Category: Eats

Berry exciting

~ meh ~ 4 Comments

Meet the newest members of the fam, planted along our back fence.  I thought the packaging was cool, completely biodegradable and meant to be put in the ground with the plant, which I had never seen before.

And while berries are particularly hardy and can handle the cold, our other crops are going to have to wait another month or so, until the final frost is over, before we can let them out of the house.  (“Before the final frost”…I sound like I’m living on the prairie in my covered wagon.)  But they are doing pretty well.

Paul is excited.  Spring is here.

Plant the seed

~ meh ~ 3 Comments

Some of you may remember the garden that Paul planted on the table of our tiny apartment in SF last year.


(If you’re wondering, those tiny sprouts growing out of those little black containers are now producing tons of peppers in my parent’s back yard in Santa Barbara.  The zucchini plants weren’t so lucky.)

Well, now we have a yard, and another Spring Break project was getting the garden rolling.  Paul built two garden boxes (and a compost pile) in the backyard…

…and we began the process of planting some starter crops, including:

Herbs

Corn (soon to be followed by beans and squash, the Three Sisters.)

…and tomatoes (tomatillos and Roma), spinach, and some flowers for the house.  The weather is still pretty cold (case in point: today it snowed again.  bastards.) so the seed options in town are limited, but there should be more in the next month or so.

And because it’s too cold for them plants to grow outside, for now our garden is flourishing in the kitchen.

Progress updates to come.

Good or Gross?

~ meh ~ 5 Comments

I’m torn. 

As a rule, warm beer is a no brainer in terms of what I will and will not go out of my way to drink.   Enter Buttered Beere.   It looks festive, could it be warm and seasonal?  Eggnogal?

Via 12 Bottle Bar:

Adapted from ‘The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin’ (1588)

3 pint (16.9 oz) Bottles of real Ale
0.5 tsp ground Cloves
0.5 tsp ground Cinnamon
0.25 tsp ground Ginger
5 Egg Yolks
1 Cup Brown Sugar (Demerara)
12 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

Add ale and spices to a saucepan
Bring to a boil, then immediately turn to lowest setting
Beat together eggs and sugar until light and creamy
Remove ale from heat, whisk in egg mixture, returning to low heat
Whisk constantly over low until mixture begins to thicken slightly (about 5 minutes)
Remove from heat and whisk in butter quickly until a nice foam forms
Serve warm

Notes: If you’re concerned about the alcohol level, here are some notes:  We used Fuller’s London Pride, which is 4.7% ABV.  Before adding the egg mixture, letting the beer simmer longer (20 minutes or so) should boil off all the alcohol, if that’s what you’re after.  Use your discretion.

Meet Blobfish

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I originally saw this in the NYT about a year ago, but an old coworker re-sent me the article recently because she said it reminded her of me (uh…thanks?)  Turns out sad old Mr. Blob here is on the verge of extinction due to overfishing by trawlers, which is too bad, especially because the blobfish is drawn up with other fish and thrown away, not eaten.

Though it’s debatable if Blobfish looks that way because of its current plight or if we should just let things continue down their current path and put this fish out of its misery, overfishing is a problem.  While out to dinner with some friends last week one of them pulled out their iPhone and pulled up the Seafood Watch App from the Monterey Bay Aquarium to help him decide what he was going to order.  The app allows you to look up the best choices (in terms of ocean-friendly fish) in your area, good alternatives, and fish you should avoid.  Andriod has similar Sustainable Fish and Overfished List apps, though they are a little less user-friendly.  Seafood Watch also has a mobile website with an online pocket guide.   Kind of cool.  Save the blobfish.

Up and at ’em

~ meh ~ 2 Comments

Breakfast, as my father used to remind me every morning, is the most important meal of the day.  It is also a meal I have yet to address in my (limited) food posts.  This is probably because most mornings I am up at 4:45 and out the door by 5am to coach.  No time to cook.  What to do?

Meet the Pursuit of Healthfulness blog and this recipe, which is a step up from a Luna bar.

Ingredients:
1 container non-fat vanilla yogurt
1/4 C oats
cinnamon
vanilla
1 apple
1 T peanut butter

Directions:
Night before:  Wash and dice the apple. Place in microwave-safe bowl and mix with sprinkle of cinnamon and dash of vanilla. Microwave for about 2 minutes, or until apple is at desired tenderness. Allow to cool slightly.
In another bowl, mix yogurt and oats. Stir in cooled apples. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Morning:  Remove oats from refrigerator, stir in peanut butter and sprinkle with a bit more cinnamon.  The peanut butter and oats give it some weight, it’s a nice pasty, filling combo.  Two thumbs up.

A DC Thanksgiving

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Thanksigivng this year was fail on my part…I made one of the three dishes promised (pumpkin bread).  Fortunately for me and the rest of my family, Thanksgiving was a home run for Joe, who basically cooked the whole feast by himself.  But food aside, we did get to spend some time with extended family which was wonderful, and two friends from grad school joined us for dinner, which was just the icing on the non-existent squash pie I was tagged to bake. 

Next year will be better, nowhere to go but up.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

~ meh ~ 3 Comments

This past month I stumbled upon a group of girls who, like me, are new to Kentucky and, also like me, have few to no friends.  So by default we’ve started hanging out together and, I think to make things feel more official, someone decided it would be a good idea to start a Book* Club.  (We don’t really read books…usually just drink.  And sometimes read an article.)

For last week’s Book* Club meeting I decided it would be a great idea to make these Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies that I found on Orangette (thanks to Vanessa), adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce.    Changes I made included:

  • All white sugar (we didn’t have any brown sugar…I was told that if there was vanilla in the recipe, it shouldn’t make that much of a difference.)

That’s pretty much it.  I used cold butter and chilled the dough before baking.  According to the reviews, these cookies are AH-MAY-ZING.   The first batch came out…eh.  OK.  Really crunchy.  Not awesome.   The second batch I burned (Paul ate all of them anyway.)  So, in a nutshell…fail.

I don’t know why they weren’t as delicious as everyone else seemed to think they were…but I’m pretty sure it was my fault.   Plus, I forgot to bring them to Book* Club, so odds are I’ll be giving them another chance soon.

Chipper Pumpkin Loaf

~ meh ~ 7 Comments

I got this recipe from an old coworker, who got it from another coworker, who got it from his mother.  It came out gooey and heavy and good.  (Let it sit for a few hours before you cut it.)  I feel bad posting the whole recipe online for the world to see (the world being the one…yes, literally, I have one…subscriber to this blog), but I’m going to.  Because things this good should be shared with the world.  Just be sure to credit Mama G when you make it.

INGREDIENTS:

1&3/4 cups of flour                                                     GLAZE

1 tsp baking soda                                                 ½  cup powdered sugar

1 tsp cinnamon                                                     1 tablespoon milk

½ tsp salt                                                               1/8 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp nutmeg                                                         1/8 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ginger

¼ tsp ground cloves

½ cup margarine

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

¾ cup pumpkin  (approx. ½ of a 15 oz. can)

¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease & flour 9×5 loaf pan.  Combine dry ingredients.  Cream margarine and sugar; blend in eggs.  Add dry ingredients alternately with pumpkin, beginning & ending with dry ingredients.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Bake 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool 5 minutes.  Remove from pan.  After cooled, drizzle on glaze.  Let stand 6 hrs. before slicing.