urban food producer

Friendsgiving

2011-11-20T11:16:00.000-08:00

My friend, Sarah, is hosting a Friendsgiving party this afternoon. We're all going to her house around 3pm with a course from a traditional thanksgiving dinner. Jill will bring cocktails, Cindy will bring cranberries and stuffing, etc... Isn't that a cute idea?

I was assigned with dessert and helping the hostess make the turkey.

For the occasion, Sarah and I made this pumpkin cheesecake tart with cranberry gelee. Isn't she a looker?

I clipped the recipe from Food and Wine magazine back in 2003. I made it once that year, and have not forgotten about it. Underneath that thin layer of cranberry gelee is pumpkin cheesecake resting within an almond tart shell. What's not to love?

Apparently the recipe has been pretty popular because you can still find it at FoodandWine.com

Have you ever hosted/been to a Friendsgiving giving celebration? What are you making for Thanksgiving this year?

photo credit:

Friends eating cookies: Paul Galipeau

Tart: Kate Kurtz

Fall is for trees

2011-11-16T23:01:00.000-08:00

The foliage is spectacular, but it is also the perfect time to plant them. At least it's the perfect time to plant trees in places like Seattle, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles (3 of the cities I have been fortunate to call home).

The rainy season is just beginning, which gives tree roots a head start on establishing before we dry up in the spring and summer.

Look at how gorgeous this native Vine Maple is. We planted it a year ago, so this is the first time we've seen its full fiery red foliage.

The City of Seattle recognizes the many environmental and social benefits of mature trees, so they provide them to residents who apply for free!
http://www.seattle.gov/trees/

We got an Elm and an Apple two years ago. This year we got a Purple Beech, but there were lots of choices including Poplar, Cedar, and Asian Pear.

First we had to go through a tree planting and maintenance training.

This was the youngest tree planter at the training. Isn't she cute next to those cedars?

When we got home we planted the tree right away. Jacob was clever to put the excavated soil on a tarp, which kept things clean and back filling the hole pretty easy.

After planting we staked the tree on the south side, which is the direction we typically get our winds from. Doesn't Jacob look like a proud tree planter?

Here's Jacob standing next to the Elm we planted two years ago. Doesn't it have beautiful fall foliage? That baby Beech has some catching up to do.

Have you planted any trees recently? What did you put in? Suddenly I'm dreaming of putting in an Italian Plum in the back.

Toms

2011-09-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

I've spent the summer growing them.

Pruning and training tomatoes.

Tomatillos require little to no maintenance and grow fantastically in Seattle.

Eating them...

Tomato and zucchini gratin (recipe from Cooks Illustrated magazine).

Black Prince, Red Zebra, and Sungold were the taste winners this year.

Stupice is always yields well...

And now preserving them in jars, so I can enjoy them for a few months longer.

Simple tomato sauce, and zingy salsa verde -- made and canned this afternoon.

Today I feel satisfied with the fruits of my labor.
This is a good, very good, part of my life. Thanks for letting me share it with you.

Summer Sunday with agua fresca

2011-08-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is enjoying this sunny summer Sunday.

Agua Fresca
2 cups cubed watermelon
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
1 cup crushed ice
juice of 1 lime
Agave nectar or honey for sweetness if needed

blend and serve over ice with a squeeze of lime.

p.s. The trees and shrubs all over Seattle are looking dry and crispy. Don't forget to water. Newly planted trees and shrubs need to be watered once a week during the late spring and summer, for the first three years after you put them in (even the natives).

Food tastes better when

2011-08-14T22:23:00.000-07:00

you grow it yourself... or at least when you pick it yourself. Not much in life beats a good pacific northwest U-pick berry farm.

Anyhow, yesterday I picked this from our home garden:

Today, while I was processing jars of cherry pie filling (more on that later), I transformed much of that harvest into dinner.

I did a play on a classic salad nicoise, but substituted chicken (what I had on hand) for the traditional tuna steak, and included the artichokes. I snipped some basil from out back, and made a basil vinaigrette to dress the protein and veggies. Perfect summer supper.

Now, before you think I've lost it and gone on a diet, remember that I was canning cherry pie filling. Mmmmmm rainier cherries.

p.s. I used the kale by tossing it with spicy peanut dressing like I did here.

And then it happened

2011-08-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

Gardening season started in earnest with these. June was sweet and juicy -- I was smitten.

Strawberries were followed by these:

Then it was off to the races. Lots of time in the garden, on bikes, and at parks.

Where did the summer go?

I think a lot of the summer was spent snacking on these, and commenting on how cute they are.

I just took a little trip to the Olympic Peninsula. When I returned, this is what I found: tomato plants as big as I am. Here I am trying to train them to their stakes.

This is what I harvested today. Any suggestions on what I should do with some or all of this stuff?

Zucchini, artichokes, lacinato kale, radishes, green beans, tomatoes, and a handful of blueberries.

What are you harvesting or cooking this week?

Spring porcinis

2011-06-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

One of the really lovely things about living in the pacific northwest is the great range of the foraging opportunities we have. We can walk out into natural areas and collect mushrooms, berries of all kinds, fiddle heads, clams, oysters, and the list goes on.
The other day a friend found good spring porcinis in the Cle Elum area, and was kind enough to share the harvest. Yes, this is a good kind of friend to have.

Porcinis are nutty, and earthy, and delicious. Their fat stems are tender and meaty.

I've learned to brown the sliced mushrooms in small batches. Mushrooms contain so much water, that if you cover the pan, they will end up boiling in their own juices, rather than browning. The difference in flavor and texture is huge.

I ended up eating most of the porcinis hot out of the pan (I couldn't help myself). The rest I tossed with pasta and a white wine and butter sauce. The dish needed something more, so I went out to the garden and picked some arugula. Then threw it in the hot pasta with mushrooms. The peppery greens wilted a bit under the heat, which was really nice. The arugula added a nice dimension to the dish. Dinner was good.

Isn't She Lovely

2011-06-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

I wish they would bloom throughout the summer, but alas, these pink peonies only grace our yard for a few weeks in the beginning of each summer. I am thoroughly enjoying their loveliness.

Warming up

2011-06-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

Western Washington is finally warming up. We can now put in our warm weather garden crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, basil, and green beans. With the exception of the green beans, the other crops should be planted as transplants... started from seed weeks or months ago.
If you haven't done it already, put these plants in the ground quick! Our warm weather crop growing season is short.

As we transition to this warmer weather, the cool season greens have a tendency to bolt or flower. Once these short-lived annual crops bolt it's time to take them out and make room for something else. The greens of a bolted plant tend to get tough and slightly bitter. This may make them unsuitable for salads, but they can still taste delicious sauteed or wilted.

So far this year I have sauteed the greens and raab (flowering parts) from arugula, tatsoi, komatsuna, spinach, chard, beet greens, and kale. Where these greens were growing, is where we put in the tomatoes, squash, and other warm season crops.

Jacob picks tender lettuce for a salad.

My favorite way to eat these bolted greens is not very creative, but completely delicious. I like to slice garlic thin and brown it in a generous amount of olive oil. Once the garlic is a bit brown and bitter I add the greens, wilting them down in the oil and garlic. I add good salt. Adding a knob of butter never hurt anything.
At this point I either eat the greens on their own, as a side dish, or add them to something else.
Last week I added sauteed arugula to a farro salad, topped with poached eggs. It was delicious.

Spinach sauteed with garlic, spring onions, and butter.

I cooked the farro (aka emmer) in lots of salty water for about 25 minutes, or until tender. Then I drained the farro, and tossed it with a simple vinaigrette and the sauteed arugula. I topped with two poached eggs. We have basil growing on the kitchen window sill, so I added some of that too. Dinner was good, hearty, and healthy. We were happy.

Farro salad with wilted arugula and poached eggs

Chicken or the egg?

2011-06-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

Our next door neighbors have 7 laying hens, and we're pet sitting this week. It's been several years since Jacob and I have had chickens, and we miss the eggs. We want hens again, and soon.

We had some family visiting from Portland last weekend, and we had a good time feeding our bolting kale to the chickens.

Maybe one of the chickens got more kale (and associated aphids) than the others... or else she's taking performance enhancing drugs. Today's egg was twice the size of her sisters'!

Oh lordy it was twins!!! I had to take a picture.

Komatsuna: a discovery worth sharing

2011-05-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Washed komatsuna leaves ready to be added to a salad.

This year we planted lots of asian greens at Alleycat Acres' Beacon Hill garden, including a few types I have never tasted. Daring I know, but hey, I like to live on the wild side.

Anyhow, one of these "new" types we tried out was 'Komatsuna', which, similar to bok choy, is a brassica or mustard green. After direct seeding, it was one of the first things to come up. In a spring when even the radishes have been scared to poke there cotyledons up into the chilly, wet world, komatsuna and I have been off to a good start, simply on the merrit that it has been growing. Yesterday, I tasted it for the first time and just about died with happiness. It's sweet, slightly sour, and very tender. My husband described it as tasting like a cross between spinach and bok choy, but it doesn't make your mouth feel funny like raw spinach does. I haven't been able to stop talking about it, and here I am, writing about this edible leaf to the whole interweb world. What can I say, I'm easily excited by plants. At yesterday's Alleycat work party we harvested the outer leaves of the Komatsuna plants along with some radishes (finally!) and some kale.

Komatsuna, radish, chive, and chicken salad with sesame vinaigrette.

This afternoon I prepared a nice salad of raw komatsuna leaves, sliced radish, chives, and shredded chicken with a sesame vinaigrette. Delicious.

Based on some internet browsing, it looks like komatsuna can either be eaten raw or cooked, similar to many greens like spinach, chard, and bok choy.

I think the seed we used came from Seeds of Change, but I'm not sure because earlier today I thought we got it from Territorial Seed company (great seeds for Northwest gardeners). Either way, here's a link to the Seeds of Change catalog description of komatsuna greens Seeds of Change: komatsuna


More of yesterday's harvest: radishes.

Have you discovered anything new for your garden or dinner plate this spring? Do share.

Biosolids: an intersection of public health, clean water, and sustainable ag

2011-05-05T16:08:00.000-07:00

Wastewater treatment is designed to protect human and environmental health

Puget Sound and the Seattle city skyline.

Each day ~175 million gallons of wastewater flows to King County (Seattle) treatment plants. That’s 63 billion 875 million gallons of raw wastewater getting treated every year (!!!). To be clear, that’s anything flushed or washed down the drain. We are so privileged, for without sewers and proper sanitation water born diseases like cholera, typhoid, and dysentery would run rampant.

From left: raw sewage, treatment plant effluent, reclaimed water.

To protect both human and environmental health, raw wastewater is treated. In my opinion this feat is arguably the greatest invention of modern society! By incredible acts of engineering, raw wastewater is piped to treatment plants where solids are removed via extensive biological processes and then water is disinfected. The clean water can then be safely discharged to surface water bodies like rivers, oceans and Puget Sound, or it can be used for irrigation.

Demonstration garden irrigated with reclaimed water and amended with biosolids compost.

Now what about those solids? Prior to treatment, solids are mostly feces, t.p., and food bits from garbage disposals. To treat the raw solids, or sewage sludge, most treatment plants use anaerobic digestion technology wherein solids are pumped into large digester tanks where microorganisms chow down until they die, then other microorganisms chow down on those dead bodies and so on and on until the product is no longer feces, t.p., and bits of food but rather just the chewed-up bodies of the solids-chowing microorganisms. Voila! Now we have “biosolids” which is the industry term for treated sewage sludge that can safely be used to amend soil. Microbes are so cool!

Pure biosolids cake, straight from the digesters.

A handful of biosolids composted with sawdust to make GroCo

Sustainability of biosolids
Similar to animal manure, biosolids are rich in organic matter and nutrients. Farmers clamor for this material because the growth response is incredible. See the photograph below where the biosolids amended plots far outgrew the synthetic fertilizer plots.

Dryland winter wheat. From left: no fertilizer control, synthetic fertilizer at 50 lbs N/acre, biosolids at 50 lbs N/acre, biosolids at 100 lbs N/acre

With amazing results like these, there aren’t enough biosolids to satisfy eastern WA wheat farmers. Obviously, there are enough nutrients in biosolids to bolster growth, but the true magic is the organic matter in biosolids, which unlike synthetic fertilizer, actually helps build fertile soil over time.

Photo credit: USDA NRCS. This is a photo of the WA state soil, "Tokul". Yes I am a geek for including a picture of a soil profile, but bear with me, I'm a soil scientist. The dark color in the upper horizons is a result of organic matter accumulation. Tokul soils are mostly found in western WA, and under conifer forest canopy.

Virgin soils like those found in grasslands, forests, and marshes are full of organic matter, however, human activities like construction and tillage degrade this natural resource. In the natural world, all organic matter gets recycled in the soil, including fallen leaves, excrement, and carcasses. Organic matter, like that found in biosolids, is full of nutrients. As microbes eat the organic matter, nutrients are slowly released to plants, and they excrete sticky substances called exudates (I love that word). The sticky exudates bind soil particles together, which helps prevent erosion and preserve topsoil. All this organic matter also helps loosen up compacted soil and retain water for thirsty plants. People like me will argue that organic matter might be our nation’s greatest resource since it’s organic matter that helps to protect our arable land. But enough with the dirt on dirt, the take home message is: organic matter is good for soil.

Skepticism

Volunteers haul biosolids compost to garden beds at Alleycat Acres' Beacon Hill site.

Some folks balk at the idea of biosolids. I used to, so I understand this reaction quite well. No doubt, there is a serious ick factor associated with poop. From childhood we are taught waste is dirty and a cause of disease (remember this is why we have wastewater treatment systems). But then I actually saw, touched, and smelled biosolids composts (pretty innocuous), and I started to think about the sustainability factor. It became clear to me biosolids aren’t icky, but actually a wonderful, renewable, natural resource worthy of reverence. Biosolids are full of nutrients derived from our food, which are nutrients that originated from farm soils. To close the nutrient loop, we need to return these nutrients to the soil, otherwise we need to mine or manufacture more fertilizer. The decision here is easy since one choice is sustainable and the other is not. The other important question to ask is: if we don’t use biosolids as a soil conditioner and fertilizer replacement, what do we do with them?

Andy Bary, WSU soil scientist, collects GPS data points at a long-term dryland wheat study site.

Me sampling a Yakima valley hops field, with a long history of biosolids application.

Skeptics claim biosolids are unsafe, unregulated, and unstudied. This is simply untrue. No other soil amendment or fertilizer has been so thoroughly studied or regulated. University and government scientists throughout the U.S. have studied biosolids for over 35 years and have repeatedly demonstrated their safety. Scientists continue to study biosolids for safety, efficacy, and larger sustainability issues, such as carbon sequestration. Are there pollutants in biosolids? In small concentrations – yes. We live in a dirty, chemical-ridden world, so of course there are pollutants. They are everywhere! While testing shows some level of pollutants exist in all soil amendments, we should know and appreciate that given the original mission of wastewater treatment - to protect human and environmental health - biosolids are the most regulated and monitored soil amendment available. Conspiracy theorists and skeptics abound when it comes to biosolids, but before we get wrapped up in the hysteria over ickyness, I ask that we all take step back and look at the larger sustainability picture.

UW undergraduate intern and I collect soil samples from a restoration site on Vashon Island, WA, where biosolids composts were used to restore the soil.

A year later wildlife and trees are starting to come back to the Vashon Island site.

Biosolids application to soil is proven as a safe renewable way to return nutrients and organic matter back to the earth. Biosolids are a product of wastewater treatment, which is designed to protect human and environmental health.

Pretty purple Scabiosa growing in biosolids amended soil.

It’s International Compost Awareness Week (May 1-7, 2011), and it’s time to get gardening! How about trying some GroCo, Tagro, or Soundgro for yourself! These amazing soil amendments are created locally with our very own class A biosolids products.
Since I live in an urban area, I would like to send out a big thank you to the wastewater treatment operators and program managers who work in the sewers to keep me, my neighbors, and Puget Sound healthy. Thanks folks! Keep up the good work!

Hardening Off

2011-04-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

'Hardening off' sounds callous, but it's actually not. In short, it's what one should do to avoid seedling death.

Here in western Washington our warm weather growing season is relatively short, so indoor seed starting helps us get a head start on the weather. The problem with starting seeds indoors or in a greenhouse, however, is that the plants are kinda wimpy. Transferring a seedling that has only known warm, non-windy, mild UV conditions to the great outdoors will shock it to say the least. To avoid serious transplant shock, and possibility of mortality, seedlings need to be 'hardened off'. Hardening off is a process of getting seedlings used to outdoor growing conditions by transferring them outdoors during the day, and then bringing them back in at night. One should do this for about a week before transplanting seedlings into outdoor garden beds.

If you are buying seedlings from a nursery, they should already be hardened off, so don't worry about this. For more detailed information about hardening off, visit this WSU informational page http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/vege003/vege003.htm

I finally got these cool weather seedlings transplanted last weekend. Now grow little babies grow!

Recipe 12: salad as a meal challenge

2011-04-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

As I wrap up the Salad as a Meal challenge, I enjoyed bacon and eggs for dinner. Does it get any better? Well, maybe if you call it "Fresee aux lardons" as Patricia Wells does. Sounds fancy huh?

Regardless of what you call it, this classic french dish, comprised of a green salad topped with poached eggs and lardons, is beyond delicious. Classically this dish uses frisee, or curly endive, rather than a spring baby greens mix, as I did. Lardons is the french word for bacon pieces.
I topped off the salad with fresh chives from the garden and a side of socca, a chickpea flour pancake. Ms. Wells suggests a side of thin bread crisps, which she provides the recipe for. I would have made the bread crisp recipe had I not completely fallen in love with the socca, which I tried earlier in this challenge, and felt a desperate need to make it again.

Frisee Aux Lardons

If you would like a chance to win a free copy of Patricia Wells' new book, Salad as a Meal, comment on this post

Recipe 11: Salad as a Meal challenge

2011-04-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

The asparagus is lovely right now, which is why this recipe for asian chicken salad with asparagus and sesame, from Patricia Wells' new book, Salad as a Meal, really grabbed my attention. This meal was simple: asian greens, blanched asparagus, and shredded chicken, all tossed in a sesame vinaigrette. Simple, easy, light, and fast. I'll be making this unitl the weather warms and asparagus vanishes from the market.

Asian Chicken Salad with Asparagus and Sesame

Comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Salad as a Meal.

Recipe 10: salad as a meal challenge

2011-04-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

Even though the katsura are blooming and the days are longer, the vegetables of late spring and early summer have yet to hit the markets. Here in Seattle winter greens and root vegetables are still in abundance which makes this salad of beet root, watercress, and endive perfect for right now. This is salad is peppery from the cress, crunchy from the endive, and sweet from the beets. Perfect for early April.

Watercress, endive, and beet salad

Comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Patricia Wells' new book, Salad as a Meal, which is where this salad recipe came from.

Recipe 9: salad as a meal challenge

2011-04-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

I am stoked that this onion and bacon tart, Flammekuchen, is included in the salad as a meal challenge. The definition of salad is not clear to me, but hey, if it includes Flammekuchen, I like it.
I also like saying the word 'Flammekuchen'.

Alsatian Onion and Bacon Tart: Flammekuchen

I made this tart last weekend, and enjoyed it with arguably too much wine, and unarguably, fabulous friends. After one bite my buddy Brock said "Wait, this bacon is legit". May I ask: when is bacon not legit?
Despite being a 'pizza' of sorts, and including bacon, this recipe was actually very light. The dough was made with whole wheat flour, the onions were steamed (a new technique for me), and the sauce was essentially non-fat greek yogurt with added flavorings. I served this flammekuchen along with a beet root salad. Given the fact that that they were sitting on the cutting board looking delicious, I adapted Patricia Wells' recipe to use the beet greens on the tart.

In short: Flammekuch is delicious. Can't wait to make this again.

**Oh yeah, as part of this salad challenge, the publisher, Morrow, will give a free copy of the book, Salad as a Meal, to "two lucky readers" of this blog. Post a comment on any of the Salad Challenge posts if you would like to be included in the drawing, or tweet me at @katekurtz and say something about the #saladasameal challenge, or say "hey, include me in the drawing", or something like that.

Recipe 8: salad as a meal challenge

2011-04-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

Chickpea flour crepes: Socca

When first flipping through Salad as a Meal, this recipe immediately piqued my interest. Don't ask me what this has to do with salad, but the idea of a chickpea pancake sounded delicious. The recipe is just chickpea flour, sea salt, water, and olive oil, cooked in a 450 degree oven. The batter is very thin, like crepe batter, or heavy cream.

This recipe is totally vegan and gluten free, so, you know... that's good for a lot of people out there. Besides being accommodating to people with dietary restrictions, it certainly went well with a simple green salad since it was both hearty and filling. I will definitely make this again, as I pretty much LOVED it.

I think I was initially drawn to the recipe because it reminded me of this NY Times Minimalist video from a couple years ago. To be clear, Patricia Wells recipe is cooked in an oven, and is different from its Spanish counterpart demonstrated by Mark Bittman in the video below. Both recipes, however, are chickpea flour crepes.

Recipe 7: salad as a meal challenge

2011-04-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

Chef's Salad: Ham, Cheese, and Tender Greens

Lemon and olive oil dressing.

I am so happy it is the weekend. This last week was a bit overwhelming in terms of after work activities. It seemed like there was an event or meeting almost every night. So it goes when you're having fun.

On Tuesday night I had about a half hour between getting home from work and running out the door to an Alleycat Acres meeting. In an effort to be both healthy and quick, I whipped up this chef's salad recipe from Patricia Wells' new book Salad as a Meal. I brought my dinner to the meeting with me, which I later regretted because it made everyone else drooly and jealous.

I used some of the seasons first greens, which I got at the Ballard farmer's market last Sunday. I added procuitto, and cantal cheese. Ms. Wells' recommends using a comte cheese, which I imagine would have been better, but I used what I had on hand. I also added a hard cooked egg because I have a bit of an egg obsession going on right now. I don't know why, but I find myself eating a lot of eggs these days. I'm going with it.

Recipe 6: salad as a meal challenge

2011-03-30T23:29:00.000-07:00

And the Salad as a Meal challenge continues...

As a reminder, the challenge is: make 3 new recipes each week from Patricia Wells' new book, Salad as a Meal, for 4 weeks, and blog about it. That's 12 new recipes total. Not a big challenge, but a challenge none-the-less.

We are now deep into week two of the challenge, I am enjoying it more than ever. A couple days ago I tried the fish recipe pictured below. I must say, I chose to make the recipe because the ingredient list sounded so foreign to me, I could not imagine what the flavors would taste like cooked together.

Halibut, Herb, and Potato Salad

This recipe is essentially fish and potatoes cooked in milk, and then tossed with capers, cornichon pickles, parsley, and chives. Milk, pickles, and fish??? Sounds odd to me, but my goodness it is good. Subtle, but not boring. Rather delicious in fact. I will definitely make this again. This is especially true since Halibut is in season, and I still have loads of potatoes left over from last summer's garden.

Jacob and I enjoyed this lovely dish along with a green salad tossed with home cooked garbanzo beans and creamy lemon-chive dressing, buttered toast, and a glass of wine. It was a delightful way to start the week. Thanks for the inspiration and instruction Patricia Wells!

Danny Woo Children's Garden Fundraiser

2011-03-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

What are you doing tonight at 6:30? If you don't have plans, and you care about local, sustainable, healthy food, I'd love it if you joined me and others at the Danny Woo Children's Garden fundraiser. The event will be a movie screening of the documentary FRESH, followed by a panel discussion among local urban agriculture activists. For those who are unfamiliar with the Danny Woo Children's Garden project, it is a garden in Seattle's International District, specifically for children. Last summer there were all sorts of cool, and free, garden programs for kids. They also have lots laying hens, which I find especially charming. Who doesn't love chickens?

Where: Grand Illusion Cinema (in Seattle's U-District) 1403 NE 50th St.
When: March 30th, 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Movie screening begins at 7pm
Price: $15

Discussion panelists:

Nate Moxley, Seattle P-Patch Garden Coordinator
Michelle Bates-Benetua, Lettuce Link Program Manager
Eddie Hill, Farms Program Manager at Seattle Tilth
Kate Kurtz (me), Alleycat Acres Program Manager

Biosolids on the radio

2011-03-29T23:11:00.000-07:00

Those who know a little bit about my professional work will call me a soil scientist. Those that know me well, however, know that organic residual management is my jam. What is 'organic residual management' you ask? I suppose this means that if something was once alive, or a live animal defecated it, and then it became garbage... well that's where I see a resource. That's where I see the possibility for excellent, natural, nutrient-rich soil amendments. Generally this means that I work in the world of manures, biosolids, and yard and food waste. Yep, stinky garbage is what I'm all about. This is really cool work because it connects sustainable waste management with sustainable soil management. Does it get any better???

Me being a soil scientist. Standing in front of compost treatment #5 at a soil restoration project on Vashon Island, WA. Feel free to make fun of the orange overalls. They keep me dry, so I love them despite what anyone has to say about their aesthetic appeal, or lack there of.

That's my friend Bryan fully enjoying this load of GroCo, a biosolids-based compost.
I feel ya Bryan. GroCo has a similar affect on me.

Last week my former boss and graduate committee chair, Sally Brown, visited Kansas State University to give a guest lecture. As part of her visiting guest lecturer duties, she sat for an interview at the local radio station, for a program called "Agriculture Today" (pretty slick). There, she talked about the joys and benefits of biosolids. Biosolids are an especially cool topic because they are the waste product that every single one of us city dwellers helps to create, yet so many of us have never even heard of them. To hear Sally's 10 minute take on why she loves biosolids watch below. I thought it was an excellent interview...

Recipe 5: salad as a meal challenge

2011-03-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

This sounds crazy but it is true. At my heart, I am a bean eater.
Perhaps this affection for beans is a result of spending my years from age 8 to 22 as a vegetarian, but I am comforted by no food group as much as I am by beans. Most of my teenage years, growing up in Los Angeles, I rarely craved anything other than refried pinto beans and cheese. I realize that there are healthier food choices out there, but one can easily imagine a night as an 18-year-old, spent up to no good, and then coming home starved half to death, and wanting warm, cheesy refried beans. My mother always made sure that there was a tupperware of refried beans in the fridge for me to gorge myself on any time of day or night.


Dried garbanzo beans before cooking

While they don't pull the same emotional heart strings as the pinto, garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas), make it to my top 5 bean list. I usually eat garbanzos at least once a week, either tossed whole in a green salad, or whipped up into hummus. I always buy them pre-cooked in a can. Canned beans are great, because they are so damn quick, and don't taste half bad. Patricia Wells, however, made a compelling case for cooking ones garbanzo beans at home. Being the bean lover I am, it didn't take much to convince me to try this.

From left to right: Parsley, thyme, rosemary, and bay. All from the garden.

Wells recommends that one cook garbanzo beans in chicken or vegetable stock along with loads of onions, garlic and a bouquet garni of parsley and bay. I added rosemary and thyme because I have them in the garden, and they sounded good. The end result truly was far superior to the canned version. Wells says that you can freeze the beans, in their cooking liquid, for several months. This might be a good solution to keeping garbanzos on hand, ready to use, when I want them.
I did not soak the beans over night as instructed, although I gave them a good rinse. It took about 2 hours of simmering in the broth for the beans to reach a soft perfection.

Recipe 4: salad as a meal challenge

2011-03-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

At this point, my copy of Patricia Wells' new book, Salad As A Meal is all marked up with ripped bits of post-it notes. This is my relatively unorganized way of letting my future self know to "look here for an interesting sounding recipe". The exercise is kinda fun, and kinda dizzying. The orange post-its certainly make the book look like part of a "challenge", as opposed to something I have laying on the kitchen counter for the pretty pictures. Today marks week two of this four week challenge.

For a weekend lunch I tried the Penne Salad with Tuna and Spicy Mustard recipe. I gotta say, it was just okay. Jacob said, "Wow, this is like tuna noodle casserole", and so that's what we called it... all weekend long. I don't really know what tuna noodle casserole tastes like though. I'm pretty sure I ate that dish once. I believe I was at camp Whittle, a YMCA camp in the San Bernadino Mountains in Southern California. If I recall, I liked tuna noodle casserole, but alas, that was long ago, and the memory is not strong. Either way, I like the way the words "Tuna Noodle Casserole" sound, so I ended up saying that a lot over the weekend.
Wells' recipe was quick and simple, incorporating no additional ingredients than those listed in the title. Perhaps with higher quality ingredients this would have been spectacular, but I was pulling from my pantry, and it was something I'll most likely only make once. Having said that, Jacob and I finished the whole thing.

Penne Salad with Tuna and Spicy Mustard

Recipe 3: salad as a meal challenge

2011-03-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

I am wrapping up week one of the salad challenge, and I have to say that I am really enjoying it. It has been a while since I have delved into trying so many new recipes, all at once. There I said it. For the last few years I've been in a recipe rut. Maybe it was the distraction of graduate school, or a simple drift in focus away from cooking, but I have honestly been making variations of the same recipes for quite some time now. I have been finding it fun to be making new dishes this week, adding new life to my tired repertoire.

On Friday night I tried this grain-based dish: Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Parsley, and Spring Onions. Ms. Wells asks that you first toast the quinoa in a dry skillet, then rinse it to remove any bitterness, and then cook it in liquid (stock or water). Perhaps this the way to cook quinoa, but in the past I have always gone straight to adding it to boiling liquid. The result of these extra steps really did make it less bitter, and relatively unsticky (is unsticky a word?).

The salad was essentially cooked quinoa, mixed with chopped parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and spring onions. Add the quinoa to a chiffonade of spinach dressed with a creamy lemon-chive dressing, and there is your dish. It tastes about as it sounds: fresh, yet hearty from the quinoa. I know quinoa is a protein-rich grain, but I was eating this after a long run, and wanted some 'real' protein with my dinner. I had two hard cooked eggs along with it, and it was a perfect, light supper.

Recipe 2: salad as a meal challenge

2011-03-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

Does anything scream spring louder than poached eggs and asparagus? I don't know, but it sure felt springy this evening.

Asparagus, ham, and poached egg salad

Add a baby spinach salad with lemon and olive oil dressing, a bit of prosciutto, and some fresh chives from the garden, and you have dinner.
The best part: it took 15 minutes to make. Thanks Ms. Wells for the great recipe!

Salad Challenge

2011-03-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

Now that spring is officially here, we are quickly aproaching what my husband affectionately refers to as 'salad season'. Okay so I made up the affectionate part, but he really does call it salad season.
In just a few weeks I will have garden beds full of tender greens like mesclun, arugula, bok choy, spinach, and pea shoots. Long will be the days of roasted root vegetables and braised kale. I have had a winter full of those vegetables, and now I'm ready to move on. That's right, I'm poo poo-ing on the season called winter.
Part of the reason for this so called salad season is because each year I am over-the-moon excited about the new, fresh flavors of spring. Another, possibly more practical, reason is that I am trying to stay on top of what the garden produces. Lettuce grows fabulously in spring weather, and Seattle has a notoriously long spring. Hot, lettuce-wilting summer days likely won't arrive to Seattle until mid-July.

A couple weeks back, on a day when I had really had it with potatoes and turnips, I started dreaming of fresh leafy greens. Mid-way through my dream, I noticed Patricia Wells posted something about her new book, Salad as a Meal. She and her publishers challenged fellow food bloggers to make 3 recipes from her new book each week, for four weeks. I thought to myself, this is just what I need to get spring rolling. This marks week one, of the four week Salad as a Meal challenge.

Not surprisingly, Patricia's book takes "salad" way beyond leafy greens.

Despite the fact that I think of Patricia Wells as being a french-styled cook, the first recipe I tried from her new book was asian inspired. Last night I was in the mood for something comforting, and soba noodles sounded divine.

The first salad: Chicken and Soba Noodles with Ginger-Peanut Sauce.

The recipe title really says it all...

I was expecting the heartiness from the soba, but the recipe tasted much fresher than I imagined. Perhaps it was all the fresh herbs or the considerable amount of rice vinegar counterbalancing the peanut butter and soy sauce in the dressing. It doesn't matter. This recipe was the perfect of juxtaposition of rich and acidic, heavy and light. This challenge is off to a good start...

Happy spring

2011-03-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

March 20th marked the first day of spring this year.

I spent the weekend starting seeds, prepping beds, and generally waking things up from a long, cold winter. Saturday I enjoyed a solitary and meditative day of garden work at home. On Sunday I joined the community and worked at the Alleycat Acres Central District site.

Never mind the calendar though, below are two concrete signs of spring: chives and dirty hands...

The chives came back and are even more delicious than I remember from years past. I can't wait for them to flower.

Dirty hands. I'll have dirt under my fingernails and dry cuticles until next winter, and that's okay.

Did you do anything to celebrate the transition into this new season?

Is winter over yet?

2011-03-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

It's been months since Seattle gardens looked anything like this, but I have a hunch we will be harvesting spring crops in the blink of an eye.
This Saturday we will be waking up the garden by turning compost, adding compost, weeding, and possibly sowing seeds at the Alleycat Acres Beacon Hill location (3656 24th Ave. S, Seattle, WA).
If you live in Seattle, now is a good time to sow peas, arugula, spinach, garlic, onions, and fava beans.

Sunday morning

2011-03-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

Jacob and I enjoyed a hearty meal this morning, and we deserved it. Waffles, chicken-apple sausage, and scrambled eggs were good and satisfying nourishment, helping us recover from yesterday's bike ride.

To help raise money for Alleycat Acres: urban farming collective, we bicycled 60 miles around Lake Washington yesterday. I was super nervous about the ride. Frankly, I was scared that I would be too weak to finish. At one point I suggested that we get a lift over the 8 mile steady hill climb section. My friend Amber, a fellow co-founder of alleycats, nixed the idea. She told me that we had to at least try. Jacob and our new friend, Brock, told me that I could easily do it.
The elation I felt at the top of the hill was the most incredible feeling. It was a feeling of empowerment, competence, and excitement. These are feelings that make life truly wonderful. Thanks for pushing me beyond my comfort zone guys!!

Here's a pic of Amber and me getting ready with the other riders, early Saturday morning. Doing the ride with Amber was especially cool, because as teenagers, we used to ride in an annual bike-a-thon with our high school, Windward. All day we kept encouraging each other by shouting "Bike-a-thon 2011!!" The last time we did anything like this was in 1995, so the notion was pretty hilarious to us.

Bikes gathered before the start.

Fist pumps were in order upon finishing the ride.

Tired cyclists enjoying some warm food and beverages after the ride.
Amber, Jacob, and Brock: thanks for being part of bike-a-thon 2011! (AKA alleycat acre's Ride Hard Grow Forth, spring fundraiser).

Ride Hard:Grow Forth with chocolate cookies!

2011-02-22T18:17:00.000-08:00

About a year ago I helped to found a not-for-profit urban farming group called alleycat acres. During our first year we converted two vacant lots in the city of Seattle to urban farms, and harvested around 800 pounds of produce. Much of that fresh, healthy food was donated to the Beacon Hill Food Bank, the rest was enjoyed by our volunteers and neighbors of our farms. We are anxiously awaiting spring, so that we can do it all over again. As a 100% volunteer-based organization, we don't need much to operate, but we do need some money for seeds, water, and equipment. To raise money for our 2011 operating budget, we are hosting a bike ride. Each rider must raise a minimum of $60, but I challenged myself to raise $1000 (what did I get myself into???). To donate scroll to the bottom of this page, and click the donate button!
To help gain pledges from my co-workers, I've been baking cookies, and putting them out in the lunch room next to my pledge form. The Girl Scouts figured out this scheme long ago, and I'm not one to shy away from a good idea. So far we have had a couple different types of chocolate chip, coconut macaroons, and triple chocolate. The triple chocolate is definitely my favorite.

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten's 'Barefoot Contessa' show on the food network. Ina calls them "Kathleen King's Double Chocolate Almond Cookies". After making them the first time I tweaked the recipe just a tad, to my personal taste preference (less salt, fewer chocolate chips and almonds, and less baking time to yield a softer, more perfect cookie).

Double Chocolate Almond Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup almonds, toasted and chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and mix together. Add the flour mixture and continue mixing until just combined.

Add the chocolates and almonds and mix until combined. Using two tablespoons or a small ice cream scoop, drop the dough two inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment. Lightly pat down to a hockey puck shape with wet hands. Bake for 12 minutes.

Mostly cool the cookies on the cookie sheets, then transfer to a cooling rack. The cookies should be very soft when they are removed from the oven. They will firm up as they cool.

Birthday party for Alleycat Acres

2011-02-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

Alleycat Acres turned 1-year-old last month, and we celebrated at a restaurant called Local 360 in Belltown. I found Local 360 to be a down-to-earth, cozy spot, aligned with my personal food ethos. They are dedicated to sourcing ingredients raised, grown, or produced within 360 miles of Seattle. Wines from the Willamette valley, dairy from Lynden, meat from Walla Walla, etc... I dig.

Most importantly, however, the food was delicious, and the seven of us had a wonderful time celebrating.

We started by sharing a smattering of small plates: PB&J bon bons, roasted beet salad, pork belly and beans, crispy pig ear, corned beef reuben bites... yumm.

My favorite conversation of the night...
Scott: "Amber, do you want some of this?"
Amber: "No thanks, I'm a vegetarian."
Scott: "Wait, this isn't vegetarian? Kate, what is this?"
Kate: "That's the crispy pig ear we ordered."
Scott: "Oh cool. Wait... this isn't really the ear of a pig though... is it?"
Kate: "Yeah, it's the ear, sliced really thin into strips. It's super good right?"
long pause...
Scott: "Yeah. It's really good"
Scott and I finish the platter together. Amber and Gia giggle.

Can we say comfort food? Amber ordered the risotto mac 'n cheese. That's comfort on comfort.

I thoroughly enjoyed the short rib "pot roast" for my main course.

Notice that Sean's fried chicken is completed with a sunnyside-up egg on top!

Strawberry banana smoothie with almond milk

2011-01-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

Last week a co-worker noticed me drinking a smoothie, and asked for the recipe... turns out she's tired of regularly forking over the big bucks for the blended drinks at juice bars. This post is for you Maile!

Note* this post does not involve local, homegrown food. Instead, it somewhat revolves around my favorite non-local indulgence: the banana! Sinful? maybe. Delicious? yes.

It just so happens that my very first job, in the summer of 1995, was at Jamba Juice. That job was SO MUCH FUN. Every day that summer I would blast disco tunes, and make fruit smoothies. While I learned how to make loads of smoothies (don't ask for the recipes, I'm sworn to secrecy for life), I also learned that most juice bar smoothies are absolutely loaded with sugar and fat, and easily pack in more than 400 calories per order. Unless it's the fruity flavor you love, you might as well get a milk shake.
In the 15 years since that summer at Jamba, I have developed my own smoothie recipes. The trick I learned from Jamba Juice? Frozen bananas. Yep, frozen bananas are the key to a good beverage, both for texture and sweetness.

While I find it easy to find all kinds of frozen berries at the grocery store, for some reason no one seems to carry frozen bananas. No worry, they are easy to freeze at home. Just wait for them to get very ripe (starchy banana is no bueno), then slice and freeze in a single layer, before storing in a freezer bag. By freezing them in a single layer, it will prevent the slices from sticking together later.

Here is a recipe for my favorite smoothie: strawberry banana with almond milk. I use almond milk because I like the flavor best, and because it is low in sugar. If you like, you can easily use regular cow's milk, orange juice, apple juice -- whatever you like. Also, I use frozen strawberries because I like them, but you can substitute the frozen fruit for whatever you like (mixed berries, mangoes, peaches, etc...).

Strawberry banana smoothie with almond milk
makes one serving
1 cup almond milk (or liquid of your choice)
1/4 cup greek yogurt (I use Stoneyfield farm Oikos organic -- vanilla flavor)
1/4 cup frozen banana
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 scoop vanilla flavored protein powder
Blend all ingredients until smooth. If you like a sweeter drink add a tablespoon of sweetener like honey or agave nectar (not needed if using fruit juice).
Also, some people, like my mom, really like crushed ice. Experiment to see if you like that or not. I tend to like crushed ice when I'm using fruit juice, but not when I'm using milk.

I like the immersion blender both because it's a new gadget,
and because the cleanup is less than that of my regular blender

nutritional information (if you use the same ingredients as I do)
218 kcals
5g fat
22g carbohydrate (13g sugars, 4g fiber)
23g protein

I like to drink smoothies as a post workout snack (hence the mega amounts of protein). I pop a couple of ice cubes in a blender bottle along with the smoothie, and it stays nice and cold while I'm wrecking myself in the gym. The blender bottle has a little whisk in it, so it is easy to shake up if anything has settled or separated while sitting in my locker.

Sweet Nantes

2010-12-17T21:01:00.000-08:00

I just dug up the last of this year's carrots. Why don't I ever plant enough to make it through the winter??? The last harvest is always full of the tiny rejects... the little carrots I didn't bother pulling in earlier harvests. They still taste good -- tiny but sweet. I like nantes, so that is what I plant. They are super sweet and crisp, and I have had good luck growing them in very loose soil, both at home and at alleycat acres. Don't bother if you have any sort of hard pan. Carrots like their soil loose, and won't stand for it any other way.
Carrots are nice for us urban gardeners because they store best in the ground. Plant them in late summer and leave them outside all winter long, harvesting only what you need. To protect against hard frost, just give them a good mulch before the snow comes (don't bother if you live in a mild climate).

Kale two ways -- both spicy

2010-11-23T17:53:00.000-08:00

Supposedly kale is one of those "super foods" that is super good for you. For many people this is a motivating factor to eat the stuff, but for me it is a bit of a put off. When I hear that I should eat a food because it is good for me, I automatically conjur up images of bitter, tough, chalky, not-good-tasting foods. I don't eat kale because my mom or doctor or nutritionist say I should, but rather I eat it because 1) when prepared well, it is delicious, and 2) it is really easy to grow in the home garden*.

Admittedly, when prepared poorly, kale is a god awful, disgusting food, and I pity the child whose mother makes her eat it. At its worst: tough, leathery, bitter leaves. At its best: tender, hearty, rich and complex flavor.

This weekend I clipped several leaves off my 'Lacinato' kale plants*, and tried two new ways of preparing it. I made a spicy minestrone of white beans and kale, and also a kale salad with a spicy peanut dressing.

The kale salad is actually a recipe that was sent to me by a reader early last summer. I finally got around to making it, and it was a hit at my house. Definitely something I will continue to make throughout the winter.

Spicy kale and white bean minestrone.
Unfortunately I don't remember exactly how I made it, but I sorta remember.
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 12oz can white beans (rinsed)
1 bunch kale (about 9 lacinato leaves), chopped or torn into bite-size pieces
handful of roasted tomatoes, use a 12oz can if you don't have these in your freezer
2.5 cups chicken broth
1 cup uncooked pasta
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red pepper
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese rind (if you have around)

Sweat out the onions in olive oil until they are translucent. Add the crushed garlic, salt and red pepper flakes. Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant (about 30 seconds), then add the kale. Stir in the kale to coat with olive oil. Let it begin to wilt before adding white beans, tomatoes, chicken broth, and cheese rind. Let simmer for about 20 minutes, then add pasta. continue cooking until pasta is al dente. Serve with grated parmesan and/or a drizzle of good olive oil.

*A note about growing kale at home: aphids LOVE it! Since the plant is so hardy, aphids won't actually kill it, but a leaf covered in insects is not appetizing. I control the aphids by blasting them with a strong stream of water from the hose. Spray the stems and under the leaves to get those bugs where it hurts. Do this a couple times a week (not a one time deal).

*'Lacinato' is an Italian heirloom kale variety (AKA 'Dinosaur', 'Tuscan', 'Black', and 'Nero di Tuscano'). It is easy to start from seed, flavorful, and frost tolerant.

Dahlias

2010-10-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

Dahlias make me happy. Dahlias have exquisite, long-lasting blooms in late summer and early fall, when pretty much everything else is finished. The flowers in the pictures below are from bulbs I bought at the Northwest flower and garden show last February. Dahlia bulbs might be a bit on the pricey side (around $5-$20 per bulb depending on the variety), but it sure beats buying them at the market, and they come back every year.

October garden

2010-10-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

It is October, and the weather has officially changed. The crisp air has me dreaming of pumpkin butter and pot roast, however this is the time when summer exits with a big hurrah. Tomatoes are ripe and overwhelming our kitchens. The last of the cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, basil, apples, and beans all need to be harvested before the first frost kills them off. Unless you are stocking up for a canning project, for home gardeners there is little need to visit a farmer's market this time of year.

Speaking of canning projects, what are you doing with your extra tomatoes? Recently I have been hearing of people freezing their tomatoes. This is a new one for me. Anybody know the pros and cons of freezing vs. canning? I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with and am toying with the idea of doing something other than canning this year. Please write in and let me know what you think/know.

Eggplant: can you believe it?

2010-09-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

I managed to produce an eggplant crop this year. Given our cold, wet summer, I think that this is something to brag about, so please forgive my boast.

Back in late May I planted several Italian eggplants (both Dark beauty and Rosa bianca) at the South Treatment Plant GroCo demonstration garden. I crossed my fingers and hoped for a warm summer like last year. Apparently crossing ones fingers is useless, because we got terrible weather this summer. The cold and rain squelched any expectations I had for good tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplant.

Lo and behold, I got great harvests of all three crops. I think this success was due to a combination of full sun exposure, excellent soil, and good heat retention at the site (lot's of concrete surrounding the garden perimeter).

Last Thursday we had a luncheon to show off the demonstration garden, educate folks about biosolids compost, and to enjoy the late summer bounty. The eggplant dish I made got rave reviews, and I promised that I would share the "recipe" here. The nice thing about this dish is that it somehow eliminates the bitter and slime that sometimes plagues eggplant.

Roasted Eggplant a la Kate

Eggplant diced into 1/2 inch cubes
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
salt
garlic
fresh herbs

The truth is, I don't actually have a recipe. I make this up every time, but it always comes out delicious. Here is the gist of what I do:

Preheat oven to 375. Spread out cubed eggplant on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, drizzle with olive oil, mix with hands to coat.

Roast for approximately 45 minutes, or until soft and tender.

While eggplant is roasting, whip up a vinaigrette dressing. I usually use about 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/8 cup vinegar, 3 cloves minced garlic, a teaspoon of sea salt, and a tablespoon of minced fresh herbs such as thyme and rosemary.

After the eggplant is finished roasting, transfer it to a nice bowl and toss with dressing.

If I have basil growing in the garden or windowsill, I like to add a good amount at the very end.

Allow the eggplant to marinate in this dressing overnight before digging in.

My favorite way to eat this dish is on an antipasto platter, on pizza, and in mediterranean-themed green salads (think arugula, garbanzo beans, parmesan cheese, shaved fennel, diced red onion, carrot, etc...).

baby Rosa bianca eggplant developing at the GroCo demo garden

Kids come for a visit

2010-08-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

Last week my cousin's kids (ages 13 and 15) came up from Santa Cruz for a visit.

Ben, Jan, and the Fremont troll, who lives under the Aurora bridge

We had a really good time seeing the sites. Highlights included kayaking by the arboretum, watching the salmon run at the Ballard locks, blackberry picking, try to find our house from the top of the space needle, picknicking on rattlesnake ledge, and making late-night s'mores in the back yard.

We also ate really well:

The first night we grilled big, juicy burgers and corn on the cob. I also sauteed some pak choi from the garden, which the kids decided wasn't too bad.

While Jacob and Ben were busy throwing the ball into lake union for our dog, Guthrie, Jan and I picked blackberries. Everyone was happy when I served this blackberry crisp and blackberry ice cream for dessert. The crisp only took about 15 minutes of prep time, and was really delicious (recipe is below).

Blackberry crisp with blackberry ice cream.

The next day I tried to grill tri-tip, but the butcher was out. He assured me that the top sirloin was almost identical, and I could prepare is exactly as I would tri-tip. Boy was he wrong! The top sirloin is much leaner and tougher than the tri-tip. Considering that everyone at the table was a native Californian (the kids, my husband, and me), we were all very aware that what we were eating was not tri-tip... so don't be fooled by the top sirloin, no matter what your butcher says.

While I was outside grilling the meat, the kids made this beautiful caprese salad. Tomatoes and basil were both home grown, so needless to say, it was delicious and sweet. Before eating we finished the salad with some sea salt, extra virgin olive oil, and some sweet balsamic vinegar.

Blackberry crisp
4 cups blackberries
2 Tbsp sugar (more or less depending on the sweetness of your fruit)
juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbsp + 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Gently coat the blackberries in 3 Tbsp of flour, the sugar, and the lemon juice. Spread berry mixture evenly in the bottom of a baking dish.
In a food processor, blend the remaining flour, oats, brown sugar, and butter. Once combined, sprinkle this mixture over the berries.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, or until the crust is brown and crispy, and the berries are warm and bubbly.
Let the crisp rest for 30 minutes before serving to let the fruit set and cool.

**Next time I might add lemon zest to the berries to give it some extra zing, and cut the sweetness.

terrarium class

2010-08-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder how people get those big plants into narrow-necked terrarium containers? So did I.
The other night I learned how at a terrarium-making class held at The Palm Room, in Ballard.
It was fun (and educational).

Below is a video I like on how to make a terrarium. This video instructs us on how to make a terrarium, using containers with a relatively wide opening (read: a lot easier!).

back yard transformation part IV

2010-08-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted about the back yard progress in quite some time now (sorry mom), so i thought that I would do an update.

As a reminder: we started with a concrete pad, which was mostly covered by a weird shed/carport structure

Before

After the shed came down, we hammered and hauled away the concrete.

Jacob spent time regrading and refurbishing our retaining wall, which gained us another 10 feet (or so) of property towards the alley. Given the size of our lot, those 10 feet make a big difference.

I built raised beds for vegetables.

May 2010

Jacob built steps leading from the alley up to the yard... with very heavy stones.

May 2010

We had a fence built. Brandon oversaw the operation, and helped me with design decisions.

July 2010

Brandon and Jacob have continued regrading the slopes, through a process we affectionately refer to as "spirit raking". Planting beds, patio space, and pathways are beginning to reveal themselves.

Now (August 2010)

The veggies have grown in the boxes I built earlier in the summer.

Next steps:
Continue spirit raking.
Finish steps leading up to yard from gate.
Install lots of rock and gravel for the patio and paths (Brandon would like many of the paths to look like rocky dry stream beds - amazing).
Go plant shopping

Day at the demo garden

2010-08-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

Today was fabulous.
As some of you may remember one of my summer jobs is that I designed, planted, and have been tending to a demonstration garden at King County's south treatment plant.


Everything is in bloom and looking beautiful (my babies are all grown up).

When I got to the garden today I witnessed the most intense aphid infestation. Where do those buggers come from??? I immediately saw that my work was cut out for me. Why was this good news??? This was good news because it meant that I needed to spend the entire day fighting the aphids and nursing my injured plants back to health. That's right, the ENTIRE day in the garden.

These sungold tomatoes made for a
delicious snack at about 4pm.

To combat the aphids I used a STRONG spray of water on the plants. This is an effective way to kill the bugs, but it also beats up the plants a bit. After the water spray I misted the plants with a diluted soapy water solution, which also kills aphids. This works because the aphid's soft bodies desiccate due to the soap.

Lady bugs came in to help me with my work.

South treatment plant (in Renton) is having an open house this Saturday August 7th, from 10am to 1pm. I will be there giving tours of the demonstration garden, and giving away free bags of GroCo compost to the first 50 people who arrive. Please come to say hi and see what I've been up to this summer.

I love honey bees

Dark beauty eggplant

So many cucumbers!

I love the juxtaposition between the beautiful and soft flowers
against the industrial wastewater treatment plant.

garden design

2010-08-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

I love watching personalities come out in the garden. While some people are neat, tidy, and controlled, others are wild, weedy, and untamed. Most of us fall somewhere in between.
While I am a vegetable-focused gardener, I feel the need to add flowers and ornametals everywhere. I even pack flowers in and around my vegetable beds. Flowers attract beneficial insects, but I simply plant them because they make me happy.

Two raised vegetable beds surrounded by nasturtiums and poppies (pink Asian and orange California).

Eggplant, tomatoes, and carrot seedlings share a bed with a bright yellow Coreopsis.


Dwarf dahlias hide behind the rosemary-and-thyme-planted terracotta pot.

overgrown squash?

2010-07-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

If you have ever had a vegetable garden you have probably fallen symptom to "overgrown squash syndrome". It's okay, it won't kill you or your garden... just make sure you pick those zucchinis before they get too big!
Today I had had enough, and decided to cut back some of my squash plants... just enough so that they weren't shading out my other veggies. Looking at the clipped leaves, I realized just how beautiful they are. I decided to stick a couple of them in my bathroom as if they were cut flowers. The greenery adds a freshness that I really like.

Got away

2010-07-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

After posting about all my summer jobs last week, I convinced myself to get away for the weekend.
My husband and I jaunted over to Olympic National Park for a quick one night backpacking trip up to flapjack lakes.
We ate salmon berries along the trail, and wistfully walked past unripe huckleberries. Trailing blackberry and thimbleberry were also ripening.
What was that? No foraging allowed in National Parks? Oh yeah...

Setting up camp

Perhaps we'll come back up around labor day,
when these hucks will be ripe and juicy.
Last weekend they were simply pretty flowers.

Our bear-proof pantry... bag of food hanging on a bear wire.

Bambi came for a visit. Apparently she knows that hunting
is not allowed in the park because she really liked our company.

(All photos taken on the iPhone to minimize pack weight)

Summer jobs

2010-07-23T00:07:00.000-07:00

Back in the early spring I decided that this would be a summer of fun... sort of a graduation present to myself... I imagined a summer where I worked only as much as I needed to, only worked on cool and fun projects, and travelled a lot. So far I've been able to work on cool and fun projects, but... I have been working 10+ hour days on average, and often on the weekends. Traveling has been sparse and limited to quick jaunts here and there. The reason is that I found an incredible number of cool and fun projects to work on. Some of them pay, some do not, but I am proud to be a part of all of them.

Here are some photos from my summer of fun work*

***Note to family and friends: these are photos from just a few of the jobs I've been doing this summer. There are more jobs yet! So sorry if I haven't called or written... I've been busy working in the dirt. Come late fall some normalcy should return to my life!

Alleycat Acres is growing like crazy up on Beacon Hill. Come help us harvest on Tuesday nights from 6-8 pm.

Apparently kids love to harvest carrots,
and this one was good at it.

We got about 5 cuttings from that Romaine!

Installation of two demonstration beds at the Goat Hill Giving Garden in downtown Seattle

Filling the beds with either a GroCo/sandy loam blend, or sandy loam + organic fertilizer

Watering in the seeds. We planted potatoes, squash, and bush beans in the demo beds

Collecting soil samples from research plots on Vashon Island

Collecting biomass samples

One day that tall meadow will return to
forest if we have anything to do with it

Veggies and ornamentals growing at the South Treatment Plant demo garden

These Hollyhocks are so romantic

Bright Bandolier Sunflowers

Baby eggplant

Wish my tomatoes at home looked like this

Cucumbers starting to develop

Scabiosa is stunning

June is for Berries

2010-06-30T15:05:00.000-07:00

The Pacific Northwest is renowned for its berries, and it is a well earned reputation. Our berries are abundant, sweet, and relatively inexpensive.
Last week I found an abundance of strawberries and blueberries in the refrigerator. On the brink of becoming over-ripe, I decided to turn them into a cake.

This cake is sweet on top, but rich and dense on the bottom. In my opinion it works equally well as a dessert as it does a breakfast or snack cake (ie: it tastes really good with coffee).

Strawberry-Blueberry Up-Side Down Cake
enough halved strawberries and blueberries to cover the bottom of your baking dish when cut and fleshy parts are face-down.
1 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c butter (room temperature)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg (room temperature)
2/3 c milk (room temperature)
1 1/3 c flour 2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (put on convection if you can). Liberally butter a pie dish.
2. Coat fruit with about 2 tablespoons sugar (more or less depending on sweetness of the fruit). Add fruit to pie dish, flesh side down. Try to make it pretty as this will become the top of the cake.
3. Cream 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup butter. In a separate bowl mix together vanilla, egg, and milk. In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed alternately add the dry and wet ingredients, just until combined (start and end with dry ingredients). Finish mixing with a rubber spatula.
4. Pour batter over the fruit, pop into the oven, and let bake for 50 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean). Let cool 20 minutes and invert onto a platter. Note that if you wait too long to invert, the cake is more likely to stick to the pie dish.
5. Eat! *Tastes best warm or at room temperature, but is not bad cold.

Crunchy Kale

2010-06-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

One thing I'm proud of this summer is my kale crop. I'm getting an unbelievable number of leaves out of just about 9 plants. I started the plants by direct seeding way back in late March, and now it's towering.

This is an heirloom Italian variety of kale called 'Lacinato'

My favorite way to eat kale is by roasting in the oven until it gets crispy. The texture is unbelievable. I don't know how to describe it other than airy and crispy. Better than popcorn.

Preheat oven to 375 (set to convection if you can).
De-vein kale and rip into bite sized pieces.
Toss with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt.
Let roast until crispy (about 10 minutes, unless you have other things in the oven, in which case it will likely take longer due to steam).

Growing despite the cold and rain

2010-06-16T22:42:00.000-07:00

Vegetable gardens are really exciting for me. I just can't wait to eat all the produce.
This year I planted a demonstration garden the King County South treatment plant in Renton. We are using biosolids compost (GroCo) to fertilize the beds, and the ornamental beds are getting irrigated with reclaimed water. How cool is that?

Potatoes, eggplant, and tomatoes are getting huge!

Herbs are looking lush and healthy

Cucumber seedling. The trellis is ready for the cucumber to start climbing. Trellising cucumbers is a great way to grow them in less space. Also, keeping the developing fruit off the ground help the cucs to grow straight.

My first eggplant bud of the season. I can't wait for it to bloom... eggplant flowers are so pretty.

Some of my tomato plants are already setting fruit! Amazing given the fact that our weather has been so weird (and cold). I like to grow my tomatoes as a single vine. I find that the plants tend to be healthier, and the fruit tastes better when I grow them like this, as opposed to using cages. I use nylon footsies to tie the single vine to a bamboo stake because they are both strong and gentle. I also trim back any leaves that are making contact with the soil surface, as an effort to reduce fungal infections.

Arugula Salad

2010-06-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I recently pulled out all my Arugula. It had started to flower, which is a sign that the leaves are about to turn too spicy and tough for my liking...
My favorite way to prepare an arugula salad is with steak. The peppery-ness of the arugula makes a perfect (almost classic) accompaniment to the sweet and robust flavor of the steak. I composed the salad with a balsamic and lemon vinaigrette, Parmesan, and roasted, canned sweet peppers from last summer's harvest (wonderful gift from my friend Jana). Delish....

urban scavenging = waste reduction

2010-05-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to LA to celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary! While I was down south my mother introduced me to an amazing woman by the name of Leah. Leah has helped my mom, who has been a Kindergarten teacher in Culver City Unified School District for 25 years, start composting all the food scraps generated on the Kindergarten yard. Now Leah and a "green team" of parents are working to bring composting and recycling to the whole school. As you can imagine, this woman is my new hero.

In addition to being a recycling angel, Leah is also a gardener and urban scavenger. After a brief conversation with her, it was clear that she knew where all the good, under-harvested fruit trees in her neighborhood were... not only is she is a recycler, she's a waste source reducer by not letting delicious fruit go to waste!

As a gift, Leah picked a neighbor's kumquat tree and brought over the bounty. Sour and sweet, I miss the delicious flavor of kumquats... no local citrus in Seattle.

Knowing that I would not be able to eat that many kumquats in a single day, I decided to preserve the harvest by making marmalade.

Kumquat Marmalade:

4 cups of kumquats sliced like pennies, seeds reserved

3 cups sugar (more or less depending on the sweetness of your fruit)

4 cups water

1. Enclose the seeds in cheese cloth.

2. In a large, non-reactive pot add the kumquat slices, seeds, and water.

3. Bring to boil.

4. Once water has started to boil add sugar, reduce heat, and simmer for 2 hours.

5. Cover pot with a lid and let sit over night or at least 5 hours.

6. The next day remove the seeds and return the mixture to a boil.

7. Allow the mixture to simmer for approximately two hours, or until it reaches the right consistency.

I test consistency by adding a teaspoon to a freezer-chilled plate. If it gells you are done.

8. At this point you have marmalade that is either ready to be popped in the fridge or canned.

If the marmalade is too thick (it becomes hard), it is easy to fix by simply adding more water.

Pickles

2010-05-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

Who says pickles are just for cucumbers?
I grew up thinking that a pickle was a cucumber soaked in a vinegary brine. That was until about 12 years ago, when I visited a sake bar in lower Manhattan (yes I was underage, but that is entirely beside the point). There, I ate so many different types of pickled vegetables I couldn't believe it. Today I like to pickle an assortment of vegetables at home. It's surprisingly easy to do.

Here I pickled a combination of broccoli, carrots and onions. These pickled veggies taste great as snacks, but also make amazing additions to green salads.

Here's how I made it:

For the brine:
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs kosher salt
1 Tbs sugar
3 cloves smashed garlic
1 Tbs whole peppercorns
2 bay leaves

Veggies:
1 onion chopped
3 carrots chopped
1 small head of broccoli chopped into florets and cubed stalks (the stalk is my favorite part)

Place veggies in a jar full of brine, shake, wait a day or two before enjoying. Store in the refrigerator.

Get creative with what you put in the brine. You can't go wrong. Capers, hot sauce, chili peppers, and fresh herbs are a few ideas.

Why I love biosolids

2010-05-06T21:53:00.000-07:00

Bok choy from my home garden grows in a combination of native topsoil and biosolids compost.

In the last few weeks several people have come to me asking about the safety of biosolids-use in their home gardens, and moreover, have asked why I advocate the use of biosolids. In short, biosolids composts are safe, highly-regulated, sustainable, climate-friendly products, that your plants will LOVE. They are high in nutrients, support healthy soil microbial communities, and improve the tilth (physical attributes) of soil. Farmers around the world, including US farmers, have known this for ages.

Me holding a handful of Groco compost at the Alleycat Acres Beacon Hill site.

The other day I walked into a home improvement center and was inundated by the perfume of synthetic fertilizer. My immediate visceral response was that of revile, which soon followed by nausea and a head ache. I realize that I am particularly sensitive to fertilizer, but these immediate physical responses got me thinking... is it really biosolids that we should are be running scared from? This is when it hit me, if I could just tell the world what biosolids really are, we would all lining up to dig our spades into this black gold.

What are biosolids?
Biosolids are a product from the wastewater treatment process, and are EPA-regulated under the Clean Water Act. In US cities, everything we flush, throw down the kitchen sink, and wash down the bathroom shower ends up at the wastewater treatment plant. Some people call biosolids sewage sludge, but the term biosolids specifically refers to treated sewage sludge. Here our wastewater gets cleaned via a system of filters, and the solids are left behind. While the clean water is either being used for irrigation as "reclaimed water", or sent into our rivers, lakes, or oceans, the solids go under treatment. There are a wide range of ways in which our solids can be treated (like artists, engineers can be quite creative). One popular method is for the solids to go under anaerobic digestion. In this method, industrious microorganisms literally eat the solids. While the microorganisms are feasting, they emit methane gas, which we can be used to power the wastewater treatment facility. During the anaerobic digestion process, pathogenic organisms such as E. coli, salmonella, and helminths either get eaten by the good microorganisms, are heat-destroyed, or a combination of the two, depending on the type of digester. What is eventually left at the end of this process, is no longer the original solids, but mostly the dead (and some live) bodies of the microorganisms who consumed our waste.

A digester tank, used to treat sewage sludge, to make biosolids

Dr. Craig Cogger, one of my graduate advisers, standing next to a pile of biosolids cake. I took this photo immediately before applying the cake to research plots at WSU Puyallup a couple weeks ago.

At this stage we have what is called biosolids "cake". While the cake may be safe to distribute to the public, it is not very easy to use (too wet). So, cake is generally applied to farm land. Here in the PNW, some of our cake is actually applied to timber plantations, which significantly increases the growth rate of our timber forests. Another thing we do with biosolids cake is compost it. Seattle's cake gets composted by Sawdust Supply company, located in the hip Seattle neighborhood of Georgetown. Sawdust Supply mixes the King County cake with sawdust from local timber mills, and composts the combination for over a year. The end result is a light, fluffy, dark compost, that is stable, free of odors, and well... simply beautiful.

Andy Bary, soil scientist from WSU Puyallup, rototilling biosolids into the new research plots. Just look at how beautiful that fine sandy loam is! The soils in Puyallup make me drool.

Before biosolids can be applied to farm land, or distributed to the public for home garden use, they must be vigorously tested, and meet stringent safety regulations. I take comfort in knowing that biosolids are heavily regulated. They are far more heavily regulated than manures, yard waste composts, and fertilizers.

A handful of Groco compost, which is made from King Co. biosolids and sawdust.

What about heavy metals?
In the pre-Clean Water Act days heavy metals were a problem in sewage sludge. At least they were in the handful of places where sewage sludge was actually produced. Realize that in the pre-Clean Water Act days we emitted a lot of raw wastewater into our rivers, lakes, and oceans. As water quality standards have strengthened, the amount of biosolids produced has increased. In addition to eliminating the practice of raw wastewater disposal, the Clean Water Act took aim at reducing heavy metal concentrations in our wastewater system.

Today we no longer find heavy metals in unsafe concentrations. This is mostly thanks to strict upstream regulation, meaning that industry is monitored and not allowed to dispose of toxic waste into the sewer system.

Somewhat ironically, biosolids can be used to reclaim soils that have been contaminated with heavy metals. My graduate committee chair, Dr. Sally Brown, has used biosolids to clean up seriously contaminated sites, like mine tailings.

What about pharmaceuticals and other trace organics?
Pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds are not regulated in biosolids. This does not mean, however, that this topic has not been researched! When EPA set the guidelines for biosolids regulation, they decided not to regulate substances like PCB's, dioxin, and estrogenic compounds, because concentrations are so incredibly low, that they are rarely found. When these compounds are detected, they are in such low concentrations that risk assessment studies (conducted independently by EPA and several U.S. Universities) find risks to the public and environment to be negligible. Despite the fact that these substances are not federally regulated, public works agencies such as King County biosolids division, routinely monitors for these substances... just to be sure. What are the chances fertilizer producers check, just to be sure?
The fact that substances like dioxin, PCB's, and estrogenic compounds exist in the environment is bad, the fact that they are in background level concentrations in biosolids is good. The fact that government agencies and universities continue to monitor and study these compounds is also good.

Food for thought: manure products that we can buy at nurseries generally come from CAFOs (feed lots), where all of the animals are prophylactically pumped with hormones and antibiotics. At least here in King County there are enough healthy folks and hippies who want natural alternatives to pharmaceuticals that it is only a fraction of us who are excreting meds into the waste stream.

Why I am an advocate:
I am a huge advocate of all compost, including biosolids compost. I use it in my own ornamental and edible beds. It is my feeling that if we are to truly move to a zero waste society, it is our responsibility as citizens to use as many recycled products as possible, including our yard waste, food waste, and biosolids. I purchase quite a bit of compost each year and apply it to my garden beds. Since I live in the city of Seattle I purchase Cedar Grove, a yard waste/food waste compost, Groco, a biosolids/sawdust compost, and Tagro (city of Tacoma), another biosolids-based soil amendment. Also, biosolids compost tends to be very high in plant nutrients, and is an extremely consistent product (little to no seasonal variations), making it a dream for us gardeners. Biosolids are perfect for growing plants, the fact that it is safe is critical, the fact that it is sustainable and therefore responsible to use, well that's just gravy.

My first radish of the season. Grown in soil amended with both biosolids compost.

No fertilizer needed here. Spinach, herbs, lettuce, and radishes growing in one of my veggie boxes.

A few cool sites with great information:

Northwest Biosolids Management Association (NBMA)

King County biosolids recycling program

City of Tacoma biosolids recyling/Tagro

working meal for the alleycats

2010-05-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, at the alleycat acres Beacon Hill site, a cohort of volunteers and I got to work thinning romaine lettuce, carrots, chard, turnips and radishes. Rather than composting the thinnings, I took them home to make a meal for Monday night's alleycat acres meeting.

A snack platter of baby radishes, Essential bakery's herb bread, and butter.

Radishes were followed by a salad of baby greens with champagne vinaigrette. I made the salad fit for a meal by adding hard boiled eggs, goat cheese, and spring new potatoes (the vegan cats were away in Maine).

Fresh greens surrounded by laptops!

Wallingford in bloom

2010-04-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

This week, while my father and I were hard at work building fences and benches from cedar planks, my step-mother, Joy Peters-Kurtz, cruised the neighborhood snapping pictures of spring blooms. These are too good not to share.

My new rhodie is blooming!

A neighbor's Ceanothus takes my breath away

Ornamental cherry trees are one of the best parts about spring in the northwest

My chives are back from their winter nap and looking quite gorgeous.

Apple blossoms! Last fall this tree was given to us through City of Seattle's neighborhood tree fund program. This one is a combination tree: Fuji, Granny Smith, Braeburn, and Jonagold all grafted to a single trunk. Our other choice was a Lapin cherry... the decision was not easy.

New street trees where there were none. Thanks again to the neighborhood tree fund.

The dogs were happy to help both dad and me with the wood work, and Joy with her photography.

Back yard transformation part III

2010-04-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

This week my dad came up from L.A. to help us with the back yard transformation. Our number one project: fixing the fence that was falling down. We reused as many cedar boards as possible, which resulted in a sortof circus tent look. It's definitely unique, which I like. I learned that spraying new boards with a baking soda and water solution will result in an instantly aged look. I may decide to try that. We had to raise the lower level of the fence to accommodate the raised planting beds that we will install along that side of the property.
All in all we had a great time working on it, and I'm quite pleased with the result.

Candied rhubarb

2010-04-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Rhubarb is in season, but not for long, so now is the time to use it. The other day I found a recipe for candied rhubarb. The result was sour, sweet, and fresh. Perhaps the best sour candy ever. I paired it with home made shortbread cookies for a scrumptious dessert.

Candied Rhubarb:
1. trim the rhubarb into 6" long matchsticks
2. melt 1 cup sugar with about 3 tablespoons water
3. steep the rhubarb in the sugar solution for about 30 seconds
4. place the sugared rhubarb strips on a parchment-lined sheet pan, making sure that no pieces are touching
4. dry out the rhubarb in a 200 degree F oven for about an hour.
5. If you like, curl the rhubarb candy around your finger, or the handle of a wooden spoon when you take it out of the oven.

Back yard transformation part II

2010-03-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we rented a pneumatic jackhammer, invited some friends over to help us, and ripped up all the concrete in our back yard. It was hard work, but a ton of fun. What is amazing, is that since ripping it all up, our yard has been flooded with birds checking out the new digs. Goodbye cold, hard, impervious concrete, hello wildlife.

That's a lot of concrete!

Spring fragrance

2010-03-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite parts about spring in Seattle is the smell of lilacs. Purple and white, both are beautiful, smell divine, and abound throughout the city.

Yesterday we pruned some of our lilacs way back to make room for an apple tree. Before sending the prunings off to a compost pile I clipped the blossoms and put them in vases through our house. They are just on the brink of opening up, but they already smell like heaven.

Alleycat Acres in the paper

2010-03-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

I am a member of the Alleycat Acres urban farming team. A few weeks ago we got some good press in the Seattle Times. A reporter and a photographer came out to our Beacon Hill site as we were busy, with a slew of volunteers, incorporating Groco compost into the soil. We incorporated 10 cubic yards of compost that day. It was awesome. A lot of work, and a lot of fun.
Here's a link to the Seattle Times article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011220435_urbanfarm01m.html
Below is a picture of me pushing a wheelbarrow full of Groco compost. Pretty hilarious expression.

photo: ERIKA SCHULTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Corned beef and cabbage

2010-03-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Some call this Irish-American classic stringy meat with soft vegetables. I call it pure bliss.

This year I cleaned out my vegetable drawer by adding: cabbage, brussels sprouts, potatoes, parsnips, rutabaga, onion, and carrots.

Mustardy, briny, sweet, savory, delicious. Welcome spring!

Back yard transformation part I

2010-03-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

I am a gardener in a time of simultaneous trouble and incredible opportunity. Due to a concrete problem, I am currently faced with a lack of gardening space, but will soon have a blank slate to work with.

Last spring my husband and I started a search to find our first house. After months of looking, an adorable craftsman bungalow, in a great Seattle neighborhood, dropped into our price range. Upon walking into the house we fell in love: tons of light, appropriate updates, great energy, nice size, amazing views of lake union and the downtown skyline from the master bedroom. I was in love. After walking through the kitchen door to peep the back yard, however, my heart sank... just a little bit. What could be called the yard was completely paved over in concrete, mostly covered by a strange shed-like structure, and surrounded by a rotting fence.

Our back yard on the brink of demolition.

Knowing that a lack of gardening space was a deal breaker for me, my husband glanced at me with that all too familiar look as if to say, "too bad this one won't work either". I surprised him when I said, "we can work with this". I knew that all we had to do was tear down the shed, rip up the concrete, build some raised beds, and I'd be in gardening paradise. By mid summer we were unpacking boxes in our new house. I dropped a couple tomato plants, lettuce starts, and several herbs in the front lawn area to get us through the first year transition (it didn't feel like home until I did that).

Now the boxes are unpacked and we're getting around to the demolition.

Here is Jacob immediately after taking down the shed.

Our dear friend Brandon Peterson, landscape designer and owner of the Palm Room in Ballard, has been giving us tons of pointers and design ideas. He is amazing!

Our new neighbors across the street are architects and own a concrete cutter! Here is one of them showing us how to use it... the first step to concrete removal. The plan is to define the concrete removal areas with the cutter, and then jackhammer it into chunks that can be picked up and moved.

A few days ago we used some of the demo lumber from the shed to make raised beds along the side of the driveway. They're ready to plant now! The white PVC inserts along the 4 corners are there to hold hoops for the soon-to-be hoop house... a great way to extend the growing season.

It was Brandon's idea to make multiple boxes in different sizes and to offset them from one another. From a design perspective I really love it. I'm envisioning clumps of nasturtiums growing along the lower borders of the beds. Colorful chard, kale, sugar peas, radishes, arugula, and other spring veggies up top in the beds. I want to make a third box specifically for strawberries. That way the dogs won't trample the berries, and are less likely to pee on them... things I have to think about since I am able, and fortunate enough, to enjoy sharing my life with dogs.

Seed starting station

2010-03-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

At this year's Northwest Flower and Garden show I saw Willi Galloway, of Diggin Food, demonstrate how to make a seed starting station out of an Ikea bookshelf. Inspired, last night my husband and I made a station of our own. We put it in the unfinished part of our basement, where a little bit of water on the floor won't hurt a thing.
This is how we made it:
1st we assembled the metal rack we purchased.

Here is a picture of our dog, Guthrie, sniffing the new rack

2nd put together the light fixtures we purchased. We purchased a shop light fixtures that are 4' long with a 12" wide reflector, perfect for channeling light directly over two flats of seedlings. Shop lights are also really easy to use, because they are designed to be hung with chain, which is perfect for our purposes, since chain and S-hooks make it really easy to adjust the height of the lights.

3rd, using chain and S-hooks, we hung the light fixtures from the wire rack. According to Willi Galloway, lights should be about 2 inches from the tops of the seedlings. This is the chain that came with the light fixture, but we purchased extra #14 jack chain just in case. We also purchased 1/2" S-hooks, which we needed.

4th, we plugged everything into a timer and set it to 16 hours of light per day.

5th, I planted some seeds and popped them under the lights.

Things to consider:
1. Set up a fan to circulate air over the seedlings. Not only is the fresh air good for plant growth, but it will also help to make the seedling stems more turgid, by simulating wind. An oscillating house fan works well, since it can also be used in other parts of the house during the warm months.
2. If you are reusing pots and 6 packs like I do, make sure you sterilize them with a 4 parts water to 1 parts bleach solution. This helps to prevent certain plant diseases like 'damping off'.

Materials used:
Metal rack (3 feet wide, about 7 feet tall)
2 shop lights
4 32-Watt T-8 florescent bulbs
12 S-hooks
#14 jack chain
fan
timer
surge protector

Gifts for the garden

2010-03-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

My dear friend, Amber, and I just turned 30! Fourteen years ago we celebrated our 16th birthdays together in Los Angeles, and here we are today, celebrating our 30th's together here in Seattle. I am so grateful for her friendship all of these years.
Amber loves to garden but is currently living in a small space, so as a birthday present I got her some supplies for small container gardening.

A nice pot, seed packets, a trowel, pruners, a new pair of gloves.
The folks at Ravenna Gardens helped me to pack it up pretty for her.

The seeds I picked out for her will all do well in small pots: Cut and come again lettuce, Windowbox Mini basil, Cat treats grass mix (for her kitty, Sophie), and Electric blue sweet peas

Of course I couldn't go to Ravenna Gardens without getting a couple things for myself. Those gloves are made from bamboo and are super soft... I couldn't resist. I am a seed saver, so I don't need to buy many seeds each year, but I can't resist trying new varieties like the Windowbox Mini basil from Renee's Garden seed company. I also bought a Cut and come again lettuce seed mix (I have to buy lettuce seed every year), heirloom variety Lacinato kale, some sugar peas for eating, and sweet peas for flower arrangments. All of these things, except for the basil, can be started outside in Seattle right now. The basil I got is a windowbox variety which I will grow on my kitchen window sill.

Isn't spring exciting?
What are your spring garden plans?

How gardening can save lives:

2010-03-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

I just watched Jamie Oliver's TED wish for this year, and his speech brought me to tears. It seems as though every TED talk is able to move me profoundly, but Jamie Oliver's talk really hit home for me. The issue he addresses, the issue of obesity and a lack of access to healthy, fresh, affordable, food, and the knowledge of how to prepare it, is largely what drives me to be an urban food producer, to be a food blogger, and to be an advocate for home gardens and freshly prepared meals that are made with love.

Oliver advocates that through learning about food, what it is, how to grow it, how to prepare it, we can save lives. Today, approximately two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight or obese and one-tenth of all health costs in the U.S. are related to obesity.

A young girl looking at a vegetable garden display at
the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, February 2010

According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation:

"The obesity epidemic is harming the health of millions of Americans, contributing significantly to skyrocketing health care costs and threatening the country’s productivity. Two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese, and nearly one third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. The current economic downturn is likely to push these numbers even higher as rising prices and constrained incomes make it more difficult for families to buy healthy foods."

This is not a pretty picture, and the trajectory is not good. Obesity is a food-related disease. As we eat fewer and fewer fresh, home-prepared, whole foods, we get fatter and sicker. Obesity-related diseases, such as type II diabetes are at a record high. When I was a kid, type II diabetes used to be referred to as adult diabetes, because it was rare for children to suffer from this obesity-related illness. Today, "adult diabetes" is referenced by its medical name "type II diabetes" because it is no longer rare for children to contract this preventable disease. In 1980, the year I was born, the national average of obese adults was 15%, today more than 33% of American adults are obese.

When we grow our own food we get exercise from cultivating the land, we breath fresh air (outdoor air quality is always better than indoor air quality), and we inevitably eat fresh, healthy, sustainably-produced, delicious food.

I believe that in a time when obesity rates are at their highest, and still climbing, when processed food is both the easiest and cheapest option, producing ones own food is a revolutionary act. I propose that together we grant Jamie Oliver his wish by teaching each other how to grow and prepare healthy food.

Alleycat Acres: urban farm collective breaks ground in Beacon Hill

2010-02-23T22:12:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, the upstart urban farming collective, Alleycat Acres, broke ground on their first site. The goal of alleycat acres is to set up urban farm plots throughout the city of Seattle. Healthy, sustainably raised produce will be distributed and sold at affordable prices via CSA membership, farmer's markets, and eventually in corner stores and bodegas.

Last Sunday the alleycats marked out vegetable beds and cleared A LOT of sod. Next Sunday, February 28th, they will be further prepping the site by tilling Groco and Tagro composts into the vegetable beds.
They will also be constructing some raised beds with recycled concrete slabs.
They are looking for volunteers and equipment that can be loaned, and are especially interested in rototillers for this coming Sunday, 2-28-10.
For more information visit: http://www.alleycatacres.com

signs of good soil beneath that lawn

Taking down the Laurel

growing fruit trees in small spaces

2010-02-21T18:46:00.000-08:00

Fruit trees are wonderful because:
1. They provide fruit for years with little work (in comparison to annual vegetables).
2. They provide structural beauty to the landscape.
3. They can help you to make friends. How? Usually the fruit all ripens at once, so you have to give some of it away... if you give someone fruit from your garden, they'll probably want to be your friend... or at least I would want to be your friend.

photo: http://www.smallgardendesign.ie/images/espalier%20fruit%20tree.jpg

It is not very difficult to grow fruit trees in small spaces. Most nurseries carry dwarf varieties. Dwarf varieties are simply the smaller versions of their larger selves. Nurseries are able to make dwarf varieties by grafting the fruiting stock onto a dwarf root stock... the small root stock is what keeps the tree in a compact form. Dwarf varieties are great for the home landscape because the fruit is easier to pick... little to no ladder-use necessary! Dwarf trees are also excellent candidates for espalier. Espalier is a technique used to train trees to grow in a 2 dimensional plane. Notice how the espaliered apple, below, makes a beautiful living fence, and takes up very little space. Perfect for the urban garden.

photo: Raintree nursery http://www.raintreenursery.com/catalog/producttype.cfm?producttype=Apples-Columnar

Recently I have seen columnar fruit trees, like the ones above, more and more in nurseries and catalogues. Columnar fruit trees are very small, and can even be grown in pots on a patio garden.

Here is a cool video explaining how to espalier a tree

Sun-dried tomato recipe for Joy

2010-02-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

photo: Joy Peters Kurtz http://www.photo-joy.com/

My family lives in the land of true sun: Los Angeles. At least that's how I think of LA now that I live up here in Seattle. In LA they can plant their tomatoes in early April, and get all the sun and heat units necessary to grow big, beautiful, beefy tomatoes. Yes, I am quite jealous.
My step-mother, Joy, is a tremendous vegetable gardener. Each year she produces WAY more tomatoes than she and all her friends, family, and co-workers can handle. She dries tons of them, and then has a year-round supply of home-grown sun-dried tomatoes.

photo: Joy Peters Kurtz. This is a photo of my dad building
trellises for their massive tomato plants of 2009

Many moons ago Joy asked me to develop a bread recipe that would incorporate her sun-dried tomatoes. I've finally gotten around to it, and I think that what I came up with is pretty darn good.

Sun-dried tomato and herb focaccia

Approximate ingredient measurements:

1.5 teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)

3.5 cups all purpose four

2 cups warm water

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little more for oiling the bowl

1 plus teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoons fresh thyme

1 tablespoon+ dried or fresh rosemary

1/2 cup re-hydrated sun dried tomatoes, or use the kind packed in oil, diced

To rehydrate the sun-dried tomatoes:

set the dried tomatoes into a bowl of very hot, salted water until they are soft and pliable (about 10 to 20 minutes). If you don't plan to use the tomatoes right away, simply coat them with a little olive oil and store in the refrigerator for one to two weeks.

To make the focaccia:

In a large bowl, the bowl of a stand mixer, or the bowl of a food processor, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and honey. Set aside to let the yeast "bloom" for about 20 minutes. In 20 minutes the mixture should be frothy and smell like a bakery or brewery (it should smell yeasty). If you do not see froth, which is produced by the respiring yeast, your yeast has been sitting in your pantry too long... go to the store and buy a new supply. Store what you don't use in the refrigerator, where it will last longer than in your pantry.

At this point, add one cup of flour and mix until combined. Now add the salt. Do not add the salt before this, because it can retard the development of the yeast, and you really need the flour to buffer the yeast from the salt. Then, with your mixer on low, and fitted with a dough hook, slowly add the rest of the flour. This dough should be very wet.... just barely dry enough to handle. If you notice it drying out too much before you use all the flour, simply add less flour... this is where the "art" of bread making comes into play. Kneed the dough for about 10 minutes (about speed 4 on a KitchenAid mixer). In the end, the dough should be smooth and elastic. Kneeding the dough is what helps to develop the gluten (wheat protein) into long strechy strands. Well-developed gluten will yield a finished product that is chewy and fully of those prized air pockets.

Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, coat with olive oil, place in a bowl that is large enough for the dough to double in size (I just put it back in the KitchenAid mixing bowl). Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, so it doesn't dry out, place in a warm spot in the kitchen, and let it rise for 1 to 2 hours, or until it has at doubled in size... the timing here is not critical... just make sure you give it at least 1 hour.

When the dough has finished rising, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, let it preheat along with the oven. Now mix in your herbs and tomatoes, and continue to kneed dough, while incorporating the herbs, for about 1 to 2 minutes. You can do the second kneed by hand, or in the mixer, it's up to you.

After all the goodies are incorporated put the dough on a lightly floured counter top, and attempt to flatten in out into a rectangular pizza dough shape. The reason I say attempt, is because your dough should be very elastic... this is a good thing. What you need to do, is shape it, let is pull back a bit, let it rest there for a minute or so, and then shape it again... continue doing this until you are pleased with your dough, and it is no more than 1/2 inch thick. At this point, transfer your dough to the preheated pizza stone, or a baking sheet. Being careful not to burn yourself, press your fingers into the top of the dough to create dimples. Drizzle the top of the dough with olive oil, and then sprinkle with a touch of coarse salt, and more rosmary.

Bake until the focaccia bottom is brown and crisp, about 25 minutes. Let bread cool for 5 minutes, and enjoy!!!

Eating locally in winter

2010-02-16T23:06:00.000-08:00

For those of us who live in cooler, northern climes, eating local foods in the winter can be a challenge. Last Saturday, however, we got together for an impromptu dinner with our good friends and neighbors, Maggie and James. While bringing the food to the table Maggie and I realized that everything was local, right down to the wine. If a local winter meal can happen by accident, maybe it's not so hard after all...

The winter feast menu:
potato leek soup, braised greens with onions, pork sausages, bread from Essential Baking Co., whiskey spice cake with vanilla ice cream.

Potato leek soup

Sausages with onions and braised kale, collards, and chard

dogs, food, friends... doesn't get any better

Local wine from Sunnyside, WA... a locale well known for its arcres of hops fields and cherry orchards... gorgeous

whiskey cake with vanilla ice cream

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture

2010-02-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

I am currently eating my way through a winter CSA subscription via Jubilee farm, in Carnation, WA http://www.jubileefarm.org/. This week, I'm eating roasted root vegetables and squash, brussels sprouts sauteed in butter, sage, and garlic, eggs every way, braeburn apples for snacking, and cole slaw to go with tonight's braised pork ribs.

In the summer I try to exclusively eat produce from my garden and the farmer's market, and it's really not difficult. Stone fruits from the market are gorgeous, affordable, and delicious. I always get a bounty of vegetables from surprisingly small amount of space. The winter, however, is quite different from the summer. November through April I harvest little to nothing from my own house, and the farmer's markets are not that much fun either. Browsing for food in the cold and rain is just not my idea of a good time... I realize this is very un-Pacific northwest of me, but I am originally from southern California, so please give me a break. Rather than browsing for food in the rain, I subscribe to a CSA in the fall, winter, and spring. This means that each week I receive a box of fresh produce and eggs from a local farm. The farm actually delivers the box to a central location in my neighborhood, where I pick it up, along with about 20 of my neighbors.

What is a CSA?
CSA stands for community supported agriculture, and it is just that. A CSA is a direct link between a farm and a community of consumers. The general CSA model is that each season a farm, usually small and organic, will offer a certain number of "shares/subscriptions" to the public. Consumers, such as myself, buy a share before the season begins, and each week we pick up a box of produce.

Why participate in a CSA?

Each week you get a box of goodies, which to me feels somewhat like a grown up care package.
CSA's are an easy way to buy delicious, seasonal produce directly from producers (ie: no standing in the rain).
All of your produce will be fresh, organic, and local.
You get to try new produce. For example, I tried rutabaga for the first time this year because I got it in my CSA box. Rutabaga is delicious!!!
Farmers get paid a fair amount for their product (much more than what they receive from produce distributers).
In addition to supporting a sustainable food system, by participating in a CSA one is also supporting a sustainable economic system. Supporting local farms, means supporting the local economy.
CSA participants are able to have an intimate connection with the way their food was produced. For example, I know that Wendy and Erik, of Jubilee Farm, are the ones who made sure that my food has been produced in a healthy, sustainable way.
A successful CSA program allows farmers to spend their time marketing their product(s) early in the year, before their crazy, busy summers... when they need to focus on growing the food.
CSAs also provide farmers with cash flow in the slow season, which helps them prepare for the coming season (cash to buy seeds and equipment with), and maintain a sustainable economic model for themselves.

Why composting and recycling are more climate-friendly acts than trading in your gas-guzzling clunker for a Prius:

2010-02-04T17:19:00.000-08:00

The world's first compostable chip bag will be launched by Sun Chips on Earth Day 2010. This is a wonderful example of corporate leadership in the right direction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJmCZjB3Y5s
http://www.sunchips.com/healthier_planet.shtml
This is a very big deal, and here is why:

Garbage and landfilling
Our garbage is something that most of us do not think about once it leaves our homes. We fill up a can, take it outside to another can, and once a week a big truck comes by and takes it away. Good bye refuse! Out of sight, out of mind. The problem is that here on Earth there is no such thing as away.
Here is a description of what actually happens to the contents of that can, and a typical chip bag. The big truck dumps your garbage at a transfer station. At the transfer station an even bigger truck picks up your garbage and hauls it to a landfill. The landfill is probably no where close to where you live. Here in King county most of our garbage currently goes to a landfill Woodinville. The garbage for the city of Seattle goes to a landfill in Oregon. Here in the U.S., landfills and waste haulers are typically government-contracted, private sector companies such as Waste Management (WM), BFI, and Allied Waste. These companies get paid for taking your garbage away, sticking in a very big hole, and burying it. The more they take away and bury, the more money they get. Here are some of the problems associated with this model:
1. The huge hole becomes a toxic waste site that will never go away -- NEVER. Leachate (yucky liquid) is produced from our landfilled materials, which then needs to be "treated" (treated=$$$).
2. It is extremely costly to operate and manage the big hole. The big hole continues to be costly to manage, even after it is full, and all your chip bags have been buried.
3. We do not have an infinite supply of VERY large holes to put our garbage in.
4. Landfills are some of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. Pretty sure most citizens do not know about problem #4.

Coutesy of USEPA, this diagram explains the relationship between waste management and GHG emmisions

http://epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/lifecycle.html

Why are landfills huge emitters of greenhouse gases?
When we put biodegradable materials such as paper, grass clippings, food scraps, pizza boxes, and branches in the landfill, they do not degrade in the same way they do above ground or in a compost pile. In the landfill they degrade anaerobically (without oxygen), and as a result produce methane instead of carbon dioxide. Methane is approximately 21 times more potenent of a greenehouse than CO2, which means that a little bit goes a long way. When the same materials (food waste, grass clippings, pizza boxes, etc...) end up in a compost pile, we have the potential to emitt 21 times less greenhouse gas equivalents. Furthermore, applying compost to your garden soil sequesters (stores) carbon in your soil, acting as a carbon sink. "Carbon sink" is a fancy term for capturing CO2 from the atmosphere.

What can we do?
We can compost, recycle, and use the compost in our yards.
Most of our U.S. cities have now adopted a 3 bin, source separation system for our refuse. Genearally this looks like the following: a black bin for non-recyclables, a blue bin for recyclables, and a green bin for yard waste. Here in Seattle we can put all of our food waste, including meat, dairy, and food soiled paper products like napkins, paper towels, and pizza boxes, into our yard waste bin. With the advent and increasing use of recyclable and/or compostable plastics, take out containers, and packaging, like the new Sun Chips bag, what we put in the black bin and the landfill will get smaller and smaller.
If your city does not accept food waste in the yard waste bin, please write to your council members and let them know that you want this to change. This is not only about landfill space, it is also about global climate change.
If your city does accept food waste in the yard waste bin, find out who the composter is, and buy their compost. Here in Seattle, Cedar Grove composts our food and yard waste in the city of Everett. Even though I am somewhat of a compost guru, I do not actually enjoy composting my own food waste. I'm sure many of you can relate to this. I thank Cedar Grove for composting it for me by buying their product and using it in my yard. Bags of Cedar Grove compost can be found at all the major nurseries and home improvement centers. Bulk orders of their compost can be arranged by contacting them directly http://www.cedar-grove.com/

If you are a back yard composter:
good for you!

For more information on the connection between waste and climate change visit the following pages:

COOL 2012 http://www.cool2012.com/
USEPA http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/index.html
City of Seattle: http://www.seattle.gov/util/services/yard/composting/spu01_001997.asp
Seattle's Climate Action Now http://www.seattle.gov/util/About_SPU/News/Current_Issues/SPU01_003021.asp
US Comopsting Council http://www.compostingcouncil.org/

Window sill gardens are good for you

2010-02-03T17:05:00.000-08:00

Growing plants is good for the soul. Well, at least it is good for my soul. In the winter, especially in dark, wet Seattle, growing plants can be particularly difficult. In addition, this is a time when many of our souls need extra nourishment. Almost all of us are vitamin D deficient, we get outside less, we see very little daylight, and we eat fewer fresh fruits and vegetables. While growing plants in the winter is difficult, it is certainly not impossible. Here are two ways you can do it:

1. If you have south or east facing windows, pop some pots in the window sills. These areas will get a good amount of sunlight (especially south facing windows), and will still be warm enough to see a good amount of growth. I currently have an array of herbs growing in one of my window sills.

2. Use grow lights. Many of us Seattlites have full spectrum lights in our homes. While we may have originally purchased these lights to combat SAD (seasonal affective disorder), they also work as grow lights. I keep a full spectrum light on my desk. All day long it performs double duty, keeping my spirits bright, and providing photosynthetic energy to a small, indoor succulent garden.

Edibles that grow particularly well indoors:
Herbs: basil, cilantro, scallions, chervil, parsley, tarragon, mint, dill, oregano, thyme, rosemary
Salad greens: mescalin mixes, arugula, mustard greens, spinach.
Radishes.

Don't forget that you can also start seeds on your window sill, so that they will be ready to plant when things warm up. Our growing season is relatively short, so warm season crops like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants will benefit enormously by being given the extra time to come to size indoors. These plants generally cannot be put outside until May 1st.

Chicken soup with matzo balls for a new family

2010-02-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine had a baby last month, and I wanted to do something to make things just a tad easier for her and her husband. I decided to make them dinner, and drop it off at their house. When thinking about different meal options, I decided to go with the ultimate comfort food, chicken soup with matzo balls. It's delicious, healthy, and minus the matzo balls, it freezes beautifully. Who wouldn't love that?

I grew up in west Los Angeles, and lived in New York City for 4 years. Needless to say, I am quite familiar with the American Jewish staple, the matzo ball. For those of you who are unfamiliar, however, you can think of it as something similar to the dumplings in Chicken and dumpling soup... it is essentially a floating, stock-soaked, starch ball. yummmm.

Here's how to make it:

Chicken soup with Matzo balls:

For the soup:

1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced Yukon gold potatoes
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons ground pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
8 cups chicken stock (preferably home made)

For the Matzo balls:

1 cup matzo meal
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt

1. Saute onion, celery, and carrot, in 2-3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp salt and 2 tsp pepper, over medium heat.

2. Once vegetables are tender, add the thyme and potatoes, and saute for 1 minute longer.

3. Add 8 cups chicken stock. I keep home made in the freezer, but you can always use store bought. My favorite product is "Swanson's low sodium chicken broth"... always buy low sodium so that you can have better control over the saltiness. Simmer soup on low-medium heat.

4. Matzo balls: mix together 1 cup matzo meal (ground up matzo), 2 eggs, 2 tbsp olive oil, and 1 tsp salt. Let sit in fridge for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes roll mixture into 1 inch diameter balls (use wet hands to make this process easier). Drop the matzo balls into the simmering soup, cover with lid, and let cook 20 minutes.
*hint: for large fluffy matzo balls ('Floaters'), drop the balls into the soup as soon as you roll them out. For dense matzo balls, let them rest for another 15 minutes (or longer) before adding them to the pot.

5. After the matzo balls are finished cooking, add 2 cups of shredded chicken meat to the soup. For the chicken meat, I either roast off one or two chicken breasts before hand, or use meat from a store bought rotisserie chicken.

6. Serve as soon as the chicken is heated through to avoid a rubbery texture.

**hints to make this soup easily and quickly:
1. buy pre-chopped veggies
2. use store bought chicken stock
3. buy a box of Matzo meal, rather than having to process the matzo yourself.
4. buy pre-cooked chicken.

Living Art

2010-01-19T10:07:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was out in Ballard, hunting for cool stationary, when I decided to step inside a little plant store, The Palm Room. Once inside I was taken aback by the incredible display of epiphytes (AKA air plants). The owner/designer, Brandon Peterson, suspended them throughout the space, by using wire, and hanging them from the ceiling. He also had them displayed on trays and decorative rocks, like art piece accessories for the home. The pièce de résistance, however, was this shadow box of, epiphytes, spanish moss, sticks, and lichen. Now, it has been said once or twice that I have an affinity for ancient and obscure plants, but this truly is something remarkable. It is in effect, a framed living art piece. I now have it hanging on one of the walls in my office. To take care of it, I simply mist it with water once a week. Feel free to stop by my house to check it out, or better yet, see Brandon's many creations at The Palm Room on Ballard Ave in Ballard, Seattle (Thursday through Sunday, noon-5pm) http://thepalmroom.com/.

This is my favorite pizza, what's yours?

2010-01-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

My favorite pizza has the following toppings: pear, gorgonzola, mozzarella, and carmelized onions. It is somehow the perfect combination of sweet, salty, savory, nutty, cheesy, and meaty. Yes meaty. Not sure how this vegetarian combo imparts a meatiness. Perhaps it comes from the thick, soft but firm pears, or the umami imparted from the blue cheese. In reality, it does not matter if I can pinpoint what it is that I absolutely love about it -- I just love it and that's all that matters.
Here is how to make it:

1 high quality pizza dough -- from scratch or from your local pizza parlor
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 ripe, but firm pear, such as Red d'anjou, sliced into 1/8" slivers
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup high quality mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 cup high quality blue cheese, such as gorgonzola, crumbled

Start by slowly caramelizing the onion in about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the honey, over low heat. This will take about 1/2 an hour, so be patient.

Preheat oven and pizza stone to 500 degrees.

Roll out your dough to desired thickness, and place atop your pizza stone. Working quickly, brush the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil onto the top of the dough, add cheeses, pears, and onions. Return the pizza stone, and pizza to the oven, and bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until the pizza is brown and the dough is cooked through. If you do not have a pizza stone, an upside down cast iron skillet also works great, or simply use a good old fashion cookie sheet.

Enjoy!!!

If you want to make your own pizza dough here is how to go about it:

1 packet dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon honey
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Dissolve 1 packet of dry yeast in 3/4 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon honey, and let rest about 3 minutes. In a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook, slowly add about 2 1/2 cups flour to the yeasty water, with the machine on low. You should actually add just enough flour for the dough to form a ball, this may be more or less than 2 1/2 cups of flour. At this point add 1 tablespoon kosher salt, and continue mixing/kneading for another 10 minutes to develop the gluten. The reason not to add the salt in the beginning, is because a salty mixture will actually retard the growth of yeast. After kneading for 10 minutes, pull the dough from the dough hook, form into a ball, coat with olive oil and let rest in a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. At this point you are ready to roll out your pizza dough!

Beets: a new confession

2010-01-14T15:39:00.000-08:00

Since confessing about the cabbage that I have hidden in my veggie drawer for the last month, I now realize that it feels good to get such secrets off my chest (those of us with Catholic families love to confess everything).
So here's my new one:

"Dear locavore clergy I have sinned, for I have had three enormous beets in my fridge for at least as long as the cabbage."

It's just that, well, I'm afraid of them. Do you know what they do to your excrement? They have a strong sweet taste, but not a sugary sweet. They have a deep, sophisticated sweetness. They stain my hands, cutting board, and everything else they touch a deep purple. I know they are delicious, but I am afraid.
There. I said it. I'm afraid of a vegetable, and it's name is "beet".
What should I do with the beets???

Scallions

2010-01-13T15:26:00.000-08:00

I have a pot of fresh herbs that lives on the windowsill above my kitchen sink. It gives me something pretty to look at when I’m doing the dishes, and fresh flavor boosters when I’m cooking. What I grow in there is constantly changing. The other day I bought a bunch of scallions for a recipe (the root vegetable hash described below). Rather than throwing the root tips in the compost bin, as usual, I decided to see what would happen if I stuck those little roots in my herb pot. Within two days I started to see green growth from the little root nubbins. Within two weeks I had already started to harvest the green tips. What an easy, and unexpected herbal treat! For those of you out there who want to start growing herbs and vegetables, but don’t know where to start, I recommend trying this. It is cheap, fast, easy, and you can do it in your windowsill. Just remember to water the pot every few days, and change the potting mix every 6 months.

Q: Is there anything exciting about cabbage?

2010-01-13T15:05:00.000-08:00

A: Why yes, there is.

I have secretly stashed a cabbage in the back of my vegetable drawer for the last 4 weeks. We received it over a month ago in our CSA box, and I don’t think my husband has even noticed. What can a woman do with this dauntingly enormous vegetable? After putting it off for an embarrassingly long time, I decided to come up with a game plan. The result: I decided to use it in my Thai spring roll salad. The cabbage worked beautifully by adding a satisfying crunch to every bite.

This is a salad I invented when after making a plate of spring rolls I threw all of the left over ingredients into a big bowl. The next day I used the peanut dipping sauce as a salad dressing, and declared it a master piece. The following recipe is meant to be more as a guideline rather than a recipe. I always add and subtract ingredients, depending on what I have stashed in the back of my vegetable drawer. The result is a healthy, light, and delicious meal. The salad keeps in the refrigerator for up to 3 days (undressed).

Salad: • 1 ½ cups diced cabbage leaves • 3 carrots, grated • ½ head romaine lettuce, chopped • ½ cup roasted peanuts, chopped • 3 tablespoons chopped mint • 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro • 3 tablespoons chopped basil • 3 tablespoons chopped scallions • 2 cups rice or mung bean noodles (softened)

Peanut Dressing:
• peanut butter • lime juice • soy sauce • warm water • thai sweet chili sauce • rice vinegar • saracha (rooster sauce) • sesame oil • fresh grated ginger

In proportions of your taste, mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl combine salad ingredients. Stir in enough peanut dressing to coat, but not drown, the salad. Enjoy.

*Good options for adding protein are shrimp, chicken, and tofu.

What is a rutabaga and what do you do with it?

2010-01-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

The farmers of Jubilee farm are on vacation this month, and as a result I am going through all the veggies from my CSA that I have been putting off using. My house is stuffed with winter squashes, cabbage, and rutabaga because I either cannot think of another creative use for it, or in the case of the rutabaga, I didn't know what it was. Last week I adopted my adventurous persona, and googled "rutabaga". This is what I found out, and what I did with it. Warning: the results were delicious.

What is a rutabaga? Rutabaga is a mostly forgotten root vegetable, that is a member of the brassica family (other members include mustard, cabbage, broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts, turnip, and kohlrabi, among many, many others). In Europe it is often called a Swedish or yellow turnip, as it is particularly popular in Scandinavian countries. While technically rutabaga is a cross between a cabbage and a turnip, it's root tastes more like a cross between a turnip and a broccoli stem. It has a crunchy texture and an exciting sharp taste when raw, but roasts beautifully and mellows out, like a potato or turnip.

What do you do with it? Rutabaga can easily be added to roasts, purees, and mashes, just like turnips and parsnips. It can also be eaten raw like celeriac. While I have not tried it yet, I imagine it would taste divine if grated or julienned into various salads, especially cole slaws. Below is a recipe for my new favorite dish: roasted root vegetable hash with poached eggs and parsley pesto. Recipe courtesy of epicurious.com

Pesto

2 cups (packed) fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves

Hash

5 tablespoons Olive oil
2 1/2 cups 1/2-inch dice peeled Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 pound)
2 1/2 cups 1/2-inch dice peeled parsnips
2 cups 1/2-inch dice peeled rutabagas
1 1/2 cups 1/2-inch dice peeled carrots
1 large yellow onion diced to 1/2 inch
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 green onions, sliced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon dried thyme leaves

8 large eggs
2 tablespoons light vinegar, such as white wine or apple cider

For pesto:
Blend all ingredients in processor until almost smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

For hash:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss root vegetables with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme; spread in single layer over 2 rimmed baking sheets. Roast vegetables until tender, stirring and turning occasionally, about 45 minutes. Stir in garlic; roast 5 minutes longer. Mix in green onions. Fill large skillet halfway with generously salted water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar; bring to boil. Reduce heat to maintain steady simmer. Crack eggs, 1 at a time, and gently slide eggs into simmering water. Poach eggs until softly set, about 3 minutes.

Divide hash among 4 plates. Using slotted spoon, top each serving with 2 poached eggs. Drizzle with pesto. An alternative to the parsely pesto is to top with Tabasco, Tapatio, or your favorite hot sauce. You can also add sausage to the hash to make it more appealing to all the meat lovers out there.

Hearty vegetable soup = a great way to clear out the vegetable drawer

2009-12-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

Since moving last July, I do not yet have a fully functioning veggie garden. In response, I am splitting a winter CSA (community supported agriculture) share with some friends. The farm we bought a share from is Jubilee Farm in Carnation, WA. It is a good thing we are sharing it, because each week we receive a HUGE box of produce. I find myself struggling to keep up with the vegetable drawer. One sure fire way to use up my veggies before receiving the next huge box is to make soup. Winter soups are hearty and delicious, and can be made with just about any veggies you like. Since I am mostly receiving root veggies from my CSA box, my soups have been heavy on those ingredients lately.
I made a soup from the following ingredients today:
leeks, celeriac, potatoes, celery, carrots, thyme, rainbow chard, farfalle (bow tie pasta), chicken broth, water, sea salt, butter.
Some of these are ingredients that I did not grow up with, and have only learned about since college.

Celeriac, also called celery root, is the really ugly root in the photo above. It is in fact the root of a celery plant, although they are different varieties, one bred for the stalk, and the other for the root. Celeriac has a flavor a lot like celery, but a texture very similar to a potato. This makes it a great veggie to use in purees, mashes, and to thicken soups with.

Leeks are the long scallion-looking things in the photo above. They have a delicate onion flavor, and can be minced and sauteed similarly to onions. Only use the white and light green parts of a leek. Also, be sure to cut in half length-wise, as I have done in the photo, to be able to clean well between the layers. Leeks always seem to trap a lot of soil between the layers... not something you want in your food.

Rainbow chard is a delicious and beautiful dark green leafy vegetable. The leaves are too thick and tough to eat raw, and should be cooked similarly to spinach to be enjoyed to their fullest. The colorful center rib is very tough and stringy in mature leaves, and should be removed prior to cooking.

I made my soup by first sauteing the leeks and fresh thyme in some butter and salt for a few minutes. Then I added the potatoes, celery, minced celeriac and coarsely diced carrots. I let it all saute and brown for a bit. Then I added chicken broth and water (50/50 by volume) to cover. When the potatoes were tender I added a bit of farfalle pasta and then some chopped chard at the very end. Before eating, I grated some parmesan cheese over the soup.

Other things that would be good in the soup:
Any other grains that you may have (rice, quinoa, barley, etc...), beans like lentils, garbanzo, and cannellinis, onions, garlic, tomatoes, kale, parsnips, parsley, oregano, or just about anything else you may have in your veggie bin.

Root veggies!

2009-12-07T09:53:00.000-08:00

Winter is the time to celebrate root vegetables. My CSA boxes, from Jubilee farm, are now full of root vegetables with perhaps a squash and some winter greens here and there. Potatoes, celeriac, turnips, rutabaga, parsnips, carrots, and beets are main staples on our dinner table these days. I find that soups, mashes, purees, and roasts are the best ways to enjoy many of these hearty and nutritious veggies.
Here is an example of a recent meal: Roast chicken breasts with potato and turnip mash, and roasted carrots.

Root vegetable mash: I used a combination of potatoes, turnips, and leeks, but parsnips and celeriac would also work beautifully on their own or combined with any of the other root veggies.
This is how to make the mash I made:
Chop and thoroughly clean leeks. Saute leeks in olive oil with salt and pepper, until tender and beginning to brown, then remove from heat. Peel and coarsely dice your root veggies. Cover with salted water, and bring to a gentle boil. Once tender, drain the veggies and return to pot. Add a couple tablespoons of butter, little warm milk, and your sauteed leeks. Mash with a potato masher. Adjust consistency by adding more or less milk. For a smooth puree, rather than a mash, first process your veggies through a food mill or potato ricer, before adding dairy.

Roasted chicken breats: season your bone-in, skin on chicken breasts with olive oil, salt and pepper, and any herbs you like (I used a combination of sage and thyme).
roast at 375 deg. F for approximately 40 minutes or until an instant read thermometer registers between 160 and 165 deg. F. Tent chicken with foil, and let rest for about 20 minutes.

Roasted carrots:
I like to prepare 2-3 carrots per person. Peel and coarsely dice your carrots (1 inch pieces). Season with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a sheet pan and roast along side your chicken (375 deg. F) for 30 minutes, or until the carrots are tender and caramelized. If you like your carrots even sweeter, feel free to coat with a teaspoon or so of maple syrup when the come out of the oven, or in the last 10 minutes of roasting.

Hint:
Use any left overs to make chicken noodle soup the next day.

Pumpkin time

2009-11-07T23:10:00.000-08:00

Some of us are mildly in love with the pumpkin. In the last few weeks I have done a lot more with this beloved squash than carve jack-o-lanterns.
I have scooped out the top of tiny pumpkins to turn them into fun votives, I have made pumpkin ice cream, and tonight I made pumpkin butter. mmmmm pumpkin butter. Pumpkin butter is a lot like apple butter, but with pumpkin pie spices and pumpkin rather than apples. It tastes delicious spread on toast or pancakes, or even poured over vanilla ice cream.
Here's how you make it:

3 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cup apple juice
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger

In a sauce pan combine all ingredients and mix well. Cook over low heat for at least 1 hour or until mixture is thick. Store in glass jars in the refrigerator for up to 1 month, or up to 6 months in the freezer. Feel free to adjust spices to your personal liking.
*The USDA does not recommend canning pumpkin puree products.

To make your own pumpkin puree, start with 2 sugar pumpkins. Cut the pumpkins in half and scoop out seeds. Place pumpkins face down in a roasting pan, cover roasting pan with foil, and bake at 350 for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until the flesh is very soft. When cool enough to handle, scoop flesh away from skin, and puree in a food processor until completely smooth.

Bolognese sauce: Kristen's tomatoes are now week night meals waiting in my freezer.

2009-11-07T22:34:00.000-08:00

With a portion of my friend Kristen's 90 lb harvest in tow, I had to figure out something to do with all those tomatoes.
Bolognese is a hearty, yet decadent, meat and tomato sauce that I would never dream of making on a week night. It requires hours of chopping, browning, deglazing, and then simmering on the stove top. The good news, however, is that it is really easy to make in large batches, and then freeze into individual meal sized containers.
Now that we are in the cool wet season, nothing is better than coming home after a long day and having something hearty and warm on the table in 20 minutes. Bolognese is perfect for lasagna, but as a week night meal, I simply serve it with spaghetti.
Here's what to do to make Bolognese:

2 lbs ground meat (mixture of beef, veal, pork, lamb... your preference here)
2 28oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes or the equivalent of fresh peeled tomatoes
2 cups whole milk
2 cups dry white wine
4 large carrots diced
1-2 stalks celery diced
1 large onion diced
4 cloves garlic
1 hot pepper minced, or 1 tsp red chili flake
2 tsp dried thyme or 1 Tbs fresh
2 tsp dried oregano or 1 Tbs fresh
2 Tbs sun dried tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large, heavy bottom pot brown the generously salted meat in batches, over medium high heat. Be careful not to turn the meat often as this will prevent it from developing a nice crust, and fond from developing on the bottom of the pot. Once all the meat is browned remove it with a slotted spoon and let rest in a medium sized bowl. Add carrots, onion, and cellery to pot, and cook over medium low heat. Once the onions start to become translucent add the chili pepper, garlic, thyme, and oregano stiring frequently so the garlic does not burn and bitter. After about 1 minute add the tomato paste, and mix. After about 1 more minute add the meat back to the pot and mix with vegetables.
Add the whole milk to the pot. This step really helps to tenderize the meat, so use this time to break up any large chunks of meat with your wooden spoon. Continue to simmer until the milk has reduced by more than half (it should look almost all gone).
Add the wine to the pot. This step helps to add acid, depth of flavor, and deglazes any fond (brown bits) that might be sticking to the bottom of the pot. Use your wooden spoon to scrape up any stubborn brown bits at this time. Brown bits=great flavor, so make sure to get them worked into the sauce. Once the wine has reduced by more than half, add the tomatoes. Either crush the tomatoes by squeezing them through your hand, or with the back of your spoon. Let sauce simmer for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 hours. Stirring occassionally to ensure that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. when finished, sauce should be thick and predominately meaty.
Enjoy!

2009-10-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

If your kitchen looks anything like mine these days, there are a number of tomatoes ripening on your window sill. The colder weather may have forced us to pull out our plants, but we still have LOTS of tomatoes to work with.
The other day I stopped by my friend Kristen's house, to find her drowning in a sea of canning jars and tomatoes... she had picked 90 pounds the day before! I gladly took about 6 pounds off her hands to make sauce with. Cooking with fresh tomatoes is a bit trickier than canned tomatoes because you need to skin them first. Luckily this is an easy task that involves little more than putting on a pot of boiling water.
Here are the steps:
1. Score the underside of the ripe tomato like a cross.
2. Gently drop the tomato into a pot of gently boiling water.
3. Wait about 2 minutes, or until the tomato floats to the surface.
4. Using a spider or a slotted spoon remove the tomato from the water and let cool.
5. Once cool enough to handle, use your fingers to easily slip the skin from the flesh.
6. Now the tomato is ready to be used in a sauce or canned for future use.

My next posting will be about using these tomatoes to make bolognese.

BLET-B = the perfect brunch

2009-09-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

BLET-B is a "bacon, lettuce, egg, and tomato sandwich with basil"

My intention is for this blog to be more about gardening than cooking. The thing is, I moved to a new house on July 1st, not too long before I started this blog. I hope the new occupants are enjoying the vegetables and flowers I planted at our old house in Ballard.

Despite the fact that I uprooted in the middle of the summer growing season, and our new home does not yet have a garden, I had to find a way to grow a few of my summer garden staples (eg: tomatoes, basil, lettuce, etc...). While watering this morning, I thought, "why don't I make myself a BLT with pesto for breakfast?". Then I spied my next door neighbor's hens and decided a fried egg would be the perfect accompaniment.

I sweetened my homemade pesto with some maple syrup to make it taste extra breakfast-y, used an entire Rutgers variety heirloom tomato, and crunchy Romain lettuce.

I heart my neighbor's plum tree!

2009-08-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

Sweet and Tart!
Yesterday afternoon my neighbor, Richard, came by with a huge bowl of super sweet italian plums. His tree is going off, and he has more plums than he and his family can handle. In between gorging myself on plums today, I decided to make a Caramelized Plum Up-side Down Cake. This spongy, fruity cake is great for both dessert and breakfast.
I made one cake with peaches and the other with plums. The one with plums only was a bit too tart for my tastes, but I think that I'd really like a mix of stone fruits better than any one fruit by itself.
I hope my friends enjoyed!

Caramelized Stone Fruit Up-Side Down Cake
enough plums, peaches, pluots, cherries, etc... to cover the bottom of your baking dish when cut and fleshy parts are face-down.
1 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c butter (room temperature)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg (room temperature)
2/3 c milk (room temperature)
1 1/3 c flour 2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (put on convection if you can). Liberally butter a pie dish.
2. Coat fruit with about 1/2 cup sugar (more or less depending on sweetness of the fruit). Heat oil in a hot skillet, add plums and cook 2-3 minutes to caramelize. Carefully remove fruit and add to pie dish, flesh side down. Try to make it pretty as this will become the top of the cake.
3. Cream 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup butter. In a separate bowl mix together vanilla, egg, and milk. In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed alternately add the dry and wet ingredients, just until combined (start and end with dry ingredients). Finish mixing with a rubber spatula.
4. Pour batter over the fruit, pop into the oven, and let bake for 50 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean). Let cool 20 minutes and invert onto a platter. Note that if you wait too long to invert, the cake is more likely to stick to the pie dish.
5. Eat! *Tastes best warm or at room temperature, but is not bad cold.

Thai chicken pasta=easy camping food

2009-08-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

Jacob is going to the Phish show at the Gorge amphitheater this weekend. He begged me to go, but I just don't want to do it. In lieu of ditching him, I figure the very least I can do is send him off with some good noshables. I certainly don't want him to starve out there. Thai chicken pasta is a recipe from a friend's mother (Marla Leavitt), and was taught to me by another friend, Matt Paul, before our trip to Reggae on the River in northern CA. The recipe tastes best at room temperature, stores well in a cooler for several days, and is incredibly easy to make. This is now a go to camping salad for me. The only difficult part is finding the Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce, but I can generally find it in the "asian section" of most grocery stores. Here is how you make it.

Thai Chicken Pasta
1 split chicken breast (bone in, skin on)
1 lb short-shaped basta (pene, bowties, etc...)
1 cup basil pesto
about 5 Tbs Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce
about 1/4 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water

1. Season the chicken breast with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the chicken in a 400 degree oven for 35 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees F. Let chicken rest and cool. Once cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bone from the meat. Either shred or cube the meat into bite-sized pieces.
2. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water.
3. in a small bowl combine the pesto and sweet chili sauce (add chili sauce to taste).
4. In a large bowl combine the warm cooked pasta, chicken, and sauce, and any juice that may have run from the chicken. If needed, thin out the sauce with a little of the pasta cooking water.

Too many blueberries! how is that possible?

2009-08-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

This may seem hard to believe, but somehow I found myself with 3 pints of blueberries that were way past their prime. Knowing that it would be sacrilegious to let the delectable little nuggets of pure ecstasy go to waste, I decided to fry up a batch of blueberry pancakes.
Half way though frying I realized that I was out of maple syrup. What to do? Make blueberry syrup of course!
Here are the recipes:

Blueberry pancakes:
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 cups milk
1 egg
3 Tbs melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 cups flour
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 pint fresh blueberries (or huckleberries if you can get them)

1. mix together wet ingredients in bowl
2. sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl. make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly stir in the wet ingredients. Do not over mix as it will make the pancakes tough.
3. pour batter into frying pan, and drop blueberries onto pancake batter circle.
4. you know the rest...

Blueberry Syrup:
2 pints of fresh blueberries
1/4 cup water
2 Tbs raspberry jam (or whatever you like)
4 Tbs butter

1. Simmer the blueberries and water over medium heat until the blueberries pop and the sauce begins to thicken.
2. Turn off the heat and whisk in the jam. You can pass the sauce through a mesh stainer at this point if you don't like seeds and skins, but I prefer to leave the sauce chunky and rustic.
3. Once the sauce cools down whisk in the butter one tablespoon at a time. This will make the sauce smooth, rich, and silky.