A dream come true!

I'm torn. I want the snow to stick around because I want to do more cross-country skiing. I also want the snow to melt and ground to thaw so I can start working on my garden!

The apartment has a small garden plot in the backyard, which is to be shared with our downstairs neighbors. But when I say small, I mean small. It's roughly 2' x 10' of shared space.

Through a bit of online research we discovered that a new community garden will be established a mere three blocks from our apartment! A vacant lot in front of the Hide House - a tannery turned artist space - will be transformed into a beautiful garden space, thanks to Bay View residents and the Victory Garden Initiative.

Vaughn and I jumped on this opportunity and reserved two 4' x 8' for this season! Now the planning begins...

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Vegetables:

Beans: Rattlesnake Pole Bean - an heirloom variety available from High Mowing. These will grow up bamboo teepees

Beets: Bull's Blood Beets - an heirloom variety available from High Mowing. I grew these as salad greens in my garden last year. Beautiful and delicious!

Broccoli: Belstar F1 Hybrid - a compact plant for a compact garden, available from High Mowing. I'll probably stagger the plantings so that I can have broccoli throughout the season - this one does well from spring to fall. Also might grow some broccoli raab, available from Seeds of Change. This one likes cooler weather so I'll plant it in the spring.

Carrots: Napoli F-1 Hybrid- an early full-sized carrot, available from both High Mowing and Seeds of Change. Not sure if I should get regular seeds or pelleted. I tried pelleted last year and the carrots never came up. I'll stagger the plantings on these so we can have harvests throughout the season. The flavor also improves when the temperatures cool off in the fall.

Chard: Rainbow Mix - of course! This will add a splash of color to the garden and my plate.

Cucumbers: Adam F-1 Hybrid - a variety of little picklers available from Seeds of Change. I'll train these up a bamboo teepee like the beans. Can't wait to make pickles again!

Kale: Lacinato Dinosaur - my new favorite heirloom variety available from High Mowing and Seeds of Change. This is a very hardy variety and gets sweeter after a hard frost. I'll sow an early and late season crop.

Peas: Sugar Ann Snap Pea - an early dwarf vined pea with a heavy crop of petite pods. Available from High Mowing.

Peppers: King of the North - a sweet variety that's great for shorter growing seasons. Available from High Mowing. Hungarian Hot Yellow Wax - an early variety and Vaughn's pick. Perfect for pickling.

Spinach: Renegade F1 - a very bolt resistant, smooth-leafed variety available from High Mowing and Seeds of Change. A great quality, tasty leaf.

Tomatoes: Pruden's Purple - an heirloom variety from High Mowing. A large, balanced tomato that rivals the Brandywine. Peacevine - a de-hybridized selection of the Sweet 100 F1 available from High Mowing. Small, uniform, tasty and sweet!

Herbs:

Basil: Aton - a semi-compact Genovese-type basil available from High Mowing.

Cilantro: Santo - easy growing and cool weather tolerant variety from High Mowing.

Sage: Common - my favorite herb. Available from High Mowing.

Thyme: German - might use as a border plant. Available from High Mowing.

Catnip: Common - a little something for Bowie. Available from High Mowing.

Flowers:

Nasturtium: Dwarf Jewel - makes a beautiful border and provides peppery flowers for adding to salads. Available from High Mowing.

Marigold: Tangerine Gem - smaller plants with beautiful bright orange edible flowers that have a citrus flavor. Also great for keeping pests at bay. I plan to plant these around the border.

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The challenge will be fitting all of those into our plots! To save space in the plots, we will probably plant the tomatoes and peppers in our backyard. Training the beans, peas, and cucumbers to climb will also save space in the garden.

I can't wait to order and start seeds! The only south-facing window in our apartment is the one in my office. I have my long sewing table set up under it, and the spot right in front of the window is Bowie's favorite napping spot. I'll have to temporarily relocate Bowie so I can use that window for starting seeds. I'm thinking of using the leftover window plastic to make a mini greenhouse - which will also prevent Bowie from messing with the plants and knocking them off the table. We'll see how it goes...

Pizza and Little Swimmy Things

We might have established a new Sunday night dinner tradition: homemade, individual pizzas with toppings to our liking!

I used Alton Brown's recipe for pizza dough. I always turn to Alton for no-nonsense recipes for the basic stuff. At the bottom of the recipe there is a note about the salt. He said that some people have complained about too much salt and provides instructions for proper reduction it. I read that after adding the whole tablespoon, but I have no complaints. I have an affinity for salt - heck, I the lick salt off of pretzels and chips before eating them. Weird, I know, but I have a condition where I need more salt than the average person so that I'm capable of standing for more than fifteen minutes without passing out. Fun, huh?

Anywho...

Vaughn chose red pepper, jalapenos, and ham for his toppings. I chose red pepper (it was huge), garlic, and sardines. Now, before you say "ew!", "gross!", "ick!", I must defend the little brinies from the deep!

Sardines are good for you - and they taste good too! They are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, calcium, B12 and protein. These little guys are low on the fishy food chain which means they're also low in mercury. In addition, they are sustainable because they are proficient reproducers and the demand for them has decreased significantly since the early/mid 20th century. Just to clarify, they're not the same as anchovies which have a strong flavor from the curing process. Sardines are just canned, not cured. They come fully prepped, lightly smoked, and packed in little tins with water, oil, or sauces. I like the ones packed in olive oil...mmm!

Moral of this story - put down pizza delivery menu and try making your own pizza sometime...and give sardines a chance!

For more information on sustainable seafood, check out the Monteray Bay Seafood Watch website.

Success and Lunch Plans

Concentrating on the job search has finally paid off! I had an interview yesterday morning at the Sendik's grocery store in Elm Grove. After 15 minutes of questions and such, the manager something to the effect of, "I don't normally do this, but you seem like a pleasant person...I'm going to offer you the job." After months and months of applications, waiting, and hoping, I finally found someone who wanted me to work for them.

I start next week as a bakery associate. The job is only part time, but it gives me a chance to work on my photo business and take the photo management class at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC). Oh, and it will take care of my bills - which is always a good thing - leaving me with a little left over for fun things.

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In other news, I have a guest coming over for lunch tomorrow. Elliott is a very nice, older gentleman and my mentor. I was given a scholarship in his name at Ohio University, and, after graduation, I just happened to wind up living a mile from him. What luck to already know someone before moving to a new city! So I spent the morning figuring out what to make for lunch. Fortunately, Ina Garten has a list of lunch menus on her website. Here's the plan:

Mache with Warm Brie and Apples
French Onion Soup
Croque Monsieur

I most likely won't be able to find Mache at my local co-op, but they usually have something I can sub it with. Tatsoi, baby spinach, or mixed baby greens would be tasty and the co-op always has those stocked. Since this is easy to throw together, I can whip it up at the last minute so that it's ready to eat when Elliott arrives at noon.

French onion soup will be souper easy. Haha - get it? Just onions, broth, a little booze, and seasoning. Ina's recipe keeps it simple and doesn't fuss with the whole French bread and gob of cheese topping in individual bowls and stuck under the broiler. The recipe calls for Sherry and Brandy or Cognac, since I don't have those I'll just use broth and white wine to deglaze the pan. I'll probably start it at 11 and have it ready and keeping warm at noon.

The Croque Monsieur is a little more labor intensive, but since the other two dishes are easy, I can concentrate on prepping the sandwiches. I'll start the Gruyere cheese sauce at about 11:30. Assemble the sandwiches at 11:45. Toss them into the toaster oven to broil when Elliott arrives.

I can't wait! I love entertaining - especially with all the new wedding gifts.

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Here are the links to the recipes:

Mache with Warm Brie and Apples
http://www.dreamydish.com/mache-with-warm-brie-and-apples

French Onion Soup
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/french-onion-soup-recipe/index.html

Croque Monsieur
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/croque-monsieur-recipe/index.html

Beer!

Ugh, it's been a month since my last post. Sorry for such a long delay, but I've been preoccupied with finding a job and getting my portfolio site setup.

My husband's hobby of home brewing is starting to rub off on me. This past month I brewed two beers: one we call Gwenirium Tremendous (a Delirium Tremens clone) and an organic brown ale (a test batch for the organic chai ale for my sister and her boyfriend).

The Gwenirium Tremendous was brewed a couple weeks ago (I think?) and we bottled it into beautiful 750ml Belgian beer bottles, complete with corks and cages. The beer is in our attic "cellar" working on it's carbonation, in the meantime I will work on designing labels. I hope to have it all put together to send out for the holidays, and will hopefully be fully (or mostly) carbed in time for consumption on Christmas!

The organic brown ale doesn't have a name yet because it's still a wee little one. Last week I brewed a three gallon batch using grain instead of DME (that's dry malt extract...what you get from grain, then dried). The brewing went very well and my original gravity was almost spot on.

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Original gravity is a measure of the sugar content before fermentation (density of fermented beer - or wort in brew terms - compared to the density of water). With this number you can determine the approximate amount of alcohol after fermentation and how much residual sugars there will be. Lower sugar...less alcohol. More sugar and either the yeast will consume most of it to make a high alcohol beer or the yeast won't be able to consume it all and quit, leaving more residual sugar. All depends on the yeast strain. That's my limited knowledge of gravity...read more here.

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The organic brown now resides in our closet and is mostly done fermenting. We had a taste of it tonight and it has a very pleasant brown sugar taste to it. Not sure what we'll transfer it to when it's done...bottle into 12oz bottles ooooor perhaps put it into our little corny keg to keep on tap in out mini fridge. Now all I need to do is come up with a name for it...any suggestions??

Sorry...no photos this time. Fermenting beer is not very photogenic! I'll post photos of the Gwenirium Tremendous when I have labels on 'em.

Next post will most likely be Christmas related...my mother-in-law is kidnapping me to help with holiday prep work which will involve food, food, and more food!

Pasta

I want to try making staple pantry items, so I've started with pasta. Seems easy, right? Well, without the aid of a pasta maker, rolling out the dough proved to be very tricky.

The Ingredients

2 cups AP flour
3 eggs
Pinch of salt

The ingredient list is so simple, but you can jazz up the pasta with things like spinach, tomato, squid ink...I'll get into flavored pastas in another post, after I've had time to test them.

The Process

1. On a clean, dry surface, mound up the flour and make a little well in the middle.
2. Crack eggs into a separate bowl. Check for bits of shell. Pour into the well. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Beat the eggs using a fork. Start drawing in flour from the edges of the well.
4. Continue drawing in flour until all ingredients are combined. If the dough looks dry, add a little water, if the dough look wet, add a little flour.
5. Knead dough for 10 minutes. This can also be done in the mixer with a dough hook.

Now here's were methods diverge...

If you have a pasta maker and know how to use it...USE IT!

I didn't have one so I used the manual method. It is necessary to pull the dough with one hand as you roll it out with the other. This helps to break the elasticity of the gluten so that you can roll it out flat without it snapping back into a blob.

This was very tricky and gave my arms a good workout!

Once the dough is thin enough - about 1/8 inch - use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into a rectangular shape. Next, you can use a straight edge - i like the edge of a flexible cutting board - cut the dough into desired widths. When cutting by hand, it is easier to make wider pastas like linguine.

Right away, or save for later?

If you want to use the pasta right away, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt - not a pinch, a couple tablespoons - and cook the pasta, stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes. It doesn't take long for fresh pasta to cook so keep an eye on it or else it will turn to goo.

If you want to save it you have a couple options. Drape the pasta over a skewer or chop stick supported by two tall glasses. You can let them dry and store in a zip-top bag for later use.

-Or-

You can wrap a several strands of pasta around your fingers and layer them between waxed paper in a resealable container. You can either stash them in the fridge and use in a week, or put them in the freezer and use in a month.

Enjoy!

Ack!

Ok, ok...I'm sorry! There will be taste bud tantalizing posts in the near future. I promise!

Vaughn and I are mostly unpacked. I've been trying to find work and going through my nesting phase of the move. Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced the USB cable for my camera when we moved.

And what's a food and photography blog without delicious looking photos?!

...just a bunch of words.

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On another note...

Today I was flying home via Columbus from a lecture at Ohio University. I was making my way through security and just before I got in line for the metal detectors, my cousin Beth pops up! She was with her sister Kim and were enjoy a cup of coffee before going through security. I got out of line and sat down to chat for a little bit. We got onto the topic of cooking because they both love to cook and enjoy checking out this blog. They suggested that I write a cookbook and take photographs for it, so I've been kicking that idea around in my head since then.

If I were to write a cookbook, it would have to be titled Gwen in the Kitchen. I'm no five-star chef whipping up masterful creations with top-quality ingredients. Just an everyday person in the kitchen, armed with self-taught culinary knowledge and the essential tools of the trade.

I want to share with others my passion for food without the fuss. Delicious, simple recipes that anyone can make. I want to show people how to eat consciously by knowing where their food comes from and how it impacts the world. There will be an emphasis on vegetarian, flexitarian, seasonal, sustainable, and local ways to enjoy food.

Who knows if I will actually write it, but it seems like a fun goal to work towards.

On hold

Just for a little while.

My husband and I have been caught up in our relocation to Milwaukee. Vaughn was recently hired to work at a home brew store that is opening a new location in the Milwaukee area. For the past couple of weeks we have been taking trips up there and scouring the area for apartments. We finally found a second floor flat in a very nice neighborhood. And the kitchen! Very nice compared to the other apartments we have lived in and looked at. Here's a photo...

Plenty of cabinets and counter space. Newer appliances - big side by side fridge with handy ice/water dispenser. Glass top electric stove, which will take some getting used to. At least the heating element in the oven is at the top...the gas stoves in other rentals I've lived in had the heating element on the bottom, so browning anything was a nightmare and broiling took place too close to the floor for comfort. Ick.

We move in on Thursday (huzzah!), so I can't promise much in the way of posts until we get set up. Perhaps a few blurbs here and there.

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This weekend we are visiting our friends in Athens and will be eating at our most beloved restaurants and drinking at our usual bars.

We headed straight for the Union when we got into town late last night. The Union has a newly renovated bar downstairs for those who just want to hang out and drink, and a bar upstairs in their venue space so you don't have to run downstairs for a drink and miss a band's set.

When I first came to Athens, the Union was filled with burly biker punks up to their necks in tattoos with cigarettes dangling from their lips. The scene has changed over the years and is now a popular haunt for the "hipster" kids to hang out, listen to bands and drink pitchers of PBR. This is probably a result of ACRN, the university's student run radio station, hosting numerous shows at the Union. That's alright by me though, the burly biker punks can hang out at the Smiling Skull Saloon, which has the reputation of being a biker bar anyways.

Later today I will be meeting friends at Jackie O's (formerly O'Hooley's and still sometimes call it that). They are proud to be Athens' only brewpub and offer a wide and ever changing assortment of craft beers, as well as delicious food including their beer batter fish and chips and handmade pizza on spent grain crust.

Through the back there is a beer garden, perhaps the best in town because it's filled with locals and a laid back crowd instead of frat dudes and sorority chicks. It became one of our favorite spots this past year for post-class lunch (or dinner) and beer outings. Post-class...I swear! Especially wonderful after my 1pm-10pm days of back to back art classes. No break for lunch, or dinner, and I was quite frazzled by the end of the day. Beer me!

That reminds me, Jackie O's bought the space next door, where Skippers Bar and Grill used to be, and have begun working on the space. This is great because Jackie O's currently has eight booths outside and four booths, two tables and a handful of bar stools around a tiny bar inside. The are installing a long bar with many taps (20 maybe? not sure) and a lot more seating. It will be much more comfortable, especially on nights when there's a game on.

That's all for now, but probably another post later this weekend. Stay tuned!