CSA Week 4

This week in our CSA share, from left to right: mizuna, cilantro, bok choy, lettuce, red cabbage (we did get a whole head, we just used half before the picture was taken), snow peas, and rainbow chard (not pictured; I forgot whether the chard in our fridge was from this week or last so it didn't make it into the picture).  We have been doing a pretty good job finishing up the veggies from last week's share in time for the new arrivals, but usually there's at least something left over that we try to eat right away.

We also purchased some Bing cherries from a vendor from Quincy.  The quality of the cherries isn't that great, so if they start to go south before we can eat them all I will make popsicles with whatever is left. 

Quality Source: Buying spices in bulk

LJ and I first lived together in Ellensburg, which is a nice little college town in the middle of the state.  Ellensburg has a wonderful natural foods store that we use to frequent because it had cheap bulk ingredients and was a short walk from our first apartment.  This was my first experience with buying spices in bulk and I haven't gone back to the supermarket's overpriced aisle of spices since.

It is nearly impossible to over emphasize the price savings when buying spices in bulk.  Since you are buying in bulk you are paying for the spices buy the pound or ounce instead of by the container.  Most spices are incredibly light so you can really stock up without too much of a cost.  I'll never forget the first time we bought bay leaves in bulk.  The ten or so bay leaves were so light that they didn't even register on the scale when we were checking out.  The cashier looked at us and asked, "How does 20 cents sound?"

In the Olympia area we buy most of our spices in the bulk section at Winco Foods.  The selection and prices at Winco are excellent but when I'm in need of a more unique spice I go to Buck's on Fifth Avenue.  We found Buck's recently when we were wandering around downtown on a Saturday morning.  I saw a bunch of random jars in the window of a small shop and started to read the labels when I realized we'd stumbled upon a pretty awesome store.  This place has almost anything you'd want and if they don't have something they will do their best to find it and order it for you.  They also have no minimum amount so if you need just a small amount of something for a new recipe you are trying you don't have to buy a whole bottle.

Shopping for spices in bulk can be a bit intimidating the first time.  Each store has it's own procedures with how you scoop and measure the spices so it is a good idea to ask the staff the first time you visit.  Once you try it though it is hard to go back to buying spices in such an expensive way at the supermarket.

On our first trip to Buck's I picked up Bengal curry powder (which was amazing in dal) and black mustard seeds (which will be featured in an upcoming post where I made my own brown beer mustard for brats).

CSA Week 3

A slightly overwhelming haul from the CSA this week.  From left to right we have: 2 pounds of fava beans, 5 (five!!!) heads of broccoli, spinach, kale, chard, and up front are garlic scapes.

We are still figuring out how we are going to use everything up this week but we are excited about the possibilities.

Oat Jam Bars

HH has mentioned before that we don't tend to keep sweets in the house because they might get devoured in an alarmingly short amount of time.  Sometimes, though, we just really want something sweet and we want it right away.  Luckily, we usually have all the ingredients on hand for these oat jam bars.

They consist of 2 layers of an oatmeal, butter, and brown sugar mixture with a layer of jam sandwiched in-between.  When I made this batch, we had blueberry jam available from the pantry.  We found the recipe here, and agree with Adam that the bars should be cut into pretty small pieces because they are very rich.  I am excited to try these bars with a variety of jams that HH will surely make this summer.

Mojitos

Last weekend a good friend/birthday buddy came to visit for the weekend.  I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make mojitos using the nectarine liqueur my in-laws got me for my birthday.  Unfortunately, I found out that my friend isn't the biggest fan of rum.  But fortunately for me, she didn't want to finish her drink so I helped her out (like good friends do) by finishing it for her. 

To make the mojitos, we smooshed up lime wedges with sugar and fresh mint that we picked from the potted plant out on the patio.  We filled the glasses with ice, then added some rum, club soda, and the nectarine liqueur.  In the future, HH thinks it's important to make simple syrup (basically just simmering water and sugar until all the sugar dissolves) to use instead of straight sugar because it can settle in the bottom of the glass. 

 

 

I appreciated the sweet fruity flavor the liqueur added.  I love that you can tell it contains real bits of fruit as evidenced by the floaty bits in the bottle.  It was made at a little distillery in our hometown; I may be stopping in the next time we are in the area to sample some of their other flavors.

Cheers to birthday buddies!  (Next time I'll make sure not to make rum-based drinks!)

CSA Week 2

From left to right:  fava beans, arugula, bok choy, broccoli, Merlot lettuce, and spinach.  The egg rolls were not part of the CSA but I did pick them up from the farmers market for lunch from an awesome little food truck.

Dried Pears

This post has been in the making for just over 30 years.  How is that possible you ask? 30 years ago was before Al Gore invented the internet even, much less before blogs were in exsistence.  Valid point astute reader.  What I meant to say is that this post, and this recipe, was inspired by my childhood, and more specifically, by my Grandma G.

The longtime blog reader (my dad) may remember that I inherited Grandma G's food dehydrator.  My brothers and I spend most summer days hanging out at Grandma G's house which was just a few blocks away.  We would do crafts, play in the yard, and always watch The Price is Right.

Though I never saw Grandma G make them, she always had dried pears in her pantry.  The pears were unlike any other dried fruit she had for us.  They were more like candy and less like prunes.  They were a special treat and something we'd often try to sneak when we thought no one else would notice.

As Grandma G got older (as all grandmas eventually do) the pears eventually ran out and were never replaced. It has been at least 20 years since anyone in my family has tasted one.

When LJ and I last visited her parents her dad gave us a few Bosc pears to go along with our usual load of apples.  As soon as I saw them and heard LJ's dad rave about how they were the perfect ripeness I knew what I had to do with them.

One of the problems with recreating family favorite recipes is often grandmas didn't write down their recipes.  They had made something so many times that keeping a recipe would just be silly because it would never need to be consulted.  I quizzed my mom about what she remembered on how the pears were prepared and she in turn asked her sisters what they could recall.  None of them had actually made the pears before but from what they remembered I pieced together a recipe.

I was off to bad start in recreating the recipe already because everyone agreed that the correct variety of pear to use was a Bartlett, not a Bosc (if you did not grow up in eastern Washington and can't easily identify varieties of apples, cherries, and pears you can consult this site to see what pears I'm taking about).  The second thing my mom relayed to me was that the pears must be peeled.  She distinctly remembered a time when Grandma G attempted a batch that was unpeeled and no one liked them as much.  I had no idea how the pears should be sized so I quartered them and hoped for the best.

I knew the next step was going to be key but there was some disagreement on what needed to be done.  The pears definitely needed to be poached but it was unclear for how long, how thick the syrup should be, and how soft the pears should be allowed to go.  One story that came up a number of times was that my mom and her sisters remembered one time Grandma G ran out of dried pears so she opened up a jar of home canned pears, drained them, and put them straight on to the dehydrator.

This was a key anecdote that allowed me to continue on.  I've never canned pears before (I'm hoping to try making a few quarts this summer if I can get my hands on a box of pears) but I did some searching on how pears are processed before they are canned.  I settled on creating a syrup out of 4 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar.  I soaked the 7 pears in the warm syrup for about an hour over low heat and the pears were just barely soft.

After that I threw them on the dehydrator and let it do its work.  The drying took longer than I expected (close to 24 hours) but that is probably because I kept adjusting the temperature setting on the fancy new dehydrator that LJ got for Christmas.

The pears were just like I remembered.  Chewy, a little syrupy, a strong pear flavor, and almost like candy.  LJ was impressed with the one I let her try and could finally see what I had been obsessing over for the last few days.

I packed up the pears in plastic wrap and mailed them to my two brothers, parents, and two aunts to get their opinions.  The consensus was that they were pretty darn close to what they remembered.  Nearly everyone seemed to agree that they could tell they were Bosc instead of Bartlett, though I'm curious if they would have known if I hadn't said anything in advance.  One of my brothers thought he remembered them being larger so next time I may try to make them by just halving the pears, but I'm not sure how I will get the core out (I also think he may remember them as bigger since he was so much smaller the last time he had one).

They were so good that I had eaten all of the ones I kept for myself before I remembered to snap a photo of them.  Thanks to my little brother for getting a picture of his when they arrived in the mail.

I'm looking forward to making them again but I may be less willing to share.

Copper River Salmon

I apologize for my lack of blog posting recently.  I write up most of my posts on the weekends and set them to post for the upcoming week usually, but we've had a few busy weekends in a row with weddings and what not, so the post writing has suffered.  We have lots of photos on our computer and camera of things we've created over the last few weeks so we aren't hurting for material to write about and I will need to clear out the backlog of posts over the next few weeks.

However clearing out the backlog will have to wait at least another day because of the timeliness of this subject.  Copper River salmon are only in season for about a month each year in late spring or early summer.  Copper River salmon is often considered the worlds finest salmon and in the Pacific Northwest the arrival of the fish from Alaska is treated with a fair amount of fan fare (pictures of the salmon being unloaded from the planes is not uncommon to see in major newspapers).

LJ and I knew nothing of this just a few weeks ago when we wandered in to a pretty stellar fish market after perusing the downtown farmers market on Saturday morning.  I'm a little intimidated when it comes to cooking seafood but with such an abundance of local options it is something I'm planning on conquering.

I had no idea what to order out of the massive butchers case so I did what most people would do.  I ordered what seemed to be on sale and had lots of advertising around it.  Ordering at a fish market can be a little overwhelming with all the varieties of fish and tanks of live crabs but thankfully the fish mongers are extremely helpful and patient.  The most difficult question they asked me was if I'd prefer the head or tail end of the fish (I'm not sure if there is a correct answer but I feel like the tail ends are easier to work with when cooking because they cook more evenly).

When we got home from the market I realized I had this gorgeous piece of fish and no idea how I was going to prepare it.  Growing up my parents always baked salmon in the oven which seemed like a reasonable approach for a whole side of salmon but since I was just making two small portions I knew I would have more options.  Googling Copper River salmon recipes gives a tremendous amount of options but many of them seemed too fancy and didn't focus and letting the flavor of the salmon come through.

Often times the first time I'm working with an ingredient I want to prepare it as simply as possible so that I can taste it for what it is.  With the salmon I decided sprinkling it with coarse sea salt and pan frying it would be the way to go.

I cooked the salmon for 4-5 minutes on each side over medium heat in a little bit of olive oil.  I broke the fish apart with a fork to sneak a peak inside to check for doneness (much easier than cooking a steak in that way).

The pan frying created a crispness and texture that can't be achieved from baking in the oven and both LJ and I really thought it was nice. We enjoyed it so much that we've already picked up Copper River salmon from the fish market two times since our initial attempt.  It can be a little spendy but we have to take advantage while it is in season!

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

I've mentioned in a number of previous posts that LJ and I  participated in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program last winter. Though we got more than our fill of winter squash we enjoyed the experience so much that we signed up for a summer CSA share that started this week.

A CSA allows you to pay a farm at the start of the growing season to help cover their start up costs.  In exchange, each week you get a pile of produce from the farm to enjoy.  With this arrangement you share the risk of crop failure with the farmer but you also get to enjoy any extra large bounties that year.

I enjoy the CSA experience because it encourages me to eat more vegetables and try a variety of new things.  I also like the idea that some of the food we are eating was grown within just a few miles of our house and we are supporting local farmers.

This was our first week for our summer CSA and my plan is to share a photo each week with the hope that I inspire a few people to either sign up for a CSA or check out what is fresh at their local farmers market.  The Local Harvest website is a great resource is you are looking for options near you.

In this week's CSA we received rhubarb, kale, lettuce, bok choy, and chard.  I'm hoping to find some strawberries this weekend at the farmers market to make a pie or jam with the rhubarb and we are going to be eating lots of salads this week with the rest of the greens.

Super Secret Sewing Project: Revealed

This weekend some good friends of ours got married, and I was honored to be asked to make the bridesmaids dresses for the lovely ladies participating in the ceremony.  All nine (yes...9!) of them.  I was given plenty of lead time and I managed to finish them the day before, which is pretty good considering I had to do four fittings and finish a lot of work on that day before the wedding.  Luckily HH was able to help out that day with some very important tasks: ironing and coffee making. 

I am proud of my work and happy with the finished products (all 9 of them!), though I don't think I'll be taking on this big of project anytime in the near future.  Nor do I think I'll ever sew nine of anything ever again.  Here are some photos of the process as well as the finished product:

Congrats, John and Elizabeth!

 

Some notions

Only a third of the fabric used.  There were 3 layers.  Times nine dresses.  You do the math.

The most tedious part was the cutting...

...and more cutting...

...and more cutting.

Bodice pieces all pinned up and ready to sew.  My pin holder is empty!

Skirts all lined up

Skirt layers all pinned up

A speedy technique known as chain sewing.  Keep sewing from piece to piece and cut apart once finished.

HH's modeling debut

Halter straps, pre-pressing

Halter strap, mid-pressing

Sewing the lining on the inside by stitching in the ditch on the outside

It's finished!

Thanks for modeling, ladies!

(The cowboy boots weren't a part of the wedding...just the reception when it got chilly.)