food

I hereby declare today Swedish day.

My energy is waning, and the to-do list is getting short either by completion or deletion. I needed to keep today a little bit simpler. My main task for today was to make Swedish Coffee buns (after the Rayburn's recipe). My college roomie and I bonded over Christmas and our shared Swedish heritage. I love these coffee buns she made every Christmas. The secret is cardamom. I made a pile for our Christmas breakfast and sent a text to her. She was making them, too.

And then, of all the perfect timing, my package arrived with my amber necklace that I had ordered. How perfectly Scandinavian!

The only thing missing was a trip to IKEA......

I made peanut brittle for the first time!!

I didn't have a candy thermometer. And I've never really made candy. So it took about three tries and lots of drops in a cup of water to get the right temperature. All the recipes that tell you to boil for a certain number of minutes are just garbage! It's actually a mix of nuts and a few raisins.

And it's gone. (Granted some of it went to the UPS guy)

Sweet potato latke.

So there is a little bit of a back story to tonight's dinner.

I was sitting in the coffee shop on Saturday morning, alone, working on my applications. I saw a friend of mine drive up, park right outside, and then go in to the nearby co-op for some groceries. I caught her attention when she came back out, and she came in to chat a little. She explained that she was having a latke party for her family that night, which was when I found out she is Jewish--though non-practicing. Ha! I've known her for five years!

So we chat about latkes. I'm an idiot and ask "so what exactly are latkes?" because, honestly, I've never had them. And then she tells me about how she's nervous about making them, and isn't sure how it's all going to work. This is part where I start giving her advice on how to make something that minutes before I don't even know what they are. Yea, so I'm an idiot. (My advice, btw, was to use lots of flour, so that they don't fall apart--like for falafel.)

I've been kicking myself ever since, because, what do I know? So dinner tonight. Homemade pizza was on the menu, but I had a Staples adventure that was the opposite of just press the Easy button. So no time to make dough or get reserve dough out of the freezer.

And then my mind wanders back to those latkes and the tons of sweet potatoes we have left from our CSA. So I quick found a recipe for sweet potato latkes, and I thought I would try the advice I gave. It worked great, by the way. They were so good!

The recipe called for a bit of cardamom and ginger. Mix the grated sweet potatoes, some eggs, some flour, some spices. Fry like pancakes in oil. So delicious!! We had pancakes, too, and the maple syrup was good with it, too. But the ginger gave it an Asian-y quality, and I could totally eat a plate of these and some pot stickers! (and I wonder why I'm not losing weight. ha!)

After my friend MK raved about apple pandowdy, I saw it again in Everyday Food (I think). Guess it's the coolest newest retro dessert.

So we sort of made our own version, which actually was more just apple pie just baked with a top crust.

This is a very toddler-friendly way to make apple pie, and as we all know, "Marlowe make apple pie!!"

This is a toddler dessert from start to finish, because I don't know about you, but despite my efforts, I'm always picking up half-finished apples or apples with just one bite out of them. It's so frustrating.That Marlowe is a pro at sneaking apples. So when I find one of these renegade apples, I toss it in the fridge. When it came time for dessert, I chopped off bits that were bit off of, peeled it and tossed it in the pan. (yea, so maybe not a company dessert, I really did chop off all bit parts, though)

Then Marlowe helps shake some cinnamon, we drizzled maple syrup over the apples, and he stirred it all up. I whipped up a little pastry in the food processor, and since we weren't being too picky about it, he could help roll it out and then pull bits off to top the apples. Then we sprinkled with a little cinnamon and sugar and let it bake while we ate our dinner.

So, as you can see, it's not a very tidy apple pie, and I didn't have to freak out that he was going to mess up my perfect crust. Yet we still got to enjoy APple-pie (as he inflects it).

Blueberries go "kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk" into buckets.

Marlowe, where do the blueberries go?

Enjoying apple cider ice in the shop.

And so another step towards instilling into my poor city kids that food comes from plants that grow in the dirt.

Ellis was actually a really good picker. He could've kept going longer than we did. It was end of season, though, and the bushes were pretty picked over. Marlowe did a good job of eating blueberries. Though i'm afraid more work in color recognition would be in order.

Ever since my friend Keri kept mentioning making bagels and how they are so yummy and how she will never buy bagels again, because they are so yummy, the thought of making bagels has been nagging in the back of my head.

With snow and disappointment punctuating my day yesterday, I needed a project to keep me from moping around, a purpose for the day. So I scoured the internet for bagel recipes, and after reading about a dozen different recipes, I settled on this one, which I kind of made up after reading so many. I know, I can't believe I do this: change a recipe before I even make it for the first time. But I do this kind of thing all the time, change a recipe, change a pattern. Let's say, I barely passed "Takes directions well" in Kindergarten.

So the bagels were delicious! And not too hard.

Here's my recipe:

makes a dozen

4 1/2 c flour
2 TB sugar (the recipe I was going off of said 3, wh. seems exorbitant to me, next time I think I'll just do 1)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 package (or generous TB) yeast
1 2/3 c warm water
2 TB oil
1 egg (which I added; next time I might try two)

* dissolve yeast into the warm water, add sugar, salt, oil, egg. mix. Gradually add flour.
* When it's thoroughly mixed, dump dough on counter and begin kneading. Dust with flour enough to keep from sticking to the counter. Knead constantly for a good 10 mins. this is important to get the gluten working.
* let rise in a warm place for 15 mins.
* divide the dough into 12 pieces. roll the pieces into a ball and poke a hole in the middle. let rise while bringing a pot of water to boil.

* while the water is getting hot dissolve a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt into the water.
* when it is boiling, drop the bagels in. The increase in size a lot, so don't overcrowd them.
* Boil for 3 mins on one side, flip boil for 2 mins on the other. Then take them out and let them dry on a kitchen towel.

* Brush the tops with egg white. My mom and I had a lot of fun putting different toppings on them: sesame seeds, garlic powder, caraway seeds, grated cheese. And, yes, we left some plain for my picky kids.
* Bake at 425F for 20-25mins.

And, yes, they were so good!!!!!!!

ETA: I divided these once more to make two dozen mini bagels. I should've reduced the boiling time, too. I would suggest a minute on each side.

I've also made cinnamon raisin bagels. But I didn't want a whole dozen. So after the dough is mixed and before kneading, divide in half. Take one half and stretch out a little and sprinkle a bunch of cinnamon on it. It will get worked into the dough as you knead, when you're a little over half way done kneading, do the same and add the raisins. If you add the raisins at the beginning they will start to get pulverized by the end.

Just a few more tricks I've learned along the way.

We've been getting our CSA box for several weeks now. I knew I wanted to do this partly because it's in my blood to support local agriculture. But over the past few weeks this abstract idea has developed some concrete realities for me. I don't choose what goes in the box. The farmer grows stuff and once a week gives me a box of what he's growing, so that means, we get whatever is in season. I remember growing up with times of plenty in the area of tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchinis and such. But that was a long time ago, before i was doing my own coking. And didn't involve greens.

I like greens. But I've never had access to greens in seasonal proportions. Eating in season requires a lot of creativity, because the stuff is there now. Some of it can be frozen (not martha has a great tutorial on how to blanch and freeze kale), but some it must be eaten now. I've also had access to a greater variety of greens than I've ever had before: chard, mustard greens, beet greens, spinach, purple curly kale, dinosaur kale, regular (?) kale, arugula, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, bok choy, cabbage. I'm sure I'm leaving something out. They just kept coming!!

At first I just sauteed the greens with lots of garlic, which is actually super yummy, and I enjoy the simplicity of this. But I made a few dishes that I think were a creative use of greens. First, there was the pasta dish that I already blogged about, which is a great use of spinach. I also liked topping pizza with fresh spinach.

This first of these is a vegetarian recipe. Greens in Pastry Pockets.

* Sautee onions, garlic,
* add chickpeas (white beans would be good, too; or chicken or fish for a meat option), sundried tomatoes, a few tablespoons of creamcheese, and some herbs (like rosemary and thyme)
* Stir in whatever greens you have until they are wilted.
* spoon into pastry shell. (Or I've been cheating and using pillsbury crescent rolls, pressed out into squares. Usually need two tubes for 8 squares)
* and bake for about 12 minutes.

Then there's what I'm calling Creole Greens. It's sort of inspired by Gumbo z'Herbes.

* Sautee onions and garlic. (I promise I do have other ways to start recipes.)
* Add ham (or bacon), creole seasoning, red pepper flakes.
* Stir in whatever greens you have until they are wilted.
* Serve over rice. Garnish with fresh parsley

When I made this I had purple kale and beet greens, and the purple and the red were so pretty.

Spring is moving into summer, and the greens are fading. We're getting more variety: broccoli, cucumbers, onions. The past couple of weeks we've gotten garlic scapes, which I've never had before--and they are so yummy. They are sort of like garlic meets aspargus, but tenderer.

I'm having a great time doing this. And it really is helping my kitchen ennui.

When I was a kid, we had donuts on Saturday mornings. I always got cream filled. I remember swinging madly on our swing set probably high on sugar.

Lately, I've been so tired in the evening, that I save cleaning the kitchen for the morning. I know you're not supposed to do that. But I'm a whole lot more cheerful cleaning in the kitchen in the morning. Sometimes I get to the point, where I'm "together" again, and I manage to go to bed with a clean kitchen, but sometimes...not.

So I got up and cleaned the kitchen this morning. I didn't want to mess it up making breakfast, and we don't usually have convenient things like cold cereal around. So Ellis and I went and got a box of munchkins for less than $5. Popping little balls of sugar. Even Marlowe ate breakfast as Ellis shoved a tantalizing munchkin into his face. Definitely need a little sugar high to start this busy day. heh, heh.

After dreaming and dreaming about it, we finally signed up for a CSA share.* I'd like to say I'm excited about supporting local agriculture (and I am! that's very close to my heart, actually), but I think I was a tad more excited about being presented with a box of food that I can cook with but that I didn't have to exert the brain power to actually choose. It's really hard for me to feel inspired when I look at a blank piece of paper that says "Menus for the Week." I cringe every week. I never do it. My brain is totally dysfunctional lately in terms of food planning. I've bought magazines, surfed the internet, read through old cookbooks, desperately trying to find that little bit of inspiration. Totally stymied. So I will freely admit, I was looking toward the advent of the CSA box with messianic proportions. Save me from the ennui!

Today I went to pick up our first box. Beautiful!!! Green!!! GREEN!!!!!! I brought it home and opened it. Reveled in it. Smelled the herbs which actually had scent and flavor! I held a head of green leaf lettuce that was like a foot in diameter. I wouldn't have known it was spinach if they hadn't said so. So robust! Hubby came into the kitchen and witnessed my madness, "So, you geeking out?" Yea, pretty much.

I mean, look at these beautiful radishes.

All of a sudden I can think of a few meals to make. (Well, something besides pizza, taco salad, and spaghetti.) My buddy Joanna is going to be blogging about her CSA box and what she's making with it. I think it will be cool to do, too. Since the stuff we get comes at its season, it'll be interesting to see how roughly the same ingredients we'll be getting changes throughout the spring and summer. And Joanna has some pretty cool food blogging anyway.

So here's my first contribution, which is actually, recently, becoming a quick favorite meal in our family. I love it for it's speediness and versatility.

Boil some pasta (I use penne).
In a pan saute some onions and garlic (like one small onion and 1-2 garlic cloves)
Add some meat or white beans or chickpeas or lentils (versatility: vegetarian options)
Add some herbs (basil, rosemary, cilantro all good choices; tonight I used cilantro from teh box)
Add some lemon juice, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper (to taste) (if I have an actual lemon on hand, I grate some zest, too).
Add some tomatoes (crushed, diced, or sundried--I prefer the sundried tomatoes that come in a paste in a jar)
If the mixture is a little dry, add some of the pasta water before draining.
Drain the pasta and toss the noodles in the pan (leaving some out for your very picky kid who doesn't like sauces).
Add fresh spinach and toss until it becomes wilted.
Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

From the box: cilantro, spinach, and our side salad of spring greens.

*CSA=community supported agriculture. it works by buying a share in a local, organic farm, and every week during season, you get a box of whatever produce is in season.

Mommy's perspective: A staggering cascade of sprinkles, which sends the cookie decorating venture up to carnage status.

Ellis's perspective: SNOW!