A New Season

Its been nearly a year since my last posting on here and I think its about time to tend to the blog. I had pretty much decided to stop writing it because I was getting so busy with other things but the school year is nearly over (my last one at PCC) and the summer stretches out in front of me with it's promise of inspiration. Of course, here in cool, drizzly Portland no one would know June has arrived.
I'm thrilled to have just found a group of like-minded souls here in PDX, a group of "urban homesteaders". I've been teaching myself as many new/old skills as I can but sometimes its so hard to get started without someone else to bounce ideas off of. I'm really looking forward to more get-togethers and learning lots of new skills with a great group of people.

New Garden Pictures

This is an italian sweet red pepper... Here is my newest garden box. Del built it for my fall crop. Behind it you can see my giant rosemary, chard, green beans, zucchini, and cucumbers.
Sugar pumpkin vine...
Zucchini and cukes...

Sunflower Pictures

Looking up into a giant sunflower... Lovely red sunflowers...

Even More Garden Pictures

Here are some cherry tomatoes ripening on their vine... Below is a shot of a gorgeous plot in the garden (not mine!). Those are beans in the foreground and the low dark leaves in the background are probably kale.
Here is my pride and joy, my first head of broccoli. These little plants struggled so badly at first that I didn't expect any to survive at all.
And here is another shot of one of my neighbor's plots (same one as before). His corn is so great!
Here are 4 heads of lettuce grown by yours truly. The red lettuce tasted the best.

Homemade Tahini

I never even thought about making homemade tahini until I needed it for a recipe and the brand I usually buy was in the middle of a recall (salmonella! Fun!). So I found this recipe on http://www.about.com/ and it took 15 minutes and tastes EXACTLY the same and for a lot less money. The store bought brand is between $3.50 and $5 a jar...mine cost about $1.50 to make. For anyone out there who doesn't know what the hell tahini is, it is a sesame seed paste (comparable to peanut butter) used in lots of middle eastern dishes. I use it in hummus, falafel, and the yummy tofu burgers that I'm going to be making tomorrow. Here is the recipe, for anyone who is interested...(I promised I'd start including recipes, didn't I?)


INGREDIENTS:
5 cups sesame seeds
1 1/2 cups olive oil or vegetable oil

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350. Toast sesame seeds for 5-10 minutes, shaking the seeds frequently with a spatula. Do not allow to brown. Cool for 20 minutes. Pour sesame seeds into food processor and add oil.
Blend for 2 minutes. Check for consistency. The goal is a thick, yet pourable texture. Add more oil and blend until desired consistency. Yield: 4 cups

Storing Tahini: Tahini should be stored in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container. It will keep for up to 3 months.

Gotta love poetry class...

A Feminist Looks At Baking

The sweet yeasty aroma
has been singing their song
long before I pull the loaves
from my oven.
A simple process to create
something so sublime.

First wake the yeast
with sugar and warm water.
Then tumble in flour and salt.
Dough blooms joyfully
under deliberate hands,
becoming soft and smooth.

After the first and second rise,
the dough is stretched and shaped
and placed into the hot oven
where the yeast will take one last valiant breath
before finally succumbing to the heat.

Baking is a lost art.
If not lost than losing.
Knowledge swept away to an undisclosed location.
Strangled in the night
along with homemade pickles and
the family farm.

Kitchen bound women in the forties and fifties
may have seen their
very freedom presenting itself
with the advent of sliced, white bread.
And I can't blame them.
I would have skipped right alongside them
to the nearest Piggly-Wiggly,
tossed my apron string oppression into the air
and sang

"Hallelujah!"

The simple act of baking
is so weighted with meaning.
The bread, a fragrant melody,
a creation of crumb and crust
with the taste of a thousand harvests.

No one knew what they might give up by forgetting.

Simplest Buttermilk Biscuits adapted from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe

These biscuits are quick, easy and tasty.

Yield: 8 to 10 medium sized biscuits (I make them large so I usually get 6 or 7)
Preparation Time: 15 minuts, plus 12-15 minuts to bake

Ingredients:
nonstick spray
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
2/3 cup cold buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray a baking tray with nonstick spray.

2. Place the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and optional sugar in a medium sized bowl and give a stir to combine everything together.

3. Cut the butter into small pieces and mix into the dry ingredients with your fingers. When the butter is sufficiently cut in the mixture will resemble a coarse meal.

4. Add the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture holds together.

5. On a floured surface, roll or pat the dough into an 8 inch surface, 3/4 inch thick. Cut free-form biscuits with a knife or, to be more traditional, with a glass. I like to use a glass with a 2 and 1/2 inch rim.

6. Bake in the center of the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until deep golden brown on the bottom and light golden brown on top. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes before serving (if you can wait that long).

A little poetry to mix things up...

Thoughts On Narcissism

Apples lined up,
gleaming in rows,
bygone stars in a wax museum,
believably authentic to the ignorant eye.
There are oranges
shipped 3000 miles from Florida.
dimpled little navels,
sweet tangerines,
sunning themselves in the fluorescent lights,
blissfully unaware that the truck that brought them
was belching toxic fumes along the way.
Ahh, but wait.
Leave that air-conditioned tomb.

With just the slightest bit of care and effort and sacrifice
(however un-American that may be)
you could stop trampling and destroying.
Learn the way, back
to the things we used to know
just 50 years ago,
before refrigerated box cars
and the blatant squandering of our resources.

And now for the typical response:
Why does it matter?
Why should I have to wait to have what I want, when I want it?
I am most important.
I am the dominant species.
The earth will repeatedly crack itself open like an egg
to give me whatever I hunger for.

These are the thoughts
that plant themselves in my mind
as I bury my hands in the soil
of my garden, struggling
to make sense
of this world,
too consumed with convenience
to care.

-SMS

Beautiful Bathtub

Time for recipes

When I originally started this blog I planned on posting recipes to go with all my food pictures but school has a way of being all-consuming. So, I just want to say that I'm going to try to make a real effort to post the recipe with the photo from now on. I just returned home this afternoon from a great weekend on the coast. The weather was surprisingly warm and there wasn't even a strong wind down by the ocean! (which is nothing short of a miracle here in the NW) Above are a few pictures of the bathtub. Isn't it so creative and surreal? The plants are right above the tub.

Good Luck at Goodwill

I had great luck at Goodwill yesterday with Del. I found this paper cutter for $6.99 which is great because I'd been planning to buy a brand new one to use for making cards.It's so cool and looks just like the ones I used to use in my high school art classes. Below is a large 3.5X5 ft canvas that has already been used for something but now has been painted over so it's ready for me to paint on! I'm not concerned with it not being perfect because it will be great to practice on something that didn't cost $50+ at the craft store. It only cost me $12.

Another Great Thrift Store Find...

Lemon-Glazed Rosemary/Lavender Raisin Buns

I found this great recipe in Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe. The smell and taste of the rosemary and lavender together is intoxicating. And don't forget all the sweet lemony goodness! :)

Lettuce and Spinach and Peas, Oh My!

After a week of moping around my apartment with a cold I finally made it out into the sun today for a few minutes. Above are my spinach plants and below are peas on the outside and two rows of lettuce on the inside. All my veggies look so healthy and happy! These pictures don't do them justice.

Wow these bagels are AWESOME!

Because of the slightly complicated process (boiling and then baking), I haven't tried to make bagels for at least 3 or 4 years. I'm so glad I gave them another try. This recipe (which I got off of Allrecipes) is incredible. They are soft on the inside and perfectly chewy on the outside. My only regret is not doubling or tripling the recipe to begin with and freezing the extra bagels.

Mmmm enchiladas

Here's a photo of the tasty chicken enchiladas I made for dinner tonight.

Easter Eggs

I created this egg under the guidance of my friend DeAnn who led everyone in making authentic Ukranian Eggs. I'm not sure how authentic mine is, it looks more like a Hippy Egg but I'm okay with that.

Half-Baked!?

Here's my partially baked focaccia crust, ready to be smothered in saucy cheesy goodness. I keep trying to curb all my carb intake but can't you see? Everything wonderful starts with flour and yeast! (or goes well with it)

Ready to go in the oven

BBQ Chicken Pizza Black Olive, Mushroom, and Onion Pizza

Baked and Fabulous Pizza

Oh yeah, look at these babies...they are so lovely and tasted even better!