Happy Spring! We had a string of very hot weekends and now that it is actually spring, it feels like cold, dreary winter. It has been a busy and stressful spring so far. Lucky for you I don't write about my professional life on this blog but let's just say it has been a roller coaster. I've been quite unsettled and mopey the past two months, in fact, I've felt a bit like the world is fighting against me. I've realized, through the help of my best friend, that last spring was quite similar because there are so many markers around my dad's death: last meals, last movies, those sorts of things.
As always, my friends and family keep me going by offering endless conversation, hugs, always well timed phone calls and emails, and the reminder that while I've lost two really important people, there are so many still around (and another niece or nephew on the way!).
We've decided to hold off on the roof deck for a while. The cost of getting the bare minimum of what we wanted was just too high, even after splitting it a couple of ways. Plus all of the estimates came with the caveat "if we don't find asbestos", a terrifying phrase.
The window boxes are good but the beer hasn't been working out. We've had tow skunked batches so far but hold out hope for our third.
To continue this random list, I accomplished something that I had always dreamed about: I turned a double play in softball. I know that sounds silly BUT it was one of those physical goals that I've had for myself. Most people want to run a marathon or something of that nature but I don't share those dreams, I just wanted to turn a real double play (not the kind where you catch the ball and step on the bag, those are a dime a dozen). So thanks guy playing shortstop for cleanly fielding the ball and tossing it to me and thanks guy on first for catching my pretty decent throw. To be honest, I actually turned two double plays in last weeks games, for thanks again shortstop and first and thanks to the girl who stopped running because she thought that there were already two outs.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Under the Snow
Some of my fall mums survived the winter and have little green starts. I trimmed them back and we'll see if they survive. I also planted some seeds late last fall and one of them seems to have survived. It may be a sort of freakish suspended animation, I'll let you know.
Homebrewing
A bunch of people have asked me about the process of homebrewing and I decided that you really need pictures to understand what is happening. Here are just a few quick snapshots to give you a sense of what is going on in our apartment:
These are the grains. They are literally grains that are mixed and cracked. For us beginners you pick and buy a recipe and they give you everything you need.
You steep the grains in a large mesh bag. We didn't have a proper bag the first time we brewed and had a rather hilarious conversation about the use of some argyle stockings, pantyhose, an athletic sock, medical gauze and a bag that some stereo equipment came in. The second time around we bought what looked like a knit cotton stocking. I still vote for the argyle stockings but I am seldom right in these situations.
You remove the steeped grains and then add a whole bunch of other stuff provided by the nice store down the street. You choose a recipe and it feels like a cross between cooking a really fussy and messy recipe and a chemistry experiment. As a chemistry teacher I find the instructions provided by the nice store down the street horribly written and lacking key details. I am tempted to bring back my annotated instructions and offer to fix their recipes. We have a bunch of books and the internet is a good resource but we are still winging it a large portion of the time.
You spend a lot of time sitting next to it as I am demonstrating in the picture. The stakes at this point are really high because you have a large pot filled with boiling liquid as sticky as melted sugar. When it bubbles over it bakes on and takes a lot of scrubbing and cursing to get it off. Luckily, you can completely dismantle our stovetop, a feature that I was unaware of at the time of purchase but am eternally grateful for after this experience.
The house also smells like a brewery which is a mix of wet dog and wet farm. If you grew up in NJ, you may recognize it as the smell of Newark Airport, which has a brewing facility right next door.
Finally you transfer it to this lovely glass carboy. There are a lot more steps along the way but I only included those for which I have good pictures. Our first batch, a Belgian, is taking a time out to "think about what is has done" (according to my lovely husband). We bottled the chocolate stout last weekend. It tasted like beer and will hopefully carbonate properly (unlike our belgian). If it's good we'll share with everyone, if it's bad, we will never speak of it again.
These are the grains. They are literally grains that are mixed and cracked. For us beginners you pick and buy a recipe and they give you everything you need.
You steep the grains in a large mesh bag. We didn't have a proper bag the first time we brewed and had a rather hilarious conversation about the use of some argyle stockings, pantyhose, an athletic sock, medical gauze and a bag that some stereo equipment came in. The second time around we bought what looked like a knit cotton stocking. I still vote for the argyle stockings but I am seldom right in these situations.
You remove the steeped grains and then add a whole bunch of other stuff provided by the nice store down the street. You choose a recipe and it feels like a cross between cooking a really fussy and messy recipe and a chemistry experiment. As a chemistry teacher I find the instructions provided by the nice store down the street horribly written and lacking key details. I am tempted to bring back my annotated instructions and offer to fix their recipes. We have a bunch of books and the internet is a good resource but we are still winging it a large portion of the time.
You spend a lot of time sitting next to it as I am demonstrating in the picture. The stakes at this point are really high because you have a large pot filled with boiling liquid as sticky as melted sugar. When it bubbles over it bakes on and takes a lot of scrubbing and cursing to get it off. Luckily, you can completely dismantle our stovetop, a feature that I was unaware of at the time of purchase but am eternally grateful for after this experience.
The house also smells like a brewery which is a mix of wet dog and wet farm. If you grew up in NJ, you may recognize it as the smell of Newark Airport, which has a brewing facility right next door.
Finally you transfer it to this lovely glass carboy. There are a lot more steps along the way but I only included those for which I have good pictures. Our first batch, a Belgian, is taking a time out to "think about what is has done" (according to my lovely husband). We bottled the chocolate stout last weekend. It tasted like beer and will hopefully carbonate properly (unlike our belgian). If it's good we'll share with everyone, if it's bad, we will never speak of it again.
Seedlings
The weather is always so unpredictable this time of year. A few weeks ago we were under feet of snow, last weekend it rained for what felt like weeks, and the past few days have been t-shirt and shorts weather. I resisted the urge to run out and buy a bunch of plants this weekend but I did get my seedlings started.
Last year I bought this mini greenhouse system and failed in my task of starting plants from seed. I think I have a black thumb in growing houseplants but a perfectly acceptable green thumb in anything outdoors. Instead of spending money on some large plastic tray and dehydrated soil pods I resurrected a trick that my Auntie E told me about, using egg shells and cartons to start seeds.
It's as easy as it seems to set it up but it does help to eat a lot of eggs. I eat two soft boiled eggs every morning and delicately crack the shell and scoop out the runny delicious yolk and white and end up with a cleaned out shell. For the past few weeks I've been saving those shells. I tucked them out of the way but apparently they broke my husband's "no experiments in the house" rule so I felt like I had to transition them from what looked like a science experiment on growing mold to a gardening project.
I nested two shell halves and filled each one with some loose soil. I dug a shall hole and dropped in a seed or two and covered the seed with some soil. I then wrote the type of seed and the date planted on the top of the carton. My main concern is watering them enough for them to sprout but not too much that the paper carton gets gross. We'll see what happens.
Last year I bought this mini greenhouse system and failed in my task of starting plants from seed. I think I have a black thumb in growing houseplants but a perfectly acceptable green thumb in anything outdoors. Instead of spending money on some large plastic tray and dehydrated soil pods I resurrected a trick that my Auntie E told me about, using egg shells and cartons to start seeds.
It's as easy as it seems to set it up but it does help to eat a lot of eggs. I eat two soft boiled eggs every morning and delicately crack the shell and scoop out the runny delicious yolk and white and end up with a cleaned out shell. For the past few weeks I've been saving those shells. I tucked them out of the way but apparently they broke my husband's "no experiments in the house" rule so I felt like I had to transition them from what looked like a science experiment on growing mold to a gardening project.
I nested two shell halves and filled each one with some loose soil. I dug a shall hole and dropped in a seed or two and covered the seed with some soil. I then wrote the type of seed and the date planted on the top of the carton. My main concern is watering them enough for them to sprout but not too much that the paper carton gets gross. We'll see what happens.
Monday, March 15, 2010
First Gardening of the Season
I'm sure if I looked back I would see that every mid-March I just in the car and head down to the nursery and prematurely buy some plants. I just can't help myself! Most everything was closed so I ended up at the horrible big box store down the street and got some pansies and a small azalea bush. When I got home I cleaned out the tree bed, pulled the old decorative cabbages and trimmed back the surviving plants.
In spite of the large amounts of trash, dog poop, and lord knows what in the tree bed, the bulbs were beginning to push through, the vinca had survived and the ground was crawling with worms. I really need to get in there with a rake and pull out all the leaves before I decide what to plant. It will take a while to get a tree from the City and I'd love to do something interesting either with tall grasses and other plants. The easiest thing would be to buy some small bushes but that isn't terribly interesting.
I'm starting to formulate a plan for my window boxes. My succulents continue to do well so I want to put more of them in my front full sun, full wind, and zero rain window boxes. I'm also going to start some lettuces and herbs in doors. Last year's indoor starts were a complete failure so this year I'm trying a different approach. I'll post some pics when I get it set up.
All in all, I'm very excited for my first dirt manicure of the season.
In spite of the large amounts of trash, dog poop, and lord knows what in the tree bed, the bulbs were beginning to push through, the vinca had survived and the ground was crawling with worms. I really need to get in there with a rake and pull out all the leaves before I decide what to plant. It will take a while to get a tree from the City and I'd love to do something interesting either with tall grasses and other plants. The easiest thing would be to buy some small bushes but that isn't terribly interesting.
I'm starting to formulate a plan for my window boxes. My succulents continue to do well so I want to put more of them in my front full sun, full wind, and zero rain window boxes. I'm also going to start some lettuces and herbs in doors. Last year's indoor starts were a complete failure so this year I'm trying a different approach. I'll post some pics when I get it set up.
All in all, I'm very excited for my first dirt manicure of the season.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Homebrew
Guys, we just made beer. I got the husband a kit for Christmas and I had been harassing him to start for weeks now. We have some friends who do it and even though beer makes me sick it seemed like a good hobby for us to do together.
We traveled to the newly opened Brooklyn Homebrew a few blocks from our house and got the ingredients for a Belgian beer. The recipe is a cross between a chemistry lab and a Julia Child complicated recipe and we quickly determine that while we had the ingredients, the kit that I bought didn't have a number of important items. This led to a hilarious debate over whether some gauze, argyle stockings, old athletic socks, ugly purple pillow case, or stereo part bag would be the best choice to replace the soaking bag and the use of the packaging to replace a sampler.
Luckily we had two pros on hand and called Jon and Aaron a couple times, but of course, only to confirm that what we were doing was right. The actual brewing of beer is not hard but it is laborious, time consuming, incredibly sticky, and smells like a barn. They also make a big deal about sanitizing everything but the methods they follow are kind of hilarious to anyone who has ever stepped foot in a lab.
We'll wait a few weeks and see how it comes out. I'm in charge next and am going to see if they have any recipes for wheat free beer recipes.
We traveled to the newly opened Brooklyn Homebrew a few blocks from our house and got the ingredients for a Belgian beer. The recipe is a cross between a chemistry lab and a Julia Child complicated recipe and we quickly determine that while we had the ingredients, the kit that I bought didn't have a number of important items. This led to a hilarious debate over whether some gauze, argyle stockings, old athletic socks, ugly purple pillow case, or stereo part bag would be the best choice to replace the soaking bag and the use of the packaging to replace a sampler.
Luckily we had two pros on hand and called Jon and Aaron a couple times, but of course, only to confirm that what we were doing was right. The actual brewing of beer is not hard but it is laborious, time consuming, incredibly sticky, and smells like a barn. They also make a big deal about sanitizing everything but the methods they follow are kind of hilarious to anyone who has ever stepped foot in a lab.
We'll wait a few weeks and see how it comes out. I'm in charge next and am going to see if they have any recipes for wheat free beer recipes.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Mushroom Sausage Ragu for a Cold Winter's Night
Two forces converged to create tonight's dinner: I randomly bought some Quinoa Polenta and I found a post on thekitchn.com for a hardy sausage mushroom ragu. Actually, two other things happened: It's been really cold in New York and I left work at the incredibly early hour of 5:30. This had more prep than usual but can easily be scaled back to reduce the prep time.
This is one of those recipes where if you have the right ingredients and don't burn anything too badly, you can build the recipe by taste. The recipe is an approximation of an dish I build on the fly and could easily read: brown sausage, saute mushrooms, mix all back together, roast portabellos, make polenta according to directions, etc.
Mushroom- Sausage Ragu on Polenta
Based upon Gourmet's Parmesan Crusted Polenta with Sausage- Mushroom Ragu
Serves 6
8 T olive oil
1.5 lbs spicy sausage, taken out of casing and separted into chunks*
3 clove garlic, minced
4 cups mushrooms, sliced
2T parsley, chopped
1T thyme, chopped
1 t tomato paste
1 cup red wine
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 large can crushed tomatoes
Heat up 1 T olive oil in a large saute pan on medium head, brown the chunks of sausage. Remove sausage and set aside. Add 2 T olive oil and minced garlic until it's golden brown. There was a pretty big mess of fond (the browned bits) on the bottom of the pan which is ok as long as they don't get too dark. Add the mushrooms and stir around to coat with oil. If you need more oil add another T, you just want to coat them not drown them in oil. Saute until they begin to wilt and give off their water, about 5-8 minutes. Scrape up all the brown bits with the edge of a wooden spoon and stir into mushrooms.
Add tomato paste, chopped parsley and thyme, and red wine. Simmer over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add crushed tomatoes, stir and simmer for 5-8 minutes or the tomatoes are incorporated into the sauce. Add the sausage, check salt and pepper levels, cover and set aside.
Make polenta according to the directions. I used one of the polenta and quinoa tubes and added it to instant polenta after it was done. I added lots of salt to the polenta water, pepper, and basil flakes.
Roasted Portabello Mushrooms
3 large portabello mushrooms, cleaned and destemmed
4 T olive oil
pepper to taste
Preheat the over to 300F. Coat both sides of the mushrooms with olive oil. I like to pour about a T on the side with the gills and make sure it is really coated. I also add a dash pepper. Place on cookies sheet covered with tin foil and roast until easily pierced with a fork, about 15-20 minutes. Remove and let cool.
Once you have made all the parts, place a portabello on the bottom of the shallow bowl, add one heaping ladle of polenta, and one heaping ladle of ragu.
* I used half spicy Italian sausage and half vegan Field Roast Italian sausage. They had similar flavor and slightly different textures but I would happily just use the fake sausage again.
This is one of those recipes where if you have the right ingredients and don't burn anything too badly, you can build the recipe by taste. The recipe is an approximation of an dish I build on the fly and could easily read: brown sausage, saute mushrooms, mix all back together, roast portabellos, make polenta according to directions, etc.
Mushroom- Sausage Ragu on Polenta
Based upon Gourmet's Parmesan Crusted Polenta with Sausage- Mushroom Ragu
Serves 6
8 T olive oil
1.5 lbs spicy sausage, taken out of casing and separted into chunks*
3 clove garlic, minced
4 cups mushrooms, sliced
2T parsley, chopped
1T thyme, chopped
1 t tomato paste
1 cup red wine
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 large can crushed tomatoes
Heat up 1 T olive oil in a large saute pan on medium head, brown the chunks of sausage. Remove sausage and set aside. Add 2 T olive oil and minced garlic until it's golden brown. There was a pretty big mess of fond (the browned bits) on the bottom of the pan which is ok as long as they don't get too dark. Add the mushrooms and stir around to coat with oil. If you need more oil add another T, you just want to coat them not drown them in oil. Saute until they begin to wilt and give off their water, about 5-8 minutes. Scrape up all the brown bits with the edge of a wooden spoon and stir into mushrooms.
Add tomato paste, chopped parsley and thyme, and red wine. Simmer over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Add crushed tomatoes, stir and simmer for 5-8 minutes or the tomatoes are incorporated into the sauce. Add the sausage, check salt and pepper levels, cover and set aside.
Make polenta according to the directions. I used one of the polenta and quinoa tubes and added it to instant polenta after it was done. I added lots of salt to the polenta water, pepper, and basil flakes.
Roasted Portabello Mushrooms
3 large portabello mushrooms, cleaned and destemmed
4 T olive oil
pepper to taste
Preheat the over to 300F. Coat both sides of the mushrooms with olive oil. I like to pour about a T on the side with the gills and make sure it is really coated. I also add a dash pepper. Place on cookies sheet covered with tin foil and roast until easily pierced with a fork, about 15-20 minutes. Remove and let cool.
Once you have made all the parts, place a portabello on the bottom of the shallow bowl, add one heaping ladle of polenta, and one heaping ladle of ragu.
* I used half spicy Italian sausage and half vegan Field Roast Italian sausage. They had similar flavor and slightly different textures but I would happily just use the fake sausage again.
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