pickle frenzy

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I managed to can some pickles today...

Yesterday, I got the recipe from my mom, my Gram's recipe...the best ever. Since my son only likes a limited amount of food lately, and pickles make the cut, I had already decided that I was going to make these. After the recent inspiration from Food in Jars, I bought the pickles at the farm market on Saturday.

I think part of my aversion to canning has been time, but also that my family always canned what they GREW. I know that plenty of farmers come to the city and sell amazing wares, but for some reason, I end up thinking that I should have planted this or that to "put up". Since I am now somewhat of an Urban Dweller, I am thankful that there are people to buy great fruits and veg from, since my little plot only supplies me with tomatoes, herbs, peppers and this year potatoes and eggplants.

I love thinking about my Gram's garden, when she still had nearly a half acre of haphazard things growing and thriving barely in rows. My Dad always planted a very neat and orderly garden: very beautiful and organized...but my Gram's garden is more like my garden I guess, a wing and a prayer. She definitely knew more about plants than I do, but she kept a very organic and loose feeling plot... more a semi-organized whim, I think.

I feel grateful to have scored mostly the same size small 1/4 bushel of cucumber from the farm market. I got the last one from that particular vendor, and the farmer told the poor soul who asked after I finished paying that she should have arrived 20 minutes sooner. I felt obligated to give her my apologies. I have no room for cucumbers in the land directly south of my semi-urban garage (notice I did NOT say "suburban" here), and truth be told, I don't think I'm much of a farmer. Oh, I wish it were in my genes, as my Dad and Gram could cultivate just about everything... but I fear that tomatoes and basil are about my limit of patience and ability. Give me an animal, even a large animal, to attend to and I think I'd do fine. But I think a lot more reading and research is due to me to become a better gardener.

I even bought the dill at the market. Too bad I don't live as close to my folks as I'd like, my Mom told me she has tons of dill to spare - me, I paid $1.

I finished the pickles, excited as can be. No pickle tastes as good to me as the ones I grew up eating...and this is THE RECIPE. So, I should be well rewarded in 30 days or longer when I try them, from my own hands, the first time.

July 2009 Daring Baker Challenge: Mallows

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This was my first Daring Baker Challenge, and I was so excited to discover on July 1 what mysterious item I would be baking. I wasn't disappointed. I have been needing an excuse to try making marshmallows for quite some time. I was surprised how easy they were. I guess I knew this, having read other articles on marshmallow making (notably Mollie Weizenberg's article in Bon Appetit last summer: here is her recipe which I will soon be trying. Well, maybe I will wait for fall...

These cookies were a little labor intensive, and I did use an 1 1/2 inch cookie cutter, and had many many more than the 2 dozen the recipe said would result. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I just wish it were Christmas time so I had more people to give them away to. July isn't really the time to have way too many chocolate covered anythings laying around...

I think next time I would be a little more careful piping the marshmallow clear to the edge of the cookie. I will say that the recipe was well written. Many times when you follow component type recipes, you end up with way too much or not enough of one of the components. These worked out pretty much perfect, just a little extra chocolate glaze, and that can't be a bad thing.

I dipped them at night. Note to self: figure out how to take better digital night time photos. I usually just wait for daylight, since I don't have good lighting in the kitchen at night, and nothing looks quite right after being snapped...

The shortbread cookie bottom was really good, very neutral, but well designed to complement the marshmallow and chocolate coating. The only other problem I ran into was that the chocolate coat did not ever really harden up. I ended up just leaving them in the fridge, where they happily remained hardened

and chilled until they were gone. I would have preferred them at room temp, however. Either way, these definitely shouldn't be eaten while wearing anything white.

I also discovered that these are beyond delicious if you spread them first with peanut butter before eating them...No pics of that though, too too messy to shoot one handed!

I can not believe that August is just around the corner. Another July escapes and fall is breathing down our necks. Now that I'm obsessively canning, I look forward to a month of tremendous garden windfalls, and if that fails, tremendous farm market windfalls...

If you are at all interested in canning, or even just toying with the idea of starting out, please visit Food in Jars. I promise you that you will be instantly inspired. I just finished canning some pickles this afternoon, 11 pints I'm proud to say will line the basement shelves for the coming months. I'm sure some photos will follow later.

cherry basket case.

cherries in baskets, originally uploaded by Rcakewalk.

It has been one week now since my total and complete obsession with cherries. Last Saturday when Elisa and Laura were here, I happened to try some tart cherries at a farm market. I was a goner. I bought 2 baskets, and half of 1 was probably missing by the time we walked back through my door. Since, I've been back twice. Yesterday I bought 8 more, since I was warned by the super nice farmer that the end is nigh.

This evening I made jam from a recipe I got off of Food in Jars. I spent a fair amount of time in perusal of her site determining that I was indeed going to can more this year. I was in part inspired by Food in Jars, in part by Boy-O's addiction to eating pickles, and my own recent obsession with these tart cherries.

After said jam making, I still have 5 beautiful little baskets left. What to do? I'm going to try my hand at a cherry liqueur. I found a nice recipe at Homestead Farm, so I think I'll give it a try.

Meanwhile, I'm also addicted to flickr. I upgraded to pro and can add a million photos; it's fun to see what other people are taking pictures of too. It's too easy to think that I'm in my own little corner of Wisconsin, and not take time to remember how big the planet is. Well, quite a bit smaller now due to flickr, I think. Amazing still to see what other creative people are doing in all parts of the world.

I've been so excited about these ridiculous cherries that I almost forgot tomorrow is the day I can post my first ever Daring Baker challenge! See you in the morning...

Accidental Lunches (Vadouvan Spiced Couscous), or in Which I Discovered the First CakeWalk Series...

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Today, a Wednesday, is Library Day. Most weeks, boy-o and I walk to the library for a story time, then play at the park for a bit weather depending, and then walk home for lunch. I love that when I wake in the morning, I would have no idea what is going to be on the table for lunch. Most of the time it's just leftovers from the day before...but occasionally, I am inspired and something erupts either out of necessity or inspiration. Such was the case with the Accidental Lunch Salad back in June, and such was the case today with Vadouvan Spiced Couscous.

The flatbreads in the background are another of my favorite things, I happened to have some in the freezer, and also happened to have the oven on, so I popped one in to heat up and it was if I had just made them...

Another local obsession is The Spice House. (Find them online here: www.spicehouse.com) When I go in, I am addicted to asking what's new. The last time I went, in May, it was this spice that if I remember correctly is popular in Britain. It smelled great, like a mild yellow curry, and I bought a small packet to try.

I must confess to a small arsenal of small packets of Spice House treasures. Most of them I try right away, and then try to keep the packets organized in my cabinet. This Vadouvan however, managed to get a little lost in the shuffle, and happily rediscovered today. Originally, I had some leftover couscous, and cold home-canned corn (from my Mom), both peering back at me from the lonely confines of my fridge...then I used up two packets of frozen veg from the freezer: peas and green beans. I was really looking for Japanese Seven Spice Powder (Shichimi Togarashi) that was another such purchase from the Spice House, but remembering that I didn't have any more, I saw this Vadouvan looking up at me.

I think the resulting recipe, which could be easily changed to accommodate any leftovers really, would make a good side dish to any supper...or even a main dish with some kind of protein - currently obsessed baked Tofu or chicken comes to mind. As with all things I cook, amounts are approximate.

Vadouvan Spiced Couscous

1 1/2 to 2 cups leftover couscous

1-2 T. olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, finely diced

1-2 T. Vadouvan spice

1 cup corn 1/2 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup frozen green beans

salt and pepper

(Normally I don't microwave much, but I did today since boy-o was whiney and tired and needed his PB&J...) Microwave peas and green beans in 1/4 c. water for about 3 minutes until done. Drain and set aside. Saute onion in olive oil over medium high heat until just starting to release some liquid. Add Vadouvan spice, and continue cooking until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add corn, and saute until heated through. Add couscous and heat through, then add peas and green beans with salt and pepper to taste, and let everything get nice and hot, about 3 minutes. The longer you leave the couscous on the heat, the crunchier it becomes.

You could certainly add more veg, cubed carrots and red pepper would have made the cut here if I wasn't trying so hard to be fast. I hope to post all future Accidental Lunches as they become imagined, and will try to measure my ingredients a bit better in the future to approximate more accurate recipe writing...