Tomatillos: The taste of summertime

If there is one thing that tastes like summer, it is salsa verde.  It’s the perfect hot weather food, it’s super easy to make, and it just tastes fresh and green! Its pretty much my go to food in the summer. I make it for snacks and gatherings, and I put it on everything. Chips, eggs, meat, cous-cous,  you name it!  Currently that I have five thriving tomatillo plants in my garden. I planted a few last year, and they did moderately well, but not spectacularly… but  with a new year, more gardening experience, good intentions, and visions of salsa verde, I made another attempt this year.

The two plants I purchased did really well… and then as I was getting ready to move from my apartment to my house, I noticed that I had about 15 volunteer tomatillos sprouting up, so I dug up a few, and brought them with me when I moved as an experiment. Why not? I was half expecting them to bite the dust,  but if they didn’t survive I wouldn’t be heartbroken.  Turns out they are now thriving, and now I have more tomatillos growing in my garden than anything else.  

Since I have tomatillos in abundance, I started to research other things I could make with them. As I mentioned, salsa verde is the perfect summer snack, but really, there is only SO much salsa verde you can make, so I’ve been trying to expand my tomatillo horizons.  They have this great astringent quality to them, and I really like the flavor… almost like green apple. And their texture is fantastic! Most recipes that I found wanted to use the tomatillos  to pair with Spanish/Mexican food. Delicious, but predictable... so I've been trying to do some different things with them. Lately I’ve been making fried tomatillos, sort of as a riff off fried green tomatoes… but I actually like them better, because the tomatillos are more firm, and easier to fry.

I love the different shades and shapes

You have to soak/ rinse them off before using them, cause they tend to be sticky/ slimy

.

Sunset Magazine recently featured a recipe for pickled tomatillos, which have been dying to try, and they also suggested putting them in a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon (which I did, and it was delicious).  I’ve always been a bit fearful of pickling, but it seemed fairly straightforward, and they are just refrigerator pickles, so they were easy enough. I have yet to try them, but they look beautiful in the jar, and apparently they are a great accompaniment to bloody marys. I made mine on Wednesday, so they’ve been in the fridge developing some flavor… I have high hopes for them. 

Earlier in the week I was wanting a really quick meal, so I ended up roasting some tomatillos under the broiler, and blending them into a sauce. Probably the easiest sauce I’ve ever made, and the flavor was fantastic. I added in some grilled onions and a bit of salt, blended everything in the blender and voila. I just served it over rice, but the sauce had a nice richness to it, and I think it would actually make a great addition to any tomato sauce. 

Roasted Tomatillos

I still have tomatillos coming out my ears, and I think salsa verde will still be a staple in my house for the next several weeks,  so here is the recipe.

•  
• 2 cloves garlic, pealed
• Tomatillos (to taste…. 6-7?) peeled, washed and quartered.
• Bundle of cilantro
• 1 Serrano pepper, roasted
• Onion (again to taste… I never measure)
• Salt
• Agave nectar to taste.
• Avocado
• ½ lime

Put everything in a food processor except the avocado and lime.  Blend until desired consistency, add in avocado and fresh squeezed lime juice.Serve on anything and everything.

cooking for one isn't always fun

There are days when I find the most un-rewarding part of being single is the fact that I have to cook alone. Mostly it’s not a big deal, but on some occasions I find it rather annoying. You use just as many dishes, it takes just as long, and in the end, you eat alone, and then have to tackle the mess yourself. It’s a little anti-climactic. At least for me. I tend to forget about the mess, enjoy the meal, and then lose all motivation whatsoever. I go from delicious to disgruntled in a matter of seconds when hours later I wander back into the kitchen to find my dinner mess still there. (you know in Arrested Development when George Michal is sad, and he slumps home to the snoopy music? That is me, every single time.)  Its fine,  I’ll do the dishes… but sometimes it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work to plan a menu, to cook, to do the dishes… and sure, I enjoy it… but there are days when I’d much rather just eat avocado on toast for every meal, and call it good.  Cooking can be a hassle, and there are days when I feel like “If I’m going to go through all the dishes, and all the time, and all the cleanup, I might as well be sharing it with someone.” . I love playing hostess and I think that good meals are meant to be shared. But I also think that I was meant to have a sous chef… or at least someone to help with the dishes

We are still in the midst of the Oregon summer heat wave, so the thought of coming home and turning on the stove or the oven isn’t exactly appealing. But tonight I suddenly found myself with a little extra free time, I was hungry, and in the mood for something wonderful. I had eaten a snack of roasted green beans with a side of ice cream (its true kids, when you grow up you can eat ice cream for dinner… and you probably will) but I was in the mood for something a little more substantial. I ate out for lunch, so grabbing take-out wasn’t really an option. I could have just made some popcorn, or perhaps succumbed to the package of Top Raman sitting on the bottom shelf (it’s for emergencies… like lack of cooking inspiration Tuesdays or something) but considering that it’s Julia Child’s 100^th birthday, it seemed sacrilegious to dine on popcorn or Raman.

Instead I opted for quesadillas. Not exactly inspired by French cuisine, but at least I did turn on both the stove and the oven.

My first hurdle was that I was out of  cheese. Well not really, I have a block of cheddar cheese sitting in the staff fridge at work. So. Not. Helpful. I scrounged around and found some sliced Swiss cheese, and decided to continue on with my cooking endeavor. I put  some refried beans on the stove, and went out to the garden to harvest some tomatillos. I’ve pretty much been living on salsa verde for the past few weeks. Super easy, super delicious, no real cooking required. (AKA perfect in this heat wave) I was still feeling a little lazy though, and not wanting to soil the freshly cleaned food processor, I opted to make a salad rather than a salsa.

• 5 tomatillos
• 4 slices of jicima
• ½ avocado
• Handful of cilantro
• 1 ear roasted corn
• A few table spoons of chopped onion
• Freshly squeezed lime
• salt.

It wasn’t exactly a mind blowing meal, but it was satisfying, and at least the clean up was easy. 

Ice Cream and Air conditioning

It’s finally summer time in Oregon. You know, the two weeks of incredibly hot weather, that inspire everyone to run out and buy a kiddie pool and an air conditioner (check, and check, but I’ve had mine for a while… and I qualify them as bulldog necessities). I could probably survive without either of them, but my little wrinkly friend is having a rough time in the heat.

Its usually  about this time of year that I break out the ice cream maker. Over the weekend I had my first taste of Fifty Licks ice cream. Coconut Lemon Saffron, on a cone. It. was. perfection.  And so on this incredibly hot day, I got the ice cream maker out of storage and went to work.  I’ve actually been using  said ice cream maker quite a bit this year, but had yet to make ice cream (thank you Jay, for inspiring it to be a staple of summer time adult beverages. Frozen lemonade and vodka? Frozen rum & coke?). I didn’t do anything quite as innovative as Fifty Licks, no unusual herbs, spices, or ingredients,  but I did have an abundant Marion berry harvest, so I decided to stick with a tried and true recipe.

The Easiest and possibly most delicious ice cream you will ever make.  

(sorry all you vegans)

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• ½ pint heavy cream
• ¼ quart half and half
• 2-3 cups of berries (I used Marion Berries, but I think blueberries would also be delicious)
• ¼ cup of sugar (mixed over the berries)

Mix ingredients together, Put in ice cream maker, and watch the magic happen.

 

It is so delicious, you might be like me, and not quite able to wait until it is completely frozen (I may or may not have eaten several spoonfuls while the machine was still running).  And the best part, is that I don’t have to leave the comfort of my air conditioned home, or wait in  line!

Then & Now hairstyles, and the trials of the grow out.

Last night as I was waiting in line at the grocery store I started to read the covers of magazines. It was 9pm, and the only line open was the express lane (even though pretty much everyone had WAY more than 10 items) so I had a lot of time to peruse. As I did, one cover story caught my eye “The secret to longer, healthier, shinier hair.” I thought about it for a few moments, and then on impulse added the magazine  onto the conveyer belt with my French bread and Parmesan cheese. Why not?

I’ve been in the process of growing out my hair for six months. I constantly go back and forth between the “I love my effortless short hair” and “please god, it won’t grow fast enough” though I’m convinced that every woman goes through this stage. Generally speaking I am not attached to my hair. I’ve had long, I’ve had short, and that is what is fun about hair, it grows back! I’ve never understood the women who have their whole identity wrapped up in their locks,  the women who treat a bad hair cut like a social death sentence… just give it a couple of weeks! That being said, I AM trying to grow out my hair, and it is getting a little frustrating.

Once  upon a time, back when I was in high school, my brother told me that I would probably never find a boyfriend if I had short hair, because guys prefer long hair (I’m paraphrasing… I don’t think he actually used those words… well, actually he might have). This is something that has stuck with me. I have ignored it most of my life, but every now and then when I start to question my single status the thoughts start to creep in there “is it because of my hair?”  Of course the feminist in me always instantly retorts back “I don’t want to date a guy who is that shallow anyway” and I probably don’t… but then again, I would like to be dating… and heck, if longer tresses up my odds a little bit, why not? I've been changing my hairstyle consistently since I was 14. Once upon a time I had really unfortunate layers, and it didn't help that I had a retainer, glasses and was labeled as the "home-schooled kid"I cut my hair off to the Jennifer Aniston bob, totally loved it, and kept on getting it shorter and shorter. Side note... Its important to have a good stylist when you have short hair, and one who isn't petty. The woman who cut my hair in high school was the mother of a girl in my grade. And let me tell you, the pettyness ran ramped in the school. I once got a hair cut that was supposed to be like Mandy Moore circa 2002  and instead I returned from my lunch break looking like Oprah. No 17 year old wants her hair to look like Oprah. 

   

Regardless, I was, and am totally confident with my short hair style, and I think that most days I can rock the pseudo hipster short hair  so long as I’m exuding confidence.  But some days I wake up, and I look in the mirror and think “ok maybe this style isn’t doing me any favors” and it takes a while to get the confidence rolling. I would like to say that my sparkling personality makes up for any potential hair weirdness… but then again I’m often not as approachable as I think I am. Last week when I was in Ashland some guy on the street actually said to me “Excuse me, miss? I think you dropped your smile back here!”  Its not that I’m surly, or pissed off at the world, I’m just focused… which often translates into disgruntled, stuck up, or irritated. I’m digressing, and this is a completely different issue that I’m trying to work on (if you see me walking around town with a strange smile on my face I’m not having a nervous breakdown, I’m just trying to be more approachable… someone tell me if I look crazy town). But anyway, I’m growing my hair out for a bit. I’ll probably get bored in another few months, and have to decide to if I want to cut it back off and have a few weeks of “damn I love this sassy hair” or if I want to keep trucking on through the awkward grow out.

Truth be told, I think my stylist might be behind  the slow going… yes, growing out short hair is a challenge. Yes, there is bound to be an awkward “between styles” period where everything is just a little weird and frumpy, and I have resigned myself to that. I mean, its hair, it gets better… and yet over the past six months I’m not sure that I have noticed a change in the length… and what is really disheartening is that looking at pictures from a year ago my hair was longer than it is now! The one time I didn’t take a picture with me to the stylist it got a bit short (I looked so much like my mother, it was a little scary) and the style has been recovering ever since. And she also psychs me out a little bit. Once I went in for a little minor trim and she said something like "yeah it is looking a bit mushroomy" naturally visions of Super Mario Brothers started flashing through my head, and no one wants that! cut it all off, make it better!  It makes sense, I mean why would you want a regular client who comes in every 6 weeks to grow out her hair. I don't think she is being malicious, it does need some trimming/ some help. But maybe not THAT much help.

 Some days are better than others when it comes to styling. Actually, this week alone I have had two separate guys randomly comment “You have a really cute hair cut!” (one I’m sure was gay, the other was married, but hey, if the gays like it I must be doing something right? Please no one take that comment as offensive.) Then again, there are the times when I get IDed at restaurants, and the waitress will inevitably say something like “oh my gosh, do you miss your hair?” You win some, you lose some.

For now, I’m still attempting to grow it out. I know it can be done, because I have done it before… the main question is, do I have the patience?  The first time I cut my hair really short, I was in Paris.  I had fairly long hair, but was craving something a little different, something spontaneous, and the metro stop closest to our hotel was right by a Redkin hair salon. There was this really edgy cut in the window, and every day I would think “I wonder if I could pull that off” So one free afternoon, I went in, pointed to the picture, and got my first ever hair cut where there was a major language barrier involved. The stylist would cut a little and look at me nervously, “ça va?”  “Oui, ça va” and it was. I loved that hair cut! 

Ignore the bad posture, but focus on the cute Parisian hat & fun hair.

The Parisian Hair Salon

Two years later, my hair was the longest it had been since middle school, who has the time/money/energy to keep up a short hair style in college? Come to think of it, I’m not quite sure how I keep it up now… which is another main factor in trying to grow out my hair… relatively speaking, this style is low maintenance. It takes essentially no styling, which is awesome, but I have to get my hair cut every 6-8 weeks so it doesn’t grow into an awkward duck tailed mullet. Nothing says “hey boys I’m single” like an awkward duck tailed mullet. 

Two years later, gorgeous tresses & fun times had by all

 

 

 

 

Present Days... still having fun, still loving the hair, just ready for a change

And so my morning routine includes a Biotin supplement, a pre-natal vitamin,  and occasionally a hot oil scalp massage. Side note, you want to talk about awkward, try purchasing a pre-natal vitamin at the local health food store. Um hello, the one place in town where I run into most people I know on a regular basis. I snuck down the vitamin aisle praying that there were no familiar faces. The clerk gave me a knowing look as I checked out. I wanted to say “um no, not preggo, just growing out my hair, thanks!” but I didn’t know her, and figured she probably wouldn’t be spreading any pregnancy rumors about me, so I smiled back, and hurriedly ran out of the store. Next time, I will probably buy them at costco or somewhere just to add a little extra anonymity. But just to reiterate, there are no babies here, there will be no babies here, I’m just growing out my hair. Hopefully anyone/ everyone rummaging through my medicine cabinet will have read this blog, because that is one rumor I don’t want going around McMinnville. I might forever be branded as the girl who walked down 3^rd street with her skirt tucked into her underwear, but lets not add any baby rumors to the mix. Please and thank you.

For the record, I think they are working. I’ve noticed some significant grow out in the last month, not to mention that my fingernails look great. I’ve only been taking the Biotin for about two weeks, but at the very least, I feel like I’m being proactive. The Elle article pretty much just said that I should be massaging my scalp more regularly… I’ll probably continue with the hot oil treatments (confession, I’m using the really high quality olive oil on my hair and skin… frivolous and ridiculous? Maybe.  I’m adding this to the “like” column of things I like and dislike about my job). 

But this is getting real rambly, and a certain bulldog is completely over my blogging efforts,  (I've gotten about 5 not to subtle head butts in the last few minutes). I think that means it's bed time.

The Week ends the Week begins

He wakes up in the morning
Does his teeth bite to eat and he's rolling
Never changes a thing
The week ends the week begins- Ants Marching: Dave Matthews Band

I've been listening to a lot of Dave Matthews Band lately... it seems to help with a bit of the sanity issue, and Ants Marching has been running through my head all day, probably because it mirrors my own life right now.It’s finally the crazy season at work, meaning weekends are booked, I'm running from meeting to meeting, and I’m lucky if I get home before its dark outside. I’m perfectly ok with all of this since I do get really great commission from all of my summer functions, but there are days it is easier than others. I’m currently on day 7 of an 18 day work stretch, and I just cussed out my neighbors dogs… clearly something is taking a bit of a toll. I love the summer time, but its weeks like these where the days blur together, the work week technically resets, but the hours feel like they are still accumulating (have I worked 51 hours this week or 70? Its hard to say.) Do not pass a weekend, do not collect days off, go directly to work and wait 2 weeks, or have a nervous breakdown and take a personal day, whichever comes first.  (kidding). It’s the kind of week where everything is scheduled, my workouts, my meals, my blogging time, sleeping… there is almost no room for spontaneity… which is a little sad. The best thing about summer is spontaneity. Hopefully I’ll be able to grab some, even if its only for 15 minutes here and there.   ("Take these chances, place them in a box until a quieter time")

I spent a good portion of my last day off doing some meal planning for this week. I made salad dressings, washed lettuce, stocked up on vegetable (and coffee). Because when life gets this busy its hard to eat healthy. There were some days this week I ended up with drive through burritos, and others with jam sandwiches (but hey the jam was home-made…) but by the time the weekend hit, I had lost all motivation for packed lunches and healthy options. And apparently today I lost all motivation whatsoever, because when I left work today tired, grouchy and totally famished. I worked through lunch, had meetings all afternoon, and an evening event. My less than inspired container of quinoa sat alone in the fridge, untouched all day. My snacks throughout the day consisted of croutons and Diet Coke… This is of course terrible, because when work sucks the life out of you, it’s pretty important to eat a normal meal, and not just a handful of toasty bread here and there. So  I stopped at the store on my way home in search of my sanity, and some inspiration… I think I found both. I impulse bought an Elle magazine, but I also came away with a bag of Parmesan cheese and a plan to make Pesto.  

After I yelled at the neighbor dogs --they are super mean, and terrorize Toby endlessly , and they were being awful… I didn’t just come home and take out my Hanger (hungry anger) on them--  I turned on Pandora, got out the cuisinart, poured myself a glass of rosé and made a giant vat of pesto. Pasta wasn’t on the planned menus, but it was delicious, and satisfying and everything I needed after a long day. We harvested ton of basil from the garden this weekend, and it was desperately needing to get used... and when life gives you copious amounts of basil, obviously the only sensible thing to do is make pesto.

I never follow a recipe for pesto (the cheesy voice in my head just said “I just follow my heart”).  I think the best recipes are often ones you just throw together. My roommate is out in the wilderness for a few days, and she left a bunch of kale in the Fridge, I added that in for a little extra oomph and greenness.  4-5 cloves of garlic, handful after handful of basil, a sprinkling of pine nuts, salt, pepper, agave nectar, and a generous generous helping of grassy olive oil, and of course some parmesan cheese  blended together into a sauce of goodness.  I’m quite sure the best (and at this point, maybe the only) perk of being single is that I can eat as much damn garlicky pesto as I want. The roommate is gone, the bulldog doesn’t care, and my belly is full of delicious pasta… never mind if the garlic is coming out of my pores. Over-share?… probably. Delicious?... Definitely. 

Coleslaw and all good patriotic things

Happy 4th of July!

Last night I was overcome by the need to celebrate in a big way today. I think its because the 4th of July is essentially like the Thanksgiving of the summer (at least for me) I love being able to have a day to sleep in, cook amazing food, hang out with family and friends, a bottle of chilled wine, BBQs, and relaxing. Ever since I was a little girl I loved getting all decked out in my festive red, white, and blue outfits, going to the local parade (sometimes being in the local parade) heading to the rodeo, eating watermelon. Things haven't changed much. I'm not going to a parade or a rodeo today, but I am in the process of giving myself a somewhat patriotic pedicure, and I will be heading to two different BBQs this afternoon and this evening.  Sadly, McMinnville no longer does fireworks, but I'm not entirely sure how my troll of a dog would handle them anyway.

Since I'm going to two different gatherings with two sets of friends, I might have gone a little overboard in my festive cooking. I can't help it, the 4th of July rolls around and I'm suddenly unable to stop myself from whipping up salads and BBQ items.

Today I am making:
Coleslaw
a crunchy cucumber salad
Watermelon salad with mint & pineapple sage (and there may or may not be two trays of red & blue jello in the fridge).

Coleslaw Dressing - Courtesty of my Grandmothers Church cookbook.

3/4 C Mayonnaise
1/2 C. oil  (I used olive oil)
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp grated onion.

Mix all together with a beater.

I opted to shake the dressing in a jar instead, and I also added poppy seeds.

After making the dressing I had the following conversation with my mother.

Mom"what is wrong with the dressing?"
me "what do you mean?"
Mom "what did you do to it?"
me "what do you mean?"
Mom "Why does it look like that?"
me "what do you mean? how is it supposed to look?"


If you would like to avoid that conversation, I would suggest blending the coleslaw dressing. If you don't care about having that conversation/ plan on using the dressing regardless of what it looks like I think it is fine just to shake it in a jar add it to the cabbage, shot gun a beer, and have a great day.   (shot gunning a beer is optional).