greenclogs

soup week

I like soup. A lot. For me, winter time is soup time, even when winter means that it's only 75 degrees outside. Today, I decided that we needed a LOT of soup this week, so I can focus on my to-do list and not worry about what's for dinner. We made 3 different soups for the week and will eat it along with salad or crusty bread or sauteed kale. A few friends have requested recipes, so I'll share what we made tonight. The sweet potato has been blogged before, but it's worth a repeat mention. We kind of wing it where soup is concerned - I just make sure that ratios of "stuff" to liquid are pretty consistent. 

Split pea soup - saute chopped onions, carrots and celery until soft (probably a cup of each). Add 8 cups of broth or water, a pound of dried split peas, a ham hock or diced ham if you're a meat eater, or not if you're not. Season with salt & pepper. Let cook until the peas are soft. Use the immersion blender to mostly puree the soup, or put half into a blender and then add it back in if you don't have an immersion blender. If you don't have an immersion blender, you should get one. It's vital for soup.

Lentil & Barley soup - saute chopped onions, carrots and celery, as above. If you like meat, then cook up about 1/2 lb of pork sausage with your mirepoix. I've used Italian sausage, breakfast sausage, or whatever I have on hand. The ham hock works well here too. If that's not your thing, then just skip it. Add 2 cups of green lentils and 1-2 cups of barley (I use 2 cups) and 8 cups of broth or water. Season with salt & pepper. Let simmer until lentils are cooked through and barley is toothy but tender. It'll be pretty thick if you put in the full 2 cups of barley, so you can adjust the liquid according to your liking. We like it thick around here. 

Curried sweet potato and apple soup - saute chopped onions, carrots and celery, as above. Add 4 cups of broth or water along with 2 medium sweet potatoes, chopped and a chopped apple or two (preferably tart), salt and pepper and simmer until the sweet potatoes are soft. Dust off that immersion blender and blend until smooth. Add a can of coconut milk and about a tablespoon (or 2) of curry paste/powder to taste. 

That's it! You can throw in whatever veggies you have in the fridge. Greens are great in the lentil soup. Parsnips would be a good addition to the sweet potato. Cooking big pots of all 3 took about an hour total. I'll freeze half of the sweet potato and the pea because they freeze beautifully and are perfect when you have no idea what to cook for dinner. 

The baby is not a huge fan of the split pea (although the other kids love it) but she likes the other two. And let me tell you, nothing warms my heart like hearing Annika say "YAY" when I tell her split pea soup is for dinner. I've done something right. 

Enjoy!

we got pickled

Finally!

We got our pickle on this morning. Or rather, I did while Jeff took Annika and Kit to the park for over 2 hours. Read that again. I had 2 hours in the house without little people underfoot (one of them quite literally). That's crazy talk. 

I made the most of it and looked at this in satisfaction at the end of the 2 hours. 

That's 26 quarts of pickles along with my jelly from yesterday. I had enough cucumbers to do another 10 quarts but a) the delay in pickling made many of them iffy and I wasn't feeling like picking through and b) I would have needed a trip to the store for more vinegar and more dill, which is painfully hard to find around here. The dill, not the vinegar. Oh, and more garlic. So I called it good and the chickens can peck at the remaining cucumbers before they hit the compost bin. I had great success with the jars sealing. Now we let them sit for a spell and get all pickly. mmm. pickles. 

Also on my mind, of course, are the lemons. Check this out. 

The early birds are starting to turn. I think we'll be able to grab a couple a day starting next week. 

Lemons in the light of the setting sun are quite lovely indeed. Soon, we'll have lemon curd and lemon marmalade going into the remaining jars. Then, the preserving is complete until next summer. Whew!

And because everyone can use some cute baby. 

Thanks for all the well wishes and sympathy - mastitis is surely no picnic. I felt better today - the site itself is about the same, but I had a lot more energy. I didn't quite get to pickles, but I did get all the prep work done. Jeff will be home tomorrow, so I have a helper/babysitter which will make it go so much more smoothly. 

I did, however, finally make jelly from my pomegranate juice. 

I made this batch with Pomona's pectin instead of the "usual" stuff from the grocery store. There was definitely a difference in how it worked. My first jelly was clearer and more delicate. I think the clearer is because I didn't use all of my juice last time - just the clearest part on top. This time I used all of it. It jelled way faster and firmer than the other did - whereas the kids think the consistency of the first batch is more like jello, this batch is seriously jelled. It's heartier. This batch is also less sweet because with calcium activated pectin, you can use substantially less sugar. I used less than half as much sugar this time, and could have used less. Since pomegranate is not as sweet as other fruits, I decided go stay on the higher end of the range. We'll do a taste test in the morning to see which we prefer. Both are delicious - I think it's just a matter of preference. Regardless, I love the Pomona's pectin because of the flexibility with sugar content and the amazing jelling that it does. I'll definitely use it for making jam with berries, etc. next spring and summer.

Lastly, thanks to my friend Jenny who brought over and gloated about proudly displayed her thrifted paint by number find yesterday, I have a new fascination with vintage paint by number paintings. I also discovered that Stef has a similar feeling about the PBN. I feel a strange desire to hit thrift stores and fill my one big empty wall with them. Just imagine the possibilities!

 

48 pounds of cucumbers

It's the last gasp of preserving around here. Well, until those lemons ripen and we start making lemon marmalade and lemon curd and limoncello. 

I have a lot of these

and a lot of these. 

I have jars and lids and garlic and vinegar. I still need dill and alum if I can find it. I have a partner in crime with her own 48 lbs of cucumbers. I have a very excited family. We're ready. 

Right after I clean my house tomorrow and finish the pomegranate jelly and host Sangria Sunday. No sweat. Prepare for pickles!

preserving

I spent all of my free time (read as the 20 minute stretches in which Kit naps) seeding pomegranates for making pomegranate jelly. 

one of two quart size containers of seeds - there will be three by tomorrow. 

We participate in Bountiful Baskets every other week. We enjoy the regular produce basket as an inexpensive supplement to our weekly farmer's market trips, but the real reason I participate is for the chance to buy food in canning quantities. Thus far this year, I have canned 50 lbs of tomatoes as plain tomatoes, sauce and spiced tomato jam, cooked 30 lbs of pears into pear butter and pear sauce, made many quarts of applesauce (that we're just eating from the fridge as we make it), and now am making pomegranate jelly. Several of the fruit have been eaten by Gunnar the pomegranate lover, but slowly, I have seeded the rest for making jelly. Batch two is tomorrow (only 5 left to seed!) and I'll document the fairly simple process. Seeding is definitely the most time consuming part, but to me it's necessary. By taking the time to remove the seeds from the pith instead of just juicing with pith intact, we've made delicious, sweet juice for our jelly. It's beyond good. Plus, it's a great way to occupy my hands while talking with the kids or just thinking. 

Up next on Saturday will be 48 pounds of cucumbers (I passed on the 30 lb box of green beans. I'm not that full of the crazy). I have my mom's pickle recipe, garlic and jars at the ready. I need dill and lids and I'm all set. After that, I think I'm done until lemon curd/marmalade time in December. Once you have pickles, pomegranate jelly and lemon curd, you don't need much else. 

every day

for a month. I'm going to take a stab at NaBloPoMo for the third year in a row for the same reason - learning to make time in my day for this space so I can reflect and discuss and document and remember to pick up my camera. Most days will probably be a photo or two. Some days there will be more. We'll just see how daily blogging fits into my day of chasing the crawling, sleep-resistant baby while trying to keep everyone else on track, and dishes in the cupboards instead of the sink, and fresh clothes in drawers, and creative time happening. Creative time - that's one of our topics this month. 

But tonight, the topic is food. Dinner, to be specific. I made a lovely one despite the hurdle of the baby referenced above. 

I indulged in some very autumnal veggies at the farmers market on Saturday with the intentions of making this pot pie. There's banana squash in there, brought home from the Hollywood farmer's market 2 weeks ago, along with Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, golden beets, parsnips and carrots. We made a thyme bechamel sauce and topped it with puff pastry. So so good. I keep wanting to sneak bites of the crust. 

Wouldn't you?

Also in food news, look what I found outside on the one veggie plant in our lonely raised beds. 

We planted it about 18 months ago and that eggplant just keeps going and going. These are for tomorrow's dinner. Someone has requested fried eggplant with salt and honey and I think we'll indulge her. After all - she ate the pot pie without complaint. 

Happy November. It's going to be a good one. 

the gift of lemons

It's that time of year again. Lemon time. Our tree is covered in hundreds of lemons that are all in varying stages of ripeness. Luckily, they don't have to all be picked at once, so we'll spread out the lemon love through April. There are far too many lemons to just use in every day life, even with giving way as much as we can in the neighborhood citrus exchange, so we use them in all sorts of recipes that we can gift over the holidays. 

First up is limoncello, the gift that keeps on giving. There are recipes all over the web with varying steeping times, but here's the scaled down version of what we're doing. 

Limoncello

1 750ml bottle of vodka - apparently you can use rotgut and some recipes recommend Everclear, but we're going with our standby Smirnoff that is available in the big bottles at Costco.

10 lemons - again, we adjust a bit because our tree lemons can be 2-3 times larger than the ones in the store. 

After steeping: 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar made into a simple syrup (if you want it sweeter then make more syrup - the recipes vary)

Peel the lemons, making sure that you avoid peeling the white pith. Put into a sealable container (we use a half gallon canning jar) and pour the vodka over it. Mix thoroughly and close up. Let sit for 4 days to a month. Again - the recipes vary. We'll let ours sit for about a week. At that point, the peels have lost their color completely and seem to be devoid of their lemony goodness. 

Pour syrup into jar and let sit overnight at room temp. 

The next day, strain the liquid to remove the peels and any other solids. Pour into prepared fancy bottles. We're also pouring some into old school canning jars and adding a bootleg style label for that backwoods hick look. 

Refrigerate/freeze and enjoy. 

bested by the pie

It started with the pear pomegranate crisp (inspired by Grace)

and then we swung into action. Food had been prepped over the last couple of days, so today was the dance of bringing it all to the table. 

Jeff basted the ham in honey and orange juice until it was mahogany. 

The dressing was made because dressing doesn't need turkey. Our recipe has sausage and apples and dried cranberries. I made approximately five times as much as we needed. Hello, lunch for the next week. 

Lindsay developed a sudden hankering for deviled eggs, so she found a recipe and made them all herself. People, this is the girl who thinks that if there is no packaged food in the house then there is no food in the house. Maybe there's hope for her after all. 

And we sat down to a feast. We didn't do a fancy table or match all of the dishes. It was just the five of us gathering together as a family and being grateful that above all else, we have each other. 

Oh, and we were grateful for pie. Lots of pie. Lindsay and a friend made these two pies yesterday. She made them from a pumpkin. Not from a can. Not from Costco. I'd think this wasn't even my kid if not for the fact that she asked me to do her laundry for her. But still, major props for making pies that were delicious. 

also in the pie lineup was a sweet potato buttermilk pie. It was light and tangy and delicious. I did add some meyer lemon juice to the filling, which made it quite tangy. I'd probably reduce the amount of juice but not leave it out. It will make a delicious breakfast tomorrow. 

Along with this. Gingerbread, apples, caramel. How could you go wrong? I was napping when Jeff took it out of the oven for me, so by the time I flipped it over, the caramel had soaked into the cake, making all of it gooey and delicious. I'll be making this one again and again and again.

We brought the desserts to a neighbor's house and we had a lovely gathering of friends for pie and cake and play and talk. We weren't able to spend Thanksgiving with family this year, so having this time with people who mean so much to us was really special. Life would be much more empty here without them, and I'm thankful every day to call them our friends. 

At the end, Gunnar had to shove away his dessert plate after six - count them - six pieces of pie. He had been bested by the pie at last. Until next year. 

more comfort food

Last week we made apple cider donuts with apple cider from the farmer's markets. We had some good friends over to help us eat them, and they went fast. Ours weren't as lovely as the ones at Smitten Kitchen, but I think that was because I had a lot of trouble keeping the oil at a consistent heat. I've always resisted buying a deep fryer, but if I were going to make more donuts then I would definitely invest in one. And I may need to perfect this recipe. 

Clearly we're deeply into fall food around here. What are your favorite fall recipes? I'm looking for some new inspiration. 

French onion soup

I bought a bunch of onions last week with the intention of making French onion soup. I got caught up in making sweet potato soup, potato leek soup, vegetable chili, and bacon and kale strata. The French onion soup was shoved to the back of my mind until Melana mentioned that she was caramelizing onions for said soup. In a flash, Jeff was slicing onions and I was headed to the store for bread and cheese. When dinner rolled around, we had this. 

Oh. My. Goodness. Why don't I make this more often? It was amazing. We used a pretty standard recipe. Caramelize 3 large onions (sliced) on low heat for about 45 minutes (we had bay leaf in there too, but not the thyme that most recipes call for because we were out). Season with salt and pepper. Add 4 cups of beef broth. We added some dark ale instead of wine or sherry because it's what we had. Let simmer for about 30 minutes, until the flavors meld. Ladle into flameproof bowls and cover with 2 slices of baguette, then cover with cheese - I think we had about 1/2 cup of finely grated cheese per bow. Gruyere is standard, but we used Beecher's Flagship Cheddar and it was wonderful. Broil until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Dig in. mmmm.....

By the way, Gunnar enjoyed it but skipped most of the onions. Annika opted for leftover potato leek soup instead. I think she'd love it if she could get past the word "onion." Someday.