Canning & Bike Riding Fun!

Early last week, I went to visit Coral & she sent me home with a ton of leftovers from the wedding, including several pounds of plum tomatoes (7 1/2 lbs.) & Anaheim peppers (4 1/2 lbs.). They sat in our basement for a couple days, while I wondered what I should make with 'em. I finally decided to make canned diced tomatoes & pickled Anaheim slices. For the peppers, I used a basic pickling brine, & added garlic, mustard seeds, peppercorns & a hot pepper to each jar. I have to wait about a month to try them (so they can develop their flavor), but I hope they're good! The tomatoes are just lemon juice, salt & tomatoes, so they'll be pretty versatile.

Before pickling:


After pickling:


Smels was gone all last week. Coral's sister, Laurel, had to head back to school in Wyoming after the wedding festivities were over, so Smels went with her & they had a fun road trip. All four of us: Coral, Laurel, Chelsea (Smels) & me, have been friends since we were toddlers. Their mom is like my second mother, & they're all such dear friends. <3 <3 <3

Thankfully, Smels is back. She got me this beautiful bowl in an antique store. I love it! It feeds my bowl habit & matches my tiered candy dish thingy too. :)


Yesterday, before work, my sister & I went to the King Farmers Market. I got some basil & Walla Wallas, & a treat from the Grand Central stall. Plus we each got a free bag at the Farmers Market, which was cool:


After that, we decided to go on a bike ride to the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant, then the Smith & Bybee Wetland area. Whoa...going to a stinky sewage place, for fun?! Well, there are both the Peninsula Crossing Trail & 40-Mile Loop around there, & Smels knows some good blackberry-picking spots nearby. We picked 4 quarts of them, so she can bake a pie or two.


We also saw three Western painted turtles! They were far away, sunning on a floating log, so forgive the blurriness:


After our berry picking, we rode to Kenton & went to an antique store, the library, & then got iced mochas at Posies Bakery & Cafe. Tasty!

Now for something sugary: the other night, I whipped up some raspberry crisp for a dinner at Smels' house, so I made a behbeh portion for myself too, mwa ha ha. I used the same filling as this raspberry pie, but cut down on the sugar, since the topping is sweet, unlike (most) pie crust.


This happens to be my favorite-est crisp topping in the Universe...

Fruit Crisp Topping

• 1 cup flour (white whole wheat is my favorite)
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Mix everything together until combined. Just lightly sweeten & thicken your favorite fruit by tossing it with some sugar & either cornstarch or flour, then put it in a casserole dish, generously layering a bunch of this topping over it. Bake at 350*F until the fruit is bubbling & the top is brown, around 45-55 minutes. I usually lightly cover mine towards the end of baking, to prevent over-browning. Don't cover tightly though, or you'll steam your crisp, making it pasty & sad. :(

****************************************

Ooh, I also made some Pad Thai today, using Pim's guide, but substituting vegetarian fish sauce for the real deal. I got mine at Fubonn, but it's probably available at larger Asian grocery stores. The resulting dish was pretty tasty. I made it with ingredients I had around (carrots, basil, tofu, egg, cilantro, Walla Walla onion, jalapeno, etc.), so it was far from authentic, but I was satisfied with it nonetheless.

Coral & Ryan Get Hitched!

Wow, this has been an amazing process, & now it's time to relax! Coral has spent so long planning her & Ryan's beautiful day, & it sure paid off. Everything was lovely & perfect in the end!

I'll start out with the prep work that I was responsible for. Ryan & his awesome friend, Chris, built a photo booth from scratch! Coral asked me to make some silly props for it. It took a while to get the method down, so I started on the simplest pieces, the lips.

Here's the first batch, on our trippy green couch:


The felt wasn't stiff enough to hold up on it's own, so I ended up painting them with diluted wood glue & letting them dry. Then I hot glued them to sticks. Some shapes were easier to cut with scissors, while others (especially the glasses) were easier with the Exact-o knife. For the glasses, I actually painted entire sheets of felt with the watered down glue, then let it dry before cutting them out. I'm not exactly sure of the method the people who sell them on Etsy use, but you couldn't pay me to sell these things, ha ha!


I was also asked to cut a couple dozen burlap table runners. Good thing we have a big basement crafty area now! It's not easy to find 10 ft. of blank space for cutting fabric. :)

Ready to be delivered to Coral:


My biggest contribution to the wedding was in the form of baked goods. Coral wanted 125 or so cupcakes, half carrot cake w/orange cream cheese frosting, & half traditional butter cake w/chocolate frosting. She also wanted 150 lemon bars, but they only needed to be a square inch, so that wasn't too bad.

The recipe I used for the lemon bars is available here. I've used it before. I really like the texture of the bars & they aren't as "wet" as traditional ones, so they won't get weepy & soggy.

What got me was the last-minute cutting & frosting! I baked the lemon bars & carrot cupcakes the day before, & also prepped the frosting, but wanted to wait till the day of the wedding to bake the butter cupcakes. Rose Levy Beranbaum, goddess of baking, recommends serving them on the day you bake them, so I wanted them to be as fresh as possible.

Here's the first dozen, fresh from the oven.


The recipe I used was for Downy Yellow Butter Cake from the Cake Bible. I used 3 tablespoons of batter & baked them @ 350*F for about 28 minutes. Even though I'm a baker, I don't really love cake that much. I'd much rather have some chocolate or a cookie, but this recipe is so amazing. It's light & fluffy, with such a deliciously sweet buttery flavor. I'd even prefer it plain, or with some macerated fruit on top. Mmmmm...

Here's some of the frosted lovelies:


The carrot cake recipe was an original that I've tweaked over the years at work. I added raisins & walnuts to these, but coconut &/or pineapple would also work. Yes, the recipe is eggless! It's also great with soy milk in place of dairy, for a vegan version.


Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 cup milk with 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice added (or buttermilk)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• pinch of salt
• zest of 1/2 an orange
  

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper cups & set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon & ginger; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, milk, vanilla, carrots, raisins & walnuts.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones & mix until combined. Scoop 3 tablespoons of batter into each paper cup. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

There will be enough extra for another cupcake or two, or a baby cake for the baker!

Cool completely, before frosting generously. To make the frosting, whip all the ingredients together. Try not to eat it by the spoonful!

****************************************

And here are some pictures of the payoff of so much hard work by so many incredible people! I would have taken more pictures, but I was helping to set up, then had to get bedecked in my bridesmaid attire.

First of all, here is the beautiful bride. Did I mention that she made her entire dress herself?! One of her sweet neighbors happens to be a retired professional seamstress & she was a godsend! Coral also sewed the two flower girls' dresses, & all the bridesmaids' dresses. There is nothing she can't do!

Coral & Smels:


Smels literally teared up at Coral's beauty! :')


Here's a shot from under the tent. Look at the beautiful place settings! And I spy my old frenemy, Mr. Burlap! See the little jars of light & dark honey that we got as wedding favors?


And now for the dessert table, which was breathtakingly beautiful, thanks to Coral's thoughtful planning. I was honored to have my baked goods be a part of something so stunning. One of her friends from work, who does some catering, baked chocolate chip cookies too!

At this point, we were in the process of setting the cupcakes out at the last possible minute, since it was so hot out. The poor babies already had a long trip in the hot trunk of my (no air conditioning) car, so they were nervous to be displayed! We set 2 or 3 on each antique, floral saucer.


This sort of shows the left side of the table:


And this shows the right side:


I almost forgot to mention the cake! Coral wanted something tiny & rustic, so her & Ryan would have something to cut & shove into one another's face (lovingly, of course!). You can see the frosting was getting that glossy, I-want-to-melt-but-I-won't look to it. Thankfully, it held up for the whole evening! Whew!


Smels & Ethan show wear from too much good food & booze:


I'll end with a couple of photo booth pictures. Outside the booth, there was a table set up with a scrapbook, markers, glue sticks & scissors, so guests could leave a cute picture & note for the newlyweds.

Ethan & I:


Smels & I:


We love you, Coral & Ryan! Congratulations on your new life together!

We Moved!

Again, it's been awhile since I posted. So much has happened, including a big move from Southeast to North Portland, so we were really busy settling in. It's SO NICE to live in an actual house, rather than an apartment. We had forgotten what it's like to sleep through the night, as we'd had horrible upstairs neighbors for the longest time! Now, instead of living around a bunch of self-entitled hipsters, our neighbors are super friendly & down-to-earth. Yay!

Shortly after moving, my siblings & I went on our annual camping trip, this time to Champoeg, one of my favorite camping spots evar!

We took our time at camp, after surviving an indecent rush-hour trek to Champoeg. Sean munches a Tofurky-avocado bagel, in recovery:


Smels was impressed with her mustard skillz, & had to get photographic evidence:


Friday night, we went down to check out the beautiful river.


A confession: my biggest fears in life are drowning, & having big fish touch me in the water(so irrational, I know! I hope to conquer these neuroses before I die!), so I wasn't keen on diving in, but the next day, after we walked a few miles to the Butteville Store, Sean asked if he could swim in the freezing, murky, Willamette. My sister, the voice of reason, said she thought it was okay, so he bravely waded in. This is one of my favorite pictures ever. Such cuteness!


We also walked to an old grave site & found an orchard with pear, apple & hazelnut trees. Smels spotted this picturesque ladybug. Way to strike a pose, gurrlll!


We also found some shelf fungi along the trail, home to behbeh slugs!


I brought a pie, baked from these delish raspberries from Sauvie Island.


We had zero trouble eating it all up. I used a recipe from CHOW as the base, but modified it a little bit, for pure raspberry delight.


Raspberry Pie

• 2 1/2 cups flour (I used half white whole wheat & half white)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons cold, salted butter
• 6-8 tablespoons ice water, mixed with 2 teaspoons lemon juice

• 6 cups raspberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
  
• 1 tablespoons lemon juice
• zest of one lemon

• milk for brushing crust, plus sugar for sanding (optional)
  

Mix together the flour & salt. Cut the butter into it, until sandy, with small, pea-sized balls of butter. Add the minimum amount of water necessary to get the dough to hold together. Try not to overwork it! Divide dough into two disks, then refrigerate them till chilled.

In a separate large bowl, mix together the berries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, & zest.

Preheat the oven to 375*F. Roll out the pie crusts to 1/4-inch thickness. Line the bottom of your favorite pie tin with one of the crusts, leaving the extra dough hanging around the edge.

Pour in the filling. Top with the other half of dough. Trim the edges, but leave about an inch extra around the outside. (Save the extra tidbits for turnovers, or cinnamon-sugar munchies!) Turn the dough under, then crimp/decorate in your own way.

Brush the top with milk & sprinkle with sugar, if you like it that way. Cut a few slits in the top, then bake until the crust is golden & the filling is bubbling out the slits. If the crust begins to brown too quickly. cover it lightly with foil. Let cool before cutting, or it'll be soupy!


Here's the jam I made with those same raspberries! It's made with only three ingredients: raspberries, honey & Pomona Pectin.


Fun! Fun! Fun! I also want to recommend the OMSI exhibit, "Game On", to any gamers out there. We took Sean & had a blast. There were SO MANY CONSOLES, from all around the world, most of which were playable. My brother & I even played PONG, which was projected onto a huge wall. I took a bunch of pictures before I saw the "no pictures" signs that were posted in randomly weird areas. It was hard to notice them through the herds of kids & flashing lights, but I stopped once I saw them. Oops! I feel like an asshole, since people who saw me snapping away must have been like, "This lady thinks she's too cool for school..."


Hello there!


I just had to share this amigurumi schlong that I made for Coral's bachelorette party. A bunch of us ladies went on a limo-driven wine tour around 5 or 6 vinyards (I lost track after awhile), which is hilariously unlike me, but it was fun. The peen is from Anticraft, but I used worsted weight Red Heart yarn. I didn't make the taint. It looked weird, so I frogged it out & just sewed the shaft & balls together. He seems happy, even though he's taintless.


Here's the beautiful bride-to-be. Her feather boa kept shedding all over, ha ha.


Hope everyone is having a good summer! I can't wait to share photos from Coral's wedding! See you soon...

Strawberry Mania!

I haven't felt very bloggy, as I have been up to my ears in strawberries, ha ha! My sister & our friend, Cristy, went to Sauvie Island Farms last weekend & picked soooooo many berries. I got 24 pounds of them. :/ Somebody stop me! Here's what I did with most of them, besides eating them plain...


First off, lots of Strawberry-Honey Jam. I used Pomona's Universal Pectin, which is awesome because you don't need to use much, if any sweetener, depending on the fruit; in fact, it gels with calcium, rather than sugar. I've been avoiding white sugar, for the most part, & used 1/2 cup honey to sweeten each batch (per 4 cups mashed strawberries). The resulting jam is just right & won't give the recipients diabeetus.

There are 29 jars of this stuff---some pints, some half-pints, & some teensy-tiny ones. I can't wait to mix it into yogurt & slather it on toast throughout the year!


I also made some pseudo-ice cream. Since I don't have an ice cream maker, I just whipped some heavy cream, then folded in some strawberry puree before freezing. It's a little crystallized, but I wasn't feeling fancy enough to care. :)


If you're in a similarly non-fancy mood, here's how I made it:

Rustic Strawberry-Honey Ice Cream & Sauce

• 1/2 pint heavy cream
• 2 cups strawberry puree
• 3/4 cup honey (more or less, to taste)
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon arrowroot starch
  

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form, being careful not to over-whip, or you'll have butter (which isn't that shabby, actually). Fold about half of the strawberry-honey mixture into the cream. It will be somewhat runny, just so you know. Freeze until firm, about 6 hours or so.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by whisking the arrowroot into the remaining syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Simmer for about a minute, then pour into a jar to cool.

Drizzle the ruby syrup over your ice cream & eat it while basking in the sun!

****************************************

I also whipped up a couple treats for a dinner at Coral's house. Of course I forgot to take pictures of them until after I wrapped them up. By the time I realized it, I was running late & just wanted to head over, so sorry!


Luckily, I had set aside a cookie for Ethan, so I have a better shot of that. I made cookie sandwiches, filled with a little homemade peach jam. Mmmmmmm...


Brown Butter Shortbread adapted from My Madison Bistro

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/3 cups white whole wheat flour

Preheat the oven to 325*F. Brown the butter by melting it over medium heat, stirring it frequently until brown & fragrant, about 4-8 minutes. Chill it in the freezer until solid again.

Cream the butter, brown sugar & vanilla. Add the flour & mix until combined. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Pop into the freezer for a bit until it's firmed up.

Cut into desired shapes & place on a cookie sheet. Bake until golden on the edges, 15-20 minutes, depending on how large you made them.

****************************************

Black-Bottom Coconut Bars adapted from Martha Stewart

Base:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
  
• 1/2 cup organic sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
  

Topping

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup organic sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3 cups unsweetened coconut (reserve 1/2 cup for garnish)
  

Preheat the oven to 375*F & butter a 9X9-inch pan; set aside.

Whisk together the butter, sugar & egg. In a small bowl, stir together the flour & cocoa, then stir into the wet ingredients. Spread into the prepared pan & bake for 10-15 minutes, just until it begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

While that's baking, prepare the coconut topping. Whisk together the eggs, sugar & vanilla. Stir in the flour, then fold in 2 1/2 cup of coconut. Spread carefully over the baked base. It's pretty thick, so I just dolloped it on top, then carefully pressed it out. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup coconut. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool before cutting into squares.

****************************************

On the crafty front, I've been in a crocheting mood, working on my granny square blanket & making a garland for my mom.

Here are all the little hearts, before weaving in the ends:


I made the small hearts from here, then made the garland according to here, except I only chained 4 on top of the hearts, rather than 6, since they were smaller. And here's the finished product:


Cute little hearts!

Southern Night & Several Recipes!

The other night, my sister & her friend, Megan, invited me to their cute new house for a Southern feast! My sister made delectably tender cornbread. Megan made baked beans (which, tragically, wouldn't soften up till way after dinner) & perfect peach cobbler. I went overboard, of course, & brought BBQ ribz, coleslaw, roasted asparagus, & iced tea!

Only shot I took of the initial feast:


Smels gave me her recipe for cornbread. It is so good! She doesn't know where the recipe came from, besides her greasy Post-it note. :)

Smels' Cornbread of Delight

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Ener-G egg replacer (or a large egg)
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

Preheat the oven to 400*F. Butter an 8X8- or 9X9-inch pan & set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients & mix until just combined. Pour into prepared pan & smooth out the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Eat with butter & honey!

Once I got home, Ethan requested some more ribz, so I made another batch of them, plus more coleslaw!


WARNING: what follows is basically an excuse for eating a bunch of BBQ sauce...

BBQ Ribz adapted from VegFamily

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
• 7 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 9 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2/3 cup cold water
• 1 bottle BBQ sauce

Preheat oven to 350*F. Oil a large cookie sheet & set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the butter & peanut butter; once you've stirred them together, remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl, combine the gluten, nutritional yeast, flour, paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder & garlic powder. Stir in the water. If the dough is super dry, you can add a teensy bit more water. Use your hands to form the dough into a 1/2-inch thick, vaguely rectangular, shape.

On a large cutting board, pour half the peanut butter mixture. Plop the rectangle of dough on this, then pour the remaining peanut butter mixture. Use your fingertips to poke the dough over & over, getting the peanut butter goodness into the whole thing. The rectangle will get bigger, but you shouldn't be poking holes into it, just go halfway through the dough.

Using a big knife, cut the nutty dough into strips that are about 1/2-inch wide. Carefully transfer them to the oiled cookie sheet. It's okay if some break or stretch out---those are the little taste-testers for the chef!

Bake the ribz for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn them over, & spoon about half the BBQ sauce over them.

Bake for 5-7 minutes. Turn them again, & spoon the remaining sauce over them. Bake for another 5-7 minutes. Let cool for a while, so you don't burn yourself. They're actually much tastier if you let them sit for a couple hours, or even overnight!


This coleslaw recipe is from my late Granny, who no doubt clipped this from The Oregonian. It's a copycat of the Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe, so there are copious amounts of sugar in it, of course. Feel free to cut back as much as you want, but realize you won't be eating all of the sugar, unless you drink the sauce from the bottom of the bowl. :)

Best Coleslaw Evarrr

• 1/2 head purple cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
• 2 carrots, peeled & shredded
• 2 tablespoons minced onion
• 1/2 cup Vegenaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream (or vegan equivalent)
• 1/2 cup sugar (I know, I know!)
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Combine all the ingredients in the hugest bowl you can find. Refrigerate for at least an hour, stirring a couple more times. The veggies will let go of some moisture, & will wilt down into the saucy goodness.

I discovered that a delicious wrap could be made by laying down some greens, coleslaw & 3 ribz on a scrumptious wheaty tortilla. Perfect with hot sauce too!



The Saturday Farmer's Market had some scrumptious sugar snap peas, which are a perfect snack!


Oh, I also made the famous New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies for my Feminist Biblical Interpretations class party! I'll admit that I don't follow the recipe to its utmost pretentiousness level, & they're still edible, ha ha.

Big ol' cookies, cooling in the windowsill...


Chocolate Chip Cookies w/Toffee & Pecans adapted from Jacques Torres

• 1 1/4 cups butter (I use salted, sue me!)
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4-1 teaspoon kosher salt (use less, if using sea salt, or table salt)
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
  
• 4 ounces toffee chunks
• 4 ounces chopped toasted pecans

Cream the butter, sugars & vanilla till light & fluffy. Add the eggs & beat for about a minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple times.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Either add the flour, half at a time, to the mixer, or just pour the creamed ingredients into the flour bowl & do it by hand. I prefer the latter, since I can make sure everything is combined evenly, with less of a risk of over-mixing.

Dump in the add-ins: chocolate, toffee & pecans. Work them in, stopping as soon as they're evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Cover the dough & let it rest for up to 36 hours in the fridge. I have made these immediately, & they're amazing. I think I let the last batch rest for about 12 hours...

When you're ready to bake them up, preheat the oven to 350*F. Portion out 1/4-cup balls of dough, placing about 6 of them to a cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen big-ass cookies.

***The original recipe calls for portioning the dough into 1/3-cup blobs, then baking for 18-20 minutes. They make 5-inch cookies though, so look out!

*****************************************

On a sad note, Ethan's Mom's oldest brother passed away yesterday, so I made Cathy some lavender & orange bath salts. All you do is mix 1/4 teaspoon of essential oil with each cup of Epsom Salts. I usually don't tint mine when I make only one type, but I added a bit of food coloring this time, to delineate between the two scents. Put them into canning jars, or any other glass bottles you have floating around. Milk bottles look really cool too!


Lavender:


Orange: