A blog in which I talk about what I've been cooking lately

I downloaded pictures onto my computer the other day, and realized that most of my photographs were not of friends or family, but rather of food (food, and plants, and events actually) I’m not quite sure what that says about me as a person, or my personality…. Seemed like a good excuse to blog about what I’ve been cooking recently, so my photos can at least get into the world, and off of my computer.

I was working from home today, and feeling a little un-inspired, not only by my current mailing project, but also my food options. Thankfully, it’s Thursday, so I grabbed my keys and walked the few blocks to the farmers market. I was there an back in 16 minutes, and acquired a bunch of beets, 2 cucumbers, a handful of new potatoes, and a fresh baguette. Things were looking up. I broke of hunks of crusty bread, as I pondered what to do for a late lunch. I began chopping the cucumber, adding a few slices to my water glass, and arranging the rest of the chunks on a plate. It was a little on the bitter side, but not willing to give up on my lunch that easily, I decided to get creative. I added olive oil, and white wine vinegar, sel gris, freshy ground pepper, and some paprika for color. I ran to the garden and picked a few sprigs of fresh dill, threw it all together. I also added a sprinkling of Nutritional Yeast to the top… to help with my never-ending quest to get enough vitamin-B and I also added some cottage cheese to the plate. It wasn’t the most creative lunch endeavor, but it was nice and easy, and full of clean flavors, and I got to eat on my patio.  <3

Over the weekend I was working a wedding catered by Simpatica Dining Hall. I cannot say enough good things about Scott Ketterman, the chef, and every event he has done for us has been stunning. Were he not married, I’d be a little smitten… seriously people, deep fried fennel bulb with saffron aioli! More please!  He also made a really clever beet salad, and my own version has been making an appearance in my kitchen all week. The roasted beets were mixed with cucumbers, but they were cut in identical wedges, and the beet juice saturated the cucumbers, so it was almost impossible to tell if you were biting into a beet or a cucumber. I found the dish to be really playful, and I’ve had fun eating my version of it all week. I didn’t try enough of Scott’s salad to really tell what the other flavors were, but when in doubt, I add copious amounts of olive oil, and sea salt, and it seems to mostly work. I also picked from fresh sorrel from my garden and added the leaves for a nice pop of green. I love the bitter, almost lemony flavor of the sorrel, and it adds a nice tart flavor to things. Not to mention the fact that the red veined sorrel is beautiful! (with the beets, come on, its gorgeous!) Quinoa has been my go-to grain for quite some time (even though a few months ago I read an article about how it is in such high demand here, that it is becoming more expensive for the people who actually need to survive… I do have a little guilt about that…) It is my back-up protein, especially since I really don’t cook very much meat, and I put it in EVERYTHING! I love it with arugula and poached eggs, in salads, by itself... I’ll take it in any format.

Beet & Cucumber Salad with Sorrel

A few weeks ago, I was feeling overly ambitions, and decided to cook a steak. My parents were eating out, so I commandeered their kitchen and their barbeque and I cooked my first ever steak. It was a trial and error process (I only had to put it back on the grill 3 times) but the final product was pretty tasty. I put it over oven roasted fingerling potatoes, black rice, and lightly sautéed kale.  It was a good night to be a meat and potatoes kind of girl.

Tonight I was excited to use the beets from the famer’s market, and I had a fridge full of random vegetables, so I made a roasted vegetable medley. Brussel Sprouts, onions, red bell pepper, potatoes, I also thinned out my carrots today, so I threw in the little carrot “fingers” in an effort not to be wasteful.  And then I added the beets. I was pleasantly surprised when I cut into them and discovered candy stripes! I know, I know, I’m really excited by the little things in life, but doesn’t it just make you swoon a little bit? I’m always amazed by the beauty and playfulness of plants, and these are some sassy little vegetables!   I dressed everything with a large helping of olive oil, and cut some fresh sage, rosemary, thyme and winter savory from the garden.  ( first time using my golden rosemary… again, I’m in love with the variegated leaves! It’s a gorgeous plant!)  While the veggies were roasting away, I cut up the remainder of the baguette and began to make some croutons. I almost always make croutons in the oven, but since the vegetables were in there, I made them on the stove, and I’m really happy with how they turned out! Again, I added copious amounts of olive oil, sel gris, and thyme and rosemary. I mixed them together with my hands, (which is fun, and also the olive oil is great for my hands during gardening season. Win!) and added them to the pan…. I really wish that I would have had a nice cheese to add to the veggie medley… but alas when I went shopping this week, all I bought was ricotta cheese… (this is what happens when you just go grocery shopping and don’t have any menus planned out… random ingredients) but it actually worked with the dish. I also think some bacon would be really good crumbled on top… then again what wouldn’t be better with bacon crumbled on top? The roasted flavor of the vegetables, mixed with the crunchiness of the croutons was perfect, and it felt like a very hearty and comforting dish.  I think just about any vegetables would work… eggplant, fennel bulb… whatever you have.

Candy Stripe Beets! Swoon

thinned out carrot fingers

Veggie medley ready for the oven

*I got a little distracted writing this post, and over-cooked the vegetables a tad… not too bad, but the brussel-sprouts are a little over-done… aka not pretty, so there is no “after” picture… but it still tastes good!

It’s been a good day, great food, wonderful market, two yoga classes,  and the Red Sox Won (Jason Varitek hit two home runs in one game!) and now I’ve got a glass of wine, and a satisfying meal… what more could a girl ask for?  Well… ok maybe someone to share it with….

GARDEN! AKA my latest obsession

This spring I went on a plant buying frenzy. I felt like it was mostly justified, since I do actually have a large garden space this year… and though it is true that not all of my plants are functional, I think it's ok to surround yourself with a little beauty every now and then! I was watching The Botany of Desire a few weeks ago, and Michael Pollen makes a very good point, that plants have been very successful in surviving, because we are willing to pay money for them. No, the flowers on my front porch are not feeding me, or serving any practical purpose really other than looking gorgeous, and yet I do not have any buyer’s remorse. Plants are the one thing that I feel like I can purchase guilt free… where as other things I always question “did I really need that pair of shoes?”  Did I really need that pocketbook plant. Hell yes, I really did. (the same goes for the chocolate cosmos, and the black petunias… how could you see them and not bring them home?)

Black Petunia

Pocketbook Plant

Chocolate Cosmos

And then there are the vegetable plants. I am so excited to harvest things out of my garden I can hardly stand it! There is nothing like being able to grow your own food, starting something from seed, and watching it grow. I am always amazed at how much things are changing and evolving in my garden. Some days I  come home from work, and find the whole landscape completely changed. Inch by inch, things are growing and expanding, filling out, blossoming! It’s pretty exciting. I know it will still be a while before I am ready to harvest anything (minus the radishes… and sadly I don’t really like radishes… I really want to like them, and I planted them because I really want to like them, and I think they are beautiful, and they grow really fast… I can tolerate them slathered in dip, or sliced really thin over bread and butter, but still they are not my go-to dish… I needed the quick fix of growing something fast though, in this miserable spring when it seemed like it would never be warm enough to grow anything for real… and so I grew radishes… and I may or may not eat them….). Here is something I find ridiculous…. I can go to the grocery store and spend $2 on tomatoes for dinner…. Or I can go to a nursery, spend $2 on one tomato plant, and let it feed me for several meals. The same goes for herbs. I can spend $2.50 on a sage plant, or thyme, or rosemary, or chives or any other perennial herb, and have it last me YEARS. Or I could go to the store and pick up a tiny pre-packed bunch of herbs for the same price… Its not only about the enjoyment of growing things, it’s about saving money, and being efficient with my food budget. Not to mention that the time I spend out in the garden is very zen.  It is so calming to be out there with my watering can, weeding between rows, getting a little sun-tan…. It is way more relaxing than a trip to the store! 

Happy Little Garden

Over the past few years my love of plants has been building. I started out with a pot of herbs on my back porch…. I had a few house-plants here and there…. And then I started working at a Nursery, and it unleashed my green thumb…. Or at least my desire to have a green thumb. I found myself in a tiny loft apartment installing window boxes… planting flowers, herbs… trying to grow enough mint to keep me in mojitos. Once I moved to an apartment with a large patio I thought I was in heaven. Out came the container gardens, suddenly one herb boxed turned into 6 pots of mint, a barrel full of carrots, two tomato plans, and some cucumbers… and yet it still wasn’t enough. (ok for one single girl…. It might have been enough, but I wanted more damn it!). So when I was looking to move again, I knew that the one requirement I had was a garden space. (there were other requirements… but that was the biggest…. And I must say my garden is by far my favorite feature of this place). Who knew that one raised bed could grow so much? Am I going a little over-board on the produce? Maybe…. But I’m excited. In my small garden plot I have Snow Peas, and beans, leeks, carrots, beets, 3 types of cucumbers, 3 types of tomatoes, tomatillos,  2 types of potatoes and yes, that row of radishes. I also have a barrel full of lettuce, and a container full of kale… and 5 containers full of mint. I have sorrel, and red veined sorrel, and an artichoke…. 4 types of thyme, 3 types of rosemary, savory, chives, dill, sage, and nasturtiums and calendula for adding to salads.  Look out folks, I’ve got a garden, and I’m not afraid to use it!

Beets

 

Alaska Mix Nasturtiums

First little tomatoes

Beans

I’ve discovered that growing things in the ground is a whole different beast from growing things in pots. The principles are the same, but it’s a little easier to pour some soil into a pot, add a plant, and voila! (I know it takes more than that… but generally speaking) As I was prepping my soil for planting, I realized there would be a lot of sweat and blisters before the ground would be ready for planting… and yes, now that things are in, I think that growing in a bed is probably easier than a pot, but there is a lot more ground work (bad pun, sorry couldn’t resist) that comes with a raised bed. And then there are the cat terrorist that live in my neighborhood, who think that my garden is a well landscaped litter box. As if I wasn’t a cat person before this…

Having a garden has been a great bonding experience for me and my dad. He bought me a Sunset Vegetable Garden book, and we compare notes daily…about our various veggies. His lettuce is doing better, my tomatoes are about 10 times further along… our peas are about the same, my beans are growing faster… The main difference between our gardens is that I went with a few more heirloom varieties… I’m trying my hand at Armenian cucumbers and rattlesnake speckled beans. 

Kale

Potato Blossom

Tomatillos

Without fully realizing it, I made my garden purple themed. I am growing purple beans, purple carrots, purple potatoes, an purple tomatoes…. Of course I also have some orange and yellow carrots, candy striped and golden beets, a green zebra striped tomato, a sungold tomato, and some Yukon gold potatoes as well… and hopefully with enough love and luck, everything will turn out! I know it will be a lot of trial and error on my part… and it’s a lot of guesswork too… I know nothing about tomatillos, besides the fact that I love salsa verde, so I figured why not give them a shot? Why not give it all a shot… even if I only get one tomato… I think it will be a success.

Summer days, and reflections on awkwardness

It is finally summer! Sitting in my living room with the front door wide open, the windows flung wide, letting the breeze and sunshine seep into my apartment. I spent some quality time in the garden this morning, trimming tomato plants, pulling weeds, thinning out the beets. There is a giant jar of sun-tea brewing on the front porch, and I am basking in the glory of having a lazy Sunday.

 

Sun Tea... & yes that is a lemon tree in the background, and yes that 

lemon will be going in the tea when it is brewed! 

My first few days as a twenty-six-year-old have been stellar.  Laid back, yet productive, filled with wonderful meals, good wine... The list goes on.  My birthday was spent indulging in meals out, pedicures, retail therapy, cocktails, cake… all the things one should indulge in on one’s birthday.  Per usual, all the random people came out of the woodwork to wish me a virtual happy birthday… isn’t social media strange? I’m mean there are your everyday friends who wish you a happy birthday, your acquaintances who you know, but don’t see often, and the people you secretly hope will wish you a happy birthday, that person you have a crush on, or the long-term ex boyfriend you are still sort of friends with… and then there are the people who you honestly have had no contact with in 8 plus years who suddenly feel compelled, or maybe obligated to wish you a happy birthday because facebook compels them to. Does anyone else find this strange? I know I am guilty of it to… I see a birthday and think “we were close once, I’ll write something clever”  but what really astounds me are the people who just write a generic message, the same message that everyone else has been writing, post after post…. Is it really necessary? Don’t mis-understand, I was thrilled for all the messages and birthday shout-outs…. It is always fun to connect with people. I just find the whole thing to be an interesting social experiment.

I started this blog a few years ago, during  a summer in my life when it felt like every situation I entered into was the epitome of awkward. And here I am two years later, and the awkward just keeps on coming. I keep telling myself that 26 will be my year… the universe will settle itself out, my karma will align… Or maybe it already is… Or maybe I just have a gift… I can spin any situation into a mess of flustered chaos… it certainly makes life entertaining. I was talking with a friend about it the other day and we were discussing what I might have done in a past life to incur such a randomly awkward present. The frequency and consistency with which I seem to stumble upon these situations is uncanny.  I’m sure there is a tiny bit of social awkwardness that lingers in all of us… and mine definitely comes out from time to time…. (Insert homeschooling blame game, here) but overall I think I am fairly well socially adjusted. I have my moments… but more often than not, the moments find me… and even if I were the most poised and put together, well adjusted person, I think the awkward events would still find me. I would still end up walking around 3^rd street with my skirt tucked into my skivvies, I would still fall off my bike in the middle of a intersection, I would still end up getting sick on first dates. But wouldn’t life be so boring without all that stuff? Sure, a little less mortifying… but for sure more boring.

Thus far there have been no majorly awkward events in my 26^th year of life… Sure, the potential is there… the potential is always there (Like when I discovered that a new friend I have lives across the street from my ex… it probably wouldn’t be that big of a deal, only I’m pretty sure you can see into his apartment from her window… No, I don’t plan on being a creeper, but it’s an uncomfortable moment just waiting to happen). So I say, bring on the awkward… Sure, I could do without it… but you know the whole “when life gives you lemons” mentality.

Goodbye Spring. Hello 26

Today was the last day of spring. As an Oregonian, I think I can speak for all of us when I say, Please god, we need the summer! I personally don’t have a problem with the rain, and I do love the dreary mornings (provided they are mornings I actually get to push snooze, stay in bed, and curl up with a book and cup of coffee). But ask any Oregonian, and they will tell you, that this spring was long, the weather was dismal (more so than usual) and as a state, we are ready for some sunshine.

I spent most of the day in a cleaning frenzy. One last spring clean before the season was over, and one last chance to wipe the slate clean before I celebrate my birthday tomorrow. Not that there is anything unusually special about 26, but still, it is another year older, and it is in fact, the oldest I have ever been, so it seemed appropriate to spend the day trying to tie up loose ends, so I can give myself a fresh start as I begin a new year of life. The kitchen is clean, the dishes are done, the laundry finished, the bathroom is sparkling, the recycling has been taken care of, my bed is made… and all is right with the world. I’m ready to take 26 by storm…

Realistically the laundry will come back, the dishes will pile up, and I’ll fall back into old habits, but right now I’m clinging to the potential of change… this COULD be my year of getting organized, getting up early, pulling it together. (which thus far, sounds more appealing than another year of perpetual awkwardness….)

I’ve spent the weeks leading up to tomorrow spending more money than I should. I think I began to slightly panic about finally reaching the mid-late twenties mark… well actually, panic isn’t the right word… I’m not full of angst (at least not about my age) and I have no regrets about twenty-five. I don’t have any of the “well at twenty-six I thought my life would be so different” emotions, because I honestly don’t feel that way. I love my little apartment, am obsessed with my vegetable garden, and though my work causes me a lot of stress, I’m still convinced that I have the best job in the world (or at least work at the best place in the world). I started my own business, and am actually making some money, I’m making new friends, I’m putting myself out there, and the Red Sox are having a phenomenal season… what more could a girl ask for? In reality my spending is stemming from the fact that I have been feeling a little frumpy, and have come to realize that the twenty-two- year- old version of myself was, yes, more naive, but way more fashion forward than the twenty-six- year- old version of me. And some days I miss the cute shoes, and the sassy skirts, and the polished, put together look I used to have. What can I say…. I’m working on it…. And perhaps splurging a little too much, but a girl’s allowed to indulge a little for her birthday, right? So I’m entering my mid-late twenties with a clean house, and a few wardrobe updates…. And some pink wine, and a fabulous cake…. And with twenty-six sun salutations of course.