Currently: June 28, 2007 link

We have a new neighbor:

Dolly Llama (he he he) - the big one on the right - gave birth the other day to her second boy. She had just given birth when this picture was taken.

Older brother Dino wasn't so sure about the newcomer. Dino was born about this time last year and is only a year old. They grow up so fast! *sniff, sniff* They had to separate him from Mama because he was trying to nurse and kept inserting himself between the baby and Dolly.

Awwww...snuggly with Mama. It was very exciting and it seemed like the whole neighborhood was home (at 10 am on a Tuesday? Doesn't anybody work?) when it happened as we were all crowded around trying to take pictures. Even our mailman had to get in on the action.

Okay! Moving on. Here's this week's CSA:

Butter lettuce (2 heads)
Carrots
Lactino kale
Tah Tsa
Garlic snapes er, I mean scapes (T-minus 22 days!)

I need to find out how to cook with the scapes, but I am sure I can use everything else.

P.S. Check out my RSS feed over there on the left. Eh? eh? I am so fancy now.

June 27, 2007 link

Mid-week baking: Goji Berry Granola

It seems like I have tried a million granola recipes and I have finally found "the one". It's adapted from the Tassajara cookbook and it's got some ingredients I hadn't come across in granola before like malt syrup and almond extract. Our local food co-op recently started getting some amazing dried fruits, one of them being the super-fruit goji berry. Goji berries are tart-sweet and are really good but the glory of granola is that you can substitute any dried fruit you like if you cannot find them in your area. I recently read that figs are extremely high in fiber and I bet they would be great.

Here we go:

Goji Berry Granola

4 c. rolled oats
3 c. sunflower seeds
3 c. coarsely chopped almonds (or nut of choice)
1 c. canola oil
1/2 c. malt syrup* (or honey)
1/2 c. maple syrup
1 T. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 T cinnamon
pinch of cloves
1 tsp. salt
1 c. goji berries (or dried fruit of choice)
3 T. flax seeds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine oats, almonds, and sunflower seeds in a large bowl. Combine the oil, syrups, vanilla, almond extract, spices and salt in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until watery.

Pour oil mixture over the dry ingredients mixing very well to make sure everything is coated. Spread mixture on a large cookie sheet and spread in an even layer.

Bake on the center rack for 20-25 mins, stirring every 5 mins to ensure the granola toasts evenly.

Transfer to a large bowl or pan and toss occasionally until the granola is cool. Add dried fruit and flax seeds and mix to combine. Store in an air tight container.

*I use a barley malt syrup that I get at the local co-op. You may be able to find it at a Whole Foods type of store, but if you can't you can substitute honey. I have personally found that honey seems to burn more quickly than the malt syrup or the maple syrup and I will not use it anymore. But that's just me. I also used pecans instead of almonds in this batch because I had pecans and didn't have almonds.

Enjoy!

June 25, 2007 link

Weekend baking: Beetroot Cake

It's pretty isn't it? Too bad it totally sucked. I somehow managed to completely miss that the cake wasn't quite done even though a cake tester came out clean. When I inserted my knife into the center to cut a piece I heard a *squish* and I thought "oh crap." I am pretty sure I said something a little worse. I decided to taste the part that was done and yuck! It was just gross. Beets have an earthy taste that does not translate well into a cake. It was like sweet dirt and I ended up tossing the whole thing into the trash. I am thinking my beets were too old, and am wondering if I should have used the beautiful baby beets we got in our CSA as opposed to the gigantic basketball sized beets that had been living in my crisper for longer than they probably should.

I recently bought a silk screening kit from Dharma Trading because I have some grand (de)illusions of printing fabric. Nevermind the fact I have never silk screened anything in my life. I haven't even goccoed yet. My poor unopened gocco is still sitting in my closet neglected and lonely. I am determined to tackle this, however, so I am starting with a small, one color, non-repeating project that I can cut my screening teeth on - a dream pillow/sachet. I went to Kinko's this weekend and got my design copied on a transparency. I just need a few more supplies like bulbs, and I haven't quite figured out where I am going to create my little darkroom. I'll keep you posted.

Pattern drafting update: I fixed the gaping in the bodice front and back armholes and I am sooooooo happy to say that it fits! Huzzah! I have to tell you that I actually prayed when I finished the last seam and went to go try it on. Joann's had a 99 cent Butterick pattern sale this past week and I bought ten more patterns to bring my pattern collection up to a whopping 98! Yikes. What can I say? I can't help myself. Which brings me to a question for any sewers out there. I am having a hard time finding a good method of transferring patterns to fabric. I usually use one of those water soluble pens, but that usually only gets one side of a light colored fabric. This weekend I tried the double sided transfer carbon you use with the little wheely thing and that was seriously disappointing. Because I was only using muslin I actually ended up using a green sharpie for the bodice. I don't know, I guess I just need to keep experimenting with different products.

June 20, 2007 link

Well it's officially summer and I am waaaay behind on my summer dress-making. Last night I put together my bodice from the pattern I drafted and it's not quite right (of course). I have gaping at the armholes in both the front and the back and the book I am using (see sidebar) does tell you how to adjust the pattern when this happens, but unfortunately the instructions leave out some steps. Arg. I hate that. I have already made the skirt, however, and I was thrilled when it fit. It was like I couldn't believe it actually worked! I just hope I can get the issues with the top ironed out.

This week's Kirsop Farm CSA (yay! finally a website!):

Green leaf lettuce
Red leaf lettuce
Snow peas
Broccoli
Scallions
Green garlic
Beets

The only thing I foresee making a trip to the compost is the peas. We are not pea eaters.

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June 18, 2007 link

No weekend baking. No crafting. Our should-be-frickn' reliable TOYOTA 4runner needs it's engine rebuilt. RE. BUILT. Ugh...I know crap like this "is a part of life" and so forth but yuck. I am seriously thankful it's not a health issue or family stuff, so I guess in the pantheon of shitty things that can happen I should consider myself blessed.

On that cheery note, I'll give you a wee yard update:

As you can see we have yet to finish the center box and it's currently sporting some healthy weeds. I also obviously didn't plant anything in one of the boxes, but hey. Baby steps. It was recently pointed out to me by a seriously good gardening friend of ours that I didn't fill the beds up with enough soil. I knew perhaps I would be short on that end. Cubic feet and my brain don't mix. I sorta tried to figure out that whole "3 cubic feet will cover X amount at 3 inches deep" or whatever and I just gave up and guessed.

I bought another red hot poker this spring and WOW! I was stunned when it actually bloomed.

And last but not least, we have blueberries! It's not a whole lot, but man am I glad we have some. With this whole bee crisis I was afraid I'd have to be out there with paint brush pollinating those suckers myself (kidding).

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June 14, 2007 link

Our CSA started up last week and I decided that I was going to take a picture and catalog everything we get in an attempt to (hopefully) not be wasteful. In this week's batch we have:

Green leaf lettuce
Red leaf lettuce
Spinach
Broccoli
Scallions
Joi Choi (2 heads)

I immediately washed and spun both heads of lettuce and put them in ziploc's with a paper towel along with some of the scallions and some radishes from last week, sort of like the pre bagged salad mixtures you can buy.

That just leaves the spinach, broccoli and joi choi. I am not too worried about finding something to do with the broccoli and spinach - it's the joi choi I am worried about.

I don't really like joi choi* (aka bok choi, pak choi, etc). I am not really a stir-fry fan either. That's the main thing people have been telling me to do with it. "Ooh! Stir fry!". Stir fry for me is like one of those "adult" jokes you hear when you are little and you just don't get it. I really don't see what's so great about stir fry. Every time I have made it I have been horribly disappointed.

Anyway...I am maybe thinking I can do something in the pickle range with it, perhaps like a kim-chee. I loves me some pickles. Pickles I get.

*What's funny about this whole thing is that I have about 3-4 heads of bok choy in my garden that are seriously ready to harvest. Why would I plant a veggie I don't like you ask? Well, the tag said "gourmet salad mix". I thought I was getting like a mesclun mix or something.

Joi Choy Update: I chopped up both heads and put the leaves and stalks in with the salad. We had an asian pork tenderloin so I made a orange sesame dressing(my new favorite!) and topped the salad with toasted sesame seeds and wasabi peas. The raw joi choy is surprisingly crisp and yummy. I may be a convert.

June 11, 2007 link


Some Oh-My-God artists I have been loving lately:

Ann Wood here and here
I stumbled across her on someone's blog (sorry! I can't remember who) when I was searching for something papier-mache related and found her ships:

And then there are her birds...oh lordy, the birds. I love these birds so much. She turns some of them into the loveliest cake toppers in the whole entire world:

Anh-Minh talked about Rose and Radish the other day which featured these MUSHROOMS (!) by Tamar Mogendorff

Peacocks! And the avacado...oh man..the avocado. Brilliant. These two artists completely blow me away.

June 8, 2007 link
I thought I would post a work-in-progress project that I started before school began waaaay back in January and I shelved it because I just didn't have any leftover brain to devote to it. It's a project from the Winter 2006 Marie-Claire Idees.





I totally fell in love with it when I saw it. Here is how far I have gotten:




I've got all of the parts made, now it's just finishing and assembling. My little bird doesn't quite fit on the branch, his little butt hangs off and his toes are too long. I am going to glue some moss and lichen around him to hide it, and I think once it's hung no one would notice. I also need to finish antiquing the "twig" and glue the leaves and berries to it.

Here is the project Google translated line by line. Some of it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and I am sorry, but there is just noooo way I am re-typing all of those accent marks again. It took me like, four days to type one paragraph (slight exaggeration). One thing I would like to point out is that I did not use papier-mache for this like the instructions say, I used a product called paper clay. This stuff TOTALLY rocks, by the way and made this project go a lot quicker. I bought it at Michaels. Here we go:

On the Highest Branch

Fine and thick wire – a branch – newspaper – paste and glue - 2 polystyrene balls (one large and one small) - toothpicks - thick green paper – gouache

Swing: form a arc by twisting together 3 bits of thick wire. Bore a hole at each end of the branch to introduce the ends of the arc there. Fix a ring at the top of the arc to be able to suspend it.  Cover the arc with several layers of newspaper coated with adhesive.  Let dry.

Bird: Join together the 2 polystyrene balls with a toothpick inserted into both. Re-cut and shape the largest ball in the form of the body. To form the legs with wire fine twisted then inserted into the body.  Insert the end of a toothpick into the head for the beak.  Cover the bird with newspaper like the arc. Nail the bird to the branch.

GUI: Form a branch by twisting several pieces of wire. Leave a ring in top of the branch to hang it to the swing. Cover with coated newspaper. Let dry. Cut out sheets in green paper, to stick them on the branch. Form small balls of newspaper coats with adhesive then after drying to stick them on the branch to the glue. Plant a nail sour back of the branch to suspend the branch of GUI there. Paint the branches, the arc and the bird.  After drying plant the bird in place.

I'll post my finished version once it's done. I believe it's meant to be a Christmas decoration but I think it's just to sweet to only hang during the holidays.

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June 5, 2007 link

I am back up and running without too much of a data loss (thank god!) I decided to chuck the Blogger thing and go back to doing this all by hand. I may change my mind (again) but I am just tired of Blogger-crap and not having total control. I am trying different things out to see if I like them (like the side bar over there) so things may come and go depending. I am going to be slowly overhauling the whole site, so bare with me!

Okay..here we go! Check out my salsa!:




My dad read my gripe about salsa and it seems that he has been fiddling around with a recipe which he was kind enough to share. My version is in RED.

Señor Mulherin's Salsa Recipe

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (used 2 15 oz cans of Muir Glen fire roasted diced tomatoes)
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 4 oz can diced green chiles
1/4 c chopped japeleno peppers (I used pickled jalapenos)
2 chilitepin peppers, ground (did not use)
small white onion, chopped
4 or so chopped green onions
1 Tbs garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika (I used smoked paprika)
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbs vinegar

I've tried different ways of making this stuff. Like at the first, I'd put all the tomato stuff, the japeleno's, and the spices together in the food processor and mush it up, then add the onions. Wasn't bad. Then I put everything into the processor and mushed onions and all up. We didn't like it. (This is what I did, although I used a stick blender. I am not a fan of chunky salsa) The latest is to not even use the processor, just mix it all in a bowl and then put into a container and into the fridge for a day or so before starting to munch it.

Lately, I've cut back the sugar and use 4 or 5 chilitepins. Also, if it doesn't seem runny enough to suit me, I dump in a splash of spicy V-8. (I added a little bit of water when I was blending)

It's pretty hot. Makes about 8.5 to 9 cups.

Mine was not hot at all because I didn't have fresh jalapenos and I did not have the chilitepins. Jeffery doesn't like hot-hot so the mild version suits us, although I could have it just a little spicier. It will get better as it ages, although I must admit we dove into it right away and it was still really good. I think next time I am going to add a chipolte pepper (en adodo) because I think it will go nicely with the smokieness of the smoked paprika. Which, by the way, if you have never tried, you SHOULD! It's my new favorite spice.

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