Crème Brulee Leads to Butter

As part of a May Day basket, I received a very tasty mix for crème brulee that called for some heavy whipping cream.  The only container we could get that was locally sourced was the Snowville Creamery half gallon, which goodness knows is more whipping cream than we can use in a week.  However, Jacob and I couldn’t stand the thought of wasting so much lovely dairy, so we decided to make butter last night.  We followed the Thrifty Fun site’s instructions.  This is a really neat activity for kids to see or even participate in depending on the method you choose.  I remember making butter in elementary school by shaking a mason jar which was pretty fun (especially if you have multiple children because it can take a while).  However, being mature adults (ok, maybe not so high on the mature ladder sometimes, but technically we are adults now) we opted for the electric mixer method.  You need to let the cream warm up just a little, so once it hit about 60 degrees we started working with it.  I poured the whipping cream into a large bowl and started mixing.  Unfortunately, a key point to remember is that whipping cream expands when you whip it (duh!) so halfway through that process I had to transfer the cream to a large pot that could contain all of it.  It’s fun to watch it go from a liquid to a whipped cream that holds peaks to all of a sudden this weird yellow chunky stuff with buttermilk pools.  At this point, Jacob took over and dumped out the buttermilk (you can keep it and use it as well, but since our cream was at the expiration date, we opted not to).  You then add cold water, mix it, and dump it again to clean the butter.  After doing this a few times, we added some salt to help preserve it and then put spoonfuls on a cookie sheet where Jacob pressed the water out with a wooden rice server.  It worked surprisingly well and it’s kind of cool to watch the little beads of water suddenly pop out of the butter.  We then placed the butter in mason jars, which personally I wish we could have done the butter in sticks because they are easier to work with but we didn’t have wax paper or containers for that.  So tada!!! we have butter!!  The hardest part is cleaning up the mess, which I made Jacob promise to do today while I was at work.  Hopefully that happens as smoothly as the butter was created - Jacob, you are my dishwashing hero!  Behold below, the finished product - our lovely butter.

Spring in the Garden

The garden continues to get more and more beautiful which is shocking to me (the Queen Black Thumb).  We had to pull out a few of the strawberries yesterday that just weren’t growing and put in some new plants, which are quite large.  It’s sad having to pinch off the blossoms, but we just can’t let these ambitious Junebearing plants produce this year because it will impact the harvest next year.  At least we can get some everbearing strawberries after July.  The onions are getting quite tall and the raspberries are getting a few little blooms.  The carrots are starting to peak out of the soil, so we thinned them yesterday along with the spinach.  One of the cauliflowers is doing very well but the other two continue to struggle.  I think it’s because the plastic dipped down and touched them when it was too cold.  I hope they are able to bounce back.  One lettuce is hanging on for dear life and we have a bunch inside that will be transplanted soon.  That first round just didn’t go well.  The potatoes are in the ground but we are still anxiously awaiting the green growth.  The peas as you can see are coming along.  The distinct difference in the success of each variety is quite interesting.  The sugar snap peas are definitely slower than the garden and snow varieties.  I came across some red onion sets at Rife’s Market for a great price, so I put some of those along the side of the house near our dill.  That dill was the surprise of the weekend!  We bought a few plants thinking the seeds I had thrown by the side of the house and neglected would all fail.  Well, that’s the cue for production apparently because yesterday I got to looking at the ground and we now have about 20 dill plants springing up!  I’m wondering if the cilantro will pull a similar trick since we just bought some of those.  We also bought a few German Chamomile plants to put amongst the lavender.  Still no growth with the horseradish – I’m worried we planted it too deep, but we’ll just have to wait and see.  I just can’t wait to be able to harvest (and to put down some mulch in the beds around the house so I can stop weeding every day!!!).

Killer at Large and Food Inc.

The other weekend Jacob and I watched a few interesting documentaries that I have wanted to write about ever since and haven't had time until now.  The first one was Killer at Large which focuses on the obesity epidemic in the United States and the variety of causes involved.  This 2008 documentary takes an in-depth look at legislative, genetic, behavioral, and almost any other aspect of the causes of obesity you can think of.  The basic message is that obesity is a very real threat to us but there is no one factor we can point our finger at for causing obesity, it is a combination of things.  They do focus a bit on the whole issue of corn and high fructose corn syrup and how that became so prevalent in our foods by interviewing Michael Pollan and contrasts the industrial and small farm operations that supply food.  However, a majority of the film focuses on childhood obesity, and some of the issues tie in very well with the Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution if anyone has seen that.  It addresses problems with cheap lunches provided to students that count french fries and ketchup as legitimate vegetables, the prevalence of vending machines at schools (and the uproar that occurs from PARENTS when they are taken away or filled with healthy items), and the lack of activity that students have.  Overall, I highly recommend this film simply because it does make you think a bit more about our society in terms of how it is treating our children. 
The second documentary we watched was Food Inc.  I am sort of disappointed in myself for not watching it sooner, but because I've read so many books and watched other similar documentaries, I delayed seeing it until now.  This documentary looks at our food system and how it affects us as consumers and the environment.  It tied in nicely with Killer at Large since they both focus on the corn issue and obesity.  A lot of Food Inc. is hard to see, especially if you aren't really all that familiar with the issues at hand.  The footage of Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and the secrecy of large industrial agricultural companies is always a tough pill to swallow (for a look at one of the CAFOs in our backyard, check out Ohio Fresh Eggs).  Aside of animal cruelty issues, the documentary looks at acid resistant E. Coli strains that have developed as a result of the unsanitary conditions these animals are raised and slaughtered in.  It looks at Kevin's Law, which is trying to get safer meat in reaction to food recalls and the death of a young boy as a result of eating an infected hamburger.  The issues surrounding GMOs are discussed along with the problem of the various food industries becoming dominated by just a few companies.  This documentary is a great introduction to the industrial food chain if you are trying to get familiar with it.  It's also ideal for us educated veterans of the food industry because it reiterates just how important our local, safe food choices are and how important it is to stick to it even though it can be more difficult than the easy choice of running down the street to Kroger whenever you want.
You can find either of these documentaries at your local library (I know Columbus Metropolitan Library has them although Food Inc. is in high demand) and most video stores carry Food Inc.  Also, for teachers, Food Inc. does have a guide that goes with it which is also available at the Columbus Library.

Jacob and Katie’s Diner

A quick entry that’s good for a laugh.  We were cleaning out the refrigerator only to find a few pieces of long forgotten chicken.  Rather than throwing them in the garbage, Jacob voted to throw them in the backyard where ‘something’ would come and eat them.  Although I was hoping it would be the neighbor’s cat, I noticed as I was watching a bit of TV that a friendly raccoon was climbing down one of our trees and having a feast.  The raccoon was so comfortable with his dinner that he didn’t even mind Jacob sneaking outside and getting this snapshot of him.  I guess it’s nice that he poses for his photos but I really hope he stays out of our garbage cans. 

Apple Oatmeal Bread and Chicken Asparagus Bread

I've been wanting to write for some time, but alas, life has been insane!!! I do have a few recipes that I have to share and I promise I will do some more writing soon because I have some things I definitely want to share! Yesterday I found a delicious oatmeal apple bread that helped me use a few of my less than lovely apples in the bottom of the fruit drawer. The recipe is available from cdkitchen and is absolutely wonderful (even if you have a psycho oven that cooks everything in about half of the recommended time). For this recipe we used whole wheat bread flour and oats from Stutzman Farm. The honey we used was dark amber from Brenneman's wildflower honey. The milk was Snowville Creamery and instead of 3 egg whites, I used 2 small eggs from Manchester Hill Farm. All of these items were bought at the Clintonville Coop. The apples were from Bauman Orchard which we bought from Whole Foods. The baking soda, spices, and oil (we used canola instead of corn because it was what was on hand) were all items we had stored in our pantry. I'm not typically a big apple cinnamon kind of gal, but this bread is excellent, especially when it is fresh out of the oven (Jacob and my neighbor both agree whole-heartedly).
The other recipe I had to share was my chicken asparagus pasta. The ingredients can be changed based on taste, feel free to add more or less of anything or add some ingredients based on seasonality including fresh tomatoes when you add the asparagus, onions, fresh mushrooms, or fresh herbs.
-1 bag of Amish Naturals wheat pasta (from Clintonville Coop)
-1 bunch of purple asparagus, chopped into bite size pieces (Worthington Winter Market)
-1-2 chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces (North Market Poultry and Game)
-1 tbsp. oil
-1 tsp. dried oregano
-1 tsp. dried basil
-1 tsp. onion powder
-1 tsp. garlic powder or 1 clove minced fresh garlic
-1/2 cup mozzarella (Meadow Maid cheese from Worthington Market)
-salt to taste
-pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a skillet and saute (and garlic clove if you are using it) the chicken until cooked. While the chicken is cooking, cook the pasta separately according to the instruction on the package. When the pasta has a few minutes left to cook, add the asparagus and dried herbs and saute until heated but still firm (it should turn green). Once the pasta is drained, place it back in the pot and add the chicken mixture, cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir and serve. This dish is excellent with a bit of fresh spinach or lettuce on top.

Mulch and Bricks around the garden

Because we got all the beds filled last weekend, it was time to take on a couple of the cosmetic aspects of the garden. The weed cloth blowing up in the wind just wasn't going to cut it!

We went to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to look for bricks, but didn't find any. Instead, we found some white ceramic floor tiles that had bits of green and blue glass stuck in them that would make nice stepping stones. We also went back over to Lowes to get the brick and mulch.

We picked up 95 bricks, some pea gravel, and 6 bags of Cedar mulch to match the Cedar raised bed boxes and loaded up the Saturn. I dug the trenches and laid the brick while Katie planted some more onions, carrots, cauliflower, peas, lettuces, and weeded behind the fence. As I walled in sections of the garden, Katie came by and started filling in with mulch. It took most of the morning and afternoon to get it "finished" after going to Lowes, but it looks nice and clean now.

There was some risk of frost last night, so we covered the peas, asparagus, spinach, onions, and some of the strawberries with painters drop cloths.

Supports for Vine Plants

Some of the veggies we are growing this year will require a little help staying upright under their (hopefully!) prolific growth so this morning I started making up some supports. The melons, cucumbers, and tomatoes will need these supports. They are simply a frame made of electrical conduit held in place by some rebar buried in the ground and sticking up into the conduit. This was my first solo attempt at using a conduit bender, so the first one is a little crooked, but the others went much better! I was sawing through the 1/2" rebar with a halfway dull hacksaw blade when our neighbor, Mark, came out and offered to let me borrow his electric grinder. I was very grateful for his offer because it cut down an hour long job to about 10 minutes with much less effort on my part. Putting up some sort of netting is all that is needed to complete the supports.

I also put up a shade frame for the peas made of 1/2" PVC pipe held in place by more pieces of rebar. We'll be able to drape a piece of shade cloth or plastic over it to protect the peas from too much sun and keep some moisture in. We had some success last year with a little pea container garden, but this should be much better for them.

All told, it took me about three and a half hours when you take into account the trip to Home Depot. Not really that big of a deal and working in the morning allowed me to avoid the hot sun, which is always a plus when you have to go to work again at 5:00.

-Jacob