Sometimes I eat my feelings

I'm a little behind on cataloging my dive into my old Saveur magazines.  I have all kinds of excuses including my laptop drowning (literally) and being a little overwhelmed with work/home stress.  But in the end, isn't that the best reason to slow down and cook?  I sort of think so.  I can't speak to anyone else's state of mind when cooking, but I sort of zone out to focus on the task.  My friends in psychiatry call this mindfulness.

So this week, well it just sucked.  No way around it.  The universe just really kicked me in the shins.  I sat down with some of these magazines a few nights ago, a stiff drink in hand, and I took one look at the title to this issue and I knew that I had found the recipe that I needed to cook.

Sometimes I need to go for a long run or a bike ride to shake off stress.  Sometimes, I need to cook brownies.  This is issue 113, September 2008.  This article discusses the history of the brownie.  Turns out the brownie's origins, like my own, are in New England so its no wonder that I have such an affinity for this confection.  I didn't grow up eating brownies though because my mom is allergic to chocolate.  This is a sad truth, but one for another day. The issue contains 3 recipes and I chose Katharine Hepburn's Brownies both because they are described as chewy, how I prefer mine, and because I think that Katharine Hepburn was a total badass.  Have you watched The African Queen?  If not, please do.

These were easy to make and so I burnt my tongue stealing a taster right out of the oven.  They were molten at that point and perfect, and painful, and delicious.  Which is sort of what I need when I'm feeling down.  I let them cool and stayed up late and in order to eat one without further injuring myself and you know what?  I actually feel a little better.

Saveur Challenge Week 2! Weekday Dinner.

So, there is a miraculous full time working mom out there somewhere who meal preps with precision on Sunday and then plates beautiful meals Monday through Friday after an 8 hour workday.  This person seriously impresses me, but I am not this woman.  I am the woman pictured above, and while I am wearing an apron in this photo looking all pro-cook like here,  its most likely that it is the weekend and I am getting ready to make a tasty beverage rather than a 4 course meal.  Dinner cooking duties are divided around here and on days when I work until 6 or later, those tasks fall off of my plate, thankfully.  The thing is, I do love to cook.  Its fun aka it brings me joy!  Also, its an excuse to play music really loud and ignore complaints from or arguments between my kids.  I’m sorry; did you say something while that Waylon and Willie album was turned up to 11 sweetie? 

This brings me to my current issue of interest, Saveur #69, October 2003.  The cover story is all about canned Tuna so there has got to be a straight forward mid week relatively easy meal here, right?  OK, so I pick “Tuna and White Bean Salad”.  I’m a sucker for bean salads. 

I somehow remember to soak the beans the night before so I feel super ahead and prepared.   Said white beans take more like 1 ½ hours to cook (recipe says 45-60 min) but no worries, I’m still pretty much on track.  From there it’s a quick matter of cutting a few veggies and herbs, making a simple vinaigrette, and breaking up a few tins of fancy oil packed tuna which the recipe says should be a particular brand that I can't buy here.  However I track down some pretty fancy looking Spanish origin stuff so I'm still feeling special.

The result was … delicious.  Also, this meal was really quite healthy.  I added some chopped Romaine and multi grain baguette because I like things that are crunchy and crusty and so do my people.  3 of the 4 members of this household ate this happily.  Alas, the 4 year old ate chicken nuggets (healthy ones from Whole Foods, I promise) and cut up veggies.  I’ll cut him some slack.  

So I'm 2 for 2 here on recipes that bring me joy.  This one was sort of great because it was easy to cook, really didn't take much time to complete, and it was a little different then our regular weeknight fare.  

So another magazine finds its way safely back to the shelf.  This is fun.  And did I mention, delicious?

Saver challenge, self imposed

I live in a 1200 square foot house with 3 other people, 2 of whom are growing rapidly and seem to be acquiring their own belongings.  Needless to say, I’ve become aware of the shrinking space around me and have started to give thought to what things might be destined for a new home or to the sweet thereafter also known as the Salt Lake County Landfill.  I’ve decided not to dispose with any of the persons for the time being.  Now you expect me to launch into my own Marie Kondo inspired story here, and I’m sure that’s she’s great, but I have neither read her books or watched her Netflix series.  There are finite hours in my day and Mrs. Maisel and the Derry Girls swear like sailors.   That my friends, is what I really need at the end of a day.  Now lucky for me, everyone else has been talking about Kondo for a while (Thanks Melody!) and I have extrapolated the heart of her message I think.  I just need to figure out if the space-consuming thing in question brings be some sort of joy. 

However to know me is to know that I have lots of sentimental attachments to things for all kinds of reasons and I sort of interpret that as joy.  Like the tiny plastic toy baby that I once extracted from a King Cake that I swear still brings me luck or envelopes of photo prints that I know can be scanned and turned digital (but then I can’t hold my old friends in my hands).  This consternation has brought me to the literal center of my house, my kitchen.  I spend more waking hours in this room of my house then anywhere else.  I like to cook and to eat and the kitchen window is where I start seedlings every year.  Really I do most everything when I’m in the house except for sleeping or watching shows where funny women swear here. You get where I’m going.  I’ve taken a good look around.  I’ve cleaned out the pantry and the fridge.  That was satisfying.  I haven’t yet approached glassware, but I’ll get there.  So many receptacles for alcohol…

So, I’m standing in the kitchen looking at that wonderful south facing window and looking at 10 years of Saveur magazines neatly arranged on the lower shelves at the back of my kitchen.  I hear that Kondo disapproves of old magazines, so… I’ve been giving it some thought.  The question is, do these old cooking magazines bring me joy?  I’m not sure.  I’m going to find out.  I’ve set myself a task.  I’m going to read through and cook something out of an old issue weekly for the next little while.  Notice the vague timeline, its purposeful.  No pressure here because, really, of all things?   I’m going to catalog my efforts in the electronic abyss like this blog and my Instagram account where I don’t follow the rules of topic adherence but I don’t really care because I’m practically family to all of the people following me.  (Hi Mom, you are really the only one reading this so I hope that you enjoy.) 

Oh it gets better, its my writing task too.  Write every week, maybe more than once.  Because if you have known me for a while, you know that this is a thing.  I really want to write, but never really apply myself in this regard and so I continually fail to do it. 

So today, January 20, 2019.  I’m cooking Saucisses aux Lentilles du Puy and a salad with Dijon Vinegrette.  Go big or go home, right.  Maybe I’ll speak more French this year too.

Saveur Issue 115 November 2008.  This issue is mostly about Thanksgiving, however it includes this beautiful article about Auvergne, France.  The article describes Auvergne as, "an often overlooked land of remote farm villages tucked amid the extinct volcanoes of the Massif Central mountain range."  I've never been to this part of France, but after reading about it and then cooking this recipe I feel like I should have a list of travel wishes that this gets added to.

The ingredients for the meal were mostly easy to track down at my local grocery shop, although I did need to obtain the lentils from a specialty shop.  The cooking instructions were really straightforward and the meal came together easily, although from start to finish took a couple of hours. 

I'm not a food photographer so unlike the pic in the magazine, the lighting isn't perfect.  However, it was such a delicious meal!

Also, the smaller humans ate with enthusiasm.

In conclusion, this brings me joy.  I set this issue back on the shelf.

Fruit, leaf, flower, root

This year marks the 10th garden we have planted at our house.  We have been working on crop rotation both within a growing season and from year to year.  A lot of our crops this year really seem to be showing the benefits.

Fruit

Glacier Early Tomato

Thanks to those walls of water I've had tomatoes from a few select plants since mid July.  This bed of tomatoes is my earliest and best looking.  Last year we grew green beans and herbs in this spot.

Leaf

Rainbow Swiss Chard

Mmmm chard so yummy, so pretty, and so much easier to grow than spinach.  Notice the bird netting?  That's a whole other blog post.  Notice the co planting with green beans?  These are great companions.  Last year we grew carrots in this bed.

Flower

Windsor Fava Beans

Coriander aka Cilantro

This is an early photo of my Favas from about 3 weeks ago and they are starting to flower now.  Last year in that bed we grew Zucchini.  I'm not sure what group you actually account for coriander in given that its a leafy herb that flowers.  I count it as a flower because we eat in in all life cycles including the dried pod stage.  Last year in that bed we grew peppers.

Root

Carrots, mixed varieties

Last but probably our most eaten vegetable, the humble carrot.  These are planted along side Beets this year and both seem pretty happy.  Last year in this bed we grew Lettuce.

We have been working on a 3 year rotation but if we had more space would probably go out to 4 years.  Anyhow, I think its paying off in terms of plant health and pest management.  

Tomorrow is already August so we had better soak up the summer while it lasts.

JG

Not the usual vegetable garden fare

I'm really lucky to live in the neighborhood of a world class botanical garden Red Butte Garden.  Even luckier, they have a plant sale annually.  I'm not much of a non-vegetable gardener, but I'm always trying to make my garden beds more varied and beautiful, both for the eyes and for the local pollinators.

This blog post is mostly for me, so that when a few months from now I realize what an awesome plant I have growing, or conversely, what a bust that one was, I actually know what that plant is.  I can't convince myself to keep those little plastic plant tags around.   If you live in the Rocky Mountains, some of these notes may also be applicable to you.

 Miscanthus sinensis 'Yaku Jima' - Dwark Maiden Grass.  Native to Japan.  Going to plant in front yard, North facing, against house

 Thymus vulgaris English Garden Thyme.  Plant in container in backyard.

 Mentha requienii Corsican mint.  Going to plant between stepping stones near kid's sandbox.

 Hyssop officinalis Hyssop.

 Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia Gooseberry-leaf Globemallow.  Utah Native!

 Delosperma Alan's Apricot Ice Plant.  A groundcover.

 Achillea lewisii 'King Edward' Dwarf Yarrow.

Catharanthus roseus 'Titan Punch' Vinca.  I don't know much about this pretty annual except for the color of those flowers.  I couldn't pass it up.

 Ajuga 'Chocolate chip' Bulgeweed.  A groundcover.

 MYSTERY PLANT!!  I've bought this before.  It came home without a label, grrrr.  I will use the power of this internet to try and identify this.

Monarda fistulosa Wild Bergamot or Bee Balm.  Plant in front of house North facing.

African Daisy.  I'm not sure which taxonomy applies to this one.  I know, not local, but according to the local experts, drought tolerant.

 Thymophylla tenuilobia Dahlberg Daisy.  Native to Mexico, Drought tolerant

Penstemon strictus Rocky Mountain Penstemon.  Native, Bee friendly.

Now if it would clear up for a few days, I will finalize a plan for what goes where and plant these beauties.

My vegetable garden is off to strong start. More on that soon.

JG

New Year New Garden Plan

Happy first day of 2016.  I'm not sure when I developed this ritual but many years ago I started to spend at least a part of this first day of the new year sketching out the details for my next garden.  It gives me some time both to reflect on last year's growing and to give some thought to what I will grow in the coming months.  I think I'm a pretty seasoned gardener at this point, but still have lots of new things to try, errors to make, and successes to discover.  I think that planning is a big part of the process.  
Here is how I do it.

1.  Take a seed inventory

If you have a big seed box like me, this can be a little bit tedious, but its worth the time.  I also take this as an opportunity to throw away seeds that are too old.  Seeds do have a shelf life and there are lots of good resources about that online and in seed catalogs, but those with the shortest lives include onions, peas, beans, parsnips.  If you have a pack of these more than 3 years old, it might still be worth a trial run, but I would probably buy back up.

2.  Make a "to buy" list.  If you are really organized, you have kept a running list all year long as you ran out of seeds.  If you are me, you kept a so-so list and step 1 assures you don't get to the first week of April and not have seeds for something you really love to grow. 

3.  Draw out your garden and start to plot what goes where.  Consider crop rotation, space needs, compatibles vs not.
You might ask, "isn't there an app for that?"  There is a really good computer program that you can get over at Kitchen Gardeners international.  
I like to do it like this though

I've got a thing for graph paper and I like to look at my old plans.

4.  Get input form your family.  It only helps to grow 5 kinds of beets if you someone else is going to help you eat them.  Besides, if you have little kids like I do, it gets them in on the action.

5.  Get out those beautiful color seed catalogs that have been coming in the mail and start shopping.  My current favorites are Seed Savers Exchange, High Mowing Seeds, John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds, and Adaptive Seeds.

Happy New Year and New Garden!

Tomato Juice: Love your tomatoes, even the mushy ones.

Late summer.  I love it.  However, sometimes I feel like my garden gets a little haywire in September.  We end up pulling summer squash due to downy mildew, the last of the lettuces bolt to flower and no matter how hard I try to stay ahead of it, some of my tomatoes over ripen.

You know the ones I'm talking about - great taste, mushy texture.  I suggest you make tomato juice rather than just tossing them in the compost pile.  Just cut the tomatoes into inch size chunks and set into a a sauté pan.

Cook these until they just come to a simmer.  They will be soft and will have released lots of juice.

Pass these through a food mill on the finest setting or press through a fine sieve.

There you go.  Tomato Juice.  Bloody Mary anyone?