First Blueberries
Last year we planted two blueberry bushes. Two little scrappy twiggy things that didn't look like they'd grow, much less produce berries. They were of two different varieties because apparently that leads to better pollination or something. Our yard dirt is mainly comprised of trash and rubble under an inch of topsoil, so we built a big raised box for the blueberry bushes, filled it with a mix of soil (hoping it was acidic enough) and sat back.
Over the winter they hardly looked different, but they did end up growing, producing flowers and berries this year. be even built a wire cage over the bushes to protect the berries from birds and squirrels. The bush on the left had berries ready to eat first while the right bush is running a few weeks later. Lefty had about 100 total berries and be picked 30 of them two nights ago. The test is if they come off easily when you rub them lightly. That means we have about 70 left to go on Lefty, and even fewer on Righty.
The berries were ultra plump, larger than your average store-bought berries, very firm and crisp, and totally delicious. 15 berries for each of us lasted about a minute, and we were eating slowly. Makes you realize how mass production affects the quality and flavor of things. Can't get any more local than your own backyard!
I'm really worried though. All the blueberry wisdom out there says we have to pluck blossoms the first 2 or even 3 years so the bushes have more energy to grow large instead of producing fruit. Then one is rewarded with tons and tons and tons of berries, apparently. Well, as you can guess we didn't pluck blossoms because be wanted fruit so badly this year. The berries are so excellent, but i don't know if 175 berries is enough. Does anyone know if it's too late to pluck blossoms next year? Our bushes are still small but look healthy. I'm happy but sad. Ugh.
Quadates
1) The
CSA is kicking our botts. Untuffly, we roped in the Rice House to share it with us. Now, both houses get 5 vegetables every Tuesday, but we get the sole fruit share every other Tuesday. Even with less produce we've still been freaking out. Last night i cooked up some collards and mustard greens, 2 bunches of kale into colcannon, and random things like peach crisp, cornbread and
Quorn Chik'n cutlets. A few nights before that, i cooked up the baby bok choy while be cooked the swiss chard. Currently, we still have in the fridge: green garlic, green leaf lettuce, a handful of small turnips, and swiss chard; and (not from the CSA): garlic scapes, a bag of carrots, 1 watermelon, 3 mangoes, 7-8 bananas, 1 cucumber, and 2 limes.
2) I've been hearing rumblings about the results of
Capogiro Gelato's Pick Me Pick Me Flavor Contest! Nothing's been confirmed yet, but i'll just say that some people won a free pint... More later at
our blog.
3) The second round of the Choco Fest Taste Test was completed last week. I promise i will tabulate the scores and post the results soon!
4) We finally finished the dining room and kitchen this weekend! It's painted a deep red, like oxblood but not as brown, and we've installed better lighting, storage shelves and a pantry/bartop. Now we just need to reduce unitasker appliances, food we're never going to eat, and random knickknacks; finish organizing the pantry and paint that last wall. (What color goes with deep red and lavender ice at the same time?)
More Bits
1) GRILLED garlic scapes are insane! INSANE! It took away the garlic hotness, but left a strong garlicy roasty charcoal smell which permeated everything. We loved it and kept smelling the scapes over and over. The texture softened a good amount. Some parts of the scapes (the lower stalks) were too stringy to bite into so we just gnawed on them, sort of like sugarcane. Highly recommended!
2) Chocolate Tasting Part One went very well! As soon as Part Deux with a whole new crew happens, we'll tabulate all the scores and i'll post the verdicts on these twelve bars. Some of the comments were hilarious!
3) I love
Chapterhouse Cafe in Philadelphia! I just finished an annoying questionnaire for work that was taking me weeks, in under 45 minutes. Don't get the Thai style iced tea, though. It's not that great. Stick to the coffee, brewed teas and sodas.
4) OMG i wish someone stocked all the
Tofutti Cutie flavors. KEY LIME PIE? COFFEE? STRAWBERRY WAVE? I love the Mint Chocolate Chip ones, but sure wish i could try the others.
5) I finally got into
Battlestar Galactica after years of be whining and begging me to watch the series. We're watching 2-3 episodes per night!
6) Pantryness. Since the move, we've been using a white bookshelf and another white cabinet thing -- which weren't cutting it on the attractiveness nor the functionality levels. We did a lot of math and finally chose pieces from the EFFEKTIV system at Ikea. Now we just need to paint the dining room so we can install the pantry! (Oh, and also get rid of crap!)
Summer
You know what kicks ass?
Vegenaise! This animal-ingredient-free mayonnaise is so seriously good. Unlike other vegan mayos, Vegenaise has no soy aftertaste. It even looks like egg mayo. I used to eat Kraft mayo with a spoon as a kid. I sometimes want to do the same now with Vegenaise.
There is nothing better than old-fashioned potato salad in the summertime. Here is my version without eggs. Celery is optional; i love it but be hates it. Overall he really likes this potato salad, too. Sucks for me since it's polite to share.
be's Potato SaladCan easily be doubled.
1 pound small red potatoes
2 plops of Vegenaise*
2-3 squirts of Dijon mustard
3-5 cornichons or 1 small pickle
1 stalk celery (optional)
1 splash white vinegar
generous amounts of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1) Scrub and de-eye the potatoes. Leave the skins on but peel of bad parts, if any. Place them in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Cook potatoes until you can pierce with a fork. Do not overcook! It's better to err on the firm side than mushy for potato salad.
2) Meanwhile, finely chop the cornichons. Optional: wash and trim the celery stalk. Chop into tiny cubes.
3) When the potatoes are done, remove from water and let cool for a few minutes. When you can touch them without crying, chop them into chunks like the size of cherries, or a bit larger or smaller.
4) While the potatoes are still hot, gently mix them with the Vegenaise, Dijon mustard, pickles, celery and vinegar. Taste and add the salt and pepper. Taste again to adjust the vinegar or salt to your liking.
5) Cool in the fridge and served chilled. But sometimes i just eat it warm because i can't wait.
* I used Original Vegenaise, but they have a Grapeseed Oil version for those health fanatics.
It's funny how picky people are with potato salad. I know lots of folks who prefer it with a sweetish dressing. Others who want it with bacon. Some like it with olive oil and herbs instead of mayo. Me, i just like it old-fashioned because i love my mayo. Serve this with some grilled
Yves hot dogs and
sweet tea to wash it all down!
CSA Box #2
Sweltering heatwave. Much produce. Box #2 from
Red Earth Farm contained: (left to right)
1 quart strawberries (fruit share)
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch green garlic
1 bunch Easter Egg radishes
2 large baby bok choy
1 pound arugula
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 bunch turnip greens
1 bunch dinosaur kale
1 bunch curly kale
1 head red leaf lettuce
One thing that's nice about Red Earth is that you can access your account online to choose what items you want the following week. We didn't have that option for Box #1, but for Box #2 we stuck to long-lasting greens like kale and collards and only got one head of lettuce. I was very excited about the arugula but honestly, the crop we grew last year in our garden was much hotter and spicier. It was still good though, except for the one SLUG i found on a leaf! I was quite grossed out but i ate the arugula anyways. At least i saw the slug first...
As for Box #1, we were out of town half the week so we gave our friends all of the lettuce and half of the scallions. I did manage to cook everything else. The bok choy was amazingly sweet and crispy while the kale was probably the best bunch i ever dealt with. And i was wrong about the beets -- they were actually hugenormous RADISHES that looked like beets. We still have a few of those in the fridge, as well as some leftover stir fried greens, but overall Box #1 has pretty much been reduced. Oh yes and the unnamed vegetable was leafy Chinese cabbage.
Great Scapes
We were terribly worried last fall/winter about garlic. Neither of us had grown it, nor knew anyone who tried. The only information i got was from
dude who was planting his first batch as well. All i knew was that real, fresh, hardneck garlic was to kill for, and that we were late to plant.
We were so late that
Peaceful Valley was already sold out of some varieties and what was left was discounted. I bought a pound each of Music and Legacy, and we planted 16 big cloves of each in our two
Square Foot Gardening boxes.
Over the winter, they did sprout and grow. Every single clove sprouted, too! Right now all 32 garlic plants are over 2 feet tall. Some of the tips are slightly brown but apparently this is normal. I don't know if we're lucky gardeners, if the SFG method kicks ass, or if garlic is really just that easy to grow -- but we're definitely growing it again this fall.
Phase two (one was planting) is harvesting the "scapes" or flower stalks of the garlic plant. Our garlic grew such beautiful curvy scapes i felt bad cutting them, but it had to be done. Apparently you need to cut the scapes so more energy goes into growing the bulb instead of making a flower. Scapes are a delicacy known to few, so if you see them at the farmers' market and love garlic, definitely check them out.
Cutting the scapes was insane. be was using pruning shears and i was using scissors. I harvested the longer scapes of Music while he cut the shorter Legacy. The air was crazy heavy with garlic, like a perfumey blanket. You could actually see the glistening garlic juice on the cut ends. I was sniffing a stalk when i accidentally bonked my lip with it and i was smelling garlic for a whole day!
So what does one do with 32 garlic scapes? We gave some to my mom, some to the Rices and have some saved for Jomar. I made the rest of the Legacy into pesto. Online everyone raves about pesto and i love it so. Some people online suggest stir-frying it, which changes the texture into something like green beans; perhaps i'll try this with the Music. What i didn't get was how everyone online described garlic scapes as having "all the garlic flavor with none of the bite." I tried a few pieces raw and my scapes certainly had "bite!" Sure, it's not exactly like biting into a crispy clove of hardneck garlic but it had a hot bite and left us with major garlic breath!
The recipe i tweaked was from the Washington Post
here.
Harley's Garlic Scape Pesto1 cup chopped garlic scapes (10 garlic scapes, more if shorter, less if longer)
1/3 cup walnuts or pinenuts
1/2 cup or more of extra virgin olive oil
1/2-1 t sea salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1) Wash the scapes. Cut off the flower and discard. Trim the stalk end if it looks dry. Coarsely chop up.
2) Break up the walnuts, or leave pinenuts whole, and heat in a skillet over low heat until toasted, stirring frequently.
3) In a food processor or blender, process the scapes and nuts until combined.
4) Add the olive oil and process until pastelike, scraping down the sides if necessary. Add more oil if you need it.
5) Put the pesto into a bowl and stir in the salt and pepper.
6) To freeze cubes for later use, use an ice cube tray. Freeze the cubes and then put in an airtight container to use when needed. My batch made 11 cubes after eating some of the pesto fresh on toasted bread.
The garlic scape pesto certainly is delicious! It's different from basil-based pesto but the garlic flavor is all there. Now, i just hope phase 3 (harvesting and curing of the bulbs) goes just as well!
Greedy
YES we bought 12 chocolate bars. No one should have a problem with that. Top to bottom:
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Lemon Biscotti Truffle Bar from Choxie
Strawberry & Pepper Cocoa D'Arriba (77%) from Hachez
Mango-Chili Cocoa D'Arriba (77%) from Hachez
Passion Fruit (70%) from Santander
Ginger (80%) from Green & Black's
38% Dark with Roasted Salted Peanuts from Vintage Plantains
65% Dark with Cocoa Nibs from Vintage Plantains
Oaxaca Bar (guajillo and pasilla chilis) (75%) from Vosges
Red Fire Bar (ancho and chipotle chilis with cinnamon) (55%) from Vosges
Crave (apricot) (33%) from New Tree
Intense Pear (pear with almonds) from Lindt
Cinnamon & Blood Orange (white chocolate) from Frey
Needy
My favorite chocolate bars right now:
82% Cacao Extra Dark from Scharffen Berger
Barcelona bar (dark milk chocolate with hickory smoked almonds and sea salt) from Vosges
Chai (milk chocolate with ginger and spices) from Dagoba
Cherry (60% with dried tart cherries) from Green & Black's
Grand Noir 85% from Michel Cluizel
Guanaja (70%) from Valrhona
Sisa's Secret Special Edition Extra Dark Roast (70%) from Kallari
Tranquility (milk chocolate with lavender) from New Tree
And might i just add that we came across a bodega with loose candies just like when we were kids! L and i got mini Reese's peanut butter cups for 10 cents each, while be picked up a mini Peppermint Pattie for 15 cents. They were the best tasting candies in a long time!
Flashing
The butt one went moldy, but be ended up eating the male genitals one after breaking the weirdness off. Overall the cherries were excellent.
CSA Pickup #1
In a grand effort to eat more produce, we joined the CSA at
Red Earth Farm. It was a stressful moment a few months ago when we ran from brunch in an effort to register and pay before they sold out of shares. Luckily, we made the cut and have just picked up our first box of the season. I don't know why, but we chose the Full Share ... a 23 week season of 10 items each pickup (a Partial is 6 items) PLUS an additional bi weekly fruit share. Now that i've seen the produce on the counter, i've realized we surely are dunderheads.
Box #1 contained:
1 basil plant
1 head bok choy
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 bag mixed baby greens
1 bag spinach
1 bunch red winter kale
1 bunch scallions
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 bunch beets
1 head something i don't know the name for - white stalks and leafy green tops
That means we'll have to consume at least 2 items each day, not even including the produce we already have in the fridge! That's a lot of greens. Better get some of those produce bags. Wish us luck.
First Bunch
Saturday morning be was tending to the garden when he spied a few bright red berries on our three little strawberry plants! We had actually picked and eaten one sole berry a few days before that but this was the first real bunch ready. They were impossibly fresh and beautifully red, and the flavors ranged from intensely sweet to intensely sweet with a little sour. The texture was like slicing through butter. So unlike store-bought berries!
Over the past few weeks, some of our plants have suffered with the drenching rains and flip flopping temperatures, but the three berry plants only grew larger and heartier. The plants are from
Greensgrow and i highly recommend buying from them since their plants are very healthy. We have them planted in a long plastic rectangular window box in potting soil from
Organic Mechanics with some stones on top to keep out stray cats in search of litterboxes. Now that the berries are starting to ripen, we have the strawberries inside of the blueberries' wire netting cage which be built to keep out squirrels and birds. I guess one cannot keep a Taurus away from his hard earned fruit.
