Saturday, 30 August 2008

Remembering growing up...

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I wrote this post only weeks before this skit aired on SNL. Now I read this and think...that's really hysterical. The SNL sketch is pretty close to what I saw that night. So read on, and then watch the clip for a good chuckle.
"I'm gonna go watch the football game." That's how it usually starts. This football season started out a little bit on the rough side...And so the first U.T. game of the season, I stayed home while Ryan made his way to a local Tex-Mex place to watch it on PPV. We'd just watched some inspirational cooking shows on PBS, and Ryan left the TV on when he walked out the door.

I'd been organizing our plethora of untouched Greenling produce. Sadly, we hadn't been utilizing our deliveries very well; we have a lot of rotten eggplant and a few too-old squash...but plenty of onions and potatoes that keep well. In this week's box, we got a lot of tomatoes and the last of the summer cucumbers.

Wanting something cool and light, I sliced a few of the cukes and tomatoes, grabbed the vinegar, and whipped up my mother's best cucumber salad recipe. The salad felt perfect for the afternoon late-summer rain. And then I heard it; like a big tidal wave, a sense of giddy nostalgia crashed upon me.

The first few notes of the Lawrence Welk Show played out on the tele, and my childhood came rushing back. This seems to happen a lot more frequently when I'm reaching into a box full of local produce; I grew up on a farm, and we had a little section of one of the fields set aside for growing vegetables. Every summer, my grandparents would have us picking veggies from the garden, and then we'd spend Saturday evenings over at my grandparents' eating fresh vegetables and watching Lawrence Welk and his brightly-suited orchestra.

My grandfather had his own big band--The Gilbert Kautz Orchestra--and he'd delight us with his trumpet playing in the afternoons...I loved to listen to him practice in the garage. Our house was about a quarter-mile from theirs, and in the summer evenings when the wind was right, we'd hear Papa playing in our backyard. If the wind came from the other direction, we'd hear the Tejano music playing down the hill.

Then, when Papa turned on LW, he'd dance with my sister and I in their living room. I remember it so well: the brown shag carpet, the squeaky faux-leather couch, the recliners, and the tiny orange chair that we loved to sit on.

My grandmother would sit with my little brother, calling him Schatze. I loved those summer nights and tonight, I'm reminded so vividly of them that I'm brought to tears.

Of course, now I can appreciate the cheesiness of the LW show. Tonight's particular episode aired in 1985, and right now they're gracing my ears with one of Englebert Humperdink's big hits--in English and Spanish. Something about Le bicicle de Versaille... or something like that. "Carry us through the sky, le bicicle de Versaille..."

And now I come full circle to the present: Ryan and I spent a lot of the day biking around our neighborhood side by side. Funny how that works.

So forgive me for the personal divergence, but of course I couldn't pass up something that means so much to me. My family will appreciate it. :)

Now excuse me...there's a rousing accordion duet and I really don't want to miss the action.

OH--and if you want the Kautz cucumber salad recipe...

2 cucumbers, sliced
2-3 fleshy garden tomatoes, sliced, OR 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
A good splash/pour of white vinegar
Scant 1 teaspoon sugar
Scant 1 teaspoon salt
A good sprinkle of black pepper

Combine them all in a bowl...and mix well. This salad is best served icy-cold and the flavors taste even better the next day!

By this time, I want to take up tap dancing. Not kidding. THANK YOU LAWRENCE WELK!
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Saturday, 23 August 2008

Agua Fresca II

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We wised up for Agua Fresca, Part Deux.

Instead of running all the melon through the food processor and pushing it through a sieve, I used the juicer. Worked wonders! Then, I added a good squeeze of lime and some fresh mint. The three flavors combined for an icy-cool refreshment on a 100-plus-degree day.

Ryan's dad introduced us to the watermelon-mint-lime salad (cube watermelon, then add fresh mint and lime, marinate for 2-3 hours in the fridge and serve at a summer picnic) and the same idea works just as well as a beverage. Could make a pretty good margarita, too--just add some tequila and Triple Sec.

Everyone together now... Ahhhhhhhhhhh.
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Friday, 22 August 2008

Early Morning Inspiration

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Just a few photos of fresh morning fruit: blueberries and Texas figs with wildflower honey, the sweet nectar of life.

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Thursday, 21 August 2008

SalisBEERy Steak

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We had quite the success in the kitchen the other night. Out of sheer invention came one of the best meals we've had yet. It was a true team effort, and the name was Ryan's brilliant brainchild. Read on, friends: this is one you'll want to whip up for sure.

Seasoning:
1 teaspoon Season-All
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp salt
Mix together well

1 large sweet potato, cut into large matchsticks
3 medium red potatoes, cut into large matchsticks
1-2 tablespoons olive oil to coat the potatoes

Preheat the oven to 450. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil or cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix the potatoes with 1-2 tablespoons additional olive oil and half of the seasoning (the rest will go on the steaks). Spread the potatoes on the baking sheet in a single layer, and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the potatoes have a good crisp color but are very tender.
For the salisBEERy steak...

3/4 to 1 lb beef cutlets
the rest of the potato seasoning, plus salt and pepper to taste.
2 to 3 tablespoons butter
3 cloves minced garlic
8 oz good beer (like Fireman's 4 or Shiner)
Scant 2 tablespoons flour

Season the cutlets with the same mixture you put on the potatoes. Add a little extra salt and pepper for good measure. Melt the butter in a saucepan large enough to hold all the cutlets. Add the minced garlic, and let it brown just a bit before adding the seasoned cutlets.

Cook the cutlets over medium-high heat until golden-brown on each side, about 4 minutes or less per side. Remove meat from the heat, and place in a covered dish. Keep the pan on the stove, but turn down the heat to medium. Add the beer, stirring constantly. Add the flour and continue stirring over medium heat until you've deglazed the pan and the sauce is nice and thick. Pour over the steaks and serve piping hot!

Fin really wanted some. BAD.
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Home Court (dis)Advantage

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We had plenty of okra from Greenling and needed something to do with it. Pickled okra was the obvious choice. So, one hot Saturday morning at around 7, I hopped on the bike, grabbed the (wrong) wallet, and headed to the store for lids, the right kind of salt, and some dill seed. Pickling proceeded.
At about this point, we realized that we do not own any kind of jar tongs to get the boiling mason jars out of the boiling water. Luckily for us, we're inventive and brave, and we wound up using regular old kitchen tongs with a wing and a prayer. Seriously.
Three of our four jars popped satisfyingly, and before 10 a.m., I'd pickled okra and was on my way to dog training with Fin.
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Wednesday, 13 August 2008

Manana...

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With the leftover tortillas and meat, we whipped up breakfast tacos. Now that's a good way to start the day.
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Viva La Fiesta!

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Mmmm...tacos. We cooked grass-fed beef from my dad's neighbor with all the right seasonings (for us: plenty of garlic, s&p, celery salt, and some cayenne), and added onions and peppers from Greenling. A few months ago, I bought a cast iron skillet (which I love) and learned to make homemade flour tortillas. So, I busted it out. Ryan says that he'll never go back to store-bought--what a compliment! The salsa is also homemade--and it's my mom's famous recipe. We had jalapenos in the basket, too, and cilantro, so the salsa was a jiffy: Here's the skinny:

1 large can organic peeled whole tomatoes, or use 2 cups fresh peeled tomatoes
1 jalapeno, seeds removed
1 large handful cilantro
2-3 cloves garlic
salt, garlic powder, and a squeeze of lime to taste

This one's easy: BLEND IT ALL, BABY! Be careful with the jalapeno. Some like it hot. I generally use extra cilantro and less heat for my #1. Don't get me wrong, he can take the heat--but the man can also down the entire bowl if I make it just right. And that's just plain impressive, something I like to see.

To round out the night and keep it all Tex-Mex themed, I made watermelon agua fresca...the long way. I washed out the Cuisinart and dumped chunks of watermelon in. I completely forgot that we have a JUICER. Like, one with a big motor and everything. So I blended the watermelon, then passed it through a tiny sieve into a pretty pitcher. It took forever, but it was delicious--no sugar added. We downed it all that night, and only after it was all gone did we have the brilliant idea that (next time) we should add lime and mint.
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It was a...DISASTER!

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Now, I'm the first to admit that I am still learning my way around the culinary arts. But I've made eggplant parmesan [once] before [with a chef's help] and it was great [because I had a chef helping]. Making it on my own couldn't be too different, right?

And by the looks of things...it turned out pretty good.

But then we tried to eat it. Poor, sweet, understanding Ryan. I ignored every warning he tried to give me ("Are you sure you know how to make eggplant parm?" "Do you know what to do with an eggplant?" "I can make French onion soup if you want!") and went ahead with my plan.

I sweated the eggplant (I thought) and cooked them plenty long (I thought). But in the end, even after over an hour of cooking all together, the eggplant were impossible to eat. That's the sight of all the store-bought organic tomato sauce and cheese being scraped off of the way-way-way-too-tough eggplant and mixed with the saving grace: spaghetti noodles.

Thank goodness for spaghetti noodles and store-bought sauce. And lots and LOTS of cheese. And of course, Ryan's good sense of humor.
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Easy Veggies

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Sometimes, nothing is better than just simple roasted vegetables.

Summery zucchini, squash, and red potatoes tossed together with plenty of seasonings (including celery salt, garlic powder, sea salt, fresh pepper) and olive oil were roasted at about 450 until very tender.

The details are a little fuzzy (no, there wasn't any wine involved this time...but this dinner was a couple of weeks ago!), but I'm pretty sure this was the night that Ryan stopped by Boston Market for a rotisserie chicken and I had roasted veggies ready when he got home.

Just goes to show, when in doubt (and when you're drowning in summertime squashes), roast 'em!
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Tuesday, 12 August 2008

Dressing up a weekday meal

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Ryan's generous colleague sent a bottle of white wine home with him one night. In our four-year history together, we've only ever saved one bottle of wine for a special occasion--and every time a special one comes about, we forget to open our special bottle of wine. So I didn't think twice when I popped this bottle open for nothing more exciting than a Wednesday evening dinner. Mushrooms, onions, and squash (all from Greenling) sauteed together in plenty of butter, minced garlic, and sea salt with a splash of wine. The veggies topped off a mini-mountain of whole wheat cous cous, and a sprig of rosemary on top added flavor as well as elegance. So, naturally, I poured two big glasses of vino to round out the meal.

Ryan sat down and gave me the look. "Is that the wine I brought home?" "Yeah..." "That's really expensive stuff, are you sure you want to drink it tonight?"

Oops. Well, the damage was done, and we were much better for it. The wine was delicious! Oh, and so was the meal...kind of.
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Wednesday, 6 August 2008

When life hands you lemons...By all means, don't waste 'em!

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It was a hot Saturday. We're talking 100-plus degrees. In the shade. Ryan and I had made a trip down to Torchy's for breakfast tacos, and then over to Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop to look for an earth-friendly messenger bag. We left with a pair of Earth-friendly shoes and a t-shirt for Ryan, and with an unquenchable thirst that kept begging the question, "Where should we stop for lemonade?"

Not wanting to pull over yet again and shell out more cash for a beverage when we'd done enough shopping already, we decided to make it at home.

Talk about hitting it out of the park.

We made a simple syrup on the stove--1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water, reduced to the perfect thickness. We minced up the rind from a lemon, and squeezed about 3/4 cup lemon juice. We mixed the sugar syrup, lemon juice, and rind, and put it in a glass pitcher. We filled the pitcher with ice, and then topped it off with filtered water. I surprised Ryan with a little homey touch: mason jars meant for canning the next weekend were pulled from the cupboard and filled with ice and tangy lemonade. We added mint for an extra-special touch. The pitcher of lemonade didn't last long--but it absolutely did the trick.

That evening, I continued the lemon theme and tried to make lemony ricotta and basil pasta. It was quick and easy, and we used up some on-the-brink ingredients (the fresh basil from our CSA was on its way out, and I had just enough pasta left for two)...but the overall effect, while beautiful and fresh and summery-looking, didn't quite pack the punch we were hoping for. Then again, we could have just been lemon-ed out.
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Monday, 4 August 2008

Updates Coming Soon!

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I learned something VERY exciting over the weekend: people actually read my blog! Yes. You do. And you like it! You really, really like it! (So leave me a comment, ok? Puh-lease?)

My heart is a-flutter with the thought of you, my dear readers, perusing through this site. And here I am, leaving you with no fresh material!

Well, rest assured, a big honkin' update is on its way. Let me tell you: there is fresh salsa. There are homemade tortillas. There is agua fresca. (C'mon, we're in Texas. Mexico is not that far away, folks.) I will be catching up this week, no doubt about it.

And in the meantime, catch me midday here at Apartment Therapy Re-Nest, where I'll be blogging daily about all things green and sustainable.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more delectable digressions!
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