Labor over Labor day

Well, what can I say? The school year has started, and I am no longer footloose and fancy free. Instead, it's back to the school routine, with work, work, work being the name of the game. But of course, it is always bittersweet...even though I complain about getting back to my normal work schedule, I do really enjoy seeing my colleagues and students again, and meeting this year's group of new students.

In the mean time, the summer has been better than last year. June was colder and wetter than we'd have liked, but we had a nice hot 4th of July. Of course, then much of July was unseasonably cool, too. But August has been pretty nice. I have actually gathered tomatoes - hurray! Admittedly, most of them have been from my mom's plants. My pride and joy this summer are two Buran sweet pepper plants that I picked up (in June) at the Hood River farmer's market. I've never had any success with peppers, but I thought I'd try again. Well, wonder of wonders, my plants are loaded with peppers, and one of them is even turning red! I'm so excited! I hope they taste good.

This summer has been a busy one in the yard - we replaced part of our fence (we did it ourselves), but now we need to finish a couple of short bits on it. Luckily, we have this long weekend ahead of us. I hope we finish!

Rainy June

I wore my coat to work this morning. It seems a little ridiculous at this point, but there it is. Last weekend was pretty warm, though, and the garden shows it - the pak choi quadroupled in size while I was out of town! It was lovely to return from a weekend away to find my tomato plants all peering out from over the walls of water, rather than hunkering down behind them.

The other exciting news is that we have chicks again! Mimi (a wheaten marans hen) decided a month ago that she was ready to set, so I put her into the shed with Arnold and Elagarn (the banties) and six eggs, and let her set. It looks like we only had a 50% gestation rate, but I just gave her six eggs at random, and some of them might not have been fertile. I've only seen two chicks so far, but she's been pretty cagey about letting them out from under her wings. That's not a figure of speech, by the way - a hen really does shelter her chicks under her body, and the little peepers peek out from between her feathers...if she lets them! Mamas are pretty protective.

Despite the cooler-than-ideal weather I'm still ready to say that this June is better than last year's June, and I have high hopes for the summer. Indeed - I'm hoping to get ripe tomatoes before October this year.

Miracles

It's spring! And I'm done for the summer, which is absolutely fabulous. The last few days have been lovely weather, and I've had the luxury of planting out my tomato plants (which still look kind of puny, alas!) and various sorts of seeds that I'm hopeful about -- beans, peas, and beets, so far. I have a small garden space, so I have to make a priority the things I really want to eat. Tomatoes get a top place on that list.

But I also really like cucumbers, although I may be the only one in the house who does, so I purchased a 4-pack of the japanese style cucumbers at my local greenhouse, and also some delica squash. Thinking ahead, I picked up a couple of packs of marigolds to help repel pests from them.

It's great -- I finished planting out my tomatoes, and filled up the spaces with some garlic, and my garden looks intentional, planned and even kind of organized for the first time! Last night I was showing it off to my husband and son, and we came across the little flat of plants that my son had started at his preschool, and given to me for Mother's Day.

"What kind of plants did you plant, Tristan?" I asked him, pointing to the little flat.

"Miracles."

"Marigolds?" I asked.

"No mom, we planted miracles," he said quite definitely.

"OK, Tristan," I smiled. It always seems like miracles to me anyway when I see little green shoots coming out of the ground -- especially if I planted the seeds myself.

Tarts for the tart

A few years back, when I lived in Eugene, a friend of mine would always bring these amazing almond tarts when we happened to both be at the same potluck. Her tarts were a little crunchy on the outside, but chewy inside, and totally delicious. (I don't usually go for almond-flavored things, so this is a serious compliment from me.) I'd oooo and aaaah over them, and she'd brush it off, "They're so easy" she'd say. Of course I didn't believe her. Then she gave me the recipe. I was astonished! It was really that easy.

Kathy's Almond Tart Recipe

1 1/2 C white sugar
3/4 C butter, melted
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 C white flour
Slivered or sliced almonds (optional)
Extra sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix all the ingredients. Pour them into a prepared tart pan that has been greased with butter or shortening. Sprinkle with almonds, and lightly sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Bake for ~30 minutes, or until top is golden brown, and set.

It really is that easy.

I've now modified this recipe in a number of ways. The first way came after the first time I made these for our Chemistry Club bake sale, and hardly anyone bought them. Of course, the people who did buy them raved and raved about them.

Hmmmm, I thought. Maybe they're intimidating-looking. So next time I made them I purchased some silicon muffin tins -- they happened to be heart-shaped, but that really didn't matter. I made them into 12 heart-shaped, individually-sized tarts. It was a hit! They sold like...well...hotcakes, I guess is the phrase. I've never sold hotcakes. But anyway, they sold out. So I've been doing that ever since. And actually, I think it's a good way to go. I was never able to cut a tart (in the big tart pan) into more than 8 pieces, so by making them into 12, I'm decreasing the serving size, so I don't need to feel quite as guilty about eating one.

Last night I made them again. I also made an experimental batch. My mom had just gotten back from visiting my sister in California, and she gave me a largish bag of lemons. (Maybe my sister has a lemon tree -- I'll have to ask.) Since I had so many lemons, I thought that a lemon-poppyseed version might be good. So I zested one lemon into the batter, and instead of putting in the almond extract and the vanilla, I substituted 2 tsp fresh lemon juice, and just 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. I put in 1/2 tsp poppyseeds, too -- I wasn't sure how much to put in.

They turned out quite tasty, but the lemon-poppyseed is still somewhat understated, so I think the next time I make them I'll go for a bolder flavor profile. Maybe I'll zest two lemons, and put in 1 tsp of poppyseeds. I'm not sure if I can put in more lemon juice and retain the correct liquid profile, but...I could add a tad more flour, I suspect. I'll let you know how my next experiment with the tarts turns out.

Unexpected Pears

I have been trying to expand my repertoire with respect to fruits. I'm a fairly adventurous eater, and I like to go to the grocery store and look for things I've never eaten before. Sometimes this ends up with excellent discoveries that I go back to again and again; other times I decide that I can do without future samples.

Sometimes, though, I forget to look through reasonably familiar items, like apples and pears, to see if my grocery store has started carrying new varieties. I've now had two extremely fortunate discoveries of amazingly delicious pears that I'd never tried before.

As a child, pears weren't my favorite fruit. My grandmother had several Bartlett trees, and it was a summer/fall tradition to pick them. Following that, of course, was a lot of eating of Bartlett pears. And...they aren't my favorite. I don't really like the texture, and I don't like the somewhat tannic flavor. These childhood experiences unfortunately fixed in my mind that "pears = Bartlett", which meant "pears = no thank you". (I only wonder if less than ideal food experiences, such as this one for me, is why children become picky about food. Very sad!)

Now, this position had already been shaken somewhat, since quite a while ago I discovered Bosc pears, which are everything that could be hoped for in a pear -- sweet and delicious as anything. But that just readjusted my position to "pears = no thank you, unless it's a Bosc".

Well, last fall I was shopping (buying Bosc pears) at Olympia Food Co-Op (fabulous place, if you've never shopped there), and I overheard two ladies talking about pears. One of them was rhapsodizing about Concorde pears. I'd never had them, but I perked my ears up, because she said she liked them better than Boscs! I resolved to try them when I saw them for sale.

My goodness -- I'm so glad I did! Concordes are amazing. They are tender, and the skin isn't very thick. They are sweet and juicy and delicious. I think I do like them even better than Boscs, which I never thought would happen. I also learned something else quite useful in my shopping: how to choose a ripe pear. Apparently, pears ripen from the inside out, so to see if a pear is ripe, you gently press on the flesh near the stem, and if it yields, it's ripe.

Anyway, yesterday I was shopping at PCC and saw a display with Comice pears. They are squat and almost round, and they weren't amazingly pretty or anything, but something prompted me to pick one up, turn it over, and smell the flower end. To my amazement, it had an amazingly sweet odor. It reminded me of quinces. (That was one of my experiments with trying something new; sadly, I now know that, despite how wonderful quinces smell, they don't taste good raw, even if you wait and wait and wait.) So then I wondered if Comice pears were some kind of hybrid with quinces. I put the pear back and continued my shopping, but then came back to it and picked one out (using the handy stem test.)

I just got finished devouring it. It was really amazing. Unlike some of what I've read, it wasn't that juicy, but maybe I ate it on the early side of its ripeness. Regardless, it was really delicious. So now I have three types of pears that I like! It's shaken my position that "pears = no thanks". Instead, I think I'm going to have to conclude "Bartlett = no thanks", but if it's some other type of pear, hand it over and I'll try it!

Eating Vacations

I don't know about you, but when I go on vacation to a place I've been to before (and this is especially true with a short vacation), I plan my time around what meals I can eat while I'm there.

This is always the case when I visit Bellingham, Washington. I went to college there, and there are so many wonderful places to eat, that I really need several days in order to do the city justice. I'll come back to Bellingham another day.

Last weekend Peter and I drove down to Eugene, Oregon. We lived there between 1998 and 2005, so we had plenty of time to get to know people, and to eat lots of tasty food. Of course we saw our friends while we were in town, but we also ate at several of our favorite places.

First among these was Studio One Cafe -- we started off our weekend with breakfast there on Saturday. Studio One is a tiny cafe just south of the University of Oregon, but it has extremely delicious breakfast fare. (In fact, I've only ever eaten breakfast there.) Peter's favorite is their challah french toast, which comes laden with fruity sauces, almond compote, and Awesome. My favorite had been a croissant breakfast sandwich that was piled with eggs scrambled with cheese, tomatoes, onions, and canadian bacon. Sadly, they discontinued the sandwich! I was very disappointed. But I drowned my sorrows in the tasty sauce that came with my french toast. Yum!

Next, since we weren't very hungry by lunch time, we picked up breakfast sandwiches to go from Barry's, a local coffee shop and deli that specializes in sandwiches built on home made bread, and truly excellent pastries. Oh, and we also got some of their tollhouse cookies. Incidentally, the breakfast sandwiches are on challah rolls. I guess we had a challah theme...

Dinner was accomplished at Sweet Basil, an amazing Thai restaurant in downtown. We feasted on chicken satay with peanut sauce, beef massaman, their special red curry, and pad see ew, all washed down with Thai iced tea. (Or one of Eugene's local beers -- your choice.) I have to say: Sweet Basil's wide rice noodles are the best I've ever had anywhere. They are both tender and chewy. I don't know how they do it, but it's a divine combination.

We actually reprised our breakfast sandwiches again Sunday morning. Who can blame us? They're tasty, and we needed to get on the road.

Of course, I wouldn't give a complete list if I left off the baguette we purchased, made by Metropol bakery, or the Yorkshire Gold tea which we can't seem to find anywhere in Seattle, or the pounds of locally roasted coffee (Equator Organic Sumatra, to be precise)... It's just a good eatin' town.

Cashew Oatmeal Honey Cookies

I've been listening to "Dogs and Goddesses" on audiobook. It's by three authors whose names I (sadly) forget. But anyway, it's a pretty hilarious book. It relates a modern day (fictional!) story about three women who find that they're somehow descended from some ancient Mesopotamian priestesses, and the goddess their descendents served has come back, and wants more service. Anyway, it was highly entertaining, and a satisfying listen. (Warning! The book does contain sex. If you don't like that sort of thing, take a miss. Otherwise, it's very funny.)

Point is, one of the characters finds that she's gifted with making amazing cookies, and after hearing about all the delicious cookies she was making, I got a craving for some cookies that contained cashews. After some internet research, I realized that I couldn't find any recipes that looked appealing, so I figured I'd just make my own. And what do you know? They turned out very well.

Here's the recipe:

Cashew Oatmeal Honey Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter (very soft)
1/2 cup honey (warmed so it's runny)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour (unbleached, white)
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup cashews, chopped fairly fine (a bit smaller than a chocolate chip)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream together the butter and honey. Mix in the brown sugar, vanilla, and egg. Mix in the remaining ingredients. Drop by rounded spoonfuls (or what ever your favorite size is for a cookie) onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown and set.

Enjoy!