Posts
Mmmmmm... I am making both this weekend. Mauricio looooooves tiramisu and well, so do I. To prod me, he brought home all the ingredients which I usually don't make from scratch such as marscapone and Kahlua. I will be making the other major components such as lady fingers and zabligone from scratch.
Wait a minute, here I am talking about Dolci and I haven't even mentioned Il Secondo! I'm planning to make a massive lasagna or two and will be making freshly rolled sheets of spinach pasta to use in the lasagna as opposed to that no-boil boxed crap - ugh! The kitchen will be brimming with creamy bechamel, herbs from my garden and a steaming kettle of home made tomato sauce using tomatoes I canned from last Summer. I will be using home made spicy Italian sausage, as mentioned above in the title. Perhaps I will even find the time to make some mozzarella fresca to melt over the top.
Tonight I have my work cut out. I'll grind the fresh pork roast, season, stuff and link the sausages. Fresh as in not smoked or cured sausage always tastes better after a resting period which allows the flavors to meld.
After I am finished linking the sausages I will proceed to make the tiramisu. It too will benefit from a nice day or two of resting time which will allow the lady fingers to soak up the coffee liquor and creamy zabligone. If I am not passed out after all that, maybe I'll get around to making some fresh mozzarella cheese. I don't have any raw cow milk right now so I'll just have to limp along with some cream-line.
Lavender Lady Lilac
I forgot to add this picture. I am so excited!!! I planted this lilac over a year ago and this is the first time that it has bloomed. It is so fragrant I can smell it when I stand on the porch about 20 ft. away.
Some pictures of my front garden
From top to bottom are a volunteer painted sunflower, key lime baby lettuce which I direct seeded about a week and a half ago, flowering sage, and a 
Thompson Seedless grape vine.
The soup was good but I'm still sick!
Heh, but definitely on the road to recovery.
An interesting thing happened yesterday. We were at Jason's baseball practice and the same boy that assaulted Michael and threw rocks at his head came up to Michael and offered what I perceived to be a very sincere apology. He said, "please forgive me, I'm sorry I hurt you". He could barely make eye contact with me but stood solidly in front of Michael and seemed to really be looking for Michael to respond in kind with an olive branch. It dropped my jaw. I mean, I had this kid pegged as a future serial killer based on the physically and psychologically vicious nature of his attack but this unsolicited apology over a week after the incident made me look a little closer. Michael must be the most forgiving soul on Earth because he flung his arms around the kid who just stood there, looking embarrassed.
I explained to the boy, who is 13, six years Michael's senior, that Michael has a hard time with communication because of an auditory processing disorder. I told him that it sometimes affects his social behavior. This was not offered up as an excuse but rather to demystify Michael's sometimes awkward behavior. No point in beating around the bush as it would do no service to either of them. They played together a bit and there were no further altercations.
An interesting thing happened yesterday. We were at Jason's baseball practice and the same boy that assaulted Michael and threw rocks at his head came up to Michael and offered what I perceived to be a very sincere apology. He said, "please forgive me, I'm sorry I hurt you". He could barely make eye contact with me but stood solidly in front of Michael and seemed to really be looking for Michael to respond in kind with an olive branch. It dropped my jaw. I mean, I had this kid pegged as a future serial killer based on the physically and psychologically vicious nature of his attack but this unsolicited apology over a week after the incident made me look a little closer. Michael must be the most forgiving soul on Earth because he flung his arms around the kid who just stood there, looking embarrassed.
I explained to the boy, who is 13, six years Michael's senior, that Michael has a hard time with communication because of an auditory processing disorder. I told him that it sometimes affects his social behavior. This was not offered up as an excuse but rather to demystify Michael's sometimes awkward behavior. No point in beating around the bush as it would do no service to either of them. They played together a bit and there were no further altercations.
Blech!
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.
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.