A quiet thanksgiving, part 2 - Let's brew!

My brother and I, as stated in the previous post, were brewers over the thanksgiving holiday. I'm impressed with him, because he dissects recipes of beers that he likes and tries to clone them. He's worked on a stoudt several times, a few other recipes, and then the Gritty's Christmas ale. Gritty's is a Portland, Maine, pub, with a homey feel and a nice selection of microbrewed beers. The Christmas ale is an ESB (extra special bitter) and has a dark color and a good taste - spicy without that weirdo spice taste to it. Good stuff. So my bro looks online at the general ingredients (not specific at all) and uses something online called a recipator to start the 'scientific' process to figure out this beer. I think this may be his third try, and I was able to be there for practically the whole process - a great education, especially for someone (me) who loves beer. We have both mused about starting a brewery, like the East End Brewing Company. Scott, the owner/entrepreneur/beer-maker started out with home brewing for many years and made the leap out of the tech field to beer-making, something he really loves. In my opinion, he's changed the landscape of Pittsburgh brewing, by offering hearty tastes of each of his beers at his open-factory brewery, offering growler bottles and any beer for $10 a refill. He also supplies many of the bars, pubs and restaurants in the area with his variety of brews. And he's a good guy. I gave different kinds of East End beer to each of my male family members last X-mas as a stocking gift. I wish I would have found Scott sooner, because I love his concept and what he's done in terms of spreading the word, events and marketing great beer to the East End and Pittsburgh.

ANYWAY. Below is the most current iteration of the Gritty's X-mas clone, with hops amounts that Matt and I came up with in the recipator, based on tweaks after the last batch. What is great is that he still had a taste of the old batch, so we could taste and compare with the real thing, to make our calculated changes. Thank god he's an engineer!!

xmas ale clone

Brewer:	hemming		Email:	-
Beer:	xmas ale clone		Style:	English Strong (Extra Special) Bitter
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5.5 gallons
Color:	21 HCU (~12 SRM)		Bitterness:	33 IBU
OG:	1.055		FG:	1.012
Alcohol:	5.5% v/v (4.3% w/w)
Grain:	8 oz. American crystal 40L 1.6 oz. Roasted barley
Boil:	minutes	SG 1.100	3 gallons
	3.3 lb. Light malt extract 3 lb. 12.8 oz. Light dry malt extract
Hops:	.5 oz. Cluster (7% AA, 60 min.) .5 oz. Styrian Goldings (5.5% AA, 60 min.) 1.5 oz. Yakima Goldings (5% AA, 30 min.) 1.5 oz. Saaz (3.75% AA, 30 min.)

This web page generated by The Beer Recipator.

Here are several pictures of the process. We began with yeast starter, then moved on to the boil. We used four different types of hops, two at 30 minutes and two at 60 minutes, all in the recipator. It took 60 minutes of stirring, so it was great that there were two of us, and it made the sterilization process much easier, which is of the utmost importance.


You can see here that we gave the brew an ice bath to bring the temperature down quickly, and then transferred it to a five gallon jug. The beer then needed to be infused with O2 and the yeast starter added. Then onto the first fermentation. Matt took the beer downstairs, and being the smarty pants that he is, rigged up a fish tank thermometer to keep the temperature constant. He had to add a blowoff tube, because that thing was really blowing! The beer was active, which is a really good sign. The final picture is a shot of his beer fridge/tap - making room for new beer! The first fermentation takes a week, the second, two weeks, and hopefully in time for a taste at X-mas!

A quiet thanksgiving, Part 1

My bro and I celebrated Thanksgiving together, this year. He is in Portland, ME, and since I moved to Peterborough, NH in late June, this seemed like the best option. John went home since all of his grandparents would be there, but I didn't feel like making the 10 hour trek both ways for four short days, and plus, the idea of Matt and I cooking T-giving dinner and going to Portland (only 2 1/2 hours away) was very appealing. Here's a pic of Matt getting serious about the dinner that we prepared.

It was a quiet thanksgiving, to say the least. But not too quiet, with two dogs and a cat around. Here is Clancy on the left, Murphy on the right, and yes, Puss-puss in the middle. It was great having so many pets around, sans the hair.

Matt made the turkey, which came out quite well, the stuffing and mashed potatoes, while I made the pumpkin pie, baked cream corn and cranberry sauce. A meal fit for 10 kings, only for two!
Good, good stuff. John and I are still eating the leftovers. We also took several dog walks around the back bay, and hit a couple of spots in Portland, including Portland Pie, at their new location and Rira's Irish Pub, where I tried my first port wine. It was a good weekend. But the best is yet to come....

For anyone interested in wine, check this out

I was recently listening to Martha Stewart radio on Sirius, which is quickly becoming one of my new obsessions. Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer, Living Today with Kerry Nolan, etc. Check it out. But onto the point. I was listening to Living Today as I was driving to the bank last week and she had a dynamic guest on the show named Gary Vaynerchuk and they talked about all kinds of wine at different price points. I've started to become more interested in wine over the past few years, and especially now that I work at a fine dining restaurant. So I googled Gary's show and found winelibrarytv.com.

Gary is spirited, practical and full of humor. Every day of the work week, there is a new show posted for all of us in internet land to check out. Gary is very price conscious as well, which is great for anyone with just about two pennies to rub together. I don't know a lot about wine yet, but I'm willing to learn more and Gary makes it fun with his tastings, comments and shout outs. Anyone from the wine novice to the learned should check it out. Just click on the link in this post or to the side!

What have you cooked for me lately?

I have been cooking lately, but in spurts. Money has been tight, especially since my Cobra health care payment has gone up to a whopping $328 per month. Ah, the joys of working without benefits. A temporary situation. But I have been good, using a lot of what we have in our cupboards and picking up some inexpensive items, here and there. Thwarts a bit, my interest in buying local, but gotta do what you gotta do, when cash is tight. But I wanted to show some dishes that I've made recently.

The day before my birthday, I made this scallops dish. Pretty run of the mill saute' of scallops - 2 tbs butter for about a pound of scallops, on medium high or medium heat, brown one side of the scallops for about a minute and a half to two minutes, and then turn over - cook 3-4 minutes total. I also fried up pancetta, maybe five slices or so. I used green leaf lettuce and a lemon shallot dressing on top, from Food and Paper blog. Here are the ingredients for the dressing:

2 tablespoons shallot, finely diced
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

Throw in some strawberries, and whalla! An awesome, awesome dinner dish. BTW, congrats Sarah on being mentioned in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for Food and Paper!


These second and third dishes are compliments of Martha Stewart, from her daytime show. Anyone who doesn't use her site, get over there, and right quick! It is fabulous. If you customize the site, you can collect, rate and share recipes, crafts, etc.

The first is a Shepherd's pie recipe, which I knew was good, from my guy's 'mmmm, mmm, mmm' sounds he made while eating it. John is an efficient eater and eats for the sake of sustenance as much as flavor. So I knew that I hit on a good one with this. Below is the recipe.

Shepherd's Pie with Rutabaga Topping
Serves 8-10

Ingredients
* 1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
* 1 sprig fresh rosemary, plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
* 1 sprig fresh thyme
* 2 dried bay leaves
* 1 clove garlic
* 1 1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter, plus more for rutabagas and potatoes
* 2 pounds boneless beef chuck or leg of lamb for stew, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 2 medium onions, chopped
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 cups dry red wine
* 1 cup homemade or store-bought low-sodium canned beef stock
* 4 carrots, cut crosswise into 3-inch pieces
* Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 3 rutabagas (about 3 pounds), peeled and cut into large pieces
* 4 russet or Yukon gold potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and cut into large pieces
* 1/2 cup hot milk, or more if needed

Directions
1. Tie celery, rosemary sprig, thyme, bay leaves, and garlic in a small piece of cheesecloth to make a bouquet garni; set aside. Heat a wide, heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat until hot. Melt butter, and brown meat in two batches, taking care not to crowd the pieces or they will steam and not brown; transfer meat to a bowl using a slotted spoon and set aside. Add onions; cook until slightly softened, about 8 minutes. Return meat to pan and sprinkle flour over the meat and onions, cook about 1 minute, stirring often.
2. Add wine, and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown bits. Add the stock and bouquet garnish, bring to a boil, cover, and cook on low heat until meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid after 1 hour; add carrots, and cook, uncovered, for the last 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Place rutabagas and potatoes in separate saucepans; cover with cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender, 30 to 40 minutes for the rutabagas and 25 minutes for the potatoes. Drain; return to the saucepans to dry out any moisture from the vegetables for a few minutes.
4. Put the rutabagas and potatoes through a food mill fitted with a fine disk, or ricer, or mash by hand. Add butter, as desired, and enough hot milk to make a creamy puree. Season with salt and pepper; stir in chopped rosemary.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove bouquet garni; transfer stew into a deep 2-quart baking dish. Top with puree; dot lightly with butter. Bake 1 hour, or until top is brown and crusty. Serve hot.

It was the first time I used cheese cloth to enclose aromatics - too fun!

Next, we have Chicken Cardamom Masala with Cashews. I was really taken by this segment on the Martha Stewart Show, I believe in November. The author of the book "Where Flavor was Born", Andreas Viestad tracked where spices originated from in his journeys and through his recipes. I've got to get this book! This is the first time I've bought a whole chicken and disassembled it. The one thing that I would do differently is to grind the spices more thoroughly with a mortar and pestle to bring out the flavors.



Chicken Cardamom Masala with Cashews
Serves 4

* 2 tablespoons garam masala
* 6 to 10 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
* 1 piece (1 inch) cinnamon stick
* 2 teaspoons red chile flakes
* 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 2/3 cup plain full-fat yogurt
* 1 4 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, or 4 chicken thighs, halved
* 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
* Vegetable oil, for frying
* 4 onions, chopped
* 3 to 5 cloves garlic, chopped
* 4 to 6 tablespoons cashews
* 1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste or ketchup
* 3 medium carrots, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
* 1 1/2 cups cauliflower florets
* 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
* Chopped fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Directions

1. Place garam masala, cardamom, cinnamon stick, chile flakes, ginger, and salt in a mortar and lightly crush with a pestle. Place chicken, yogurt, and spice mixture in a large bowl, turning chicken to coat. Let marinate, covered and refrigerated overnight.
2. Using a rubber spatula, wipe excess marinade from chicken; reserve marinade. Pat chicken with paper towels to dry; sprinkle with turmeric.
3. Heat about 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch-oven over high heat. Working in batches if necessary, add chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until skin is nicely browned, about 10 minutes.
4. Remove chicken from pot and set aside. Reduce heat and add onions and garlic. Cook, stirring, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Return chicken to pot, along with reserved marinade, cashews, and tomato paste. Cover and cook, 10 to 15 minutes. Add carrots and cauliflower, cover, and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes more.
5. Stir in cream or yogurt, if using, and cook 2 minutes more. Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.


And finally, a tasty pea soup by Giada De Laurentis. My version has a bit less cream in it, but doesn't it look pretty?

Pea and Basil Soup
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds (about 4 1/2 cups) frozen peas
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 cups chicken broth, divided
2 cups cream
4 to 6 very thin slices fresh mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup diced roasted red bell peppers (jarred is fine)

Directions
Place a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil, butter, onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the peas and basil, and heat until the peas are thawed.

Place the pea mixture in a blender. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth and pulse until pureed, adding more broth, if necessary, to puree. Return the pureed mixture to the pot. Stir in the remaining chicken broth and cream. Return the pan to medium heat and cook until hot, but not boiling.

To serve, place the soup in bowls. Float a thin slice of fresh mozzarella cheese on top of each soup and sprinkle with the diced roasted red bell peppers. Serve immediately.

To die for

Mrs. Neale goes to the library

You might almost think Osama's minnions were expected to show up at the Marietta airport & parachute into TMI with contraband library DVD's, what with the new security measures at our local library. Yesterday, after checking out our books separately, my 11 yr old son innocently tells me we can't leave yet because he has to get his picture taken. I, ever on the alert for Big Brother (just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after me), walk over to see what is going on. The librarian, as she sets up the camera to photograph my minor son without my consent, says this is a new security measure & they are taking everyone's pictures. Well no one said anything to me about it or asked for my permission I say. "Can we opt out?" I ask. "No", the librarian replies. I said this seems a bit strange; surely I am not the only one to have refused to say 'cheese' on cue?! Apparently shee p are taking over town because, yes, I am the only one so far who is being difficult. I say next thing you know they will start tracking what we read. "Oh no, we aren't allowed to do that", cry the librarians. Right.

They ask nicely if I would like to talk to the director. Really I just want to leave & get on with my other errands but I say sure. The director, a nice lady, explains to me why this is a necessary step in the war on terror, I mean, underage game renting among other things. She implies it is a small concession to have access to such an awesome selection of free materials. It isn't really asking that much to be able to utilize this wonderful institution. 2% are ruining it for the rest of us. I nod & try to grasp her points while she assures me no one will get into the computer system & use this information for nefarious purposes. I mean, people might hack into the Pentagon but not Lancaster County Library!

Now, my boys love to go to the library. They check out alot of books but also DVD's, CD's and Xbox games. I don't really understand why libraries now loan games for Game Boys, the Xbox & the Wii. But that is another rant for another day. I do know that they would be very disappointed if they could not use the library anymore just because their mother refused to drink the kool aid & let them be photographed. But what about all those unsupervised kids in the library who are being photographed without their parents even knowing? I was led to believe these same parents don't know their kids are stealing their library cards, impersonating them & using the library computers for forbidden purposes. And renting 'T' rated video games. The horror! I thought the library stood up for Banned Books, celebrated them no less, yet they are now in the business of monitoring what someone else's children are trying to borrow. In a free country. When did that responsibility make it into the public library manifesto?

Meanwhile I am thinking this photographing of all library patrons seems like an extreme reaction to a few thefts & unsupervised children. But that's just me, thinking for myself. If you stop drinking the kool aid automatically, you start questioning everything. My kids have taught me this while unschooling me over the years. The most radical act today is to educate your children yourself and along the way, you begin to see the world anew. This is not good news for Big Brother or the Nanny State. But it is great for the Republic.

"Those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither."

Catching up

I recently spent a handful of days back home in Pittsburgh. It was odd, because I had a very different reaction to being there than I thought I would. I got into town and thought to myself, 'It's too hot, it's too polluted, there's too much traffic!'. It is not a reaction that I expected. But I think, ultimately, it is a good thing. It shows that I'm adapting to my new life in New Hampshire and that I really like small town living and a more rural area. The pace of life is a bit slower here too, and that became really evident to me while I was back home.

But despite the hassles, there were good things too. Being with family, for one. It was my niece, little Fiona's third birthday. Looking at the picture, does it really get any better than that? It was quite a party, with my parents and her dad's parents, with Aunts and Uncles from both side, and three cousins. She received some great dress up clothes from her mom and you can see her new clip on earrings in the picture if your look hard enough, which she wore almost all night, despite the pain. I was able to capture this picture of her blowing out the candles, which is the best.


But somehow, the dress up clothes were off and she was in her favorite outfit of all - nothing. I'm surprised the panties remained on. Her Aunt Amy got her a pair of great new crocs, that are lined for the winter, which she is modeling here. Seriously, it doesn't get any better than this.

Another hi-light of the trip home was seeing my best bud Katcha and her new home in Elizabethtown. I saw the mill once before, before the auction that determined her and her family's new fate, but I got a much better sense this time. On the way to Pittsburgh, I stopped off in central PA for the night.

Here the entrepreneur is, walking back from putting out her two goats. The goats act as natural lawn mowers and seem pretty easy to keep. They were finishing up the second house, for her sister to move in, which was looking really good. Now the focus is shifting to the main house, with a goal of being finished by their annual New Year's party. Here are some other shots of the place.

I can't wait to see the place as it comes along. On about 40 acres, the land has a stream that goes through and what sounds like many beautiful features. Too cool.

New friends and old friends

Having good friends is so important. I feel really lucky that I have my best friend, Katcha, around to talk to on the phone and visit from time to time. In knowing my thirst for justice and detail, she bought this pocket constitution for me to be able to carry around to refer to. For one thing, who doesn't absolutely love getting packages in the mail? So when it arrived, I was ecstatic. I will use it for years to come.

But I'm also grateful for new friends that I am making here in my new New Hampshire hometown. I've met a woman named Delilah at Intermezzo and we work together most days. She has boundless energy and has a magical knack of being able to find the best things for free. I went to work recently and she made me close my eyes, telling me that she had a gift for me. She pulls out this John Travolta album, which made me totally crack up. Peterborough has one of the most progressive recycling centers that I've ever seen, complete with a 'free store' where Peterborough residents can donate and shop. Delilah picked up these two albums for me, not long after hanging out one night listening to records at my place. She affectionately calls the recycling center and free store 'the dump', as in, 'I'm taking the kids shopping at the dump today'. Too funny. This album cracked me up, threw me back to the late 70's/early 80's and made me feel all fuzzy inside, having people think about me in the off times. What's more important than good friends?

It's gonna take a lotta love...

Relationships are hard. Even the best ones. I feel lucky because I haven't had one moment of regret about moving to New Hampshire to be with John - we are both opinionated, stubborn and come at things from the opposite direction on just about every issue. But even despite the three hour, heated discussions about our issues and times of real frustration, I have such genuine feeling for him - there's no place that I would rather be than here in Peterborough, living in his house and sleeping in his bed.

But even despite the rocky times, especially after just moving in together three months ago, we have a lot of fun and sweet times together as well. On a rare weekend off for me from the restaurant Intermezzo, I made toad-in-a-holes for both of us out of multi-grain bread from the The Good Loaf, which I bought at the P-borough farmers market. If you can tell, I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to make the hole and dropped the egg in. I then adorned with both roasted red peppers on one and sundried tomatatoes on the other. Coupled with champagne with a shot of cran-grape, it was a perfect late breakfast.

An ode to Winfrey...

Winfrey is a good good friend from Pittsburgh. She's a complete individual. She's lived in Montana, Africa and China, embraces new experiences and talks so straight, that sometimes it can be mistaken for criticism. But I know she has every one's best interests at heart and is just trying to make her way in the world and create a life that is interesting and satisfying to herself. Winfrey is 31 years old and has a young daughter and teacher husband. She lives in a hip little business district of point breeze, in Pittsburgh, and is a stay-at-home mom. She taught her daughter Isa how to sign before she could talk and is a big proponent of elimination communication (pottying from infancy), baby wearing (no strollers!) and vegetarianism (if not vegan or raw). Like I said, she's an individual. And Winfrey's my girl, she knows how to have a good time.

Plus, she's an avid cook. She's one of the first people I knew who really experimented with her cooking. She shops at the East End Food Co-op and really tries to buy what's best for her family.

These two dishes are Winfrey specials. I'm not sure that she will even remember the exact recipes, but I did, and now they are documented. The first is her mexican mix over rice and the second is peanut butter sauce over rice with kale and feta. Soooooo good.

So the first is her mexican mix over rice. Basically, it involves a bit of olive oil in a frying pan, and one large onion, diced, pan fried until soft. At the same time, start 2 cups of water in a sauce pan and boil. Then add a cup of brown rice, and then simmer on low for 40 minutes. Meanwhile add 1 - 2 cloves of chopped garlic to the fry pan. After another minute or so, I add about a 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a few dashes of red pepper flakes and a hint of hot sauce. Stir that up and then add a can of your favorite beans, drained. I usually use either chick peas, black beans or kidney beans. Add a can of diced tomatoes to the mixture, then salt and pepper. Not long before getting ready to serve, add a generous portion of fresh cilantro. Once the sauce has had time to combine and the rice is done, place some rice in a bowl and add the mixture over top. Grate a healthy portion of cheddar cheese and sprinkle over the top of the sauce. Add 1/2 an avocado and some sour cream and you are good to go. Again, soooo good. And look at the color!

Another favorite of mine from Winfrey is her peanut butter sauce over rice, with kale and feta.

Peanut Butter Sauce with kale and feta over brown rice.

1 cup natural peanut butter
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 medium sized onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp hot sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp fresh lemon
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup H2O

Again, bring to a boil 2 cups of water for 1 cup of brown rice. When boiling, add rice, then bring to a simmer on low, about 40 minutes.

Saute' onions and then garlic in sesame oil. Add cumin, cayenne and hot sauce (I even add a dash or two of red pepper flakes). Then add soy sauce, peanut butter, maple syrup, lemon juice and water. Keep over medium heat until the mixture begins to combine and become smooth. Lower heat and stir until the mixture thickens.

Separately, take a generous handful of kale (a couple of cups at least) and add the juice of a 1/4 - 1/2 a lemon and some olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix with hands. Add cilantro to PB sauce right before serving. Place rice in a bowls and then spoon generous portions of the PB sauce overtop. Add a handful of kale and then throw some diced feta on top. The flavors are amazing!

The little things

Zinnias.....

What more can I say? I love him.

Stream of consiousness...

It is finally raining here & my head is killing me. It is so dark here b/c of the rain. Sawyer is taking the goats out which is nice. Oh, Saben is going to help take the goats out too. Finally my dream is becoming reality! You know, I cut off electronics here for the week. They need some "help" weaning themselves off the boob tube, Wii, Computer, etc. So none of that M-F. Yesterday was the first day & they busied themselves with creative things & were outside more. Then in the eve, I caved & let them watch the Muppets go to Manhattan that they got at the library. But it's my rule so I guess I can modify it. Merritt calls me Cave Mom.
I do hate the electronics (except for my laptop, the internet and my cell & bluetooth, of course!) & would love to get rid of all of them. I am trying to not be too extreme & compromise a bit. Then we stop at my parents yesterday, I leave to run groceries home quick & the kids immediately turn on the tv at my mom's. I come in & tell them off with it. My mom is like "why?". I explain the deal. I think she may have even rolled her eyes! She thinks I am ridiculous with the flax seed waffles & organic maple syrup that no one wants to eat, except me! The kids told me in the car later that she told them I watched tv all the time when i was a kid. i told them she is full of it b/c there was hardly anything on tv when i was a kid. That's why she didn't have to monitor it. Until we got cable in middle school then we had Mtv-wohoo. i also told them just b/c Nana let me "watch tv all the time" according to her, I want them to have a more interesting existence than that. I do love the John Prine song "Blow up your tv, throw away your paper, move to the country, build you a home. Plant a little garden, eat alot of peaches, try to find Jesus on your own". Kind of my inspiration really. On the waffle thing, Saben tells me he will eat waffles so I get these yummy looking organic flax seed waffles & expensive organic real maple syrup. No one likes them. Turns out my mom has pillsbury waffles & junky Aunt Jemima corn syrup & he likes that only. I understand b/c it does taste great, all sugary. Part of our corn addiction. Speaking of which, look for King Corn the movie. Anyway, my mom tells me to just get the good stuff (aka junk) & quit ruining all the fun. She tells me her dad ruined her mom's fabulous waffles making them use sorghum syrup (which I also like) among other things. i forget the other examples. But it was funny. The problem is that when we were little there were not so many choices of junk to eat or junk on tv. My mom didn't have to monitor what we ate b/c we ate freaking swiss chard & even nasty ole liver at dinner without too much trouble b/c that is what we were used to. Then along came doritos & totally warped our taste buds & addicted us to various chemical flavor enhancers. Have you seen Over the Hedge? It is an animated movie for kids. The "deep" meaning I took from it was that the wild animals (aka: children) were content to stockpile bark (aka: zucchini) & eat it all year (aka: canning & freezing so you can eat local all year) until the Racoon (Bruce Willis) shows up & they look over the hedge at the subdivision that went up at some point but they were afraid to look. He goes over there & steals junk food & they get addicted to doritos hence their dependence on 'the man' which fosters descent among the ranks. The struggle continues...

From Saben: "This antidote is very poisonous. Heidi- I miss you. Remember don't drink poisonous antidote." (this is in reference to his test tube filled with Poke berries from yesterday. He also has a pet red wasp named Bob frozen in another test tube). They crack me up! They are out running around in the rain & are now soaked & dirty. Much better than playing Wii & simulating running in the rain! Now they need a funnel...

Busy day today, going to Mt Hope winery north of Manheim to pay for the Ren Faire field trip . I wanted to sample some wine but have to see if my head is better by then. Then off to Lancaster for Latin. Then to Jill's farm south of York to visit the chicken lady & check out her birds. Then home sweet home. No wonder I can't seem to finish painting this house!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Knitting, cooking and football. Not too many things can top that on a rainy Sunday afternoon, in my book. I just finished knitting this hat for my niece Fiona, who will be turning three in a week and a half. I'm lucky enough to be able to make the trip to Pittsburgh to witness it. I'm so excited about this hat because the colors are so vibrant and it is going to look just great on her. She is someone who can really wear bright colors, even if they clash, and still look completely cute. This is her, but now minus the binky, but I couldn't resist this picture. It shows her like she is, one of a kind, doing her own thing.

The pattern is compliments of a neat knitting book called Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, which breaks down projects by the time line in which you can complete them. This is my first finished knitted object in a long time and I'm getting the itch once again.

My newest cooking excursion was to make Pancetta and Turkey meatloaf sandwiches with Arugula mayonnaise, with the help of - you guessed it - my good friend Giada. Paired with sweet potato fries, it made a perfect late afternoon, Sunday meal. I was particularly happy with the Arugula mayonnaise - it just blended together so nicely in the blender, which makes me so happy, since I don't have a large food processor. The salty, vinegary goodness of the sandwiches was balanced perfectly with the sweetness of the sweet potato fries.

And finally, what better way to eat those sandwiches than in front of your favorite sunday football game. Being from Pittsburgh, you pretty much have to sign a waiver to be a Steelers fan until your last breath before dying and display unending enthusiasm. I'm more of a college football girl, but with John playing in no less than three fantasy football leagues, it seems that I'm required this season to convert. And thanks to our new dish system, we can see every Steeler game this year. You can take the girl out of the 'burgh, but you can't take the 'burgh out of the girl. Steelers 34 - Brownies 7. Oh yeah.

Current obsession, part 2

White peach crisp, the Peterborough famer's market and couscous salad.....and the obsession continues. Here is a super-simple recipe, again from my mom, for those gorgeous late summer peaches. I was able to pick up white peaches at the Peterborough farmer's market (more below) and finally used them to make a white peach pie rollup. Regular peaches work just as well, but the whites cut the sweetness just a bit.

White Peach Pie Rollup

8 - 10 peaches, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp white sugar
one pre-made store bought crust

Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet or pan with sides. Toss the peaches, flour, brown sugar and white sugar together. Place one round pie crust on the sheet and spoon in the peach mixture, leaving about two inches around the edge. Turn up the edges around the peaches to make a pocket. Check the pie crust temperature on the box and bake accordingly. Add freshly made whipped cream to the top!

And there's nothing like farm stand fare. I've been shopping the Peterborough Farmer's Market almost every Wednesday. I'm able to get freshly baked bread, veggies, eggs, herbs, fresh fish, flowers and more. A sampling of the bounty from this past week - beautiful dark green kale, cherry tomatoes, an 'ugly' tomato and fresh blueberries. I also picked up this flounder, which I pan fried to perfection.


A new friend, Elisha, has a business called Liberty Fish, and delivers fish to people's homes and sells at select farmer's markets in southern New Hampshire. Some of her selections include haddock, flounder, monkfish, salmon, scallops, bass and more. She works with a family-run wholesaler of fresh seafood in Boston and supplies us New Hampshirites with delicious, fresh fish. What an awesome business idea! There is nothing like fresh produce, bread and fish.

I'm really trying to focus more on supporting local farmers, which brings me fresher, more tasty fare. Plus, the farmer's market has a great atmosphere, always with music, right in the center of town. Other vendors sell essential oils, handmade knitting, jewelry, soaps and creams. I also bought these flowers there - gladiolas and sunflowers, to brighten up my dark dining room.


A shout out to Katcha Leigh too, who has yet to start blogging, but we'll give her a pass since she's just moved in the last month to a 40-acre property with multiple houses and buildings, started the new school year home-schooling two kids and has been working diligently on fixing up her new homes! She sent me the following recipe for couscous salad that turned out to be soooo good....I'm now obsessed with that.

Katcha's Couscous salad

one 10-oz package of couscous
1 large carrot, peeled and coursely grated
1/2 medium red pepper, finely minced
2 medium celery ribs, sliced thinly
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 sweet apple, diced in 1/2 inch bites
1 medium cucumber, seeded, peeled and chunked
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped

For the dressing
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground all spice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Prepare couscous per package directions. If you buy bulk, bring two cups of water and 1 tbsp olive oil to a boil. Add 1 tsp salt and add the 10 oz couscous. Bring back to a boil and remove from heat, with lid. Fluff with a fork after five minutes.

Once the couscous has cooled, add all ingredients, except those for the dressing. Some modifications that I made....I skipped the celery, and cut down on the red onion - I used about 1/3 of a medium red onion. I didn't grate the carrot, but sliced it into somewhat thin rounds. Instead of raisins and apples, I substituted blueberries, and I also substituted toasted sunflower seeds for the pine nuts. Finally, I added chunked feta cheese to give it some pop.

Combine all the dressing ingredients and whisk together. Add the mixture to the couscous salad and mix. So good!