Pesto Presto

 My farm co-op said everyone is welcome to as much basil as they want this week. Ha ha ha! I jammed an entire huge bag full of it, packed down tight, and came home to make mountains of pesto. I made about 14 cups of the stuff, and froze it all in individual baggies for winter enjoyment. My recipe was simple: in a food processor I ground up 1 pound of walnuts, 5 bulbs of garlic, 10 garlic scapes, a ton of olive oil, salt, and of course batch after batch of basil with any woody stems removed. By the end of the half hour or so it took to make, I could literally feel basil essential oil coming out my pores. MMMmmm yummy! Then I mixed it all up in bowl together and put in small baggies to freeze. I didn't have cheese on hand, so will add the grated parmesean cheese fresh whenever we use the pesto... or not, as the recipe may call for.

July 28 Photostream - Paintings, Kids, Canning

A custom piece for a 20-year anniversary -- an adoring Pan and a water nymph.
Finished and given to the happy couple.

I SOLD this over the weekend on etsy.com -- so excited!! I love this painting, and it's going to a great home in Texas. The goddess Nut, reclining on her earthly husband, Geb.

Jocelyn, pulling out every puzzle in the house and with her "I'm trouble" face on :)

Watching the Phantom Menace... or Jocelyn?

Homemade Tomato Sauce from Local tomatoes. YUM YUM YUM

My husband found this old canvas on the side of the road, beat up and abandoned. Here it is at the beginning of the week with some sketching already done, ready to be upcycled and given new life.

The MesoAmerican Goddess, Water Panther, with her jaguar totem and Temple of the Jaguar behind her. This is the "first draft" that I began painting today while the wee one had her nap. Finished product will have more glazes and layers, be darker - she does, after all, hunt at night ;)

French Classics Made Easy - 250 Great Recipes Simplified for the Modern Kitchen

This month I've really been enjoying experimenting with european cooking, which provides the perfect foil for my light Japanese-style lunches. One cookbook that I've been especially pleased with is French Classics Made Easy. This book by Richard Grausman was sent to me a few months ago for review, and is an updated version to his well-known book At Home with the French Classics. The updated version not only simplifies and shortens cooking processes for the home chef, but many recipes have been trimmed down from their traditional French counterparts.

Now, Richard is one of the country's top cooking teachers and the founder of C-Cap, the non-profit Careers through Culinary Arts Program, so he is very concerned with the final result. His students go on to become top chefs in restaurants around the country, and are expected to understand French processes and produce authentic tasting cuisine. So his recipes, although often trimmed of excess fat or carbs, have lost none of the taste and richness of sensation that one expects from French food.

Author, Richard Grausman

His book covers everything from appetizers to desserts, including sauces, glazes and sorbets. I was especially excited about his ice cream and sorbet directions, because they don't call for an ice cream maker. I had an ice cream maker for years but it never worked properly. I think my freezer just can't get quite cold enough for it. Richard teaches us that you simply make your frozen base and then smooth in in the food processor. Return to the freezer to re-firm for a few hours and VOILA! perfect ice cream or sorbet. This is so easy, and perfect for the current heat wave we've been experiencing.

If you are looking for a book that will allow you to wow your dinner guests, or recreate your french vacation at home without tearing your hair out, this is the book for you. Duck a l'Orange, Gnocchi a la Parisienne, Soup a L'Oignon, Tarte Tatin -- they're all here! Being half French, this book brings back all sorts of wonderful memories of family vacations for me. But I am also especially thankful to Richard for showing me a faster, juicier and tastier way to cook a whole chicken (on it's side!); how to make cream sauce for pasta or vegetables in less than a minute; and make my own glaze from fresh stock, a bouillion like gel that will keep for months in the fridge or freezer and add flavor to many, many meals.

Culinary Tea -- A Cookbook Review

Recently I had the absolute pleasure to receive a review copy of "Culinary Tea: More Than 100 Recipes Steeped in Tradition from Around the World", by Cynthia Gold and Lise Stern. This book is a treasure. The authors have taken tea outside its comfort zone and proceeded to create a repertoire of meals that dazzle both the mind and body.

As many of you know, I am an herbalist by trade, so when I think of "tea" I tend to think of what are actually healing infusions made from plants. Tea, in its true sense, refers only to the plant camellia sinensis -- that which produces what is commonly known as white tea, black tea, or green tea. The recipes in this book are dazzling, and the story and history included along with the recipes made it a real pleasure to read. Whether you actually plan to cook with tea or not, I urge everyone to read this book -- it will broaden your understanding of cooking in general, and tea in particular. It's a beautifully designed volume which would enrich any coffee -- ahem, shall we say tea? -- table.

Have I become more of a tea enthusiast? Well, I most definitely do own more varieties of green and black teas now, and I have been experimenting quite a bit with matcha, or green tea powder, in my food. There is always a pitcher of tea brewing in my fridge for these hot summer days, and I have begun to experiment with tea/herb combinations more (chamomile will naturally sweeten the pot without adding calories, and mint cools the blood.)

"Culinary Tea" is 288 pages with full-color photos. It is available from Running Press for $22.95.

"Dangerous" Heat

I find the idea that 94F is too dangerous to be outside laughable. I went to work every day in LA when temperatures were over 100F. Traffic jams and overheated cars -- now that was scary. I worked an entire Summer in Madrid, Spain, where three weeks straight of temperatures ranging 110-115F were the norm. THAT was hot. And we did it without AC. To cool off, I would take a couple baths each day in cool water.Those were blissful moments, followed by lots of water, fresh fruit, and salty tapas.

Dangerous heat index at 94F?? Too dangerous to go outside?? Really? We're heading to the local swimming hole that is a spring-fed pool, and I'm looking forward to my time outdoors today :) I can't imagine being anywhere nicer on a hot summer day.

Weekend Photo Stream

 

Our newly finished stone hearth behind the wood stove (awaiting a new flue) and flowers from the garden.

 

Alt-rock Fairy Princess, kicking it old school in Hawaii-style vans.

Gorgeous backyard discovery -- 3 inch Pandora Sphinx Moth on my Irises

 Baby Eastern Toads chilling in the terrarium. They recieve a daily diet of wild insects while their outdoor brethren are slowly picked off by local birds, bigger frogs, and yes, the dog.

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Homemade Rye/Mochiko Rice Flour Noodle, ready to be added to white miso soup.

Homemade Miso Soup with Bonito Flakes, Carrot Flowers, Multiple Seaweeds, Garlic Scapes, Lemon Balm and Orange Mint.

Loving the tire swing at grandma's house.

My First Onigiri, or Rice Balls

Tonight we had such a yummy dinner, and the kids really enjoyed helping out. First, we picked up our initial organic farm share of the season. The box was about half full, since it's been a slow start for gardening this spring. Next week promises to have a full to busting box with kale and lots of greens, but this week we got butter lettuce, spinach, arugula, scallions and a generous quart of the sweetest strawberries around.

Then we came home, and I let my 4 year old pick out what would go in the rice balls, using leftovers and fresh picks from the fridge. We decided to make 4 kinds, one of each for each person. We used two cups of cooked pink Madagascar rice to encase the following:
roast chicken with neufchatel
pan-fried whiting with tamari and dulse flakes
raspberries with fresh mint
and adzuki beans with white miso and a little nutritional yeast

My favorite was the roast chicken, followed closely by the raspberries. My son adored the raspberries and the fish. And my 16-month old daughter devoured it all. YUM!

The pink rice is not really the right kind of rice to make onigiri, but it sure was pretty. I am looking forward to receiving my new rice molds, which should make the process even easier -- and less messy.

We served it dinner on small plates with butter lettuce underneath, and had fresh strawberries for dessert.

For the birds

The coop is done done done! painted and complete with roosts, automatic feeder and fenced in from top to bottom.

 

 

Lucas and Buffy hanging out in the run.

Mr. Goldfinch waiting for us to leave so he can go back to the feeder.

Fresh Food, Asian Themed.

This Wednesday our farm share starts. I can not wait to see what goodies our fabulous farmer, Paul, has packed in the box for us. We will get an 18x18x24 box chock full of organic, local veggies EVERY week from now through the end of October, all for less than $30 a week. It's amazing.

Since I've been bitten by the Bento Bug, I have decided to take the plunge and go asian this summer making miso soups and veggies and rice all the time. To that end, I needed to find an asian grocer to buy reasonably priced items like dried seaweed, furikake (rice seasoning), and umeboshi (japanese apricots, which for some reason are labled plums in the U.S.).

In my neck of the woods, there are some latino and middle eastern grocers, but no asian ones that I've ever seen. I looked on Amazon and around online, and kept coming back to "the asian food grocer" which is FABULOUS. Low shipping, and if you buy over $100, it's free. And everything is so much cheaper than at my local stores, anywhere from 1/2 to 1/5 the price.

Then, I bought fancy rice very inexpensively at our natural food market where there are bulk bins. And I found an easy read about Japanese home-cooking, "Japanese Women don't Get Old or Fat". Odd title, but some good recipes and basic instructions. I read it in just a couple of hours. Next book on my list is "Yum Yum Bento", lol. How can you not want to read something with a title like that!?

The Bento Bug

Well, it's official. After gazing at various bento images over the last 6 months and experimenting a little with my son's school snacks, I have caught the Bento Bug. Lucas will be going to all-day kindergarten next year, and I want to make sure he'll be eating a full nutritious lunch to keep him going. But he's an active, talkative soon-to-be 5 year old. What to do? BENTO!

With his birthday coming up in two weeks, I have decided now is the perfect time to take the plunge and bought an arsenal of Bento supplies, starting with the boxes themselves. I spent a lot of time at various internet stores like amazon and specialty shops, but settled on a great little Japanese storefront on ebay, http://stores.ebay.com/SAKURA-ZAKKA-SHOP?_trksid=p4340.l2563. I got him a pokemon box and sweet bear box, as well as little egg molds, rice ball molds, and food dividers shaped like animals and vegetables. I also bought a set of alphabet picks, so I can spell out some words -- perfect for a little boy learning to read!

I am so excited. I know this will take some more time than a quick sandwich and an apple but I also have faith that a lot more of my efforts will end up in his tummy, making for a happier boy at the end of the day, and thus a happier me.

In Japan, bento boxes are expressions of a mother's love to her child. I intend to take this to heart. I bought the various decorations and boxes so that the meal will look different and exciting every day, also inspiring more excitement when he opens his lunch... And I was careful to get shapes and boxes that my son will enjoy.

I bought a t-tiered blue bento box for my husband, too, who has finally been remembering to take meals to work for the last few months. This should make it even easier for him, too :)

Sore Arms, New Ritz Carlt-HEN.

We spent the weekend, between social events and cleaning horse stalls, expanding our old chicken coop and building a new run. After 6 hours of hard, cooperative labor, it is pretty much done! My husband has dubbed it the "Ritz Carlt-hen," because their new accomodations are so nice. It's completely wired in, top, bottom and sides, and I'm planning on adding lots of roosts to make it a fun place for them. It's 6 feet tall, so we can go in and clean it easily, and it's under a stand of pines and just south of the privacy fence, so it'll be sheltered in both summer and winter. I'm thinking of moving in myself.

We just need to finish the door. We are going to use a leftover piece of our privacy fence, which is also behind the run, to make the frame for a screen door on the run.

We've named all the chicks. The first one was a no-brainer, our fearless, super friendly Buff Orpington was just begging to be named Buffy. She is, after all the leader of the gang, and a fearless blonde. Her cohort, a Silver Lace Wyandotte became Faith. And so we decided to pick names from some of our favorite TV shows for everyone. We have Sookie and Lorelei from Gilmore Girls, Cordelia from Angel and Buffy, Isabella of Phineas and Ferb, River from Firefly, Katara from the kid's show Avatar, and Batgirl. Batgirl (a Golden Lace Wyandotte), Faith and Buffy are the brave ones. Lorelei is the beautiful black orpington. Cordelia and Sookie will be laying colorful easter eggs to go with the ir colorful personas. Isabella is the smallest of the bunch right now, but she is destined to be quite large, a pretty Speckled Sussex. Katara and River will lay speckled eggs, and are Welsummers, (fitting, as water benders and emotional super-psychic ninjas need to have access to deep wells, yes, pun intended). Coincidentally, the actress who plaayes River is named Summer Glau.We thought about naming one after the lead of our new favorite show, Bones, but thought that sounded just a little too tasty for a chicken that isn't destined for the pot.

On Saturday, when the rain ended for a few hours, our 10 day old baby chicks enjoyed their first foray into the great outdoors for about an hour. They loved it! The chicks can still squeeze out the bars of the pen here, but I plan to use it a lot soon so they can "free range" a bit. My other chickens were always free range, but I'm planning on keeping this group a bit closer to home.

 

 

Suddenly, we are very popular

We have become the pied piper for kids and adults alike. Everyone is flocking to our home (invited, yes, of course!!) to see the babies. Our chicks are becoming very well-socialized as a result. We limit the noise and movement in the barn, since we want Mama Pritani to remain calm, but everyone gets a peek, and Mama is happy to get brushed by visitors.

Fae's First Turnout

We've decided to name the filly "Feileacan", which is gaelic for "butterfly" (pronounced FAY-luh-kawn). It's fitting, since her mother's name is also gaelic/pict in origin, and she has a big butterfly mark on her rear. We'll be calling her Fae for short :)

On Sunday Fae and her mother enjoyed their first turnout for 20-30 minutes. Not too long, because right after we put them out it started to rain lightly, and we didn't want her to get to wet or chilled. They loved the time outside though -- mama munched on the fresh grass, and Fae ran around her in circles. Pritani kept telling her not to run, and Fae would contain herself for a minute or two before she began running again. She moves beautifully.