My D'anjou Pear Tree

It's harvest time for my pear tree! I finally figured out what kind of pear it is - D'anjou. It's a hard pear that is picked in September before they're ripe, but still "mature" or when the pear is tilted sideways and comes off the tree easily. The total harvest this year is three bushels, one of which was compost. One bushel has been shared. I just picked the second bushel this evening, with my neighbor's fruit picker. The pears seem better than last year. I don't know if it's because they're actually better than last year, or because I know what they are this year. It's probably a little of both, and a good illustration of the permaculture principle on yield, stating that the yield of a system is only limited by the information and imagination of the designer.

I have figured out two successful recipes for the pears.

Pear Sauce
Slice 8 pears and boil them for 30 minutes. Drain. Puree in a food processor. Stir in ½ cup orange juice concentrate and some grated nutmeg.

Pear Crisp
Slice pears fairly thin, enough to fill a pan.
Pour a little water or pear juice or orange juice over them, so that there’s about ½ inch in the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle with sugar and nutmeg, and a little flour.
Bake til bubbly, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the crisp topping up with your hands: 1 softened stick butter, some oats, flour, sugar and cinnamon. You want the topping to be kinda crumbly, sticking together in marble sized bits.
Take the pears out of the oven and sprinkle on the topping.
Bake until topping is golden brown.

I'm going to try Jana's pear chutney this weekend, and maybe do a little more canning.

Still, I'm going to have to be really creative, industrious AND generous to make sure these pears maximize their potential. Does anyone want some pears?



The rest of the garden is happy too. Two of my Sweet 100 Cherry Tomato plants are over six feet high (tied to the ladder), and producing delicious little gems. My green bean plant is about done, and yielded me about five quarts of beans over the last two months. The basil, sage, cilantro and parsley. Hopefully, I can keep the cilantro from bolting so quickly this time. I have peas sprouting. I've planted winter kale, asian greens, chard and some other spinach type edible. We're still getting a few strawberries.


The long pole leaning on the fence is the fruit picker.

Canning with April - part 2

April and I did our summer canning last Sunday. In total, we put up:
-Applesauce - 4 quarts and 8 pints
-Tomatoes - 3 quarts
-Strawberry Jam - 5 pints (we ran out of half-pints) and two half-pints
-Blackberry Jam - 8 half-pints
-Peach marmalade - 10 half-pints
This is about twice what we put up last year.

With the little prep I did on Saturday, we spent five hours and 10 pounds of sugar on the production. It was fun. The house smelled like a candy factory.

Made with Love

This is a non-gluten, non-dairy, non-sugar strawberry "cheesecake." You may wonder how something can be at all good without flour, dairy or sugar, but the universal review is that it is. Just try it. It's easier than it sounds.

"cheesecake"
1 pound raw cashews, soaked for 12 hours (put in a bowl with water 1-2 inches over the nuts)
1 cup raw coconut oil
20 ripe strawberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 pinches sea salt
4 tbsp agave nector or honey
1/2 cup almond milk (made fresh) or 1 cup coconut water (what I used)

Rinse and drain cashews. Place teh cashews in the food processor until the batch turns to butter. Place one cup of coconut water into blender, then the topped strawberries, followed by the salt, honey, coconut oil, then the cashews - blending along the way, stirring towards the end, until it forms a creamy thick blend.

Original Crust
1/4 pound each of golden flax seeds, buckwheat and a nut of your choice
15 medjool pitted dates
Place all in a food processor for four minutes. Press into pan.

Velma's crust
Enough ground nut flour to cover the bottom of the pan, pressed in with about a 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil.

Pour the "cheesecake" into the pan over the crust. Cover and freeze for five hours. Serve with fresh cut fruit on the side.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Kristi-Sue Boone of Bloom Cafe in Yogi Times July 2007.

It's raw vegan bliss.


Really.

What's for dinner

Every time I experience a period during which I can't cook, such as before, during and after a vacation, or during the few weeks before the annual meeting, immediately following said period, I do an immense bit of cooking. We just got back from vacation on Monday, so here's my last 24 hours or so.

Thursday evening
Massive grocery shopping trip

Friday after work
Make dinner - pork chops, sauteed zucchini, and corn on the cob
Put dishes away
Put laundry in the dryer
Make 3 quarts* (six servings) of fruit smoothies for next week, complete with green algae and protein powder, three bananas, most of one cantelope, a pound of blueberries, and 1 apple.
Make a better than pumpkin (butternut squash) pie
Make carrot cupcakes
Wash the dishes
Pet the cat
Soak beans*
Soak rice*
Soak nuts*

Saturday
Try my smoothie, adding flax seed, cod liver oil and multi-vitamin powder*
Slow roast nuts*
Cook beans in crock pot with a dried chili pepper
Roast beets
Bake bacon
Talk to Grandma
Talk to Dad
Fold laundry
Type up recipes for library cook book
Make burger patties to freeze
Make cream cheese icing
Whip cream
Make hot cereal for lunch
Make kale chips*
Make kale salad*
Ice cupcakes
Put laundry away
Cat Nap with cat
Harvest potatoes - 1 gallon!
Pick green beans - a handful
Dig up garlic - six heads
Pick lettace - a big bowl full
Trim garden
Pick and compost plums (They're ornamental.)
Shower
Have a cup of tea
Eat some sliced turkey
Make rice
Hard Boil a dozen eggs*
Have beans, rice, eggs and kale salad for dinner
Read two magazines
Make a cup of cocoa (from my own mix)
Watch Babette's Feast, a movie starring food
Enjoy a piece of pie with whipped cream
Post on blog.
Pet the cat.

It's now 9pm, and I'm sure I'll be in bed by 10.

Tomorrow I'm going to put a beef roast and potatoes in the crock pot, make salsa, and maybe sew. Oh, and I still need to unpack.

You may wonder why I made so much food. Well, I like to eat, and I like to eat good food, and I eat a lot. I also like to make dinner when I get home for work during the week, which is way easier, when I have a base of supplies in the fridge to start with.

*I went to see a nutritionist this week. She gave me some good suggestions for eating better (more protein), some cooking tips, and some yummy recipes.

Soaking nuts and grains helps dissolve an outer layer of something that makes them easier to digest.
The smoothie was actually quite good and filling.

Kale Chips
Surprisingly good
Cut up a bunch of kale into small strips.
Bake for 30 minutes at 300 degrees F.
They turn into crispy little things that even Mark will eat.

Kale Salad
Cut up a bunch of kale into small strips.
Toss with two cloves chopped garlic and 1-3 tbsp each of olive oil, bragg's amino acids (tastes like soy sauce but better for you), and rice vinegar.
The longer it marinates, the better it tastes.

How My Garden Grows

My garden is very happy. The peas, cilantro and chard are delicious. Next up is lettuce and tomatoes. The poppies are blooming like crazy. We have a crop of other wildflowers, nasturiums and potatoes coming up too. We've planted a few vines to start leafing out the fence. Mark keeps the patio and walk tidy. And we finally got a little table and stable chairs for somewhere to rest our drinks!

I had no idea how much I would love fresh cilantro. I made salsa a few days ago with it.

Salsa Fresca Tradicional Recipe
Finely chop:
2-3 ripe, local farm grown, heirloom tomatoes
1/4 onion
2-3 sprigs cilantro (use scissors)

Sprinkle 2-3 pinches of salt.
Squeeze on 1/4 lime.
Add 1 tbs sugar if needed. (I didn't need it, because the tomatoes were sweet enough.)
Stir.

I used to HATE cilantro and anything that went along with it - ie mexican food. I'm really glad taste buds get refreshed every seven years, because now I enjoy mexican one-two times a week - either at home or out.

The diseased australian tree has finished dropping it really sticky pollen for this year, so we will no longer have a cat with filthy paws coming in all the time.


Orson is still loving the garden. He goes out all day and then comes is and sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. Except when he's on crack - or maybe that's the cat nip. I planted cat nip out in the yard a few weeks ago, it was lush and about eight inches high. I checked yesterday and it was a nub. If Orson ate it, it's the first time he's ever been interested in cat nip. We've put it out for him multiple times with no effect.

Here's a couple of pictures of a tired kitty!

I am Grateful

I love Thanksgiving. In fact, it's my second favorite holiday (first is halloween, third is passover). I love that it's focus is on remembering and celebrating the things that make our life rich. A huge part of my life is my loved ones - friends and family. For Thanksgiving this year, we had 12 people at dinner. In a city flat this is no small feat. But you can see here that all are situated comfortably.


The other thing I love about Thanksgiving is the food. Here's our perfect turkey! It was seriously one of the best turkeys I've ever eaten, if I do say so myself. Thank you, Alton Brown, for the brining inspiration.

For D. Matson

Thanksgiving Cranberry Bread
From Recipes for a Small Planet

a 5" x 12" loaf of 12 slices

1 slice=approx. 5 grams of usable protein
11% to 13% of average daily protein need

1/4 cup butter
2/3 to 1 cup honey
2 eggs
1 cup orange juice
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup milk powder (1/3 cup instant)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts
2 cups of fresh whole cranberries

(1) Cream the butter and honey; beat in the eggs and orange juice.
(2) In a seperate bowl stir together all of the dry ingredients (not the cranberries); add them gradually to the liquid mixture. Fold in the cranberries.
(3)Turn the batter into an oiled and floured loaf pan. Back at 325 degrees F for 1 to 1.25 hours.


I've never actually made this recipe. It sounds good though. D. Matson saw my recipe post for Kitchen Sink cookies and requested this recipe. I'll try it soon.

Perfect Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

1. Enlist two friends to help get the brains out of six pumpkins.

2. Wash and drain the pumpkin seeds. (Note: don't dry the pumpkin seeds. that takes too much time.)

3. Spread half of the seeds on one cookie sheet and half on another.

4. Generously drizzle olive oil on both sheets. (note: don't measure anything. again, who has time for that?)

5. On one sheet very liberally sprinkle garlic salt, on the other sheet, sprinkle cayanne pepper and salt.

6. Stir the seeds to make sure some seasoning gets on all the seeds. Then spread out evenly again.

7. Stick in oven at 300 degrees F and set timer for 45 minutes.

8. Meet and greet the people coming to the party. Make at least six rounds through the house. Enlist four more friends to help carve brainless pumpkins. Go outside.

9. Come back inside. See a neighbor taking the seeds out of the oven - five minutes after the timer went off.

10. Taste test. They're good. Put in bowls and spread around the party.

11. Wake up in the morning. Eat the last four pumpkin seeds and be glad you saved one pumpkin for yourself to carve.


Inspired by: http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/appetizers/snacks/pumpseeds.html

For Kenya

Banana Bread Muffins
From Recipes for a Small Planet

1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup honey
3 eggs
1 cup mashed banana pulp
1/3 cup water and 1/4 cup milk powder OR 1/2 cup milk or soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups whole wheat flour
walnut pieces

Cream together butter and honey with an electric mixer until light. Beat in the eggs, banana pulp, water/milk, and vanilla. Stir together dry ingredients and stir them into the wet mixture with as few strokes as possible. Stir in 1 to 2 cups walnut pieces. Turn the batter into an oiled loaf pan; bake at 325 for about an hour, until well browned and a tester comes out clean. OR scoop about 1/3 cup batter into a cupcake-lined muffin pan. Bake at 325 for about 40 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen muffins. Awesome when topped with Nutella.

My changes in italics.

With a spoon

Thank you, Universe. Thank you, Cuisinart. Thank you, Marlene, for the Cuisinart.

I have been questing for years for authentic thai peanut sauce - because this sauce is up there with chocolate as a nectar of the goddesses. I've tried many recipes - all of them with peanut butter - all of them unsatisfying.

So, I decided that, as a proud new owner of a Cuisinart Food Processor, I might venture out into the world of recipes that say something like "process into a fine meal."

And I am soooo glad I tried...

I made peanut sauce. Peanut sauce worthy of spinach prahram, of chicken satay, of eating with a spoon. When Sarah asked me what I was eating it with (I was talking with her on the phone during this culinary adventure), I answered, "a spoon." Honestly. Knowing what's in peanut sauce, I know that's not a good habit to foster. But, for glory's sake, the peace and joy and satisfaction garnered from this is.....

Well, check it out for yourself. Don't worry about the quantities, but be careful of burning your tounge. Don't forget to try it with a little chocolate. May I recommend Sharfenberger milk?

The Cookie Recipe

from Recipes for a Small Planet
discovered during my no processed sugar experiment

Kitchen Sink Cookies
A little bit of everything makes these so good!

* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/4 cup soy flour (makes the dough taste icky, but adds greatly to the nutritional value of the cookies)
* 1 1/3 cups rolled oats (or mixed rolled grains, which is what I use. quick or not doesn't matter)
3/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
* 1/4 cup milk powder (or 1/3 instant)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered ginger (pumpkin pie spice works really well for the cinnamon and ginger)
2/3 cup raisins (I hate raisins in cookies, so I always substitute chocolate. But to each their own.)
2/3 cup chocolate chips (if substituting chocolate for the raisins, only put in one cup of chips total, or they fall out of the cookie batter and burn on the pan.)
*1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
*1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup oil (canola works well or you can melt butter)
1/4 cup molasses (if you don't have this around you can just add a little more honey)
1/4 cup honey (darker honey is better for cooking)
*2 eggs, beaten

1. Stir together all of the dry ingredients
2. Beat the eggs in a small bowl; measure the oil then the honey and molasses in the same measuring cup. (the oil makes the honey Slide out). Beat all the liquid ingredients together thoroughly.
3. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine until the dry ingredients are moistened. If the mixture seems too dry add some milk or water until the dough is of drop cookie consistency. (It's a pretty dry dough. and mixes most easily by hand.)
4. Drop the cookies on to an unoiled cookie sheet. Bake at 350*F for 10-12 minutes. (two spoons work well for dropping the cookies. but mostly I use wet hands.)

The recipe says this makes 4 dozen cookies, but I've never gotten that many, unless I double or triple the recipe, which works well.

* These ingredients combine to make a high protein/energy cookie.

Tiramisu

Yesterday, I walked down Valencia to the local library branch to get my library card. On the way back, I stopped in Lucca's, which is a great little market for anything Italian. Had I realized this earlier, I would have made tiramisu ages ago! I'd been waiting for over a year to find the right lady finger cookies, which they had right in the front door! I picked up some marscopone and headed home for a taste adventure.

This recipe was given to me by Massimilliano, a Roman surgeon who stayed with us for a month in Portola Valley.

As he wrote it:
Serves Six.
200 gr sugar
500 gr Mascorpone cheese
Six eggs
Coffee
Two box of savoiardi biscuits.

Sepere the yolk with sugar
Shake the six yolk with sugar (little marsala)
Beat whites. when the white is like snow,* stop.
Mix yolk with marscarpone and then with snow.
Take savoiardi and dunk the cookie in coffee for 1 second. double face.
Big pan.
1- floor cookie.
2- cream
3- floor cookie
4- floor cream
little cocao,
chill for two hours in the refridegerator.
enjoy.


*"Snow" is stiff peaks.

Yummy Hippie Food

I'm definitely back in California! I had brown rice with mushrooms, chard and fresh tofu from the corner market tonight for dinner. This is one of my favorite meals (ala Magic). Does that make me a Yummy Hippie? (No need to answer that!)

Jammin'

I made Blackberry Jam this afternoon.

Directions:
1. Get Dad and Terri to pick 10 gallons of blackberries on Sunday morning at 7am before it's hot out.
2. Wash blackberries.
3. Crush blackberries with potato masher to make a puree. 1 gallon of berries makes 8 cups.
4. Put berries into large saucepan and add 14 cups of sugar. (Yes, that FOURTEEN cups of sugar. I did not skimp. It's full of sugary power. Just for you, Jess!)
5. Bring to rolling boil. Skim off foam.
6. Put in pectin and stir constantly for exactly one minute.
7. Make a big mess ladeling the hot jam into jars.
8. Invert jars and hope they seal!
9. Enjoy.