Precious things

The last time I went away from home for a significant amount of time, it was in 2013, and we spent six weeks in France, Spain, and Wales (with a very short stop in London right at the end.) We left in mid-May and returned in late June, and I remember being surprised at how many things had changed - mainly in my yard - since I had been gone. I was also surprised at how many things were the same, but I hadn't really remembered them - like traffic. Not that there isn't traffic in all the places we visited - there certainly was. But I had mainly been a pedestrian, not a driver, so I didn't interact with them the same way.

Now I look around my yard and think of how everything is in full bloom right now, and how it'll be winter when I get back. This is the first year in a while that I have been starting to feel like my yard is in pretty good shape. The peas and raspberries are ripe, the kale is tall, and the tomatoes and cucumbers are doing their best under my somewhat shady conditions. And by "shady" I just mean that I have a lot of big trees. Really.

This time of year one of our favorites things is to picnic. My husband and I have always picnicked. When we were in college sometimes we would go out even on cold and somewhat rainy days and have "gothic picnics" at Whatcom falls park. Nowadays although we love to picnic at parks, we often just picnic in our own backyard. Our backyard is very private, and has really lovely shade. Since we live near the top of a hill there's almost always a bit of a breeze to help cool us down if it's a warmer day. It's pretty idyllic. So while I'm really excited about getting to go to Hungary, I'm sad that my husband won't be able to come with us for the whole time.

Since I've been thinking about all these things that we will miss, I've been trying to take extra time to do more of them before we go: more picnics, more playing in the yard, more spending time with family and friends. One part of my brain frets because it says I "should" be spending time fixing the faucet, or finishing cleaning out the basement, or pulling the rest of the weeds behind the cottage. The other part revels in the relationships that I'm building and maintaining by spending time with people instead. So I'm telling that other part of my brain to chill out. I'll get done the things that really need to get done before we go, and I'll have acquired the few things that we need to acquire before we go. The bags will be packed in due time. Those things can wait a little longer. Today is here for soaking up a little more time with the people that I'll be missing soon.

Reawakening

I haven't used this blog in a long time.

The adventurers
South Beach, WA (8/2017)

I started it 8 years ago because I wanted to talk about food -- cooking, growing food crops -- stuff like that. I wrote a handful of posts over the next two years, but...I don't know that I had much of a direction beyond that, so it didn't go very far. Not at all surprising, right? I still want to talk about food, but I have a lot more ideas now, and I'm also a lot more comfortable with myself -- especially with thinking of myself as someone who writes.

See what I did there? I didn't call myself a writer; I just said that I was someone who writes. At some point in the future maybe I'll feel comfortable calling myself a writer. For now, I don't think I have that level of confidence in myself to use that label. But I can be someone who writes. 

I'm about to go on a pretty big adventure. If you're already my friend then you know that I'll be heading out to Hungary in two weeks for a Fulbright in Szeged. I'm starting with a four week intensive language program in Hungarian (and before you ask, I've been studying Hungarian on my own for the last year+. It's a pretty cool language, all things considered. Would I say that about every language I've studied? Yes, probably. Languages are exciting. If you don't know another one besides for English then you should consider trying to learn one. I won't sugarcoat it: it's tremendously hard mental work, but it's super cool to realize that your brain can do this kind of thing. And despite what you might have been told, you're never to old to learn another language. Or another new thing. Quite the opposite, in fact: there's a lot of research that shows that doing mentally challenging tasks helps prevent things like Alzheimer's. So get right to it!)

Now that I've convinced you to go to your library and check out some language CDs, or use their Mango subscription, or try the Duolingo app...I'll get back to my original point: the current adventure.

I'm excited about going to Hungary not only because it's a new country, a new language, a Fulbright, and it'll be my first experience living abroad (I don't count the couple of overseas holidays I've taken. I won't be there exclusively as a tourist, so it's going to be a significantly different vibe.) I'm also excited because I won't be relying on a car to get me around. We'll be living within walking distance of the University of Szeged, where I'll be teaching for fall semester. I'm expecting to get bicycles, and otherwise rely on public transportation or trains to get us where we want to be. I haven't worked with this kind of transportation model since college, so it's going to be fun remembering how this works, and sharing the experience with my children. I also expect that it's going to be amazing for my body.

Am I nervous about it? Of course! Anything new is also a little scary. But I've received nothing but amazing support and helpfulness from my wonderful hosts at the university, the Hungarian Fulbright commission, and from the others in the community that I've interacted with, so I am confident that if we need something there will be people to help us out. That helps to offset any nervousness I'm feeling with a warm glow of security.

Anyway, if you're interested in hearing what's going on with these adventures, then here's a good place for me to share. Welcome!

Tomato Season

We wait for it all year long, and now, finally, it is here. Tomato season!

I can have tomatoes three meals a day now if I want. And snacks! It's wonderful.

Tomato cheese toast for simplicity, or caprese salad - so simple, yet so satisfying. Or you could go a little fancier, and make a Margherita pizza, which is what we did for dinner tonight. I feel so blessed. I feel extravagant and wealthy - I have eight enormous pink brandywine tomatoes ripening on my table. (They're from my mom's house - I don't have any luck growing brandywines in my yard. I don't have enough sun.)

If you haven't had it before, caprese salad is one of summer's treats. It's best eaten when your tomatoes have gotten really ripe and sweet. Then, simply arrange slices of fresh mozzarella and ripe tomatoes (any kind) on a plate. Garnish with as much fresh sweet basil as you like, and other greens if you like. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. If you like a little tang for contrast, drizzle with a balsamic reduction, or aged balsamic vinegar. I've eaten many different versions of the caprese salad, and enjoyed them all.

Happy tomato season!

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.