throwing snow

Again with the snow. It started up this morning, and the trees are so heavy with it that they are throwing giant blobs down to the ground. Occasionally also crashing into the roof. We've decided to take cover for now and maybe will venture out later when it calms down again. Even though our Christmas plans have changed, we have a big pot of chili to tide us over until we can go visit family this weekend.



I knew it was going to be an unusual year when the Christmas cactus started to bloom. We've had the plant at least 6 years (Nick thinks its been 10, procured before my time) and it has never bloomed. But a few weeks ago the buds started erupting from the succulent leaves.

Hope your year is full of pleasant surprises and happy times.

meat to please you

Older houses have their charms, but poor insulation is not one of them. The temperatures have been below freezing all week and a layer of ice and snow has hardened on the ground. Another, smaller, layer of ice has started to grow on our bedroom window. On the inside. Yes, its very cold up there. That's why we hover around the heated downstairs and think of things to bake in the oven. Tonight is no exception, with a favorite beef stew recipe. We've been making this recipe on our winter weekend getaways over the past few years. The stew is fairly simple to make, but does require 3 hours of oven time. On a day like today, that is a most welcome part of the meal.



The dish also requires a can of Guinness stout, whose malty flavor reminds me of the first pint of Guinness I ever had. It was in the lounge of our hotel/dormitory on the day we arrived in Dublin 10 years ago on my birthday. I drank it all and could barely follow everyone to the restaurant we ate in that night. That was probably the first full pint of beer I'd ever had. So much for starting off with lager. Maybe if I had had a little of this stew in my stomach before we started in with the pints.



(The title of this post comes from a sign outside the butcher shop in one of the small towns we lived near in Ireland. It read "Pleased to meet you and meat to please you.")

Beef and Carrot Stew
from Martha Stewart Living Magazine

1 1/2 pounds chuck steak (or other stewable beef) cut into 1 inches cubes and trimmed of most fat
All purpose flour
3 sprigs fresh parsley
3 sprigs fresh thyme
7 whole allspice
10 whole peppercorns
olive oil
3 leeks, white and pale green parts, chopped
3 stalks of celery, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 can Guinness stout (or other brand)
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 strip of orange zest
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes
1 pound carrots, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
extra parsley for garnish

1) Heat oven to 375 degrees. Season beef cubes with salt and pepper, toss in some flour to coat the beef lightly.
2) Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a deep, ovenproof pan (a dutch oven works nicely) over medium-high heat. Brown half of the beef, 3 to 4 minutes, flipping to brown another side for a few more minutes. Remove browned beef, add more oil if needed, and brown the remaining beef. Remove beef to platter.
3) Add leeks, celery and garlic to pot (adding more oil if needed) and stir. Let cook about 7 minutes until softened. Add can of stout and scrape any remaining browned bits from bottom of pot.
4) Add beef back to pot. Add stock, strip of zest, and enough water to cover meat. Tie parsley, thyme and whole spices in a bundle made from cheesecloth and add to pot. Bring to a boil, and then cover and place in oven. Let cook for 2 hours.
5) Add potatoes and carrots to pot. Cover and let cook another hour. Once cooking has finished, removed cheesecloth bag from stew and serve with crusty bread. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

ole

Sometimes I can be a bit of a rebel. Not when it comes to clothes, or hair color or tattoos, but when planning a holiday meal. I love a good turkey as much as the next person -- but I also love to experiment with new foods when cooking for friends or family. And since this year, thanksgiving was just going to be a few of us, I thought it would be the perfect time to try cooking paella. My mom was in town for the holiday and she informed me that paella had a tradition in our family I was unaware of. Seems my aunt used to prepare it for a Christmas Eve dinner when I was a baby. So apparently rebellion runs in the family.


There is something decidedly festive about a dish with 4 types of seafood/meat and a good measure of saffron. I even managed to find authentic paella rice from Valencia. The preparation and cooking only took a few hours, as opposed to all day, so we were able to take a nice walk through St. Edward State Park and enjoy the last few golden leaves on the trees. Then we came home and tucked ourselves into a steaming plate of rice, chorizo, shrimp, chicken and mussels. Dessert was Molten Chocolate Cakes with vanilla gelato and raspberries. Now that beats pumpkin pie every time.

taking stock

Looking back is essential for moving forward. I just re-read all of my posts (all 28 of them -- such a small number for 3 years) and relived my trepidations and aspirations. I certainly feel like a different person now -- at least in terms of my confidence in being a pharmacist soon. l make decisions every day that affect people's health and lives and certainly have gotten over giving people shots. I've been sticking people left and right at my current clinical rotation. I think the thing I like most about having a blog is being able to go back and revisit yourself a few years ago and see where you were. Also to hold on to a special moment or special meal. Something you certainly would have forgotten about in the long chain of meals and weekends and years.

However, I don't think I would ever forget our special granola. I woke up this morning to the smell of it baking in the oven. We took a weekend getaway last winter to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands off the coast from Seattle. It was a quaint island with little shops and farms. We stayed at a great bed and breakfast that served home-made granola every morning. We snatched up the recipe and have been making it the past year. It is sweet without being sugary and full of nuts, coconut and fuel for the day. Also works well as a bedtime snack.



Island Granola
from Turtleback Farm Bed and Breakfast

You can half the recipe too, although the granola gets a little better with time and two people can easily go through a full batch.

4 cups rolled oats (not instant or quick cooking)
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 cup unsweetened coconut (sweetened kind would probably be good too)
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup corn meal
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon salt
1 cup warm water
2 cups assorted raw nuts (hazlenuts, cashews, walnuts, pecans, etc.)

Mix all of the dry ingredients (but not the nuts) in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Add oil and stir until evenly distributed. Mix honey and salt in the warm water and then add to granola. Stir until all granola is wet, and break up large clumps. Add nuts and stir until well mixed.

Spread mixture out on two large baking sheets. Bake at 300 degrees for 60-90 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes or so, to avoid scorching. Granola is done when browned all over and dry.

** You might have to experiment with the cooking time and amount of water to get the granola just right.

preparations

On more than one occasion, we've splurged on some fancy crackers for backpacking and bicycling trips. Every time I enjoy these delicious (and expensive) crackers, I take a peek at the ingredients and think "I could make these!" So this weekend I finally set about it. The variety I first experimented with was thyme-lemon-sesame. Perhaps a little too savory for your every day cracker, but better than expected for the first go around. Next, rosemary and cracked pepper.

As you can see, I'm gearing up for our party in a few months -- hoping to have crackers perfected by then.



Rustic Crackers

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh cracked pepper
2 Tbl unsalted butter (cut into pieces)
1/4 c ice water

1 egg white, beaten
coarse salt

Flavorings:

lemon zest, fresh thyme, sesame seeds, rosemary, etc.
**Add a few tablespoons of one or more of the above for flavored crackers.


1) Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a food processor, pulse dry ingredients (including any herbs or seasonings you are including) until mixed. Add butter and pulse until like coarse corn meal. Add water while processor is running and mix until dough just comes together (or remove mixture before adding water and add water by hand until dough is formed).
3) Roll out dough on lightly floured surface until 1/8 inch thick (important, thick crackers don't bake as well). Cut with desired shape and place on cookie sheet. Prick crackers with fork tines to keep them from puffing up.
4) Brush rounds with egg white (optional) and sprinkle with salt, or sesame seeds. Bake until firm, 20 - 25 minutes, checking often to avoid over baking. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
5) Enjoy with cheeses and think of all the money you've just saved.

baby bok

So not all of the winter crops we planted were lost to snow and a cold spring. The baby bok choi did really well and didn't even get too many slug bites. We cooked it up in a stir fry -- but I wanted to get a picture of it for posterity first. Here's to more gratuitous garden shots....the pea shoots look to have survived our crazy winter-y spring.

experiments from the CSA

Our CSA box has been a big success so far, and we've managed to keep on track of all of our weekly vegetables so far (except for some potatoes we have left over from week 1, still). The most unusual inclusions have been Jerusalem artichokes and mizuna. A Jersualem artichoke tastes a bit like a turnip when cooked and is actually the rhizome of a sunflower (and is also called a sunchoke). They kind of look like fat grubs in their raw state. We sauteed them in a bit of butter and ate them with chives from the yard. Mizuna is a leafy green, similar to arugula. The bunch we received was grown locally at Full Circle and was very bright tasting and not at all bitter. It found its way into a roasted beet and goat cheese salad with walnuts.

We also have been eating a lot of quinoa lately -- and made this dish with a recipe from the farm box.



Quinoa (keen-wah) is a south american grain high in protein and with a texture similar to cous cous. Friends of ours eat it all the time -- even having a dish made with it at their wedding reception. The dish we made had basil, lemon juice, parmesean cheese, red pepper, scallions and some toasted pine nuts.

Box number four will be here on Thursday....Until then we need to start using up our radishes, which we aren't sure we like quite yet. If any radish has a chance -- it would be these. Cute little red globes fresh from Carnation ,Washington.

the CSA project

Right now, in Seattle, spring is peeking out from the covers, but from the garden's perspective, seems a long way away. We decided, as the pea shoots emerge from the ground and the over-wintered spinach does its best to grow beyond baby-spinach status, to enroll in a CSA and get a box of produce a week. We went with Full Circle Farms -- and so far so good. Right now, the box has a lot of produce that isn't local (I guess our garden isn't the only one under the covers) but most of the rest of the produce is organic. We can even make substitutions, say if some okra was slated to be in the box.

With this new weekly assortment of produce will hopefully come blog posts and new recipes! Stay tuned -- I think first up might be Quinoa with Basil and Red Peppers.

ps. The cats really are interested in the box as well