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Mauricio and I went to a friend's 40th birthday party on Saturday night. It was a fun and raucous party with excellent food. Mauricio bar tended which contributed to me having a little too much to drink, although I did not drink nearly as much as most. The bad news is that I became ill, as in I caught a bug and woke up with a sore throat and cough Sunday morning. The good news is that I was not hung over. I am however currently sick and losing my voice, much to my children's delight, heh.
In light of this, I will make an Italian turkey noodle soup tonight. This is an old Italian peasant soup loaded with vegetables and tiny pork and beef meatballs which has been in my family for many generations. It's actually a soup that is traditionally served at Italian celebrations such as weddings or baptisms. This will hopefully boost my ailing immune system.
To make the soup I'll start off with bones from the carcass of a roasted 20 lb. free range turkey with all skin removed. Bones are the essence of any good stock. Without bones to boil, there will be only a shadow of flavor and the resulting soup will taste bland and watery. When I roast a turkey or chicken for dinner, I always save the bones/carcass and make soup with them immediately or freeze them for use some time in the future. It's a pain in the ass to roast a bird just to make soup from it and roasting a bird adds an amazing flavor that cannot be achieved by simply plunking a whole raw bird in a pot.
I will just barely cover the bones with cold water. The cold water will slowly be brought to a boil and then immediately lowered to a very gentle simmer. This is key in ensuring a relatively clear broth. I'll add a whole yellow onion split in half with the skin on, two whole bay leaves, a small handful of peppercorns, a stalk of celery and a bouquet garni from my front planter consisting of thyme, sage, parsley, rosemary and marjoram which will be tightly bunched and placed in a large tea ball infuser. All of this will gently simmer together for three hours. After three hours, the bones will have lost all their connective tissue in to the stock and the stock will be a light golden color and rich in flavor. I'll strain the stock and pick off any turkey meat to be added back in. I will add the miniature Italian spiced meatballs which were roasted in the oven, medium egg noodles, peas, diced carrots and spinach from the garden. I'll season with salt and pepper and serve with shaved Parmesan cheese on top. Crusty Italian peasant bread will be used to soak up the soup. Mauricio and the kids love this soup and my cold has given me a great excuse to make it tonight.
Planting, planning and pragmatism...
The backyard space is coming along nicely (pictures to follow). I cannot hide my unabashed love of lavender and have demonstrated no restraint in this capacity. There are at least five varieties planted about the area. My love of lavender is enhanced by the fact that bees love the stuff and are sadly, rapidly dwindling in number. I always try to think of the local flora and fauna as I create any semi-permanent landscape. After all, it is the wildlife that has been pushed to the fringes to make way for us.
My grape vines, blueberry bushes and pomegranate plants arrived yesterday from Raintree Nursery and I will be working on weaving them in to the existing edible landscape consisting of thyme, rosemary and lavender, strawberries, marjoram, oregano and chives along with plum and apple trees. I started moving seedlings which I started weeks ago from seed and grew under lights, outside to harden off. Among them are peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins lemon balm, cucumbers, echinacea, fennel, squash, artichokes, chamomile, basil. Yesterday I proceeded to direct seed several types of lettuce and greens such as collards, swiss chard, spinach and kale.
I planted a honeysuckle vine to grow on one strip of fenced run which should attract hummingbirds and butterflies. We are now searching for natural, flat stone to use as paving stones for a decent sized hard surface patio sitting area under a large shade tree on the second tier. The patio will be approximately 15'x12'. We plan to put a table, chairs, a bench or two and possibly a fire pit on the patio. For the play area on the upper tier, I found a used 8' high, 15' diameter geodesic climbing dome . We're trying to get most of our patio furnishings and decor second hand in order to be more green with our project and of course save money. I even found a used wood fired brick pizza oven on craigslist.com.
Our neighbor is going to go in on a small drilling rig with us so that we can both drill wells on our property. I ran the idea by him months ago and he actually said that he had been thinking of doing it for a while before I mentioned it. He works at Ace Hardware and gets a 15% discount which he will use to purchase it. We are going to get the well water sampled and if it' s suitable for drinking, which I suspect it will be especially when compared to what's coming out of the tap these days, we will plumb it in to our house. If it has high levels of any impurities, it will be irrigation water for gardening and landscape purposes. We should be able to dramatically offset our water usage either way and hopefully find an even cleaner source of water than that supplied by EBMUD.
The solar panels for our roof are also in the works. So far, with the quotes we've received and based on the rebates currently being offered, it will run us approximately $15K. This type of home improvement can be easily financed and the payments will be more than offset by the fact that they will be less than our monthly PG&E bill. It will also increase our home's value but best of all, it will reduce our carbon footprint.
My grape vines, blueberry bushes and pomegranate plants arrived yesterday from Raintree Nursery and I will be working on weaving them in to the existing edible landscape consisting of thyme, rosemary and lavender, strawberries, marjoram, oregano and chives along with plum and apple trees. I started moving seedlings which I started weeks ago from seed and grew under lights, outside to harden off. Among them are peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins lemon balm, cucumbers, echinacea, fennel, squash, artichokes, chamomile, basil. Yesterday I proceeded to direct seed several types of lettuce and greens such as collards, swiss chard, spinach and kale.
I planted a honeysuckle vine to grow on one strip of fenced run which should attract hummingbirds and butterflies. We are now searching for natural, flat stone to use as paving stones for a decent sized hard surface patio sitting area under a large shade tree on the second tier. The patio will be approximately 15'x12'. We plan to put a table, chairs, a bench or two and possibly a fire pit on the patio. For the play area on the upper tier, I found a used 8' high, 15' diameter geodesic climbing dome . We're trying to get most of our patio furnishings and decor second hand in order to be more green with our project and of course save money. I even found a used wood fired brick pizza oven on craigslist.com.
Our neighbor is going to go in on a small drilling rig with us so that we can both drill wells on our property. I ran the idea by him months ago and he actually said that he had been thinking of doing it for a while before I mentioned it. He works at Ace Hardware and gets a 15% discount which he will use to purchase it. We are going to get the well water sampled and if it' s suitable for drinking, which I suspect it will be especially when compared to what's coming out of the tap these days, we will plumb it in to our house. If it has high levels of any impurities, it will be irrigation water for gardening and landscape purposes. We should be able to dramatically offset our water usage either way and hopefully find an even cleaner source of water than that supplied by EBMUD.
The solar panels for our roof are also in the works. So far, with the quotes we've received and based on the rebates currently being offered, it will run us approximately $15K. This type of home improvement can be easily financed and the payments will be more than offset by the fact that they will be less than our monthly PG&E bill. It will also increase our home's value but best of all, it will reduce our carbon footprint.
April Fool's!
April Fool's is a big day at our house. The kids and I had a blast yesterday with a fake cat poop gag. Ya see, we have an overabundance of cats in our hood and we used the cat poop fatigue felt by our neighbors to further our devious purpose. With our plastic mounds in pocket, we set off to prank the unsuspecting residents that live on our court.
We put the piles in the middle of walkways in cherished garden beds on doorsteps and even on the hoods of a few pampered vehicles. It was a big success which resulted in just about every neighbor sighing and muttering under their breath with disgust as we solemnly pointed out the offensive piles. In theory, we were just strolling by and found it our civic duty to alert the home owner to the foul blight on their property. Noses wrinkled and annoyance surfaced until we ended our prank with one of the kids flinging a pile in their general direction. Each neighbor ducked or dodged the projectile poop with a look of sheer horror but just as quickly grinned and began laughing at their own gullibility.
Good times! The kids were absolutely gleeful as we repeated the prank over and over with each neighbor, down the street and around the court. Everyone seemed genuinely relieved that the piles were in fact plastic and not an actual steaming mound on the hood of their car or in their garden bed.
We put the piles in the middle of walkways in cherished garden beds on doorsteps and even on the hoods of a few pampered vehicles. It was a big success which resulted in just about every neighbor sighing and muttering under their breath with disgust as we solemnly pointed out the offensive piles. In theory, we were just strolling by and found it our civic duty to alert the home owner to the foul blight on their property. Noses wrinkled and annoyance surfaced until we ended our prank with one of the kids flinging a pile in their general direction. Each neighbor ducked or dodged the projectile poop with a look of sheer horror but just as quickly grinned and began laughing at their own gullibility.
Good times! The kids were absolutely gleeful as we repeated the prank over and over with each neighbor, down the street and around the court. Everyone seemed genuinely relieved that the piles were in fact plastic and not an actual steaming mound on the hood of their car or in their garden bed.
Black Currant Strudel
The kids and hubby bugged me to satisfy their sweet tooth last night so I decided to make them a black currant strudel. I began by making a rich egg, butter and yeast pastry dough. It was very soft and easy to work with. I kneaded it for about 15 minutes and then allowed the dough to rise until doubled. I divided it, punched it down and rolled the two pieces out in to large rectangles. I then slathered some very good quality black currant jelly down the center of each rectangle leaving ample space on the top and sides to braid the dough. I then added a lightly sweetened cream cheese filling over the top of the jelly. I cut the sides of the dough where there was no filling in to strips and layered the strips, one on top of the other to create a braided look and tucked in the ends. I brushed each strudel with a light coating of heavy cream and sprinkled coarse sugar over the top. I baked them for about 35 minutes on parchment paper and then took them out of the oven bubbling, oozing, flaky and golden brown. We enjoyed them with fresh ground and brewed coffee last night after dinner. The tart black currant jelly was a perfect foil for the rich and buttery cream cheese filling.
Here's my winter planter with more height and new compost added, all gussied up and ready for some serious planting.
We also had stairs added leading up to the second tier. We are in the process of picking out slate which we will use to "face" the steps and lower cinder block retaining wall with.Now the real fun begins!!!
Mission accomplished!
The backyard is done and we are so, so stoked. As soon as the crew finished cleaning, the kids ran out and began enjoying it. Unfortunately I have no pictures to post tonight but I'll try and get some taken and posted tomorrow morning.
I am extremely stoked about my new and improved planter. It gained over 18", is double dug, fully composted and out of the late afternoon shade caused by some errant tree limbs which have been pruned. It will now get a solid 8 hours of sun or more.
I've started drawing up plans for what to plant where. There will be Spanish lavender and creeping thyme as a border on the edge of the top tier. Pomegranate bushes and rosemary will create a border at the edge of the second. I'll train jasmine and at least four types of grapes vines on to the fence of the bordering the dog run. Alpine strawberries, various flowers and herbs will go in to the brick planter near the gate. A few dwarf fruit trees will go nicely in a sunny portion of the bottom tier and lots of shade loving plants such as hostas and ferns in the shady, covered area under the patio.
I am extremely stoked about my new and improved planter. It gained over 18", is double dug, fully composted and out of the late afternoon shade caused by some errant tree limbs which have been pruned. It will now get a solid 8 hours of sun or more.
I've started drawing up plans for what to plant where. There will be Spanish lavender and creeping thyme as a border on the edge of the top tier. Pomegranate bushes and rosemary will create a border at the edge of the second. I'll train jasmine and at least four types of grapes vines on to the fence of the bordering the dog run. Alpine strawberries, various flowers and herbs will go in to the brick planter near the gate. A few dwarf fruit trees will go nicely in a sunny portion of the bottom tier and lots of shade loving plants such as hostas and ferns in the shady, covered area under the patio.
We're off to San Francisco...
to eat luxuriously at an olive oil customer of mine, Bistro Aix and to catch the Giant's Game afterwards. It's a bit chilly for the outing but it will be awesome fun. I'm really looking forward to seeing Johnathan who is the owner of Bistro Aix. He's a great guy who's really passionate about what he does.
We were thinking about going to Laiola, which is also a customer but the wait, even with reservations can be horrendous. Ya see, Laiola is the new and happening spot to nosh in the Marina District and everybody and their mother has been trying to get in there - especially since they received three stars from Michael Bauer at the Chronicle.
We also thought about going to O'Reilley's Holy Grail but that's a rollicking Irish party spot and we aren't looking to take it to the limit this evening. I will say this, if you are ever in the mood to party Irish style and get your corned beef and cabbage on, O'Reilley's is absolutely the place to do that. I also highly recommend their Hunter's Pie made with Guiness and vennison ~ heavenly! Great bartender and very cute Irish staff.
We were thinking about going to Laiola, which is also a customer but the wait, even with reservations can be horrendous. Ya see, Laiola is the new and happening spot to nosh in the Marina District and everybody and their mother has been trying to get in there - especially since they received three stars from Michael Bauer at the Chronicle.
We also thought about going to O'Reilley's Holy Grail but that's a rollicking Irish party spot and we aren't looking to take it to the limit this evening. I will say this, if you are ever in the mood to party Irish style and get your corned beef and cabbage on, O'Reilley's is absolutely the place to do that. I also highly recommend their Hunter's Pie made with Guiness and vennison ~ heavenly! Great bartender and very cute Irish staff.
So far so good...
The doggies have been in their new run for three days now and they seem to be totally happy and have not figured out a way to escape. This is very good news. They get supervised romping in the rest of the yard every day and a nice hour long walk each evening in addition to lots of inside hanging-out-with-family-time every night. This is turning out to be a win-win situation which is really hard to achieve where dogs, kids and landscaping are concerned. Mauricio has found it incredibly easy to clean the run and it has some nice bonus amenities such as shade, ample drainage, compliments of a perforated drain pipe which we had installed out of site and then covered with a decent layer of drainage gravel. This means that Mauricio can hose off the entire run without creating a mud pit when the need arises.
Speaking of doggies, we're taking our massive lug of a beast Leo to get fixed in a couple of weeks. He's done most of his growing. He weighs in at 114 pounds and is just three months shy of his second birthday. The huevos aren't doing him any good anyhow, especially now that Luna's fixed.
Speaking of doggies, we're taking our massive lug of a beast Leo to get fixed in a couple of weeks. He's done most of his growing. He weighs in at 114 pounds and is just three months shy of his second birthday. The huevos aren't doing him any good anyhow, especially now that Luna's fixed.