cloth.paper.string

rising

I haven't been taking many photos lately.  Things have seemed too cold.  Too gray.  Too dirty.  And honestly, my head had been too stuffed up for me to feel inspired to do much more than knit and watch Netflix.  Thank goodness for the miles of stockinette stitching in the tangled yoke and movies like these.

But the winds are shifting.  As the little one says, it's getting warmer and warmer every day.  And just as the bulbs and perennials are starting to push themselves out of the softening soil, I feel myself stretching toward the sun.

And the sun has made its way into our kitchen.  In the colder months there isn't any direct sun in the room, but in the early evenings from now until September, the sun peeks through the window in the back door.  Today it helped ready the dough for another simple and yummy recipe from this book.  It's the European peasant -- flecked with touches of whole wheat and rye. 

My new favorite way to eat all of this homemade bread is slathered with chevre and ginger spread.  Now that I think about it, I wonder if this, in and of itself, could be responsible for pulling me out of the recent funk?

green week five :: fresh

The UPS driver brought a new kitchen gadget today.  And so, our afternoon and bellies were quickly filled with hand cranked green basil fettuccine.  I tried for a photo, but could only capture a grayish tangle of dusted noodles -- a blurry image that completely dulled the dazzling experience.

To wrap up green week then, I'll return to the co-op's produce section:

And I must clarify.  The 100-mile diet I mentioned yesterday isn't something we're able (okay, willing) to do here in northern Minnesota.  Especially in the winter.  We strive to eat as much local food as possible - CSA shares in both the summer and winter; chicken, beef, eggs, milk and butter from local farms; summer's fruits and vegetables picked and preserved; locally grown and processed grains from the co-op.  But I can't go without a daily dose of fresh greens and fruit, and the notion of months of cabbage and apples from the root cellar doesn't quite cut it for me.  Plus, I honestly couldn't imagine life without chocolate; and we know there isn't any cacoa growng anywhere nearby.

moderate sweetness

Since I can't seem to make dinner without making dessert these days, I've had a few opportunities to continue on my quest to make sweets not so sweet.  It started with strawberry jam this summer.  This weekend I made a pumpkin pie with kobocha squash -- I followed Martha's recipe and used about two-thirds the recommended sugar (and sucanat instead of actual sugar).  The results were just enough sweetness.  Unfortunately this very pie was the last thing I ate before last month's stomach flu, and the memory did not serve me right.  Fortunately I had the occasion to make another fancy dessert, just two days later.

The Ginger-Pear Upside Down Cake mentioned recently by Molly is good.  Really good.  Even with half the called-for sugar (again, I used sucanat) in the topping, and two-thirds of the molasses and sugar in the cake.  When I make it again, I'll double the ginger.  This girl likes a bit more zing.  And, I'll be sure to plan on spending the time the cake is baking cleaning the kitchen, since, as with most of Molly's baked recipes, I end up completely trashing the kitchen in the process of the making.  Well okay, I should just admit that making a mess is an integral part of any of my making. 

tomatillo gifts

A tomatillo has the nicest wrapping.  A star shaped husk of light green swaddles the tartest of green orbs; fruits known by me to make the simplest of foods sparkle.  Tonight I made up a spicy tomatillo salsa to slather upon wild mushroom tamales.  In the morning it will surely dress up the scrambled eggs.   It's good too with beans and rice, with chicken and cheese enchiladas, with poached eggs and tortillas...

I think I need to figure out a way to preserve this goodness.  I'm sure it's as simple as canning tomatoes since the fruits are so acidic, but my trusty preserving bible doesn't say much about the tomatillo.  The salsa would make a great gift for those who like a bit of spice.  And, wouldn't you love to have a shelf in your pantry lined with these jars of prettiness?  Maybe next year... for now it's one batch at a time.  Here's the recipe:

Tomatillo Salsa, adapted from Mark Miller, Stephan Pyles & John Sedlar's Tamales

30 tomatillos, husked, washed, blackened (stick them under the broiler until the skins start to blister and pop), and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, roasted (stick them on the broiler pan with the tomatillos for a few minutes)
1 bunch of chopped cilantro
3 chiles in adobo sauce, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons of adobo sauce (yes, it's that stuff in can... use more or less to control the heat)
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar

Whirl all of the ingredients in the food processor until it's not too chunky, but not too smooth.  The little one pushed the pulse button with glee about ten times.  It was just the right amount of whirling.  Yields about 3 cups. 

As they say at Cafe Pasqual's in Santa Fe, the place I learned to appreciate the tomatillo, panza llena, corazon contento (full belly, happy heart).  Enjoy!

no more...

There will be no turkey sandwiches for lunch this week.  I can not bear another. 

Instead, a kitchen sink quiche.  Chard and mushrooms and onion and that little bit of baby swiss.  All suspended in a custard made with local eggs the whipping cream and half and half leftover from Friday's feast.  All swaddled in the zillionth pie crust I've cranked out of the food processor this month. 

I'm actually looking forward to packing my lunch for work come morning.  This is not to say that I'm looking forward to the end of a long and delicious weekend.  No, no.  Not at all.

home :: in season

Each week, for the last seventeen weeks, our sun porch has served as a little hub for food that is organic, local, fresh and community-supported.  Every Friday a dozen or so boxes of just-picked vegetables and fruits have been carried to our home by our CSA farmer and stacked on the porch for members in the area to collect.  Each week a selection of the farm's bounty.  Each week a great variety of amazingly fresh local food.  Each week a sampling of exactly that which is in season. 

Just one week remains.  I know that as I sweep the porch after the last box is picked up next week, I'll also have to sweep away the great denial I have about the growing season really coming to an end.  And about the trucked-thousands-of-miles lifeless selection of 'fresh' vegetables that will grace my plate in the months ahead.  And about the very long winter that is right around the corner.   

home :: pots and pans

The most used tools in our home are surely the pots and pans.  Enamelware of blue, red and orange hues.  Iron skillets of varying depth and girth.  Matted pots of stainless steel.  A blackened orb of a wok.

Recent creations brought forth from these vessels include blueberry cornmeal pancakes, spinach omelets, dutch babies, oatmeal and eggs every which way.  In the warmer months the pots and pans see the most action at breakfast.  But now that the days are getting shorter the menu will be shifting to stews, soups, risottos, tamales, stir fries and roasted meats and veggies.  We're always on the lookout for new and tasty recipes to bring to the table.  I know that Stefani's Season of Soup is going to provide many ideas for what to put in these pots in the months ahead. 

Thanks to Emily's nudge, I'm jumping in on Amy's idea to photograph and reflect upon home each day through the month of October.  I quite like the idea of a photo challenge, and am drawn to the focus on home and daily life.  We're currently embroiled in a huge home improvement project and my work outside the home relates to housing -- the opportunity to shift my lens around house and home is a welcome one.

chocolate

A recent favorite, chocolate milk.  Whole milk with equal parts cocoa and honey, whirled in the blender until frothy.  Yum yum.

There's another chocolate that I really wish would be embraced as a favorite by the little miss.  It's the  Mei Tai Baby Carrier from Montessori by Hand made up with a fine wale chocolate corduroy and Urban Chiks' Bouquet Bark.  I finished it weeks ago, but have yet to wrestle the babe into it for a proper photo.  Each time she sees me tying the carrier around my waist she starts shaking her head and running the other way.  So instead, you have a shot of the detail, and I have a ready-made gift for a mama-to-be.

abundance

We recently spent an afternoon out at our CSA farm, La Finca.  Frost had settled over the fields calling an end to the season for tomatoes, basil, eggplants, squash and other heat loving crops; but the root crops, brasicas and greens were still going strong.  While the little one and her da-da-da picked veggies and 'planted' pumpkin seeds in the pumpkin patch I walked around capturing the turning season with my camera.  Here are a few of my favorites. 

May you all be enjoying the plenty of the season -- and those of you in the southern hemisphere, may the seeds you sow today bring forth great abundance in the coming months.

ripening

Today we picked big chubby drunk-on-the-sun berries; raspberries bigger than my thumb above the knuckle.  Almost better than the berries (and the pints of jam that are presently cooling in the kitchen) is the fact that the little miss entertained herself for over forty minutes, picking berries of all ripenesses and dutifully filling flats.  This is a child who has demanded constant coddling over the past four weeks as four molars - one after the other -  pushed through her little pink gums, wreaking utter havoc in both her mouth and our home.  Needless to say, I'm cheering both fresh picked raspberries and newly ripened molars.