Torn apart

In some ways I really am happy to be back in Madison. I bike a lot more, drive a lot less, exercise more (though my day-to-day work requires less physical activity), and have all the best food and beer in the world available to me. I can also focus on academic pursuits a little more (which is, after all, why I'm here). This is the problem:

Jonathan harvested these beauties from my garden today. And roasted them for a handful of our friends. I love visiting the wonderful farmers' markets here, but I naturally eat seasonally at home because it's available, fresh, and right outside the door. I dropped $10 on okra today at the co-op.

I think I will always call two places home. There will always be trade-offs. Sometimes it makes me feel well-rounded and sometimes it makes me want to scream. If I get a job somewhere that isn't Madison or Cincinnati there may not be enough of me to go around.

Quotations for the day

Child, pointing to goat: Is she an animal?
Me: Yes. Are you an animal?
Child: No.
Me: Yes you are.
Other child: What kind of animal am I?
Me: A human animal.
Other child: I want to be a rabbit.

For his sake, I hope some sort of reincarnation exists.

Child describing his experience milking a goat (or bottle feeding a kid?) to another child:
We made the goat pee into a bottle.

Sometimes I think the children of greater Cincinnati would be better off if I just stayed in bed.

Thoughts for this weekend

1. When I go out to the garden to take a break from the computer I have been coming back like this:

I got a pocket, got a pocketful of Sungolds...



2. "This is also an excellent time to enlarge your day lily and iris collections. Although this may seem like a minor matter in the middle of harvest, the presence of flowers on your property signals prosperity and often helps to fight depression."
The Almanack Daybook for August 24.
Poor Will's Countryside Almanack for Middle and Late Summer 2012 by W.L. Felker

3. Have chigger bites ever been shown to cause insanity?

Neglect and bounty

I have been very busy and very happy the past few weeks. I have travelled to Chicago with friends and to Michigan with fifth graders, visited classrooms and read my book, educated and entertained farm visitors, gotten sore and sunburned in the garden, bought some exceptionnally hot pepper plants, met and re-met many wonderful people, and made some darn good food. I think I only rested on my laurels for one day, maybe less. All of this is the reason that last week my deck was full of leggy, neglected transplants that should have gone in two weeks before.

Every day has been so different and I am loving the variety and challenges. If this spring has taught me only one thing (which it hasn't) it is that I am without a doubt a person who needs to WRITE IT DOWN. Keeping it all balanced (mostly) is part of what is making me feel so fulfilled and accomplished. And there is no way I could do that without a calendar. Actually three to five calendars at any given time.

Last week I donated a meal to Permaganics, a non-profit that employees disadvantaged youth to work in a garden in Over-the-Rhine. I plan to volunteer there regularly this summer after school lets out. That morning I was also applying for a funded position for next semester, which kept me busy until I went to work.

I can't believe I haven't used the lobster steaming basket that came with my seven-and-a-half gallon stockpot more often.

Not to mention the stockpot itself!

Okay, I do use it quite a bit, but this was the first time I used to soak salad greens. Revelatory! The pot continues to be one of my better purchases in life.

I love that no matter how neglected and out of control my garden is it still produces impressive amounts of food. Dave and I feel there is a lot of potential for moneymaking given this phenomenon, which he has also experienced.

P.S. I have an interview for a Zoology TA so I am hopeful!

The garden, my love

 My garden 2012: converted cold frame edition. Photos are from late April, but phenologically I think our area (and others) may be somwhere around early summer. Then again, there was a frost less than a week ago. I'm so confused.

Red Russian kale, mizuna, tatsoi, Osaka purple mustard greens, arugula. Flea beetles are here, but were seriously stemmed by late frosts.

The pvc is a remnant from covering last year's cold frame with a blanket.

Claytonia, co-star of the last post.

My dependable darling, perfect for frittata, pasta, pizza, salad, and egg sandwiches.

The greens of spring

While planning my garden this year I decided to make a list of "things I cannot live without" and plant only those things since we will not be attending a farmers' market (I am finishing grad school this fall). I later loosened that up to include things people I know like and by the time all is said and done I will probably end up with more than I planted last year (plus corn, edamame, various mustard greens; minus cauliflower and celery; equals a gain of one item).

What this means is that I have a full bed of beets and chard planted even though I don't particularly like their "dirty" geosmin taste. Mind you, I have been working on this problem. Last summer I made this a couple times (substituting honey for agave nectar and vanilla for almond extract) to rave reviews.

I was planning on making red beans and rice from leftovers last Saturday, but ended up make Swiss chard and potato soup and a claytonia salad, after eyeing how beautiful both looked in the garden. (This is Swiss chard I seeded last spring, actually, for those of you who would call me out on harvesting mature Swiss chard in mid-April!)

I am happy to report I have another recipe for the non-beta vulgaris lover that still uses copious amount of the species. The recipe comes from the book, Quick Short Recipes, but I altered it a lot so will write it below. The salad, as I said, was claytonia (the first time I have grown that successfully--thank you long, late, cool, spring), whose taste is mild and whose texture is purslane-like succulent. I topped it with sliced Cheriette radishes from the garden, croutons, and a homemade blue cheese vinaigrette. We shared this adventure meal with Matt, who is always game.

Creamy Potato and Swiss Chard Soup

Place 5 cups chicken stock (I used Orrington Farms Chicken Flavored Broth Base and Seasoning) and 2 pounds chopped potatoes in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer, let simmer for 5 minutes, or until potato is almost tender.

Remove stalks from approximately 1/3 pound (you can play with this amount) Swiss chard with a paring knife. Shred leaves and add to pot with potato. Simmer for an additional few minutes until the potato and chard are tender.

Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 cup sour cream and 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

Puree all with a hand blender or in a food processor/ blender in small batches. Return to pan and heat gently.

Garnish with grated/shaved parmesan, parrano, or a similar cheese and (optional) edible flowers (I used bolted rainbow lacinato kale flowers).

Adapted from Quick Short Recipe Cookbook. Published by Bay Books, 2008.

What I had on hand

Sometimes when I don't know what to cook I try to visualize as many of the ingredients I have on hand as I can, let them swirl together in my head with recipes, and see what comes out.

Today, I am happy to say, it was pumpkin and goat cheese hand pies from here, which I had bookmarked after seeing here. I know it isn't fall, but if I had all the ingredients (and it was cold, wet, and 50 degrees) does it matter? Halfway through preparing them I realized how well they would fulfill their purpose--as a potluck dish for a golden birthday.

It was a little unclear how the dough would fit around the filling, and indeed this proved too much to ask from some of the little guys.

They didn't spill out in the oven, though, and I like the look--the opening offers a little peek at what's inside and lends some personality.

My only deviation from the original recipe was to use sour cream instead of cream or yogurt in the dough (and more of it). I used up the last of my frozen pumpkin from last fall and fresh sage growing out and about. Just in case you didn't figure this out already, they are DELICIOUS.

Italian Sunday perpetuates Italian Monday.

I made mushroom risotto for the second time on Sunday and decided that it is a therapeutic dish. As you may know risotto's creaminess is achieved by adding small amounts of broth to arborio rice while constantly stirring, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more. In other words, it is necessary to SLOW DOWN to make it well. The first time I made this I had had a terrible day at work and this time I was feeling very "over-stimulated" and wound-up from working on my book. Mine was made from this recipe, with half the amount of mushrooms and without butter, which would be overkill in my opinion.

This meal led to watching the "Rome" episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations", which led to making Spaghetti alla Carbonara on Monday night. It was shaping up to be picture-perfect traditional, down to the Pecorino from the Roman countryside, until I decided to settle for using bacon instead of guanciale or even pancetta. This after a shot-in-the dark Google search for "guanciale Cincinnati" turned up nothing but links for Dr. Anthony Guanciale. I made it by following this recipe word for word and it turned out great.

Valentine's Day Orangettes

Orangettes made out of orange peels left over from snack at school. One of my extended day students cut the heart shapes out for me before I candied them that night.

Saturday meal adventure

This last week was my first full work week spending every hour of full light away from home while substituting at school. Up until now I'm not sure if my relaxed life has been a fantasy, or more or less the way I should be living. In any event I am in constant transition right now so I don't think I can worry too much about it.
As much as I looked forward to the weekend it was strange to know how best to proceed with my day. I felt like I had to make today worth it, cooking-wise, since I need to make something tomorrow that will give me leftovers for lunch during the week. I hadn't done much cooking since last Sunday and even then it was a recipe I had made many times.

That was a lot of pressure and I started to feel stress, so I decided to make two recipes that I have made once, but to make one key component from scratch--corn tortillas. It would be a first for me.
My outing to buy what I needed didn't help me feel like my cooking choices were meant to be. First there was the rediculously crowded Kroger that had expired Masa on the shelves, a tortilla press I didn't want to pay $25 for, and what seemed like every staff member on the floor pushing or pulling something that was in my way. Then I couldn't find a single tortilla press at Target or Wal-Mart, which I drove all the way to Alexandria for.

When I got home though, the tortilla making went great sans press and the meal was impressive. I was so happy to find that corn tortillas are easier to make than flour tortillas (in my opinion). In the end, they became part of a chicken enchiladas verdes that I served with quinoa con queso, a recipe from Simply Recipes (don't skimp on the cilantro). Motifs of queso fresco and cilantro pervaded the meal, which we shared with Matt.