Reduce/Reuse/Recycle

Hey I just had a great idea for a Christmas gift exchange! It's of the reduce/reuse/recycle variety. Here it is:

We all have more than we need. But most of us also have other things that we need or want. Now, I personally don't mind used things (you know, depending on what it IS). Used books, used shelves, etc. Wouldn't it be great if instead of boxing up all our old stuff and hauling it over to Goodwill (which is a great idea, in and of itself) that we did a 'gift' exchange with local family and friends? Here's how it works... (reminiscent of Freecycle but with people you know and around the holidays):

1) Make a 'want' list of those things you need that you don't mind receiving used.
2) Make a 'have' list for things you're thinking of getting rid of.
2b) Swap the lists within a group of family/friends.
3) If someone wants something you have, wrap it up and give it to them for Christmas!
4) Hope they do the same for you.
5) If you have anything left that you still want to get rid of, swing over to Goodwill or offer it on Freecycle.

Just an idea I'm throwing out there!

Yep, I grew those!

Here's my first harvest. Thanks Jesse for letting me know I could start enjoying my garden!

Daily Bread: The Easiest Bread I Know

It's so tasty, too.

3 3/4 to 5 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons active yeast
1 scant tablespoon kosher salt
2 cups warm (100 degrees) water
2 tablespoons molasses

Combine 3 3/4 cups flour with yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Dissolve the molasses in the water. Stir water and molasses mixture into the flour. Stir until well combined and there are no dry streaks of flour. If the dough is too runny to mound into a ball in the bottom of the bowl sprinkle on more flour 1/4 cup at a time. Stir after each addition until there is no dry flour left.

Cover the bowl with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm (75-80 degrees), draft free place for 2 hours or until a little over double in size. Grease and flour a 5X9 inch loaf pan.

Using a greased rubber spatula, deflate the dough by pushing it down into the center of the bowl. Turn it out into the greased and floured loaf pan and smooth the top of the dough with the spatula. You may want to keep a little bowl of oil handy to re-oil the spatula. The dough will be very sticky. Cover the pan with oiled plastic wrap.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

While the oven is heating, let the dough rise in a warm area until it just begins to peak over the top of the pan.

Gently place it into the hot oven. Because the bread is not kneaded the gluten structure is fairly weak, so it's easy to cause it to fall if you slam it down. Bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Check coloring. If it is browning well, reduce temperature to 400 degrees and bake 20 more minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. If it is not browning, leave the temp at 450 for the remaining 20 minutes.

ps If you had ginger carrot soup and bread with me recently, this is the same stuff.

Best Yogurt Ever

Okay, there are a lot of ways to successfully make yogurt. In fact, its one of the most forgiving and, therefore easy, things to begin making at home. That said, 'best yogurt ever' depends a lot on what you want in a yogurt so I admit, its a pretty subjective thing. I like my yogurt thick and creamy so if that sounds good to you, then this might be the way to go.

Preheat oven to 200
On the stove, heat half a gallon of organic whole milk to 185.
Reduce heat to 110-115.
Stir in 1/4 c. plain organic, not fat free, yogurt. (Make sure your yogurt have live active cultures in it. Any of your organic brands should be good: Nancy's, Brown Cow, Wallaby, Stoneyfield Farm, etc.)
Stir in some probiotics (optional; I use Udo's Infant probiotics to help prevent ear infections in baby).
Turn off pre-heated oven. Cover stove-top mixture and put in oven.
Leave mixture covered undisturbed in oven 7-8 hours.
(I heated the oven to 200 a couple times during those 7-8 hours and turned it off as soon as the pre-heating was done.)
Remove from oven, stir, transfer into storage containers, and refrigerate.
Enjoy thick, creamy yogurt.

We've added local honey for immune boosters or berries for antioxidant sweetness. Here's an old family favorite that's good to have on hand for a quick breakfast that'll 'stick to yer ribs til lunch.'

Swiss Breakfast:
1c. yogurt
1c. rolled oats
1c. milk
Stir and let sit in fridge. Add more milk or yogurt if it gets too thick for you.
Add fruit or honey to your bowl in the morning.

Daily Bread: Multi-Grain Waffles

It's the weekend! Daddy's home all day, and we're all a little cheerier than usual. After the early service at St. John's tomorrow, we'll feast on these yummy waffles. Maybe I'll even try to rope another family into breakfast at our house if I get courageous.

Multi-Grain Waffles

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup multi-grain (7, 9, 12, whatever you've got) cereal
boiling water
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk (whole milk or evaporated milk are best, but skim works)
3/4 cups water (if you used skim above, just use 1 3/4 cups milk and no water)
2 eggs, separated
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

Equipment
waffle iron

Method
Pour boiling water over cereal just to cover. Let stand 20 minutes.

While the cereal is hanging out, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. All at once add milk, water (or more milk) and egg yolks. Stir to combine and then beat in butter and multi-grain cereal.

Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. If you've never done this by hand, no electricity, not even one of those mechanical egg-beater things, you should give it a try. You'll work up enough of an appetite to have 2 waffles with real butter and syrup afterward.

Fold the egg whites into the batter. Be gentle and don't deflate the egg whites.

Bake in the waffle iron. They're usually ready when they stop steaming, sometimes just a little before that.

My Livestock

Have I told you about my herd of livestock? Man, are these guys little troopers. They eat much of my kitchen waste (peels, cores, any other veggies) and never complain. And they are multiplying at a prodigious rate! It's cold here, but they don't seem to mind that either. All they seem to care about is food to eat and a place to sleep.

What are they, you ask? Chickens? I wish! Ducks? Nope! Little urban city swine? No again!

They're redworms! And they are making me some mighty fine fertilizer.

Now, you ask, why in the world would I post about worms on this blog about nice warm cuddly things like Butternut Squash Soup and sharing veggies with neighbors and Granola?

I don't know, actually!

There just seems to be something great about having a way to 'recycle' my kitchen waste into something useful rather than filling up a landfill. And I got to share worms with a friend yesterday so she could start her own herd!

Daily Bread: No Knead Bread

Cooking is the one household chore I always enjoy. And now that my husband recognizes the dignity of doing dishes every evening while I get the baby into bed, I have no reason not to cook. So at the suggestion of a fellow QD writer, I'll endeavor to share a taste of our daily bread.

First up, No Knead Bread. So simple and good. If you begin the recipe in the evening, you'll have bread hot out of the oven in time for dinner the following day. It's the perfect thing with a comforting bowl of soup as the fall weather sets in.

No Knead Bread

Photo Album

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Harvest King bread flour
1 cup white wheat flour
1/2 cup stone ground whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 cups warm water (plus 2 tablespoons for high altitude)
about 1/3 to 1/2 cup wheat or oat bran (for dusting)
small amount of cornmeal for sprinkling on the bottom of the pan

Equipment
A covered 5-6 quart Dutch oven or other covered pot or casserole that can go into a 500 degree oven. I use a 5 quart cast iron Dutch oven. (note to le creuset users: the plastic nob on the lid is usually only rated up to 400 or 450, so check your model before using.)
A banneton or large mesh sieve and cotton towel (not terry cloth).

Method

1. Mix dough: combine all ingredients except bran and cornmeal in a big bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. It will be shaggy and very sticky. Use a wet spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl so that all of the dough is mounded together in the bottom of the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on the countertop. If you let your house get really cold at night like I do, put the dough in the oven or microwave over night to keep it from getting too cold. It should stay between 70 and 75 degrees for the first rise.

2. Shape: The dough should have doubled in size and have little bubbles all over the top. Using a wet or oiled spatula scrape the dough out onto a floured board. Make sure the board is not tilting toward the edge of the countertop. The first time I did this, the dough slipped right off the counter and onto the flour when I dumped it out! Using the spatula or wet hands, fold the edges of the dough into the middle 3 or 4 times. Nudge the dough into a ball and put it into your banneton, or put the strainer into a bowl, line it with a cotton towel and sprinkle bran all over it. Then drop the dough onto the towel and into the strainer. Dust the top of the dough with more bran and fold the towel over it or cover it with a second towel. Let the dough rest for about 2 hours in a warm (about 78 degrees) draft-free place.

3. Preheat: Turn your oven to 450 degrees, 475 for high altitude, after the dough has been rising for a little over an hour. When the dough has about 30 minutes left to rise, set your dutch oven into the hot oven.

4. Bake: The dough should have doubled in size. Remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid. Sprinkle cornmeal all over the bottom--the cornmeal may smoke a little. Remove the towel covering the dough and flip it upside down into the hot dutch oven. If it all falls to one side, shake the pot gently to even out the dough. Spritz the top with water and put on the lid. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, check coloring, and bake 10 to 20 minutes more until the internal temperature of the loaf is 205 F, or 200 at high altitude. If the bread is browning too quickly, reduce temp to 400.

5. Cool on a wire rack before slicing. If making ahead, you can rewarm and crisp the crust in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes before serving.


Sources:
My first encounter with this bread was in the NY Times. When Mark Bittman posted a recipe from Sullivan Street Bakery bakers everywhere started playing around with the recipe. Notably Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of The Bread Bible, made about 12 loaves and blogged about it here. I've tried out a few different recipes and the one above is my favorite for the amount of whole grain flour and taste, texture, etc.

Minty Tooth Powder

So I've been using a fluoride-free toothpaste for a while now. But I didn't really know why. I did find some some interesting reasons here (about flouride) and here (about sodium lauryl sulfate). I got to thinking, if the paste I've been buying doesn't have any crud in it, what DOES it have in it? Turns out, not much. Therefore, I decided to make some tooth powder myself. Why pay some company to package baking soda and flavoring in a non-recyclable tube?

Actually, it doesn't taste bad at all. And somehow I like the salt in it. Now, if I can get the rest of the family to use it...

Tooth Powder Recipe

2 Tbsp baking soda
1/3 teaspoon salt
5 drops peppermint oil (I used more like 8 drops)

Here's what I like about this new quotidian ritual: The little spoon I use to pour a bit of powder on my toothbrush each morning. It's sweet.

I'm thinking about flavoring the next batch with a little fennel oil, too. Yum!

Breakfast Fodder

Nothing gives me more pleasure after my 5:30 am wake-up crawl than a big bowl of raw grains. It reminds me of my days as a kid munching sweet feed with my friend Tori while we bottle fed a little orphaned foal. This is my Muesli mix for those of you who don't have an hour to spend tending a hot oven.

2 cups rolled oats (quick oats are fine, and I think they're easier to digest since they're not really raw)
2 cups rolled barley flakes
2 cups rolled rye flakes
2 cups rolled wheat flakes (or semolina)
2 cups whole nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts or pecans)
1 cup seeds, hulled (such as sunflower or pumpkin)
2 cups dried fruit (such as cranberries, raisins, currants, or date pieces in oat flour)
1 cup wheat germ (I don't know why)

Mix it all together and store in an air-tight container or wooden feed bin.

How to eat it:

The easy way-
Mix with milk, soy milk, or yogurt and eat it. If you always eat it this way, you may want to add 2 cups crisp rice or corn flakes to the mix.

The squishy way-
Mix with milk or yogurt the night before. Cover. And enjoy the gloriously gloppy mess in the morning.

The Swiss way-
Put 1/2 cup Muesli and enough water to cover plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a bowl the night before you want to eat it. In the morning add milk or yogurt (or heavy cream) to desired consistency. Top with shredded apple, in the fall, or fresh berries, in the spring.

Cooked-
Bring 1 cup water to boil. Add 1 cup milk and return to simmer. Stir in 1 cup muesli and return to simmer. Let simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 2 or 3 minutes. Serves 2.

Granola Recipe

We've relocated downtown. Hooray! And I know I'm finally getting settled in because this morning we had homemade yogurt and granola for breakfast. Here's my favorite granola recipe:

4 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla, maple or almond extract

1 cup raw nuts roughly chopped
1 cup dried fruit (chopped if using big pieces like apricots, mango slices, or dates)

Preheat oven to 300.
Combine oats and spices in a large bowl.
In a small saucepan heat next 4 ingredients just until it starts to simmer. (If you boil honey, the proteins solidify into a yucky brown scum, so don't let it boil.) Add the vanilla or other flavoring to the syrup.
Drizzle syrup over oats and stir well to coat. Stir in the nuts.

Bake on a greased large rimmed baking sheet for 15 minutes--do not use an enameled roasting pan, it holds heat too well and burns the edges. Turn and stir the mix with a spatula. Reduce oven temperature to 275 and continue baking for 25-30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with dried fruit.

If you like chunks in your granola, do not stir when you remove it from the oven the final time. Just press all over the top with your spatula. If you want all of the little oats separate from each other, stir it when it comes out of the oven and again after 10 minutes of cooling. When the granola is completely cool, store in an airtight container.

Optional ingredients:
Flaked coconut, wheat germ, wheat or oat bran, 1/2 cup, mix with oats at the beginning
Pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds (raw), 1/4 - 1 cup, add with or instead of the nuts
M&M's or chocolate chips, 1/2 - 1 cup with fruit (at which point I cease to consider this a breakfast cereal)

I like to vary the spices, extracts, nuts and fruits for different flavors of granola. Here are some of my favorites:

Oatmeal Cookie
cinnamon, oat bran, vanilla, walnuts, raisins

Maple Pecan
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, maple syrup, maple extract, pecans, no fruit

Tropical
ground ginger, coconut, vanilla, cashews, papaya, mango

Banana Nut Bread
cinnamon and nutmeg, wheat germ, vanilla, walnuts, dried banana (the chewy kind, not banana chips)

Dishwasher Cleaner

Finally, after several different recipes and modifications that failed my expectations, I found the cleaning formula for me. I'm in the middle of unloading the inaugural load and what made me pause to post was the completely clean plate that went in with several hours old egg yolk. Now you know that if that came out clean, its a good recipe! So here it is:

Heat 1/2 c. Castile Soap in 2 c. water. Don't boil but get it really hot.
Add 1/2 c. Borax, 1/2 c. Washing Soda, 1/4 c. Baking Soda and stir till its completely dissolved.
Add a few drops Essential Lemon or Orange Oil (optional).
Let it cool and use enough to fill your little detergent holder in the dishwasher.

I also fill my jet dry rinse aid with White Vinegar. If you have hard water or are concerned about a really good rinse getting all the Borax off and neutralized then this may be a good option for you!

Happy automatic dishwashing while you read a book or take a bath or watch your robotic vacuum cleaner terrorize the dog.

PS: Don't bottle the potion until its cooled as you may blow the top. Common sense. Anywho, you may need to give the bottle a good shake before it will pour. Two loads down and still happy! I used a Peppermint Castile Soap and Lemon Essential Oil so my kitchen smells clean and minty. Mmmm.

Gardening Mysteries

I don't know why some seeds that I plant and water grow while others die but that kind of mystery seems to go with life's territory.

This summer's shoulda-been pepper crop.

This fall's promising spinach sprouts.

Old vs. New

Sometimes I think Modern Life just sucks the dignity out of things. Take spaghetti sauce for example.

What glory is there in opening a jar (from who knows where) and pouring it (made of who knows what) into a pan and flipping the switch to Med-High? (Or in my case to High, as I like to cook things as quickly as possible. [My husband likes to remind me that 'burning' is not the same as 'cooking'. But I digress.])

Now, don't get me wrong. There's nothing 'wrong' with canned spaghetti sauce. In fact, I use it often. I do make sure it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup (banned in Germany, I found out yesterday) and that it does have organic ingredients. But still. Where's the joy?

But THIS year, I'm planning to make spaghetti sauce from scratch. Not just scratch but scratch-scratch. I'm making sauce from tomatoes grown either in my garden or in a local one (purchased at the Farmer's Market). With real garlic that I'll cut up with my own two hands. And onions with local dirt clinging to them that I will brush off myself. And herbs minced by hand. And I'll be trying canning for the first time in my life without Mom standing at my elbow.

I look forward to this winter, when I will pull one of these jars out and pour IT into a pan on Med-High. The simmer of the sauce. The bubbles slowly popping as my creation heats to perfection. The oohs and aahs at the dinner table as the saucy redness is poured over our brown rice noodles. I think it will feel glorious.

I just hope it tastes good. And that I don't botulize* anyone.

*botulize - v. to inadvertently infect a loved one with botulism

Modern Housework

This afternoon as baby napped, I folded diapers and realized that my dishwasher was washing my dishes, the robotic vacuum was vacuuming my bedroom, bathroom, and closet, and my washing machine was washing my clothes. No wonder I have trouble enjoying one simple thing at a time without thinking constantly of what else I could be doing!

from: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I'm still stumped for an answer, whenever the religion of time-saving pushes me to zip through a meal or a chore, rushing everybody out the door to the next point on the schedule. All that hurry can blur the truth that life is a zero-sum equation. Every minute I save will get used on something else, possibly no more sublime than staring at the newel post trying to remember what I just ran upstairs for. On the other hand, attending to the task in front of me - even a quotidian chore - might make it into part of a good day, rather than just a rock in the road to someplace else.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I've had a hankering for butternut squash soup for the last week or so. But I'm trying to learn to eat food in season and not just because I want it - which also means learning when things are in season and when tye've been imported from Chile. Imagine my delight when I saw reasonably priced local and organic butternut squash at the Co-op this week! Here's what I made:

2 medium butternut squash
put in oven at 400 until soft enough to cut in half (about 15 minutes)
cut in half and lay cut side down, roast at 400 until squash meat is soft (an hour or more)
*tip: line pastry pan with foil to avoid run off into oven and onto pan

2 medium onions, coarsely sliced
3-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 generous tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 generous teaspoon curry powder
a few tablespoons olive oil
optional, add a couple chopped tart apples
saute the above until onions are transluscent
add 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
heat until simmering

puree cooked squash and sauteed mixture working in batches and adding up to 3 more cups stock so that everything gets smooth

transfer everything into stock pot on medium heat

add to stock pot:
2/3 cup sherry
1 teaspoon salt
pinch white pepper
fresh-ground black pepper to taste
pinch cayenne
additional pinch of curry if desired

add stock until desired consistency is reached (about 5-7 cups throughout recipe)
when hot (don't boil) add a couple cups Asiago or comparable grated cheese

enjoy for the week or with a big dinner party!

Dr. B., Rescue Me!

Moving house when you are a habitual renter means the dreaded clean up and final inspection. This weekend, I sent hubby off to the BX (or military wal-mart) for all of those potent cleaning chemicals that I never use somewhere I actually live. But it's gotta be inspection ready, and the acrid and sickly sweet scents of synthetic cleansers, degreasers, and sudsing agents--not vinegar and tea tree oil--are the smell of clean to most leasing agents.

Anyway, all of the magic all-purpose cleaners and super scrubbing powders scored us a surprisingly low move-0ut assessment, but they also added at least five years to my poor chaffed and burning hands! I can't wait to get back to my gentle down-to-earth Dr. Bronner's soap and homemade multi-purpose spray.

Makin' Hearts Ache

Every now and then I get a yearnin' for home deep in my gut. I find that nothing cures or quickens it faster than a good Southern meal. So last night's tour de force was fried green tomatoes, fried okra, and creamed corn that I took off the husk myself. Oh yeah! I can't wait to share these delights with the baby!

An Offerring

There are so many things to do with fresh peaches. The problem is, this far from the lovely town of Gaffney SC, I rarely have enough peaches to do more than eat them one at a time over the sink with juice running down my forearm and dripping off my chin. In case anyone is wondering, the runaway juices are the telltale sign of a good peach.

I have a friend who is blessed with two mature peach trees. There are more peaches ripening each day than she, family, and friends can gather. As such, putting up a ladder to pluck from the high places involves dodging or destroying the many peaches that are in the process of becoming one with the earth.

My bare arms reached into the branches, gently pulled a peach, and hoped the removal of the one wouldn't precipitate the plummeting of the many. I didn't know peach leaves got inside your skin and caused prickly itching. We gathered more than four grocery bags full in no time flat. We divided them unevenly according to who thought they would use the most.

Not surprisingly, I took home two full grocery bags. Two pies, homemade ice cream, the vision of one cobbler, and much leaning over the sink later I am down to the last third of my stash. And I'm hoping that if I help my friend clean tomorrow, I can come away with another arm load full of the precious fruit loot.

PEACH PIE

Arms heavy laden, bent over with the weight they hold.
She drops each burden one at a time,
Surrendering her portion in its season.

At her feet they lie, bruised and wounded.
Distorted by their fall but lying in wait
For hands to gather, clean, and redeem.

With vision and tenderness the knife cuts
Seeking life among the ruined surfaces.
All things must die to live.

Re-formed and crafted, refined by fire, new life bursts forth.
Sweet and comely, dripping from the the fork:
A work of grace and priestly transformation.

Lentils - Rice - TVP

In a quest to feed my family, you know, other things besides the 4 things I usually make, I threw this together the other night.

Ingredients
1 cup brown lentils
1 cup brown rice
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium carrot chopped
1/2 cup texturized vegetable protein
3 cups (or so) chicken stock
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin

Other than overdoing it on the lentils (maybe next time I'll use 1/2 cup) I think it turned out pretty good for a little different side dish. Plain Brown Rice gets pretty boring.

Cucumber Cookies

So yesterday I harvested 27 lemon cucumbers. TWENTY SEVEN. That's quite a bumload of cucumber, you may be thinking, and I would agree. What to do?!

I called a neighbor to see if she wanted some and she came right over. I was glad about that, because seriously, you can only eat cucumber salad so many times in a row...47. But I digress. Anyway, when she showed up, I was pleasantly surprised to be presented with a baggie of homemade oatmeal/raisin/chocolate chip cookies!

For a brief second there, I had a glimpse of what real community is supposed to be like. Sharing what we have with those around us...whether its food, expertise, or a helping hand.

The cookies were yums!

We can't all, and some of us don't

I love Winnie the Pooh. In spite of the fact that most of the world, and for certain just about every American, only knows the silly old bear Disneyfied and overmarketed as a decorating motif for baby nurseries, Milne's hundred acre wood still charms me like no other children's literature. (By the way, if you've never read A. A. Milne's genuine article, please pick up Winnie the Pooh.)

I love how all of my shortcomings and neuroses are simplified into the innocent blunderings of a mostly happy pack of stuffed animals. It is a childish joy to let Piglet bear my fears, Rabbit have my worries, and Pooh can make my ignorance and ineptitude seem sweet and humorous. If Owl is a bit of a know-it-all, I appreciate his ability to sort out and sum up the entire world, and when Kanga cares for Roo, I too am nurtured and comforted while I am reassured that mothering is a simple task easily accomplished by kindergarten playmates.

But most of all I love Eeyore, and as I go through my daily struggles--getting up out of bed, finding lunch for my husband, choosing between 20 minutes on the computer and a quick shower while the baby naps--I think of that dear donkey plodding along, munching on cursed thorny thistles while a perpetual drizzle hangs over his head. It is the humdrum nature of his gloom that has me quoting Eeyore throughout the day when I feel inadequate and forgotten. His daily surrender to melancholy makes a pleasant receptacle for my little sorrows.

So my baby is still up at least three times a night and I can't seem to find anything decent to wear, even to the grocery store. In general, when it comes to having it all together, I just think of poor tailless Eeyore reminding Pooh, "We can't all and some of us don't."

Vegetarian on the Grill

The farmers market tables are overflowing with late summer veggies that I can't resist even if I do have ripe tomatoes and squash on the vine at home and a CSA box coming on a couple of days. So if you get invited to our house anytime soon, get ready to eat your vegetables. I served this grilled salad to friends after a long evening of packing and painting in preparation for our upcoming move.


Grilled Panzanella

Ingredients
for garlic oil
1/2 cup olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic (depending on the size and your personal appreciation for garlic)
a pinch or two of salt

for the grill
1/2 to 1 pound tomatoes
1 medium zucchini
1 small eggplant
1 sweet onion
2 ears corn
1 bell pepper
1/2 of a 1 pound loaf of whole grain bread

for the dressing
leftover garlic oil, plus enough olive oil to make 1/4 cup
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
a handful of fresh herbs (fennel fronds, basil, parsley, mint, tarragon, chives... if you happen to be the friends who ate this the other night and want to do just what I did, use about 2 parts each bronze and green fennel, 1 part basil, and 1 part flat Italian parsley)
salt and pepper to taste


Preparation

Make garlic oil by mincing and mashing garlic to a paste with a pinch or two of salt then whisking it into the olive oil. Use the flat side of a wide heavy knife, and I recommend a non porous cutting board so that you lose less of the juice.

Slice the zucchini, eggplant and onion into 1/4 inch rounds. Lay them out on a tray, platter, baking sheet, cutting board or whatever is flat and big and you can carry out to your grill. Brush the top side with garlic oil. Core the bell pepper and cut it into about 4 pieces so that they will mostly lie flat on the grill. Pull the husks and silks off of the corn. Leave the tomatoes whole. Brush the bell pepper, corn and tomatoes with garlic oil. Slice the crusts off the sides of the loaf of bread and slice the bread into half inch slices lengthwise. Brush one side with garlic oil. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper over everything. Shake some crushed red pepper flakes over your veggies, too, if you want it spicy.

Grill everything. If you have to do it in batches, start with the corn, then zucchini, eggplant, onion, bell pepper, bread and tomatoes. Put the veggies on the grill oiled side down and brush the other sides with oil while they're on the grill.

Once everything has gone on the grill, make the dressing. Whisk enough olive oil into the leftover garlic oil to make 1/4 cup, then whisk in vinegar and lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Chop the fresh herbs and stir them into the dressing.

As things come off the grill start chopping. Cut corn off the cob, cut the zucchini and eggplant rounds into fourths, and cut the onion and bell pepper into bite sized pieces and cut or tear the bread into 1 inch pieces. Finally core and chop the tomatoes over the salad bowl to catch the juices.

Add a little more than half the dressing to the tomatoes and juices in bowl, then toss in all of the veggies and bread and toss to coat. Add more dressing as needed.

Let the salad rest for 5 to 10 minutes. The bread should be a little soggy but not turning to mush!

Eat it up, chickie-doo, Mama made it just for you!


Wow, that looks way to complicated. Just brush some vegetables and bread with garlic oil, grill them, cut them into bite sized pieces and toss with a basic vinaigrette and fresh herbs. Come to think of it, I also threw in steamed green beans the other night. And you could use whatever you have on hand--chickpeas or red or white kidney beans are a good addition for extra protein, or sprinkle some toasted nuts or seeds over the top just before serving. You don't have to grill either, I think the traditional Umbrian way is just to use fresh tomatoes, onion and day-old bread.

Laundry Detergent

2 oz. pure castile soap
1/2 c. borax powder
1/2 c. washing soda

heat castile soap in 6 cups hot water until soap is dissolved
add borax and washing soda until dissolved
remove from heat
pour mixture plus an additional 4 c. hot water into 2 gallon bucket; stir
add 22 c. water (=1 gallon and 6 cups)
cover and let it sit about 24 hours

mixture will be liquid at first. with time it will gel in a gloppy sort of way.

use 1/2 c. per load

if you need a booster (like for dirty diapers or auto mechanic clothes) add up to 1/4 c. borax per load. you can also add vinegar as a brightener. but if you have hard water, watch out for an acidic smell that can result from more than 1/4-1/2 c. vinegar per load.

Goat Redemption

I would like to own a goat some day so that I can have free goat milk, make goat cheese, and never have to cut the grass again. Patrick is skeptical but in preparation for that day I set out to make goat yogurt for baby. I had a goat yogurt starter that I added to a half gallon of home pasturized goat milk in the usual yogurt making way. It never thickened. Not to be disheartened, I am attempting to transform the failure of yogurt into chevre. So far so good. But making cheese is a long process and I'm getting impatient to taste the end result. I'll let you know how it goes.

Dispelling Acedia

I have found that the days can groan especially long when I try to take care of home and baby all by myself. I kiss honey goodbye through the half opened eye of 6am and sometime after that I roll out of bed when baby begins to cry. This morning I put whole beans in the french press and cracked my morning eggs into the sink. Thats when I knew I was glad that I didn't have to do the whole day alone.

So I've been learning a lot about making my own laundry and dishwasher detergents, making yogurt, hummus, and sourdough bread from scratch and I have found that these activities are actually enjoyable when I can trade a tub of hummus for some fresh zucchini or when I can bring home a handful of vine-ripened tomatoes after helping a friend pack a couple moving boxes. I think ordinary activities actually restore dignity to weary souls and that they gird up our hearts for eternity when we do them with friends.