The Bobwhites

January Daring Bakers: Biscuits with Audax

2012-01-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

I've always wanted Audax Artifex to host a Daring Bakers challenge. I've always fantasized about what he'd challenge us to bake.

Well this month I discovered the steamy answer to my fantasy.....

Biscuits. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful biscuits.

The best part of the challenge was Audax, of course.

Second best part was seeing all the rainbows in the steam and (barely) managing to catch them on the camera. Chirp-chirp held the biscuits, steaming hot, up in front of the window as the sun was setting. At first I didn't believe her about the rainbows, but there they were! Go back and look for yourself. Rainbows!

Third best part was tasting a new, simple, easy base for tonight's chicken divan. I usually serve this with rice or potatoes. This year, due to our bumper crop of Yukon Golds from the garden, it's almost always been served on taters.

Fourth best part, or maybe a second first best part, is looking forward to dessert later on. Strawberry jam and fresh-whipped cream? Yes, please!

Oh, and fifth best part was a mid-winter challenge that didn't require eggs. The chooks are giving me one egg a day right now, which doesn't stretch very far for our family.

Here's the recipe and exhaustive technique review from Audax. Have fun!

It's not the height that counts...continued!

2012-01-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

With so much work going on around the house, this French Fridays with Dorie selection was a pretty little light beckoning my return to the fold. I've missed my Doristas!

Quartre-quarts is a simple, tasty, almost-rustic cake. It's similar to the American Pound Cake in that the old-timey way to make it consists of incorporating equal weights of eggs, butter, flour, and sugar into a batter. Vanilla (if you remember to add it, which I didn't!) adds more flavor, baking powder adds to the loft provided by beaten egg whites, and a sprinkle of brown sugar over the top adds color and an extra little hint of sweetness.

This is a snacking cake. The recipe called for an 8" pan, and I baked it in a 10" pan, so the finished version is even easier to eat out of hand. I'm going to claim that I planned it that way. You'll forgive me my delusion, yes?

This weekend we're finishing the demolition of the hall bathroom, and I'm sure lots of snacking will be called for. This is the PERFECT little cake for that!

Be sure to visit the other Doristas and see their (much more stunning) versions of this sweet little french treat. As with the other French Friday concoctions, we've been asked not to share the recipe. However, many versions are available all over the internets, and I'm sure you can find a recipe to suit you!

December Daring Bakers Challenge: Letting Nature do the Work

2011-12-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

Subtitle: It's not the height that counts, right?

Another whole month gone by with nary a word on this blog. That's the bad news. The good news is that I have TONS to write about, I just drop into bed exhausted every night without having shared a single little bit with you.

Part of the problem is the very buggy nature of Blogger on my computer these days. Due to the hack, I can no longer long in as the administrator, only as a contributor. Therefore, I don't get the standard full module, and on top of that, the module I do get to use is buggy and inconsistent. For instance, the photo below should be centered. Blogger will not let me center it. After a frustrating day of working on the new house, I just can't stand to be teased and mocked by a computer.

Also, simply adding pictures, much less editing them? Nearly impossible.

But I whine and digress. Back to business!

So, you wonder, what's up with the plastic cup sitting on the counter? Is is the drink I sorely need to deal with a buggy Blogger module? Is it to keep myself hydrated? Is it just a reminder of the time Bet and I took our little girls to the zoo to see the wild animals?

Well, here's a peek inside...

In a sense, we do have wildlife in here. But these guys aren't behind bars in a zoo, they're free range! It's wild yeast given a habitat in which to flourish. It's sourdough starter!

Mandatory Blog-checking lines: Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by AndrewWhitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sour Dough bread in from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food!

Now, the goal was to have a nice lofty loaf. Goals are nice to have, but lately, well, they don't seem to be something to actually attain. As you can see above, after turning out from the banneton where it ~~rose~~ sat there for five hours, the result was doomed to be flat.

I did however get a very tasty ~~loaf~~ bread product. And I did eat it.

Oh, yes I did.

I named my starter Beth, and she resides in the fridge. I will be pulling her out again soon, and next time I'm determined to get a good lofty loaf. Or at least enjoy my result, no matter the height.

November Daring Bakers: Sans Rival

2011-11-27T21:23:00.000-08:00

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

Hello, my name is Kat, and I'm a prodigal blogger.

Actually, I heard on the radio today, but haven't otherwise verified it yet, that prodigal means to be welcomed back. If they don't take you back with a feast of fatted pig or lamb or whatever, you're not prodigal, you're just back.

Anywho...

We moved.

The internets came on just last night.

My job, after the move was complete, was decreased by 75%.

Things are, shall we say, up in the air?

Oh, and we got a dog.

So tonight, I thought I could just eke out the November challenge. I did the October challenge, and I'll post about that later. I couldn't at the time because all my internet accounts were hacked. That was fun. Don't use one password, no matter how strong, for multiple (or all) your accounts. One site gets hacked, evil people get your password, and they have fun playing with all your other accounts.

Anywho...

I thought I could just eke out the November challenge tonight after a full day's worth of moving. And an oven that doesn't work. I had my ten eggs, I had my almonds, I had a couple of hours before I could justify crashing into bed...

I whipped up my meringue to perfection. Then I added the nuts. Instead of folding the nuts into my beautiful bowl of my last ten eggwhites, I spaced out and turned the mixer back on. Faster than you can say "oh heck," or something similar, the entire bowl deflated into a puddle of liquid.

Did I mention our new house is out in the country? Yeah. No way to convince my little hens to squeeze out another ten eggs, and no way to get back into town to buy any to repeat the challenge.

I poured the slop into a greased cake pan, instead of spreading fluffy layers of meringue onto my carefully drawn circles on parchment paper. I threw it in the oven and walked away. About an hour and a half later, Mr. Boom appeared and asked about the cake.

The cake?

Oh heck! The cake!

(again, the word heck may have been replaced by another, stronger, and perhaps whole string of other words)

I took it out of the oven, tipped it over a cooling rack, and out thumped something that looked surprisingly tasty, if not that pretty.

I added some leftover cranberry sauce (homemade, of course) and called it a dessert.

People, it may be a wreck, but it's tasty.

Hopefully, this wreck of a house and my wrecked job will be at least as tasty. Or whatever.

Oh. To see what a Sans Rival is supposed to look like, and to get the wonderful recipe for yourself, go here.

September 2011 Daring Bakers Challenge: Croissants

2011-09-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

Mandatory Blog-checking lines: The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

Ummmm. Has it really been two whole weeks since I posted?
Has it really been ONLY two weeks since I posted?
Wait, first I need to swear you to secrecy.
I am NOT on the internet, m-kay?
I am packing up the piles and piles of junk on my desk. The tapping Mr. Boom thinks he might be hearing is simply the clacking of items falling into boxes. That's my story and you have to help me stick with it!
You see, we've made an offer on a house, and that offer has been accepted. It's a foreclosure, so we couldn't make the sale contingent on selling our current house. Ergo, we really must get this one cleaned up and sold ASAP. No time for blogging.
Or baking.
BUT!!!!
I had already made this month's Daring Baker's Challenge before we ever lay eyes on the new house. That's the good news. The bad news is that my attempt failed. It sucked. It was awful. It needed to be redone but I never did it.
I'm sure if YOU tried it, though, you'd meet with great success. Please please please don't let my failure sway your own judgement about whether or not to try.
You can find the recipe we used right here.

Now, I know the recipe is from good ol' Julia herself. But honestly? While I was going to give it one more attempt for the sake of the challenge, in the future I'll undoubtedly use the recipe I've used before from Julie at Willow Bird Baking. That recipe is here. And you can see my results on her blog here.
Excuse me a moment, gentle reader!
(Yes dear, I'm most certainly packing! Things are flying into boxes! Honey, how do you spell croissant? No reason! Just curious!!!)
I'm back.
For my definitive croissant post, go here.
For the world's most definitivest croissant post ever, go talk to Audax.
I'm outta here!

Another year gone by

2011-09-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

Make new friends, but keep the old

One is silver and the other is gold.

Do you know this song? As a young Girl Scout we sang it all the time as a round. Some would say the tune is old and worn out, but I've never fallen out of love with it's simplicity and straightforward message.

Today I broke a beautiful new mug that I purchased only last Sunday. It was a porcelain travel mug with blue swirls and brown dragonflies. Sitting on the shelf of the kitchen shop it sparkled, it called to me, I was instantly enamored and smitten and head over heels. It was expensive, but resistance was futile and the purchase was made.

But today, after using it twice, I dropped it on the sidewalk outside my office. The pretty mug shattered into a jillion buhzillion little pieces.

I'm sitting here now, in front of my computer at home, drinking a mug of tea. This mug is old. It's practically from another lifetime. It was one of two that my dear friend Bet (Hi Bet!) sent as part of a care package when my first husband came out of remission from cancer. This mug isn't pretty, but it's solid. I've had it and used it excessively for nearly twenty years. I love this mug.

Today Mr. Boom and I looked at a house. I'm pretty sure the house was designed and built by Mr. Brady. Planters are built into the stairs on the inside of the house. The wallpaper in the laundry room is bright! and yellow! with flowers! and ribbons! that blind! It's kinda like this.

We're making an offer on the house, and I hope we get it. At the same time, a brick sided split level is quite a change from a 1910 Victorian. But who can argue with acres, and a pond, and a pasture, and a totally huge woodshop? Be still my heart, but there are ducks on the pond that the realtor assured me would come with the house. Did I mention the realtor has known me since I was eight years old? She patted me on the arm as she assured me the wild mallards would definitely want to live with me! Of course, she winked at Mr. Boom at the same time...

All day long I've been racking my brain, looking for something to say or do to celebrate another blog-o-versary--our 2nd! I might come up with something later on in the week, but don't hold your breath since we have all kinds of ducks to get in a row (get it?) to make the offer and get things straight with the bank.

All I have is this: thanks friends, old and new. Some are near, some are far, but I think of all of you as gold. True gold.

Gasp!

2011-09-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

Gasp!

I'm the mother of a high-schooler. Part of me keeps thinking "how the heck did this happen?"
The snarky/romantic side keeps answering "well, a man and a woman got together..."
This plays in my head over and over.
When Chirp chirp was just a babe, people, older ladies in particular, would constantly advise to enjoy it now, it goes by so fast. I'm a freak of nature, or something, because it hasn't felt fast at all. It just feels odd that now I'm one of those people who has high school kids--and I'm not sure how I reached this point. Wasn't there supposed to be a manual handed out or something? Shouldn't there have been an official letter in the mail? "Hey Lady--your daughter's going into the high-school!"
I don't know. I just have this discomfited feeling.
Chirp-chirp, on the other hand, is rockin' her new status and making me proud. Changes aren't her strong point, but you'd never know it to see how she's handling it all. I am SO proud of her!

This past week, I've made three fail foods. The first was zucchini frit-foo-young. That's when you try to make zucchini fritters for a crowd, but omit the flour from the mix. The second was creme bruleaky. That's creme brulee that doesn't set up, but it's your aunt's birthday and everyone at the table is dying to see what incredible treat you've made for dessert. The third fail food was coconut ice crud. That's where you take a lovely recipe for coconut ice cream and forget to put the sugar in. That was for Grandma's 89th birthday, a mere three days after the creme bruleaky incident. With the same crowd. I tired to hand over my baking crown, but no one would take it. Maybe that has to do with the crusty smears of ravioli stuffing gone awry decorating it?

Grouse season has started. This means that turkeys can be viewed at every turn in the road, but the grouse are invisible. This shouldn't be confused with turkey season, when grouse fly up from under your feet with every other step you take and turkeys don't seem to exist. Turkey season does start here in a couple of weeks, at which point I'm sure we'll see lots of something else. Of course, I don't hunt for anything else, so I'm looking forward to it!

We did see a badger the other day. Thankfully, the badger saw us and decided it was easier to melt back into the trees than to stake a claim on his territory. Also saw a couple of snakes that day engaged in a little bow-chicka-bow-bow. But no grouse, of course.

Today I'm attempting this month's Daring Bakers challenge. Hopefully my streak of bad performance in the kitchen is over and I'll meet with success. Of course, it's such a yummy challenge that I won't mind repeating it over. And over.

Neither will the resident high-schooler! (Gasp!)

August Daring Bakers: Candylicious!

2011-08-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

While I know my entry isn't nearly awesome enough to go for the prize, I had soooo much fun with this project!

My first candy was a sweet coconut-stuffed candy. Inspired by recipes from around the web (Joy the Baker and Have Fork Will Eat) I ended up with this combination for the moist, chewy interior:

1 cup sweetened condensed milk (about 7 or 8 oz)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 good dash of salt
2 1/12 cups of unsweetened coconut flakes (I always get this from the bulk section at our market, it's fresher and less plastic-tasting)

Stir the first four ingredients together, then add the coconut. Cover tightly and throw into the refrigerator for several hours before using. With your sticky little fingers, form into your desired shapes. If your kitchen is warm, you'll want to re-chill the shapes before dipping into the chocolate. Also, the harder you pack the mixture into your mold ( I used an oblong Tablespoon measure-er thing), the easier it will be to to dip. My looser-ly packed shapes tended to fall apart in the bowl of chocolate. The only way to save the situation was to dig it out with a spoon and eat it. Chirp-chirp was of great help here!

My second combination was peanut butter and chocolate. This one was the request (maybe a little more like a demand? How about insistent request? ) from Mr. Boom. For peanut butter and chocolate, one need look no further than the Brown Eyed Baker for inspiration. I tweaked her peanut butter cup recipe until we all agreed we'd gone to heaven.

1 cup cheap creamy peanut butter (the good stuff will separate)

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine all the ingredients and chill, just like the coconut recipe above.

Confession here on the marshmallow. I used store-bought marshmallows. It's just too dang hot to play with melted sugar. I'm so sorrrrrrrry. What I should have done was this, from a previous Daring Baker challenge.

This may or may not have been by second breakfast, elevensies, and perhaps first and second lunch today...

You could have it too, just follow this link to the printable directions on tempering chocolate and making all kinds of delicious candies in your OWN (and hopefully cooler) kitchen.

Zucchini fritters (spell that one ten times fast!)

2011-08-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

My garden runneth over, with zucchini. I've made zucchini bread a few times already, and while we all like zucchini bread a lot, we are getting a little tired of the same ol' same ol'. Mr. Boom and Chirp-chirp refuse to eat fried zucchini, no matter how much Parmesan cheese is melted over the top, so I'm trying to find new ways to use up the squash.

A fellow Master Gardener brought me a piece of zucchini cake the other day, and it was sooooo good! The recipe came from her CSA (a weekly fruit and vegetable delivery service straight from the farm), and she said she'd pass the recipe along to me. She did send me a bunch of recipes for zucchini, but not for the particular slice of cake in question.

I finally e~mailed the CSA and asked if they'd share it with me. They said sure, no problem, it's form Martha Stewart. Lo and behold, I had the recipe here in my own home! The cake was featured in the July Martha Stewart magazine. Hooray!

In the same article, a picture of zucchini fritters caught my eye. The fritter recipe called for exactly twice the amount of zucchini I had in the fridge, twice the eggs, and twice the onion. Perfect! I made the fritters for myself, and began reheating leftovers for the sure-to-be naysayers. You know, of course, that I can't follow a recipe to save my soul, so here's what I did.

About one cup of zucchini, about one half an onion, together strained through a bit of cheesecloth. About one cup of grated Parmesan cheese (another leftover), and a palmful of flour. Also salt and pepper, but you can't really see those.

Mix it all up gently with one egg. The last egg. A store-bought egg because the hens refuse to lay in this heat.

Fry them up in a bit of oil in a cast-iron skillet set to blazing hot. Throw the first three onto a plate and cook up the second three.

Come back to find the first three MISSING ENTIRELY! Mr. Boom and Chirp-chirp like zucchini fritters, it turns out. Like them a lot, it turns out.

Well, we've got lots of zucchini, but I'll need to get some eggs and onions. Both of which, by the way, should be coming from the yard but aren't. Thank goodness for the modern supermarket, and thank goodness for a new way to serve the family squash.

I'll make the cake next, after I get the eggs.

I'm sorry to say that neither of these recipes are on the Marth Stewart Website, but I don't think you need a real recipe for the fritters, anyway. Try it and let me know what you think!

And some stuff I forgot!

2011-08-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I told you I only recently learned about hornworms and sphinx moths. What I forgot to tell you was where I learned it! You've got to check out this blog post by Lauren Scheuer of Hunt and Peck who writes and illustrates about her adventures with chicken ownership. She always makes me laugh!

We've been working hard to make sure we don't lose any more of our own little chooks. This morning we found another skunk in one of our live traps. This little guy makes the fourth we've removed from our property. Since it was already pretty warm outside before we rolled out of bed this morning, I was concerned about hydration. I used a spouted water bottle to squirt a little water in through the fine mesh of the trap, and the sweet little skunk came right over, put one paw through the mesh to support his/her weight, and then proceeded to sip the water so delicately from the stream of water.

So. Freaking. Cute.

Mr. Boom said we couldnt' keep the skunk as a pet. Mr. Boom said I couldn't hug him, squeeze him, and call him George. Mr. Boom didn't look into the cute little brown eyes of the skunk and fall in love.

We took him (the skunk, that is) up to a little canyon nearby, away from all homes and chicken coops, and set him free. After he came out of the trap he circled back around to take a good look at us. Mr. Boom backed away, but I was ready to embrace him (the skunk, that is). At the last second, though, he turned away and ran off into the bush. He was my favorite little pet skunk I've never had.

Today we're tackling the beautification of the side of our shop/garage. It's a long, narrow, ugly spot that grows weeds and nothing else. It needs help.

I need a cold drink.

Bottoms up, everyone!

Just some random stuff

2011-08-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

Check out this link! This site linked on the Google Earth Blog tells you exactly which satellites are above you at any given time. From playing around, I've also determined there's NO WAY aliens could, or would ever want to, land here on our earth. I know they wouldn't come to live, and I doubt they'd even think it a nice place to visit. Seriously, there's just too much detritus out there to navigate around: it looks like the earth has fleas. If our planet was a Snoopy character it would be Pigpen with his tenacious cloud of dust encompassing him at all times.

In other news! We made an offer on a house. We didn't get the house. I wasn't going to fall in love with it before we knew our offer was accepted, but I did anyway. Three acres, a pond, outbuildings, brick walkways, big gazebo, tall trees along both edges of the property and all the way up the driveway. Fruit trees, raised beds, cold frames. This place had it all. But someone else got it. Ah well. C'est la vie.

In other news! A Sphinx moth flew into our office this evening. I never knew until this past week that tomato horn worms grow up into Sphinx moths, aka hummingbird moths. I did a post last year, showing a local tomato hornworm. These guys are just too cool for words, not that I let that stop me. Ever. Ahem.

In other news! Plantars warts suck. Liquid nitrogen does not belong in the proximity of bare skin. I reminded my doctor of this. I told him we could go out in the parking lot and use the liquid nitrogen to make ice cream instead. I told him that if I was being expected to pay good money for the treatment, the canister of gas ought to look fancier than a regular ol' helium canister. I told him I should at least get some drugs. My doctor never listens to me. I will brag a little and say I never cried nor swore in the treatment room as he masochistically held the wand of nitrogen to the base of my foot. He didn't see my cry one single tear (unless he looked out the window and saw me yelling, cursing, and screaming in my car).

In other news! Anyone want zucchini? I have some to share...

July Daring Bakers Challenge: Fresh Frasiers!

2011-07-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

Mandatory Blog Checkin Lines: Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

This month's challenge was super-tasty and a wonderfully seasonal challenge. While Jana suggested using strawberries and blueberries to complement a vanilla chiffon and pastry creme, I just couldn't see buying two types of fruit at the store when my garden was overflowing with other varieties.

My cherry tree has gone berserk, and we have a few lingering strawberries still on the plants. The blueberries are dead. Completely dead. Blueberries, then, were a no-go.

Trouble is, cherries and vanilla are a fine combination, but not my definition of gotta have it. Chocolate and cherries? Well, that might be good....especially when combined with the disk of almond paste she directed us to put on top. Wait a minute! I've reinvented the black forest cake. Inspiration was a long time coming, but this was an inspiration worth the wait. Chocolate chiffon, kirsch-enriched simple syrup, and the last of the cherries from the tree.

Chirp-chirp, of course, just wanted chocolate. Straight chocolate. No fruit, no thank you. None whatsoever.

And, as a nod to Jana, here's the last of the strawberries for 2011...

Here's a link to the recipes. Try this!

How does this make sense?

2011-07-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

I really like listening to Science Friday on NPR. Have you ever listened in? Sometimes the ramblings become too political, but generally speaking this radio show is totally golden.

Friday afternoons generally find me at home, cleaning up a week's worth of unfinished chores, washing the laundry and hanging it to dry, scrubbing the toilets, sweeping the floors, and altogether acting out the part of Cinderella, except for the good part at the end where she ends up with an entire staff to clean her sparkly castle. Well, like Cinderella, I did get a prince, so I won't complain! I am still waiting for the cook to appear, and one of the mice had a little something going for him which I wouldn't mind having at hand!

Anyway, the auditory backdrop for the day is Science Friday. Good stuff.

Today was different. Since I took yesterday off for our camping trip, I had to work today. There isn't a radio in my lab, which is really a hallway, so I usually listen to tunes on my Droid phone and try not to rock too hard, which could ruin my samples. Not that I'd know anything about that. At all.

Today, though, I wanted to listen to Science Friday. My Droid phone has a radio station listening function (oh wait! that's an ap, right?) so I turned that on. Well, you can only listen to the radio if you have earplugs in. I do not need any more wires hanging off my body while running samples, so that was out.

All righty, then, I'll listen online! Except that none of the "three easy ways to listen online" (please use your deepest testosterone tone when reading that phrase) work on my phone. I tried to download Windows Media Player, but it wouldn't download to my phone. I tried I-tunes, but that only works if you have an I-phone. The last choice was Real Player. I select that download, and the NPR page takes me to the Real Player page.

Where the page tells me to

USE
MY
PHONE'S
CAMERA
TO SCAN
THE $^%@!^
CODE

You know, the code that is on my phone's screen

in order to complete the download.

Excuse me, but how do I use my phone's camera to take a picture of my phone? Seriously, people. What the heck??????

I couldn't make this up.

And I didn't get to listen to Science Friday.

OH look! Here's the page so you can see it yourself!
http://www.real.com/realplayer/android

Conversation whilst packing

2011-07-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

Mr. Boom and I took a little camping trip yesterday. Chirp-chirp is away at her cousins' house*, so we decided to make the most of the opportunity by sneaking in a little car-camping excursion.

Where to go, where to go? We made a deal. I'd pack, and Mr. Boom would pick the location.

I finished up at the office at 3:00, went home, and packed the car. I also made sure all the animals had food and water to last overnight, and that the gardens all had enough water to survive a day without our love and care. Or something like that.

Anyway, I threw our sleeping mats, sleeping bags, and pillows in the car. I put cereal, peanut-butter, bread, crackers, and marshmallows into a box. Into the cooler went several shots of espresso, milk, goat cheese, jar cheese, frozen steaks, garlic, and cottage cheese. I grabbed our camping kitchen box, the Coleman stove, and a lighter. Car packed--hooray!

When Mr. Boom walked in the door just after 4:00, I told him to pack his own bag and we could hit the road. He had a few questions...

Him (with a hand on the cookie jar): Did you pack cookies?
Me: No, but I did pack the cheese!

Him: Insect repellant?
Me: No, but I packed the field guides?

Him: Something to start a fire?
Me: No, but I did bring the backlog of newspapers.
Him: That's what I meant.

Amazingly, we had all we needed, and not too much more. Perfect getaway. Well, it would be perfect if we didn't have to work in the morning!

So where'd we go? Little Naches River for the night, Ohanapecosh the next day. Cayuse Pass, Chinook Pass, and lots of high mountain driving in between!

*She's spent a lot of time at her cousins' this summer. The girl is two weeks older than her, the boy is two years younger. They have a hot tub, a movie theater, their own private bit of forest, and a three minute drive to the mall. Home just can't compete.

Update

2011-07-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, starting now…?

Funny how hard it is to just pick this blog-thang back up. Writing is a habit, I guess, and like any (good) habit not practiced, the ease with which it’s practiced can be totally lost. Engulfed. Desolately twinkling on the ocean floor.

I’ve fallen out of many good habits recently, and I’m sorry to say I can’t say the same about any of my bad habits. Why can’t those two be self-balancing? I’d like to complain to the management about that one. Someone should really write a letter. Of course, I could write the letter myself, except I’m out of practice, you see.

I think the dust has settled, finally, from the seemingly-endless turmoil I’ve been bashing my way through. This spring, we had five hens and four cats. Due to this death and that disappearance, we were down to one hen and two kitties. Hardest of all was the death of Cirrus, my big fat blue-eyed Siamese wonderboy of love. He was poisoned. Why??????? But now we have two new hens, and the missing kitty (Pablano) returned home after a week gone. He was in good health, but reeked of axle grease and garage. He didn’t stop meowing for days, and still wanders around crying at times. There’s lots more, of course, but stuff I can’t share (to protect the innocent, the not-so-innocent, and the just plain kooky elderly folks in my life).

Cherries.

We have tons and tons of cherries. I’ve frozen up five gallon bags full of cherries. My mother-in-law has picked cherries, my neighbor ahs picked cherries. The birds are eating the cherries. Still, you can’t even tell that a single cherry is missing from the ever-loving ever-fruitful tree. I don’t know what kind of cherries they are. They’re bright red—cherry red if I might say so—and sweet enough to eat off the tree, tart enough to cook with. Turns out it’s really easy to freeze cherries. Just pit the suckers, throw ‘em on a cookie sheet, and then roll the little fruit marbles into a bad after a night in the freezer.

I made a cherry clafouti with some of the crop. Clafoutis are so pretty, and spoken so well of—and of course they’re French—so how could it not be wonderful? It wasn’t. Bleh. I will NOT be posting that recipe!

I think I’m going to make wine with however many more I pick. Sweet cherry wine? Like the song? That should be good, right? There’s a joke in there about judging a book by a cover song, but it’s probably a really bad joke, so I’ll not look for it any further.

Josh Ritter. Oh, Josh Ritter.

Met him at his recent book reading, music playing, and book signing. Mr. Boom snapped a photo of Josh Ritter and me hugging. Dorkeist photo ever. I don’t care. Josh spoke a bit about the process of writing. He likened the first draft of a book to building a block of marble. Editing is the process of sculpting the statue out of the marble. I laughed when he said you edit and edit, sculpt and sculpt, and hope that at the end, when you whip off the sheet, you’ve got enough arms. I’m not putting quotes around that because I didn’t get it quite right. But you get the idea.

Okay, I’m saving the rest for another post. I can’t wait to tell you about the gardens, how well the trellises are working (I haven’t forgotten that I need to post the plans for them, Tanya!!), and a bee update.

All right. Off to work on reestablishing the good habits, and scaring some of the bad back into their corners,

Kat

June Daring Bakers: Baklava!

2011-06-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Mandatory blog-checking lines: Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

Another month went by? Really? I guess from looking around the garden I should realize that time's been passing. A lot has happened in the past month, the good and the bad, births and deaths, unions and breaks, and the three of us are just holding tight to one another and desperately hoping that the quantity of "things happen" will abate.

But really, STARTING NOW, I'm back! I really mean it this time! I'm back!

Erica blew my mind totally out of the water this month with her Daring Bakers Challenge to us. First I saw "baklava." Cool! I can do that! Been doing that for years! I get a break this month--woot! Then I saw "make your own phyllo." Surely she jests?

Nope.

So, this month I and my other Daring Baker cohorts learned the secrets to rolling out really thin pastry. Really thin. Thin enough to read a newspaper through. Chirp-chirp ran to get a section of paper for that particular test. Did she bring me a headline?

Nope.

Tiny print. However, with a bit of squinting and guesswork, we were indeed able to read the article in the paper. I will admit to skipping the test on each and every subsequent layer of phyllo I rolled out. But that first piece? Oh yeah. You could read through it.

The baklava was lots of fun. So much so, that I made two batches.

The first batch was the traditional walnut and almond with honey syrup. The honey, of course, came from our own little hive out back. In fact, I was chickening out of the challenge, and mentioned this to the gals in the hive. They retorted that if they could go through the effort of making honey, surely I could go through the effort of rolling out ridiculously thin pastry. Chagrined, I rose to the challenge.

The second batch was the result of a discussion with the bolting patch of spinach. "Surely," the spinach plants as tall as my waist said," if we're able to devote the energy to this skyscraper (in spinach terms) height, you can devote the energy to roll out more of that ridiculously thin dough." So, re-chagrined, I did. Accompanying the spinach in the second batch, were some onions, pine nuts, and feta.

Cheesy green baklava might now sound appetizing, but spanakopita does, right? And, oh yeah baby, it was gooooood.

And see those flakes on the bottom of the pan? You can read through them. Oh yeah!

To learn to make phyllo yourself, check out these great directions given to us by Erica. Do it!

May Daring Bakers Challenge: Chocolate Marquise on Meringue

2011-05-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

Required blog-checking lines: The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

Oh my goodness. This challenge was a doozy to create and a doozy to eat. Emma and Jenny, both accomplished pastry chefs with training and professional time served, challenged us to make one of their favorite confections, chocolate marquise on meringue. The challenge consisted of four parts--the fourth part that you're not seeing here is a spicy nut topping. Oh, and I didn't have cocoa nibs available anywhere in my little town, either, so those are missing as well.

But let my tell you what IS here, and you tell me if you think it needed the rest.

First is the meringue, and one the most sensory rich recipes outside of bread dough that you might ever encounter in the kitchen (at least while cooking, ahem!). In a new-to-me-twist on meringue making, the egg whites, a splash of vinegar, and a heaping love of sugar are put into a mixing bowl over a hot water bath. Then, you use your hands to stir the warming mixture until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is almost hot. Go on, I dare you!

Next up is the marquise itself. Somewhere between mousse and ice cream, this frozen-but-thawing hunk of creamy chocolate is rolled in cocoa prior to plunking down on top of the meringue. Sweet, but not terribly so. Smooth, but not without some body. Oh, and did I mention the little bit of Kahlua flavoring in there? The recipe called for Tequila. I demurred. Worms are for the garden, not for the kitchen, I always say.

Alrighty, see that caramel sauce? Yum. Again, the recipe called for Tequila. Again, I demurred. Whiskey! Whisky is good, right? You betcha! Interestingly, the whisky gave the caramel a fruity flavor--something akin to pineapple. Not sure what happened there, but it really goes well with the chocolate and meringue.

Are you drooling yet? I would be, but I'm full. How much of this were the teenager formerly known as Chirp Chirp and I able to eat between the two of us?

Clearly, we need practice!

Recipe here (I made a quarter batch)

Many, many thanks to Emma and Jenny for this great dessert. I see this as a showstopper for a crowd, maybe around the holidays?

Starting.....now!

2011-05-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

Did you ever say that as a kid?

Him: "Let's have a staring contest, starting Now!" "
Me: "You blinked!"
Him: "No, wait, I wasn't ready. Starting...Now!"
Me: "You blinked!"
Him: "No, wait, I wasn't ready. Starting...Now!"
Me: "You blinked!"

Him: "No, wait, I wasn't ready. Starting...Now!"

Ad nauseum.

I remember my brother doing it all the time, and being really annoyed by it. I suppose I must have done it too, and been really annoying to others as well. But, well, here I am doing it to you!

So, I'm back....Starting Now!

Our sweet valley is finally warming up. We've had three tremendous floods so far this year, with another one on the way. So that's been a lot of fun.

I built eleventy tomato trellises for the Master Gardener plant sale, and all of them sold, so I'm hoping the old timers of the club will decide to keep me. The sale was a lot of fun, albeit a lot of work. The proceeds go toward all our volunteer work around the county for the year. We have several demonstration gardens and classes for all types of gardeners (kids, veggie growers, flower gardeners, etc.) and at each of those we have printed information available for people to take home. Photocopying costs add up quickly....

I also built two for my own garden. My tomatoes have some growing to do...

In other words, Mr. Boom got his turkey. I still have to get mine, and the pressure is really on, now! The season ends at the end of the month. From his 16 pound turkey, I put seven meals in the freezer. Not bad! Last night, we had the drumsticks with morels from the same trip as well as spinach from the garden. Yummmmmy.

In my defense, he may have shot the first bird, but I found the first through the seventh morels of the season. Just sayin'.

Right now I'm listening to Eddie Vedder's new ukulele album. What a kick! I only wish it were a mandolin. Then I'd feel just a little bit cooler concerning my new hobby. I can't remember if I told you I also found a second-hand banjo? Tony Furtado, my inspiration, needn't worry about any competition from me. Let's just leave it at that...

In other news, I finished up planting the garden this morning, and then hung the laundry out to dry. It's now raining. Good for the little seeds, bad for the t-shirts and such. Oh well.

Finally, my thanks goes out to the Pollinatrix for the gorgeous collage she sent. Soooo pretty. And tranquil. and just perfect in all ways.

And really finally (starting...now finally?), you know I'll be back tomorrow because it's the 27th, i.e. the reveal date for the May Daring Bakers challenge. I better get going on that. It's a doozy!

Let's see, where was I?

2011-05-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

Let's see, where was I? Ah. Yes. Doom and gloom, end of the world.
Well, we're still there, but now that spring is here in full force it's not quite such a hard thing to bear. Yes, everything may end tomorrow, or even later on today. But isn't that blossoming cherry tree really pretty?
And, standing here at the edge of the world, I've become a little accustomed to the view.

In other news, this week's Master Gardener class was the last of my training, and I am now (drum roll please) an official Master Gardener Intern. The training wasn't particularly hard, but it was VERY intensive. We were really lucky to have some eminently qualified specialists make the journey to our little town to teach us about soil science, entomology, grafting, and other fascinating aspects of gardening. We had field trips, too, including an organic produce farm and the most amazing home garden. I'll tell you more about the latter later on in another post.

Let's see, turkey season is underway. Yesterday, we finally saw a turkey for the first time this year, but she was a little female and therefore not at risk from us. Really, though, is any turkey at risk from us? I'm beginning to think not.

I did manage to call in the most gorgeous coyote one evening last week. He was the reddish-brown of fallen Ponderosa pine needles, and his tail was erect. He was very well filled out, and had an almost cocky attitude. This was a far cry from the mangy, slinking, tail between the legs, half-starved coyotes we tend to see in the fields around here. My forest coyote took my breath away, and he keeps appearing in my dreams. Maybe he stole a piece of my heart, too?

I'll try to get some pictures up of our fruit trees tomorrow. They're all in bloom. The tulips finally popped open, as well. Yep, spring is here. We made it through another winter.

The bees at the end of March

2011-03-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

Isn't rhubarb gnarly looking when it first pokes up out of the warming spring soil?
I think of aliens, and brains, or maybe alien brains? What I don't think of is pollen.
There isn't any.

But take a close look at the bees...

You might just about be able to see that some of these little gals are so heavily laden with pollen that they can barely fly. Look at that little group of three to the right of the sugar feeder. The two flying above are looking at her stash of the good yellow stuff.

They aren't finding any pollen in the currant bushes. The first leaves are very tightly furled up, with no bud or blossom in sight.

If you look on the board behind her, you'll see another gal with some pollen, and another buzzing around in the air just above her.

The aspen trees have little catkins dangling down, but no yellow pollen could be coaxed out by me. Maybe my little bees know a secret?

The lilacs are definitely bare, but they would be. Even the tulips around here have a few weeks before they'll bloom.

Cherry? Same thing!

I know of only one place in this whole town where you can find pollen. It's about a half mile away, but that's definitely within a healthy bee's territory. Tomorrow I need to go to the greenhouses in the Bi-Mart parking lot and see if any of my gals are hanging out in there. I wouldn't blame them, what with the primroses and pansies and poppies in bloom, and the warm plastic sheeting over top to hold in the sun's warmth...

So yeah, I have a good scientific reason to go down there--I'm just scoping out the range of my bees, that's all. It certainly isn't to imprudently purchase impatiens to plant in the snow forecast for tonight.

Bees. Yup. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it!

March Daring Bakers: Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

2011-03-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Mandatory blog checking lines: The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

There's never been a bad Daring Bakers challenge--NEVER--but I'm afraid you guys might get bored if I start off yet another challenge with "this was phenomenal," or "this challenge was so awesome," but the fact is, this challenge was awesome and phenomenal!

And now you're bored, right?

Wake up and smell the coffee caked people! You're smelling warm, moist, fluffy yeast bread; you're smelling cinnamon and sugar; you're smelling Sunday morning and flannel sheets, and you're smelling comfort right out of the oven. Really, it's quite worthwhile to stay awake for.

You're wondering about the meringue, aren't you? I was, too, when I first read the challenge and began studying the recipe. Essentially, this is a giant uncut cinnamon roll that uses meringue instead of butter to hold the yummy goodness of cinnamon, sugar, and chocolate into the spiral instead of the more commonly used melted butter.

How can anything with less butter be better? Because the meringue all but melts into the bread dough, leaving the goodies suspended in steam, unadulterated and much less heavy than what you're used to in a cinnamon roll.

Yer just gonna have to trust me on this.

No, wait, yer not gonna have to trust me. Yer gonna make it yerself and see.

Right?

Here's the link for the recipe. The only changes I made were doubling the amount of sugar in the dough (oops!) forgetting the egg wash (oops!) and adding glaze (yummy!).

Other DB'ers made savoury versions, too. Ham and cheese, pepperoni, and I can't remember what all else. I drooled a lot this month, watching other creations come to life on the DB forums! Have fun with this, and let me know how yours turns out!

Getting better

2011-03-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Things around here are getting better. Let's say....about a three out of ten.

This is a far cry from the -4 we were at before, but shows we still have a lot of work to do.

And, my friends, it's been a lot of work.

Luckily, we were able to bring in the professionals, and that's made all the difference in the world.

The only other thing I have to say is that I'm so glad that 13 is an age you reach once, and only once, in your life.

Like, totally.

In other news, the bees are starting to make brief forays out into the world. I'm a bit disturbed by the fact that many of the little ladies in front of the door have wax on their legs, as if they were ready to go play house somewhere else. But, they keep flying back into the hive, so maybe these are pretend run-aways? I'm really ot sure what to make of it. We're still getting snow off and on, and no flowers are in bloom ANYWHERE around here, so I've been giving them bit of sugar water here and there.

This past week, on the advice of previously mentioned professionals, we took the family out of the valley and went to the big city far away. We hit a bookstore, and I splurged. I've been seeing reference to Ashely's books on a few of my favorite blogs, and when I lay my very own little eyes on them in the store, I couldn't help myself. Out popped my wallet (rather, out popped Mr. Boom's wallet) and in the flick of the eye I owned Home Dairy and Keeping Bees. I'd like to blame this on the fact that Chirp-chirp refused to get out of the car, and we were hurrying, so I didn't have time to talk myself out of the purchase. Let's just go with that, shall we?

Anyway, the hook that got me in the Keeping Bees book was a recipe for fondant for feeding bees when pollen and nectar are scarce (or as the case is here, non-existent). I tried the recipe soon after we came home, but it was a flop. Does this:

Look like this?

I think not! I'm not *sure* where it went wrong, but in looking at other fondant for bees recipes I found that the hot sugar mixture is allowed to cool somewhat, then beaten, then allowed to cool down the rest of the way. The recipe in this book has you pour the molten hot sugar onto a dish, allow it to cool a bit, then pour it into a loaf pan or other similar mold. Maybe we were supposed to beat it in between the two receptacles? Otherwise, why use two dishes? It says the final product can be sliced. Mine is scoopable--not sliceable. That could be a temperature issue, though, so I'll try it again and cook it hotter. Anything for my furry little girls and their promise of honey later on!

Very bad to worse

2011-03-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

Get your little violins out...
Things have gone from bad, to very bad, to worse.
No cooking, no gardening, only a half-assed attempt to keep the chickens and bees happy.
Lots of snow, and rain, and tears.
We're scrambling to find help, sworn to secrecy, and scared to death that our nightmares surface as truth.
We'll get on top of this--I'm sure of that. I'm not sure how.
We are so low, and so much of this is out of our hands.
I'll be back, I just wonder if you all will be, too?
Please give me time?

February Daring Bakers Challenge: Panna Cotta and Florentine Cookies

2011-02-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

First off, thanks for the kind e~mails and support you've shown regarding this. Things are progressing okay, although we found out on Saturday evening that the sister apparently died from cancer about five months ago. Her husband didn't seem to think that was news worth sharing. Like I said--a tight knit family...

Moving on!

The February Daring Bakers challenge was a canvas calling for all sorts of self-expression. I thought that after last month's challenge, no challenge to come could ever come close to calling for the creativity inspired by the joconde imprime. I. Was. Wrong. Furthermore, I'm really happy to wrong! How often is that the case? Not very, even though I'm wrong a good deal of the time.

Blog-checking lines: The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

The first part of the challenge, the panna cotta, is a gelatin dessert made with dairy instead of fruit juice. Think jello, but creamy. The flavor can be sweet, savory, or anywhere in between. Like I said before, a blank canvas begging the cook to be creative. I went with the original version as provided by our hostess with the mostest, and intended to make several more varieties. I'm not sure what happened, though, but February has ended without me playing with this recipe any further.

Don't walk away from the stove when heating the cream, or you'll get to do some really fun scrubbing afterward!

The second part of the challenge, the Florentine cookies, was a tasty revelation. Fast, easy, eminently edible either as dough or as a baked good....mmmmmm! Seriously, I've thought on more than one occasion over the past month how easy it would be to just make a little pot of the cookie batter and squirrel it away all for myself.

Butter, oats, sugar, and flour. What could be better?

Warning, they spread quite a bit when baking!

Chocolate drizzle, baby....

Florentines on panna cotta. Delicious, comforting, and not too difficult!

The recipes are here, so you can see for yourself what a satisfying project this is.

I want to do another with butterscotch schnapps, and another with Kahlua.

Maybe you can test is out and let me know how it goes?

PS Happy 16th elope-a-versary, Mr. Boom. Go take a look in the shop...there's a brand new little something for you out there on your workbench. I hope you like it!

Shock

2011-02-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

Mr. Boom's uncle died of a sudden massive heart attack Thursday morning. He was 55, and in seemingly good health. We're reeling. Two of his brothers (including Mr. Boom's father) aren't mentally able to make plans. His uncle is schizophrenic, and his father is deep in the midst of the mist of Alzheimer's disease. Another brother, whom I've never met, is supposedly coming to town. He's a couple of states and a lot of bad weather away. There's a sister, too. We don't know if she's been reached yet, or if she's coming. The sheriff of the last county she was known to be in is trying to track her down. It was another sheriff who reached the uncle a few states away. It was yet another sheriff who contacted the brother who lives in our town. We didn't know about it until a man we don't know called us up in the middle of the night to make sure we'd heard. We originally thought it was a joke. The local sheriff had asked the local uncle to contact us--we can't figure out why they thought that would work?

This is what happens when three of the four remaining siblings don't have e~mail, phones, or even physical addresses. It's not what you might call a tight-knit family.

Mr. Boom's uncle was a great guy, the only sane relative I think Mr. Boom had (besides his brother). He smiled ALL the time. He would help anyone at the drop of a hat. He conquered alcoholism long after anyone would have thought he had a chance to do so. He was the best mechanic in town, was the mascot/coach/lacer-upper for the fledgling roller derby team, and was the one who could make anyone feel good no matter how glum they were. He really wasn't anything at all like his siblings.

In my family, there's a definite line of authority. I could tell you in my sleep exactly who would be in charge of what if any single member needed help, or a funeral, or whatever. This family doesn't have that. I'm at such a loss.

So is our whole community.

I'll be back when I can.

Floating on air

2011-02-21T18:21:00.000-08:00

We spent the weekend helping Mr. Boom's bother and family move into their palatial new digs. Wow. Bathroom chandeliers, people. Bathroom chandeliers. Teensy kitchen, though. I wonder what's up with that?

The freestanding "Lego Room" (What? Doesn't everyone have an extra building on their property to hold all their Legos??) was locked, and the realtor didn't have a key to give them. Should I be proud that I was able to use my little plastic free-hunting-license-holder-cum-wallet-that-fits-my-back-pocket to break in?

Skillz baby. Redneck skillzzzzz.

Anyway, they have the palace, but I have all the happiness in the world. Tomorrow night, Mr. Boom and I are celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary in style...at Jost Ritter concert. The incurable grin is already creeping across my face.

There will be no sleep tonight. And tomorrow? First day of Master Gardener classes, and a big ol' board meeting at work tomorrow. No way those guys can bring me down at this meeting. No way at all!

I'm a bit too old to be giddy, but that's why I totally love Josh Ritter and his band. These guys will gidd-ify you, too.

Please watch this video. Or this one, with Joan Baez. I know you'll smile. Just like me!

CRAP!!!!! up to 14 inches of snow are predicted for the mountain pass we have to cross to get to the concert! I'll ski there if I have to, but this is not good news!

FFwD: Green beans with Pancetta and other things

2011-02-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

Maybe I'm missing something, because all the other kids on the French Fridays with Dorie block loved this dish. They raved about this dish. They drrrrrrroooooooooled over this dish.

They should just marry this dish.

Me? Meh. I didn't even take a picture of the completed dish. I still have leftovers from Valentine's Day in the fridge. I could very easily get up at take a picture. It just wouldn't be worth it.

This "recipe" consisted of blanching green beans, frying up pancetta, combining the two with a bit of butter, and serving up. I like pancetta, I like beans. I do not like pancetta and beans. My tongue wanted more. It felt like drinking orange-spice tea without the little pinch of sugar. It felt like an English muffin without the butter. It was the Sunday Times without the funnies or crossword puzzles.

Dorie has so many great recipes up her sleeves. I wish this big glossy page of the cookbook had one of those printed on it, instead. Anyone want my leftovers?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

Remember the momma cow who'd given up trying to birth her baby? I talked to the rancher the next day about some unrelated business and he let me know the little calf survived! It was breach, and "twisted-a-turvy," and each time the cow pushed, the calf's feet (which were caught up on top of the pelvic bone) sprung the baby backward again. One of the cowboys got in there, though, and managed to free everything up and the baby was born just fine. Less than ten minutes later momma and baby were back out in the pasture with the rest of the herd. Made me happy.

Meanwhile, back here in town...

A blizzard. We received a few inches of snow in about as many hours on Wednesday, and it still hasn't all melted off. Snow tends to fall straight down, here in my valley. We just don't get wind in the winter. So the snow "falling" just about parallel to the ground was really interesting to sit and watch. All the tension that had been building up on Wednesday simply released while watching the snow.

The chooks are not impressed, however. And frankly, I'm really ready for spring myself! Have a good weekend, everyone. And really, if you'd like some pancetta green beans, there's a big bowl in the fridge. Just help yourself!

Midweek ramblings

2011-02-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

This week, more so than a lot of weeks, I’m looking forward to the downhill slide of Thursday and Friday. It hasn’t been a bad week so far, just a week full of waiting for the poo to hit the fan. I’ve felt like I’ve been ducking all week, and all the while wondering if I’m even ducking in the right direction. The sword of Damocles has been held high all week, but I’m not confident that the thread from which it dangles is all that trustworthy!

Valentine’s Day was on Monday. I hate that I expect anything on this day, but deep down I do. I always go into that day mentally propped up for the worst, just in case, you know, and this year was no different. Of course, all that worry was for naught. Oh how I do love Mr. Boom!

Monday was also The Day That Chirp chirp Got Braces. She’s nearly 14, but has only lost a few baby teeth. Her four canines were pulled two years ago and still haven’t come through. Her mouth is tiny, but she’s definitely got her dad’s twisty curvy oversized teeth. This poor child hasn’t lost a single tooth without hours of trauma and buckets of tears. For her, the pain of a dentist visit begins when the dentist first gingerly puts a finger in her mouth. The numbing gel makes her cry. She’s very---sensitive.

Miracle of miracles, though, she was an absolute dream patient during the procedure to put the braces on. I was so incredibly proud of her, as well as really gobsmacked at how much mature she’s become over the past year. I thought about singing from the rooftops, but that might have embarrassed her….

Monday was also the day I took my grandma in for surgery. She was clearly suffering from a case of the nerves, and decided to take it out on me. I let her go on for a few minutes, then offered her the chance to get her own freaking ride to the hospital and find someone else to take the day off work to care for her afterwards…but maybe not in quite those exact same words. Maybe a little closer than they should have been, but anyway…

Her surgery went fine; I got her home, fed, tucked into bed, and then faced the daunting task of making a wonderful and memorable meal for my dear husband—who needed to eat in 25 minutes. After all he did for me, he got a measly 25 minute meal. I really should do something nice for him…

Tuesday: back to the hospital with grandma; back to the orthodontist with Chirp-chirp; back to work to handle some “situations” that came up while I was gone. Success on all three accounts, but still!

Tuesday also had me helping a rancher I’d just met search a creek for a little calf that may or may not have been born to a nearby cow in distress. There was a sort of “please find it, please don’t find it” track repeatedly running through my head. He called a hand in to take care of the cow (and the unborn calf?) while we continued our stream survey. I wonder how it turned out. Last I saw, the hand was pulling and pulling and pulling, trying to get the calf out.

Today I’m going to try to make pita bread for the first time. I *could* put it off for another day, but I guess I’m getting used to that sword over my head. Would a sword be an accessory? Does it make me look fat? What the heck is a fashion accessory anyway?

And is it Friday yet?

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T19:22:00.000-08:00

Mr. Boom outdid himself this year.

Theoretically, I don't believe in Valentine's Day. It's a real trap of a day, which can so easily turn into a crap of a day. Expectations are raised, attempts are made, hopes and dreams are dashed. I was once married to a guy who pulled out all the stops on the big days of the year. Our (three short) anniversaries were epic and public demonstrations of his fiery love for me. The other days of the year were pretty much hell. I would have traded the restaurant-full of patrons and staff toasting our love for a couple of turns vacuuming or doing dishes, or at least a little nod of appreciation for me engaging in those activities.

Oh wait, where was I? Mr. Boom!!!! There for every single little day of the year and pulling out the stops on the big days of the year, too.

Last night, he ran to the grocery store, ostensibly to buy milk. When he returned, I found he also had brought home flowers and espresso beans. This morning, he woke me up with a handmade card that he started LAST SPRING!!!! The piece de resistance? Four little miniature spring form pans. How freaking cute!

Obviously, I had to make his favorite dessert, french silk pie. Miniaturized! Chirp chirp cut out the little hearts to decorate the tops with. We forgot to put them on the three we ate, but she remembered in time for the hearts to go on the fourth.

With or without hearts, this dessert is just as sweet. Which is just nowhere near as sweet as Mr. Boom himself. I love that man!

FFwD: Orange-Almond Tart

2011-02-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

This week's French Fridays with Dorie Challenge was the orange-almond tart from her book Around My French Table. This dish is made up of three parts--a pate brisee crust, an almond pastry cream, and fresh orange segments. It's a good late winter recipe, with our markets so full of oranges and not much else. See those apples on the counter? Those are the last of our stash from Mr. Boom's aunt's orchard. Here in the north we just don't have all the fresh fruits that people in the southern climes are enjoying. So yes, an orange tart is perfect here this time of year.

The recipe call for the oranges to be "supremed," or cut into segments minus the membranes. These oranges were very small, though, and being navel oranges the segments were very twisty and irregular. Had I supremed the fruits, I would have needed at least a dozen oranges. Instead, I just cut these five oranges into thin slices. The oranges are left to dry for a few hours, so I did these earlier on in the day and let them sit out on paper towels.

I did end up buying one "fancy" ingredient for the tart. Almond flour has been popping up in more and more recipes I've been trying. I usually just grind up my almonds in the food processor and call it good. And really, it usually is just fine. However, the last time I made french macarons, which of course was for a fancy baby shower, the nuts came out too lumpy and caused me no end of trouble. So, I finally broke down and bought Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour. This stuff is powdery, light, fluffy, and wonderful. Should have done this years ago. The price difference wasn't too much, about another 50% more, and those few dollars are dollars I'd gladly give up for the improvement in texture.

The almond pastry cream recipe was absolutely delicious. I could have eaten the whole lot of it with a spoon and been on cloud nine. Better than ice cream, and no ice cream brain freeze, either!

The recipe for the pate brisee, however, was a total bust. I'll stick to my tried-and-true Nick Malgieri pate brisee recipe if I make this again. Dorie's recipe kept cracking as I tried to roll it out, refused to hang together when I lifted it to put in the pan, and just wasn't as tasty overall as my go-to recipe.

After multiple patches and much cursing, it did end up baking just fine.

The pre-baked crust is filled with the almond pastry cream, and then the oranges are decoratively lain out over the top. It looked so pretty at this point! That last statement? They call if foreshadowing in the biz....

I baked the tart for the called-upon amount of time, and it was nowhere near done. I set the oven for another five minutes, then another five minutes, then another five minutes, then just plain forgot about it.

Oops. Despite the heavy browning, the tart still tasted pretty nice.

However, I think next time I'll just make the cream and surreptitiously eat it all myself.

Chicken tractor!

2011-02-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

Our poor hens, or chooks as I've taken to calling them, are sick and tired of their pen. They're feeling quite cooped up, as it were...
Trouble is, green things are starting to poke up through the soil in the flowerbeds and and lawn. And everyone with chickens knows that fresh green sprouts are chick magnets, so to speak. A chicken tractor, or chook tractor (hee hee!) is the perfect solution. It's a bit like a playpen for poultry. We never used a playpen for Chirp-chirp, so I'm not sure if this means we're kinder or crueler to the birds than we are to our own offspring.

Chirp-chirp, would, I think, argue crueler as she started her braces treatment today. So far, she just has the little rubber o-rings fitted between her teeth that will attempt to make some sort of a gap for the metal bands that will go around her teeth to fit down into. Yes, she would argue that we are cruel. The joys of parenthood. (And the COSTS!!! Oh my!!!)

Anyway, back to the chook tractor.

Using lumber we had on hand, we cut down one 2x4x10 into two 5 foot lengths. These became the ends. Two 2x4x8's became the sides.

We used 3.5" long wood screws to hold the boards together, and then use some small braces left over from another project to further anchor the corners together.

We bought six of these 1/2 inch electrical conduit braces for approximately 75 cents each. These are at each corner, and one pair exactly halfway down the length of the frame.

Electrical conduit is made of PVC and cuts very easily with a hacksaw. The common length of each piece is ten feet long, which includes a small bell shape on one end that we removed for this project. We paid just a bit over a dollar for each section, of which we needed three.

The clamps held the conduit in very firmly, but to be on the safe side, we used a wood screw that went very easily through the conduit and into the wood.

As you can see, the conduit arched beautifully, and the ten foot length resulted in a nice height for the structure.

To add a little support, we ran a 1x2x8 down the length of the tractor, right at the apex of the arch. We secured the wood to the conduit by drilling a small hole through both pieces and then tied them together with baling wire. Is there anything you can't do with baling wire?

The biggest expense was the chicken wire, which ran us about $20.00. Ouch. We do have several sections laying around, but we chose to buy a new roll and spare ourselves the hassle of trying to piece together scraps to make-do. We could have used bird netting, which would have been much cheaper, but we wanted something a tad sturdier.

The rolls of wire were exactly 4 feet wide, or one half the lenght of the tractor. I'd like to say we planned that, but it was really just a very lucky accident. We secured the chicken wire to the conduit with zip-ties (about $2.00 for 30), and then stapled the wire along the bottom to the wood frame.

Our original plan was to put wire at the ends as well, but we changed out mind and used 1/2" plywood instead. We simply traced the outline of each end onto a sheet of wood and used a jigsaw to cut out the shape. Wood screws hold one end onto the frame, and the other end is hinged to allow us to get the birds in and out.

Here they are in the tractor, working up the soil in one of our raised beds! I put a bucket of water in there for them, and throw down a little bit of scratch to get them started. After the beds are turned up nicely and have been planted, I'll just move the tractor around the yard so they can nibble on grass and bugs, and NOT on my vegetables or flowers.

Although, all this garden and yard talk may be a moot point. We're looking at another house tomorrow. Three acres! A goatpen! A woodstove! A bigger mortgage! Oh, wait. That last one is a big downer...

I'll keep you posted.

I'm exhausted, so have a present!

2011-02-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

What a crazy weekend! It's only a little bit after 8:00 Sunday evening here, but my internal clock is striking at least eleven dongs in my head.

Yesterday, we (finally!!!) designed and built a chicken tractor for the ladies. Their pen is quite a mess, considering a winter's worth of snow and ice in now trying to melt each day, but solidly refreezes each night. Some Brussels sprouts erratics have emerged from the wintry mix, and I can't even tell you the last time we had Brussels sprouts. Maybe mid-October? Ewwww... Anyway, I feel bad for the hens. They want to be in the flowerbeds scratching up the little bits of green trying to poke through.

"Compromise!" I keep yelling this at them. "You can have the lawn, but the flowerbeds are mine!" The gol-durn chickens refuse to cooperate OR compromise, and my blood pressure keeps rising above healthy levels. Thus, a chicken tractor. I'll show you some pictures and our plans in a later post. It's easy, effective, and fairly inexpensive. Yay, for that!

Today was Mr. Boom's Grandma's 87th birthday. We all went to lunch at a local restaurant, so I didn't get to make her a cake. I might take her something later on in the week. We'll see how the week goes, first...

Also today, we drove up into the hills for a little bit of turkey scouting. Saw a good dozen or so down low on private property. The yard of the house was totally torn up from the birds. I started to mentally design a turkey tractor in my head. I wonder if the landowners would be interested?

So, did somebody say presents? Sure! The Pollinatrix, one of my first readers (if not THE first reader?) of this blog got me into this happy mess.

I promise to send something I make myself to the first 5 people who leave a comment on this post and who, in turn, promise to make the same offer on their blog. The rules are that you need to make the items personally and send them to your 5 folks within 2011.

So there you go. Presents! Just pretend the "strings attached" are ribbons!

FFwD: Basque Potato Tortilla

2011-02-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Did a whole week really go by again? Every day I see things I want to share, or learn things I want to pass along, so why don't I blog more? I don't know. I really don't.

I took a great hike on Sunday to retrieve a trail cam. Of course, I forgot to bring my camera along, and there was nothing of interest on the trail cam itself.

Also, the goldfinches and flickers have returned to my part of the world. A cute little finch hit the window while I was out one day, so Chirp chirp brought the stunned bird into the house, provided a bit of seed and water, and there it recuperated in the music room. I should have taken a photo, but I didn't. One of it's feet was all fuzzy-ferny like. I still need to look that up and see what the deal was. It didn't seem to effect his flight, though, when we finally opened the window to release him back out into the cold.

I don't know. I need to get myself in gear, I suppose.

I promise you this, though. Sometime this weekend, or Monday by the latest, I'm going to post something really fun. You'll want to check back, it will be worth your while, and that's all I'm going to say about that right now.

So, this week's French Fridays with Dorie challenge. Basque Potato Tortilla. Yummy!

Oh! Look! Collages in Picassa! I had a professor once who pointed out that every time a new theory came along in anthropology, every anthropologist tries to apply it to every single bit of new information they find, as well as apply to it every bit of old information already in their head. He said that to a man with a hammer, the world looks like a nail. Collages are my hammer at the moment. So please do forgive me!

I mean, have potatoes and onions ever looked so organized on this site before?

I love love love my cast iron pan. The recipe called for cleaning out the pan after cooking the onions. Everything slipped out of my pan and I didn't even need to wipe it out.

Have I ever mentioned this pan was FREE? I found it at a yard sale, covered in rust, in a "freebies" box.

Can't buy me looooooove. Nooooooo, no no no, nooooo!

After adding the eggs and potatoes back to the pan, you practice your patience skills, and once the mixture has set up a bit you run a little knife or spatula around the edges to prevent sticking and to judge the doneness.

After a little stint under the broiler (I used my toaster oven on the broil setting), this lovely dinner awaits.

Yummmmm. From start to finish the project took under half an hour. It's like a quiche, but you don't have to make a pie crust. And, it's like an omelet, but you all get to eat at once.

I'm not allowed to share the exact recipe with you (per Dorie's request), but this is the type of dish where the recipe is secondary to the technique. Now you know the technique, so please do try this lovely fast meal.

(And don't forget to check back for the surprise!)

FFwD: Chicken B'stille

2011-01-28T06:26:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know. Two difficult-to-pronounce items in as many days. What am I thinking?

I'm thinking I'm really challenging myself, participating in both the Daring Bakers and French Fridays with Dorie. But to tell the truth, I'm really having a lot of fun!

I've never made Moroccan food before. Ever. This recipe is a great introduction to Moroccan cooking, as well as Moroccan eating! As with all the FFwD challenges, we're not allowed to share the recipe, but you've all gone and bought the book by now, right? Right? You should, even if it's just for this one dish. Oh my goodness--if you could smell my house over the past two days you'd be running to the bookshop right now!

This recipe starts out really simply, unless you're like Mr. Boom and myself. Essentially, eight chicken thighs are thrown into a dutch oven with onion, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. This concoction rests for one hour. Dorie calls it marinating; Mr. Boom says you can't marinate without liquid. I say an onion by other name...

Anyway, after an hour you stir in some stock and some more seasoning, and boil the mess until the chicken meat falls off its pretty little bones. And your whole house smells like a warm place in a land far, far, far away...

The bones are removed from the chicken, eggs are added to thicken the sauce, and then the solids are reintroduced to the liquids. This is a very happy marriage, and will result in many years of bliss (lived out on my hips, of course).

I let the chicken mixture hang out overnight, then continued on with the recipe on day two. Just because it's day two, doesn't mean the process is any less fragrant.

Toasted almond slices. Need I say more?

Filo dough lines a well-greased cake pan and is then sprinkled with the toasted almonds. The chicken marriage is plopped in next, followed by more toasted almonds. More filo dough covers all that up, and then a light sprinkle of cinnamon sugar finishes off the pan.

While this is baking, your brain will not be able focus on the snow outside, the chill in the air, or anything else non-tropical.

With luck, which I had (hooray), the b'stille will flip out of the cake pan onto a cutting board, and then will re-flip back over onto a serving platter.

Now, Dorie says this dish needs no accompaniment, but Mr. Boom would have appreciated a salad or some other greenery on the side. To me, a little glass of port was the perfect little side dish needed.

And what to do with the left over filo dough? Chirp chirp made baklava, all by herself. I love that kid!

P.S. Go check out some of the other folks who made this same dish. There's real inspiration to be found over at this link!

January Daring Bakers: Biscuit Joconde Imprime Entremets

2011-01-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

Don't worry, you don't have to be able to pronounce the name in order to enjoy the beauty and taste of this month's Daring Bakers Challenge. It's french, and the french know their desserts, so smile and nod and dig right in!

But, first things first. I had no reason to be nervous about my interview with the Master Gardeners selection committee on Tuesday. The panel was kind and wonderful...and they let me in! Hooray!!! I now have about 200 hours of training to go through, two years as an intern, and then I'll have earned my way into the program. I am so excited, and can't wait to get started. The first class isn't until the end of February, so I'll have to contain my excitement for a little while longer, so let's just move on to the cake.

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

A biscuit joconde imprime is sponge cake with a design baked right into the cake itself. Two separate batters are made, each with it's own flavor and/or color. The first batter is either piped or spread onto the sil-pat into any type of pattern desired. I used my decorating bag and piped out a crazy swirl of blue batter on the sil-pat, then added polka dots, and then stopped myself before things swerved too much further out of control.

After the first design is frozen, a second layer of batter is spread over top the first layer.

This the joconde imprime is then baked, and strips are cut out to line a springform pan.

In hindsight, I should have put the bottom layer upside down.

The joconde imprime was the required part of the challenge.

How to fill the dessert was left up to each Daring Baker...and, since this was my own birthday cake, I felt really free to put whatever flavors of filling I wanted to on the interior.

For the bottom layer, I made a raspberry/blueberry mousse.

Atop this layer, I spread a layer of rosewater gelee. Unfortunately, the mylanta pink liquid seeped through the joconde imprime, leaving unsightly botches on the outside.

However, it was my own cake and I chose not to feel too bad about it!

Atop the gelee, I glopped on a layer of orange water infused stabilized whipped cream.

The final layer was a blueberry rosewater sauce.

I loved making this challenge, and I loved the result. The rest of the family just about gagged on the rosewater flavoring, but I relished the new flavor. This challenge really brought out the best of so many other Daring Bakers. The artistry of the imprime was astounding, and the flavor combinations that people came up with were mind blowing as well.

Someday soon I'm going to have to try the chocolate version of the joconde recipe, maybe filled with chocolate mousse and topped with caramel? What about marshmallow fluff and peanut butter? Perhaps the world's fanciest strawberry shortcake? The sky is the limit with this dessert!

Even if I still can't pronounce it exactly right...

I'm nervous!

2011-01-25T13:13:00.000-08:00

I have an interview in one hour.

The Master Gardener program in our area is top notch. Over the years I’ve received incredible amounts of help from their volunteers. They offer a weekly diagnostics clinic, to which you can bring your plants for help with all manner of problems such as pests, diseases, nutritional deficiencies, or just to find out what the heck the plant that your neighbor dug up and shared with you is called. The volunteers almost always know the answer, and when they don’t know it right off they find out and get back to you. Invariably. Reliably. Promptly.

Want to know what type of grapes grow best in your part of town? Ask a Master Gardener. They’ll tell you which is best for eating, which is best for wine, and which is best for jelly. They’ll tell you what to plant next to it, when to prune it, and when you’ll need to be prepared for the glut of fruit. They also show up at the health department when you bring down the berries your toddler ate off a plant that you can’t identify* while you’re on hold with poison control…

How do they know all this stuff? They get trained! Lots and lots of training goes into the making of each and every Master Gardener. Just think about how mind-blowing the trainings must be. I love learning new things, and I really want to do better in my own garden, and I want to start paying back my debt to the community for all the help I’ve previously received.

So, in one hour I have an interview with the Master Gardeners. Will they take me on? Will they accept me into their fold?

Most likely, they will. They take almost anyone…

But still, I’m a little bit nervous.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

*Privet. Not lethal to humans, but can result in stomach aches and other gastro-intestinal distress. Provide lots of liquid and a handy receptacle for catching any barf.

FFwD: Michel Rostang's double chocolate mousse

2011-01-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

This week's French Friday's with Dorie challenge was a perfect treat for a post-holiday family get-together. Everyone wants something yummy for dessert, but we're all a bit sick of the heavy December desserts.

The dessert isn't really a cake, and it isn't really a torte. It's mousse that's baked, and in this case, baked twice. I've heard of baked potatoes and twice baked potatoes. But I'd never heard of baked mousse, and certainly not twice baked mousse!

On the day the dessert is made, the taste is something like a brownie that you spent WAY too much time making. But on the second day?

Oh. My.

As you're probably sick of hearing me say, we're requested not to share the recipes for these challenges on our websites, but from the photo you can see that this is one treat you won't have to run to the store to find your ingredients.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler...

Add the sugar, half the salt (I accidentally added it all),

the butter, and the egg yolks.

I was tempted to stop at this point and just eat the bowlful of warm chocolate goodness.

Fold in the whipped-up egg whites very carefully.

The mousse needs to remain as thick as possible.

If you don't have an 8" ring, you can use a springform pan without the bottom. I had a significant gap in places, as my ring (like so much of my world) was warped. I tied some sturdy string around the pan to hold the ring down tight. There was still a bit of a gap, so I tightened up the strings by twisting a toothpick round and round until the string was taught. I poured in 1/3rd of the mousse and put it in the oven to bake.

The contraption still leaked, but this was not a problem. This was a planned event...so that I'd be able to taste the baked mousse prior to continuing on with the process.

After thoroughly chilling the base, I scooped the remaining mousse onto the top, and then re-baked.

The mousse broke into several pieces during the transition from pan to plate, but the cocoa powder helped hide some of the more minor cracks.

I served this for dessert, and everyone really liked it. But the next evening, after the baked mousse had chilled for 24 hours (instead of the 4 called for in the recipe), the dessert took on a whole 'nother personality. It tasted somehow lighter, and fluffier, and silkier...

It went from a brownie to a gift from the gods...or at least from Dorie Greenspan and Michel Rostang!

To see how other bakers' double chocolate mousse (or mousses?) turned out, look here!

FFwD: Gnocchi a la Parisienne--the outtakes!

2011-01-15T20:23:00.000-08:00

Remember the part of this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe that calls for dropping the pate a choux into the boiling water? The part where I said you can either use a pastry bag or a couple of spoons to shape the little dumplings before dropping them into the water to cook?

What I didn't tell you was that as I sped along, quickly snipping off bits of the "rope" as the dough came through the pastry bag, I got a little carried away. I prefer to think of it as carried away, as it sounds a little more intriguing than does the word sloppy....

The pattern was something like snip, snip, snip, dip scissors in the boiling water to clean, snip, snip, flinch from the splash of boiling water, snip, dip, snip, snip... etc.

Until, oops! Do you see what happened?

I snipped off the very end of my pastry bag! It plunged into the pot stuck fast to the little gnocchi!

Oh, yeah, and company will be here in an hour!

Oh crap....

Bingo! Found it!

(It's stuck there on the right side of the gnocchi.)

Carry on, nothing more to see to here....and please don't tell the guests!

FFwD: Gnocchi Parisienne

2011-01-14T13:58:00.000-08:00

French Fridays with Dorie was, this week, a real winner! But when you start with copious amounts of grated smoked Gouda and apple-smoked cheddar, plus a little Parmesan to boot, it's hard for a recipe to fail, right?

Also, since Mr. Boom had his two upper wisdom teeth removed yesterday afternoon, this was a nice soft treat.

Butter, salt, water. Such a lowly beginning for a delicious meal. The rules of the game say we can't share the recipe on our blogs, but the gnocchi in this recipe aren't potatoes, they're actually savory little cream puffs! Any recipe you find online or on your bookshelf will work.

Add flour all at once, and stir until you have a nice ball of dough in your pan.

Add eggs one at a time and beat until your arm falls off. I switched back and forth between using a wooden spoon and a silicon spatula. The spoon was best at the initial incorporation of each egg, but the spatula worked well for getting all the dough homogeneous.

Scoop the batter into a pastry bag, and pipe little pieces into boiling water. I found that by dipping the scissors into the boiling water every five or six snips helped to make a nice clean cut. Alternatively, you can just scoop teaspoonful-sized bits into the water.

After boiling for a few minutes, the "gnocchi" are soft and pliable, but not rubbery at all.

Butter a baking dish and sprinkle with a little (or a lot!) of Parmesan cheese.

Make a bechamel sauce (butter, flour, salt, and milk).

Spread a little sauce over the Parmesan, then add the gnocchi, then cover with (lots!) of cheese.

Bake about 20 minutes until golden and bubbly.

Serve hot and beware the onslaught of hungry zombies, or medication riddled wisdom-tooth-less members of the household.

Bee update

2011-01-10T21:18:00.000-08:00

Strange things are happening around here.

On Saturday the temperature rose and rose and rose some more, until we were well above freezing. Sitting in the living room, Chirp-chirp gasped!

"Mom! A bee flew by!"

There are so many things wrong with that statement, but she has a good eye, so I began to wonder...

Last I checked the hive, wasps had settled in and the dear little honeybees were making no effort to chase them off. Usually, this is a sure sign that the queen is dead and the hive will soon die out, or at least move on. So, since Halloween, I've just written the bee project off.

"Mom! I'm not kidding! Another one!"

We have more than a foot of show on the ground, and there aren't any flowers blooming now, nor will there by for another couple of months, at least. No bee in it's right mind would be flying around in the snow (not that I have any bees, sane or not, out there anymore, ahem!).

Except there you go! Bees! Everywhere! If you look closely at this fairly craptastic cellphone photo, you can see them sunning their fuzzy little souls on the pallet and on the fence just behind the hive cover.

Many of the poor little creatures were coming out the door and landing in the snow, quickly perishing as their little bit of body heat was drained. I put the board in front as a landing strip of sorts, then put a little sugar water in the blue lid for them to sip at.

We left for the day, and didn't return until the next afternoon. By then, the weather had reverted to winter and the board was entirely buried in the snow.

I don't know what to make of it. I do know that a little more hope for a healthy hive come spring has entered my soul. The weather is doing its best to quash it, though.

FFwD: Paris Mushroom Soup

2011-01-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, so that challenge I issued? The one about grabbing one item off your resolutions list and doing. it. right. now?

I failed. Instead of doing one of two big things I've been wanting to do for the blog, I ran off to the big city far away to take my grandma to visit her son who was visiting his son. After dropping Grandma off, we went to Mr. Boom's brother's home to spend a few days. New Year's was a blast, but I felt guilty the whole time about not doing what I said I would. So guilty, in fact, that I haven't been able to show my face around here.

Enough is enough, though. I'll just throw those two items on the list of my regular resolutions. I hope they'll happen! So much of that list never gets done, which is why I really like the challenge of crossing one off before the new year even starts.

My birthday was on Monday, and my most favoritest present of all was a mandolin. I've been practicing and practicing and I think my fingers might fall off any minute now. I'm grimacing as I type this, having just finished up a "jam session" with Mr. Boom who is a very accomplished (at least in my mind) guitar player.

I'm getting a little bit better every day, and I can now play five chords! Five whole chords, people! Furthermore, the cats aren't running out of the room every time I pick up my pretty little mandolin to play. That's progress right there, baby!

This week's French Friday's with Dorie challenge was Paris Mushroom Soup.

You don't need a recipe for this soup, per se, although I wouldn't dissuade anyone from buying this book, ever!

But really, soften up an onion and garlic in butter,

add a pound of mushrooms, and a bit of white wine

(I had no white wine on hand, so I left this out).

Cook until dry, then add chicken broth.

Whiz it all up (I used an immersion blender) and serve.

It's not pretty, but it's really fast, really good, and very creamy despite the fact that it doesn't have any cream in it at all.

Best served with a side of "Rocky Top" chorus chords jotted on the back of an envelope.

Chirp-chirp made this recipe for tiramisu up all by herself. I love the fact that she's so comfortable going into the kitchen and experimenting with ingredients. She made a ganache and a cream-coffee-nutmeg-cinnamon dip for Nilla Wafers. There's also some (instant) coconut pudding and I'm not sure what else in there.

Yummm. In fact, I'm going back for more!

I challenge you!

2010-12-30T22:00:00.000-08:00

Remember this post from the end of last year?

Well, I'm doing it again!

I challenge you, NAY, I DARE YOU, to do the one thing you've meant to do all year and haven't. I DARE you to look at your list of resolutions (if you're the type to make one), and do one of them now!

Last year I jumped into soap making. I had wanted to do it forever, but never found the time. I was scared, I might fail, who was I trying to kid...besides, I just don't have the time....

So, the last day of the year, I told the little voices to shut the heck up and I made the time and I made some soap. I'm so glad I did, and so are all the people who received beautiful handmade soaps from me for Christmas this year.

I've narrowed it down to two things I'm going to do this year, and I still need to decide which it will be...but either one will be a significant change (for the better) for the blog.

So. What are YOU going to do?

Pick up the gauntlet and RUN!!!!!!!

Darling Clementine

2010-12-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

My Grandpa Fred, toward the end of his life, would sing quite a lot. I loved his singing. The old-man timbre of his voice still rings in my memory, loud and clear. One of his favorites was the old standard "Darling Clementine." As a young boy, he lived on a cattle ranch in southern California. He died not too many miles away from where he was born, and lived the entirety of his life between those two points. Growing up with cowboys and cattle drives, he learned some pretty bawdy songs, none of which I ever heard until his later stages of Alzheimer's disease set in. Similarly, there were verses in the Clementine song I never heard until his last years, either. What a shock it was, and what a laugh it gave me!

Anyway, to this very day, I can't look at Clementines and not hear my Grandpa Fred's voice crooning on about Clementine's sister! OH my!

Prior to Christmas this year, I stocked up on Clementines as a sort of lip service to having something healthy on hand for snacks. So my house looked like this: bowl of caramels, plate of fudge, pile of clementines. Platter of Nanaimo bars, platter of fudge, pile of clementines. See? Healthy!

(Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine...)

My sister-in-law brought her family and another HUGE bag of clementines. She left, but the clementines stayed .

(How I missed her, how I missed her, how I missed my Clementine...)

Mr. Boom, Chirp-chirp, and I ate as many as we possibly could, but we still had about a ton.

What to do?

Thanks to Foodgawker, I found a Ceramic Canvas recipe for Clementine and Ginger Gelatins. Calling for two dozen or so clementines, this dessert seemed like the very thing! I *think* I can even get away with calling it healthy, not that I care so much, but maybe you do? Served up in a martini glass, it's also festive and easy to make ahead. I'm thinking that if any of you are having a New Year's Eve soiree, this dessert would be awesome to serve and celebrate with.

First, squeeze enough little clementines (or tangerines or mandarins) to yield approximately two cups of juice. I was a little short when I took this photo, but the photo with the full amount came out quite blurry.

Pour the juice into a little pan and bring to a simmer. You can filter the juice through

a sieve if you want, but I don't think I'll bother next time.

The original recipe called for a mere 1/4 teaspoon of ginger.

I like ginger, so I put in thiiiis much.

Toss it in and let it steep.

Meanwhile...

Squeeze another half cup of juice, and add 1/4 oz of gelatin.

Stir until the gelatine has dissolved.

(Or don't quite dissolve it all, then remelt everything the next day

and be thankful that it worked!)

To the warm mixture, add the tiniest bit of vanilla,

and about 1/4 cup of sugar.

Combine the two mixtures, stir well to incorporate, and pour into

a dish, little glasses, a shoe, or whatever else you feel like serving it in.

I'm a bit ashamed, but yes, that's cool-whip.

Pretend it isn't, please. Wipe the image from your head.

Easy recipe, isn't it? I hope you make it and I hope you like it.

('Til I kissed her little sister, oh my darling, Clementine....)

December Daring Bakers: Stollen

2010-12-27T12:09:00.000-08:00

Stollen.

Julia pondered "What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet."

Kat declared "Fruitcake is fruitcake, baby. Call it what you will, it's still an abomination."

Stollen. Gag me.

But wait, what if I try to make it into something sweet and rosy, something good? Boxed mac and cheese is no contender against the real, homemade deal. Could it be that fruitcake, er, I mean, stollen, suffers the same slings and arrows of misfortune when it's mass produced? Had I only ever sampled the tragic blue-boxed version of this Christmas tradition, and mistakenly surmised that fruitcake was all the same?

This Daring Bakers challenge would be a challenge to myself, then, of epic proportions. Could I make an honest to goodness from-scratch stollen that even I would like?

(Mandatory Blog-checking lines:)
The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

First things first. Candied fruit from the store is just plain wrong. So, I made my own citron.

The pretty plate of citrus up there is actually the waste.

Mr. Boom put it to god use, though, as you'll see later.

I boiled the peels in fresh water for a few minutes, then drained the pot

and added clean water and brought to a boil again. I did this for a total of three boils.

The peels were then diced finely and thrown back into the pot with equal parts sugar and water.

The result is shiny, sweet, and chewy.

They didn't taste a whole lot different of the orange jelly wedge

candy you can buy at the store.

The fairly uncomplicated bread dough was easily made in the mixer. Instead of adding the citrus zest, I used some lemon sugar left over from a previous cooking project. The lemon sugar is made of lemon zest and sugar, finely whizzed in a food processor. The result is a nice lemon flavor without the ickiness of biting into a bitter bit of stringy lemon zest. I figured this would further reduce the chance of and icky taste to the final product. I left out the rum and raisins, further increasing the odds of a palatable result.

The citrus bits are blended into the dough, which is then left to rise in the fridge for a day, or three, depending on how long it takes you to face the fact that you really are going to make a ~~fruitcake~~ stollen.

The dough is rolled out, and at this point you can add marzipan, more fruit, or whatever makes you feel happy and fruitcake-like.

Rolled into a ring, the smell is appetizing and a small glimmer of hope begins to surface...

Slices are made partway into the ring. Not only is this pretty, but it helps cooks this large, dense, fruitcake monster all the way through.

Mr. Boom, in his infinite wisdom and thrift, took the fruit leftover from the first step and mixed it with some raspberry pulp, added a bit of yeast and ginger, and made the loveliest frizzy drink you can imagine.

I added a bit of vanilla vodka to mine and I don't remember much else...

The monster has risen!

The bits of peel are positively bursting off the surface of the dough.

The house smells...funny.

Like danishes.

I really don't like danishes at all. I have literally thrown up due to their smell alone on more than one occasion.

Mr. Boom loves danishes.

He's allowed to eat them when I'm gone, as long as he doesn't store them in the house.

The house now smells entirely like danishes.

It's freezing cold outside and snow is hammering down.

(There are different types of snowfall, for those who aren't in the know. Sometimes snow falls like rain in a thunderstorm, though how something of that shape and mass can gain that velocity is beyond me!)

I want to throw all the windows open, but I can't.

So, I start dry-heaving instead.

The monster has won.

I don't like fruitcake, you can't make me like fruitcake, and I won't ever make one again. I gave this challenge my full effort. I really tried to get into the spirit. I was even hopeful for a while. I will stick with this from now on:

http://www.inflatablefruitcake.com/

If you want to give this a shot, and I see no reason why you should let my mortal fear and all-consuming hatred of fruitcake stop you, here's the recipe for the challenge.

http://thedaringkitchen.com/sites/default/files/u11/50_Stollen_-_DB_Dec__2010.pdf

Just a few things...

2010-12-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

Let's see, there's been just a few things I keep meaning to share, and keep putting off until the time is better. Well, I have a nice adult beverage in hand and I'm kicking back in front of the screen, thinking to myself, "what the heck, self? there's no time like the present."

So.

Item the First: Do you have Netflix? Please watch "dirt! the movie." You can even stream it live to your computer.

Yes, it's a documentary. Yes, it's about dirt. But really? It's about a lot more than that. This movie is all about life. There are even cartoon bits, for those of you who might fear the overly serious sound of the word "documentary."

I was super excited to see Barbara Damrosch a couple times in the film, although for some reason her name was never provided. Why the lack of citation, documentary people? I first fell in love with Barbara and her husband Eliot when Mr. Boom and I lived in a tiny apartment, both in school, both dreaming of someday having our own Real Home, and soaking up her knowledge of gardening through her show Gardening Naturally. Every year I plant Nicotiana in the garden and think fondly of her predilection for this particular plant.

So, yes, please watch this movie, okay?

Thing the Second: Inflatable Fruitcake. All I can say is that I'm totally obsessed with this.

Tidbit the Third: Not as obsessed as I am by this. It's my theme song for the holidays. This particular video cracks me up, for sure, but it's the song I love the most-es-est!

Fact the Fourth: Mr. Boom took the juice of two oranges, one lemon, and one lime, mixed it with the raspberry mush left over from making a raspberry sauce, and added water and a bit of yeast. Essentially, he recreated my ginger-ale recipe without ginger. It's pretty, it's pink, it's fizzy, it's eminently drinkable. Mixed with vodka and homemade vanilla ice-cream it's the perfect drink to hold while prancing around to Gayla Peevey's song above. Maybe not so much the perfect accompaniment for a coherent blog post, but there you go.

Finally the Fifth: My little cousin the Marine is back from his fifth tour of duty in the war (he was actually deployed in the Middle East on 9/11). Merry Christmas to us, one and all. I hope all your family is back, if they've been. And if they're not back, then you are in my thoughts stronger still.

Sad and Sorry fact the Sixth: Tonight, of all nights, Blogger spellcheck is not working....oh well! I'm posting anyway! Here I go!

A full ten inches

2010-12-12T10:49:00.000-08:00

It snowed a bit yesterday. Just a bit. Ten inches in about ten hours.

Some folks say you should cut down the dead plants in your yard at the end of the growing season. I'd sure hate to miss out on the fantastic imagery it provides through the winter, though. It's fun to watch the birds pick at the remaining seed heads, although they weren't out much yesterday.

These photos were taken around noon, just a few hours after it started to snow. See the big round of wood? That's the piece we brought home in the back of our new car. Our intent, if you recall, was to make a table with it. It would be useful to have something next to the fire to hold drinks, plates, pokers, and such. We new the wood looked big in the forest, and in the shop after birthing it from the back of the car.

Well, here it is next to the fire-pit. As you can see, it's a bit large for the location and purpose. We're still working on plans for the big wheel of pine. Any ideas?

So, how do you spend a day in the house? I decided to re-batch my last soap attempt. The hemp oil soap I made was a gorgeous green to start, with a deep, nearly wheat-y scent. Well, the color lightened, and the grain smell became a fish smell.

On the pro side, this is the bubbliest soap, and the least slimy soap, I've made to date.

Rebatching essentially consists of slowly melting down a batch of soap, then adding fragrances, colors, or new oils to the batch. Some folks swear by it, and other folks will only rebatch as a matter of last resort. Results form a rebatch are not usually as pretty, nor as consistnet in texture throughout the bar. However, rebatching allows the use of fragrances and dyes that react badly to lye or high temperatures. Lavender buds, for instance, turn a slimy brown and lose their scent in the presence of lye. However, the buds can be added to a rebatch and will retain their lovely characteristics.

The first step in rebatching is grating the soap. I kept wanting to dip my fingers in--doesn't it look just like a great pile of Swiss cheese? This soap was my largest batch yet, weighing in at a hefty five pounds. That's a lot of grating...

I put the soap in the oven at 200F, along with about one cup of milk. I think I should have used more liquid. I couldn't find a precise measurement anywhere on the web, just the general directive to moisten the soap shreds lightly.

After about four hours (but this is only supposed to take about 2 hours?!), I needed the oven to cook dinner, so it sat on the counter for a about an hour.

I turned the oven up to 225F, and let it go for another two hours. I still didn't get the gel that should have occurred, but it was soft enough to scoop into molds. I added some tangerine and sweetgrass essential oils, plus some ground sage from the garden. The sage was supposed to add a bit of green, but instead it just made strange little green specks. At some point I might upgrade their description to artful specks, but for now they're just strange specks.

I'm tempted to rebatch the soap again, maybe using the boil in an oven bag method.

Not sure...

Here are the soaps from the silicon cupcake mold. The rest of the soap is still in the quart cream mold.

I think I'll go back to gazing at the snow. Much more restful!

PS If you use a food processor to grate your soap, clean the soap off the pieces before putting them into the dishwasher. Unless you like bubbles escaping and running across your kitchen floor?

FFwD: Speculoos

2010-12-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

The days are growing shorter and shorter around here. I'm looking forward to the 21st, maybe even just a *little* bit more than the 25th. The winter solstice means, from that day forward, more and more sun will shine down on us each day.

That is, if it can break through teh thick fog that so frequently envelops our valley.

Today is sunny, though. Brilliantly sunny on top of several inches of snow. The chickens are going nuts. They don't like the snow, but they think that, given free reign of the yard, they'll somehow find the doorway into summer. This sun only assures them that I'm the creuelest chicken keeper east of the Cascades.

Bread in the oven, speculoos cooling on the counter... I feel the holidays in my blood!

This is another challenge of French Fridays with Dorie group. We're not allowed to share the recipes on our blogs, but the recipe from her book is quite similar to all the others I've looked at both on teh web and in my collection of books.

Speculoos are an easy cookie, quick to make, and smell divine. I hope you'll find a recipe and make these next time you want to make your house smell like Christmas and your tummy feel like heaven.

MMmmmm.....

A few shots from the yard

2010-12-03T15:46:00.001-08:00

I know, I know--this is supposed to be a French Fridays with Dorie post. I missed last week, and now I'm shrugging this week off as well.

Excuses? A few--it's been a really *BIG* week at work, culminating last night, and I'm just tired of all the demands. This week's challenge just felt like one more demand, one more obligation, one more thing I had to do. I don't want my baking to become a chore. So, I didn't do it.

In fact, I've done almost nothing today! A few loads of laundry, a brief discussion with the chickens telling them to start laying more eggs, and a whole lot of tea (earl grey, hot).

I did take a few pics of the hoar frost that is chillingly clinging to everything in town today. Usually, the frost melts off rather early in the morning. No sun (again!) today, so no melting frost.

Aren't kitties funny creatures?

Hope you all have a fun weekend...start December off with whatever makes you happy!

Why I crave the sun

2010-11-29T20:48:00.000-08:00

Why do we drive in search of winter sunshine baths like this?

Because we live under this!

That's not a lake, it's a valley full of dense winter fog.

Driving back home is hard...

Up ahead is the wall of gloomy doomy fog...

and we have to dive down into it.

Closer,

closer, closer...

Ack!

Looking back up the hill, we can just barely make out the dim

circle of the sun.

Looking ahead, more fog.

The road doesn't really end, it just looks that way.

And feels that way.

Poor horses, they can't jump in the car

and go for a drive up into the sunshine.

Ah, sunshine. That looks so much better!

Post Thanksgiving snow tramp

2010-11-28T18:28:00.000-08:00

Mr. Boom and I took a drive up into the hills today for a post-Thanksgiving tramp through the woods. The sky was a deep blue, almost like we were back up in the Northern Cascades.

Lines of animal tracks crossed and re-crossed our path up the valley floor. During the summer, it's easy to see where the deer and elk have tromped through, but with snow on the ground, it's easy to see even the smallest creatures' tracks--like rabbits and squirrels and mice.

A squirrel ran into this hole on the right side of the path...

after emerging from this hole on the left side of the path.

A coyote crossed the path here, then ran up the side of the hill.

This coyote developed an oddly wide stance....

More gemstone skies...

More tracks.

And my very favorite wildlife sign of all...

Size 13 1/2 tracks...very easy to follow!

November Daring Bakers: Crostata (tarts)

2010-11-27T15:28:00.001-08:00

The first rustic tart I ever made was from a recipe by Martha Stewart. It was her ricotta crostata. I quickly fell in love with crostata quite madly and have made them many a time since.

Why the hard crush?

A) They're supposed to look homey and rustic, which means that every split in the crust, every over-darkened crag, every bit of seepage from under the crust means that it's looking more and more like it should. Flaws are the perfection in a crostata. Therefore, it's my kind of creation.

B) I've mastered the art of making crostata with relatively little mess. I make my crust in a food processor in large batches, then freeze it in single crust portions. So, when I'm ready to make a tart, I simply take a bag out of the freezer and let it rest for a few hours in the fridge or on the counter. I then roll out the crust on a sil-pat, pile on the fruit, then fold up. Easy and neat.

C) If, for some reason (of which there are way too many to count in my case), the crostata fails, there isn't a lot of time or fruit wasted in the process.

D) Crostata are good for using small amounts of fruit--think about the last of the plums from the tree, a few meager handfuls of huckleberries, or the couple of apples on the verge of going bad after sitting on the counter a bit too long. Any of these are sufficient for a crostata, and all are elevated to a fine rank simply with the enshrouding cape of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs.

Really, there isn't' anything not to love about a crostata.

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Today's crostata was three apples from the orchard of Mr. Boom's aunt. Maybe a third cup of sugar? A sprinkling of ground cloves, a double sprinkling of cinnamon, and a few dots of butter. Oh, and a healthy sprinkling of turbinado sugar on top just before baking.

Our Black Friday shopping consisted of a Christmas tree permit from the US Forest Service. Today we're decorating the tree and inhaling the warmth of crostata aromas. I love Daring Bakers, and I love the annual tradition of pulling ornaments from their boxes and engaging in a healthy dose of remember whens...

I hope you're having a great weekend, too, no matter how you choose to start the Christmas season.

Head over to the Daring Bakers to see other some of the amazing creations of the other Daring Bakers, and to download the recipe straight from the source!

Happy Birthday, Bet!

2010-11-24T09:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Bet!!!

In winter's grip

2010-11-21T21:05:00.000-08:00

It's really hard to believe our yard ever looked like this:

We're thickly blanketed in snow, more snow is falling, and now our world looks like this:

Tomorrow night we'll be down in the single digits on the thermometer. I can feel my blood cooling and thickening, and the urge to just hibernate under the bedcovers is strong.

We brought our five goldfish in from the pond today, and put the winter-safe water-dish in the hens' pen, and put a heatlamp in their coop. Thermal underwear is not a fashion statement anymore--it's a requirement to keep the joints from seizing.

Hot tea, hot cocoa, hot coffee. This holy trinity is all that bouys me and stands between me and the sweetly beckoning bed upstairs.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

FFwD: Potatoes au Gratin

2010-11-19T16:49:00.000-08:00

My computer chose today of all days to catch a virus.
I was trying to download templates to make seed packets, when I clicked on something I shouldn't have...
Apparently you can get a virus from clicking a google image thumbnail...
Live and learn!
I shot the photo with my droid phone and I'm trying to build a post in it as well.
the potatoes are really really good. I'll definitely make this again.
search the web for french fridays with dory to see what other people have done.

FFwD: Caramel-topped Semolina Cake

2010-11-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

Like the Vietnamese soup we made last month, this week's French Friday's with Dorie recipe is a recipe I wouldn't have ever tried unless dared to. I wasn't a bit scared this week, though, since that soup was the best soup I've ever made. If you haven't made it yet for yourself, would you please go out and buy Dorie's book and make that soup? Thank you.

Essentially, a semolina cake is a cross between a flan and something else--maybe a bread pudding as someone else suggested? It's moist and it's eggy, and just the tiniest bit rubbery.

Or maybe that was just mine. This dessert was not a stellar success. As much as I love Dorie, and as much time as I've spent captivated by this book, I'm beginning to notice the flaws. Now, don't get me wrong! Flaws are the mother of uniqueness, and there isn't anything creepier in my mind than an air-brushed makeup model in bigger-than-life size on the back of a magazine. I relish the flaws in my life--maybe even more-so than the perfections at times. But, that doesn't mean they don't exasperate me as well!

So, the instructions for this recipe call for the addition of Cream of Wheat cereal to hot milk, and cooking until thickened. Anyone knows, or at least anyone who's ever made cooked cereal knows, that the process starts as a liquid and can be taken all the way to a solid.

So.

At what point is it "thickened?" I wish the book contained more clarity in its instructions, especially in recipes that are most likely unfamiliar with her audience. Do I stop cooking the cereal when it still pours off the spoon, or when it sticks to the spoon, or when the cereal will support the spoon standing straight up out of the pot?

Here's where I stopped:

This cake has a caramel top. Rather, this cake has a caramel bottom. Wait. This cake is baked with caramel on the bottom, but is flipped over for presentation, so the top is caramel.

Duck's Ditty! How'd that go? Ducks' tails, drakes' tails, yellow feet a quiver, yellow bills all out of sight, busy in the river... Something like that? Good ol' Grahame!

To ease the dispersal of the caramel evenly over the entire bottom of the pan, the pan is first heated in the oven. This idea is so brilliant. I could have used this idea before, and will definitely use it again.

(Sticky buns, I'm talking to you!)

The batter is dumped over-top the caramel, and the whole mess baked about a half hour.

Not the most stellar-looking dessert ever... and not the tastiest dessert ever.

Somehow, though, I'm a bit inspired to try it again. I'd like to see the difference between the regular sugar version and a brown sugar version. I also think a bit of orange flavor would help a lot. I see this recipe heading in a lot of directions, but the first stop ought to be a re-write of it's own directions.

Next week's challenge is Potato Gratin. A dish I'm more familiar with, a dish where the vagaries are old friends. I can't wait!

FFwD: Roast Chicken for Les Paresseux

2010-11-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

Can you guess what les paresseux means? It's absolutely fitting for this week's French Fridays with Dorie post. Considering that today is Sunday, after all.

Je suis paresseux, bien sur!

Lazy.

Today we took a gorgeous drive up into the hills, capturing some of the last fall color for 2010, and getting a healthy little inoculate dose of winter 2011.

I left a chicken defrosting on the counter while we were out. The entire time I was mentally chiding the kitties to stay away from the bird. I suppose I could have pulled the nice little hen out too the freezer yesterday, but I was too lazy. Upon arriving back home, I ran out to the garden to grab some rosemary, oregano, and thyme. I could have done that ahead of time, but I was too lazy.

I also could have peeled the red and blue potatoes, but again, laziness prevailed. I figured that since the recipe directly tranlates into roaxt chicken for lazy people, I had Dorie's blessing the whole way.

Having made fresh loaves of bread yesterday, I was able to follow Dorie's suggestion of placing a thick slice of bread underneath the hen as it roasts.

Oh. Holy. Heck.

I actually lied to Mr. Boom and Chirp-chirp. I told them the crusty greasy bread that resulted, thickly spread with the chicken liver and some of the roasted garlic, was only so-so.

People.
Listen.
Try this technique.
Then lie like me.

As we came 'round this last corner before pulling over to sit and stare at the falling snow, a bit of a poem by Emily Dickenson popped into my head. "Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me."

Except instead of death, it's winter. And instead of him stopping by, it was us checking in. So really, it didn't apply at all. Except there it was in my head. And I just thought I'd share.

But not my chicken toast. No way I'm sharing that. Ever!

Good Enough!

2010-11-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

Not the prettiest...

Not the tastiest...

Not the most creative use of chocolate...

But, you lucky girl...

Wow...

I hesitsated to enter this contest.

I'm so glad I just jumped in and tried!

79 out of 80 miniature sourcream chocolate cakes with

cream cheese peanut butter frosting

and peanut butter ganache were devoured.

And after this shot was taken...

none remained.

And then the latex glove ruptured...

2010-11-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

Remember this?

And this?

My job rocks--usually.

Other times, not so much.

Other times, even less so.

Today? all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand, man.

Of course, Lady Mac Beth follows her lament with a well-scripted (and maybe better acted?) Oh, oh, oh.

My lament ended with less dignified words. Mine was closer to oh *@#!, oh $%#$, oh $#@$!!!

Today I had to do what I've been putting off all summer long. Cleaning up the mess left by six red-wing blackbirds in a large metal box perched at the end of a walkplank over the top of a wasteway. Cool, huh?

No.

The tools at hand were one latex glove, one trowel, a pouch of wet-wipes, a screwdriver, and an empty jug of what used to be distilled and de-ionized water.

First came the scraping of the nesting materials, the bug casings, the poop, and the dessicated mold. What followed was a dismal attempt at scooping up the dry powder with a trowel and lifting it over the ledge of the box and flinging it into the wind.

Oh, didn't I mention the wind that came up, constantly shifting directions, swirling around me as I threw the friable dust away from my body--to be immediately blown back into my face, my hair, my nose...

Then came the dousing with water. There's a hole centered in the bottom of the box that theoretically-speaking should have drained the water from the box. Except the box is canted heavily to one side, as it turns out, and why would it not turn out that way? And one side of the hole has a small wall sticking up about 4 inches.

And, why yes, that wall was on the downhill side!

Enter the one latex glove! Swish the water from one side of the box up past the wall and back around the other side to go down the hole. Quickly, or the saturated bird poo and mold will fall out of the solution and remain a pile of mud on the far side of the box. Not too quickly, of course, or it all splashes up and into the face.

Oh, and did I mention the wind?

This was working tolerably well until the latex glove ruptured......

Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, when I finally made it back to the office I was immediately told to go home and take a shower. They didn't want me in the office.

They followed me out of the office liberally applying Lysol in both liquid and spray form to the air, the doorhandles, the walls...

I've now showered, and am contemplating drinking some bleach. This scalding hot ginger tea just isn't quite doing it.

All the perfumes of Arabia, man. All the perfumes of Arabia.

Listing

2010-11-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

It might look like I’m sitting here doing nothing other than staring off into space, staring back at my screen, off into space, back at my screen, off into space, back at my screen…

But really, the cogs are moaning and groaning and slowly finding their intended interconnections. As a result, thoughts are forming! Plans are getting planned. Lists are straightened up (does anyone get that pun besides me?) and typed with bullet point precision on my brain, with imminent transferal to the screen looming. I’m printing maps; I’m calculating drive times. I’m heading off to Bet’s next weekend for the annual gingerbread house fete.

Since middle school, with just a few years missed here and there, Bet and I have made gingerbread houses every Christmas. They haven’t always been the biggest, the grandest, the neatest, or the greatest, but they’ve always been the most sincere. Linus would like ‘em.

And what could be the icing on top of the icing? I get to meet Murr! I love her writing, her point of view, her self-accepting style. The thought of meeting her gives me butterflies. I get to go eat at the popular girls’ table. Heaven help me.

Lists. I’m going to Powell’s, which requires updating my list of Books that I have/Books that I don’t have/Books I need to have/Books I might need to have.

Lists. I’m likely to hit the Sur la Table kitchen store near Powell’s, which requires updating my list of Tools that I have/Tools that I don’t have/Tools I need to have/Tools I might need to have.

Lists. I need a map to Bet’s. I need a map to Portland. I need a map of Vancouver in case I decide to go see the Fort again.

Lists. CANDY! Our houses will need red-hots, M&Ms, gum drops, chocolate rock candy, peppermint swirls, mulit-colored sunflower seeds…

Lists.

Oh my.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T12:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

Today's been more tricksy than treatsy for me, but we all have those days, don't we?!

So far, the hive-cozy we built for the bee box fell completely apart and was rescued by the liberal application of duct tape.

My bee hive has wasps, and no evidence of a queen. There's little hope that the colony will survive the winter.

I can't take a decent shot of the last batch of soap I made, not even to save my life. Luckily, Mr. Boom stepped in so you can get a feel for the real-life gorgeous color of the hemp-oil soap. There are two batches on the drying board, one ivory one grass green. I hope this is visible on your monitor, since the difference is imperceptible on mine.

I think I might try building a light box to get some nice photos. But not today.

Definitely not today!