Some Progress in the Garden

So yesterday I learned how sweaty and difficult yard work really is. I always give Jon crap for saying he'll dig me up the garden of my dreams and then procrastinating on the yard work, but now I can see why. My hands are very unhappy with me right now, needless to say...and all i did was scrape up the leaves and chunk them all behind the shed in a crunchy, sprawling pile. I'm debating whether I need some sort of fence or container to pen it all in for compost.

Not like it matters much anyway, 'cuz by the time it's ready, our gypsy souls will probably be beneath a different set of stars; but just in case we're still here in another year and half, I'm gonna use the stuff anyway.

Here are my new mentors --


I need to call my grandpa. I meant to set up a garden with him at his house this summer, before we got the new place with the nice backyard. I love my grandpa, but the bus out to his house is not easy to catch, and still requires a ride or several miles of bike-riding along the highway. Ouch. Maybe I can get him to come out to my house and mentor me in my garden. Teach me some of his darkest tomato secrets...




I also got some seeds started. Since I didn't have any dirt, I made rows of seeds on a paper towel-lined cookie sheet, and layered more paper towels on top. I'm gonna try to keep it moist and put it out in the laundry room where it can catch some sun. I need to remember to buy a mint plant, as well--I forgot about it until I bought a sprig at the grocery store for $2, and began to reminisce about the days of my spunky wild mint plant that quickly took over the entire 2 foot planter box, before spilling luscious green leaves over all the sides and onto the patio. I can smell the fresh spearmint tea in my dreams, mmm...

I can already tell that this is going to be quite a delicious summer. In addition to the spoils of my own toils, I've found a few untended fruit trees in the neighborhood, like the loquat tree in my very own front yard.







I also found an orange tree while walking along the train tracks to the bus stop the other day, but it was really close to someone's backyard and they had a big ol' mean dog jumping and barking right next to that tree. All these wasted smashed oranges on the ground next to this mean ass dog. Sigh. There are rumors of lemon, orange AND grapefruit trees up by the Quik Stop, so I must go on a hunt for those one day. Now if I could only figure out which tree dropped all those pecans on me, find a nice bank or office building with the flowering kale out front, and plant some soybeans (i can make my own tofu heehee), I would seriously NEVER have to go shopping except for condiments, dairy and cleaning products. Nice, nice, nice. I AM a cheapskate.

Speaking of which, I bought some new "curtains" from the thrift store the other day. Now I'm not sure if you'll ever hear this specifically stated in one of those "Top 100 things you can do to be more Green!" lists, but I think reusing goods rather than buying a new one from Wal-Mart, fresh from the Chinese factory, is all in the same spirit as changing out your light bulbs and carpooling. Its one more small thing that I can do to feel like I'm a part of the solution without dropping too much cash.

Anyways, these new curtains of mine are just a collection of mismatched bedsheets and curtains. I will definitely post some pictures once they're hung (and before the cats get to them!)--I think the bohemian feel we're going for will come together with the contrasting shapes and colors set against the soft grain of the wood floor and walls. I'm looking forward to a little morning shade, anyway...

Chocolate Berry Scones

There are precious few flavor combinations so decadent as the dark richness of chocolate crossed with the sprightly summer gush of fresh berries. The last time I experienced these flavors together in all their glory was with some chocolate-hazelnut muffins, warmed and spread with all-fruit raspberry jam. Simple but amazing for breakfast, desert, or no reason at all. Lately, though, I seem to keep running into scone recipes, so I decided to reincarnate that holy chocolate-berry sensation into a sugar-crusted scone.





Since we started doing cranberry-orange scones at the bakery upon the request of one of our wholesale accounts, its occurred to me that maybe people don't know what a real scone is; that you're probably more familiar with the cake-y starbucks version. So let me re-define the scone for those of you who may be wondering what exactly it is.

Scone n. 1. A small, rich, biscuit-like pastry or quick bread, sometimes baked on a griddle.

In short, a scone is basically a sweet biscuit. Some people dislike the almost dry crumbliness that characterizes a good scone, so I can understand why everyone's favorite coffee chain would make a puffy, frosted version of it. But nothing goes better with a good cup of hot tea than something a smidge less sweet, with a bit more texture and a pinch more class. Sometimes the mood of afternoon just calls for a little tea time.

Edit: At least that's what a good scone is supposed to be like...after trying these guys, it seems I've made a scone to make starbucks proud...soft and cakey, like a flat muffin. Not the texture I was shooting for :( I'm thinking maybe it could be made more dry by adding the buttermilk only a little at a time until the dough will just stick together, or perhaps by adding a little more flour. Of course, the taste is just fine made according to the recipe...

Chocolate Berry Scones

makes 8 small scones

2/3 c. buttermilk
2 eggs (one for the mix, the other for eggwashing the top)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. dutch processed cocoa powder
1/2 c. white sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. cold, diced butter
2/3 c. mixed frozen berries
1/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips
coarse sugar, to top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix buttermilk, 1 egg, and vanilla together in a small bowl. In another bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt.

With a pastry blender, or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Add fruit and chocolate chips to flour mixture, stir to coat and evenly distribute them throughout the batter. Add the liquid and stir until it just comes together--do not over-mix it or the scones will be tough. (I had to turn it out onto the counter and knead the last bit of flour into the dough.)





Knead or fold the dough just a few times, and pat into a circle. Mine was pretty sticky, so to make it easier to cut I put it on a circle of greased wax paper in a 8" round cake pan and set it in the freezer for a little while--not until frozen, but just until it was cold and stiff enough to cut it without making a sticky mess. When you do cut it, you can use a knife or bench scraper to cut he disc of dough into eighths and place the slices on an un-greased cookie sheet. (I buttered mine and they spread out a lot, so I would suggest not buttering the pan.)





Brush the top of each scone with eggwash and then sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, until a pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the scones to cool on the pan for 5 minutes or so before removing them to a rack to cool the rest of the way.

Serve with a nice milky Chai or Earl Grey tea.

Backyard Blues

So last year, when we had a real house with a real backyard that was all to ourselves, it took us until June to mow the lawn, dig an 8x8 plot, and stick what little seedling babies were still hanging on for dear life into the ground. This year, hopefully it won't take quite so long to get it started; although we do obviously have a ways to go.

Here are the before pictures....

Notice the sexy waterlogged mattress off to the right side. And what you can't see is at least 2 inches worth of leaves, pecans, and other organic debris. I guess I need to get some compost going, too. Wish I had caught some of those pecans before they hit the ground and got rained on, too.

But here are all my delicious hopes and dreams laid out. Jon thinks it's weird, but I do fantasize about food. Copying down recipes can be just as tantalizing and juicy as reading a smutty novel. (I'm soo lame, I know...)

Maybe this year we'll get on the stick about it and have some veggies and herbs to munch on by the time summer rolls around. It'll help balance the grocery bills against the air conditioner, anyway. Guess I should take my time off and keep on sweating huh?

Something Sweet

Wow, so now that the bakery is closed until further notice, I have no steady source for my daily sugar fix. I grabbed a couple of our gi-normous, soft-baked cookies and a gallon-bag full of cranberry orange scones, but of course all of that is gone now.

I also left with a few other delicacies my budget rarely allows--2 red bell peppers, a pound of green grapes, and tender baby spring mix--I figure why let it go to waste if there's going to be no one around to serve lunch anymore? The result of my vegetable greed (however appropriate it may or may not have been on the day we went out of business) is this fine salad, delicious to begin with, but made more so by it's free-ness :)





The question that remains, though, is what should I bake to fill the hole in my heart left by the buttery cinnamon rolls, the biting lemon squares, and the softest dulce-de-leche cookies you can imagine? I'm thinking it ought to involve chocolate (of course), maybe a chocolate scone, or something with mixed berries? Or both! I never buy sweets at the store, which is inconvenient for the impromptu sugar-craving, but it serves the valuable purpose of igniting my bake-shop creativity---what sweet creation shall I devise next? Stay tuned to find out which direction my super-sized sweet tooth leads me....

Neatball Subs

Most of the time, and especially at restaurants, it would be easy to perceive the world of sandwiches as solely meat-centric. After all, a vegetarian sandwich at Subway, and many other sandwich chains really boils down to a salad on a bun, or perhaps a Boca patty if you're lucky. But sandwiches are so versatile--you could really put almost anything between two pieces of bread and eat it, so why can't any restaurants think outside the box on this one?

Well, you're in luck because thinking outside the takeout box is one of my specialties. I recently found a collection of recipes online for vegetarian "neatballs" and have been itching to try one ever since. I've made several varieties of veggie burgers at home before and I always like mine better than the frozen kind, so I felt ready to take on the traditional, tomato-sauce laden pork sandwich.





Rather than copying the rich, heavy style of the meat version, I opted for a light, lemony pesto mayonnaise, with mushrooms and hazelnuts forming the base of the neatballs. Add a little lettuce and tomato to round it out, and suddenly the sandwich board lights up with some fresh new flavors!

Don't forget to check out my previous post, where you can find out how to make the buttermilk hoagie rolls with which I stuffed these delicious little mushroom balls.

Once again, I doubled the recipe so that I could use half for these sandwiches, and half for another recipe (marinated veggie kabobs, mmm...) I modified it from it's original version, and would add a few more modifications now, having made it once. First, the original recipe included 2 tsp of nutritional yeast. Not being a vegan, and liking my cheese "with an s" just fine, I don't keep this crap around. I tried it in a cheez sauce for vegan eggplant parmesean once, and I could taste the blasphemous absence of said delicious cheese in the gooey soymilk sauce. *Shudder* now let's never mention that recipe again.

Second, there's an equal amount of mushrooms and hazelnuts in this recipe; however, mushrooms are sticky when pureed, whereas hazelnuts give the dough a crumbly, mealy texture. Next time I would probably go 75% mushrooms to 25% nuts, and add a variety of mushrooms instead of just buttons, for better mushroom flavor. If I had mushroom black soy sauce around, I probably would've used it instead of regular soy also, for the same reason. 'Cuz mushrooms just taste good.

Finally, I added an egg (and regretted not adding a second one), rolled them in cornmeal (which I guess would've made more sense for frying than baking), and baked them, rather than simply mixing and refrigerating for 30 minutes, because I wanted a hot sammich--that's what meatballs are all about, right, so why not neatballs, too?

At this point, I'm not really sure if I'm just crappy at taking directions, or if my creativity and cheffing sensibilities are constantly (if unconsciously) improving all the bum recipes I pick up around the web. Probably some stubborn mix of the two.

Anyhow, I'll post the recipe as I found it here, and let you decide whether to do it their way (cold, for pate or an appetizer), or hot for your very own vegetarian neatball sub sandwich. And stay tuned after the neatballs recipe for the lemon-pesto mayo, also!


Mushroom Hazelnut Neatballs

makes about 6-8 balls

1/2 chopped onion
1 c. chopped mushrooms
2 minced garlic cloves
1 c. whole hazelnuts
1/4 c. freshly chopped parsley
1 tsp. soy sauce (or more)
1/2 tsp. onion powder (if there aren't enough fresh aliums in this one for you already, you can add some more here)
2 tsp. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. ground black pepper

Saute your veggies and then process with remaining
ingredients. Shape them into small balls or patties (this part reminds me of making falafel!)





After shaping, you can either roll them in cornmeal, breading etc. and fry them, or bake them in the oven, or just refrigerate them until they firm up a little bit--it all depends on how you plan to use them. They can go on a sandwich, be served on top of a composed salad, over pasta or rice, or sliced and spread as a pate. These versatile little mushroom-nut balls can be the star of many different dinners!

And let's not forget the
Lemon-Pesto Mayonnaise

This is more of a taste as you go type recipe--start with 1/2 cup mayonnaise, add a tsp. of pesto, 1/4 tsp. lemon juice, and a little salt and pepper. Taste it to see if it has the herby flavor of the pesto, and just enough lemony zing without being too sour or overpowering, and adjust it until it tastes just right to you. If you're not careful, everyone else may steal it to use on their bland old cold-cut sandwiches, too!

I Stand Corrected....

So I just started looking up stuff on how to make a sourdough starter, and I found this website, Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter. Apparently, you send then a self-addressed stamped envelope, and in 6 weeks or so, you receive a dried sample of the sourdough starter that this Mr. Carl Griffith apparently used way back in the day. Sweet!

I'm gonna buy me some envelopes as soon as I get paid, yippee!

Buttermilk Bread

I *love* to make my own bread at home. There's just nothing quite as satisfying as your own kitchen filled with that awesome aroma of fresh-baked bread. Lately, I've been dissatisfied with the spongy, dyed-brown 89 cent wheat loaf at the grocery store. Nor would I be happy spending $3 on half as much of the good stuff (which probably still has high-fructose corn syrup in it too, for whatever reason they put that stuff into anything, I'll never know.) So what's the happy medium for a bread-lover like me? Make it!

Many people have trouble parting with the 3-4 hours it takes to make bread from scratch each week, but for someone who really appreciates the art of bread-making, it can be a very fulfilling and relaxing experience to feel the dough come together, sticky between your fingers, and then to knead it back and forth until you're almost hypnotized by the motion, and then the magical swelling like a pregnant belly but so much faster. Plus, I always try to keep my odd culinary senses sharp (like wine tasting, cake decorating, etc. --they won't always come in handy, but often they will!) so weekly bread-making is just good practice for me.

Anyhow, I've been thinking about sourdough lately, but I have no idea where to buy a sourdough starter culture--I just remember this 5-gallon bucket kept in the baking classroom at culinary school; it was full of what looked like sticky flour paste, and you had to "feed it" with more flour, but if you did that it could stay alive for generations. You could cook the same loaves of sourdough as your grandmother made in her time.

So, when I read the recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine for a Buttermilk Boule, and it said that it tasted a bit like sourdough I just had to try it out.

I'm not really sure what the rules are for re-publishing a recipe from a magazine, but here it is anyway, in case you feel compelled to duplicate my experiment without a lot of research to find the recipe from the source. I did a double batch, and formed the dough into hoagie rolls rather than a boule (round) shape.


Buttermilk Boule


makes 1 boule, or 4 large hoagie rolls

1 package dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water
3/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 Tb. honey
3 C. bread flour
1 tsp salt
(I would add an egg or some butter to the list, to brush the top before baking; my loaves came out rather ashy looking from the flour, and I think they would look tastier if they were shiny and brown.)





Proof the yeast in the warm water, while microwaving the honey and buttermilk together until warm, but not hot. Preheat the oven to 375 (you don't have to preheat this early, but I find that the extra warmth in the kitchen helps the bread to proof faster.)

Add the buttermilk mixture in with the yeast mixture, and then add salt and bread flour. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (you know it's done when you hold a small piece of the dough up to the light, and it can be gently stretched between your hands so that you can see the light through it without tearing a hole in the dough.)

Let it rise, covered with a towel until doubled (40 min to an hour) before dividing and shaping the dough. Let it rise again on the baking pan, again covered with a towel.

To prep for baking, brush it with the butter or eggwash, and score the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until you can tap on the bottom of the loaf/roll and hear a hollow thump.


Tune in next time to see just what I did with these yummy sandwich rolls....