I Really Am Still Here...

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe it has been since June that I have written a proper post!  I could get into all the "life" reasons for this but the god's honest truth of it is, like so much else, out of sight out of mind.  So, this is me, setting my sights back on this space.  I have missed it, I have often had the thought "I need to write about this..." but one thing or another got in the way and it just didn't happen.

The quick round up of what's been going on in the kitchen of late...

* I am loving these two sweet new cookbooks I scored recently by volunteering at The Book Larder

*  This cranberry chutney is finding its way into many a snack in these parts.  Cheese and crackers, well add some cranberry chutney and your mouth with be oh-so happy

*  I got my first ever "help desk" request last weekend when the following text came through...
Dear kitchen dweller, chutney ready to put into jars but not sure in the sterile procedure! Love Nick... One of 2 microbiologists in the family. Please help.This made my day and was made even better by receiving a jar of said chutney a few days later

*  I successfully packed snacks for a road trip to and from Utah which had my friend and myself eating out exactly ONCE the entire time while on the road. But that one meal out at the Buffalo Chip Cafe for breakfast was so worth it.  I do love a road trip and good snacks along the way

*  Pickled pears... sure and thank you!  When your friend offers you the bounty from her asian pear tree, resistance is futile folks

*  There was one marathon prep session for our annual church bake sale, in which our wee little community raised nearly $1,000

*  The last of my summer tomatillos have been enjoyed as salsa verde

*  Fermentation abounds, kraut and this delish asian-ish fermented salad

* I am totally drooling over vintage cooling racks like this and these

I have truly missed this space and look forward to sharing some more kitchen adventures with you all very soon!

Freezing Fruit...

Oh my, doesn't all that fruit make your mouth water.  I love the bounties of summer, especially the complete abundance of freshly picked fruit.  With what we've got growing in our own garden like rhubarb, blueberries and strawberries, the fact that I can't pass up a local roadside fruit stand to save my soul and that we love to go berry picking each summer there is always an overwhelming amount of fruit in our kitchen throughout the summer.  Berry picking has become a summer tradition for us, what a fun day out and the eat-as-you-go policy that our favorite raspberry farm has is just what the kids need to keep them interested and motivated to fill those boxes.  We went out with friends recently and between the girls and I we picked over twenty pounds of raspberries.  It was unusually hot in our neck of the woods that day, topping 90 degrees, so we had to call it after just an hour or so.  Once we got home we gorged ourselves on berries for days, but knowing that it was not likely we could actually consume our weight in berries before they turned into sad mushy boxes of goo I got right to work, baking some into muffins and baked oatmeal, cooking some into jam, and freezing what I could to tide us through winter.  I love freezing fruit!  It is as low maintenance as it comes in the preserving world and the results don't disappoint.  The method I have settled on with greatest success is to line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and lay the fruit in a single layer on it.  For things like raspberries, small strawberries, blackberries and blueberries I keep the fruit whole and for stone fruits and larger strawberries I cut them in half or wedges.  After the fruit is arranged I pop the tray in the freezer for a few hours or more likely overnight.  Once everything is frozen solid I fill gallon ziplock bags with the frozen fruit and label with date and name of fruit.  So simple and yet it yields such pleasure throughout winter.  Then when you have an inkling for a raspberry/rhubarb crisp or some strawberries over yogurt it is as simple as a quick defrost and you are good to go.  So when you see that fruit stand don't hesitate to stop and pick up a flat or two of fruit, if you aren't into canning or making jam at the very least you can freeze a few gallons for later.

Let's Talk About Smoothies

Can we get a bit interactive here? I want to get a smoothie conversation going, I know you all have some favorite smoothies you like to make and I love getting some fresh ideas. In the winter we really lay off the cold foods and drinks so smoothies are just now coming back into rotation with the sun shining longer and brighter in these parts. As I've mentioned before, I am ALWAYS on the lookout for more ways to get additional veggies into my family's meals, and smoothies have long been a great way to sneak in a few extra nutrient boosts. Having had some pretty big flops attempting to tip the scale a little to far to the veg side rather than the fruit, I have come up with some techniques that seem to keep everyone happy. The first one being to stick to a color palate, the army green or murky brown that results from mixing red berries and kale can turn off even the most willing of smoothie drinkers. So, if I am working with peaches I'll toss in a couple carrots, juice from a sweet potato or golden beets, red berries are great to add red beets to, blueberries can hide kale/spinach/chard really well and if I am going with a green smoothie I'll add apple or pear to sweeten. You get the idea, right. I have found that celery and cucumber can hide in nearly any smoothie without being detected and both give off hints of a really nice fresh flavor. Second, I always add either a banana or avocado which adds a really nice creamy but not to creamy texture. I also will add some honey if I feel I might be pushing the veg to fruit tolerances. We typically have oranges or orange juice on hand so that is a standard liquid base to which I will add either coconut milk and/or yogurt. This is also the place I once would sneak extra supplements in before everyone could swallow the mouthful of vitamins I push on my family. If I have cashews or almonds that have soaked I'll add them for a little protein boost. What else do you all like to add to your smoothies? Today I am feasting on this green smoothie which contains a good amount of spinach just picked this morning from my garden, a pear, a couple stalks of celery, a banana, splash of OJ, a big scoop of plain yogurt and a bit of ice.

The Bees Are Back...

What a whirl-wind day! Yesterday my friend, an experienced bee keeper and my bee mentor, urged me to get my vacant hives in order as there are swarms to be had at the moment. So I spent some time scraping and prepping hives, mixing up sugar water, mentally plotting where I might like to relocate the hives this year should a swarm come my way and lazily dreaming of all those pollinators helping my garden and landscaping as well as the honey I'd like to have this fall. Today my friend came over, blowtorch in hand, to help me finish the cleaning and gave me the heads up that I should be ready for "the call" in a day or two. No problem, I'll set these babies up tonight (or tomorrow morning) and be good to go should "the call" come over the weekend. Naturally, no sooner than my friend left and I was settled into a line at the grocery store did I get "THE CALL". Wait! What?! Now??!! I drove home (mentally tallying all that still needed to be done), made a few frantic calls to my husband looking for hive location approval and to my friend to let her know I was on my way home. Once I got home I set to work setting up hive boxes in a new spot in our yard, pounding holes in the lids of their sugar water to drip feed these ladies, and most importantly -- finding my bee suit and vail because there was no way I was working a swarm without a good layer of protection between those stingers and my skin. Soon, my friend and the bee guy showed up and got busy right away pouring 35,000 bees into one of my hives. I have to say that it never is lost on me the sheer awesomeness of this process. The "save the bees" shirt my friend was wearing really says it all for me. At first my interest in bees was completely selfish, it was all about that home grown honey. But now, two years in, the honey really is secondary. The realization that I am doing a small part to improve honeybee populations, as well as strengthening my garden is really what moves me to continue with bee keeping.

Keeping It Real...

Lest everyone think it's always peaches and pie around here, I'll dispel that right here and right now. The long and short of it all is that my lovely chicken's have dug up, eaten, and decapitated all that I have spent the last few weeks planting in our backyard garden. All those peas... gone, lettuce sprouts... gone, radish starts... gone, and the poor arugula didn't stand a chance to their prolific digging. The last few beets from fall have had all their lovely crimson leaves methodically munched, the mint and dill I had started with hopes of mojito afternoons and herb fortified salads this summer were dug up and left for dead. I did replant both the latter with care in great hopes they will find a way to resurrect themselves, fingers crossed. Oh yes, I may have uttered a very long string of choice words under my breath as I discovered the full extent of their carnage this weekend. This was the first year I actually planned and plotted what, how, and when to plant in our little garden. I drafted a site plan on graph paper, researched optimal times for planting each and every type of seed I intended to grow, and had even managed to plan and execute some succession planting as to extend the season of some of our favorite items. Best laid plans... I have started replanting lettuce, peas and radishes, nursed that very droopy mint plant back to health (she looked much perkier today), and by sheer luck was just today offered two kale starts by a friend so I planted them with care in the arugula patch that is no more. And just because we loved that key lime tart so much the first time around, I made another one Sunday afternoon. I mean if you are going to spend a day replanting, you might as well end the day enjoying a slice (or two) of something tasty.