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. :(

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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.

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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

Last of the Peaches!

We have finally used up the 67 or so pounds of peaches that we picked! It was no small feat to process &/or eat so many golden, juicy globes, believe me. I made 9 pints of peach sauce, which is similar to applesauce (or baby food!). It's really good, with a hint of cinnamon & the bare minimum of sugar. The downside is that it's runnier than applesauce, but I didn't want to cook the piss out of it & kill any & all vitamins, so whatevs.


The other night, Sage & I made peach crisp, which was EXCELLENT. We combined a peach pie filling recipe w/the crisp topping that I always use for apple crisp. We ended up with 3 individual ramekins, plus a large casserole of it.

Excuse the bad night-time photo:



Here's the recipe, if you want to try it. I cut the sugar down a bit, since I like the fruit to be on the tart side, which is balanced well by the buttery, sweet topping. You can make it sweeter if you like it that way.

Peach Crisp

Crisp Topping:

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Peach Filling:

• 4 pounds ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, & sliced***
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Make the crisp topping by combining all the ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside. Combine the peaches & lemon juice in a large bowl, then mix together the dry filling ingredients (flour, cornstarch, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon & salt) in a small bowl. Dump the dry ingredients over the peaches & combine them gently. Pour the juicy peach filling into whatever baking dish(es) you're using, then sprinkle the topping over it. Bake until the topping is golden & the filling is bubbly. Let it cool a few minutes before devouring, because it would be a shame to damage your taste buds before you could enjoy this feast!

***hint: The easy way to peel peaches is to cut a little "X" into the bottom of them, then toss a few at a time into boiling water. Leave them in for about a minute, then plunge them into cold water. This will allow you to slide the skin right off. Cool!

Our garden is trying its damnedest to grown & ripen, but we get so little direct sun, due to the ginormous tree outside our apartment. Imagine my excitement when I saw this little tomato the other day!


Most of the others look like this:



I'm really hoping that the red one sends out some hormones or something that will kick-start the rest, otherwise we'll be eating fried green tomatoes & canning green tomato relish. C'mon, babies, go!

Here's a cute succulent terrarium I made recently, using a cool goblet I found at Goodwill. I really like how it turned out.


I've also been knitting this Circle Sock for myself, which is reminiscent of a TMNT shell. Turtle power!


Noodle (Ruben) is doing much better, after a rough patch of health. He's been loving to sunbathe on the porch during our more temperate days.

Old Timey Preservation Fun

Last year, my super-talented, beautiful friend, Coral, taught me how to prepare & can jam & I've been hooked ever since! We picked strawberries, raspberries, blueberries & blackberries, from various u-pick farms, which were either turned into jam or frozen for later. I then tried my hand at pickling: spicy green beans & jalapeños. Salty goodness. Finally, I canned some unsweetened (to make up for the GOBS of sugar in the jam) applesauce & pears that we'd picked around the neighborhood.

This year, us ladies (my sister, Coral & I) headed to our usual strawberry spot, Sauvie Island Farms & this is the result...

Well, that is PART of the result. I canned 25 pints of jam, in all, some in pint jars, some in half-pints. So fun! I'm looking forward to making a TON of applesauce, since it's one of the healthiest things to can, plus peaches & maybe some weird pickled things. Luckily, I got a shit-ton of cheap jar at Goodwill when I was visiting Mom. :)

It's so amazing to take a bite of toast, laden with floral, Summer-y jam, in the middle of Winter, especially if the bread is home-baked!