Pickles!

In a positive frenzy of fermentation today!

 

Mable's Pickles

Per quart jar:

1 pound pickling cucumbers - choose smaller ones

2 cloves garlic - no brown bits!

1 tsp alum

1 heaping T rock salt (cheapo ice cream salt is fine as long as it's clean)

1-2 good-sized heads of dill

Apple cider vinegar (ACV)

Water

Wash and trim cukes.

Place garlic, alum, salt, and dill in jars, then pack cukes in tightly, keeping them below the neck as much as possible.  Pour ACV in jars to just under half-full, then top off with cold water to just covering the cukes.

Close the jars. Invert them a couple of times a day til the salt is dissolved. Let cure at least a month.

Mead Experiment, part 1

At Zoie's request, I'm blogging this.

I just started a mead experiment using this method: "a sterilized, recycled glass jar (preferably restaurant-sized), one part honey, four parts water, a sprinkle of yeast, some raisins, a bit of lemon peel, and whatever the herb garden has too much of can be quite interesting. Stir several times a day until it starts bubbling, then ignore (except to taste every now and then)."

 I used a 1/2 gallon Mason jar, 1 part honey, 4 parts water, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 2 coins ginger, a chunk of lemon peel, and a scant 1/8 tsp bread yeast.

I suppose now I will have to continue to post updates!

P.S. I don't like the new Blogger behind-the-scenes format.

ETA: A friend pointed me to this very similar recipe.

Slow Cooker Chili

This is a staple meal at our house - I make it at least once a month, and it's seldom that I don't have any stashed in the freezer. Since this is more of a technique than a precise recipe, there are few exact measurements, but I come up with about the same amount every time. My slow cooker holds (I believe) 7 quarts; you could easily halve everything for a smaller model. Because it takes a couple of days, it does require some advance planning.. but every time I make it, I feel like I've spent no effort on cooking a hearty dish that will feed us for several meals. It's also very easily adapted to specific dietary requirements: for example, it's entirely gluten free, and both vegan and fat-free until (unless) you put meat in.

48 hours before mealtime:

Soak two cups pinto beans in about 4 cups water with a tablespoon or so of baking soda. I like to do this part while making dinner, or just before bedtime.

24 hours in advance:

Drain the beans. Place them with 8c water in a large slow cooker on low. Add about a tablespoon each of chili powder and ground cumin. I also add one chipotle at this point; we're wimpy when it comes to heat.* Naturally, esteemed reader, you'll have different spice/flavor preferences. Also stir in one chopped large onion and a handful (6-8 cloves) of chopped garlic. Cover and go about your business. Again, I generally do this right before bedtime, with a plan of chili for dinner the next day.

Next morning:

Give the beans a stir. Add about a tablespoon of salt, and pepper to taste. Add crushed tomatoes: I get best results with about a quart (often a 29 ounce can), but have also used lesser amounts successfully. Obviously, more tomatoes means more added liquid; take that into account. I think I managed to burn (yes, in a crock pot!) my earliest attempt at this because of inadequate liquid. If I'm using it, I add a pound of browned meat at this point as well.** This timing assumes you're making this for dinner; it's around 12 hours after the beans are started.

A few hours before serving:

Crush and stir in a double handful of tortilla chips (I've used corn Chex in a pinch). If after a bit it's still more liquid than you prefer, add some more chips. Adjust your seasonings, and eat when you're ready!

We like to serve this with cheese and sour cream, and to eat it with chips or rice.

This is a very flexible recipe; many of the cooking times are much longer than they absolutely need to be, so you could do it in less time. This is how I've worked it into my routine, experiment and see how it works into yours!

Many thanks to my friend Helen who posted the version I adapted this from.

*When I open a can of chipotles, I freeze the lot individually in an ice cube tray, each with a little sauce. Very handy!

**We like stew beef the best, but I often use ground beef. I've also tried ground chicken. Ground turkey or pork would work as well. Or be a rebel and don't use any - it's just as good!

Secret Ingredient Soup

We've been watching Kung Fu Panda a LOT lately, and it always makes us hungry. So, during one of last night's viewings (yes, that plural is deliberate), I decided to make some Chinese noodle soup for dinner. You will probably not be surprised to learn that the only ingredients I needed to buy to make this recipe were chicken, green onions, and napa cabbage.

Oh, and I doubt anyone will be surprised to learn that I omitted the chili sauce and cilantro.

Bliss...

...is in short supply around here lately, so I'm leaping on it where I find it. For example, tonight's dinner.

My tummy decided against the salmon (broiled 10 minutes each side, coated with a paste of mayonnaise and lemon juice), but the taters are right on. I found this recipe a couple of weeks ago in my Italian cookbook: it's for chicken and potatoes. Basically you prepare chicken pieces and potatoes for roasting, then pour over them a mix of a couple tablespoons each of olive oil and lemon juice, a good amount (maybe a tablespoon) of rosemary, salt and pepper to taste, then roast at 350 til done (around 40 min). The meat is okay.. I've tried it with salmon, too. The potatoes, on the other hand, turn out divine! They soak up the lemon juice, and... oh, you have to try them to understand. Tonight I did the taters just alone with the ..sauce?, and it's just what the midwife ordered. Mashed up in a big heap on my plate with lots of butter... yum.

Salmon my savior

Following last night's pumpkin mac disaster, I pulled a piece of salmon out of the freezer and made this. It took a great deal longer than it should have (twice the recommended cooking time, grr..) because I didn't pull the fish out to defrost early enough, and it went into the oven still partially frozen. Still, once it was finally done, it was delicious! I threw together some garlic rosemary potatoes on the fly to round out the meal... they also took a bit longer to cook than I'd hoped, but potatoes seem always to do so for me.

Josh, thank you for putting up with my occasionally ..experimental cooking. I love you.

How to make Pumpkin Mac

1) Decide to have chili mac for dinner, so ask husband to get chili out of the freezer. This step is key.

2) Start defrosting the container you assume contains chili.

3) Begin making mac & cheese as usual (yes, it's out of a box. sue me.)

4) Upon reaching the stage of adding the chili, dump the contents of the freezer container without ever seeing what they actually are.

5) Realize the mix-up when what you've dumped into the pasta HAS NO BEANS.

6) Go for broke and add the sorts of spices you'd add to any pumpkin or squash dish.

I think it's actually quite edible, even though it's not at all what I had in mind. Since Josh dislikes winter squash he's not so happy, though... I think I owe him a salmon dinner tomorrow night!

Breakfast for Dinner

Although stuffed on eggs and polenta, the Infanta apparently can't eat too much bacon. Definitely her father's daughter!

It's past my bed time

but I thought you all should know what we had for dinner. The latkes were all right, but the cake is fantastic! Especially with my signature piles of whipped cream. :D

In the good old Summertime

She walks!



She discovers the fan!



I discovered the pleasures of making freezer jam a few weeks ago. Mash up the fruit, mix it with sugar and (special, already mixed) freezer jam pectin, ladle into jars, pop in the freezer, enjoy at leisure. Shown above are 5 1/2 jars of raspberry-blackberry jam, potted just moments before. When I finish this post, they will supposedly have thickened enough to go into the freezer.

There has been knitting. There has been finishing! I even have photos!! But I've only posted them to Ravelry so far. Maybe I'll post them tomorrow, if I manage to blog. :)

Father's Day

Dear Josh: I love you very much. You are a fantastic father, and an amazing co-parent. Even when we disagree on parenting philosophy, you graciously defer to me and support my methods. You are also an excellent and considerate husband; you make me aspire to be a worthy wife to you.

~Katie



Father's Day dessert: strawberry shortcake made with berries from my MIL's garden.

Hot stuff!

I haven't updated as much recently, but life has been pretty rough, not leaving much time for frills like blogging. And then a bloggable moment happens, and I have to capture it, or regret it forever.



The Infanta ha been somewhat slow to be interested in solid foods. We've been offering her bits of this and that off our plates since she was around 5 months, but she's never been very interested. Lately, however, she's really taking off with the solids, in some very surprising ways. For example, the last few times we've had chili, she's hung around our knees begging for her share (I admit it, we eat in the living room more often than at the table - but we do eat together!).

Tonight I made curry. I make curry probably a couple of times a month, usually with a favorite curry paste - we get it mild, not being much on spicy-hot foods generally. Tonight, I used a jar of curry paste I found somewhat randomly at WinCo, and it turned out quite a bit spicier than usual; not bad (although my mom couldn't eat it), just enough to let you know you're alive. And to reach for the rice and chai. Now, we have noticed on other occasions that the Infanta will eat rice, particularly with gravy from chili or curry or the like mixed in, so it wasn't a huge surprise when she indicated that she wanted some out of our bowls. Usually, though, she's been satisfied with a taste, and then moves on to whatever shiny is next. This time? A taste. Then another. Then, while I was in the kitchen starting a pot of chai, Daddy asks me to bring out a spoon - she's practically licking it off the table. With Mama-wisdom, I brought not only a spoon, but also a bowl of her very own, and filled it with a good couple of tablespoonsful of rice-with-curry-gravy out of my own bowl... and she ate it. All but a couple of teaspoonfuls. All together, she probably ate a good quarter cup of rice and curry gravy. Did I mention it was spicier than our usual? Oh, and she was so excited about eating that she was actually going out of her way to take unsupported steps to get to it.

Someone tell me that mine isn't the only kid that prefers savory over sweet foods?

Chili?!

Because I decided that I didn't want to cook last night, and since leaving Josh in charge of food means that either we eat out, or it comes out of a box or a can, we had chili for dinner. I was all right with this; take a can of chili, add cheese and a couple handfuls of crushed crackers or corn chips, and you have a decent meal. What I didn't expect was a certain little girl giving me huge puppy-dog eyes, and begging her share! So I dipped a little gravy on my spoon, figuring she wouldn't like the spiciness (very mild even by my standards, but more than she'd had before)... and she loved it. Not only did she not spit it out, she begged more! In the end, she probably ate as much as a tablespoonful: gravy, meat, semi-dissolved chips, and all. She's showing no ill effects from her feast so far, and I'm thinking she may be getting closer to turning the corner on eating solids as a larger portion of her nourishment. My poor boobs would really like a break!

Just us girls

Tonight's the first night of me missing the D&D game to take care of my baby. On the one hand, I want to play, dangit! On the other hand, I'm not missing the posturing and drama that tend to go with the group's get-togethers. I'm looking forward to sitting down with a movie and some of Amy's Toasted Coconut-Chocolate Chunk Yummies! The which I've been craving for several days now, and am finally getting around to making.

Teeth and how to use them

The Infanta is teething again. She has all four upper incisors bulging beneath her gums, champing (if you will) at the bit to emerge. One way I know they're there is that she's gone back to rubbing her (nasty, sharp, pointy) bottom teeth against my poor nipples. She's tending to scrape them against my tender flesh at the end of a nursing session; I generally gasp involuntarily, say "No" sternly, and set her on the ground, or otherwise end the session abruptly. I'll be glad when this set is through.

But at least she's using them for their intended purpose, too. Blueberries last night; she scraped all the pulp out of the skins, making surprisingly little mess (except on her pants). I was making quesadillas for lunch just now, and had propped her in her high chair so she could watch. On impulse, I gave her a few shreds of cheese; when those promptly disappeared, I gave her a few more. When those also disappeared (and not onto the floor!), I decided it was time to learn how to sign cheese, just for future reference.

Tonight's spaghetti sauce...

came out a bit "Cajun-ed". I blame this.

*squee*

eta: if you give your child blueberries for dinner, remember to give them a full-body bib.

Mmm, Blueberry Poop!

While the Infanta was visiting Tavy yesterday, she apparently further explored her new-found predilection for blueberries. She came home with the dress she'd been wearing in the wet bag, soaked in an attempt to mitigate the stains covering it.

Since dinner was reheated lasagna, I satisfied my desire to cook *something* by making blueberry muffins. Now, we'd discovered a couple of days ago during a trip to Grandma's house that she now likes muffins, and at Bethany's we've discovered her liking for blueberries. I'd been gassing about making blueberry muffins anyway, since Josh likes them (he's a hard man to bake for) and we still have a bunch I froze last summer. So we had muffins for dessert.

Do I even need to say that the Infanta loved her share?







Postprandially, I discovered for myself the utility of the after-dinner bath. Next time I'll try to remember a bib sooner, or, if it's warm enough, just preemptively remove her clothes first.

26. Ba-na-na

I really need a high chair before I continue with many more solids. A placemat might help, too.

Not dressing my child in an (partially) angora sweater before handing her messy food would probably help, too.