Oh to love good food that comes from great produce

My garden is off to an incredible start. Well, nothing is growing in it yet, or even really planted, except for a  pea cover crop and transplanted onions and garlic. However, there is space and soil. And soil. And soil. 13 yards to be exact. I might be considered a wimp but, to my back and now injured shoulder, that is a lot of soil. We now have 3 raised beds (5x18, 5x12 and 4x8), an asparagus bed, a raspberry bed, an artichoke bed, 5 wine barrels, 15 containers and 3 potato boxes. I think that should do it for complete mental overload. We have seeds. Oh, glorious seeds that appear as little gifts in my mailbox as a result of pouring through catalogs for weeks. We have a garden journal and we are ready. Except for the challenge of keeping my almost 3 year old OUT of the garden beds. That is a story for another day. Back to pleasantries.


Last weekend, as I was lingering over the pages of the seed catalogs and dreaming of the fresh, crisp and flavorful produce to come, I realized that it was time for the Farmer's Market. So I rallied the little garden stomper complete with his boots and headed out to grab some tasty treats for the upcoming week. The usual carrots, parsnips, onions, shallots and rich mixes of greens quickly found their way into my bag and then I saw it. At the end of the first aisle, it stared right back at me and dared me to buy it. A 5 lb   flawless, pearly white cauliflower. This was one impressive specimen. So, I bought it and began considering what I could do with it. 


By the time I arrived home, I was wondering if I could pull multiple days of cauliflower off in my household and there the beauty sat in my refrigerator, occupying all of the space on my third shelf. After a glance through Bon Appetit and searching online, I came up with two incredible winners.


1) Cauliflower, Swiss Chard, and Chicken Soup from Epicurious
I added about 1 tablespoon of minced garlic to the onion and a touch of Garam Masala for a little kick. I thought it would last for a couple of days worth of lunches and then I could freeze the rest, but it was all consumed within 3 days. This was a two bowl soup for my dad. This is a pretty good marker since he isn't big on the vegetable scene. Did I mention that my 2 year old ate it for lunch 2 days in a row?

2) Country Captain with Cauliflower and Peas from Bon Appetit
This one was a serious crowd pleaser. We had guests over and everyone had at least two bowlfuls. I added half a can of coconut milk and a little bit o' curry. The spice portion of this requires a well-supplied spice cabinet or the ability to spend a little time in the bulk spices section. Completely worth the effort.


So when you see that perfect specimen of cauliflower that will take up an entire shelf of your fridge, do not pass it by. There is some seriously good food to follow.

Blissed out

Welcome to my blissed out world. My darling husband built me the raised garden boxes of my dreams for Valentine's Day. How did I get so lucky? My garden beds are now a collection of 5x8, 5x18, and 5x12 beds. I have top soil arriving on Wednesday. My seed list runneth over and I have about 2 dozen extra containers for tomatoes and squash.

PANIC! Now I have to make this work. If this garden doesn't produce like crazy, we are going to be one hungry family. So it will. Fingers crossed.

bliss.

Finding Words

I am not the writer who always finds the perfect words. Actually,  I don't think of myself of a writer.  Often I know my words do not come out the right way when they are spoken (and those of you who know me know there are a lot of words that come along with me), but if I can't sort out some of my ideas on "paper" then they seem to become more lucid.

So today I am baffled and I am trying to process how to do it all.  Clean the house. Feed the child. Clean the child. Keep the child happy. Ditto to all of these for the mama and papa. Look. All of that fits in less than two lines of text. If only it were that simple.

Sometimes it feels that when you are trying to simplify things, they only get more complicated.

Training

These are times of training and learning new skills. While my 2 year old is whining, laughing, crying and celebrating his way through potty training, I am doing the same with designing our garden for next year.

First came the onslaught of seed catalogs. This led me to my computer to see if they "qualified" under my "rules". Most do not, because they are owned by Monsanto. After I whittled the piled down to my two favorites, Seed Savers Exchange and Fedco, I created my dream garden.

Eight varieties of tomatoes for canning, making sauce and eating fresh, five varieties of lettuce, 4 varieties of beans, two varieties of peas, ground cherries, butternut squash, pumpkins, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, chard, four varieties of peppers, three types of basil, oregano, chives, and a plethora of flowers. Do you see a problem here? I do. I have 5, count them 1..2..3..4..5 raised beds. 1 large and 4 small. Hmmm. When a seed packet shows it is capable of planting 6 hills of squash, well that is what the seed deserves.

My first step is to convince my husband that we need to expand our garden. I mean REALLY expand the garden. He looks away. Cue the whining. "We reeeeeeeeeally need to do this. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease."

Cue the laughter. These are not the sounds of my giggles, rather, my husband's. "You want to do what?" "How much do you think that will cost?"

Cue the tears. These ARE mine. "You don't understand, I am trying to make good food for OUR family!" Please note, these have NO effect on the previously mentioned laughter.

The only way to deal is to head over to your girlfriend's house with your precious seed catalogs and a bottle of wine. Cue the celebration. Perhaps they will bring me to a happy, sedated sort of garden reality.

So we are all being trained. 2 year olds are learning to "use the potty".   37 year olds are learning to build something dreamy and wonderful within their means. For both of us, we have to find the answers from within. As Galileo said, "You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself".  Personally, I think you can always figure it out over a bottle of wine with the girls.

Wow...it's January

To quote one of my friends, "Beef, it's what's for dinner". We have the salmon and beef covered and we will be receiving a 1/4 of a pig in about 3 weeks, but the chicken front is dry. I am CRAVING it! I have been buying organic once a week. It is from Washington, so that's good, but it still doesn't feel right. This is one area I have to work on. For those cold winter nights this Chicken and Dumplings recipe will warm you right down to your toes. And while we are on the chicken note, can you tell I have been obsessing? This is the recipe my girlfriend made for us a couple of weeks ago and we SWEAR it is by far one of the best things we have EVER tasted. Chicken Tikka Masala my advice on this one is to double the recipe. We added in some partially steamed broccoli and MAN was it good. Ok, enough of the chicken and on to the hills and valleys of eating close to home.

I can firmly say that I am proud that I have not purchased a single tomato since the last one I bought at the local farmer's market. That isn't to say we haven't had canned toms or spaghetti sauce, we have. But man oh man, this is the tough part.

Next summer I am going to make sauce like nobody's business. There really isn't anything better than the real deal.

We are becoming lovers of carrots and parsnips. That is about the range of our vegetable consumption. There have been a few treats here and there like a cucumber for our raita and an avocado (MAJOR splurge) for our bbq'd steak we had one night. We buy Washington grown lettuce that is organic and have it with sunflower seeds and carrots or apples. But I think the big difference, is that we think before we buy. I bought bananas once when my kiddo was sick and because that is what he was requesting. As a mom, you are going to do these things when your kid is sick and the request isn't for something outrageous. Maybe even then. You know what I am saying.

The fun thing is that our CSA squash is still holding on. Last week we had some wonderful Butternut Squash Tacos with Black Beans. They were a major hit with the whole crowd and my kiddo had fun making corn tortillas. Since my loving husband was in charge of this portion of the festivities, he did not love it as much. To be honest, I think that made me love it more. Did I mention that he had never made them before and I put him in charge of the whole process AND two 2 year olds. Hee hee. I had a grand ol' time working on the rest and watching that little vein on his forehead dance. Love you sweetie.

So it has been a long time since I have been here, but now the fun begins. The seed catalogs should start coming in and we get to plan the garden for next year. This is exciting stuff! I will be meeting with some girlfriends to discuss our plans and to see what we can share amongst our crops all over a glass of wine. This is living folks. This is living.