In a Pickle

One of the reasons motivating us to sign up for a CSA this year was to broaden our food horizons. I hoped it would give me a chance to grow as a cook and to change my perspective on food and cooking. Instead of picking a recipe and finding ingredients sourced from all over the world, I'd be given ingredients and then would need to find a recipe to use them. I'd also have to face one of my fears - canning.

The thought of canning is terrifying to me. I don't hesitate in purchasing items canned by large factories in far away places. I figure they have the whole canning thing under wraps. Home canning, though, scares the dickens out of me. You could kill someone if you don't do it right! I've put off canning all season, opting to build our compost pile instead. With our CSA winding down to an end, an abundance of okra, and the rememberance of the yummy pickled okra from our CSA, it was time for me to tackle my fear.

I pulled out my canning kit, talked to the preservation spokesperson at the farmer's market, bought a boiling canning pot, and promptly spent the next three hours clearing trees from our backyard. When we were out of trees, I tidied up the house. My procrastination options quickly dwindled before me, and I was forced into entering the kitchen.

I read the directions. I read the hand-outs from the preservation spokesperson. I convinced myself I was capable and dove in. Stressed to the maxed and believing this adventure would end in death, I scared everyone out of the kitchen.

From Irish Clover

When the jars were filled and boiling, waiting to be sealed, Italian came back in to reiterate yet again how safe canning is. For starters, I'm making a pickle. He reminded me of the high acidity of vinegar. Almost nothing would survive the vinegar. Secondly, pickling requires cooking the pickling liquid. It's cooked. Few things surviving cooking. Thirdly, sealing the jars means boiling the jars for 10 minutes. I'm cooking again. Lastly, if the jars don't seal, then we stick them in the fridge and eat them first, as if they were leftovers. At this point, my jars were out of the canner and the first one popped shut. Oh, what a happy sound!

From Irish Clover

I told friends and family about the canning effort and asked if someone would please check on Little Clover if we suddenly stopped coming around. He's the only one in the house who doesn't like pickles. After the jars had time to rest, we tentatively tried the okra. Actually, Italian dove right in. I kept a watchful eye on him for a bit, watching for signs of illness. When he seemed okay, I tried a pickle myself. They aren't the best, but hey, we're still alive.

Sous chef for a day

I love to cook. Cooking relaxes me and provides me with opportunities to be daring and creative, while also satisfying my love of good food. The CSA has been an excellent catalyst for expanding my cooking knowledge, but the subscription can be daunting and overwhelming. I think we are saving in food costs and we are eating out less. There is a time commitment, though, with the CSA that just doesn't exist with buying food at the grocery store. If we don't cook our weekly subscription, then we need to put it up before it goes bad. We also get what we get. There is no scaling back because we'll be out of town or have something planned one night, which means on some weeknights, I'm cooking extra just so the food doesn't go to waste.

Last week, week 13 of our CSA, I found myself too tired to be creative and I handed over the cooking reigns to Italian and Little Clover. Little Clover, inspired by Pixar, cooked Ratatouille. Acting as his sous chef, I sliced up the veggies for him. With the veggies sliced, he laid down the sauce in the pan, arranged all the veggies, seasoned the dish, topped it with parchment, and I placed it in the oven. It was delicious and wonderful; one more step in making Little Clover a foodie.

From Irish Clover

Italian, already and foodie and an excellent cook, stepped into the kitchen last week as well. I had to laugh when he pulled out the stick blender while cooking, because as a male, his cooking involved power tools. He made a creamy luscious curry squash sauce and stuffed pattypan squash. He hollowed out the pattypans and sauteed the squash with a little bit of diced eggplants, onions, garlic, and pancetta. Then he put the stuffing back into the pattypans and baked them, topping them with parmesan cheese and a cherry tomato when they came out of the oven. The sauce was drizzled over the pattypans and breaded eggplant slices. He promised to teach me how to make the curry squash sauce this week. I plan to make a huge batch and freeze them in ice cube trays, that is if I don't eat it in one sitting.

Geeking out

My inner geekiness really came out this past week. For the last few years, our local Broadway theatre house has shown movies during the summer, while they are between Broadway seasons. The lineup includes excellent family films and some incredible classics. Certain films, like Casablanca are repeated every years, and other films are rotated. This week, we went to our first movie at the theatre, Back to the Future, and I geeked out. During the scene where Marty meets 1955 Doc for the first time and enters his house, I caught myself thinking, "Hmm, I think that's the Greene and Greene house from Italian's woodworking magazine." As more of the house is revealed, I thought, "That is! That is the Greene and Green house from Popular Woodworking! Of course, I had to look it up after the movie just to be sure it was the Gamble house. Woodworking isn't even my hobby, but I love furniture design and architecture, so I steal Italian's magazines and furtively read them. Sometimes, I blatantly read them in front of him, when I'm feeling saucy. Never did I think I would get as excited about a film backdrop like I did.

We also used another film this week to fuel the budding foodie in Little Clover. Ratatouille, in addition to being an excellent film, inspires Little Clover to ask for food. This viewing, he asked for cheese and crackers instead of popcorn. Granted, he ate primarily American cheese and Ritz crackers, but every now and then, he reached for the artisan cheeses Italian and I were eating, and he liked it.

Finally, my knitting spoke to my geekiness as well. I finished the first Bartholomew's Sock and had a blast. Putting the heel flap under the heel gives the sock some cushiness, and I like the gusset placement on the top of the sock. These should be comfortable and fun socks to wear.

From WIPs

Firsts

We've been busy with a few first at Clover fields.

1. Newton, our little fig tree, has produced his first fig!

From Irish Clover

Newton was a "just because" present to Italian. We planted him in the back corner of our yard, where we hoped he would get plenty of sun. He stands proudly at about 11 inches high and has been sporting five green little figs for the last couple of months. This weekend, when I peered out into the yard to check on little Figgy Newton, one of the little figs peered back at me, it's deep purple hue standing out against the green fig leaves. Being a blogger, I ran back inside to grab the camera. Italian and Little Clover followed behind allowing me to capture a rare barefoot moment.

From Irish Clover

(Little Clover still doesn't like walking around outside barefooted).

To celebrate the little fig, we ate it, and it was delicious.

2. I watched The Godfather for the first time.

Ok, it wasn't really the first time I've "watched" The Godfather. It's been on the television plenty of times while I've been in the same room, but we have a running joke in our family where Italian tells people I've never seen it. I'm pretty convinced it was a "family" movie in his household and he and his siblings have seen it many, many times over. His Sicilian grandmother told them what was really being said in Italian, and he knows the movie extremely well.

Casually watching the film while folding laundry or reading a magazine is not the same as watching the film with a Sicilian, so in one respect, I really did watch it for the first time, and unless you've seen it with an Italian, I'm willing to wager you haven't seen The Godfather either. Go find an Itailan-American, Sicilian preferred but not required, and watch the movie. It's fascinating. If you know the Italian-American well, you'll find the cultural study amazing.

3. We went to our first member night at our zoo.

From Irish Clover

Our zoo recently began hosting "Member Appreciation" nights. They keep the zoo open beyond the closing time for members only, run the rides for free, bring in a band or a DJ, allow kids to swim in the little stream and fountain area, and sell beer and wine. We had an incredible time. For starters, the zoo is great at night. It's beautiful to begin with and is even prettier in the dusk. As the air cools, the animals become more active. The tigers we've had since cubhood played and even pounced. Little Clover borrowed the camera and acted as the photographer for the evening, capturing some great candid shots. There was also something oddly relaxing about strolling around the zoo with a nice cool beer in hand. Even though it was our first, I don't think it will be the last members night for us at the zoo.

Bring on the rain

From WIPs

There are few things in life better than a cup of tea and some knitting on a rainy afternoon, and I had the luxury of both this week. After months of constant unending sunshine, the rains have finally moved it. Normally, I'm an optimistic realist. I enjoy looking on the brighter side of things, but as of late, it has been way too sunny and bright in my world. There is only so much sun and heat and glare a person can take before they break! I was getting tired of it always being "another beautiful day." Finally, late Sunday night, the heavens broke loose and a violent thunderstorm decended. It was musical, it was bleak, it was beautiful. The weather report has thunderstorms forcasted for seven out of the next 10 days. Doesn't that sound wonderful?

My garden is definitely happy with the rain and I'm hoping the torrential downpour will drown the little bugger of a wasp that stung me twice while I was planting some flowers. As I ran screaming like a girl into the house tearing off my gardening gloves, my hand feeling as if it were on fire, I couldn't help but think how the little snot better hope I could still knit or else I would be out for wasp blood. Fortunately, I can still knit and have been now that I've put away the bohus sweater for a spell and changed the pattern for the Hill Country Sweet Feet I'm knitting. I've treated the hot wool of the bohus to the smooth silk of Louisa Harding Mulberry. I'm trying out the Signature circulars, and so far, the jury is still out. I need to knit a stretch of stockinette to see how I love the needles.

The wasp sting didn't interfer with my cooking either, which is very important since our CSA was refreshed Saturday. Plus, we still had the squashes from John's garden (excellent fly fishing guide, and I'm not just saying that because he's great with Little Clover). Saturday, I made John and Kathy's squash casserole.

Squash Casserole
A couple of large garden fresh squashes, sliced into rounds
Onion, sliced into rings
Cheese (we used raw milk cheddar), shredded
One sleeve of Ritz Crackers, crumbled

Preheat the oven to 400(F). Grease a 9x9 inch baking dish. Cover the bottom with a layer of squash, add a layer of onions, add a layer of cheese. Repeat with a second layer of squash, onions cheese. Top with crumbled crackers. Bake for 35 minutes. Cover with foil and bake for another 15 minutes.

We had plenty of squash casserole leftover. I am not a big eater of leftovers, but the squash was a gift and we as a family are working at the adage, "waste not, want not." The squash casserole became, then, a culinary challenge. Entering the kitchen last night, I put a pot of water on the stove to boil some pasta. When the pasta was on, I heated olive oil in a pan and added some fresh garlic. I lightly crushed the small tomatoes from the CSA with a potato masher and added them to the heated oil. The tomatoes then got a heathly showering of salt, pepper, basil, parsley, and thyme. After they were heated throroughly, I added the squash casserole to the skillet. The pasta was plated, topped with the stove top raghu, then I added some herbed goat cheese, and finally topped it all with sardines. No grocery shopping was involved, the leftovers were used, and the dish tasted like a very elegant grown up tuna casserole. I'm looking forward to the next time we have leftovers.

Happy Birthday

From Family

Today is my daddy's birthday. Happy birthday, Dad! I feel incredibly blessed to have you as my dad. I hope today is filled with much celebration. You've been a great example of strength, understanding, and patience. I love you, Daddy. Happy birthday!

In other news...
There are really only so many ways to state one is busy. I've tried the "boy, we've had a lot going on," and the direct "we've been busy," so let's just ignore the long gaps between blog posts and move along.

I had high hopes for lots and lots of leisure time this summer, which has just not been the case. We've had a few family related trips and the usual flurry of activity before and after the trip. Plus, I have this really terrible habit of overbooking myself. In short, my hopes of lounging on the sofa knitting or spinning have been dashed upon the harsh rocks of reality. I'm still making due by knitting as much as I can. I have a recently finished shawl and pair of socks to show for it.

From WIPs

The bohus sweater is still progress, albeit, the weather has not been conducive to knitting a wool sweater. There's just something about 100(F) and a heat index of 110(F) that just doesn't scream "wool." The sweater has caught me eyeing some silk, but I'm being failthful. Well, I promise to be faithful through the body. After that, though, there's no guarentee. The sweater might be a vest for a while.

The big time suck for us really has been the garden and the CSA. I anticipated spending more time on food preparation, but I grossly underestimated the time required. Thankfully, cooking is a pleasure for me and the food has been remarkably delicious. Our meat consumption as a family has also dramatically decreased, since the meats we have are large roasts or whole chickens. More planning, preparation, clean-up, and in some cases, cooking is required. With some luck, the summer weekends will open up a bit more, allowing me to do more reheating on the weekday evenings and more cooking on the weekends.

You ate what?

Conversation overheard this week after Spot dug up the onions in our garden:

Italian (to our dog): I don't understand why you insist on digging. If you're bored, then get a job like a normal person.

Italian stopped when he heard me laughing behind him. I just pictured our dog sitting in a room filling out a job application and I cracked. Italian, nonplussed replied, "What? What's so funny?"

Yes, Spot, our lovely yellow lab was in our garden again, digging away. This time, our onions suffered the full force of his mighty paws. They weren't really doing well anyway. I think I planted them too late, or too early. I'm still learning. Thankfully, we aren't relying on our garden for substinance. The CSA is feeding us and feeding us quite well. This past week, in addition to our usual loaf of bread, the CSA included garlic scapes.

From 2010 CSA

The garlic scape is the stalk and unbloomed flower of a garlic plant. You cut the scape so the plant's energy is concentrated in the bulb resulting in a larger more flavorful bulb. The scape is completely edible and makes a delicious pesto. The pesto is wonderful on a slice of homemade bread and a light crisp bottle of Torrentes wine, perfect for a picnic, which we had Tuesday.

From 2010 CSA

Our little town holds a horse show every year in June to benefit a local charity. Little Clover, being a rider, was invited by his trainer to attend with her barn and walk around the arena for the costume contest. Italian and I packed our little picnic and enjoyed the warm summer evening and the amazing horse riders. We still can't pick a winning horse, but we managed to have fun. I think the wine and food helped.

In addition to having family friendly low cost or free events, our small town post office will stay open in a mail emergency, like when that skein of yarn one needs to finish a certain shawl is sitting in the post office two hours after they have closed. Yes, if you beg, they will stay there for the five minutes and 42 seconds it takes you to drive to the post office, and they will also apologize for making you wait. I love my town.

At least the food is good

Saturday, I went to the grocery store for the first time in three weeks, all thanks to the CSA. This is our first year ever to be a part of Community Support Agriculture, and we didn't know what to expect nor did we know if we would like it. The up front cost for us then was a bit of a gamble. It is a gamble that is really paying off.

The "farm" we support is a a collective of approximately 4 to five farms. The subscription is for a total of 27 weeks, averaging out to $30 a week. For $30, we've gotten an assortment of salad kits with radishes, carrots, peas, and greens, some herbs, braising greens, jams and pickles, bread, fresh eggs, fruits and vegetables. Our weekly pick up has without a doubt, influenced how we eat, not just what we eat. When Italian asks, "What's for dinner?" I don't answer with a protein item like, "steak" or "chicken." Instead, I reply with a vegetable. "We're having braising greens" or "We're having Mrs. Zook's salad kit" have become common answers. We've also eaten some foods I've never even seen before, ever.

Last week, we faced down a Lion's mane mushroom. This has been the most foreign food we've received, and it was delicious. It was accompanied by shiittakes and served with a steak and fresh tomatoes. The steaks came from the grocery store and did not taste nearly as good as the steaks we've purchased directly from the farm. At $8 more per pound than the farm steaks, I'm now researching the potential of joining a meat CSA.

Overall, we as a family, expected to pay more for food by buying directly from a local farm. Instead, we are finding we are paying less for food. Our $30 per week has almost completely fed us for the full week. We have gone out to eat twice in the last three weeks, when in the past, we would have had a restaurant meal at a minimum of twice per week. Our diet has also seen a shift to a vegetable focused diet instead of a meat based diet, and we don't miss the meat. We've also broken out from our eating ruts, trying new foods and discovering we like them. This week, I'll be tackling beets for the first time.

My knitting, has not been nearly as adventurous as my cooking. Maryland Sheep and Wool did pump some new and fun yarns and fibers and spindles into my stash. Sadly, they are all still in my stash. In an effort to be mynogomous (sort of), I've been knitting on the same lace shawl and Bohus sweater I began in March and February, respectively. For a few moments yesterday, there was a glimmer of hope the shawl would be complete and I could cast on something new. Then, the maniacly laughter of the knitting fates filled my head when I accepted what lay before. With just a few rows of border left, I ran out of yarn. The shawl and I are on a break.

From WIPs

Where were we

The long blog silence was not due to overly festive St. Patty's Day celebrations that required a long recovery period. Nope. It was due to baseball, lots and lots of baseball.

From Irish Clover

We've hit the phase in Little Clover's athletic career where longer practice times are deemed necessary by the coaching staff, and his acedemic career where there is no shortage of homework. In short, something had to give to maintain sanity at Clover Fields and what gave out was the blog. Baseball season has come to end and now I've got a bit more time on my hands. Honestly, it feels as if summer vacation has started even though we have a couple more weeks of school.

The influx of time couldn't have come at a better time. We signed up for a CSA this year and we planted a garden. I'd like to conduct a little experiment on how plausible is it for a family with two working parents and an active kid to eat a primarily ecotarian diet. Yep, you heard me, "ecotarian." This Earth Day, I discoverd I am a "tarian," and the discovery was a bit of an eye opener. I've flirted with vegetarianism, but it never felt quite right. I wanted to be an exclusive locavaore, but it isn't the right fit for me either (I love seafood way too much), but being an ecotarian seems like the right fit. We are going to give it a go and the CSA and garden are a step in that direction.

This is our first CSA and we didn't exactly know what to expect. Imagine our surprise when the first week's installment included fresh eggs!

From Irish Clover

Italian braved the tornado warnings in our area to provide his family with food, and the trip was well worth it when he began unpacking the CSA bag to find shiitakes, tomatoes, radishes, greens, and eggs. We celebrated with one of the best salads we'd ever had. I cooked swiss chard and chicory for the first time in my life. The swiss chard held the lovely flavor of the butter, but the quick saute was all wrong for the chicory. That one is going to take some experimentation.

I couldn't pick up the CSA since I was out of town at:

From Irish Clover

Maryland Sheep and Wool was like a knitter's mecca. There were vendors and animals everywhere. I did eat a lamb sausage while at the festival. I couldn't resist. I also walked away with some gorgeous Blingpaca from the loop and a Golding spindle.

More info to come on Maryland Sheep and Wool and CSA week 2.

Recapping

When do you start listening to the little nagging, I'm always right, voice in your head? The one in my head is getting louder and louder and more obnoxious with every passing row of the sweater and I think it is right. There is just no way the remaining 2 skeins will be enough to finish off this sleeve, knit a second sleeve, and the turtleneck. No way.

St. Patrick's Day Aftermath

As I've gotten older, my St. Patrick day rituals have become more and more subdued. I'd love to be able to tell you about what I did on St. Patty's while in college, but to be honest, I can't remember. I do know there was a lot of green, there was cheap beer, and I vaguely recall Reggae music one year. Now that I am older, wiser, and more mature, I lean towards celebrating at home.

There is still lots of green. I have a plethora of Irish themed shirts to choose from and these shirts are not reserved for just St. Patrick's Day. They get worn all year round.

From Irish Clover

(If you look hard, you can see the green tee peeking out from under the cook's coat)

There is also still beer, but the beer has gotten better and much less is drunk (you can ignore all those bottles in the back of the photo. It takes more to make a pint of Half and Half).

From Irish Clover

There is also still bar food, but now, I make the food myself and I like it much much better.

From Irish Clover

This year, I tried my hand for the first time in making fish and chips from scratch and I went a bit overboard. Xavier Guy and I cut up 6 pounds of potatoes for the chips. Then, he made the beer batter and I got to frying. After all the chips were safely stowed away in the oven to keep them warm, I proceed to batter and fry the 5 pounds of fish. Then the four of us (yep, four people, 11 pounds of food, and two pints each) sat down for dinner. I'll be making this dish again.

Productivity

From Irish Clover

What you see is a free range laptop. For the last few months, my laptop has been tethered to a power cable due to a faulty battery. On a bit of a whim, Italian suggested we visit Batteries Plus to see if they carried the battery for my laptop and for our cordless phones. I was skeptical and thought an entire store devoted to just batteries was kinda pointless, but agreed to at least give them a try. Now I think an entire store devoted to one thing is wonderful. Not only did they have the right battery, but they recycle them, too. Batteries Plus will be my LBS, local battery store. With my laptop venturing out beyond the office, I can show what we've done this week.

We've accomplished a lot the past few days. We finally finished putting up our Christmas tree. I can now sit back and enjoy the festive glow with a little bit of wine and A Christmas Carol playing in my ear. Having the tree up really sparks the Christmas mood and I'm finally getting into the spirit.

From Irish Clover

A Christmas Carol is also keeping me company while I knit away at the Noro sweater. Since it wasn't ready for Thanksgiving, I am aiming for Christmas.

From WIPs

Granted this is still just the back and the only piece I've knitted, but I think finishing the sweater within the next 10 days is doable. Really, it is. Right?

I've also made a big step in my commitment to eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

From Irish Clover

I cooked a very simple pork tenderloin, roasted on a bed of carrots and shallots, accompanied by mashed new potatoes and mashed roasted sweet potatoes. I love cooking, especially when the dishes are simple and uncomplicated, where the flavors of the foods shine. My plans are to keep cooking the rest of the week and not eat out or serve prepared foods. Tomorrow, we'll mix things up by serving breakfast for dinner.

Daily (Wonder)Bread

First, let me begin by wishing Mrs. Soprano a very happy birthday. Her special day was yesterday and I hope it was filled with all the warmth and love she sends out into the world coming back to bless her day.

For those who know me, you know I am a foodie, and despite setting the microwave on fire at a young age, having meals pre-made for me when my parents were away from home, and marrying a man who did all the cooking for our first year of marriage, I love to cook. When Italian finally convinced me that cooking and new foods are indeed fun, I ended up jumping into it with my typical voracity and began watching the Food Network, collecting cookbooks, subscribing to cooking magazines, and finally, reading non fiction works on food, the food system, and food economy; so when Michael Pollan was interviewed on Fresh Air, Italian naturally wanted to let me know.

The community garden in my dad's neighborhood

Pollan, author of Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, recently authored an open letter to the Presidential Candidates request a reevaluation of our food system for the sake of health and national security. If you have never read any of his work, this is a great time to be introduced to him and reintroduced to your food. In his letter and interview, Pollan encourages us to become more engaged in our food process and what it is doing to our economy, our environment, and our bodies.

Small tomatoes from the community garden

I think one of the things I love most about Pollan's works is his focus on quality food and enjoyment of food. He's approach is not preachy, but matter of fact, and he takes takes some of the polarizing undertones out of the food argument. There are not moral justifications of eating meat or not eating meat, but there is a strong focus on eating local and building a food community. The eat local movement, or otherwise know as sustainable food cultures, strives to bring the community back together by emphasizing something we all have in common, eating. I kinda like his description of the eat local movement as culinary home schooling. So set the table, find local sources of food, and share a meal and conversation. Happy Friday.

(Oh, I also finished a sweater! Woo, hoo!)

From Irish Clover

Pattern: Green Gables
Yarn: Malibrigo Merino Silk
Notes: I have no idea what I did, but I did something truly wacky. I knit this sweater twice, once in the size 36 and then in the 38 size. The difference between the two sizes was close to 8 inches, not the two inches it should have been. The 38 fits better, but has more ease than I like, but at least I can get it on without it turning into a halter top. I had serious 80s flashbacks.

Cow-a-bunga

I took a rare and much needed lunch break Thursday and actually left my office complex. It was liberating and exciting and I even got to spend it with Italian as a little mini date. I was happy for the chance to be out and about until I passed a bank with a nice screen displaying the temperature outside. 104 F (40 C). That's really hot, people. The humidity has been down though, hovering around 35%, which is good for the Delta. Rumors are flying around the office warning people to expect humidity in the upper 80%. That's hot and muggy, people. Oppressive temperature like this makes me wonder yet again why I live in the Delta. Fortunately, I got a bit of a morale boost this week in the form of cow.

I am lucky enough to live close to a hormone and antibiotic free, pasture raised, grass fed cattle farm who delivers. They dropped off our quarter of a cow this past Monday and we celebrated by having local steak for dinner accompanied by potatoes from Mr. Soprano's garden. Opting to try pure steak, Italian simply gave the steaks a sprinkle of salt and pepper with a little bit of olive oil. They were then grilled to medium well, a bit over cooked for our taste, but amazingly good. Most steaks I've had cooked to medium well doneness tend to be bland and lacking in flavor, but not these steaks. They smelled like cow and tasted like what one imagines steak to taste like. I know, this is the oddest and most non descript way of describing these steaks, but they tasted like steak, real steak! To celebrate our cow delivery day, we served Chimney Rock wine with the meal and savored every bite of our locally made meal.