pure yum

Having John back in the kitchen makes everything so right in the world once again! Last year, due to my extended illness, we got out of our local eating habit. This morning after a trip to the Farmer's Market, we are back in business. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be making such conscious healthy choices once again.

Picture above is the bottom layer of a fig, pesto, and mozzarella sandwich that John assembled for our lunch, before it was warmed in the oven. I made the pesto by whirring some basil from our garden with some olive oil, garlic, fresh grated parmesan, and a handful of pecans. Pure yum.

If this is you (the soup brigade edition)...

today's rose, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

If you had an email message informing you that the "soup brigade" was headed to your house tonight, then you would have heard a knock on your door at about 5pm to find K. standing there with a bevy of bags and bins. She then came in and proceeded to mix up a large pot of homemade chicken vegetable soup (free range organic, of course, with veggies all from a local farm) and giggle with you as you got caught up on the last six months of life. Then at 6:30 another knock at the door brought more friends laden with fruits, dessert, and drinks to join in the fun.

Because if this is you, you might not be at all surprised when these friends made you laugh, fed you amazingly healing food, and then washed every dish and left your kitchen sparkling clean. Because you have the most amazing friends.

I don't know if you've ever had a visit from the soup brigade yourself, but if you have, maybe you are feeling like me right now--eager to get well so you can bring the brigade to the doorstep of someone else soon! :)

Note: the flower pic above is from my visit to my garden yesterday morning. My neighbors took such amazing care to keep my plants watered and fertilized during my convalescence. Maintaining my garden is a huge job. I'm not sure how I will ever repay their kindnesses.

found the scone fairy...

here
:)

a treat

"mochi cream", originally uploaded by perago89.

I just remembered that John bought me a mochi confection yesterday from the Asian market, and it's waiting in the fridge for me right now.

I am a lucky girl.

it irks me

You know what bugs me? When my kids and/or spouse start hovering around the kitchen at about 4pm saying things like:

What's that I smell cooking?
Have you thought about dinner yet?
I'm hungry.
Will dinner be soon?

I don't know why these questions drive me batty, but I suppose it has something to do with the look in some people's eyes when I tell them we're having Turnip Toss for dinner and, of course, turnips are their very least favorite food. Or maybe it's because at 4pm on many days I'm still not sure what's for dinner and it's like squirting lemon juice into my "I suck at motherhood" wounds every time I hear that question and I have no answer.

I feel perpetually overwhelmed by the demands of prepping food for two strapping young teens and a verra hungry man-spouse. Adding to that, the late afternoon is probably my grumpiest time of day and so I'm already not on the mood to be reminded of my shortcomings. Yah.

the kind of person I am...

That last quarter of a killer brownie that's still sitting in the pan from dinner the other night. The one that just keeps getting smaller because everyone else isn't selfish enough to eat the last brownie...

I eat it for breakfast. No guilt whatsoever. Because that's the kind of person I am.

Killer Brownie recipe

Really, these are the best brownies. Crispy on the edges, fudgy in the middle. Rich, rich, rich with no fantsy-pantsy chunks or caramel or rice crispies. Just pure unadulterated brownie.

8 oz of unsweetened chocolate (use organic or fair trade so you can eat your brownies sans guilt)
1 cup organic butter (I use unsalted, but if you use salted butter, cut the sea salt to 1/2 tsp or less)
5 free-range eggs (meaning that the chickens are free range, not the eggs themselves...)
3 cups organic sugar (get this fair trade, too, if you can!)
1 tablespoon vanilla (I didn't use organic, but will when I use up all the vanilla I already own. I'd recommend the special vanilla* for any Mormons trying this recipe)
1-1/2 cups organic white flour (though next time I'll try a mixing in some whole wheat flour just to see what happens)
1 teaspoon sea salt
optional: 2-1/2 cups chopped pecans


Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat, then set aside (do remember to lick the spoon on this one--it will send you to all kinds of happy chocolaty places). In a stand mixer, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at high speed for 10 minutes. Stir in chocolate mixture, flour and salt until just mixed. Add the nuts. Pour into greased 9x13 pan.

Bake for 35 min.

*Growing up in an LDS home that eschewed alcohol, "the special vanilla" referred to the vanilla beans soaking in a mysterious bottle of dark rum that we used for our extra-special recipes

photo by yum9me

no recipe necessary

Red apple, originally uploaded by venkane.

As I was making broccoli soup (CatGirl's fav) for dinner tonite, I noticed a few tired apples in the produce basket. I decided I should whip up something to use them up, but what to do?...

I ended up peeling and slicing/dicing them and put them in a saucepan to simmer, just to see what would happen. Would they soften? They were mostly fuji and gala apples--not exactly typical cooking apples. I added a dollop of unsalted butter, thinking that that might help them not to burn to my fav little flame-colored le creuset saucepan...

Then I added a shake of cinnamon so they would smell good as they cooked even if they didn't turn into anything edible. Oh, and just a small squirt (like a tsp) of agave nectar for sweetening. And put the lid on.

As I cooked the soup I stirred it occasionally and noticed some softening of apples.

By the time the soup was done, the applestuff was a bit mushy. A quick zip with the immersion blender finished the job. Voila--the easiest-ever homemade applesauce! I served it in petite bowls with chopped locally-grown walnuts (hand-shelled by my brilliant bambinos) sprinkled on top. So sweet and tasty!

Next time I might add just a few drops of lemon juice to prevent browning. But this batch was eaten so quickly that it didn't even have time to turn, so maybe that's not even necessary....
:)

I'm cookin' now...

Today I flirted with the cult of domesticity. After filling a huge bag of dented and squishy organic persimmons (50 cents/lb, my friends) at the Farmer's Market, I brought them home and commenced to figuring out some persimmon recipes. I know I could probably just chunk and freeze them for shakes (yum), but I thought I'd scout around for a few good recipes instead. What I ended up making: Persimmon scone cookies and Persimmon Freezer Jam. Both turned out so outstandingly that I have to share my recipes with you...

Persimmon Scone Cookies
* 1.5 cup pureed ripe persimmons (about 1/4 lb)
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 egg
* 1 cup white flour
* 1 cup wheat flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup chopped pecans (note: taste just fine w/o nuts or with walnuts, too)

1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease or line one baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt.
3. Cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in egg and persimmon puree. Add flour mixture and mix until combined, stir in the chopped nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

Baking notes: Pureeing your persimmons is a breeze with one of these! You'll have soupy sweet orange goo in about 5 seconds flat.

These are very cakelike cookies. I couldn't decide if they were more like cookies, scones or flat muffins. If you try making them, let me know what you think!

Oh, and if your walnuts are the ones on the shell that you bought at the Farmer's Market a few weeks ago and then realized that you couldn't open because you have no nutcracker, have your kids open them with a hammer. And make your youngest wear your glasses from junior high to protect her eyes from flying walnut shell shards. And try not to giggle when you realize that she looks an awful lot like Sally Jessy Raphael in those hideous glasses.

Persimmon Freezer Jam
* 2.5 cups pureed persimmons
* 1.5 cups sugar
* 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest
* 1 pinch ground nutmeg

In saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients. Boil for 30 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Stir constantly.

Cooking Notes: Do make sure that you keep up with the stirring part--when I left the pot unattended for about 30 seconds to wash some dishes, mine started burning on the bottom. Older kids make good stirrers--esp if you tell them that they can lick the jam pot after they're done.

This jam tastes a lot like marmalade. It's sweet, but the lemony bits cut the sweetness just enough to make the flavor a bit complex and interesting. You'll love it. Seriously.

growin' the good stuff

basil, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

I love the herbs that I grow in my garden and on my pack porch. Pesto is a favorite treat around here--yum!

My other favorite recipe with basil is John's Basil Coulis served on Almond Blancmange. It is one of the many very perfect recipes from Chocolate & Zucchini. Seriously, I am not one to gush about cookbooks. But if you haven't tried this one, you are missing out. It is so tasty and fun and _everything_ we've tried has been wonderful and fairly fresh and simple.

Just ask those who've tried John's apricot compote (another of Clothilde's recipes from C&Z). And yes, it is better than sex.

And, no, it is not better than sex except when someone is using hyperbole to let their husband know that they think his cooking is the very best kind of foreplay. But sex with apricot compote, now that would be good.

blendin'

I have a new best friend, it is my Kitchenaid Immersion Blender.
While I'm rarely one to encourage my readers to buy more stuff, I just have to share that this gizmo rocks. It can make shakes in a snap. Yesterday it whipped the batter for my Dutch Baby Pancakes so fast and so smooth! The day before that it pureed the veggies in our soup quite handily. And it's WAY easier to clean than a traditional blender. And that is a huge plus at our house.

I bought mine at Target for under $50. The link above to amazon.com is a bit spendier. But if you're wondering what to get for that person who likes to cook, this might just be a winner! :)

FYI, for those of you who've never tried the wonders of a Dutch Baby pancake:

Dutch Baby Pancake

(Makes 4 to 6 servings)

6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg (or both!)
5 tablespoons butter
**Freshly squeezed lemon juice
**Powdered or confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place oven rack on the middle rack of your oven. Put a large, heavy ovenproof frying pan or a cast-iron skillet in the oven to preheat it, too.

In a large bowl, beat (with your immersion blender if you have one) the eggs until light and frothy; add milk, flour, vanilla extract, and cinnamon; beat for 5 minutes more.

Add the butter to skillet; tilting the pan to melt the butter and coat the bottom. Pour the prepared batter into the hot skillet, and immediately return the skillet to the oven.

Cook for approximately 25 minutes, or until the pancake is all puffed up and brown on the top.
Note: do not take out of the oven until you have the camera handy, because if you do this, then your husband will laugh at you as you race to get said camera as the pastry is slowly deflating...
**Cut into wedge-shaped pieces and serve the traditional way with lemon juice and powedered sugar. Or serve with fresh maple syrup (Yum!) or the way we ate them yesterday which was with chunky spiced applesauce on top. To die for!

pumpkinish pie

thoreau's pumpkin, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

May your day and dinner be filled with good food and much joy!

I've been chopping squash to make this delicious-sounding recipe from "Food on the Food."

Momentarily I'll begin cooking my lumpy-bumpy Halloween pumpkin (the one I bought from my alma mater at the Farmer's Market) for pumpkin pie! It's been awhile since I've done pie and I'm looking forward to it. Yum!!

PS: Is there anyone else out there who likes to eat pie for breakfast on the day after? IMO, that's truly the best part of Thanksgiving weekend!
:)

first things first

priorities, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Upon setting up my new kitchen (with its groovy orange-y red countertops), the first thing I did was set out the teakettle. Thing #2: organize the tea cupboard [note: trying to shift the balance to all organic and fair trade teas, but I'm still finishing up my older stash first....]

Food for thought....

sweet-tart

apricot tart, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

Picture: apricot tart garnished with sprigs of lavender

John and CatGirl made some gorgeous tarts this weekend. This is the apricot tart that we shared with Friends on Saturday evening. Luscious!

On Sunday the two of them served a ginger/peach tart for brunch. We ate it with steaming cups of ginger peach tea. Wow. Good stuff.

For dinner John made an apriocot-lavender compote that he served with a small scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Such extravagance!

eating locally

berry!, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

For the past few weeks I've been doing a lot of research on eating locally, supporting family farms that grow produce and raise livestock on a small scale. In the process I've found a few helpful websites:

--Local Harvest: You can search for Community Supported Agriculture programs for your region

--Find a Community Garden near you and grow your own organic food!

--website of the 100 mile Diet, moderated by the authors of Plenty.

--Barbara Kingsolver's new book about eating locally: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

--For those who are interested in taking on the challenge to eat locally, I highly recommend subscribing to the "Eat Local Challenge" blog.

--For you who live near me (in SoCal), here are some links for some fabulous local foods: Winchester cheese (their super-aged Gouda is to-die-for), Temecula olive oil, and South Coast Farms (which is the best local CSA source, IMO)


My biggest problem in trying to source all of our family's food locally is wheat. I know that wheat is grown within 100 miles of our home, but I can't find any place to purchase the wheat. Does anyone have any ideas for me on how to do this??

UPDATE: The National Center for Home Food Preservation (for canning, pickling, etc all of that locally grown good-ness)

Also, see JohnH's writeup of our local eating adventure last Sunday.

UPDATE #2: A list of OC Certified Farmers Markets with tons of seasonal recipes(!) included