Stinging Nettles with Grits and an Egg

   So it's been a while, I guess.  I took a little hiatus.  I focused on my kids, survived the holidays, ate horribly and gained weight and lost weight and gained it back.  I went to Maine to see my brother marry the most wonderful woman on earth.  I learned that I really like candid photography.  Food photography is easier because usually the subject stays still for ya but candid photography is so much more rewarding when you get "the" shot.  

This was that shot:

I swear I didn't pose her this way.  The light, you guys!  The light...  I can't even.  *Sigh*

     Anyway, I learned some stuff about myself in my time off.  I miss black and white photography, I like taking pictures of people, and apparently, I like to eat stinging nettle.  Who knew, right?

     Stinging nettle is crazy painful and also crazy good for you if you can get past the crazy painful part.  It's also delicious!  So somehow, I have gone my almost 40 years without ever seeing stinging nettle in the wild or getting stung by it.  But I found some at recent farmer's market and managed to sting the fool out of myself almost immediately.  Dag, ya'll.  Ow.

     So anyway, I decided I needed grits this morning and stinging nettle was going to go along with it.  So good.  I guess I was supposed to remove the leaves from the stems before cooking, but I couldn't find any specific directions about that online.  I just went ahead and cooked the stems, too.  It was fine.  No stings, good flavor, just a little too furry for my husband's taste.  I'll probably strip the leaves next time.

Stinging Nettles with Grits and an Egg
Serves 4

1 C grits
4 C water
Cheese

Butter
4 eggs
3 C stinging nettle very lightly packed
olive oil
salt and pepper

Cook grits to package directions, mine called for 1 C grits to be rinsed, then placed into 4 C boiling water and simmered for 30 minutes.  I add cheese to mine, I like sharp cheese like Beecher's Flagship, but I encourage you to find your favorite local cheddar.  Stir in a little butter and salt and pepper to your taste.  In the mean time, fry or poach four eggs.  I like mine over easy, but poached eggs would be fantastic on this.  Rinse the stinging nettle.  I used tongs to transfer mine to a salad spinner, rinsed in the basket and spun it around until dry.  Heat olive oil in a large pan, then dump nettles in.  Watch out for stingers!  If I were to cut the leaves off first, I would use gardening gloves to hold them while I removed the leaves after washing.  Heat leaves until just wilted and plate as shown.

Review:
     The boys weren't having the nettles.  They saw me get hurt and were NOT having any of that business.  My husband and I were a little trepidations, but the flavor was like a pleasantly strong spinach and pared well with the eggs and grits.  If you can't find nettles or are in the boat with my boys, sub out the nettle with spinach.

Breakfast, The Most Important Meal of the Day...

I found garlic scapes at my farmer's market again this weekend.  Happiness ensued.  Last night we had them steamed with asparagus and the boys had broiled salmon with blueberry mango chutney because hello.  As I was feasting on the garlic scapes, it occurred to me how good they would be with eggs.  Fortunately, I had enough left over this morning to test my theory and oh, how correct I was.

 This breakfast was crazy fast to make, one of my biggest requirements for breakfast.  Ok, maybe the only requirement.  Sometimes I eat a handful of walnuts and an apple for breakfast because that level of speed is necessary.  Sometimes it's a banana and a piping hot lung full of exhaust from the vehicle in front of me.

The other day I was late for the dentist because I was photographing ducks on my carport.

That was a banana and exhaust morning.

Fortunately, I had a few minutes today...

Soft Boiled Egg
1-4 eggs
4-8 C water

Cover eggs with water in a medium sauce pan.  Bring water to a boil, and turn the water off.  Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and set your timer for 3 minutes (if you want a runnier yolk) 5 minutes (if you want a more cooked yolk, like this one).

Steamed Garlic Scapes
3 Garlic Scape Spears per person
3 C water

Place your steamer insert into a large pot.  Add water until it is just below the surface of the steamer bottom (no water should touch the vegetables).  Break the stems of the scapes as you would asparagus to get rid of any woody parts.  Rise, and place in steamer.  Bring water to a boil and turn down.  Let scapes steam for 5-10 minutes depending on how soft you like your scapes.  These were steamed about 7 minutes.  The more you cook scapes, the less garlic flavor is left.  These had a nice, light garlic flavor without being overpowering and complemented the egg really well.

Review:
This was a perfect light breakfast.  I am basking in the woodnymphian glow of garlic scape season as the garlic-scented cloud that seeps from my pores will attest.  I regret nothing.

Hawaii Homeschool and a Little Bread

Apologies in advance.  This is a little heavy on the homeschool, but there is a delicious treat in the end...

     We're on our way to Hawai'i again soon.  Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.  Hate me because I'm going to Hawai'i without you again.  But don't worry, I've got a way for you to have a little taste of Hawai'i's bounty in your own kitchen.  I have been avoiding sugar for about a month because I read a bunch of Internet junk about probiotics and gut flora and sugar monsters.  It's been a pretty fun experiment, actually.  So I endeavored to make a cake that 1) featured Hawaiian food, 2) didn't fail like my Internet-famous last experiment, and 3) didn't have any sugar in it.  What resulted was a great bread, not really a cake, but totally snarfable with a little butter.  Honey optional.

     But first, for all my homeschool Mamas out there, I revamped our Hawaiian unit because I found such great resources about Kauai, the island we're visiting this year. 

     I based our studies around a workbook I found on Amazon called Holoholo i Kauai.  There are lots of pages with interesting facts, but I found two of the pages required you to know the fables of how certain geographical features came to be, and I didn't know how the stories went!  There are many different tales apparently about each feature, but they all have similar basis.  One story is about how NouNou mountain came to be.  It looks like a giant lying on his back.  I found this nicely illustrated version on Amazon: The Sleeping Giant.  I also found several stories online, which lined up a little better with what went with the workbook version.  The other story in the workbook is about the Spouting Horn blowhole.  Teller of Tales, Stories from Kauai was a great resource for this study with three stories, one about the blowhole and two about the Menehune (another page in the workbook).  Again, the story in the workbook doesn't quite line up with the story from the book so I supplemented with online material.  I used the discrepancies to illustrate oral tradition and storytelling embellishment but we talked about how the stories had many similarities, too.

Two-week Kauai Study Unit for 5-8 year olds

Day 1: Read Legend of the Sleeping Giant, HawaiiWeb and GoHawaii and do p. 2 of Holoholo i Kauai
Day 2: Learn Hawaiian State Symbols and do Holoholo p. 3
Day 3: Read Yesterday's Rain, Holoholo page 4
Day 4: Watch Crash Course in World History #27 on You Tube and do p. 12
Day 5: Study Wailua River and do p. 19
Day 6: Read Teller of Tales, Stories from Kauai stories The Ale Koko Fishpond p 248 and The Ditch the Menehunes built p 97 and do p 13
Day 7: Learn about Wimea Canyon and do p. 16
Day 8: Hawiian Word Book pg 28-29 do pg 9 and 14
Day 9: Read Teller of Tales, Stories from Kauai p 208 HawaiiWeb and GoHawaii and do p. 10
Day 10: Review landmarks discussed and show on a map.  Holoholo means an aimless walk for pleasure.  Walk your fingers around the map to all the places you have learned about!

Supplementals:
Amazon Videos about Kauai (Free for Prime Members)
Passport to Adventure: Kauai Hawaii's Garden
Travel with Kids Hawaii: The Island of Kauai

Music:
Putamayo Kids Hawai'ian Playground

We also watched Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark since large portions of them were filmed on Kauai, but I must say, Raiders is a little much for my two.

There is so, so, so much more to see and learn about Kauai!  I've got lots more landmarks listed on my Kauai Pinterest Board.  I hope we can see at least half of them!

If you want to see my other units on Maui, and the Big Island, they are not as detailed, but available for all to see.  Don't forget to check out your library to see how many of these resources you can find there!

And now... finally... the Bread...

Kauaian Coffee Bread
3 C flour
1 T baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C sour cream or plain yogurt
3 eggs, separated
5 T melted and cooled coconut oil + more for greasing
2 pureed bananas (1 C)1/2 C cooled Kauai coffee (available at Trader Joe's)
1 C minced dried pineapple (no sugar)
1/2 C chopped macadamia nuts
1 T lemon zest (optional)
1/4 C coconut chips (no sugar)


     Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease two loaf pans with coconut oil and dust lightly with flour.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in oil, egg yolks, sour cream or yogurt, bananas and coffee.  Stir in nuts, pineapple, and zest. Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Slowly fold egg whites into batter.  Divide evenly between the pans and sprinkle the tops with coconut chips.  Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick removes cleanly.  If the chips get too brown, cover with some foil.  Let cool briefly, then run a knife around the bread and turn out onto a cooling rack.

 

Notes:

You can also make this batter into muffins.  I think each half would make 10-12, so you aught to get about 24 total.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Review:

My kids actually love this.  It's kinda crazy.  It's not super sweet so I didn't think they'd go for it.  My youngest won't touch a regular muffin with a 10 foot pole (go figure, right?) and he begged me for these.

Love Muffins...

     I never buy strawberries this time of year.  They're gross, flavorless, and grown in another country.  However, the other day I was at a store and saw a beautiful display of berries.  They smelled so good.  They called to me in their foreign accents.  They promised sweet kisses and healthy indulgence.  When I got them home and washed them off what they actually delivered was a tender mixture of almost bad and not quite ripe.  I'm not sure how that's even possible.  One of my kids said they tasted like oranges the other said they tasted like nothing, but the overall impression was that they had lied to me the way most off-season produce does: Enormous, Cosmic Promises, itty-bitty return on investment.

     Fortunately, I know what to do with lying fruit: give it a little sugar.  These muffins are a great addition to breakfast for your sugar on Valentine's day, too!

Strawberry Orange Muffins

3-4 C cubed strawberries
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 C white flour
1/2 C wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1/4 C oil
zest of one orange

Coat the cubed strawberries with the sugar and cinnamon and let sit for 1-8 hours.  Preheat oven to 350° and line about 16 cupcake tins with paper liners.  Combine flours, baking powder and sugar.  Add egg, oil, strawberry mixture (including any liquid that has released) and zest.  Stir till well combined.  Portion out into cups and bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Review:

These are so simple to make, you can whip them up for your Valentine in no time.  The orange really accents the strawberry well.  I like them warm or cold and so does my family!

12 Days of Christmas Treats Day 4: Panettone

     My husband and I, like many people, aren't the biggest fans of fruitcake.  A few years ago, we bought a panettone at Costco one Christmas.  It was the yummiest white bread we ever had with a tiny bit of dried fruit.  The heavenliest, softest, perfectest fruit cake ever invented for infinity.  Cut a piece off, put it in the toaster and slap a little butter on it.  Best breakfast in the entire world.  It never even occurred to me to make my own until I saw panettone papers in a specialty shop.  The angels above opened their heavenly throats and warbled a melodious tune.  Or maybe that was me singing to myself in the baking row.  Only the security cameras can tell for sure.  I found this delicious recipe for panettone on King Arthur Flour.  I modified the fruit amounts somewhat and have adjusted the cooking time to make some mini panettones for sharing!  This recipe uses a biga, which is a quick, overnight starter culture, it helps develop the flavor of a good dough.  Trust me, the extra time is worth it.

Mini Panettone
Yield: 8

Biga (Overnight Starter)
3/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/16 teaspoon yeast (just a pinch)
1/3 cup water

Dough
all of the biga 

2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup warm water
2 large eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp orange extract

1/8 tsp lemon extract
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast OR 1 tablespoon instant yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup dried currants
1/4 cup chopped dried pineapple
1 tablespoon orange zest

1 tablespoon lemon zest

The Biga: Combine the biga ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl, cover, and allow them to rest overnight (8 to 12 hours).

Dough: Combine all of the dough ingredients except the fruit, and mix and knead them together—by hand, mixer or bread machine—till you've made a soft, smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until it's puffy (though not necessarily doubled in bulk). Gently deflate the dough, and knead in the fruits and zest.

Divide dough into 8 mini panettone cups.  Place cups on a baking sheet and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise till it's just crested over the rims of the cups.  (It took mine three hours, but it could take much less time if your house is warmer than mine...)

Bake the bread in a preheated 400°F oven for 5 minutes; reduce the oven heat to 375°F and bake an additional 5 minutes; then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for 10-15 minutes, tenting with aluminum foil if the crust appears to be browning too quickly. Remove the panettone from the oven and cool completely.  You'll know they're done when you thump the bottom and it sounds hollow.

Review:
This is great with mulled orange juice or a cup of coffee.  My kids aren't big fans, so this might be a more adult recipe.  I don't know about you, but I'm OK with that.

12 Days of Christmas Treats Day 3: Mulled Orange Juice

     When my brother and I were growing up, we didn't have much in the way of family nearby.  Our Grandparents lived 300 miles away.   Our closest Uncle was nearly 600.  We had a few third cousins around but they were usually busy with their own Uncles and Grandparents during the holidays.  This meant my Mom was free to set up any darn traditions she wanted.  And she was good at it.  To add humidity to the air and make the house smell lovely in the weeks preceding Christmas, Mom would simmer oranges, cinnamon, and cloves on the stove. We also made pomanders on occasion.  Yesterday, I mentioned our yearly Christmas Eve ritual. 

      I have also told the story of sitting with my Mom on Christmas Day waiting for the rest of the family to wake up, savoring the last predawn moments watching the tree, listening to Christmas music, and drinking a warm drink. Mom used to heat up a bunch of different juices. We had warm cranberry juice, warm grape juice, hot apple juice (of course), but her favorite to make around Christmas time was mulled orange juice.

     Mulled Orange Juice uses the same spices as her simmer fragrance and smells just like Christmas to me. Mom made hers with ground spices in the microwave using “a little of this, a little of that” but the ground spices always ended up sinking leaving a spice sludge at the bottom. This way, you get the flavor without the ick.

Christmas Mulled Orange Juice

Serves 4 (scales easily, can be made individually in the microwave also)

5 C orange juice

1 tsp whole cloves

2 sticks cinnamon

¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Boil orange juice, cloves, and cinnamon for about 5 minutes until it takes on the flavor of the spices. Fish the cloves and cinnamon out with a slotted spoon or pour though a strainer. Portion into serving mugs and top with a smidge of nutmeg.

Note:
I have discovered that using high pulp orange juice clogs the strainer; a low or no pulp juice is really the way to go with this.

Shapow!! Bonus Craft!

Pomanders

1. Tie ribbon around orange like wrapping a package
2. Use a toothpick to make a pilot hole
3. Poke a clove into it
4. Repeat 3 and 4 until you have the pattern you like
5. Allow to air dry, checking for mold

These will keep for a long time if properly dried. Buy cloves in bulk if you can find them, they can get pricy paying baking isle prices!  This is a great craft for little guys.  Mine had fun making patterns and faces and since we used tangerines, we got some coverage before their attention span wore out.

Savory Pancakes and TMI...

     I'm the type of person who has to tell the story of a gift when a person opens it.  People receiving gifts from me have to sit patiently though a long and winding tale of how the gift came to be in their possession.  I regale the receivers of my gifts with harrowing yarns of brave treks to Target surrounded by temptations of every shape and size or long and rambling quests through the jungles of Amazon.  My Mom did it.  I don't know why she did it, but because of her it's how I feel gift giving needs to be done.  The person can't fully appreciate the gift if they don't understand why I chose it for them and how it arrived.  Each gift has a birth story.

Christmas takes a long time.

    Food blogging is a little bit like that.  Each recipe has a story.  Sometimes I don't have the time to flesh it out the way I'd like, especially recently with all the upheaval in the living room.  (Maybe someday I'll tell you that arduous tale.) But today I have a moment.  It's raining outside and my boy's bellies are full.  The dishes are piled in the sink.  I've got my apron on and this is why:

     This year, to mix it up a bit in the garden I decided to plant nasturtiums and zucchini.  The poor zucchini has never zuked a single zuke, but it has made tons of blossoms!  Until this year I've never really eaten a good one.  I tried stuffed squash blossoms recipes which were inevitably full of cheese and way too greasy, and decided I liked them chopped up in salad best.  The nasturtiums were to save the kale from insect invaders.  They worked rather well and had the added benefit of being pretty and fragrant.  (I had no idea what a nice scent they had!)

      Besides the unexpected bounty of flowers in my garden, I had also made some homemade cashew milk.  The boys had some friends over this weekend who have special dietary needs and I don't like all the chemicals in the nut milks available in stores.  And anyway, it's super simple:

Cashew Milk
1/2 C raw cashews
2C water, plus more for soaking
1 tsp honey, or to taste (opt)
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste (opt)

Soak raw cashews in water for one hour, then drain and rinse.  Add 2 Cups of water to a blender along with the cashews and blend until liquified.  Strain it if you want and you can add a little honey or salt if you like.  I didn't do any of that for my version.

     I had been toying with the idea of savory pancakes for a while.  There's not much sugar in a pancake except what you pour over it.  They aught to make a great base for a savory breakfast.  To test my theory, I decided to combine all my weird ingredients and see what happened.

Savory Pancakes
1 C Whole wheat flour
1 C White flour
3 t Baking powder
1/2 t Salt
1/4 C Coconut sugar
2 Eggs*
2 T Oil
1 3/4 C Cashew milk
2 Leaves Sage
1/2 tsp Rosemary
1 tsp Thyme
3 or 4 Nasturtium blossoms, chopped
2 Squash blossoms, chopped (pistils and stamens removed)
1/4 C Spring onions for garnish
*You could make this vegan by substituting 1 mashed banana for the eggs.

Combine the dry ingredients, then add the wet ones.  Mix until well incorporated.  Grease a frying pan with butter or oil and preheat.  Spoon batter into pan.  Cook pancakes until done in the middle, flipping once. 

Yield is entirely dependent on how big you make your pancakes.  It usually yields around 12-14 of my small "silver dollar" size pancakes.  Top them with raw, fresh Spring onions and a pat of butter, no syrup necessary!

     If you're wondering about that funky coconut sugar up there especially after I wrote a post about processed sugars for October Unprocessed last year, coconut sugar, as far as I can tell, is one of the least processed sugars there is.  I found this article describing the process of making coconut sugar and Wikipedia backs it up.  I'm sure as soon as it catches on, manufacturers will figure out a way to process the snot out of it, but for now, it seems pretty safe.

Review:
I'm really grateful my husband is open to trying new things.  The kids wouldn't have it.  I think if I had come up with another name for them besides "pancake" they would have been on board.  My husband and I both liked them.  I think next time I'll try a little goat cheese or feta on there, too.

Good Morning...

     Welcome to my new series featuring my favorite vendors at the Third Place Commons Farmer's Market in Lake Forest Park Washington.  What better way to start off than a lovely breakfast?

     A familiar face at the market has a new name.  Anthem Farm was previously called Five Acre Farm, but has grown so much they had to come up with a new name.  I couldn't be happier for them.  This year they are selling beautiful pasture-raised eggs by the truck load besides all the beautiful produce they bring!  Today, I'm featuring an egg laid by one of their lovely ladies, and some jam I made using their luscious strawberries.

     New to the market this year is Shen Zen Tea.  These guys take tea seriously.  I bought their Masala Chai tea (pictured at top) and it has got to be one of the most wonderful teas I've ever had.  A couple of weeks ago, on one of the hottest days of the year so far, they ingeniously debuted tea soda.  You can tell when you taste it how dedicated they are to their craft. 

     And finally, another new addition this year, R Heritage Farm.   When the Third Place Commons announcement went out about this farm, I looked them up immediately.  What I found nearly made me cry.  I'm not kidding.  I had little happy tears dancing in my eyes for, like, 30 minutes.  I told everybody I knew about this farm, in fact, I may have even stopped some strangers on the street.  They raise pigs, chickens, and turkeys and get this: the animals live outside.  The pigs root around in actual honest to goodness dirt.  The chickens eat bugs.  The turkeys are brown, for Pete's sake!  I had never cooked a heritage breed bird before, and all the meat is in the "wrong" place!  The legs are long and firm, the breast is much smaller, and the back has a lot more usable meat.  I am debating trying to get a Thanksgiving group together this year just so I can make a turkey.  They're taking down payments already!  I can't say enough about this farm.  I really like these two, I like the way they run their farm, and I'm happy to buy their meat.  And I'm a vegetarian, so my husband feasted on a lovely bratwurst this morning! 

  

I modified Rachel Saunders Children's Strawberry Jam recipe from The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook (p. 177) to make my 

Strawberry Rhubarb Cherry Jam with Thyme

3 1/2 pounds hulled large strawberries

2 large rhubarb canes (about 3 oz)

 2 oz pitted cherries

4, 4 inch sprigs thyme

2 pounds 10 oz white cane sugar

3 2/3 oz plus 2 2/3 oz strained freshly squeezed lemon juice

Place a saucer with five metal teaspoons in a flat place in your freezer for testing the jam later.

In an 11 or 12 quart copper preserving pan or a wide nonreactive kettle, combine the fruit, rhubarb, and thyme with the sugar and 3 2/3 oz of the lemon juice.  Place the pan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula.  After a few minutes, as the juice starts to run and the mixture begins foaming a little around the edges, gradually raise the heat to high, stirring often.

Boil the mixture vigorously for 20-30 minutes, gently scraping the bottom of the pan every minute or two with your spatula to be sure the jam is not sticking.  If it begins to stick, decrease the heat slightly, being sure the jam continues to cook at a rapid boil.  Continue to cook, stirring and scraping frequently until the foam subsides, the mixture acquires a darker, shiner look, and the berries appear softened and saturated with liquid, about 25 minutes total.

At this point, stir in the remaining 2 2/3 oz of lemon juice, continuing to stir frequently.  Fish out the thyme sprigs.  If necessary, lower the heat slightly to prevent scorching.

After 3-5 more minutes, your jam should look shiny and thickened.  At this point, remove from the heat and test for doneness, using a stainless-steel spoon to carefully scrape all the white foam off the top of the mixture while you test.  Do not stir.  To test for doneness, carefully transfer as small representative half-spoonful of jam to one of your frozen spoons.  Replace the spoon in the freezer for 3-4 minutes, then remove and carefully feel the underside of the spoon.  It should be neither warm nor cold;  if still warm, return it to the freezer for a moment.  Tilt the spoon vertically to see how quickly the jam runs; if it runs slowly, and if it has thickened to a gloppy consistency, it is done.  If it runs very quickly or appears watery, cook it for another couple of minutes, stirring, and test again as needed.  This jam, while spreadable, has a relatively loose texture, Pour the jam into sterilized jars and process according to the manufacturer's instructions.  (Ball's book on home preserving says to process jam in a water bath for 10 minutes.)

Review:

This jam is a little looser than most jams, but is still pleasantly spreadable.  The rhubarb really shows through and the herbiness of the thyme is my favorite little last minute finish on the palate. 

I hope you enjoy this series as much as I am already.  I love these guys...

A Kid'll Eat Ivy, Too!

By way of update, from my earlier post, here's the latest in the goat mower saga!

This little dear is working his way, chest deep, to the choicest leaves.  He is a special type of goat that has very small ears.

He is the first goat my eldest son got to hold.  He said, "He feels like a cloud!" So we named him Cloud.

These pictures are from the day we moved the goats to the second area.  They moved in and started eating like they hadn't eaten in a week.

Pulling her weight.

Our ewe was still sagging with pregnancy when she left.  Poor darling!

It's not cold.  I don't know why they decided to wear winter gloves.  I think they just wanted to look cool.

This little brown one is named K2 (the only one we actually knew the real name of) and was my eldest's favorite.  My youngest loved the little black one here most and named her Little.

 This is the part of the first section easily seen from the driveway before and after.

Further up the bank.

All the brown here used to be green.  Including the fence.

On the other side of the fence, was our second area for clearing.  Believe it or not, these pictures are exactly the same area!

 

Mario on the right, easily walks through an area he'd have been wading through before.

This poor tree has been killed by ivy and will have to come out.

 Part of the dead tree that has already fallen.  Wouldn't believe it was even in that first picture, would you?

I had no idea how wonderful goats were.  Such gentle and sweet little things with so much personality.  My husband and boys all had their favorites.  My favorite was any goat that happened to have a mouthful of green stuff when I looked at her.

 After four days, the sad time finally came to say goodbye.

Cade carried K2 down to the truck.  But we will have another quick visit next week for one last section.  (For now.)

To prepare for our goaty guests, I decided to move a couple of plants.

I had a small group of trilliums blooming that I just love and a few ramps I transplanted from my grocery store last year.  Ramps are a wild leek that grows natively in the Eastern part of the US.  I love them and they are catching on in popularity in this area.  I found out that they like to live near trilliums so I stuck some in the ground near my trillium patch.  I was delighted to see these sprigs appear this Spring.  Now that I've moved them, I hope they come back next year!

Here are some harvested ramps.  They have a strong garlicy/onion flavor.

I paired them with eggs to make this lovely breakfast.

Egg with Asparagus and Ramps

1 egg

2 thin stalks of asparagus, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces

1 ramp, chopped small, leaves included

1 oz feta cheese, crumbled

butter

salt and pepper

Sauté the asparagus in a small amount of butter until it is warmed and starting to soften.  Remove from heat, fry an egg in the same pan a few minutes until it looks the way you like.  Remove from the pan, and heat the ramps for a few seconds to warm them up.  Sprinkle the asparagus, ramps, and feta over the egg and salt and pepper to taste.

Review: 

This egg is terribly quick and delicious.  The feta I found had a mild "goaty" flavor that reminded me of my girls.  I can't wait to see them again next week!

UPDATE:
The goat man is coming back today!  Eeeeeee!  =)

A Quick Tropical Brunch...

     Just like last year, I came home from Hawai'i all inspired to make some of the same foods I tried at our hotel.  We had brunch daily and it was obvious to all that this is the height of papaya season.  They were so sweet and soft they almost tasted like honeysuckle.  So fragrant!  Last year, I devoted myself to enjoying them with a twist of lime, but this year we were provided with mint.  I'm not sure if two things could possibly be more perfect for each other.  Such a beautiful marriage!  

     Twice, the hotel provided a bagel bar with lox, cream cheese, hard boiled egg, tomatoes, and capers.  Being vegetarian and all, I tried one with everything except the salmon.  Friends, that is some serious yumminess.  

     And finally, we rounded up more than a few brunches with a fruit smoothie.  My favorite was the mango, though I had a pineapple mint one that made me weak in the knees one sultry morning.

     And so I came home determined to replicate this deliciousness in my own kitchen.  I love how quick this is to throw together since when I usually make brunch, it's served at 11 because I've been cooking it since 8.  I tend to be rather elaborate is what I'm sayin'.

Quick Brunch Menu

Vegetarian Super Bagel
2 bagels
1 hard boiled egg, peeled and sliced
2 Tbs no chemical cream cheese (some lovely goat cheese would be a great substitute)
1 heirloom tomato, sliced
 2 tsp capers, drained

Slice the bagels and spread 1 Tbs of cream cheese on each.  Divide the hard boiled egg between the two, add tomato, and sprinkle with capers.

Mango Smoothie
1 mango, peeled and sliced
1 C plain yogurt
2 C crushed ice

Add ingredients to a blender and blend at high speed until smooth.

Notes:
My boys liked strawberry and banana in theirs as well.

Papaya with Mint
1 ripe papaya
2 sprigs, mint, washed (use a mild mint variety such as peppermint)

Slice the papaya in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.  Slice each half into four.  Serve slices with mint leaves.

Notes:
Because papaya is a rather tropical fruit that many "mainlanders" have never tried, some may not know how to pick a good one.  Check that your papaya doesn't have any large bruises, wrinkled skin, or signs of mold.  A good papaya will yield slightly to pressure and you should be able to slide your fingernail through the skin without much force.  (I wouldn't suggest the fingernail test until you actually own the fruit...)  One of our friends once asked me if you eat the skin.  You can, though I don't find it particularly appetizing.  Mostly, I use the skin to hold it and eat it like watermelon, but of course you can peel it off if you like.  You can eat the seeds, too.  They're kind of peppery with a final taste similar to horseradish.  Might even be good on a bagel... Hmmm...

 

Review:
My boys didn't go for the "green balls" but they loved everything else!  It's a nice little treat to break it up a bit during the week.

Well Now I've Seen Everything...

     Wednesday was the first day of Spring.  It was actually a nice day.  That was just crazy.

     Yesterday, in the time it took us to drive home from swimming lessons it rained, snowed, hailed, and the sun came out.  Then about 20 minutes after we got home a huge crack of thunder shook the house, made one of the kids cry and sent the cat running under the bed like a cartoon character.  You know when they can't quite get traction and run in place for a second?  Yeah.  That was crazy.

     Today, we woke up to snow on the ground.  More snow than we had all winter.  At one point, the snow had tapered off and had melted from the trees and I said, "Well boys, that looks like the end."  At which time it immediately started snowing fast and hard.  My youngest said, "See Mom?! You made the snow mad! It wants kids to have fun!!"  Crazy.

     So, what do you do on a crazy morning when your kids are cold and wet from playing in the snow?  And it's too early to start drinking?  Why serve oatmeal, of course! 

     The host of a local radio program, one of the most famous chefs in this area, was talking about oatmeal last week and how he didn't like it much because all they ever had in the house was instant oatmeal.   I was surprised by this because this is such a foodie area and he is a famous chef for pete's sake.  I realize in retrospect, he's probably a very busy man and his family is like all other families who don't have a lot of time in the morning.  It's much easier to nuke a bowl of slop in the microwave for a minute than to babysit a pot on the stove for 10.  But I must say, I find the outcome considerably more rewarding.  Especially when compared to the oatmeals with added sweeteners and flavors.  

Basic Apple Walnut Oatmeal 

4 Cups Water

3 Cups Rolled Oats Oatmeal (Not quick-cook or instant, my favorite is Snoqualmie Falls Lodge)

1/2 tsp salt

1 C peeled and cubed Apples

1 C roughly chopped Walnuts

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Bring water and salt to boil on the stove.  Add apples, walnuts, oatmeal, and cinnamon and bring back to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes until water is absorbed and oats are soft, but not too sloppy.  They should have a nice chew and the apples should not be completely soft. 

Notes:

Toppings: Sucanat or brown sugar for sprinkling, butter, and milk or vegan equivalents

Optional fruit: instead of apples, bananas, or raisins are other options, although I personally think raisins taste like sweet, warm slugs.  Almonds are a great alternative to walnuts.

Review:

This is perfect for Winter days and well... apparently Spring days, too...  It's not groundbreaking, but it's a whole lot better than something from a pouch.  Seriously, save those for camping.

What are your favorite ways to top oatmeal?