Seed List 2012

Several things worked well in the garden last season, so I will continue with a few of my tried and true varieties, but part of the fun and joy of gardening is the experimentation with new plants and varieties.  Here is my seed list for 2012.  Most of my seeds have already been ordered through Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, my favorite source of open pollinated and heirloom varieties that thrive in the heat and humidity of summers in the Mid-Atlantic.  I love the idea of heirloom veggies, but I've had some trouble with disease, so this year I am going to incorporate a few hybrids that worked for me two years ago.  I found a seed viability chart on one of the blogs I follow which has been so helpful in helping me decide if I need new seeds this year.

Items marked with a * have been proven performers for me
*Provider Snap Bean (bush)
*Chinese Red Noodle Asparagus Bean

Henderson Lima Bean (bush)
*Eva Purple Ball tomato (indeterminate)
Marglobe VF (Marglobe Improved) tomato (determinate)
Roma VF, Virginia Select tomato (determinate)
*Green Arrow Shelling Pea (Dwarf, English)
Cascadia Snap Pea (Dwarf)
Oregon Giant Snow Pea (Dwarf)
Waltham Butternut Squash
Catskill (Long Island Improved) Brussels Sprouts
Sorrento Broccoli Raab
Cylindra Beet (trying this year based on my Dad's recommendation)
*Clemson Spineless Okra
Scarlet Nantes carrots (free seeds!)
*Speckled Bibb Lettuce
*Yugoslavian Red Butterhead Lettuce
*Oakleaf Lettuce (looseleaf)
*Deer Tongue Matchless lettuce (looseleaf)
Tom Thumb Bibb Lettuce
*Rainbow Swiss Chard
*Sweeter Yet Hybrid slicing cucumber
Bush Pickle pickling cucumber (baby)
Cherry Bomb Hybrid cherry pepper (medium hot)
Long hot red chili pepper (variety unknown, we've been saving seed from a free plant for several years)
Eggplant (long thin purple, variety unknown)
Moon and Stars, Long Milky Way watermelon
Pike muskmelon
Radishes: French breakfast, Cherry Belle

Flowers:
French Marigold, Tashkent #1
*Borage
*Nasturtium, Jewel Mixed Colors
Sunspot Sunflower (dwarf)
*Bread Seed Poppy
*Sweet Pea, Old Spice Mix
Carnations, a variety that my Grandmother had in her garden--it smells like cloves
Moss Roses
Calendula

The salad table will be used for all the lettuce (not the chard).  The peas and radishes go in as soon as the ground is thawed and are usually done before the other veggies go in the ground.  I also won a handy deep planter that sits up on a stand from a Seed Chat (#seedchat) on Twitter.  I think I might use it for the peppers this year.  With intensive square foot gardening, this should be no problem this year.  I am actually cutting back, if you can believe it!

Where is winter?

We have had an unusually warm winter here in the Mid-Atlantic.  It has only dipped down into the 20's twice, and we have had days near 70 degrees, with most days in the high 50's to low 60's.  It was difficult to even think about the Christmas season with the warmth in the air and my daffodil bulbs sending up tender little shoots.  I haven't seen a single Junco, which is one of the signs I look for to tell me that winter is here.  The columbine and heuchera think it is spring, as well, and have tiny tender little leaves that I'm sure about to be burned when winter finally shows up.

Despite a feeling of uneasiness about our lack of usual cold weather, I have been enjoying the ability to go out into the garden and work on small projects that I didn't have time for back in the fall.  As I may have alluded to in earlier posts, I was in grad school and planning a wedding last year.  That is all wrapped up now, and I am the new Mrs. P!

4" long tomato hornworm from last summer

With all the hubbub of the wedding, the garden reverted to its wild side last year.  We had neglected the weeds popping up between the raised beds, which gave all the garden pests a very nice haven from which to launch and feed on our veggies.  Most of our crops had some kind of failure: flea beetles ate the eggplant, the cantaloupes and watermelons were leggy and produced deformed, tiny fruits which rotted on the vine, the tomatoes were all sorts of diseased, chomped, and chewed.  We tried planting soybeans, and they were so slow to put out a pod that it took the entire growing season for them to produce anything.  They matured and dried up while we were on our honeymoon.  They took up precious real estate in the garden and we got nothing from them!  Cabbage moths chowed down on the Swiss Chard while turnip flies and their...ahem..."babies" tunneled their way through all of our root crops.  Harlequin bugs, brown marmorated stink bugs, and white flies devastated the kale.  We had an excellent crop of Provider bush beans and yardlong beans, and once the Jade okra FINALLY started growing it gave us plenty of pods to nibble on.  We did manage, through all the devastation from pestilence, hurricane Irene, drought, and garden neglect, to harvest nearly 115 pounds of produce from our eight 4x4 beds.  I canned as many tomatoes as I could, made salsa and several different kinds of pickles, and gave away what felt like bushels of tomatoes and cucumbers.  I salvaged as many of the greens as possible and blanched and froze them.  We ate green beans and Chinese Red Noodle beans until they were coming out our ears, and I froze several quarts that we have been savoring this "winter."

June: Chinese Red Noodle beans, coming out the ears!

Even though I will have much more time to devote to the garden, I have decided to cut back on the number of plants for the upcoming gardening season.  Who really needs six different varieties of tomato when two good varieties will give you all you need for fresh eating, canned tomatoes, and sauce?  I had such good luck with the Provider beans that they will definitely have a spot in the garden this year.  I will try my hand at the peppers and eggplant again, but will try growing them with floating row cover to keep the flea beetles away.

Mr. P bought me some weed fabric for Christmas (romantic, eh?!), and I was thrilled!  He also pledged to help me keep the weeds and bugs down this year, as he was saddened by my utter frustration last year.  He lacks the green thumb I have, but is a great support with projects and watering.  He has also promised me a rain barrel this spring!

Yesterday I went out in the gorgeous 68 degree weather and decided it was time to tackle the plantain weeds that had a firm stronghold in the garden.  I used muscles that haven't been used since last summer, and it felt amazing to get out and dig in the dirt.  I was extremely pleased to see loads of earthworms come up with each shovel of dirt.  When we moved into this house two years ago, the soil was incredibly poor and there were very few worms.  We have gone with the no-till method and have layered compost, newspapers, leaves and grass clippings in the raised beds, and used layers of cardboard and bark mulch around the beds.  The soil has obviously improved enough that worms can thrive, and this makes me happy.  I have improved a small section of our ecosystem!

What Tangled Webs We Weave...Introducing Non-Native Species

If it weren't for Shakespeare, I wouldn't have reason to write this post, but if there was ever a reason to loathe the man, it would be for his repeated mention of Starlings.  You see, some genius back in 1890 decided that North America needed to have all the species of birds mentioned by Shakespeare, so he released several dozen Starlings in Central Park.  Starlings are now considered a non-native invasive species numbering around 200 million, and that, my friends, is just about how many holes have been pecked into the side of my house by these pests.

This weekend Mr. JP and his dad spent the better part of Saturday up in the attic repairing the holes that have been pecked--a few large ones, and MANY small ones where they started but perhaps lost interest (mostly above my bedroom window).  Funnily enough, there were no nests in the attic.  They seem to have been adamant about getting just the right spot, and they tore out a lot of insulation.  After all the work of patching holes, Mr. JP and I went out this morning upon hearing fluttering at the window, and there were MORE HOLES!  I'm exasperated to the point where I'd like to cover our siding in electrified mesh, but his mom offered us her bobble-head owl that is supposed to deter other birds as an alternate solution.  Note that Starlings are not protected under The Migratory Bird Act, but I have to get rid of them humanely.  I say if certain unmentioned states are allowed to get rid of convicts using electricity, then I can get rid of a small number of an invasive species using it...but that's a can of worms I'd not care to open with law enforcement.  Thus, my interim solution, the styrofoam block and a permanent marker.  I drew huge eyes on two blocks of styrofoam and mounted them on some gardening stakes.  I put one of them up high and one of them in the lawn, hoping that the eyes will scare these things away until we can pick up the owl.  I pray that it works and that I don't go out tomorrow to find shreds of styrofoam and a flock of laughing Starlings lined up under my window.

The Gardener Has No Groceries

A little green for St. Paddy's Day!

I've been stricken with migraines since Monday, which has put a serious damper on the grocery shopping.  Mr. JP is a sweetie and has no problem going to the store, so he stopped on Monday to pick up necessities, but it is too much to ask him to go more than once a week.  Plus, I am the coupon queen, so my hair stands up when he brings home things like the biggest box of brand name dryer sheets he can find when they aren't on sale and he didn't have a coupon...not to mention that we had two boxes in the closet that I had bought when there were on sale, but I digress. 

Sharing a meal around the table in the evening, even though it is just the two of us, is very important in our house, so even through the migraines I always try to have something on the table.  It is only a few minutes of our day, but it is a time for us to connect over food, share meaningful conversation, and be grateful for each others company.  Here's what I came up with from our stock in the pantry and the freezer:

Migraine Meal #1:
On Monday, which is a day off from work for me, I put a whole chicken in the crockpot and while it was cooking I quickly whipped up some sloppy Joe's using ground turkey and Manwich.  I like to spice it up a bit, so I put Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and chipotle chili powder in with the sauce.  Served over potato rolls which have been toasted and dusted with garlic powder, this is a super quick meal.  I steamed a bag of frozen veggies for a side dish.  The cooked chicken went straight into the fridge, crock and all, to be dealt with when my head wasn't searing.  Mr. JP says my sloppy Joe's are the best he's ever eaten.

Migraine Meal #2:
Tuesday was a terrible day at work, suffering with a lingering migraine and dealing with all sorts of issues (whose days at work aren't full of issues, right?).  Miraculously, I pulled through the entire day and even survived the commute.  While I was on the bus, I texted Mr. JP and asked him to chop up an onion (that's always his job).  I actually didn't know what I was going to make until I got home and went pantry diving.  Here's what I came up with:

Green Chili Chicken Rice Bake
Cooked chicken breast and 2 thighs, diced
One medium sized onion, diced
One red pepper, diced
One package pre-sliced mushrooms, chopped
One can of green chilies
One can of green enchilada sauce
Rice (enough to make about 5-6 cups)
Shredded cheese

1. Start the rice.  I added cumin and chipotle chili powder, along with some salt and olive oil while it was cooking.
2. While the rice is cooking, saute the veggies until the onions are translucent.  Add the chopped chicken and diced green chilies.  I added a little salt and garlic powder to the concoction until it tasted decent.  Pour in about 2/3 of the enchilada sauce, and heat the mixture thoroughly.
3. Spread the rice in the bottom of a casserole dish and top with the chicken mixture.  Top this off with the rest of the enchilada sauce and sprinkle with shredded cheese.  
4. Bake @350º until bubbly.

This recipe actually makes quite a bit, especially just for the two of us, so I made 2 casseroles and froze one.

Migraine Meal #3:
Mr. JP was on his own on Wednesday night.  I had been feeling pretty good all morning, but drank a Diet Sunkist soda with lunch and was sick within an hour with severe nausea, light sensitivity, and light-headedness.  At one point I nearly passed out while putting away some Hubbard squash puree I had prepared earlier in the day.  The pain was so bad it made me ball up in bed with tears streaming down my face.  I think dinner consisted of PB&J.

Migraine Meal #4:
After dealing with touch and go migraines all week, I called off from work today.  I've had good hours and bad hours today.  I thought I was permanently improving until I went out to enjoy the beautiful 60+ degree weather this evening.  Some deer went running through the forest and Bad Dog, who was supposed to be on her way into the house, nearly jumped the 6' tall fence with back claws on the top of the gate.  I yelled and she turned around to look at me and fell off the gate into the yard (she wasn't hurt, in fact, this dog feels no pain!).  Thank goodness!  I have no idea if I would have ever gotten her back, and even though I joke about taking her to the pound, I'd be devastated to lose her.  The stress jolted the migraine back into existence, so Mr. JP was in charge of putting together the ingredients I found in the freezer/pantry this afternoon. 

As you can see, we are fond of the casserole/whatever-bake.  I found a bag of homemade pasta sauce that a friend of mine made from his garden produce last summer (flavored with fennel, it is AMAZING).  We had an apple hardwood smoked chicken sausage and a little frozen spinach.  In the pantry I found a box of whole wheat pasta shells, and there was a little feta and parmesan cheese in the fridge.  Voila!  Pasta bake!  He just sliced and cooked the sausage while the water for the pasta was boiling, added the spinach and sauce and heated it until the noodles were done.  Then he put the al dente noodles in the sauce mixture, added a little feta, scooped it into a casserole dish, topped with the Parmesan, and baked until it was bubbly at 350ºF.  I gave directions from bed.  When it came out of the oven I had to take a picture.  Even though my head still feels like a Leprechaun is trying to chisel its way out through my eye socket, I managed to eat a little bit.  We had to turn out the lights over the dining room table.  Unfortunately, it was not very romantic!

The point of all of this is, a well-stocked pantry and freezer are crucial for those times when you are too sick to head to the grocery store but you have to find a way to feed your family.  Luckily I have a charming fiance who doesn't mind a little grocery shopping and cooking now and then.  He is a hard worker and I just work part-time, so I really try to make sure that I'm holding up my end of the work around the house.  By stocking up when items are on sale (chicken, sausages, frozen and canned veggies, sauces, pasta and rice), we can get through a week of bare bones grocery shopping and still have really delicious food on the table almost every night (plus leftovers for lunches).

Spring has Sprung!

This is what was poking through the ground a few weeks ago when I made my first trip to the flower bed with a load of compost.  Since then I have gotten a fever for growing, and am in severe denial that the USDA Hardiness Zone Map says I am in zone 6.  We must be in at least zone 7, because...well...I want to be!

Seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, basil, leeks, herbs, flowers, onions, and what-nots are incubating in my "lab" in the basement under my newly constructed shop light system.  Pictures to come, but the babes say they are not ready for their formal debut.  I took a peek today, and the tomatoes are already starting to get tiny sprouts of their true leaves!  It must be that extra special love I've been giving them by spraying them with rain water. 

Daffodils and Heuchera

In the garden, I saw my first two pea sprouts this morning, and the radishes all popped out of the ground at once after last night's beautiful rain.  The turnips are coming up under the greenhouse plastic that I've stretched over their raised bed, and lettuce is coming up, too, from the seeds I scattered last Fall, when I was wondering what would happen if I just put a few seeds out in late October...

Happiness.  Until the birds get the freshly sprouted seeds (please God, no!).

Time for transformation

Like most gardeners, I have been dreaming of spring throughout this long winter, longing for the fresh fruit and veggies of those warm and sunny days that seem so far out of reach this time of year.  However, when the winter blues have you down and the freshest produce from the grocery store can't hold a candle to wilted lettuce from your garden, there's nothing like the comfort of eating bag after bag of Cadbury mini-eggs.  These candies must be consumed rapidly and often due to their seasonality...yes, I just wrote that I have been gorging on chocolate.  And I feel awful, both mentally and physically.  I have been hunkering down eating sweets like I'll never have another chance again.  What I know is that I've been filling myself with garbage, so it is no surprise that I am cranky, irritable, suffering from migraines, and generally miserable.  Hours spent in front of the computer playing Farmville have led to sedentary ailments like stiffness and weight gain.  I've beaten myself up over this too many times to count, and still I find that I'm lacking motivation. 

For someone that has no problem hauling load after load of compost, spending hours weeding, shoveling, planting, mending and maintaining the yard and garden, I would think that simply engaging in an hour long walk wouldn't be that hard to muster, but I find no purpose in putting one foot in front of the other unless they are on their way to the garden shed!

That being said, this weekend is supposed to be in the high 40's and low 50's.  One of the first beautiful weekends that make Spring feel like it is really on its way, and not just a hallucination induced by pounds of sugar and fat.  Today, I will pull on those old work clothes (hoping that they still fit) and trudge out into the soggy yard to grab the wheelbarrow and the shovel.  I have some compost left over from the fall that I will haul up the hill to the front yard and mulch into my flower bed, which already is showing signs of brave daffodils and hardy Heuchera. 

A few moments to spare in this whirlwind of life

Happy New Year!  It has been a long time since the last post.  For a few more weeks I have true leisure time, the last I will have until after the wedding in October.  My last semester of graduate school will start in a few weeks, and I can't wait for it to begin so it can finally end!  This has been the longest three years trying to finish up my Master's piece by piece.  One of my best friends is getting married the week before my graduation, so I will enjoy a nice quick trip out to Washington State, and will finally get to show hubby-to-be how beautiful it is out there, and why I long to return.  Then there will be a blowout graduation bash, followed by Memorial Day at the beach house, and then...wedding madness will ensue.  We are getting married in October, and already I have a bit of a Dad-zilla, who is inviting guests right and left and hounding me for blocks of hotel rooms.  I never thought it would be my dear Pops who would push me over the wedding planning edge, but Daddy-O, our venue can only hold 130 people and we'd like to invite some of our friends!  xoxo!

Anyway, with a bit of free time on my hands right now I've been cooking and sewing and reading, thumbing through gardening catalogs and dreaming of spring.  I have also been spending MUCH too much time online playing silly Facebook games.  I saw a post on one of my favorite blogs, Little House in the Suburbs, about TL's Grandmother's embroidery and it made me really wish for my supplies I had back when I was 10 and learning needlepoint in 4-H.  I emailed my Mom to see if she still had any of my old projects.  The point of this whole ramble is that people used to have time to sit in a chair and do fine needlepoint, even though they had to make their bread without a machine and had to slaughter a few chickens to cook them up for the big family (I have no idea if TL's Grandmother did this, but I know mine did).  Sometimes when I cry about not having enough free time, I have to stop and count up all those hours I spent on silly things, like Farmville...

Enough about that.  Here are my current projects:
The Yard Sale Wrap Skirt, pattern from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross.  I've never made a garment before, and I'm self-taught when it comes to sewing with a machine.  I learned how to make a beautiful French seam, but when I had put all the panels together, the skirt didn't even begin to wrap around my hips...hello seamripper, my old friend...

Garden Apron from One Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker.  I just cut out the pieces today from a wonderfully fun print I've had for a year and didn't know what to make with.  It is a nice heavy quilting weight cotton by Michael Miller: Giraffe Garden in Grey.  It calls for making three yards of seam binding, so I'll be giving that a shot with a scrap of unknown but matchy stripey material.  I made a quilted oven mitt (again from the One Yard Wonders book) right before Christmas, which was my first attempt at quilting anything, and at sewing anything with a binding.  It went okay, especially for the first time. 

I have an ugly blue laminate dresser from IKEA that was either free or extremely cheap, and I read somewhere where you could refinish this using spray paint.  I'm going to give that a try when the weather is nice enough to take the piece outside and sand and spray.  I would love to cover the top in a self-healing mat so I could buy a rotary cutter and have a surface to cut on.  I will be putting the dresser in my little sewing room to hold the ever increasing bundles of fabric. 

Next up on the list are some gardening tunics that I just love in the Weekend Sewing book, along with some fabric headbands.  I got some beautiful cotton lawn fabric that washed up so soft and nice, in 4 different colors and patterns.  My intention was to make several of the Yard Sale Wrap Skirts and several tunics, but seeing how I've already stalled out on the wrap skirt due to a sizing issue, I'm not sure I'll accomplish all of that before the gardening season begins.  That's why I asked for these for my birthday (coming up in March).  I've always wanted a pair of gardening overalls, and how cute are these where the pant legs zip off to make shorts?  And padded inserts in the knees?  That eliminates the need for me to make a kneeling cushion (except that the laminated fabric section has so many delightful patterns, I might have to make one or two anyway!).

Tonight I made my first ever loaf of pumpernickel bread with rye flour grown right outside the town where I went to college.  I ordered a supply of Cream of the West from Green Barn Organics, and picked up a sack of rye flour and pearl barley while I was at it.  The bread was amazing, especially when dunked in my savory Hubbard squash soup seasoned with cardamom and cayenne pepper.  I love that we are still eating from the garden in January!

Hubbards hubbards everywhere

The yard-eating squash vine!

The baby Hubbard squash that took over the yard this summer left me with over a dozen fruits of varying size.  Right now the small ones are in a produce cart and the larger ones are collecting dust on the floor in the basement.  I figured it was time to start looking up some new recipes for these sweet, nutty, and flavorful winter squash.  In my search, I found so many fabulous recipes I decided to create a new post dedicated to winter squash recipes.

The first one I am trying out this afternoon is for a Hubbard casserole.  I don't have any bulgur flour, so I'll be using regular flour, the mozzarella will be substituted with Parmesan, almond meal for the bread crumbs and the coconut oil will be substituted with olive oil, as these are the ingredients I have on hand.

I cut one of the large squash in half, scooped out the seeds, some of which I will roast, and some of which I will save for the garden next year.  I cut up one half into nice little cubes for the casserole, and was still left with one large half squash.  It is in the oven as we speak, roasting at 350 degrees.  I will be making Winter Squash Puree with Shaved Parmesan for lunch tomorrow.

One of the baby Baby Hubbards back in June.

And this beauty, I could eat this all day every day for the rest of my life!  I am thinking of making this for Christmas, because tarte tatin is a "sometimes food".   Wouldn't it be delicious with pumpkin pie spice in the caramel?  mmm!

A lot of the recipes I found call for butternut squash, which gets the most culinary attention, probably do to the fact that it does not have warts and bumps or grow freakishly large.  Hubbards substitute well for butternut.

Squash are a great food to cook with because they can straddle the spectrum from sweet to savory with ease.  They are nutritious, filling, and incredibly inexpensive.  I'm happy to have a basement brimming with Hubbards and spaghetti squash (which I also grew in the garden this summer).  Between the squash and a freezer full of chickens and turkeys from the farm, we are pretty set for some amazing winter comfort foods.  Stay tuned!

Sensitive to frost

I feel a bit like the poor okra standing in the garden, leaves crumpled and black with flower buds still bravely trying to open, despite the frosty evenings we've had this week.  It was so glorious this summer, tall and strong and massively productive, but as the days got shorter and the weather got colder, the poor okra started to wither and fade.  What is it about the lack of daylight, the leaves falling lazily from the trees, and the crisp fall air that makes me want to hang my head and cry?  With that first frost, a little part of me died, right along with the okra and basil. 

Thanks to some quickly constructed low tunnel hoop houses, my Swiss chard and lettuce should continue on through mid-winter, although this is my first year to try extending the season, and I'm not sure at all what I am doing.  I am pretty sure, however, that that's the only thing keeping me from completely collapsing under the weight of the impending winter.  That, and the gardening books and seed catalogs that I have already started devouring in earnest.  I only need to make it to February, when I can start seedlings in my basement, and then to March, when I can plant cold weather crops under my tunnels.  Until then, time will be spent adding layers of yard trimmings to my lasagna garden, building a salad box, sewing new gardening aprons and harvest baskets, and dreaming, scheming, and planning for another abundant gardening season in 2011.  R.I.P. tender plants, I did love you so.

Fresh from the public library: a vegetarian crockpot cookbook

In the past, if I wanted to try a new cookbook, I'd just order it from one of my favorite online stores, but ever since I started working part time, I've had to curb a few extraneous expenses.  This isn't a bad thing at all, since I've actually found more enjoyment out of working my way through cookbooks I already own, exploring the wealth of recipes on the internet, and now, checking out new cookbooks from the public library.  Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson is currently sitting open to page 124: No Hurry Vegetable Curry, which I plan on putting together tomorrow morning.  This cookbook is full of some amazing looking recipes that I can't wait to try out.  It is due back to the library on November 6, which gives me just a few weeks to try the 10 recipes I've flagged.

One thing I'm not quite sold on yet is the technique of pre-cooking some of the veggies before they go in the crockpot.  The book says it really enhances the flavor, but realllllly?  The thought of cooking onions and carrots tomorrow morning makes my stomach turn.  Sure, I could do it tonight, but the whole idea of the crockpot is to plop everything in, flip the switch, and walk away...like a skilled villain in a good action movie, without the shards of glass and screaming...

Anyway, I am looking forward to tomorrow night's dinner of vegetarian curry with garlic naan from Trader Joe's.  After all, this whole exercise is being performed so I have something to scoop with my naan! 

Who else cooks a main dish to accommodate the bread?

Learn to Cook Lesson #1: Inspired by the pleas of a new cook...

Tonight I made a Swiss chard and Hubbard squash gratin with a coconut milk bechamel sauce, based loosely on a recipe I found on a cute blog.  I posted what I was making for dinner on my Facebook page, and almost immediately had this response:

"Lori I'm starting to cook but I can not even begin to pronounce half of your ingredients let alone find them in Montana. I need a menu that someone of my caliber can tackle - any suggestions?"

This inspired me to start a series of blog posts for the beginning cook.  You know who you are...your Mom/Dad always tried to get you to learn some cooking skills but you were too busy with basketball practice, watching TV, washing the cat, etc.  Or maybe your parents didn't cook.  Whatever the reason, here you are, needing to make a meal and not having any clue how this whole cooking thing is done.  In part, I blame Food TV, because most of the shows are on people eating food, and the shows where people are cooking food deal with ingredients like octopus liver.  It seems intimidating and overwhelming.  Not only do you have to know how to cook something, but you need to find a recipe, gather the ingredients, set aside the time...awwwww screw it, let's order Chinese!  But I promise that you don't have to be anyone special to be able to put together a really delicious meal.  Everyone starts from the same place, they really do.  


First of all, there are some tools that you absolutely MUST have to be a successful home cook.  The first of these is a good knife.  I received a J.A. Henckel santoku chef's knife as a gift many years ago, and words cannot describe how much easier everything is when you finally have a good knife in your hands.  I recently purchased a 4" chef's knife to match, and am finding that I could really use a paring knife as well.  But, these things are very expensive, so I would recommend starting with a 8" chef's knife.  Go to a cooking store and tell them you are a beginning cook and you want a good quality chef's knife.  They will pull out their collection for you to handle.  The knife should be heavy and well-balanced, and feel comfortable in your hand.  Henckel is my choice, but it may not be yours.  I would definitely recommend handling these in person before purchasing--it is an investment.


The second "tool" you need is a very basic cookbook that will have basic instructions for how to boil, bake and steam any kind of vegetable and meat.  It needs to have a basic sauces section, a primer on beans and grains, and pictures are a MUST.  My #1 recommendation is the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  It is my go-to reference.  Do you think I just learned how to make a bechamel sauce from thin air?  Nope, BHG cookbook, baby!  This cookbook also has a nice section on selecting cookware, so I'll save myself the typing and let you read it for yourself.  Check it out from the library if you don't want to buy it right away.


My third MUST have tool for the home cook: the crock pot.  It is a miracle.  They come in all sizes and all price ranges.  I have one from a garage sale that holds about 6 quarts.  I use it several times a week for everything from whole chickens to fish in foil packets to pots of soups, stews, chili, and beans.

Ready for your easy meal #1?  Here's one of my stand-by recipes for when I want a hearty meal that tastes good and doesn't much effort at all.

Baked Chicken in Pasta Sauce

• Ingredients: jar of your favorite pasta sauce, boneless skinless chicken breasts, shredded mozzarella cheese

• You will need a 9x13 baking dish, preferably glass or ceramic (not metal).  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

• Put raw chicken breasts in pan, cover with pasta sauce, top with shredded cheese.  Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the chicken is tender enough to pull apart with a fork.

• 20 minutes before the chicken is done, start boiling some water.  10 minutes before the chicken is done, boil some pasta.  

Serve the chicken with sauce over pasta.  For a side dish, microwave one of those steamer bags of broccoli/cauliflower (whatever you like, just make sure you balance out your meal with a fresh veggie that isn't a starch like corn).


If you have a crockpot, put the raw chicken in the crock, cover with sauce, and cook on low for 8 hours.  You don't even have to thaw the chicken--just make sure to never put frozen ANYTHING in a hot crock or you risk cracking it (cold food, cold crock)

Sticky sweet oddities: Cantaloupe Jam

The fridge is so full right now.  We are lucky in that regard, but it makes it awfully difficult to find a nice big spot to put a crock of marinating fish.  The old cantaloupe that I got for $1 at the veggie stand needed to go, but I hate throwing away food, especially if it might still be good.  I was in serious doubt, since there were soft little patches all over it, but it hadn't turned fuzzy, so I sliced it open.  It was actually perfect, sweet and juicy.  Knowing that we probably wouldn't eat it all up and it would spoil even faster being cut, I decided to get adventurous and try turning it into jam.  It worked, and now I have three beautiful jars of jam cooling on my kitchen counter.

Cantaloupe Jam
1 medium to large cantaloupe
1/2 cup orange juice
lemon zest, to taste
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups sugar


Remove the rind and seeds, cut the melon into chunks, and puree using a blender or food processor.  Add all ingredients to a heavy pot or large saucepan, and let simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture has a jelly-like consistency.  I scooped some out periodically and put the spoon in the freezer to let it cool to see what the consistency was like.  When you get it where you want it, fill your jelly jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Place lids and rings on jars and boil in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Moist Pumpkin Muffins with Pepitas

Last weekend I opened up a large can of pureed pumpkin and used some of it for the baked oatmeal, and all week long I have been trying to decide which delicious recipe I would choose to use up the rest of the pumpkin.  The winner?  Moist, spicy, pumpkin muffins:

This recipe will make 12 large muffins, 18 medium muffins, or 30 mini-muffins

INGREDIENTS:
1 ½ cups flour (I used 1 cup all purpose and ½ cup whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups pumpkin puree (this is more or less a 15 oz can)
1/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds, or any other kind of nut) (optional)



DIRECTIONS:

Put oven rack in middle position. Preheat oven to 350F. Put liners in muffin cups or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
2. Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, cloves, nutmeg, and sugar in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
3. Fold in the nuts.
4. Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full).  Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes for regular muffins, 15-17 minutes for mini-muffins.


Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer muffins to a rack to finish cooling.  Serve warm. 

A favorite recipe and a new discovery: Now bubbling in a kitchen near you!

I wanted to make one of my favorite easy supper recipes today, but I didn't have any condensed cream of "x" soups on hand.  While I was out running errands I thought I would pick some up, but at $1.75 per can for Campbell's, I was sure I could find a substitute.  I made my way to Trader Joe's, and they didn't have any condensed soups at all, so I picked up a carton of sliced cremini (baby portabella) mushrooms and decided I would make my own, after all, it is just a cream soup!  After making this, I don't think I'll ever buy another can of Campbell's again.

Condensed Cream of "X" Soup

(Makes 12 cups, or about 8 cans)

1. In a large stockpot, sautee 3 cups of finely chopped veggie "X" until very soft, or chop up chicken or other meat into very small chunks.
• Add garlic powder, thyme, oregano, ground coriander seed, celery salt, onion powder, pepper and salt to taste
2. Add 6 cups of veggie broth or chicken broth (I use my own homemade versions) and 2 cups of milk (I used lowfat).  Bring this mixture to a boil
3. In another bowl, pour in 4 cups of milk.  Slowly whisk in 3 cups of flour to get a very thick suspension without lumps.  
4. Add flour/milk mixture to the boiling broth and stir until the soup thickens to a nice consistency.

You can freeze this in 1.5 cup portions, which is equal to about 1 can. 

Here's what I made with my new condensed soup mix.  This is a favorite recipe that came from my Grandma Lil, and which my Mom makes all the time.  You can make this with any meat, and can use bone-in or boneless versions with equally delicious results.  My Mom browns the meat before putting it in the dish, and adds the drippings to the rice.  I don't have the patience for that, so I just pile it all in and walk away.  Hers is better, but I don't know if that is because Mom's food always tastes better for some reason, or if it has to do with the browning. 

Chicken and Brown Rice Casserole

Spread 2 cups of uncooked brown rice on the bottom of a large casserole dish.

Lay uncooked chicken on the rice layer.

Sprinkle with a package of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix

Mix two cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup with 4 cups of water and pour over the chicken and rice.

Bake for 1.5 hours at 350 degrees.

Foodie Blogroll Giveaways: Mohawk Valley Trading Company

Foodie Blogroll has partnered up with Mohawk Valley Trading Company, and for the next 4 weeks, 8 lucky winners will receive jars of their delicious raw honey!  I'm not just selling out so I can be entered to win some of their amazing products.  Mr. JP and I eat raw honey all the time, but our current supplier filters their honey which removes most of the beneficial propolis, beeswax, and pollen.  The price on this honey is really good, too, at $10 for a 1 lb. jar.  Buying honey made in the USA helps support local beekeepers, a critical component of our agricultural success.

From the Foodie Blogroll Contest Page:

About Mohawk Valley Trading Company:

The Mohawk Valley Trading Company offers the highest quality organic and unprocessed natural products they can produce such as maple syrup  and raw honey.

• * Wildflower Honey
• * Buckwheat Honey
• * Apple Blossom Honey
• * Orange Blossom Honey
• * Blueberry Blossom Honey 

Raw honey contains all of the pollen, live enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals, and aromatics in the same condition as they were in the hive.

 

The  Adirondack Wildflower Honey is certified pesticide-free and they offer 2 types: Summer and Autumn.

 

The Prize: 

There will be 8 winners (2 per week) who will receive one jar of Adirondack Wildflower Summer Honey and one jar of Adirondack Wildflower Autumn Honey, for a total value of value $20.00.

 

To order your own Raw Honey:
Visit Mohawk Valley Trading Company at http://www.tenonanatche.com

Give me the coffee and no one gets hurt

It has been a busy week.  I've been running on adrenaline and jet fuel trying to get everything done.  My sister's birthday is coming up soon, and I'm trying to put together a little package of gifts that I've made.  Herein lies the problem.  Sewing and crafting is a lot like cooking.  You have to have all the ingredients, and you have to know a little bit about what you are doing.  Every time I think I have everything, I find out there's one more piece of the puzzle that I'm missing.  If I could just have a sewing store in my basement, this would all be a lot easier.  I'm a novice at sewing, meaning that I just started teaching myself a few months ago, so the thought of giving someone a gift that I've sewn feels a little like I'm handing out macaroni necklaces. 

If only Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal with Crunchy Cinnamon Crumbles would survive thousands of miles of travel, my worries would be over.  Mr. JP and I made this yesterday morning.  We have both been running on empty this week, so we had a nice sleep-late followed by a delicious hot breakfast.  The recipe says that this is best the first day, but we both thought the texture was better this morning when we ate it as leftovers.  It became a lot like a delicious bread pudding, but the cinnamon crunchies did get a little soggy, so if you want that first-day-crunch, put it under the broiler for a minute before serving.  I love this recipe, and I think it would adapt very well to different fillings.  Next time I am going to use up some ripe bananas and add walnuts in lieu of raisins.  I think it would also work well with applesauce (reduce the liquid to compensate) and those delicious little wild Boreal blueberries. 

That's all for now.  I need to head out to the Farmer's Market and hit up the fabric store on my way home so I can continue making macaroni necklaces for my dear sister!  I hope she likes them!

Gremlins in the bread machine

Lately I've been renaming bread machine recipes with a few of my own choice words.  This most recent loaf rose up over the top of the bread pan and burned itself to the inside of the bread machine while baking.

Bread machine baking lessons:

• Peanut flour turns bread into inedible chunks of sour, rock hard badness.

• When a recipe calls for 1 1/2 eggs, you better figure out how to make that chicken lay a half an egg.

• Vital gluten is usually a really good thing for whole wheat loaves, as it makes them fluffier.  However, this is apparently a "use at your own risk" ingredient. 

I had to break the loaf to get the pan out of the machine

I will try this recipe again, as it looks like a good portion of the loaf is edible, and it seems like a nice light wheat bread, which is what I have been trying to get.  The recipe, Whole Wheat 1, comes from The Bread Machine Cookbook by Donna Rathmell German.  Next time I will not add vital gluten.  If it makes the kind of loaf I've been looking for, I'll post the recipe.  But until then, just assume that there continues to be something gnawing on the wires in the bread machine.

Hello? Autumn, are you out there?

I've been ready for apple cider, chunky sweaters, wood fires and an excuse to bake pies and make soups for over a month.  A few days ago there was a little chill in the air, and a few leaves on the trees are starting to turn color, but that hot, still air that was smothering me today sure didn't feel anything like fall!  Regardless, I've been cooking away and experimenting with all kinds of new ingredients.

Don't try this at home

Trader Joe's is now selling peanut flour, which has a lot of protein and very little fat.  Mr. JP wanted to try some since he's boycotting any commercial protein powders due to their heavy metal content.  Knowing it wouldn't act like regular flour, I wondered how I could incorporate it into the bread I bake each week.  I added about a cup of peanut flour to the regular recipe, and cut the regular flour down a bit.  I knew I was in trouble when the bread machine was hacking away at trying to knead it.  When the loaf came out, it was so deformed I just had to laugh.  Mr. JP, who will eat anything, said he would still use it for sandwiches, even though it had a sour flavor and was hard as a brick.  Questioning his judgment, I kept the loaf, and he reported the next day that he wouldn't be able to eat it, afterall!  I've tossed it in the freezer in the hopes that I might be able to pulverize it and use it for bread crumbs or as a stuffing. 

Kasha breakfast cereal with Boreal blueberries and cream

Meanwhile, being tired of the same old breakfast of oatmeal with bananas day after day, I decided to cook up the kasha (toasted buckwheat) that I got from the bulk bins at the co-op.  It has such a nutty aroma as it is cooking!  I tried it as a breakfast cereal, and while it was flavorful, it won't become a staple.  I had a lot left over which I used to make a chicken broccoli "rice" casserole, and it was perfect for that!

How to cook kasha:
1 c. kasha (toasted buckwheat groats)
2 c. water
Rinse the kasha and slowly add to boiling water while stirring.  Turn the heat to medium-low and cover.  Let the kasha cook for 10-15 minutes.  Don't overcook it.  I have the feeling it would turn out mushy.

I have to say, these little wild Boreal blueberries from Trader Joe's have a really nice flavor!  They look like the huckleberries that I used to pick on Blue Mountain in Missoula, MT.  I'm sure they would work as a huckleberry substitute in a cheesecake or muffins.  Disclaimer: there is no real substitute for fresh huckleberries picked off the side of a mountain, and cooked up into a rich, sweet sauce the same day, but if you live anywhere else you are just going to have to make do.

Jack Be Little miniature pumpkins

Bad Dog has been helping me out with finding a use for all the mini pumpkins I planted.  I had read that mini pumpkins were edible, and I was very excited to grow the cute little white and orange varieties I see in the supermarket every fall.  I cooked up a bunch of them several weeks ago, and while they are technically edible, they are very fibrous.  The work it takes to cut them open and scoop out the seeds is not really worth it when all you get in return is a fibrous pulp that doesn't really have much flavor.  Mr. JP insists that we can't waste them, so I will cook them all up, scoop out the flesh, chop it in the food processor and freeze it.  But if Bad Dog wants to help whittle away at the pile, this is one crop I am more than willing to share with her.

Polenta is not Italian for dog food

Bad Dog seems to have an eating disorder.  On Monday morning she ate my bacon behind my back, and later that same day, she helped herself to a beautifully prepared and delicious pan of warm polenta.  It's not that I am neglectful--I drug her from the kitchen into the living room while the polenta was cooling and thickening on the counter because I knew she seemed too interested...but...Bad Dog has a way of silently slipping away and it is only when things become too quiet that we realize she has ninja'd her way into the kitchen.  I cried.  The first time I had ever made polenta and it was thick, creamy, loaded with goat cheese, and coated in dog slime.  Bad Dog learned the English phrase, "I'm going to kill you!" that day.  Polenta...Take 2.

Crispy Polenta with Goat Cheese, Roasted Garlic, and Roasted Red Peppers

1 c. corn grits
4 c. liquid (I used homemade chicken stock, some cream, and water to add up to 4 cups)

Boil the liquid (if you are using a milk base, do not let it scorch) and slowly add in the grits while stirring constantly.  Keep stirring until the boiling resumes, then lower the heat to medium.  Stir until the mixture is thickened.

Add the goat cheese and season to your liking.  Pour into a 9x13 baking pan.  It will continue to thicken and firm up as it cools. 

Take dog with you and sit in living room to relax after making such a wonderful polenta.  Relax...realize dog is in kitchen eating polenta.  Threaten dog to within an inch of her life (but do not actually harm her or you will experience bad karma and jail).  Cry.  Gchat with Mr. JP for moral support.  Return to step 1.

Meanwhile, roast a head of garlic.  When the polenta has cooled enough, cut it into squares and fry each one in oil (or put under the broiler to get the top nice and crispy).  Top with roasted garlic and slices of roasted red peppers, and crumble more goat cheese over the top. 

Bloggycat's paw paws and grilled polenta cakes

I'm getting a nice list of really cool blogs to follow, don't you think?  I feel like a copycat, or in this case, a bloggycat, but these fantastic bloggers just have the BEST ideas! 

The amazing Paw Paw fruit

In the spirit of Poor Girl Eats Well, I decided to see what I could do for a few bucks at the food co-op and farmer's market this weekend.  Of course, having Mr. JP with me always seems to make the bill go up (not because he puts things in the cart, but because he is a good partner in crime!), so we weren't able to come even close to the $25 shopping cart, but we got some pretty neat stuff from the bulk bins and the farmer's market.  The thing that really busted the budget: paw paws. 

Our favorite fruit, not sold in stores because of their extremely short shelf-life, easy bruising, and their need to ripen completely on the tree (so they can't be shipped raw and gassed later), shows up this time of year for about one week, and then it's a long, long wait until we can have more of the tropical tasting custard-like fruit.  So, of course, we bought every last paw paw and some paw paw cake, along with Honey Crisp apples, peaches, and some Asian pears.  I have a weakness when it comes to locally grown fruit.  Good thing Mr. JP had a few extra bills in his wallet!  What I did get for cheap, though, was a whole bunch of different colored sweet peppers, and a few blazing inferno hot peppers for my salsa and green tomato pickles.  I could have walked out of the farmer's market for $4 if it hadn't been for those paw paws!

I've been seeing a lot of recipes for polenta recently, and I really want to try my hand at making it, but none of the recipes seem to be too clear on whether I should use cornmeal or corn grits.  I looked for something like a box that said "Polenta" on it at the store, but didn't see anything other than Bob's Red Mill corn grits that said it was also known as polenta (and also known as "Holy Cow that's expensive grit!")  So when I was at the co-op, I got some corn grits.  I'm going to try my hand at making Grilled Polenta Cakes with goat cheese (minus the caramelized onions because I forgot to buy onions).  I hope they turn out well enough to cut out of the pan and fry up to get that crispy crust on them!