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| Tuesday, January 26, 2010 |
| head in the clouds |
i've been starting to think about all the things i want to grow in my garden this year. beans, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, peppers, chard, herbs, spinach, zuchinni, cabbage, many types of lettuce and greens, carrots, beets... if i had planned better i would have planted the garlic before the freeze came. maybe just maybe i can get some in just as the ground thaws and have results. anyone have experience with this?
i like winter and the things you can do in it, but it hasn't been that great of a winter. too cold to enjoy the snow or too warm so that it melts or even rains. gets dark by the time i'm home from work and is just barely light when i leave in the mornings. my scant weekend time is usually eaten up by just trying to do regular chores so there has been very little time to do anything outdoors. my snowshoes are feeling very neglected again.
looking forward to some time in warm sunshine, letting my bunnies exercise on the grass, having recreational fires in our firebowl, walks in the park, riding my bike, and maybe picking up a few fun new things to do during the warm weather.
until then, i'm going to be swathed in wool, covered with a blanket or cuddling a warm fuzzy animal (or my hubby the heater) in an attempt to feel less chilled. finding plenty of things which need to be done indoors and finding new ways to procrastinate doing them.Labels: daily life, garden, musings, winter |
posted by Jen @ 9:11 PM   |
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| Saturday, November 21, 2009 |
| hunting and gathering |
it's that season again, when the menfolk head out into the woods in search of meat which will get us through the winter. i, for one, am hoping mine gets at least one to help with the food budget in these tight times. that leaves me what is commonly referred to as a "hunting widow". not that i mind that much. gives me some time to myself, me time.
this morning's me time is consisting of writing on my much-neglected blogs, figuring out that my hosting for some of the photos on said blog has been closed without notice and trying to ressurect them, making some excellent breakfast, drinking fair trade coffee with agave syrup and milk, washing some laundry, thinking about what i need at the store to complete the tortilla soup i plan to make, thinking about all the other things i also need to do today, and so on and so forth.
there is of course, the matter of the 6 heads of cabbage outside our house which i hope haven't spoiled that i should make into kraut before making said tortilla soup this evening. and there are all the leaves which have fallen all at once from the giant maple next to the livingroom window which should be bagged before it snows. oh and the garden which should be tilled under and the garlic planted for spring. and the mounds of crap in our house we have been meaning to weed through and simplify. and the checkbook to balance. and the floor to sweep and mop. and the list goes on.
for the moment, i will be peaceful and content in the consuming of my coffee and my experimental eggs (which have turned out delicious).
Experimental Eggs for one
Ingredients:
3 maple flavor breakfast sausage links chopped into 1/4" coins
1/2 very small yellow onion chopped
2 new potatoes (I used the tiny ones that came from our garden) chopped into 1/4" cubes
2 eggs
Tabasco sauce
salt
Directions:
Cook sausage, potatoes and onions in a skillet with a little bit of oil (of your choosing, I used Sunflower) over med/ low heat until potatoes are soft and sausage is done.
Scramble 2 eggs in a separate bowl and add some Tabasco. I think I added about 6-7 shakes.
Pour eggs over the cooked sausage potato mixture and cook like scrambled eggs. Turn over half way through to be sure neither side is really runny.
Sprinkle with a little salt and enjoy. Sweet Spicy Egg Scramble thing.Labels: daily life, food, musings, winter |
| posted by Jen @ 11:14 AM |
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| Tuesday, October 20, 2009 |
| back from life |
The summer was jam packed with stuff and not enough time to do it. Working full time and trying to enjoy life is difficult when your days off are only the weekends (something I had not dealt with in years having worked a more regular retail job where your weekend tends to fall somewhere around Tuesday). We attempted a real garden (or gardens I should say) this year, having a yard and all. The results were mixed. The tomatoes were our biggest success story, which is told by how many of them I ate this summer in a tomato vinegrette salad and by how many quarts of tomato based products I have already canned this fall.
The frost came early, causing us to pick clean our garden in one evening. The green tomatoes have been pickled in various manners (3 different ways), the celery not quite all used and in the fridge, the hot peppers I will likely dry, the summer squash hoping I find a recipe to use all 7 of them, and the remaining herbs hanging to dry all over the house in bunches. That doesn't even take into account the bounty of produce gotten the weekend of the harvest party out at Driftless Organics CSA. We didn't get a share this year (due to our own garden), but knowing the farmers sure puts you in a good position for picking up your fair share of cabbage, potatoes, peppers, squash and other more exotic types of veggies.
 This is the view of our "winter pantry" as it currently appears. Jars lined up, 2-deep full of delicious summer harvest. Tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, tomato basil soup, chicken noodle soup, pickled green tomatoes, piccalilli relish, dilled veggies, pickled beets, bread and butter pickles, chili con carne, sauerkraut, sweet and spicy pickled mini peppers and tomato corn salsa. Yet to come are more dilled veggies, dilled beans, more sauerkraut, chicken veggie soup, maybe some pickled garlic and maybe applesauce. If I finally get some time, I plan to resume blogging recipies as well. Labels: autumn, food, garden, summer, winter |
| posted by Jen @ 10:41 PM |
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| Wednesday, November 26, 2008 |
| Breakfast complete with shiny sun |
This morning, I decided to have a real morning, instead of going back to bed when Matt left for work. I had already assembled his lunch (homemade bean soup : pseudo recipe below and homemade apple crisp) and made him a breakfast sandwich (fried up a slice of homemade Goetta sausage on toast, and filled up his thermos with some fair trade organic dark breakfast blend coffee). Time for my breakfast. A slice of the Goetta with a fried egg on some lightly toasted whole wheat with a cup of that same coffee accented with some maple syrup and a dash of whole milk. Yum. I pulled up the shades in our office to let the morning sun shine in and decided I should blog just a smidge. I will be posting some photos a little later today, but I still don't have photo software on our main computer and mine is up in the cold cold attic.
And now the recipes.
Homemade bean soup
I started with pork bone broth (used the bones we had frozen from the pig from our wedding reception). Just simmered those bones in some water forever it seems until they were soft and all the remaining meat and cartiledge fell right off. I used dry beans for soup for the first time. Combining Northern White Beans, Pinto Beans and small Red Beans in a pot, washing them, soaking them, rinsing them, partially cooking them and rinsing again before they were ready for the soup.
Cut up some leftover ham, an onion, celery, carrots, 2 cloves of garlic, and some cabbage and sauted it ever so slightly in butter with some sage. Put about 1/2 cup of dry barley into the broth and set it to simmer for about 15 min before adding in the beans and the other goodies. Let the whole thing sit on low and simmer and hour or two. We had some for dinner last night with some crackers and it was super filling. Has to be all those beans.
Apple Crisp
Peeled and sliced 4 huge Cortland apples from Victoria Valley Orchard (bought for us by Matt's Grandma from the cutest little local orchard you would never know was there). Put them in a 9x13 pan with about 1/4 cup sugar (I used raw sugar), a whole bunch of cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, a dash of cloves, and a dash of ginger. Mixed up the apples to spread out the spices.
In another bowl, mixed up 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, 2 cups oats, and about a cup of milk. (I also added about 2 tbsp butter this time around, but last time I made it without cause I didn't have any and it was still delicious). Stir this mixture up well until it's kinda crumbly. Spread it evenly on top of the apples. Bake until the topping is crispy and the apples are soft and they appear to be syrupy.
I have been eating this warmed and topped with yogurt.
Goetta Sausage
Ok, so this might make some of you go ew, but this sausage is made from leftover meat and oatmeal. It's kinda sloppy, but delicious. We had quite a bit of pork still left frozen from our wedding reception and didn'tknow what to do with it, so when we found this German delight on the internet, we thought it was worth a try.
I ground 2 lbs of leftover roast pork with an onion. Then I mixed in 2 1/2 cups of oatmeal and 8 cups of water. I also added a pinch of cayenne pepper. You take this whole sloppy mix, bring it to a boil and then simmer for a couple hours, stirring occassionally. It does get stuck to the bottom of the pan pretty badly otherwise.
Once it starts to look like it's thickening up some, put it into greased loaf pans and put it into the fridge to cool and set up. It's supposed to thicken up so you can slice it and fry it in a pan, but ours had a little more fat than we planned on, so it was a bit gloppy. I thought maybe baking the loaf or adding more oatmeal per pound of meat next time might be a good idea. But we still have sliced it up a bit, then squished the slices in the cast iron skillet to fry it up for breakfast. Currently this is what Matt is having as a favorite breakfast. If you make this, try not to judge it before you taste it.Labels: daily life, food, wedding, winter |
| posted by Jen @ 8:45 AM |
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| Friday, January 11, 2008 |
| You smell like soup |
Feeling a bit under the weather today I stayed home and rested. While I was resting, my from scratch chicken noodle soup was doing it's thing on the stove for 10 hours. Yes, 10 hours. That's how long it takes to make chicken noodle soup really from scratch starting with making the stock.
It began with a gallon of water and 4 chicken thighs in a huge stock pot simmering away for hours and hours and hours with some celery, garlic, carrots and bacon. When the meat had fallen off the bone, most of the veggies had disintegrated, and the bones were soft, I strained the stock and began making the soup.
I put the chicken back in the stock, added chopped celery, onion and carrot along with a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. When the veggies were nearly the perfect doneness (almost not crunchy), I added a box of noodles and brought the whole thing to a boil for about 10 min. That's about it. It had been simmering most of the day so it took my bowl of soup about 10 min to cool down before I could eat it and then I still had to blow in each spoonful.
I also made another loaf of egg bread to eat with the soup since the last loaf is down to it's last couple slices.Labels: food, winter |
| posted by Jen @ 11:28 PM |
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| Saturday, December 22, 2007 |
| of babes and Christmas |
Ok, lookee what I made.
 Had to make a new sweater for madame baby girl cause at 2, she's long outgrown the crochet sweater I made her the year she was born (admittedly, it was like a 6mo sweater and I made it for her when she was like 1mo old). She loved her new garment, and immediately asked to wear it in place of her cutest brown sweater (one of my favs of hers). She and I really gotta hang out more, she's growing up way way too fast. Amazes me every time I see her. (below is her modeling the sweater that could not have been a more perfect size).
 And had to make a little hat for Mimi and Steve's new bundle, Claire. She's adorable with those cheeks and her pretty little face. I had the joy of meeting her at just one week old on Tuesday. Need I say amazing.
This is the beautiful Claire.
And on Sunday, her big brother showed off his musical prowess at only 2 years of age.
 Labels: baby girl, knit and crochet, winter |
| posted by Jen @ 12:27 AM |
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| Thursday, March 01, 2007 |
| Spring gave summer and autumn a miss and went straight on into winter again. |
Yes, I know the real quote is "Winter changed into spring; Spring changed into summer; Summer changed back into winter; And winter gave spring and summer a miss and went straight on into autumn." But that doesn't fit with the current weather pattern at all.
We were forced to close the store at 4pm today with a call from the company president due to crazy winter weather for the 1st of March. It only took me a half hour to get home via Lyndale because all the smart people had already left work or stayed home this morning.
It was so beautiful with the daylight waning and the snow falling that I took a walk to the Co-op to get a few foodstuffs and to start a new photo essay. I wanted to capture the beauty I see in the fresh snow, but more-so, I am drawn to the forms of things blanketed by several inches of it - specifically bicycles. Bicycles are a common sight here, and the variety of them is wonderful. They are a true form of transportation for many here. Without a sheltered place to be parked when weather like this hits, they stand lonely and cold, buried in snowbanks.
 I think I may get up tomorrow morning with time to go out for another walk and another photo essay (or add to this one). Although, if the snow is blowing less, I will take my good camera. I'm also contemplating turning this into a many seasons photo essay with the subject matter being the "secret life of bicycles" centering on Uptown and perhaps downtown and Lake st.Labels: outdoors, photography, winter |
| posted by Jen @ 9:57 PM |
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| Everywhere I look, I see a cold white buffet. |
I came prepared to play in the snow with the kids today and it was perfect weather for it. I built a snowman which Maddie promptly wanted to knock down and when I instructed her not to, her comeback was "Jenie knock it down". It was still standing when I left this afternoon. The kids also have this obsession with eating snow (especially the youngest). Really, every time I turned around, one of them was picking up a new chunk of snow and munching on it. Personally, I'd rather play in it. I have added a few captions to some of the photos below to add to the comedy of the day.
 Destructo Baby just before she broke the arm off my snowman. Labels: outdoors, winter |
| posted by Jen @ 9:56 PM |
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| Monday, February 26, 2007 |
| Winter : finally! |
 The little Minnesotan girl still living inside the grown-up looking me has been wishing for some real winter snow for years. I have missed the drifts and banks and piles and blankets where I once dug tunnels and made forts and painted with food coloring and made snow angels + snowmen and rolled around and lost an occasional mitten or boot.
It's that storybook snow, legendary of Minnesota, the kind that stalls out the world for a few days. Anyone new to the area would think all my childhood stories of big snow were nothing more than the elaborate imagination and perspective of someone 4 feet or shorter. Even with adult responsibilities of getting work on time on the morning of such a first snow, and the shovelling around our house which is required to be done by us adults, I was giddy to hear we would get at least a foot of snow this last weekend (I am extra giddy at the prospect of an even larger storm in the next few days).
 I woke a couple hours early on Sunday morning to ensure I could eat some breakfast and have time to dig out my car, also allowing for extra drive time. I peeked out the bathroom window to see an amazing wonderland of white and a smile came over me. For a moment, I contemplated calling in to work and telling them my car was stuck and playing the whole day away in the lovely piles of sticky snow. Of course, I didn't. Instead, Alyssa and I spent a good hour shovelling before our neighbor finished it for us with his snow blower. I showered and went to work. But not before climbing on the big pile we had made. I will yet spend a whole day playing in the yard before this snow is melted, I promise.
 Labels: daily life, outdoors, winter |
| posted by Jen @ 10:07 PM |
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| Monday, January 22, 2007 |
| Playing in the Snow with Cuite-patooties |
This is part of what I enjoyed this afternoon. Just two more reasons (2 of an entire series really) to always carry my camera and at least one fully charged battery.
 Labels: outdoors, photography, winter |
| posted by Jen @ 11:50 PM |
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