...spring can't be that far away if I just planted the first seeds of the season, right? Today I planted some of slower growing seeds for the year and popped them under the grow lights:- Jalapeno "Craig's Grande"
- Bell Pepper "Emerald Giant"
- Rhubarb "Victoria"
I felt like going a little more classic this year with the standard green jalapeno and green bell pepper from Baker Creek. When it comes down to it, there are all sorts of delicious sweet peppers out there that you can grown with great success, but you just can't beat the peppery crunch of a green bell pepper fresh off the vine. And not only that, but green bell is an integral part of making some killer canned tomato juice, which I have been plowing through this year like it's water. And as for the rhubarb, well, I was crowing last year over my success in starting it from seed, but I must have gloated too soon because the hot drought of last summer totally fried my little darlings. Yes, I was crushed...let's just leave it at that. So this year I'm going to sprout several more plants, as well as amend the soil with some very rich compost and sand for drainage. You can bet I'm going to be vigilant with the watering hose, as well. I'm bound and determined to get a rhubarb plant started somewhere on our property. I think I'm finally getting the knack of not over-planting seeds. In years past I've gotten a little overzealous when it comes to growing from seed - I've always ended up with too many plants and not enough room, forcing me to "discard" a few *cringe*. This year I'm forcing myself to just plant two or three of each, instead of five or six.
I'll be honest, I've hit the wall with winter for the year. It usually happens to me some time in February. I've been really good until now - upbeat, enjoying the snow, going to the gym to stay active - but it's reached THAT point. This cold, mushy, gray weather can start packing up and heading out. I'm ready to sit on the porch steps in my bare feet and let my skin soak up some of the sun's love. I'm ready to get dirt under my fingernails. I'm ready for some green!
The hubs has been bothering me for some time to make soft pretzels and beer cheese. Well, while I'm not a huge fan of football, I figured yesterday's Superbowl would be as good a time as any for this very manly food.
These things were so darn cute! Now I understand why other bakers get so attached to their pretzels. Manly my ass, I felt like a new mother when these puppies came out of the oven.
This is the second time I have made beer cheese - way more cheese than should be legal, but if you only have it once or twice a year, it's ok, right? Lots of sharp cheddar, onion, garlic, paprika, cayenne, and of course BEER. I used Goose Island Pere Jacques for a nice sweet Belgian bite. Zippy, gooey, tangy, beery - YUM.
Now that I've broken the ice when it comes to the whole boiled-dough method of baking, I'm fired up to make a batch of bagels. What better way to slog through the winter "blahs" than to bake up a storm?
One of the more exciting gifts that I received for Christmas this year was a vegetarian North African cookbook and a gorgeous Le Creuset tagine. My mom, what can I say, she knows me well.
I've never delved into this ethnicity before in the kitchen, mainly from sheer lack of knowledge. After sitting down and poring over every page in the cookbook, I felt a little more educated on the delicious cuisine of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, collectively known as the Maghreb. Influenced by the Mediterranean, the Middle East, France, Spain, and centuries of invaders from various regions, these countries' cuisine is chock full of fresh fruits, vegetables, olive oil, spices, nuts, eggs, beans, hand-baked bread, and honey. Exotic ingredients like orange blossom water, preserved lemons, and harissa (a fiery-hot garlic chili paste) are paired with more familiar ingredients like couscous, tomatoes, cilantro, cumin, ginger, and saffron.Tagine is both a way of cooking as well as the vessel used for it. To cook something tagine-style is too cook it low and slow while covered, using the steam of the dish to gently simmer and combine flavors until tender and aromatic. A tagine itself consists of two pieces - a heavy bottom pan and a conical top. The tagine my parents gave me is a lovely deep crimson red with a cast iron base and ceramic top - it's hefty, probably weighing-in at about 10 pounds.I took my time studying the cookbook (not just light reading, mind you) and have started planning a beginners menu in my head. I can't wait to delve in and start learning a whole new way to cook.One of the first steps that I've taken is to make my own preserved lemons. Preserved lemons have a distinctive texture and flavor and are widely used in North African cooking, especially Morocco. To make them, I took four Meyer lemons, made cuts in each one, stuffed the pockets full of kosher salt, and then packed them firmly into a sterilized wide mouth pint jar. When packed into the jar the juices and salt mixed to create a sort of brine, which serves to "pickle" or preserve the lemon rind, which is the part that is typically used in dishes. It takes approximately 5-6 weeks before the lemons are ready to use, so I'm going to have to reign myself in while they are curing. Patience will be the key.
My next step is to make my own harissa, that fiery spiced hot sauce. In a month or two I should be ready to cook North African style!
Happy Birthday to my One and Only...I'm so lucky and grateful to have you in my life!
Now how about a piece of chocolate stout cake...?
Happy 2011!
We've never been big partiers for New Years - we spent Friday night at home. I made a delicious dinner of Mexican mac'n cheese, baked beans from scratch, spicy roasted broccoli, along with a bottle or two of wine.
The hubs spun some fantastic tunes on the turntable, and we rang in the new year in good spirits.
Here's to giving ourselves and each other a little extra love this year.
So I hesitate to even post anything about the dwarf Montmorency Cherry tree that I ordered from the Arbor Day Foundation and planted in our back yard last week. I hesitate because the soil I dug was shovelful after shovelful of clay. I hesitate because I needed a handsaw to clear other tree roots from the hole. I hesitate because it's December, for god's sake! I'm just going to have to trust that Arbor Day Foundation knows what they're talking about when they say you can plant trees in EITHER spring or fall (yes, that is snow on the ground).
They shipped me my tree in the mail - it was a pencil's width wide, maybe 2 feet tall, full of nubbly little branches-to-be, and a small ball of roots. Apparently when they ship trees in the fall, they are dormant and will remain so through the winter, until coming to life in the spring. I followed their instructions, digging a wide hole as deep as I could, given the clay and other tree roots. Hoping to add SOME nutrients to the soil, as well as a layer of protection from the winter, I threw on a layer of fall leaves, rich soil from the garden, and a layer of wood chips. Being a dwarf tree, it is supposed to reach a maximum height of 8 feet, which would be just right for our little backyard urban garden. In fact, it would be darn cute.
I would be absolutely elated if this little guy took off and in 5-10 years we're getting handfuls of tart cherries for pies, cobblers, jams, you name it. I just can't help but be a little apprehensive given the state of that ground. If I had been better prepared, I would have dug the hole a while ago and amended the soil better. I guess if he lives we can call him our "miracle tree".
My grandmother who lives in Hamilton had a Montmorency Cherry tree for years when I was young. Every spring our family would drag out the step-ladders, lug gallon buckets up to the top, and pull handful after handful of tart, zingy, juicy cherries from that tree. Mom always made sure to freeze countless pints for mid-year cherry pies, one of her specialties.
Nostalgia - it's a powerful thing!
Well, our CSA is done for the year, and what a year it was. We're already signed- up for the next season, that's how much we loved it. Thank you to Eaton Farm for keeping our plates filled with fresh produce and eggs for almost 6.5 months this year!
