Asparagus - pickles and soup

We made another trip to the U-Pick-It farm to pick another 10 pounds of asparagus. This time we decided we wanted to make a few quarts of pickled asparagus spears to enjoy later this year. Our kids LOVE them!

The first thing we did was to measure and cut the asparagus spears. We did this by figuring out how long we needed them to be to fit the jar, with the proper head spacing, and made a mark with permanent marker on our processing cutting board. This makes it a little easier to cut through a bunch of them quickly.

While we boiled our brine which we used this recipe for, we blanched and placed out asparagus spears into the jars with spices, an onion slice and a wedge of jalapeno.

After water bath canning for the proper amount of time (see your local Extension Service Office for your local canning times it can vary by elevation.) we were left with a beautiful little treat for later this year. Can you believe the color? The tips turned a reddish tint from the spices I assume.

But what did we do with all those ends that we cut off??? Some of them were a few inches long. That would be one heck of a waste wouldn't it?

Never fear, they were run through our food processor for a few seconds to prep them for another spring treat. Asparagus soup. This was a first try for us, but I have to say, the result was ... soooooo good!

After some onion and a little garlic were sweated in the pot in some butter; sorry I don't have the recipe, A~ was cooking I was making cheese... Anyway, the asparagus was added along with some stock and boiled for a little while. It was surprisingly quick.

After adding some cream and slow simmering for a bit, the soup was nearly finished. All we had left to do was to run it through a seive to remove the woody parts that were remaining. Remember, this soup is being made of the leftover stalks from our pickles.

And voila... after seiving, and adding a few drops of good Extra Virgin Olive oil and pepper, this soup was done, served and devoured!

Waste not want not. Our frugal ways yielded us a really tasty treat in this soup. I encourage you to search online, find a simple recipe that will allow you to just enjoy the flavor of the asparagus and go for it!
The rest of the meal was great too... this was just our "first course".
Till next time.
P~

Put'n it up!

A big part, and to be honest it's a really big part, of the idea of a sub-urban farm or urban homestead or whatever you'd like to call it, is deciding what to do with all the stuff you've grown after you've grown it.

With the economy as it is, we'e been happy to be able to help out friends and neighbors with some extra produce from time to time and we've eaten a ton of really good fresh meals, but at some point, you just have to either put up or shut up. By put up I of course mean putting up food for later. We've done a good bit of that this year. We've dried, frozen, pickled, jellied, juiced and canned much more this year that in any year past. It is by no means enough to feed us all winter, but it helps me to justify to myself the effort, time and let's be honest here, money, that we put into our garden. I wish I'd had a chance to get good pictures of everthing we did, but alas the technical difficulties raised they're stupid heads more than once for me.
Here's some pickles, potatoes, plum jam and salsa that we put up one weekend. It was a busy one for sure.

I also tried my hand at making sour brined pickles this year. I can't take credit, as much as I'd like to, for the beautiful pickle cukes. I can't grow them to save my life! But I did find a local grower that had a great deal on these and they worked great.
After seasoning and brineing them and letting them ferment for three weeks they developed a great kosher dill sour pickle taste. I really really like them. This will be a definite do again project.
This year we also tried our hand at dried tomatoes. Believe me, we have much more than this. After they're dried we can re-hydrate them in a little basamic vinager and then store in the fridge in some olive oil. Very very good!
And of course we canned tomatoes. These are some of our chopped tom's. We also have done whole romas, tomato sauce and even tried ketchup.

Slowly but surely we're building a good food storage in the basement. It would be easier to freeze a lot of stuff, but that won't help me if the power goes out.

There's still more to go, but soon these jars will be regular guests on our dinner table.

Few things taste better than something you planted from seed, picked at the peak of ripeness with your own hands and put up for later.

It's a good life, eh?
Till next time.
P~

Local produce, Campfire-Baking and Canning info

This weekend was another busy one. I took Friday off, as I had already met my hours required for the week and we ran errands all day; and I do mean all day! One of the tasks we decided to do was to make a stop by our local you-pick-it farm. They are not an organic farm unfortunately, but I think supporting our local small scale agriculture is more important, not to mention the HUGE savings that we're able to get from it. Check out this haul.Clockwise from the bottom left we got Ancho chilis (to be roasted and frozen for salsas later), jalapenos (also to be roasted and turned magically into chipolte peppers), Yellow wax peppers, Black Beauty eggplants (made ratatouille this afternoon), Green Bell Peppers, Yellow Bells, and Big Jim green chili's (to be steamed and canned for later use.) All together we got two full bushels of veggies. Guess how much? Go on, bet you can't get it?? Twenty bucks total! Ten dollars a bushel of whatever we can get in the box.
We had some shopping to do later that afternoon so we checked on the going prices and we estimate the store value to be approx. $128.00. So if you count the time we put in, which was about an hour total from the time we left the house till we got back, we made a little over $50.00/hr. each. I can live with that!
An observation that A~ and I made to each other while we were there was that there was so much diversity of people there. We saw Asians, Eastern European and of course Mexican families there along with us. Sadly, we were one of only two families of what might be called the UT majority, i.e. non-immigrant whites. I think we have a lot we could learn from some of our immigrant neighbors on this front. I won't get into the issues of legality or immigration policy here because that's not what this blog is about, suffice it to say I have strong opinions. My point here is that these are families that are, generally speaking, on the lower end of the income scale. When we see them doing certain things, like sharing rides, harvesting their own foods and cooking fresh meals and not wasting them, you can bet those are pretty good ideas for someone wanting to live a little more frugally. Our standards of living are, in much of the world, in the top 5 to 10 percent overall. I think this has made us a bit lazy. That's all fine and good in a world of plenty, but I think we can all see that to at least some degree those times are creeping into extinction. Enough on that for this post, you get my point I think.

I alluded to having been inspired by our success with our outdoor Campfire-canning (as I like to call it), and as a matter of fact we did another batch of 4 qts and 1 pint of dill pickles this weekend using that method, what I was talking about was wanting to try my hand at baking some NY Times no-knead bread over the fire.I made sure that since this was a food product that was going to be exposed somewhat directly to the smoke from the fire, to use clean wood and not OSB or other treated woods for this. I burnt down a good deal of coals, and placed our large cast iron stove on them to preheat. After prepping the loaf and coating the bottom with cornmeal (to reduce sticking and allow me to slide it off the cutting board) I dropped it into the pot and placed a few coals on top.
And here's the finished product. You can see that the pot was a little too hot by the thick, blackened bottom, and the little too-dark top crust. All in all though I'd say it wasn't an all out loss. The texture and crumb of the bread was very good. Perhaps a slight bit more undercooked than I'd have liked, but the taste was the best I've made yet. It had a very similar taste to the sourdough pancakes that we eat for Saturday breakfasts. Not necessarily a true sourdough but a very bready taste. I attribute it to the longer time I allowed it to sit before the first forming. For the novice bread bakers out there time equals flavor and that's the real strength of this recipe, it's ability to be slowly made. To help you plan your bread making with this recipe check out my NY Times bread planning scheduler.
And last but not least, for Sandy, a quick bit of wisdom on starting to can. First off we, A~ and I both, are still novice canners. I think the best advice I can give is to not be afraid and to research, research, research. And after you research it thoroughly, respect what you find out. If the recipe calls for 'X' amount of sugar or vinegar or to cook it for 'X' amount of time then add the called for sugar or vinegar and cook it for the right amount of time. Canning your harvest is a great way to preserve your hard work for later enjoyment and it's really nothing to be afraid of with care and attention to detail. One book that A~ and I picked up from the library this year and have really been enjoying is the "Ball Complete book of Home Preserving" (seen below).
I've also read very good things about Balls, "Blue Book of Preserving". You learn about these books or find great resources on their web site as well. Another great resource is Causabons book, a blog with very detailed and concise information on not only canning, but dehydrating, freezing and myriad other food storage and peak oil survival information.
And now that we're up to date on my weekend, how was yours? Hope it was as fun and productive as mine.
Till tomorrow.
P~

Independence Day Garden Love

It's Independence day here in the U.S. and we have, by in large, evolved to a point where we call it the 4th of July, but it is much more. The 4th of July is a date, a marker, not an event. Today is Independence day. On this day in 1776 the Second continental congress of the colonies of America adopted the document that is known as our Declaration of Independence. It was a revolutionary action. It declared to the world that the people of the colonies were prepared to "dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another". They also declared that "when a long train of abuses and usurpation's, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism" "...it is their right, it is their duty..." to throw it off.

Aren't we slowly being reduced to reliance on the "despotic" (read: single authority of either an individual or tightly knit group,) system of industrial food? Where is our declaration of Independence? Is it in the books we read? Perhaps to a degree. Is it in the things we talk about, discuss or espouse? Again, to a certain degree, but not completely. I think the greatest declaration of our Independence is one that can only come from out labors and our actions. Let us be judged by our fruits so to speak.

Beets, Kohlrabi, Carrots, Collard Greens and Potatoes from the garden.

Here is my declaration of Independence. It may not be as loud as others cry, but it grows every year. I declare that I will challenge the norm, take back my freedom and learn from my ancestors. Farmer ~D of the "Path to Freedom" has said many times to the effect that the greatest revolution we can conduct is to grow our own food. I agree.

It's work, sure, but a labor of love I would say. Every year it grows, and every year my declaration is louder. My wife is my partner, and more and more she begins to get into the dirt more with me. I think this year the garden had a little of our love rub off on it. Don't believe? check this out. If this isn't a sure sign of a little garden love, I don't know what is.

For those of you in the U.S. I encourage you to read the Declaration of Independence's if you haven't recently. For that matter, I guess I would encourage any lover of Freedom to take a minute to read it. Happy Independence day folks, I hope it was a great one for you. If your not from the U.S., well, happy Independence day to you anyway.
Till tomorrow.
P~

Eat what you can..

and Can what you can't, that's the old mantra from the Victory Garden era of our parents and grandparents. We dug into the cold storage and brought out some of our homemade homegrown pickles and pickled beans this weekend to enjoy with our sandwiches. (HM bread too, but I didn't click fast enough and it was gone... better luck next time.) I also finished with another jar of sprouts. These have really become a sandwich staple around our house. Especially during the cold winter months when we have literally nothing growing in the yard. So much in fact that I am now keeping my eyes open for a new, larger container to sprout them in.
This jar makes approximately the same amount as you would get from the small plastic containers in the grocery store and it's just not cutting it anymore. We go through one of these in one Saturdays lunch.

A~ and I were driving home from a trip to town this weekend and were talking about our progression from really just an ordinary family, taking our lifestyle for granted and being totally disconnected from it, to really paying more attention and building habits that could sustain us if/when the current climate of plentiful food, cheap energy and easy transportation changes. I'm not a defeatist, but I am a realist. There will come a day when we as a society will have to answer for a very long period of very unsustainable living. I think we'll get through it, I mean if Cuba can we can, right? Well as we were talking about it, my thoughts on the subject gelled into a pretty clear idea; we were lucky to become aware when we did.

In effect by accepting the fact that changes are going to happen, we have seized the opportunity to prepare ourselves and to mentor our children in a way of living that will be much less impacted in the future, purely because we are beginning to provide more and more of our own sustenance. We have the opportunity to make mistakes, and take the time to find out what works for our particular family. Time that many people won't have in the future. We are not, at this point, very different from most American families. In some ways we are, but in many ways we're just not. But I do think that one of the main differences is the fact that we are trying. That's really what the 100 ft diet comes down to for me, trying to make the biggest impact in my diet and my families self reliance that I can.

Namaste~
P~

Taste-bud recharge

If you’ve read my blog over the last few months you’ve undoubtedly heard me talk about eating. I’ve made a lot of changes in my diet this year and have been enjoying a slimmer profile, and a lot of more natural foods. Last night I finally put my finger on another benefit that I hadn’t been expecting, yet was pleasantly surprised by. Food has taste!? I’m kidding of course, but to a certain degree I’ve been reawakened to the flavors of food. I had heard of the phenomenon of people that made drastic changes in their diet becoming more aware of the foods that they are eating, but I didn’t think that the changes that I have made were quite that significant. What am I talking about you ask; I’ve had a couple of things happen lately that I took notice of. First off, I don’t like milk. I haven’t liked milk for too many years to remember. I drink it every once and a while, remember that I don’t like it and then I’m back on the wagon so to speak. A couple of times recently I’ve drank a cup of milk unsolicited; once because I wanted to try to new local milk delivery that we’ve been getting (more to come) and another time with some cookies that my wife made. Both times I was surprised to say “Hey, that was actually pretty good?” and not because it was with cookies, but just because it was good. Early this weekend we were eating dinner of tomatoes, basil, cheese and tapenade and I was struck by how sweet the tomatoes were. I love homegrown tomatoes anyway, but these seemed almost sugary sweet. Finally last night the light came on while I was treating myself to a little 3.6 oz snacker of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. I love this stuff anyway, but my wife asked me what I was doing with my eyes closed, I think she thought I was sleep-eating. In fact I was only savoring the flavors in the ice cream. It seems that since I have chosen to eat a more natural and healthier diet with much less snacking and sweets my taste buds have had a renaissance, a re-birth to the great flavors in life. Is this why certain foods became popular in the first place, because of their flavor or their ability to jolt the taste buds? What are the vast majority of us missing by giving in to treats and flavor extremes on a day to day basis? Yes, sometimes a natural diet is a bit tedious. Eating what is in season often means a lot of green beans, zucchini and cucumbers; but that tedium also allows us to enjoy the sweetness of a vine ripe tomato or cantaloupe, and the savor of a well seasoned meat. This has been a great discovery to me and one I fully intend to explore further. From time to time I might just close my eyes and enjoy the sweet creaminess of good chocolate. I’m not sleeping, just enjoying life.

Ratatouille & Eggplant Parmesan

Tonight I cooked. I stopped by a local small farm on the way home from work earlier this week and had to use the veggies that I picked up there. I had some zucchini and eggplant, tomatoes from the yard, picked up some onion and bell peppers as mine are lagging in the garden this year and decided to make ratatouille and some eggplant Parmesan. This was not inspired by the movie mind you. I learned to love it a long time before that.
The bottle of Newcastle Brown ale next to the plate (Not a very local purchase, but I need to spoil myself once and a while.) and the not very well plated ratatouille have something in common to me, and always bring back good memories. When I was 19 I was invited to England for a semester to study at the University of London. During my time there I fell in love with Newkie Brown (Newcastle Brown Ale). I needed to work to save money before I went there though and took a job for the summer at a small mom and pop cafe. "The French Gourmet", was a great place to work. The owner and her son and daughter were like family to me, and taught me a lot about cooking. Ratatouille was one of my main duties every week. So to me these two are a great combo. One helped get me to the other.
If you've never made it, you really ought to try it out. You can eat it alone in a bowl like a vegetable stew, or have it for breakfast over a fresh omelet with Swiss cheese, or like tonight serve it with something else like Eggplant Parmesan and soak it up with some french bread and olive oil.
When I cook, unless I am following a strict recipe, I just wing it. I don't generally measure anything and season to taste so my recipe is a little vague; do with it what you will. You can substitute for what is available if you like, what I used were the traditional Provence ingredients.

Ratatouille:
Onion cubed (1 inch or so); I used two good sized ones.
Bell pepper cubed ; 1 large or two smaller ones.
Zucchini cubed; I had about 3-4 cups I guess.
Eggplant cubed; about 2-3 cups.
Tomatoes cubed, If you have a lot of fresh tomatoes use only those, cube about 5-6 cups worth. If you are short on tomatoes you can supplement what you have with a can of diced tomatoes, and a small can of tomato sauce. (That's what I had to do.)
1 Whole Head Garlic peeled and chopped rough.
Herbs; basil, thyme, parsley (I also added a little rosemary because I like it.)
Butter
Olive oil
1. In a medium to large stock pot, add some butter and olive oil. Yes both, olive oil has a higher smoking point and will keep the butter from getting that burnt flavour that is will get if heated to high. I do this because I like to sweat the onions and then get the heat up high to caramelize the sugars in in them and "burn" the edges a little.
2. When the pot is heated, add the onions and salt and pepper them. Sweat them, till they are nearly translucent. Add the garlic and and then turn up the heat for a little while. Watch it here because if you burn the garlic it will be nasty. You want to see the onions starting to brown on the edges and stick to the pan just a little. These are the yummies, you want them.
3. When you see that they are browning, deglaze the pan with some white wine, or cognac if you have it. If your don't use alcohol at all use some vegetable broth or water, just be careful of the salt content in broth. I happened to have some cognac, I don't even remember why, but I added about 1.5 - 2 shots of cognac to a shot of water in a glass and added that, stirring and scraping off all the yummies that were stuck to the pan.
4. Add the bell peppers and herbs and reduce the heat to a med simmer.

(pause to smell the good smell coming from the pot... mmmmmm.) OK, back on track.

5. After about 3-5 minutes add the zucc's and eggplant and tomatoes, salt and pepper again. to taste. Cover and simmer for 45 min - 1 hour. Check and stir periodically so it doesn't stick.
6. Before the eggplant are quite done (not quite soft but not hard at all), remove the cover and cook it down a bit to condense the flavors. This is a good time for the taste test to see where you are seasoning-wise and adjust as necessary.

That's it. I hope you give it a try if you haven't had it before, it is a great summer treat to make with all the fresh veggies we have access to.

For the Eggplant Parmesan I just sliced the eggplants into 1/2 inch thick slices, mixed some bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese 50/50 and added some salt and pepper to the crumbs. Dipped the eggplant in some beaten egg and covered with Parmesan.
I fried them on a med heat in the same oil/butter mix until they were browned and just softened. If they look a bit too dark it's probably OK. the cheese will darken a little more, but tastes great regardless.

Now I think I'm hungry again, maybe a little midnight snack; ratatouille is great cold too you know?
P~

Local Food

I have been researching lately where I could satisfy some of our household foods with locally produced alternatives. Utah, is no California, but we do have a surprising amount of locally produced foods if you are willing to look. I have been first off trying to find a place where I could get milk and other dairy items like cheese and eggs that are not from far away since I know that these things are produced locally, but mainly because I want to try to eliminate all of the hormones that are being used, and because I want products from grass fed animals that don't need all of the antibiotics and supplements that corn fed animals do. (Read Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma for more information.) I think I may have stumbled onto a local dairy that can provide milk, cheese and eggs from local cattle and chickens. I was pleasantly supprised to find that while the cost of milk at our local walmart is at around $3.40-$3.50 gal, I can get this much healthier alternative delivered to my door for around $3.20 gal.

Another pleasant suprise that I came across through another local dairy outfit that I checked into was that they are also selling grass fed, hormone free beef. I have been trying to eat less beef as it is, but I have just about gotten to the point of not eating meat at all unless I have either harvested it myself, (Yes I hunt. Note, I said hunt not get; that's like saying fishing not catching.) or if it comes from a healthy source preferably one that I can drop by and check out operations at.

I will let you know what we decide to do. I don't think that I have any Utah readers, at least not any that have ever commented, but in the case that I have any local lurkers, I will give the info on the options at that time in case anyone is interested.
P~