On Turning In

I have been trying to find words to say, any words; and while I don't think these are perfect, it is what my heart has settled on. 

In the past week, there has been plenty of time for reflection. Grief, too, though I personally do not have a connection to the tragedy in Newtown. Each morning I have awoken with the twenty young children on my heart, and the six adults too, and I know I am not alone in this. 

Last Tuesday, one of my insightful yoga teachers talked about this being the season to turn inward; the natural energy is subdued and introspective, even while the festive holiday season rings out. Nature itself turns in, shielding itself against the harsh winter. Thankfully, as humans, we can turn to one another for warmth and comfort in a difficult time. This is what we can do for one another.

The holidays are a joyful time, and I am so very grateful for all of the blessings that shine so brightly this season. My hope is that you, too, are able to find light and joy in the days ahead, and that we can all share this peace with those who need it most.

And for all of you, May your days be merry and bright.

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A Birthday Meal

Here's a belated happy birthday shout-out to my main squeeze! Ryan celebrated another trip around the sun just after Thanksgiving, and we did this one right. Instead of a night out at a fancy restaurant, he requested a homemade meal. And I knew exactly what to make. 

All I had to do was create our own version of this meal from Fast Boy on Vimeo. Homemade gnocchi, a perfect ribeye, and greens. The boiler maker beverages were recommended but not required. A lofty goal, but I was prepared.

Preparation is paramount.

Like any big meal, this one began with me cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom. Starting with a super-clean kitchen and having all the dishes put away meant that I could prep the kitchen properly. I set up stations and planned out the meal carefully, beginning very early in the day. I also had a loaf of bread in the oven, thanks to my new routine. 

Homemade multigrain bread. Wine in background.

Exhibit A: Homebrew Taste Test. 

Weeks ago, we set out making our first batch of beer together. An Amber Ale recipe, we knew it'd be done right around his b-day. 

The first sip left us somewhat unimpressed; thankfully, we were looking for inspiration from the video and a splash of bourbon turned this ho-hum-homebrew into a tasty, smooth cocktail. 

The jury's still out on just what went wrong, so our homebrew journey continues. We have another batch of grains waiting in the fridge; they're a stout recipe, perfect for Christmas, so we had better get on that double-time. 

Exhibit B: The Perfect Steak.

No small feat for this vegetarian to tackle, I set out to make my meat-eating man a perfectly cooked ribeye. I asked the butcher for a "special-occasion cut, for one" and he looked at me sideways. "Are you going to split it?" he inquired. "No," I answered non-chalantly, "I'm a vegetarian." 

In any case, I brought home .85 pounds of pasture-fed, hormone-free, humanely butchered beef and read this guide for fool-proof steak in the oven about thirty times.

The recipe worked wonderfully and also left my cast iron skillet perfectly seasoned. The verdict: "This is the best steak I have ever had in my life."

Exhibit C: Garden Fresh.

The garden played a role in the meal, too. I used rosemary and garlic to flavor the olive oil for the gnocchi; I added some purple sage at the last minute for an extra herbal kick. 

Ryan found a few figs on our tree (poor tree is confused about the seasons, much like the volunteer tomatoes that have sprung up in the garden), and I sliced them very thinly to toss atop a salad of garden lettuce. 

I made a quick balsamic-dijon vinaigrette and crumbled on some very fancy bleu cheese to round out all the flavors. 

Exhibit D: Potato Smashin!

Earlier in the day, I stopped in three different stores to find a potato ricer, which one woman described as, "a pretty high-end kitchen item" and I could probably "find it at Sur la Table." I giggled inside, thinking that gnocchi have been an Italian kitchen dish since the 16th century and it's not as if I were looking for some sort of device that would turn my potatoes into foam. I found a no-frills ricer, for about $8, at a big-box store next door.

The recipe for the gnocchi came from the man behind the Fast Boy gnocchi video. His name is Ezra, and he builds beautiful bicycles and cooks these amazing dinners. And he is battling cancer. And he writes this very real, gritty blog that makes me feel for him and wish him the best, even though the closest we'll ever get is me cooking a few of his recipes and being on the receiving side of all this inspiration.

So there's that.

The birthday dinner! 

The finished product looked like this. I love this photo despite the fact that my husband's head has gone missing. In the dark, on the left, there are steamed artichokes (too much effort to eat, not enough payoff). Then we have salads of home-grown lettuce and figs, with bleu cheese. Ryan's plate has roughly a pound of perfectly-cooked ribeye on it. Fin stands on high alert close by. Note my vegetarian entree: nothing. There's a glass of wine, a tiny Christmas tree, and the gnocchi. Which was a little too pillowy; I should've added just a touch more flour because while the flavor was incredible, the little gnocchi fell apart quite easily and kind of turned out more like mashed potatoes with butter and sage. 

The rest of the birthday weekend looked like this.

In true birthday spirit, we spent the better part of our Thanksgiving break putting up Christmas decorations. A special six-pack of St. Arnold's Celebration began the traditional outside light extravaganza; we start early, say cheers, and then teeter up on the ladder to put up our famously bright lights to herald in the season. Then we go to bed each night with a lingering fear of having attracted an airplane to land on our street. 

Ryan on the roof putting up lights; Pearlsnap the Bike; Fin modeling her Cone of Shame after a minor surgery.

As part of Ryan's birthday gift, I did a mini-makeover in our guest bedroom. I got some vintage maps, made some original art (thank you gold spray paint), and framed a couple of things that had meaning to us. The room was really taking shape, but one thing was missing. So over the weekend, I built a headboard for our guest room, using bead board from Ryan's grandparents' house that's probably around 100 years old. The bead board was salvaged from the house and divvied up among us family members. We all love the aqua and orange colors, and I decided they'd play a central part in our little guest room makeover.

I built the headboard for less than $6; the pieces for the frame (you can see three of them in the background) I found on the side of the road in a neighbor's bulk pick up pile. It's amazing what you'll do for free building materials; I picked up the five-foot pieces and carried them down the street in broad daylight, waving at the neighbors out walking their dogs. It was worth it.

And that's a wrap. 

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Turkey Day Prep: 5 Things to do This Weekend

The colors of the harvest season.

Spoiler alert: I LOVE Thanksgiving.

It's a good thing, too, since my family winds up doing three Thanksgiving meals (husband's side, dad's side, mom's side). And then there's the potluck at work. So all told, in the next eight days, I will be participating in four major meals.

It's been this way for many years, and happily I've learned a thing or two; mainly that the weekend before T-Day is very important for preparing. Here are my top five tips for getting ahead this Turkey Day.

5. Recipe plan. Gather all the recipes you need, and really study them. Assess your pantry situation, then—and only then—go to the grocery store.

4. Make an oven schedule. This is totally nerdy, but by golly—it is a real help, especially if you're expecting company at your place. Take time to figure out how long (and at what temperature) everything needs to cook, and plot it all out carefully on a schedule. Take into consideration what can be served once it's cooled a little, like stuffing, and what is better-tasting when it's fresh out the oven.

3. Bake cornbread for stuffing. Making stuffing from scratch is not much more work than the store-bought stuff, especially if you think ahead and make cornbread this weekend.

2. Make pie crusts from scratch. Since pie dough is easiest to work with when it's chilled, make a few crusts ahead of time and throw 'em in the freezer. Move them to the fridge the night before you plan to bake. Thanks, Cooks Illustrated, for clueing me in to that idea.

1. Think of others. It's easy to get swept up in the fun of the season, but all this talk of the wonderful food we're about to enjoy makes me think of the people right here in our community who go without. Do you have time to volunteer at a meal kitchen, or can you donate to a local food bank? Keep the hungry in mind while you're grocery shopping. Many stores offer the option to donate right at the register—super easy! 

How do you prepare for Thanksgiving?

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On Bread Making and Routines

Homemade multi-grain bread, fresh out of the oven on a Sunday afternoon.

Ah, the routine: a simple way of saying that while the world spins in craziness all around, there are certain things that stay the same. Even so, the beauty of a routine lies in its ability to evolve. I love a good routine.

In the kitchen, there are many routines that are part of daily life. Breakfast and coffee are made the same way every morning. We enjoy meals together as a family every day, the two of us and our sweet dog (who routinely rests her head on the table while we humans dine). There is a semblance of a routine as we cook, then clean, then start the process over again, though it's never quite perfect or finished.

Lately, Sundays have evolved into bread making day. It is a refreshing routine that at one time seemed so scary and daunting. But each time I've made a loaf of bread, I learn a little bit more. What used to feel like eons waiting for the dough to rise now feels like a sweet reprieve, a chance to do something else around the house for an hour or so. And when I come back to the dough, I'm pleased as pie to see that it's doubled—or more!—in size.

The reliable nature of this well-tested recipe sets me at ease. Each time I bring out the ingredients, I feel more familiarity with them. I have learned, just by looking, whether I need to add more flour or more water. I know exactly which dishes will be dirty, and when the yeast is done working. I know when the bread is done, and I know it needs to rest and cool before we enjoy it.

I have learned this routine.

This particular routine grounds me. It nourishes our family. It is simple, tried, and true. Sometimes I think I could live on bread alone, after all.

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The Good Morning Garden

A snap pea tendril reaches out to touch the full moon in the early morning hour—my favorite time in the garden.

Early morning in the garden takes me by surprise each and every day: fresh, bright, fragrant. Dew underfoot splashes as my bare feet make their way across the yard, and even as the sun rises a full moon hangs in sight.

Bright green parsley: I treat myself to a bite each time I walk by.

Drops of dew—or maybe it rained last night?—sit on every leaf, catching what little light cuts through the crisp air. I look for signs of visitors, my peaceful face chagrined only when I see the telltale of a cat nesting (or worse!) in my garden.

Cabbage and cauliflower grow in one bed, and peas climb trellises in the back.

I make my way from one corner to the next, leaning down to say good morning to all the plants. My fingers pluck at leaves, turning some over to assess any damage. Some plants appeal more to certain antennaed creatures, and they have feasted on the greenery. I notice small, perfectly round craters in some of the beds. I look up and see the answer; squirrels have been either foraging for or storing their treasures beneath the straw.

Lettuces begin to sprout.

 It is fall: let the harvest begin!

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Quinoa: A Love Story

Quinoa, lettuce, arugula, avocado, and two snap peas. Tossed in dijon vinaigrette.

I know, I'm totally late to the party. But I love quinoa!

Quinoa is a grain that is extremely easy to make and will become a favorite of yours in the kitchen in no time. The flavor is slightly nutty, and the texture is fluffy and just a tad chewy; think tiny grains of soft rice, but better. It's rich in all sorts of minerals (manganese, iron, magnesium, copper, and phosphorous)—not to mention it's a super protein that boasts all the essential amino acids.

Shop in the bulk bins: a pound of organic quinoa will run you around $4, and that'll go a long way.

So if you're not already a fan, jump aboard the quinoa train. Oh, and since I struggled with this: it's pronounced keen-WAH. I called it kee-NOAH for quite a while before standing (gently) corrected.

One of my favorite ways to eat quinoa is with kale, goat cheese, and roasted sweet potatoes. But last night I served it alongside herbed salmon and a garden salad, a spot that normally would be reserved for brown rice.

Today's lunch was surprisingly delicious. Our lettuce in the garden is beginning to flourish and I tossed it with arugula, parsley, avocado, and the leftover quinoa from last night, in a homemade dijon vinaigrette. The textures and flavors came together beautifully, and my lunch was packed with superfoods: healthy fats from the avocado, good proteins from the quinoa, and vitamins from the leafy greens. Simply delicious and deliciously simple.

If you're ready to try quinoa, I highly recommend this how-to from The Kitchn. It works every time!

This glowing endorsement of quinoa was not paid for by any kind of super pac. 

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Freshworthy Friday: VOTE!

My fellow Americans: Please remember to exercise your right to vote! Today is the last day of early voting in Texas, and the big election... in case you haven't heard... is on Tuesday, November 6.

This is the beautiful thing about living in a democracy, one in which our forefathers decreed that we have certain unalienable rights. I especially appreciate that pursuit of happiness bit. And we also have the right to think freely and explore our own ideas in myriad platforms. Including this little food blog. 

I do encourage you to get out and vote—make your own voice heard! Educate yourself on the issues and make the choice that's best for you.

Just vote!

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Good Times and Butternut Squash Gnocchi

(Due to technical difficulties, I'm only able to upload one photo for this post. I'll post more pics soon!)

Last week I invited my husband into the kitchen for dinner preparation. I needed an extra set of hands and he was totally on board. Also, I agreed beforehand to be on good behavior.

Until he turned it into a competition.

After feeling especially inspired by this recipe over at love.life.eat., I went home intent on making a completely new and different dish for dinner. There is something about gnocchi that is especially appealing to both of us. It all started with this video. Ryan was entranced by the drinks the cook keeps pouring for himself; I fell hard for the potato ricer and the wilted greens that come into play at the end.

Let's not mention the fact that between the two of us, only one of us had read a recipe for gnocchi.

Too much flour gnocchi on the bottom.

In any case, we set out to make butternut squash gnocchi with brown butter sage sauce. An unexpected garden meal with surprisingly few (and very basic) ingredients, the butternut squash gave the gnocchi a lovely hue and a lightly sweet flavor. And what could be simpler than an aromatic brown butter sage sauce?

We learned one important thing about making gnocchi, and that is this: less is more. As in, flour. You want the dough to be workable but as light and fluffy as you can get it. And don't overwork it, either, or you'll wind up with tough, toothsome gnocchi when what you'll really want are fluffy little pillows of gnocchi.

I followed the recipe for direction, but changed a couple of ingredients: instead of pumpkin, I used about one pound of butternut squash from our garden. And since we didn't have any other type of cheese in the fridge... we went with parmesan. The salty touch worked just right.

And as for crafting a recipe together, this went well enough that we'll do it again. Next time, though, Ryan says we'll use potatoes instead of butternut, and there will be steaks involved. I said that'll be just fine, darling.

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Freshworthy Friday: A New Food Label?

A snapshot from the full graphic at New York Times.

My Dream Food Label
Mark Bittman, New York Times

Move over, confusing nutritional information label. Mark Bittman has a solution for you. (Oh Bitty, thank you for being in my life... from your cookbooks to your adventures on TV with Claudia and Gwen to your columns in the Times, I am such a fan!)

When I read Bittman's argument for a more well-rounded food label I found myself nodding along in agreement. Before I finished reading the entire infographic, I realized I was standing on top of my desk with my hands held high exclaiming, "THIS GUY GETS IT. THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

His suggestion gives the consumer a nutritional gauge as well as a "foodness" gauge (how "real" or natural is the food?) and a welfare gauge for humans, animals, and planet that would together give consumers the opportunity to purchase products that passed their personal level of food satisfaction.

I can't tell you how much I love this idea. I also believe that food is not just about counting calories and milligrams of sugar; I want to know how my food choices are impacting the community, how sustainable and ethical they are, and how good for me it is. At the grocery store, this type of visual guide for consumers would help everyone make the best choices for their desired diet.

The whole idea behind Sustainable Diet, in fact, is not one of losing weight or eating only kale and quinoa. It is about having a well-rounded grasp on the food that sustains us. An approach to eating by which we are able to enjoy our food and ensure that our food appropriates resources wisely. It is a way to nourish body, soul, mind, earth, community. It's food for all.

Too dramatic?

I stand by my conviction that food binds us all—rich or poor, young or old, happy or sad, animal or human or plant, in the office or on the farm—and we can all benefit from a more ethically, sustainably, heathfully curated food environment.

Supporting local farmers, growing your own food, and making more informed choices at the grocery store are three easy ways to eat healthier in a broad sense. Add more seasonal fruits and vegetables to your family's diet, and reduce meat consumption (even slightly) in favor of a few more whole grains on your plate. And remember, too, that food is meant to be enjoyed!

I have been challenged many times by people who question my way of eating. But it comes down to this: at the end of the day, I want to be able to say that I made healthy decisions that had a positive impact on my body, but also a positive impact on my planet. It's simple. It's just food. Real food. Good food.

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Barley Bites

Barley Bites

Our love for our dog Fin knows no bounds. On our European vacation—the trip of a lifetime—we laid in bed each night muttering to one another about how much we missed our dog. Yes, of course we missed our family and of course we were happy to be on vacation. But boy oh boy, did Finley's name get dropped more often even than the phrase, "I could go for gelato right now."And who came to the airport to pick us up? My sister... but she brought Fin along and videoed our mutually high-pitched, furious tail-wagging reactions.

So it should come as no surprise to you that when Ryan and I made a trip to Austin Homebrew Supply for a little foray into brewing (a story for another day), we were wondering how Fin would be a part of our homebrew experience.

Giant bag o' grains after steeping for about 2 hours...

Turns out, you make beer with grains. Not news to you?

Grains smell amazing, and brought me back to hanging out in the barn as a kid while my grandfather grained the cows. Happy memories.

At this point in the beer brewing process, there are no hops or alcohol involved. And it turns out the spent grains you use to flavor the beer in the first stage of brewing can be used in myriad recipes. We found recipes for breads, cookies, and—best of all—dog treats.

An awesome local brewery called Hops and Grain makes dog treats called Brew Bites. How cute is that? Really cute. Oh, and their beer is amazing too, so it's fun for the whole family.

In our house, I kept calling our homemade dog treats "barley bites," and Fin and her buddy Axel seemed to enjoy them quite a lot. I tried one and... while they needed a little bit of cinnamon perhaps, pretty tasty nonetheless.

Fin and Axel are pretty excited to try their first Barley Bite. Gotta love eager taste-testers!

Barley Bites
Ingredients:
4 cups spent grains from beer brewing (NO hops—hops can be toxic to some dogs!)
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1-2 cups flour

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: approx. 4 hours

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until they hold together well (it will be very crumbly). If it's too dry, add a little water or some of the liquid that has drained out of the grains after you're done steeping them.

Dump the mixture onto the baking sheet lined with parchment, and press it firmly into a layer that's about 3/4 inch thick.

Score the baking sheet with a knife to make square or rectangular treats* and bake for about 45 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and break apart the treats. Lower the temperature to 225 degrees and bake the treats until they have dried out, about 3 hours**. Can be stored in an airtight container for about two weeks. If you make a huge batch, throw some in the freezer!

*If you're feeling ambitious, try cutting out shapes—but be warned, this dough is very thick and the shapes may not work out very well. You'll notice my final product looks pretty crumbly. Cutting into squares saves a little time and will leave you with more full-sized treats.

**The treats need to be completely dried so they will be crunchy and not get moldy.

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The First Harvest: Lettuce Be Glad

Even a tiny harvest such as this is still food enough to eat.

Lately I've been enjoying one of my favorite evening rituals: I grab my pair of red kitchen shears and my favorite colander, tell Finley it's time to "check the gardens," and the two of us head outside, swatting at mosquitoes, foraging for part of our dinner.

A simple dinner of salad, bread, and pesto.

Our lettuces are only a few inches tall, but combined with our fledgling arugula, I trimmed enough to make a small salad with Texas grapefruit, avocado, and olive oil. A bounty of basil meant a batch of fresh pesto, which I served atop toasted homemade bread—and voila! Dinner from the garden, despite the tiny harvest.

It's so simple and rewarding to add a few garden leaves to every meal. And today, a new development: one of the volunteer tomatoes has fruit on the vine! What a lovely thing, to have fresh tomatoes this time of year... let's hope the volunteers keep up the great work.

What's going on in your garden?

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And Now, Back To Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

The view from a mountaintop in Cinque Terre, Italy.

What a month this has been!

Ryan and I just returned from our first trip to Europe. We spent four days in Paris, followed by a week traipsing through Italy: Venice, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, and Rome. It was an adventure to say the very least. There was initial culture shock, amazing red wine, a language barrier, unbelievable macarons, a language breakthrough, the best pizza we've ever had (ever), more amazing red wine, some incredible white wine, an unforgettable hike through a terraced vineyard on a mountainside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, gelato for breakfast, and more pizza.

The tiny village of Manarola, tucked into a mountainside covered in terraced vineyards.

We met wonderful people, made it to the top of the Eiffel Tower, missed out on the Louvre, saw the Statue of David, stood on the sacred ground where Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli, and Galileo are all buried, walked more miles than ever before, learned the Paris Metro system, took trains from Veneto to Lazio, saw the Colosseum, and so much more.

Gelato for breakfast in Venice.

Despite the difficulty posed by a language barrier (it was easier in Italy, since I had three semesters of Italian buried in the back of my brain), one thing rang true throughout the trip. Food binds us all.

My favorite part of our adventure was the time spent in a tiny village called Manarola. It is part of the Cinque Terre region, and it makes for a surprising agrarian community.

Olives, lemons, and grapes grow beautifully with the cool mountain air and fresh Mediterranean mist, but in order to farm these crops, farmers must work in very interesting conditions.

I found myself entranced by the backyard gardens everywhere we went, and in Manarola everyone had their own tiny patch of land. Gardens dotted the landscape, and offered everything from sorrel to chard, peppers to artichokes, and more. Some gardeners were growing pomodorini (little tomatoes) on trellises—with limited room, everything was growing up. In such a small community that's so far from a large town, everyone pitches in for the local food economy. Between the fruits, vegetables, and seafood, I don't know how anyone has room for the other local specialty—focaccia—but I'm sure glad that was a part of our experience. Yum!

Grapes with one wonderful view. 

The local wine in Cinque Terre is a white varietal, and it is wonderful. We had two bottles that were made specifically with the grapes on the mountain in Manarola. Slightly dry, somewhat fruity, undertones of peach and apricot (note, I'm not a sommelier), both bottles were well balanced and while they weren't touted as organic, it's very likely that the grapes are grown without pesticides.

We also enjoyed the other local specialties: limoncino (northern Italy's answer to limoncello) and fresh seafood. Ryan had his fill of anchovies, and I tried calamari, homemade seafood ravioli with shrimp sauce, and whole grilled fish too.

Backyard gardens in Cinque Terre: one lemon tree sports a capri blue trunk!

I love that food and agriculture carry the same importance, no matter where you go.

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Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen?

Photo by Aubrey L. Stopa Photography.

Here's something that's actually very hard for me to admit to the big wide world. I don't like cooking with other people.

In fact, I remember at one point during holiday cooking last year when I specifically referred to a family member as a "sous-chef," implying that I was the one calling the shots and they could help me chop veggies. The idea of sharing meal preparation appeals to me in every way, except in practice. I get edgy, controlling, particular; anyone who's ever cooked with me knows this. I wonder why my co-pilot is chopping the vegetables on a diagonal, or shredding cheese with the wrong side of the grater, or adding the garlic at that point in the cooking.

I'm a MONSTER! Yikes!

So first off, my sincere apologies to everyone who has ever shared counter space with me before and thought, "What a {insert word of your choice here}!" I'm hoping to correct this crazy behavior before this holiday season hits us!

Recently, I've realized that this monstrous kitchen mentality means I cut myself off from sharing one of my favorite things to do with the people I love. And it's getting pretty lonely in the kitchen.

Why do I insist on cooking alone? Why am I such a control freak, a real Type A, no-nonsense cook?There is a specific way I like things done, and an order and a rhythm to my way that to some may translate to chaos. Can't I see that my enjoyment in the kitchen could be magnified if I just opened up and shared it with someone?

I'd like to change. It would be such a nice thing to enjoy preparing dinner with Ryan, or anyone else for that matter.

So how do I change my ways? I have a plan, and it goes a little something like this.

1. Bring a friend in on my meal planning. Let's take my husband, for instance: ask for (and listen to) his input on the week's meal plan. 
2. Begin to implement the plan together. This may be tricky as step one is grocery shopping and I know at least one person in our household does not enjoy that. 
3. Divide tasks ahead of time. Before we begin preparing a meal, establish clear-cut roles. 
4. Do not step on toes. I am the queen of back-seat food preparation. Step back and appreciate that everyone can bring their own creative recipe interpretations to the table. 
5. Enjoy the adventure and the experience. 
6. Stop being so formulaic about things, as evidenced by this numbered list.
7. Loosen up and let everyone else have as much fun as I do while cooking. Get creative, try things a different way, read the recipe aloud together and follow the steps—or not.

Any other tips? Have you converted to a communal cook and lived to tell the tale? Do share!

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Bread That Doesn't Taste Bad

Homemade multigrain bread with homemade peach preserves (Texas-grown, of course!).

"So, where did you find a recipe for healthy bread that doesn't taste bad?" Ah, just another glowing review from my husband to make my morning!

But truly, this was a special loaf of bread. It was (it's all gone now) fluffy and soft on the inside with a warm, nutty flavor and just enough tooth in the crust to make for perfect slicing. It toasted up great and made for a tasty sandwich bread that held together impressively well. All my previous multigrain attempts fell into piles of crumbs upon first slice, or didn't rise enough to qualify as sandwich worthy.

Admittedly, baking is not my strong suit, and I know exactly why. It's because baking is a science, and you can't just haphazardly substitute ingredients as if they were herbs, spices, or protein sources. Bread recipes are crafted because of the way a specific type of flour interacts with a specific kind of yeast; timing is important, patience is important, and following the rules is important. All things I struggle with.

Oh yes, baking bread is a great metaphor for my life that's not lost on me.

But I may have had a breakthrough this week, with my very first edible and healthy made-from-scratch loaf of bread. I didn't even use the bread maker (which was gifted to me by my husband a few Christmases ago, as a sort of polite way of telling me I needed help in the homemade bread department and would I please stop making him eat those dense whole wheat bricks that kept coming out of the oven).

Though I can't tell you how much discipline it took me to wait for the dough to rise; it involved forcing myself to watch some bad TV and I got up many times to see if it was rising faster than the recipe anticipated. Patience, patience.

Thanks to Cook's Illustrated, Pinterest, and one night at home alone with a pantry full of all the right ingredients, I had on my hands the perfect recipe for a good loaf of bread.

Here's where I found the recipe, which is from the always-wonderful Cook's Illustrated. But true to form, I made three very minor alterations to the recipe that did not seem to have an adverse effect on the outcome:

• Instead of whole wheat flour, I used whole grain spelt flour (personally I just like the flavor better). 
• Instead of 7-grain cereal, I used 5-grain cereal (which was readily available in the bulk bins). 
• And since I only have one loaf pan, I cut the recipe in half. 

A few more things I learned:

• Check the doneness with an instant-read thermometer. Turns out 200 F is juuuuust right! 
• Let the bread cool on the counter, uncovered, overnight. This helps the loaf develop a crunchy crust, cool completely, and remain soft on the inside. The next morning I was able to easily slice perfect pieces for toast. 
• It took the two of us about two days to go through one loaf of bread; breakfast two days, and lunch for me two days. It remained soft and delicious until the last crumb.
• If you're not going to eat this bread within two days, let it cool and then wrap it in two layers of plastic wrap and one layer of foil. It can then be frozen, for up to a month.

Overall, this was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to make another loaf. Not to mention, I'm working on the nutritional aspect of this bread; I hope to find out that it's significantly lower in sodium than its grocery-store counterparts (which come in at around 140 mg of sodium per slice!). 

Do you have a favorite bread recipe? Are you as impatient as me?

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...My Grandpa Was a Farmer

This afternoon I called my grandmother and we got to talking about the vegetable beds. I told her our fall garden is starting to come up, and she said, "Well it's just about time for that, dear." And then I told her that I like to think my grandfather would be proud of me, now that I have a small farm in my backyard.

My sister and brother and I grew up on my grandparents' farm, our house nestled between fields of corn, cotton, and maize. My grandpa raised cattle and had a big garden in between our house and theirs. My mother inherited his green thumb, and now I have a feeling I got a little of it too.

And then my grandmother said something interesting: "It sounds like everybody has a vegetable garden nowadays. I mean, that's sure what I've been hearing."

Hold the phone, what's that? Even my grandma knows that backyard farming is coming into the norm? And I'll just come out and say that she's not getting this information from all the hipster blogs she's reading. No, this comes from network television and what she reads in the newspaper.

This is totally encouraging. Friends and coworkers are telling me that they're venturing into gardening—one took the simple step of getting a galvanized metal trough, filling it with dirt, and picking up a packet of lettuce seeds. She and her husband are tired of second-guessing how clean grocery store lettuce is, so they're going to grow their own. Another friend is excited to move to a house so she can try her hand at square foot gardening. And good friends of ours have been sharing their amazing okra harvest with us (we like it tossed in olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt, and grilled until they're charred).

Are you jumping on this backyard gardening bandwagon? What questions do you have about getting your garden started or keeping it going?

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Flecks of Green

Arugula sprouts up among pine straw.

This morning I woke up to water the seeds (over the weekend we planted kale, lettuce, carrots, Swiss chard, bok choi, dill, turnips, and kohlrabi) and marvel at what a difference a change in the seasons makes.

The air is cool and crisp. Dawn hasn't quite set in, so the sky is still purple with just a hint of light starting in the east. Grass under my feet feels alive. My heart lifts.

Our first seeds are starting to peek up through their compost and pine straw. The arugula I planted early last week enthusiastically bursts through to daylight. The shelling peas I planted two weeks ago are also emerging, bright green flecks in the browns and tans of the garden bed.

Now is the time I remind myself of the patience required to keep a garden. A few hours after planting the seeds, I told Ryan I was going out to see if they'd sprouted yet.

No, not quite. But the promise is there, waiting to be revealed.

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Progress: A Composter and a Refreshed Garden

New Year and Spring always get all the "fresh start" glory. But for me, Fall feels so full of hope! There is so much to look forward to.

Over Labor Day weekend, Ryan and I buckled down and got to work. We mowed, edged, trimmed the hackberry trees at the fence line, and got all of the un-fun stuff out of the way. Then it was time to focus on the garden.

A few weeks ago, I began what I imagined would be a quick, simple, and adorable compost bin building project. (Rose-colored glasses, anyone?) It only took a few twists of his arm to convince Ryan into driving around the city and loading up a truck full of free pallets. Then I armed myself with a crowbar and hammer and was excited to get to work.

The lumber is ok. The labor is crazy difficult.

That's when I learned that taking apart wooden pallets is not for the faint of heart. Or arm strength.

Ryan patiently showed me the best way to approach the situation, but I whined my way through it. I even recruited our all-too-kind neighbor, who enjoyed the opportunity to sling a heavy hammer at something for a while.

Pinterest makes it look so easy. "Build THIS shelf out of pallets! How about this chair? Pallets! Free! Just take them apart and voila! Something awesome." Don't be fooled.

If you decide to take on a pallet project, lured by the free-ness of the wood and the promise of DIY furniture just around the bend; be warned. It's not easy. And also, not all of the wood is in the best shape. But it's free, and I have to say I was happy to put in a little extra elbow grease to get us an almost-free compost bin.

After a couple of weekends spent taking some of the pallets apart, and then learning to use the circular saw, I devised a plan to build a compost bin. (Note: this began as a three-bin composting system and quickly morphed into the much more do-able single bin.)

Final touch: paint on the saying, "A Rind is a Terrible Thing to Waste"

With about 10 feet of hardware mesh ($15) and a bunch of deck nails that I had on hand, I built a passable version of what I really wanted. I was inspired by this beautiful three-bin composter. The "door" on the front can be completely picked up and removed so that we can easily turn the compost with a pitchfork or shovel.

We moved the bin to its new home in the back of the garden, and left a little space next to it for tomato cages and the wheelbarrow. It's a little bit charming, don't you think?

Meanwhile, we had a lot of other preparation to do to ready the beds for fall planting. I took a solo trip Sunday morning out to the Natural Gardener to walk the labyrinth and get pine straw and turkey compost. There's something very meditative about shoveling hot turkey manure. Or maybe that was the labyrinth.

By Monday, we were up with the dawn and turning over the dirt in all the beds. We dressed them with fresh compost and topped them all with pine straw to keep the cats out. The garden began looking like herself again!

The beds are primed and ready (almost!) to plant. 

In a week or two, after the hot turkey compost has settled and the weather has cooled ever so slightly, it will be time to plant. Here's what we plan to start from seed (direct sow):

• Shelling peas
• Snap peas
• Swiss chard
• Arugula
• Spinach
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Dill
• Bok Choi (tatsoi)
• Carrots
• Turnips
• Kohlrabi 
• Parsnips

When it's time for transplants, we'll get broccoli and cabbage. It feels so good to be in the garden again! Are you ready to plant a fall/winter garden?

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The Plan.

The fall/winter garden plan.

I've said before that the garden is quite a metaphor, and this summer I have felt the pangs of an unproductive garden rattle through me in a difficult way. I've been a mess, feeling much the same way my garden looks — disheveled, unkempt, hot, uninspired, unfruitful. I'm yearning to pull myself out of this summer slump, and feeling just a hint of crispness in the air gives me hope that fall is just around the corner.

Which means it's time for the plan.

My local nurseries aren't yet ready for the fall garden, but boy am I chomping at the bit. (In fact, I called; there are no broccoli transplants for me just yet, but soon. Very soon.)

In any case, here's what I have to look forward to. Leafy greens, broccoli, cabbage, sugar snap peas, and herbs. My favorite herbs, to be exact: cilantro, parsley, and rosemary. And carrots, turnips, parsnips, cauliflower, and (shh, don't tell the hubcap) a little Swiss chard.

Mostly, though, I have growth to look forward to. New life, nourishment, tiny plants that become so much more than simply leaves and stems.

This is the weekend to prepare the gardens. The cleaning out, redressing, nurturing the soil that will in turn nurture us ... This is what I need to refresh my own life. I am so looking forward to a change in the weather.

I feel better already.

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The Do Not Eat List

The offending dish, complete with vegetarian sausage.

We have a chalkboard in the kitchen where I write our grocery list. Increasingly, I've noticed it reminds me to get the same things, week after week. Coffee, milk, cheese, bananas, veggies (so specific!), apples, tortillas, beans, red wine. And so on.

Every month or so, I get baking staples like flour and sugar, and every few months I add something especially random to the list. Curry powder or chipotle peppers — specialty items used for specific recipes.

On Sunday night, I was excited to make a pot of red beans and rice for Ryan. It was an opportunity to try a new recipe; an easy, cheap, and homey one at that.

Except it didn't quite go over that well. It was so poorly received, in fact, that it gave Ryan a new idea. "Let's keep a 'hazardous materials' list on the fridge," he said, "of things you shouldn't use in cooking."

Turns out, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are on the list. So are curry powder, papayas, vegetarian sausage. I added a few things to the list myself: red meat, chicken, anise, licorice.

We're old enough to know what we like and don't like. And while I love cooking, it's actually nice to be able to look through a recipe, see an ingredient I know one or both of us is bound to dislike, and either modify the recipe or move on to something else.

Do you have a "haz mat" list at home? What's on it?

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Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Sprinkles were especially for my niece. She approved.

A few months ago, I stumbled upon my all-time favorite cookie recipe. And since then, I have made it a point to keep all the necessary ingredients for those cookies in the cupboard at all times: a practice that makes my husband very happy, might I add.

When we had family over for grilled pizza night, I knew by dessert time, I'd likely be clamoring to hold my two-month-old nephew instead of assembling dessert, I had to come up with an easy make-ahead solution.

That's when I had a stroke of sheer brilliance: Enter the homemade ice cream sandwich. For a crowd that loves cookies and ice cream (which this crowd in particular does), it couldn't have been a better fit.

These come together so easily, especially if you use store-bought ice cream. Simply make your favorite cookie recipe, and let them cool counter-side. Test each batch to make sure they're quality.

Then set your ice cream out and let it get just a little bit soft. Pick up a cookie, flip it over, and put a scoop of ice cream on the bottom of one cookie. Grab a second cookie, place it on the scoop of ice cream, and smoosh them together to make a sandwich. If you're feeling fancy, dress them up with sprinkles.

Relocate the cookie sandwiches to the freezer for a couple of hours, and then delight your guests when you tell them to grab their own dessert — it's in the freezer! Marvel how the simple act of thinking ahead leaves you free to hold thirteen pounds of cuteness in your arms. Try not to drip any ice cream on his face while you eat one yourself.

I've decided that everyone should have ice cream sandwiches once in a while. That's why I made a few extras and hid them deeper in the freezer. Turns out, ice cream is the one thing that makes those cookies even better, especially on a hot summer evening.

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Simple Meals: Bruschetta, Two Ways

Sunday dinner is served. Despite its fancy looks, it was quick and easy. 

Sundays are routinely busy, and dinner is often the last thing on my mind. With a load of laundry in the wash, and a few weekend projects needing their loose ends tied up before the work week begins again, it's hard to go out on a Sunday night even for a quick meal. Enter my latest Sunday night solution. Simple, fridge-clearing meals with one common item: a baguette.

Last week's vegetables were languishing on the counter and in the crisper; goat cheese and prosciutto that I purchased for a special meal needed to be used before it went bad, too. One bunch of kale threatened to go bad, too.

For each of these recipes, feel free to lightly toast the sliced baguette before topping it with bruschetta; I was feeling lazy and skipped that step. Also, I tend to burn toast, which was not my desired outcome. Burned baguettes don't go over well in our home—not even the pup will eat 'em!

And as one more vegetable on our plates, I made a batch of kale chips sprinkled with sea salt and nutritional yeast. A simple, quick way to get your greens that's tasty to boot!

Strawberries, basil, and goat cheese make for a marvelous combination.

Strawberry Basil Bruschetta
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
2 ounces goat cheese
8-10 slices of baguette, about 1/4 inch thick

Mix the chopped berries, olive oil, and basil in a small bowl and let sit while you slice the baguette. Spread each slice of bread with goat cheese, and then top with the strawberry-basil mixture.

Tomato Basil Bruschetta
1 cup chopped heirloom tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
8-10 slices of baguette, about 1/4 inch thick

sliced sharp cheddar or parmesan cheese (optional)

prosciutto (optional)

Mix the tomatoes, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl and set side. Top each slice of bread with cheese (if using), then tomato mixture and prosciutto (if using).  

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On the Grill: Pizzas Part 2

Prosciutto and asparagus on the left, butternut squash and rosemary on the right. 

The key to grilled pizzas and flatbreads is to keep the toppings to a minimum so they cook through in just a few minutes. Less can be more when you choose high-quality, fresh, gourmet ingredients.

Butternut Squash Pizza with Rosemary and Parmesan

Toppings: 

1 small butternut squash, peeled and sliced paper-thin on a mandoline 

1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

sea salt and freshly ground pepper 

Lay the thin slices of butternut squash in a single layer over the crust. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary, sea salt, pepper, and parmesan. Cook until the edges of the squash begin to curl up slightly and the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat. 

Cheese pizza on the left, and heirloom Caprese on the right.

Cheese Pizza with Marinara Sauce

Marinara (makes enough for 2 pizzas; freeze half of the recipe if you won't use it immediately):

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

splash of red wine (about 2 teaspoons); optional

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:

5 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn into small pieces 

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

Mix the marinara ingredients together in a bowl. Using a spatula, spread half of the marinara sauce over the par-cooked crust. Drop the mozzarella over the pizza and sprinkle with parmesan. Cook until the cheese is melted and the edges of the crust are crisp, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat.

Grilled Asparagus, Prosciutto, and Chevre Pizza

Toppings:

1 bunch asparagus

5-6 slices prosciutto

2 ounces chevre, cut into small pieces 

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Rinse the asparagus and trim off the tough end. Slice each spear in halve length-wise, then into 3-inch pieces. Toss with half of the olive oil and grill over medium-high heat in a vegetable grilling basket until tender and charred in places. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Drizzle par-cooked crust with remaining olive oil. Evenly disperse the grilled asparagus, prosciutto, and chevre over the crust. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until the cheese is slightly melted, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat. 

It's blurry, but don't the colors look delicious?

Caprese Pizza

1 cup heirloom cherry tomatoes (or 2-3 large tomatoes), sliced thin

5 ounces fresh mozzarella medallions

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

1/4 cup basil leaves, cut into thin strips

1 tablespoon olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Spread the sliced tomatoes evenly across the crust. Place mozzarella medallions on top, spacing them out evenly (keep in mind they will melt and spread out a bit). Sprinkle on the basil, shredded Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Cook until cheese is melted and tomatoes are still juicy but have shriveled slightly, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat. 

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On the Grill: Pizzas, Part 1

Funny shaped (but tasty!) homemade crusts on the grill.

Recently, Ryan and I have happily inherited—for a limited time, that is—a fantastically enormous fancy propane grill. Formerly, our backyard was home to only a charcoal grill, which has not been used since sometime last fall on account of the ridiculous amount of time it takes to get started and the fact that neither of us wants to stand outside and deal with it for any amount of time at all. (Sorry, Charcoal.)

But with this propane grill, it's just a turn of the knob here, a flip of the igniter switch there, and voila! Flames!

We invited family over for dinner last weekend. With four adults and one child partaking in the meal, I planned out four large pizzas in hopes we'd have plenty for leftovers the next day... or I'd have one to mess up. Happily, all were met with the family meal seal of approval. This post will happen in two parts: crust and toppings. It's a lot of info, but now that I learned the gist of grilling pizzas, I think I can do it faster next time.

Grilled pizzas are perfect for a dinner party, but take a few tips from me.

• Keep the menu simple (prep and organize all the toppings ahead of time).

• Have at least one "normal" pizza that less adventurous eaters will recognize.

• Grill the crusts ahead of time, but don't cook them all the way because they'll be on the grill again with the toppings. A couple of ours got pretty charred on the bottom (rookie mistake!).

• Once you grill the crusts, take them back inside to put on all the toppings... and take 'em back out to grill. This cuts down on the work you'll be doing outside. 

• Don't load up the crusts with too many toppings; they will only be cooking on the grill for a few minutes, so you want to be sure they all cook through.
• To cut down on prep time, you can make a few recipes of dough and store it in the freezer. When you're ready to cook, bring the dough to room temp about an hour before cooking. The actual process of grilling the pizzas goes very quickly; it's the prep that takes some time.

Four funny crusts, all in a row.

The Crust
Adapted from Mark Bittman's pizza dough recipe.
Makes dough for two large pizzas.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole grain spelt flour
2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 1 1/4 cups water

In a food processor, pulse together the dry ingredients. With the machine running, pour in the olive oil. Slowly pour in the water with the machine still running. Watch the dough and determine how it looks after about one cup of water; it should be forming a ball and collecting together nicely. If it still looks dry, add more water (no more than 1 1/4 cups total). If it gets too sticky, add a little more flour—one tablespoon at a time.

Roll the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times. Coat a large mixing bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil, and put the dough in the bowl. Turn it to coat in oil, and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in size. If you'll be letting it rise for more than a few hours, but it in the fridge. About an hour before you wish to cook it, set it on the counter and bring it to room temp.

Split the dough into two pieces. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch (very thin). Prick the dough all over with a fork, and let it rest for 20–30 minutes before cooking it.

Preheat the grill. You want it to be between 400 and 500 degrees inside. Brush one side the uncooked crust with olive oil. Using your hands, flip the oiled side onto the grill over high heat. Brush the other side with olive oil. Cook it until the first side is browned and the crust begins to bubble. Using tongs, carefully flip the crust over to cook partially on the other side (do not let it get charred; this will be the bottom of your pizza and will be fully cooked once you add toppings).

Take the partially cooked crusts inside to add toppings, and then put back on a medium-high grill to cook for about 5 minutes, or until toppings are heated through and cheese is melted.

Check in tomorrow for four pizza topping suggestions!

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