we lived in New York, we once spent a weekend in New Jersey at the home of a friend's parents. The friend's mom grew <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">lavender</span>, dried it in little bunches, and used it to make sachets, many of which included a cross-stitched initial for the lucky recipient. I received a gorgeous "C" sachet when I gave my friend's mom a cookbook that we'd recently published. I dreamed of having a garden and the perfectly manicured lavender bushes I saw at their lovely house.<br /><br />Several years later, I now have <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">unperfectly</span> manicured lavender bushes, and have yet to lovingly dry the lavender into thoughtful sachets for friends and acquaintances. Usually I hack the things down once or twice a summer and throw away what I cut. But this year I decided to try to do something useful with the cuttings. Having really gotten the jam bug this year, I tried my hand at lavender jelly.<br /><br />Here's all you do. First, come about June, hack the heck out of your bushes. Here's half of what I cut. The other half, I'm ashamed to say, went into the compost. Next year I'll consider sachets...<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499493418895602114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4epmBl9ICm4tCVMHmkoeYK9JDoGspzRucsRUQidRHRPTrwYtPxxIGG4mXM-7gLAbHlLSCJ0Q43wA1_koR4tyz4Z6FGTRUZRNq-h_od98IVIMEKDFojr8AabIQE_1A84aHGUwToA/s320/IMG_4355.jpg" /><br />With a little luck, you'll have a lovely and enthusiastic assistant helping:<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499503521219564482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Wsfu4mkRx6a1ChZ3JAp27AA9Ek-SBhZOUW9-8JQm7IEYQlaCknye5S94vvg8MpsHd_Eei9ZK8Cv6eB7xQf2cmaZnMac_z5pPXk9s38934EFjdzT0ahLNblBarz0vq3d8z_ywYQ/s320/IMG_4353.jpg" /><br />Now separate the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">lavender</span> into little bunches. It's a thrill to know that the buds look like bugs; I was desperately brushing buds off myself, thinking we had a kitchen infestation. But the terror is worth the end result:<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499493705304596162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfOFwYdOvGBptJxVFe_MZ7vmu-SiHfPckzm2uOE3EZebcnw0IS7GnyOZ8CvFI2qJDzUr8P4eIKCJ7m68vGzDPQfSABdue4qBm9Cy87wb7PIgghmeG3XlrIRj9xQNjLBW2j4w1BlA/s320/IMG_4359.jpg" /><br />You need to tie up the little bunches and let them dry, upside down, not touching each other, for about two weeks. They should also be out of direct sunlight. Our house is short on space, so the living room bookshelves were adorned. Here's some of the harvest in progress:<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499502859737424690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHWy4sj4uN6ZfJESgMGbXFjPThinlfGiUezqbLe3wJh77vNt-GfMXJenk0H0xNgfn_Lmj5UzYDQHaOjmQ5H7_Z5ZeBqET8Xd_dHotA7rZne6ErWpgphwd6juG7pvIERJPsGAueMA/s320/IMG_4357.jpg" /><br />And here's a close-up of my improvisational tying. Thing is, lavender is so beautiful it stands up to knotted kitchen twine, baby hairbands, and old bread ties. Still, I'm not seeing the staff of <em>Martha Stewart Living </em>paying me a visit anytime soon:<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499503211638661138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2PoFARy_JCCC8bLLEtUh8y0YyuVG2Zx8jot-xfzdOh_Zo6Xqnn9ukEhoEJ3r_oX4Hjej6Fkaw2T1w6bV-nIcjeZmfrKgRoOkirTpzo1OjHwjzPiC6uUYJ0wLkCE2Wn-S0z18Jwg/s320/IMG_4358.jpg" /><br />The strings of lavender were secured with a collection of books I trash-picked from behind my college library more than 20 years ago. I have yet to crack one of these, so it's good to know they're getting some use:<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499502579603690642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRROvjA8Vv7sK45qGLQAJcTVblDrmzo6r9a2yN_xd8gwDv4b34g1B1gwpWsaF8wAtQp5fRjMk40EwuLaQUTkOV1UmzZJ1K7QsnTzLnX5V4sPmjCs_8g-Eh1sH1PMFmb9XvvqLHw/s320/IMG_4356.jpg" /><br />In about two weeks, you're ready to remove the buds from the stems. I read lots of advice online advocating removing the buds by putting the bunches in a pillowcase, rolling them around, and removing both the stripped stems and the buds. I tried this method and found it cumbersome and messy. After trial and error, I found the best option was to roll the bunches between my fingers and thumb over a clean piece of paper, and then roll the paper and funnel the buds into a jar for storage.<br /><br />Making the jelly is really very quick -- about an hour start to finish, including steeping the lavender. Outside of the lavender (which was free and organic), the recipe just requires some pectin, sugar, and lemon juice. The recipe I used is <a href="http://whatscookingamerica.net/LavenderJelly.htm">here</a>, and it was so simple I didn't make changes. The recipe says you'll get about five half-pint jars; I got almost six.<br /><br />I was so tickled with this jelly -- the fact that I could do something useful with what had essentially become a weed. I also absolutely love the taste. It's definitely lavender, but not remotely overpowering. Just soft and delicious. The first batch I made I handed out like a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">meth</span> addict on the beach: Lavender Jelly for All! So I recently made another batch. I have enough dried lavender buds left for at least two more. I'm seeing some unusual teacher gifts for the holidays...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQwM9FkdptljtnTG4Oz9QtCRd30vdIK8qvbs9dHIAcfocgkA4WERkKiC4hzT-UPl9l9YNWyZY2HvqvdD-lOfBk_cglmRAF8drOBV__BEHW_XWFsR5a5eBW-1aayciyIYHoESWHw/s1600/IMG_4389.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499506454087226146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQwM9FkdptljtnTG4Oz9QtCRd30vdIK8qvbs9dHIAcfocgkA4WERkKiC4hzT-UPl9l9YNWyZY2HvqvdD-lOfBk_cglmRAF8drOBV__BEHW_XWFsR5a5eBW-1aayciyIYHoESWHw/s320/IMG_4389.jpg" /></a> Happy canning!Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-53414722852680177192010-06-30T19:35:00.000-07:002010-06-30T20:53:28.223-07:00Random Birthday ThoughtsToday is my birthday. The day has been low-key. Phil has strep, and went to bed early, which left me alone, quietly, with things I love:<br /><div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488765157976899778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGV-IuUQzNEBEQoBEnqw8WkQmC2VpsULFg8ZHDGWKqWuUiCG_qNoJ2_w2zPKNXoXIIytPh3WwBaNokwOHpVQBf-YhfS9RkdxE23MJWeDtYtRUu04HnOBm8Ae6oTYc5bMeNxY6aw/s320/IMG_4381.jpg" /></div><div>My Kindle, newly loaded with this month's reading group book (<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zaf%C3%B3n/dp/0143034901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277955622&sr=8-1">The Shadow of the Wind</a></em>), a stack of favorite print books, my little knitting bag loaded with a knitting project (<a href="http://www.helloyarn.com/wecallthempirates.htm">We Call Them Pirates </a>hat in the new <a href="http://www.knitrowan.com/amybutler.html">Amy Butler organic yarn</a>), and a martini -- with blue-cheese stuffed olives, no less.</div><div> </div><div>And Pepper:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488765313614527602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiS4Qlcrkcb3Rwz7a6qnGcSX-gkjMVXzLSseS94VWV3FXVzNAhDbzWdmoxCrPIaEcKU9Vxt0KBqUgv3mDtapgFpTEjPdLxvbei-tV3G-psdX9uYFP2tgT7fPHqxAdKeucNdf7q6A/s320/IMG_4382.jpg" /></div><div>Pepper is an 11-year-old Dachshund we're test-adopting. My uncle and aunt had to find a good home for Pepper when they moved from their house on 7 acres to a retirement condo. The family voted 4 to 1 (with Phil as the lone dissenter) to try Pepper out. So far, relatively so good. Current voting has 4 of us loving Pepper, and Phil neutral. But we'll win him over.</div><div> </div><div>I worked from home for 2 days to help Pepper transition to our little family. He was a nice colleague:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488764613666810162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5SJfVmrOOD1bb5pXnm2BcuGMAdaZ-3VQZhis7VP6rYZDLVC5GRSzEARe7-ux9GDnIhueCUFY8FXccq_KUdlvTxw_sKx3fqCgBjvPRvd-z3NyCS8X3U-56Lgi8Xhj3PhsaHRy5A/s320/IMG_4375.jpg" /></div><div>Max and Pepper are becoming fast buddies:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488764442398949426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzbHpdu5migorBI_57yb-f28WvygTSuaYUiAupDGNnFv0WcjQ4MXDbsc1CG0ThDV6fMYxyjHft7gP95imfr1hqg8Xg8wiV5PMigLyQNFPawIpyCqwm7oNJWim233DYDFk6v4lPg/s320/IMG_4374.jpg" /></div><div>Downloading the pictures of Pepper, I found a sampling of random happiness from the last couple months. Like dapper Tommy being ring bearer at Phil's cousin's wedding. Here's Tom hanging out with his cousin and giving himself the photo bunny ears. Goofy boy:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488763562226807330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisTvjPGkbYiedezPgYKnFwHdupDisEVs3M9PB4tGxzFfw_E4Rhc-zxQsnTa4dj8FwnXGcqxlrV5AE8uqfjNKYifEDcmsP5b-OH0dE4heI3s8ckP5SPcqB54N1X7rZjB5I_yq2DtQ/s320/IMG_4248.jpg" /></div><div>Tom took his role very seriously; it's unclear if this is a wedding or funeral:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488764843637381026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBn7i6RpLcBOevCquBsW_UDhBWRAOZxCiJKKCH0lK7vxPV08ggY-x0CB_4EfGTYp-NSwtoozGLFMc5nHhYaDjrrc7gOKbqE9Coo6JQ9h_ZhzG7V2n4CkfNq-fBjyoqyENg7pSkEQ/s320/IMG_4237.jpg" /></div><div>Aren't the bride and groom adorable?</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488764987071640674" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMfvrO4ELFCLM-muzSxySoOMtmWrsaUudxQedDHVhJMPj7koPBgoG-GrluEEw8iwzSrioEqpQL0ltMhVivC1Iw3UQZwlXs1OiunPmW0fE3lycY0CIBf2ytCv8eM3yvQz_UdswA7A/s320/IMG_4252.jpg" /></div><div>And here's Sylvia peeling a hard-boiled egg. Shirtless:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488767078964233122" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmiDyU8dx4bk32pJkFaVC9ujpd2Q1BbicwJcRFv9eTH8tU614iI1lrOD3D5JqDJYYru0Dq00qP9jlvOWvwJ6KawEi_nf1L7vf4lloC7cT0NRbTu3DGO_NAWE8jgFEJdlCjSGinQ/s320/IMG_4350.jpg" /></div><div>And helping me with the lavender harvest. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Pantsless</span>:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488765757324561922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuReARRjx8WPswsPQHD9hF5_JKW8qjU-rPvXhESHp4n4twBdNeiBr4RwrVgnoCSxmbLQq2DsLXlc5dr2zDsT_Ksn15P-CQpYdZuX3k-y26rkE48p3LEmfxaIHUfym2kOrZxesNQ/s320/IMG_4352.jpg" /><br />My new favorite thing in the world: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-Woman-Cooks-Recipes-Accidental/dp/0061658197/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277956267&sr=8-1">the Pioneer Woman's </a>Potato/Leek/Bacon/Goat Cheese Pizza. Try it if you haven't. You'll thank me. i think I was the only one eating this one:</div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivvZJp8XoSSOzWNKAOq0YvepsGfBpFvnndEVvFVbyq4W-E0ckducaKkols-21-c8X2R-7Z_vsEVESw9A98pvSmlscMvNDOat64bk92SSqSGwEAI1NFXIeIv70n8-gf65m6DWAdjg/s1600/IMG_4361.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488764238272443026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivvZJp8XoSSOzWNKAOq0YvepsGfBpFvnndEVvFVbyq4W-E0ckducaKkols-21-c8X2R-7Z_vsEVESw9A98pvSmlscMvNDOat64bk92SSqSGwEAI1NFXIeIv70n8-gf65m6DWAdjg/s320/IMG_4361.jpg" /></a> Twenty-four more minutes of my birthday. The family's asleep. Pepper's in his cage. I might just get a little crazy.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXQcNtCN44gabIWxqB39VMs93pKbJ8JLhlIrHFhnxaLc7vNiTybtZaIyFKgX53lfNIwNeBBSO1fHgyS7BDpnPsF1TFH9nGuHEiHmxFP4iEdtxkFbtFejDgsF0dIiQt7jpRLJriDA/s1600/IMG_4353.jpg"></a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-27937731077335387892010-06-11T11:39:00.001-07:002010-06-12T04:26:40.514-07:00Compact Update: Can You Live Without New?I started a <a href="http://slowishfood.blogspot.com/2010/05/modified-compact.html">modified Compact </a>a couple weeks ago, trying to lessen my environmental impact by limiting my purchase of new products. Overall, not a biggie, although I was sad to get a 15% off birthday coupon (with a wacky birthday candle necklace) from <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Anthropologie</span> and realized I'd be breaking my Compact to have a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">girly</span> birthday bender. Oh, how I love <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Anthropologie</span>.<br /><br />My hope was that a by-product of the Compact would be saving some money, although it wasn't my primary goal.<br /><br />Today. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Oy</span>, today. I had a 7:15 am flight to get to a lunch meeting in DC. I was getting into the city early enough to meet one of our publishing <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">partners</span> for a casual meeting before the lunch meeting, so had a couple pieces of business during my in-and-out trip. I got to the gate at 6:30 a.m. just in time for the announcement that the flight was delayed two hours due to mechanical issues, so cancelled my first meeting. Four delays later, I was not going to make even my lunch meeting and threw in the towel. I decided to work the remaining day from home.<br /><br />On the drive home from the airport, I happened upon two yard sales. The first was an annual event some neighbors throw to benefit charity. The second was a family fundraiser to fund an upcoming trip to celebrate the mom being five years cancer free.<br /><br />Total, I spent $20 at the two sales, and here's what I bought:<br /><ul><li>Small stoneware brownie pan</li><li>Pizza stone (we broke ours two days ago)</li><li>Vera Bradley glasses case</li><li>2 glass piggy banks -- the kind you have to break to get the money; Sylvie has one, so these were for the boys</li><li>Vintage fabric cut into three-inch squares that I'm going to use to make a quilt for Sylvie</li><li>Vintage sewing notions, like rickrack with its original 10-cent price sticker</li><li>Glow-in-the-dark <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Perler</span> bead kit for the boys</li><li>Leather Coach backpack</li><li>A yet-to-be-revealed Father's Day gift</li><li>Jeans for Sylvia</li><li><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Spiderman</span> action car for Tommy's <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Spiderman</span> action figures</li><li>New package of sewing machine needles</li><li>Three-piece food mill for making applesauce</li><li>2 DVDs for the boys (<em><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mythbusters</span></em> and <em>Superman Returns)</em></li></ul>The biggest-ticket item was the Coach backpack at $5. I'd coveted this backpack at Coach stores in years past. I think it retails for somewhere between $300 and $400. The yard-sale edition had no wear, and cost less than the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Venti</span> Skinny Cinnamon Latte I'd bought in the terminal after the second delay was announced.<br /><br />Not too shabby. And not too much suffering, despite eschewing new products. I might keep up this Compact thing after the summer.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-31477020145562742522010-06-02T18:58:00.000-07:002010-06-02T19:49:40.141-07:00Scenes from the GardenTonight...<br /><br />Tom watering the plants with the water I'd left in the car from driving back from Michigan this weekend. I figured the plants would be fine with any plastic leeching into the sun-heated liquid. Sylvia accompanies him doing I don't know what.<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478369557884321218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZVxV8svaTpqBO_a1LgdhMHFM0-Fk-ZnyG_yr8s7R2SzD2CGB4V_Sfvw2RFaoEQFxQ3B2XhvwPY1NTMM1a547htFJkuBItconMqL6CxlDInURFKg2ymgANyfjovQAuPhrqblOXg/s320/IMG_4336.jpg" /><br /><div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>American Gothic.</em></span></div><div align="center"> </div><div>The little 8 X 4 raised beds I made this spring. Please don't scrutinize the craptacular workmanship.</div><div> </div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478364074945430162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihK7cWryKzzT6bqiGiaIYn3TeP0QISBr4m-k8MCe2VHIN_SquxecaJzzCvtDLdAMZK4V-MGofxMQdUZlelYevpzopqPa2ZYNxp92UmlGLB8TYHm2eNjVJej_aahljGbS1BYqKmDQ/s320/IMG_4332.jpg" /></div><div>Phil and Sylvia working on their circus act.</div><div> </div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478366232151099762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzT8_-xG1vWlkDjMl9l1be9ecXHB_h5jayt4-r12eTEY-yqQgGqOeA3F-XHWhHAf2lRTiDPXdm7CMCfm_CRk07at5JToo0f7tMg56z_DcXNnuGB39pDwgiDZL-TNIF2mSsv_dhAA/s320/IMG_4346.jpg" /></div><div>Beets, carrots, and kale. I love the color of beet greens.</div><div> </div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478364395512056978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_9z7uHvbCwYdHtsjOMtYGRfGKYJJZ4dpy9hqgrD2derHu0F6AxePqTk2M5R39lGvoYD8wajd8-Oi7hr9n2oPQMOqo8Y0fJOgPWY6LLkiXDkQCy3LvnznlRrQdzA1EBE6Q0QBbw/s320/IMG_4317.jpg" /></div><div>Welcome, little out-of-focus cayenne pepper. Max will be so happy to see you. He's currently obsessed with the idea of feeding hot peppers to unsuspecting folks. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478365640851868226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyhoco0UfMZFb6hDtXJIe3jkGOA9GeXv3y1TlPXeg8k716wzajE5Wi2uf99nhpeQIlEMYI_5aU6WEexySkJtQ6v5drBpYy_d4rmxfAWIzajPrv29psgafjsGs3G92cRRQhTT-Fw/s320/IMG_4321.jpg" /></div><div>Hey, there, whatcha knowin'? I've come to watch your pea pods growing...</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478364924664953522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3UglaxmZ_twahSZfeNTAxHwMrPlbROcmwF2SfiHeG-JSctOQUanTCkV9a2mOCNlP-ngi4vfcGLyrA9FuHgfhyphenhyphenZTI4fk8qPSwhz1ARGmWynOLy2iEpxEiyI5kLkn7Pa9Ok1d6ixw/s320/IMG_4316.jpg" /></div><div>I'm seeing <a href="http://slowishfood.blogspot.com/2010/06/kale-chips.html">kale chips </a>in my near future...</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478364703528096098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1t9yuZn6fGf4AfnCcIbDeahGtnQ6EPNCuFUu_PkfLKuZYf1gJaqxA2t5hE9VsISukCMq8h-iy10-_o2_xX6Az19S_2R9Q4hl8Hg6XePSZsfvls6ulIPpDDz9lGlfPHEAkoWvWnA/s320/IMG_4318.jpg" /></div><div>Wow! This alien carrot is as big as a grill!</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478365110263235890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWs56adnh-dA7ywN0L_PEWqLk2n0wqw-3UkmLihyFPQlv_PWIyOj6qPQnMC0Y5zBU0TFCcLuO_iOcd9z3cTgILSTAYIi4yXD0uieZxs2uKJ6nwS0VfBg7HGauBCG17YXY4_8lAwQ/s320/IMG_4314.jpg" /></div><div>...or smaller than a five-year-old's pinky.</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478365357256486322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKrd89lDLY4Ge08ICVwliKqO1d176IkFmmV34oNDFv_UIZkitLZidBDHynVeWdXNVme5F1qjYAV5QLUdcj5zvtF8bnLEoMOj-x-QoJGlRyuP6eX3F1YdIHh7bdGRnSCS0_aeKnA/s320/IMG_4329.jpg" /></div><div>Our neighbor took out his circa 1920s cast iron front rails and gave them to us. I think they lend a <a href="http://www.greygardens.com/"><em>Grey Gardens</em> </a>vibe to the original, appropriately overgrown, little garden plot.</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478365941232861842" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHo9CwHRkJjKad4nRlJ_LvX-ACvfk8wxOmqsPY5pQVJyPYZFkUzR6bZk8-lgpvwlqEVCOL6gRjneCOXKTc_cpD7BW5cLPB4YP5e1jEDcXOarbdLHZIliiWXbTQQpbkOmvy5qDkzw/s320/IMG_4327.jpg" /></div><div>The end of the rhubarb and the start of the sweet peas. I froze the rhubarb to pull out mid-winter for <a href="http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2008/07/3-words.html">Angry Chicken's rhubarb hand pies</a>. Man, those things are delicious.</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478366497489441170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyueCumFDbmhefCQJfup8kL24ucQYS1L9LIuIL3N1DsqHTVlmdl8PCDaUXeuGHJ-ralOrNF4vZfjIOYtwPqgwu7xjJjPgcM68VYrg3Q_8t_8G9dVVZgdf27faYHO7X6Elv954nRA/s320/IMG_4347.jpg" /></div><div>I keep thinking the little lettuce patch, which now has a couple zucchini plants interspersed, is exhausted and ready to be tilled over. And then I cut more greens. Here's tonight's cutting; we're a very healthy family:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478366942604335538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiogDXHvy20-5fPaEb0-803Bce0nd2bK_ijSipRtvXZ15PjVHlnbiVwVgwecM6yK8eLshW-_YNOoq-JvLn87hmP0hY5xMHNaStZC3g-Pe1n2YbJy31hC6_vYFiNQRzuGnf7_DjZGg/s320/IMG_4337.jpg" /></div><div>Oh, dear. Is that a leftover Cinnamon Poptart in the background?</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478367219366934290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7hF4o4bU4CpZIvdzjOTkcua4HXoeFdOLw0kIW2HyFW9b0xfH8_TdJs_Vwwsg6XvHbHG819i8Lbj2jCN1JcrcEh23RnVWhr9k2GMduY0NKVbS-eDYZnFsSN33eaN4BoCbANEd_9w/s320/IMG_4338.jpg" /> </div><div> </div><div>Pretend you didn't see that.</div></div>Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-33713185713125190152010-06-02T03:32:00.000-07:002010-06-02T04:24:27.086-07:00Consider the BananaAn old and dear friend and I recently got into a modern-day kerfuffle -- over <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Facebook</span> -- about the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">BP</span> oil gusher. He scoffed at my Liking someone <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">else's</span> status update suggesting we boycott <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">BP</span>. His thinking is that if you want to boycott something, boycott oil, which is so entrenched in modern culture as to be an almost impossible boycott. My retort was that, my feelings about <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">BP</span> notwithstanding, oil dependence can't be cut off cold turkey, but there are steps to take that can lessen the current, frightening dependence. I don't agree that because oil is impossible to eliminate for almost every American, we should throw out the baby with the bathwater and just live with the current dependence. Most of us work jobs outside the home where we have to drive to work; that doesn't mean we have to do it in a Hummer.<br /><br />I was struck when I saw <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497116/"><em>An Inconvenient Truth</em> </a>(oh, Al and Tipper, I'm so heartsick things didn't work out!) that the first tip at the end of the film for making a difference was changing to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">fluorescent</span> bulbs. Changing a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">light bulb</span>? That's it? But it's little changes like switching light bulbs can make huge differences. A couple winters ago Phil turned the thermostat down a degree while we were awake and in the house, and turned it down significantly when we were going to bed or heading out. Our monthly bill went down 15% almost instantly.<br /><br />Likewise, I never accept plastic bags in stores. This has been awkward when a quick dash to the grocery without <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tote bags</span> in hand has ended in buying more than I expected, and having to precariously balance my haul out of the store. But if everyone in America just started using <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">tote bags</span>, we'd eliminate the annual need for the 12 million gallons of oil needed to make the bags we consume in an average year. (Click <a href="http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php?id=4">here </a>for some other sobering plastic-bag stats.)<br /><br />In looking at some of the changes Phil and I have made in the past couple years, I think of the banana. I know, I know. Bananas are harvested under often inhumane conditions and shipped halfway around the world to get to my Fresh Market. I know; if I truly was making a difference, I wouldn't eat bananas. But hear me out.<br /><br />It used to be we'd buy a bunch, and eat them until they got spots. Then Phil and I would wait for the other to eat the spotty ones, which didn't happen. So sometimes I would throw the old bananas wholesale into the freezer with the intention of eventually thawing them out and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">squooshing</span> out the contents to make banana bread. But I rarely make banana bread, so would generally find an unseemly chocolate-colored lump in the back of the freezer many many months later. Often, we'd just throw out the old bananas.<br /><br />In the last year, we've started composting, so organic waste always goes into a pile to nourish the garden and our future meals.<br /><br />So, banana consumption today: We buy a bunch of bananas, and what Sylvia doesn't consume in one sitting (that girl does love her some bananas) sometimes start to get spotty. When the fruit gets too spotty for even Sylvie to eat, I peel the bananas, break them into three pieces, and throw the pieces in a bag in the freezer. The peels go into the compost bin.<br /><br />The frozen parts could be used for banana bread, which we still don't really eat, but generally go into smoothies. Two of our favorites:<br /><ul><li><strong>Double-Milk Banana Smoothie: </strong>I got this from one of the <em>What to Expect</em> books, but we drink them all the time now. In a blender, whir up a cup of milk, the amount of powdered milk required to make a cup of milk (usually about half a cup), a frozen banana, a bit of vanilla, and a teaspoon or so of cinnamon. </li><li><strong>Sylvia and Tommy's Favorite Breakfast Smoothie:</strong> A cup of vanilla yogurt (<a href="http://www.traderspointcreamery.com/">Trader's Point Creamery </a>is their fave), a bit of milk (maybe a quarter cup), a frozen banana, and a handful of frozen berries.</li></ul>So now, when a banana comes into our house, it doesn't go out in the trash. The flesh eventually gets eaten, and the peel goes into the garden. Our banana routine isn't eliminating the need for oil, but it's a tiny change that, along with the hundreds of other tiny changes we're making, can start to move the needle.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-61393357692495036312010-06-01T03:44:00.000-07:002010-06-01T04:03:03.248-07:00Kale ChipsThe little 8 X 4 garden box I planted in the spring is exploding. Pea pods, beets, onions, and carrots are about ready to be picked. The radishes have been eaten and replaced by tomatoes. And we've got kale. Oh, do we have kale.<br /><br />My favorite two ways to eat kale are either sliced very thinly and eaten raw on salad, or sauteed with garlic and olive oil. But a friend told me about kale chips, and with the kale regenerating what seems like nightly, I tried them the other day. I like them. Phil wasn't even in the mood to try one. So you'll have to trust me when I say they're good.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Kale Chips</strong><br /><br />Just pick (or buy), wash, and dry a big bunch of kale. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Fold each leaf in half and cut out the thick vein running up the back. Then rip the leaves into about 1-inch squares. Spray cooking spray on a couple big rimmed cookie sheets. (You can also cover the sheets with parchment paper.) Put the kale pieces on the sheets, drizzle lightly with a little olive oil (and spread it around if it's uneven -- try to get some on each kale piece), sprinkle on some kosher salt, and pop in the oven for about 10 minutes. When they're done, they're crispy and golden on the edges, but not burned.<br /><br /><br />You won't mistake them for potato chips, but they have that same salty, crunchy thing going. And they have a unique <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">greeny</span> flavor. I loved them. I made my chips a little large, requiring biting into them, which was a mistake. The variety of kale I planted (Red Russian) came out very thin in chips, and biting into them meant a sprinkling of green tiny kale pieces. But Phil's got band practice tonight, the kale exploded again while I was gone for the weekend, and I'm in the middle of a great book (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Twelve-One-Room-Cabin-Beyond-American/dp/1577318978/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275389787&sr=1-1">Twelve by Twelve</a>), so I'm seeing some chippy goodness in my near future.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-49336346294037628122010-05-24T19:18:00.000-07:002010-05-24T20:01:51.430-07:00The Modified CompactI've been reading a lot about The Compact. Which sounds like a new John <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Grisham</span> novel. But it's not.<br /><br />The Compact began in California as a challenge between ten friends looking to cut down on their material consumption by purchasing nothing new (with a few exceptions) for a year. The goals were to counteract the American consumer culture, to cut down on their own personal waste and clutter, and to live more simply. Thousands of people have since joined the Compact, many extending it long past that first year. Members range from the casual to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Freegans</span>, who try to pay for nothing through means like dumpster diving behind restaurants for their food.<br /><br />Many blogs document various <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Compact participants</span> and their personal journeys in their Compact lifestyles; my favorite so far is the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.thenonconumeradvocate.com"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Nonconsumer</span> Advocate</a>. I can relate to the author's commitment to the Compact, as well as her drawing the line at used undergarments.<br /><br />In the wake of the ongoing <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">BP</span> underwater oil gush, it's been shocking to read about the amount of oil that is used to create and transport goods. I feel convicted that I need to be more responsible and to go beyond just bringing my own tote bags to the store. I need to be mindful about even going to the store.<br /><br />Yesterday I was canning jam with my friend Martha. If you're curious, we made strawberry, <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/jalapeno-strawberry-jam/detail.aspx">strawberry-jalapeno</a>, and strawberry chutney -- notice a theme? <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Anyhoo</span>, we've been friends for 20 years, and we were post-college poor singles at the same time, and share a love of the bargain. I told her I was thinking about doing a modified Compact, and she said, "Um... isn't that kind of what you already do?" I looked down and saw what she meant. My shirt, tank, and earrings were all from garage sales. My shoes were new, but they are <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">Dansko's</span> and built for life. She reminded me that most of Phil and my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">barware</span> is vintage 60s. We've been eating off vintage Fiesta (and likely now glow from the lead paint) for about 15 years. Sylvia and Tommy were there with me, and both were wearing garage-sale duds.<br /><br />"Why do you need to do anything formal?" she asked. I took another sip of wine and agreed.<br /><br />But the more I thought of it, the more I thought that my garage-sale earrings weren't the whole story, and there's a lot I buy new that is unnecessary or completely wasteful. We're entering the most expensive time of year with Max out of school and requiring another $400 a month over the summer for <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">day camp</span>. And yes, for those of you not living in the Midwest, I realize how insanely cheap that is. But still.<br /><br />So with the motivation of an extra $400 going out the door, and really wanting to be more mindful about what we bring into our house and the virgin materials necessary, I've made my own Compact in force for the next 10 weeks, starting tomorrow. Meaning I have an hour and 17 minutes to go crazy on <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">Anthropologie</span>.com. Here are my guidelines:<br /><ul><li>This compact is mine. Phil is on his own, and I won't cluck my tongue if he has a bender at <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.lunamusic.net">Luna Music</a>. That's his business. Maybe he'll even buy me something during his bender. Just saying...</li><li>Undergarments can be purchased new. I'm unbending on this point.</li><li>E-products can be purchased new. I am in the book business and staunchly support the purchase of information and entertainment. So books that are sent to my Kindle and don't require sacrificing trees or transportation costs are just fine.</li><li>Items needed to finish up craft projects are okay. So if I'm about to make a dress for Sylvie out of stash fabric, but need some medium-weight interfacing, I can go to town. $3-a-yard clearances on Amy Butler fabric at Fabric.com don't count as "items needed to finish up craft projects." No matter how hard I'll try to convince myself otherwise.</li><li>Likewise, items truly needed for the summer gardening season are at my discretion. I know I'm low on canning jars, so will try to get some through <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Freecycle</span>.org. If that doesn't work, however, and I'm about to lose a crop of tomatoes that need to be preserved, I'm getting new jars. This doesn't extend to the rose structure I'm coveting.</li></ul>So really not too bad for 10 weeks. And really not too different from the way we already live. I'm excited and curious to see if putting stricter parameters around what I can and can't purchase will make me realize how much money I've been wasting and how much more ecologically responsible I could be.<br /><br />One hour and eight minutes and counting....Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-84916744849133698732010-05-16T02:52:00.000-07:002010-05-16T03:36:11.227-07:00When the Front Walk Hands You Too Much Lemon Verbena...make Lemon Verbena Jelly. Which is what I did this morning.<br /><br />(Yes, it's been so long since I've posted that I nearly forgot my password.)<br /><br />This spring I read a thought-provoking book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Homemakers-Reclaiming-Domesticity-Consumer/dp/0979439116/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274003709&sr=8-1">Radical Homemakers</a>. I'd first seen it referred to in a <em>New York Times</em> article, and since have seen it popping up everywhere. The book, written by radical homemaker Shannon Hayes, looks at the history of homemaking, something shared equally by men and women historically, and how it devolved from making a home to making enough money to buy <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvDVfeglhJZotSbYGQ_aDm7p_4vj2TiECUpIHD1YiHEoEpezA9Gz91gd4MIU2C2Y1-D4TlEOQFbTLjHCNiMlNpoK7wLWVjH47S8np1f2_FBZbOTdXoVcE6GZX3Pkl_Jnnt6Xu_Iw/s1600/RadHomeCover-200x300.jpg"></a>things we're convinced we need for our home. I have been very taken by the idea of our little household becoming more of a productive than consumptive unit.<br /><br />Reading this book has dovetailed nicely with my current reading of <em>Gone with the Wind,</em> a mammoth tome my book club inexplicably chose this month. (Thank God for the Kindle, which weighs only 10 ounces, as the print book weighs more than Tommy.) I'm at the point where the South is going down and Scarlet is back at Tara and trying to feed her family. Without what the Yankees left in the garden -- and Scarlet blowing the head off of and robbing a soldier, but we'll forget that part for now -- the family would have starved. It gets a gal thinking.<br /><br />So, taking baby steps, I've been looking for more ways for us to be self-sustaining and more wisely use what we have.<br /><br />When I recently read a <a href="http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2010/05/violets-and-jame.html">post from my favorite blogger about making violet jam </a>from the violets peppering her lawn, I started eyeing our little yard. I'd spent a couple weekends earlier pulling up two wheelbarrows full of violet, intent on destroying them, not eating them. Again, gets you thinking.<br /><br />Several years ago I got a tiny lemon verbena twig. Someone with a house on the way to the CVS we walk to twice a week used to have a perennial exchange; you'd leave little cups of perennials and pick up a couple. Since I picked up the innocent looking styrofoam cup of lemon verbena, it has become a near-nuisance, taking over any time I have my back turned. So last night Sylvie and I went out and picked a bunch, which didn't make a dent in the plants, and this morning I made lemon verbena jam.<br /><br />I was worried the color might be a little blah, but my disorganized shopping took care of that. I ran out of white sugar and had to include a cup of sucanat sugar, which made the jelly a lovely honey color. Next time, I'll just plan to use a cup of sucanat.<br /><br />The recipe I used came from <a href="http://www.giftsfromyourkitchen.com/jelly/lemon-verbena-jelly.html">Gifts from Your Kitchen</a>. Here's all you do:<br /><br /><br /><strong>Lemon Verbena Jelly</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />2 packed cups chopped lemon verbena leaves<br />Large pieces of zest from 1 lemon (I just used a peeler to scrape off big pieces)<br />2-1/4 cups water<br />1/4 cup fresh lemon juice<br />4 cups sugar (3 white, 1 sucanat)<br />3 ounces liquid pectin (Certo)<br /><br />Combine the lemon verbena, lemon zest and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and lower to a simmer for 15 minutes. Take off the heat and let this sit for several hours; I let it sit overnight because I got sleepy about an hour into it.<br /><br />Strain the mixture (I did it through a coffee filter) into a big pot. Be sure to squeeze all the liquid from the leaves and zest. Add the sugar and lemon juice, bring to a boil. Add the pectin and bring to another boil; boil for two minutes. Now take off the heat, skim any foam, put in canning jars, and seal. (This <a href="http://slowishfood.blogspot.com/2007/09/back-in-saddle-hot-pepper-jelly.html">link </a>tells how.) If the idea of actually canning makes you woozy, you can just freeze the jars. I don't, since my freezer is full of beef and popsicles, and I love that *THINK* sound the jars make when the lids seal.<br /><br />This made about five 8-ounce jars.<br /><br /><br />The taste is really pretty and subtle; I'm thinking scones and chicken glazes.<br /><br />Lavender bushes that are taking over and I haven't had the heart to cut back, don't think I don't <a href="http://whatscookingamerica.net/LavenderJelly.htm">see you</a>...Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-91195000953025991052009-11-02T18:51:00.000-08:002009-11-02T19:19:22.497-08:00Rose's Heavenly Cakes Bake-Through: Cheater's Pumpkin CakeThis week <a href="http://heavenlycakeplace.blogspot.com/"><em>Rose's Heavenly Cakes</em> Bake-Through </a>featured Pumpkin Cake with Burnt Orange Silk Meringue <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Buttercream</span>. No kidding. That's the name. Quite a handle. The cake itself is stunning -- baked in two round molds that are then forged together to create a pumpkin shape. Frosted in burnt orange silk meringue butter cream. Little marzipan pumpkin leaves and tendrils to complete the pumpkin ensemble. It's really spectacular.<br /><br />I was debating whether to try it when I skimmed the following description two pages into the four pages of frosting instruction: "It will bubble up furiously." This sentence made me woozy. I am often called away from furiously bubbling pans to find the red Power Ranger or change a nasty diaper or replay Weird Al's "Eat It" on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">iPod</span>. I wrote off this recipe and decided I'd catch up with the bake-through next week for Baby Chocolate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Oblivions</span>.<br /><br />But Rose's headnote started with, "Anyone who has tasted this cake has pronounced it the best non-chocolate cake ever." Would you feel you could miss this cake after that description? I know I didn't. Rose went on to state that a tube pan could be substituted for the round molds. So I decided to bake the cake and skip all the trimmings.<br /><br />The cake itself comes together extremely simply. It's almost like a pumpkin walnut quick bread. The only extra step is toasting the walnuts, and that's so simple and quick and adds such flavor, I don't feel I can quibble. The cake itself is very basic: Dry ingredients mixed together, wet ingredients whirred up in a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">KitchenAid</span>, dry ingredients added to the wet ingredients.<br /><br />I frosted the cake with a simple <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">buttercream</span> frosting -- the kind of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">buttercream</span> my mom would make to spread on graham crackers for a makeshift dessert. A little red and yellow food coloring to make it pretty and orange. Easy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">peasy</span>.<br /><br />I had only two challenges with this cake:<br /><ul><li>It calls for walnut oil. I stood in the oil section of my grocery <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">store Friday</span> night, Sylvia complaining about being contained in the shopping cart, staring and staring at the oils. Then I cursed Indiana for being so backward it didn't stock walnut oil. Then I debated whether to substitute flax seed or safflower oil. Then I noticed that the walnut oil was right in front of my face. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Heh</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">heh</span>. My bad. Indiana is a lovely state in which to live.</li><li>It's taking every ounce of my depleted willpower to not just take a big wooden spoon to the cake and finish it off tonight. It's delicious. In fact, my now official Tasting Panel (Phil, Noah, and Holly, served during commercial breaks on <em>Mad Men)</em> all pronounced this one utterly delicious. We all had two pieces and thought of going for a third, but that would be excessive, right? This is definitely my favorite cake of the three I've baked so far.</li></ul>Thinking of the trajectory of cakes, in fact, each has gotten better. The Barcelona Brownies were magnificent. The Apple Upside Down Cake was spectacular. This was even better. I'm fearful for next week's Baby Chocolate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Oblivions</span> during the <em>Mad Men</em> season finale. Individual molten chocolate cakes <em>and</em> Don Draper: How much wonderfulness can one person take at a time?<br /><br />Tune in next week...Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-29923286137439562122009-10-28T18:25:00.000-07:002009-10-28T18:58:54.459-07:00A Very Truant Rose's Heavenly Cakes Bake-ThroughI signed up for the <a href="http://heavenlycakeplace.blogspot.com/2009/09/heavenly-cake-bake-through.html"><em>Rose's Heavenly Cakes</em> bake-through </a>because I figured, really, how hard can it be to bake a cake every two weeks? And it's not hard at all. Two cakes into it, it's fun. But life has been messing with my ability to blog about the baking. Hence, I'm two days late writing this.<br /><br />But let's back up three days to last Sunday. Max, Tommy, and I went to the Haunted House at the <a href="http://www.childrensmuseum.org/">Children's Museum</a>. Tommy was a little listless. At lunch, I looked over and was alarmed to find his face pale, and his lips as colorless as his face. We headed for home where he watched some Thomas movies quietly and, while Phil occupied the other kids, I baked the Apple Upside Down Cake on this week's schedule.<br /><br />With the cake safely out of the oven, I took Tom to Immediate Care where they determined he might be in the early stages of H1N1 and prescribed <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Tamiflu</span>. Back home, undeterred, I whipped up the bourbon whipped cream for the cake, and Noah and <a href="http://naptownrollergirls.com/roster/anaslaysya/">Holly </a>came over for our weekly <a href="http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/">Mad Men </a>date. All four of us agreed the cake was spectacular. The fact that Tommy cried out for me, delusional and extremely sick, midway through my piece and during a climax on the show isn't important. What's important is that this is a really really really good cake.<br /><br />Being new to the upside down cake world, I thought the process went like this:<br /><ol><li>Cut up apples and put them in the pan.</li><li>Mix up cake batter and pour over.</li><li>Bake and enjoy.</li></ol>This one's slightly more labor-intensive, although well worth the effort. It would have been a bit of a pain if Sylvie had been in the kitchen clinging to my legs, but Phil had her outside playing some form of toddler baseball, so I enjoyed my kitchen time. Here's what I did:<br /><ol><li>Peel and cut up the apples and let macerate in lemon juice and brown sugar for 30 to 90 minutes.</li><li>Melt some butter and pour some into the pan to grease the pan. To the remaining melted butter, a<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">dd</span> the juice from the macerating apples and more brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Then let this bubble and simmer for a while until it becomes a deep golden brown. Pour this into the pan.</li><li>Add the apples to the pan, trying to make a pretty and even pattern.</li><li>Mix up cake batter and pour over.</li><li>Bake and enjoy.</li></ol><p>The final step before eating is to whir up some whipped cream with a tablespoon of bourbon to make a (we found) rather boozy foil for the sweet cake. The whole package really was magnificent.</p><p>A couple things to note:</p><ul><li>I baked this in a silicone pan that was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">regifted</span> to me. I'm beside myself in love with silicone now. A co-worker read my <a href="http://slowishfood.blogspot.com/2009/10/bake-through-entry-1-barcelona-brownies.html">Barcelona Brownie entry </a>and brought me some silicone pans she'd received as a gift that she felt were just cluttering her kitchen. If you haven't baked with silicone, run to your nearest Target and get some. Seriously. Nothing sticks to this. In fact, when I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">unmolded</span> the cake I was slightly off-center on the serving plate and had no second chance to make it right as the cake slide right out immediately.</li><li>I eyeballed the bourbon going into the whipped cream, and might have overshot. The cream tasted extremely boozy. Next time I'll be measuring. Although I do have to say <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">bourbony</span> cream seems perfect for enjoying during <em>Mad Men,</em> even if most bourbon on that show is enjoyed liberally during the workday.</li><li>I used a cake tester to see if the cake was ready, but didn't stick it in the center of the cake. My bad. The center wasn't cooked through. In fact, after the first night, I scooped out the center so that it wouldn't go rancid and spoil the rest of the cake.</li><li>Rose suggests baking this in the pan on a pizza or baking stone to better <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">caramelize</span> the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">caramel</span> sauce. I didn't, but I'm going to try this next time.</li><li>Tommy was very sick and delusional Sunday night, and when he called desperately for me mid-cake, I was a bad enough mom to weigh whether it seemed he needed me immediately, or if I could just finish my cake first. It's that good.</li></ul><p>I never got a chance to have a second piece of this masterpiece; Phil ate big hunks of it the next couple nights until it was gone. Which just means I'm going to have to make another. Soon. I'm hoping this next time will be on a night when Tommy doesn't projectile vomit on me, as it delays my getting back to my cake. Just <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">sayin</span>'.</p>Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-55750968178956902182009-10-23T18:00:00.000-07:002009-10-23T18:24:25.932-07:00Tell Them That It's Human NatureLately I've noticed that moments of contentment come unexpectedly. With three kids, a sometimes demanding job, a house, a marriage, and other relationships I don't spend nearly enough time tending to, I often spend more time thinking of what didn't get done than what did. What I hadn't gotten to at work and should have. What quality time I'd half-assed with my kids because my mind was in a million places.<br /><br />Michael Jackson's <em>Thriller</em> came out when I was in tenth grade. It defined my high school experience. My best friend Susan and I shared a locker in our conservative private Christian school, and were reprimanded for decorating the door in a montage of Jackson shots. I put a plastic "Thriller" jacket on layaway at Sears; not being particularly courageous in the fashion department, I ultimately only had the courage to wear it once or twice.<br /><br />By this time I no longer shared a room with my sister, but the remnants of our time together remained. Years earlier we were allowed to choose how we wanted the room decorated, and at that moment Becky had been feeling purple. The result was purple carpet, purple walls, a purple ceiling, purple crushed velvet bedspreads on our twin beds. The room remained regal into my high school years, although I made throw pillows to tone down some of its royalty. So I spent hours in my purple room, playing <em>Thriller</em> over and over on my Emerson turntable. I loved every song on the album, but "Human Nature" had a special, eerie feel for me. It felt grown-up in the way the other songs didn't, and I heard it and thought of all the possibilities laying out before me. The road was wide open.<br /><br />A few years later I was in college, and Michael Jackson was a joke. The Thriller jacket was loaned to a friend for a comedy bit in a college show and never returned. The album was long packed away. The ensuing years, with their tabloid drama and true or untrue allegations, were not kind to Michael. I gave <em>Thriller</em> and <em>Off the Wall</em> to Goodwill when Phil and I were downsizing for a move to Brooklyn.<br /><br />When Michael died, though, I bought a copy of <em>The Essential Michael Jackson,</em> and the kids and I have been listening to it nonstop. Whenever a slow song comes on, the boys yell that they hate love songs, and I have to skip over, say, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" so that we can get to "Leave Me Alone." They have no tolerance for "Human Nature," which is fine with me. The song has made me feel sad, seeing that the road is no longer wide open, and I prefer to listen to it alone, without their banter and squabbling. I've made life choices that have negated other life choices. My age now was inconceivably old to 16-year-old purpled-roomed Cindy. Had I let my mind wander to this age, I would have won an Oscar for best screenplay in between consulting with patients in my thriving New York psychology practice. I was not picturing the chaos that is my current life. The fact that the physical flaws I saw at 16 didn't disappear but only magnified as I grew older. I wouldn't have pictured myself schlepping to work in jeans and a hail-damaged Subaru.<br /><br />Tonight Phil took the boys out to get their Halloween costumes, and Sylvia and I had a little girl time. She destroyed the living room while I loaded the iPod with some favorites I'm only able to listen to alone. When "Human Nature" came on, before I could get wistful, she came into the kitchen and started dancing and laughing. She appreciated the song. She didn't ask me to flip past the ballads. She has her whole life ahead of her, with all the promise and possibility that brings, and she was enjoying it.<br /><br />Sylvia wasn't a planned-for or necessarily wanted baby. I was at the point that I was ready to move on from babies. When I learned I was pregnant, Phil and I spent a good deal of time hand-wringing before we settled into the inevitable. When I lost that baby, we were sad but also had some guilty relief. When I learned I was pregnant again a month after the miscarriage, I knew this baby wanted to be here. Watching her dance to "Human Nature," I listened to the song for the first time feeling the same excitement and potential I'd felt at 16. I hope she felt it, too.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-17229034330879589822009-10-12T19:34:00.000-07:002009-10-12T20:21:17.982-07:00Bake-Through Entry 1: Barcelona Brownies<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHBpN1DqkL7h6IACpmVBqfjkTifGzAfwriTrhVjhg2zto0_0rHaerEsYcfUJNABEOMrWqUzSTCML5zvnbKuXBihpQt18c_7E8pY2JUEaAdjjRA2YKAO5hU_JEiv4gEGkC9YxJCg/s1600-h/Rose's+Heavenly+Cakes.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391918554975158306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHBpN1DqkL7h6IACpmVBqfjkTifGzAfwriTrhVjhg2zto0_0rHaerEsYcfUJNABEOMrWqUzSTCML5zvnbKuXBihpQt18c_7E8pY2JUEaAdjjRA2YKAO5hU_JEiv4gEGkC9YxJCg/s320/Rose's+Heavenly+Cakes.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a onclick="return amz_js_PopWin(this.href,'AmazonHelp','width=700,height=600,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,toolbar=0,status=1');" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0471781738/sr=8-1/qid=1255403704/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&qid=1255403704&sr=8-1" target="AmazonHelp"></a><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Stardate</span> Sunday morning. Sylvia's still asleep. The boys are plugged into Sponge Bob. The kitchen, with its new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">countertops</span> and lovely new stainless steel sink is begging to be messed with, and I remember that I signed up for the <a href="http://heavenlycakeplace.blogspot.com/2009/09/heavenly-cake-bake-through.html"><em>Rose's Heavenly Cakes</em> bake-through</a>. So I roll up my sleeves and flip to the appropriate marked page<em>. </em></div><div><br />Barcelona Brownies.</div><div></div><br /><div>Normally, my favorite brownie recipe is the One-Pot Brownies from the out-of-print masterpiece <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cook-Something-Recipes-Fabulous-Lifestyle/dp/0028612558/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255402640&sr=8-1">Cook Something</a>. Since I'm usually playing beat-the-clock in the kitchen these days, the idea of one pot and 10 minutes is perfect for me. But I signed up for the bake-through, I'm in the mood for chocolate, and Barcelona Brownies are on the docket.</div><br /><div></div><div>Check and check.</div><br /><div></div><div>A couple things to note about these brownies. They are baked, in the book, in a silicone financier mold that make individual brownies. Brilliant. Except that three calls the Friday before brought me to the conclusion Indianapolis is not long on your specialty baking items. I was excited to try the molds, however, so I bought a silicone mold featuring six hearts at Target, and figured I'd make the rest of the brownies in a muffin tin, as I was digging the idea of individual brownies.</div><div></div><br /><div>Another thing to note is that they include optional <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">ganache</span> plugs of lovely gooey chocolate. I was on the fence about whether to go for the plugs. I ultimately decided against it because 1) I didn't know how much time I had before Sylvie would wake up and cling to my leg as I moved around the kitchen 2) I had forgotten to pick up heavy cream 3) I bought enough dark chocolate to make both the brownies and the plugs, but Tommy and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">I had</span> snacked on it the day before, and now I only had enough for the brownies. So no plugs. So really 2 and 3 trumped 1, as I didn't have the ingredients to make the plugs. Next time.</div><div></div><br /><div>The recipe has some great details: toasting the pecans so that they're more flavorful. Combining two kinds of chocolate -- sweetened bar and unsweetened powdered -- to get extra <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">chocolate</span> flavor. The addition of a couple ounces of cream cheese for extra creaminess. And Rose is right: The brownies pop right out the silicone molds. I don't know where these have been all my life.</div><br /><div></div><div>So after toasting the pecans, melting the chocolate in a make-shift double-boiler (as mine is now part of the kitchen play equipment in the basement playroom), whirring everything in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Kitchenaid</span>, spooning into individual molds, and waiting the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">allotted</span> time, I was rewarded with some pretty fantastic brownies. I tried one to see how they were, hot hot hot from the silicone mold. Then I tried another just to be sure I could truly report on the taste. (Lovely.) Sylvia meanwhile woke up, had her breakfast, and then spied the brownies. She yelled and pointed until I let her try a piece, and then yelled "more" and pointed and kept getting bites until I distracted her with a walk to the drugstore. Our friend Holly was over Sunday night for our weekly date with she, her husband, and <a href="http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/">Don and Betty Draper</a>, and tried one. She commented that they were extra <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">chocalatey</span> without being too sweet.</div><br /><div></div><div>Phil, by the way, was thrown the next day by the muffin shape, thinking I'd made muffins. He ate two, apparently because one wasn't enough to realize they were rich brownies and not breakfast food, and then said he had to go lie down for a while.</div><br /><div></div><div>Will I make them again? Heck, yeah. I'm even thinking of ordering the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/World-Cuisine-Non-Stick-Rectangular-Financier/dp/B001AS0466/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1255403370&sr=8-1">financier molds</a>, which I found on Amazon. Next time I will make them at night so that I can make the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ganache</span> plugs without worrying that someone will be waking up and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">harshing</span> my kitchen mellow. And I will go a little lighter on the chocolate; the bar I chose was 86% cocoa, and my powder was dark chocolate. Next time I'll do as Rose suggests and keep the chocolate in the 60s. And, eyeing the pots piled in my new stainless steel sink, I think I'd melt the chocolate and butter (very carefully) in the microwave. I won't skip toasting the pecans, though. They had a much more complex taste after toasting.</div><br /><div></div><div>If you want to try this recipe, Rose includes the recipe <a href="http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2006/03/barcelona_brownies_1.html">here </a>on her blog. It's delicious.</div><br /><div></div><div>Next up: Apple Upside Down Cake. I can hardly wait!</div><div></div>Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-12547923393275418032009-07-06T17:26:00.000-07:002009-07-06T17:57:55.895-07:00Dreaming of Marshmallows<div align="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3UQdF3pIgOUdbF509_v5BRmyfV7pn66TmnluhusEfEW-Wf5h9BI1kjNSCjZMFxWr9vAHqhxElo7Qd1HHGHvPFituiyg12B7l62svLtg3Wjnqwh6P8Ic4CP_S02SrInaycZGONkA/s1600-h/IMG_3471.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355513372622206946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3UQdF3pIgOUdbF509_v5BRmyfV7pn66TmnluhusEfEW-Wf5h9BI1kjNSCjZMFxWr9vAHqhxElo7Qd1HHGHvPFituiyg12B7l62svLtg3Wjnqwh6P8Ic4CP_S02SrInaycZGONkA/s400/IMG_3471.jpg" border="0" /></a>I love <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Facebook</span>. Whatever you're into, there you are. A few weeks ago I saw that my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">neice</span> became a fan of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">s'mores</span>. I couldn't believe that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">s'mores</span> fan base was smaller than the fan base for, say, Barrack Obama, Hugh <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Jackman</span>, or the Old <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Facebook</span>. I mean, seriously, how controversial is that? Who doesn't like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">s'mores</span>? <div align="center"></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="left">Which got me thinking we needed to have them this past holiday weekend. With dark chocolate and thick graham crackers from Trader Joe's, and homemade <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">marshmallows</span>. I was feeling that passionate about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">s'mores</span>.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Max got sick and July 4 was so rainy here that <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Indianapolis</span> downtown fireworks were postponed until July 5, so no <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">marshmallows</span> were made. But I'm thinking next week will be a do-over, complete with <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">marshmallows</span>.</div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">I've only made them once -- last Christmas. Both Phil's and my families had decided to go easy this Christmas and just be together and not buy gifts. But I love gift-giving, so made each family a bag with hot cocoa mix, homemade <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">marshmallows</span>, and the stuffed bird ornament on the cover of one of my favorite quilting books:</div><div align="center"><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355512173671301698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWuEZUZc9wBKTYGuXUJYGqnqiql05LNjrZkVqXzyKMhyGbVAaN4pWrS0lNvLOsvJjizU0G-cb55-z6wM_4n1-r4lG4TeqTd6wMnMEJsWBRUTJNUTzd1Jmj7pJRVqqg8-oStsQqw/s400/LM+Quilted+Gifts.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><div align="left">The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">marshmallows</span> are a little sticky to make and take several hours to set up, but if you're willing to put in the quality Kitchen-Aid time, I think they're worth it.</div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355511237201986834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbEe5NH8rHQJSGAUFj7pIIJWKaO8tYsB4JjlRyw4cerO3eCshkhdoD93UEbwKRwq-oKLHdmlZ3-cOSos8rLCrM25QGmG__IEvbuIylw6Ou7vPd8_rmdf4rvkml1Vmzarg6P6w1bg/s400/IMG_3472.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Bags of sticky goodness.</em></span></span><br /><br /><div align="left">Max included a few on the assortment of treats he plated up for Santa. He's generally a scoffer, but suddenly got Santa religion on Christmas Eve, hedging his bets so he wouldn't get shafted. He wanted to give Santa something, so I suggested, with as straight a face as I could muster, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">that</span> maybe Santa would really appreciate a picture of Max. <a href="http://slowishfood.blogspot.com/2008/10/enjoy-them-today-and-for-lifetime.html">The picture</a>. </div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355513032766468722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8cH94sLyBrUJLh42xZUfQtUogtVczFu5XLJ_kdeiE4-Cm_iINwSk7YAvoAtIuJqlR8Tp38gctprifDiVVTzzQfhxMvWgJTiUAqqGPPQANe1kQi3oWrgmY5UIZeAeX4NP-WEGfxg/s400/IMG_3475.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> We were out of carrots, so told Max reindeer actually like celery better.</span><br /><br /><div align="left">The recipe I followed is <a href="http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/106/Marshmallows">here</a>; I have seen a million recipes online and in books for homemade marshmallows, but this was the most thorough for explaining in great detail all the steps in a kitchen process I found a little initimidating.</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">So happy birthday, America. We'll be pulling out the sparklers, Uncle Sam hats, and homemade <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">s'mores</span> on July 11. I can almost taste them now.</div></div>Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-17598685504354333742009-06-29T18:53:00.001-07:002009-06-29T19:24:34.054-07:00My New Favorite Bean RecipeBack when Phil and I lived in New York, the <em>New York Times</em> constantly ran a commercial that competed in dorkiness with the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAJVaLjkcFM">Chock-Full-of-Nuts <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Pinocchio</span> commercial </a>and any number of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_KsOnyuCGA"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Mento's</span> ads</a>. Couples were relaxing and yakking about how getting the <em>Times </em>on the weekend has greatly enhanced their lives. A favorite line from a square looking husband went something like, "On Sunday we go for what we really like. I go head to the sports page while she goes straight for the magazine."<br /><br />Much as I hate being a player in a candidate for worst ad copy ever ("the Sunday New York Times is 40 percent more wonderful than the Sunday Washington Post!"), we do get the Sunday <em>Times</em> and I do head for the magazine first thing. Often the little features -- "The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Ethicist</span>," "Consumed" -- are all the paper reading I get. Periodically I'm blessed with an in-depth article by <a href="http://www.michaelpollan.com/">Michael <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Pollan</span></a>. And nearly every week there's a recipe or two with an accompanying write-up. While I miss Molly O'Neill from when we were new subscribers years ago, I like that the articles bounce between remembrance, history, technique, and expose. Although I have to admit that I can't stand when "Cooking with Dexter" is up about a persnickety "four-year-old foodie" who I find tedious, but that's another topic. (Boy, that kid works my last nerve.)<br /><br />Yesterday's article gave a brief history of beans and rice in the five <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">boroughs</span>, followed by a Sunday beans recipe that I tried about 30 seconds after reading it. I was intrigued by stewing the beans in fruit juices as well as the unapologetic use of canned pinto beans, which I have a pantry full of thanks to chili season winding down and a fairly recent trip to Costco.<br /><br />I didn't have everything on hand that was called for. My beans would be more savory and fatty if I had the chunk bacon called for, for example. But the sweet with beans is brilliant. Phil and I have about killed off the pot I made, with little help from the kids other than Sylvia -- who grabbed a fistful from my bowl while I was eating tonight.<br /><br />The original recipe is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/magazine/28food-t-001.html">here</a>. And here's my close-enough improvisation.<br /><br /><strong>My New Favorite Bean Recipe</strong><br /><br />2 Tbsp. or so olive oil<br />1 yellow onion, small chopped<br />1 shallot, fine chopped<br />2 Tbsp. ground cumin<br />1 Tbsp. ground coriander<br />1-1/2 cups orange juice<br />3 cans (15-1/2 oz.) pinto beans, drained with the juice reserved<br />Salt and pepper to taste<br /><br />In a medium soup pot, heat up the olive oil. Add the onion and scallion and cook for about 5 minutes -- until they're nice and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">wilty</span>. Add the cumin and coriander; stir around for a minute or so -- until your kitchen smells lovely. Add in the juice. Raise the heat until the juice starts to simmer, then lower and simmer until it's reduced by half. (The recipe says reduced to 1/4 its original volume, but Sylvie woke from her nap so adjustments had to be made.) Add the beans and enough of the reserved bean liquid to make it a nice sauce consistency. Let it bubble for another 20 or so minutes, adding more bean liquid if it gets at all dry. Add salt and pepper to taste.<br /><br />Phil and I found it's good hot, cold, and at room temperature. We have yet to try it frozen on <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Popsicle</span> sticks.<br /><br /><br />While I was saucing up new bean recipes, Phil was visiting folks back in the Big Apple. He stayed with our friends Amy and Dan, whose basement bar you might remember from <a href="http://slowishfood.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html">this post </a>several years ago. They're renovating their kitchen (and adding a half bath and growing the house), and Amy's getting a six-burner, two-oven stove out of the deal. We might have to stop being their friends.Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-9174344205587576222009-06-16T18:40:00.000-07:002009-06-16T19:14:07.765-07:00Beano Tuesday: Saucy Cannellinis over SpinachOne week into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Beano</span> Monday and I miss posting. As Tommy and I often say, silly Mommy!<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Anyhoo</span>, tonight was fast food for the boys (Tom's "collecting" all the Night at the Museum 2 toys), so Phil and I were on our own for dinner. He cobbled together a meal from about five little containers of leftovers, while I guiltily made myself a dinner that's one of my favorites. My friend Katie, a favorite cook, made it for me one night and it's maddeningly simple and really delicious -- especially considering how few humble ingredients it contains.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Saucy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Cannellinis</span> over Spinach</strong><br /><br />2 or 3 tsp. nice olive oil<br />2 or so cloves of garlic, minced<br />2 or so tsp. anchovy paste (or a couple anchovies, if you like)<br />a few sprinkles crushed red pepper flakes<br />1 can (15 oz. or so) <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">cannellini</span> beans, drained but with the juice reserved<br />A generous handful of fresh baby spinach leaves<br />A Tbsp. or so grated <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Parmesan</span>, if you like<br /><br />Heat up the olive oil over medium heat in a little saucepan. Add the garlic, anchovy paste (or anchovies), and pepper flakes; stir until the garlic is nicely browned but not burned and the paste is mixed in nicely (or the anchovies disappear into the oil). Add the drained beans and then add back a little of the juice. Lower the heat a little and let it simmer, stirring every now and again. If tonight gauges your quiet time, you'll have time to read a few small features and a <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/32251"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Fareed</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Zakaria</span> </a>(love that man!) article in the new <em>Newsweek</em> while the beans gently cook and get a little saucy. Add a bit more of the juice if they seem like they're drying out.<br /><br />Pour the hot beans over the spinach greens, which will partially wilt. Lovely. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Apologize to anyone eating scrounged leftovers that, sadly, this recipe really only comfortably serves one. Too bad.<br /><br /><br />In other food news, my friend Kitty recently introduced me to the idea of homemade Greek yogurt. I'd lost steam <a href="http://slowishfood.blogspot.com/2007/03/yo-baby.html">making my own yogurt </a>because it always came out a bit runnier than I like. So we'd become big fans of a <a href="http://www.traderspointcreamery.com/">local dairy </a>that makes the <a href="http://www.tpforganics.com/content/view/19/89/">most amazing yogurt</a>, which the kids devour, and Phil's become a fan of Greek yogurt. But with Kitty to encourage me, this weekend I made yogurt. When it was finished, I lined a strainer with a coffee filter (Kitty says you can also use a linen towel) and poured the yogurt in, letting it strain over a bowl overnight in the fridge. In the morning the bowl was full of whey, which looks not unlike what fills Sylvie's diapers several times a day. So although I understand you can bake with whey, in what seems like a sign of wanton consumerism in these tough economic times, I guiltily it threw out.<br /><br />The resulting firm yogurt did need some whipping up with a whisk to make it creamy, but then it was delicious. And far less expensive than the $4.99 containers someone in our household keeps picking up at the <a href="http://www.freshmarket.com/">Fresh Market</a>. I smell a new staple in our house...Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-628971017720793602009-06-08T18:35:00.000-07:002009-06-08T19:04:47.116-07:00A Weekly Feature*, Featuring White Bean and Tuna Salad<div align="left"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>* when I remember.</em></span></div><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:78%;"></span></em></div><div align="center"><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345140639712883410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 280px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 276px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCbMvUf22JfI3LKov7pP4tzawmLffOVhZjt0rGkPolGZacOcDiNWxf2gWmq0uR1unYo_m91TDv2K9enSCPpzroqBqyEGm2dnGzdAt1Zn_F3lVQuQ-bUN0HTfWfd2AiITEdIpfmw/s400/Beano.bmp" border="0" /><br />This weekend Sylvie and I made a mad trip to Michigan to hang out with the family. My sweet <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">niece</span> and nephew planned a surprise anniversary party for my sister and brother-in-law, and my brother and I made the trip to see the look on Becky's face. Which, I might add, was priceless.<br /><br />Having been out of the house all weekend, I woke this morning realizing there weren't leftovers for my lunch. So I threw together one of my favorite pantry-staple, high-protein, South Beach-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">lovin</span>' salads: White Bean and Tuna. And I realized that early last week I'd also posted a legume recipe, so welcome to<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">BEANO</span> MONDAYS</strong></span></div><br />I'm a huge lover of beans. Dried. Canned. Whatever. Even if you buy the designer variety, like <a href="http://www.ranchogordo.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Rancho</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Gordo</span></a>, they're still very cheap next to most meats. And they look lovely in jars in the pantry, so I tend to go overboard at the bulk-foods store. If you have a great bean recipe, e-mail me at <a href="mailto:cindy_kitchel@yahoo.com">cindy_kitchel@yahoo.com</a>, and I'll share it here -- or share it in the comments. I mean, really, who couldn't use another bean recipe in the repertoire?<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345140760471560114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 288px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhluunxqaFJH7OVI8HeygFaie9tQSymqSqSh05CUjz2WXpD2KSTPPKILBK5rI7hyMW1MdVuHMAVrh2G9hIbNSQNrU1TBmhOYsXIuow6svWg89LEoED4Yi8fmEJxIwx9xrDyTc5KcA/s400/mex_gift.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Even if you aren't a bean lover, I think the Rancho Gordo packaging would win you over.</span><br /></em></p><p><br /><strong>White Beans and Tuna Salad in a Flash</strong><br /><br />2 cans <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">cannelini</span> or similar beans, drained and lightly rinsed<br />2 small cans tuna in water, drained, or tuna in olive oil, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">undrained</span><br />1/2 red onion, sliced very thinly<br />6 or so Tbsp. red wine or similar vinegar<br />2 or 3 Tbsp. olive oil, if you used tuna packed in water<br />1/2 small jar capers, drained<br />Salt and pepper to taste<br /><br />Combine the beans, tuna, and onion in a bowl. Add the vinegar and, if your tuna was packed in water, olive oil. Stir it around a bit, and then add the capers and salt and pepper to taste. Done and done. </p><p>In other food-related news, my sister-in-law just sent me a pair of onion glasses. You wear them when slicing onions to stay tear-free. I can't wait to try them! I have four cups of onions to slice for a dip I'm making later this week, so I'm going to put the glasses through their paces and will report back. </p>Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34627643.post-86783823975485102442009-06-03T18:47:00.000-07:002009-06-03T18:49:40.465-07:00The Blog Post that Made Me Happiest TodayMost days I cycle through a blog roll, some for work, some that I just personally like.<br /><br />One of my favorites is my co-worker Suzy's blog <a href="http://www.four-by-two.blogspot.com/">www.four-by-two.blogspot.com</a>, in which she chronicled her pregnancy with quads and now life with quads. Yesterday's post was absolutely delightful. Check it out!Cindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02518829016744825160noreply@blogger.com1