Crystal Madrilejos

This is what happens when you let your zucchini grow for too long. Monstrous.

The one on the far right is a normal sized zucchini. Yikes!

-c.

One of the many things I love about summer is a cold sweet treat on a hot day! We made these popsicles from a recipe in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine. Overall, I think they turned out okay. Both Andrew and I agreed that the flavors could be more concentrated. The fruit portion of the mixture tasted delicious before we froze it, but after it was much more watered down than I would have liked. I think next time we are going to try a fruit reduction to get as much water out as possible beforehand. Anyone else have any summer sweet treat suggestions?

-c.

We’re hitting that time of year when the garden starts getting out of control. The bugs, the weeds, and the heat are in full force. It’s also about the time everyone realizes that they didn’t allow enough room for everything they planted to grow to their full potential. Gone are the days of neat and tidy beds. Mother nature laughs at our feeble attempts to keep her in check.

But with all that said, it’s also the time when the garden looks full of life! We have been harvesting salad greens for a good month or more now and we’re just about reaching the end of this batch. As the days grow longer and hotter, eventually the greens will get bitter and go to seed. Our greens are right on the verge of becoming inedible (some of them have already turned bitter) so we’re considering pulling them out and planting another round.

This was the lettuce around mid-June:

This is the lettuce now:

This year we planted a few rows of Mesclun but we weren’t too happy with it. Last year it was great, but I don’t know if we just planted and harvested it too late in the season or what. But there was something in the mix that got really bitter. Plus, there is arugula in the mix which normally we love. But it grows so much faster than the rest of the greens and gets tough and extremely peppery if left to grow too long. It can really make or break a salad. Next year I think we are just going to stick to the individual varieties instead of the mixes.

-c.

We considered growing our own garlic, but my dad grows enough to feed a small country. This is from his garden, isn’t it beautiful? I’m continually amazed by the whole growing process, put some seeds in the ground and out comes delicious things to eat!

–c.

We’re bit late in posting about the garden this year. But if any of you were wondering about our little patch of veggies, we‘re happy to say that things are going well! We applied much of what we learned last year and think the garden will be even more productive.

A few of the main changes are:

1. We are sharing the garden with 6 other people (same as last year) but instead of one huge plot we divided up the garden and each couple has their own plot. Last year we were a bit ambitious and didn’t anticipate how much work it would be. I think everyone was a bit overwhelmed. The smaller plots are so much more manageable.

2. There is one plot in the center of the garden of lettuces/greens. The salad greens were the one thing that everyone LOVED last year and it worked out so well. We planted 1/3 of the amount we planted last year and still have a ton!

3. Deer fencing has (so far) been our savior! Last year the deer pretty much wrecked us and discouraged us to the point of giving up. There really is no point to doing all this work if the deer are just going to eat everything. So we bit the bullet and invested in extending the fence to about 10 feet tall. Only once has a deer tried to get in this season with no casualties to any of our plants! We’re crossing our fingers that the fence continues to deter them.

The images above was the garden a month ago, and this is the garden today:

Crazy, right?

–c.

Every week the New York Times Magazine has a little food section with a recipe included. Half of them I have no desire to make and the other half I think to myself, “Hmmm, I should try that.” But, alas, I never do. This week was the exception, however. I made the featured soft pretzel recipe.

I had never made soft pretzels before and I’m counting my first attempt as a success. As a rule, the first time I make something from a recipe I follow it to the letter, then adjust if necessary. I think my only word of warning with these would be: Beware of salt. Next time I’ll probably top them with sesame or poppy seeds, there’s just no need for that much salt. Crystal’s the one who’s pregnant but I feel like I have the swollen ankles. Too much sodium intake. Ok, maybe it wasn’t that bad.

Soft pretzels require a quick boil before you bake them, much like bagels. And a few years back I tried endlessly to make a good bagel but never really got there. This was a good experience so maybe it’s time to give the old bagels a go again.

-a.

Bread is the staff of life. You can filter that through a religious lens if you want, but if you don’t it’s just as true. Virtually every civilization dating back to when the Fertile Crescent was still fertile had some form of flour, water and leavening agent that they mixed together. It’s the food of foods. It’s so simple yet so complex. It’s an art form and while I’m not quite at this point, there are a lot of people out there who can get pretty metaphysical about it.

Crystal is always telling me to post about my bread baking but for one reason or another I never have, until now. It’s exciting, I know.

Many years back I had an epiphany that I could actually make this stuff so I bought yeast for the first time and I’ve been at it ever since. My failures far outnumber my successes but that makes it all the more intriguing. I’m on a mission to make bakery-quality breads in a home oven. It’s quite amazing how much there is to learn, both through reading and good old fashioned trying.

Picture below is my first attempt at Pain à l’Ancienne. I need to work on shaping this kind of dough but overall it turned out really good. (And, as Crys will tell you, I almost never say things turn out “really good.” There’s always room for improvement.)

I’m not just saying this as a cute way to wrap things up but I seriously have some dough proofing that I need to start shaping so I’ll stop here. I’ll continue to share what I’ve learned. I could go on for hours. I love bread.

-a.

Does anyone like licorice anymore?

Personally, I love it. But the finding brethren in this tasty pastime proves to be very difficult. We are an elusive group apparently. I inherited the palate from my mother, who in turn received it from her father.

This was my grandfather’s choice (Läkerol has a number of licorice varieties and I can’t remember if this was the flavor he used to like, I just remember it being quite potent.):

Growing up I remember my mother opting for a more conventional choice:

And this is my latest licorice craving:

So if you like licorice, let me know. I feel like I’m carrying the torch all by myself.

-a.

PS – And don’t even talk to me about “red licorice.” Blasphemy!