CSA Week 12: Purple and pink

When the owner of my CSA farm Jan asked me if I wanted eggplant I almost squeaked with excitement as I attempted to calmly say sure. Eggplants are one of the most maligned member of the vegetable world, taking their unglorified place next to Brussels sprouts and okra. But eggplants are incredible, unlike those other two examples. I mean, seriously. They are versatile and take on the deliciousness of whatever sauce you cook them in. Plus they are good for you. So, that's why this sight makes me delirious with joy:

That's right. Five eggplants. I don't know how I got so lucky. Also, you see that bag? That was my surprise item of the delivery:

That is a bag of pink-eyed peas, the prettier cousin of black-eyed peas.They offer another challenge that I'm hoping a creative recipe will help me overcome. See, my opinion of black-eyed peas is decidedly negative. So, I suppose this is my chance to change my opinion. This, of course, was one of the main reasons I got a CSA. Besides getting cheaper, fresher fruits and vegetables, I wanted to stretch my culinary abilities.

The whole delivery includes a watermelon, a cantaloupe, a pound of pink-eyed peas, five eggplants and 10 ears of corn. And a new culinary challenge.

Price breakdown

• 1 watermelon: $5.99
• 1 cantaloupe: $3.99
• 1 lb. pink-eyed peas (priced for 2 pounds of dried black-eyed peas): $5.56
• 5 eggplants: $8.95
• 10 ears of corn: $9.18
• Total: $33.67
• Total saved: $12.67

Vegetables are gorgeous

This eventually became mixed veggies sauteed with balsamic vinegar and served over brown rice.

"We're experimenting with some volatile herbs, dude..."

My weekend of weeding and mulching culminated in me finally biting the bullet and buying some herbs.
I hadn't yet because I was hopeful I might be able to grow some from seeds. But my mint died tragically and without warning, so I decided to hedge my bets. I still my try to get some seedlings later, but for now I'll just enjoy my fully grown and thriving - and did I mention organic? - herbs. My first round was a robust mint (for tea, mojitos and dog biscuits), a sprawling oregano and tall stand of rosemary. I plan to supplement them with more herbs later, but this is a good start.

I planted rosemary and oregano together in one planter:

The mint's voracious nature relegated it to a separate pot:

The particular mint I picked was already pretty large, so hopefully I'll be able to make a lot of mint tea and dog biscuits.

I've already made a delicious 30-minute corn chowder, which was made more delicious with fresh oregano and rosemary. I'll share that recipe soon. I plan to add some parsley and thyme to my collection and possibly some cilantro.

Bunnies

Our house has been kind of overrun with bunnies recently. And here they are, in the front yard. Like the own the place.

CSA Week 1: Reds, greens and a little bit of blue

I've always wanted to join a Community Sponsored Agriculture farm, call it one of my goals in my Culinary Bucket List. So I finally signed up for a CSA share through Clayhill Farms in Suffolk, Va. This past Saturday I received my very first delivery:

The delivery included four large cucumbers, 5 zucchini, half a pound of strawberries, half a pint of blueberries, two green peppers and two humongous red peppers. The idea with CSA's is that you invest in the farm and they return that investment with fruit and vegetables. This size share costs me $21 a week, which I paid upfront. I then receive 20 weeks of shares. Considering I'm supporting a local farm and I get access to some of the freshest and most delicious produce I've had in a while, this is pretty much a win-win.

Every week I'll share with you the price breakdown so we can really see if these shares are worth it. I'll price it all at Harris Teeter, since that is where I would normally buy my produce. Also, I'll price for organic (when I can), since Clayhill Farms uses an organic method called integrated pest management. They define IPM as "we work with nature ( Praying Mantii, ladybugs, bees, and butterflies) and use natural techniques (like crop rotation, companion planting, crop and pest scouting, and drip irrigation) to eliminate pesticide and chemical use on our fruits and veggies."

Price breakdown

• A pound of organic strawberries: $4.99
• 1 pint of non-organic blueberries: $4.99
• 4 organic cucumbers: $11.96
• 2 organic green bell peppers: $4.98
• 2 organic red bell peppers: $7.98
• 5 organic zucchini: $6.54
• TOTAL COST: $41.44

That's a bit steep. But I have to admit that I wouldn't normally go for the organic, since my wallet is currently more important to me (shame, I know). But here's the thing, even going for the cheapest versions (at Harris Teeter, that is), I'm still saving money. A similar price check, this time focusing on the cheapest choices, resulted in a total of $27. That includes a pretty awesome sale on strawberries, so next week it would be even more expensive. So, this week at least, I'm saving money and my health. 

I'll update later with a list of the delicious meals I've made out of my yummy veggies. 

Styling and profiling my berry cobbler

This is my berry cobbler, featured in a photoshoot for Suffolk Living Magazine:

 Photo by R.E. Spears III, Suffolk News-Herald

Isn't it the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?

Fruit Cobbler
Adapted from Sally Smith, Suffolk gardener

For the batter:
1 cup self rising flour (I used White Lily)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 stick margarine or butter, melted

For the filling:
4 cups of berries (I used blueberries and blackberries)

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 8 X 8 inch pan and set aside.
• To make prepared fruit:  Mix 3/4 cup sugar with 3 tablespoons cornstarch.  Place 4 cups berries in a pan and add sugar/cornstarch mixture.  Add cinnamon and nutmeg to the mix.  Cook together, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken.  Set aside to cool slightly.  Add vanilla before placing over flour mixture.
  In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar and milk, stir until all the lumps are gone.  Pour batter into greased baking dish.
• Spoon fruit or berry mixture over flour/sugar/milk and then drizzle with melted margarine.
• Place casserole dish on a baking sheet with aluminum foil to collect any spills.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

One of the best things about this whole thing was flexing my food-styling skills. How do you think I did?

Food for thought: Falafel love

Sometimes all you need are a few pictures to get the job done. So, I present some falafel love:

And this final product: a gorgeous sandwich and some fried zucchini:

The falafel recipe came from here and the zucchini recipe is a family tradition from my mom.

A trip to a magical land

Remember when I said I'd talk about the most magical place on earth? Well today I'm making good on my promise to take you there, in a matter of speaking.
First, the day's most exciting discovery:

 Candytufts! And lots of them. They were literally everywhere. I bought 6 of 'em just to make sure I'd have enough.

 Then there were these neat bags that you could plant things in but they hung on a wall or off a fence. The next evolution in vertical gardening?

 And rhubarb, glorious rhubarb. If it weren't for Miyagi and the chance he might accidentally eat the poisonous leaves, I might have bought a few pots.

 So pretty! And ready to give their life to make a strawberry pie better, I'd wager.

The place is huge, by the way. There is an outdoor nursery and two greenhouses, along with a gift section, cafe and sweet shop. I could lose myself for hours in the main greenhouse.

Among the ornamental plants:

Or delicious veggies and herbs:

 They even had bowls of lettuce:

 And some extremely beautiful dahlias:

This final feature is something shock and amaze. It's called "Magic Carpet Thyme":

The carpet part is due to its ability to grow quickly and spread out, to "carpet" the area you plant it in. The "magic" part, it turns out, is due to something even better. When I took a whiff to see how close to thyme it smelled like, it turns out it didn't smell like thyme at all. In fact, it smelled exactly like Fruit Loops. I'm not even joking. I circled back to snort some more right before we left and they still (amazingly) smelled exactly like one of my favorite childhood cereals. When I figure our where I might actually be able to plant these, I'm going back and I buying a bunch so I can make some area smell delicious!

Wedding Photo Wednesday: My girls (and guys)

If it wasn't for these ladies, I would not have had such a great time at my wedding:

And lest I forget the gentlemen who often make my life awesome, here they are:

Wedding Photo Wednesday: The whole affair

Here's a fun wide-shot my stepfather took of our wedding. It was fairly small, considering the size that may weddings are these days, but we still had all the important people. (Click image to see the full view):

Photo by Alfred Lambert

Wedding Photo Wednesday: Family moments

When Travis and I discussed our wedding, we always talked about how important family was to the whole affair. The best part of of the day was getting to see so many great parts of the family. So in this week's wedding photos, I'll be sharing some shots featuring family.

Mumsy-in-law and me

Travis' maternal grandparents. His grandmother is so sweet!

Dad and I during the father-daughter dance. We danced to "Follow You, Follow Me" by Genesis.

Photos by Alfred Lambert

An Irish girl's dream

If my hair doesn't give it away, nothing will: I'm a lot Irish. Well, at the very least, I know for sure that my maternal grandfather is Irish-American, which in this country means you're Irish. And I love celebrating that part of my heritage, just as much as I enjoy a good German stout, which, by the way, stems from that fact that German blood makes up the bulk the rest of my family tree.

Nothing, to me, says "Irish" more than corned beef. Sadly the poor meat has been mistreated in this country. Either it's the pinkish gruel that tastes good (especially when a big plate of grease is the only guarantee you'll get over that hangover) but looks a little too much like cat food, or its a thin slab of grayish meat that's more gooey fat than anything else.

Unless, that is, you have a grandmother who can make the best corned beef in the world. And I've aspired to make her corned beef ever since I struck out on my own. After another failed attempt last year, I finally decided that was it, I was GOING to make the PERFECT corned beef.

And I did. It's not the same as grandma's, but my tweaks make it my own and that's the beauty of food: Great dishes remind you of your childhood but are still your own.

Guinness Corned Beef and Cabbage

Recipe created from my grandmother's advice and my own instincts
1 Corned Beef Brisket (size doesn't matter, but make sure it's small enough to fit in your pot and comes with a packet of spices*)

3 cloves of garlic, smashed

1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1 can Guinness Draught (don't get the stout, since it turns everything bitter instead of delicious)

Water

1 half a large green cabbage (or a whole small cabbage), quartered

6 medium carrots

5 medium Yukon gold potatoes

1. Clean and pat your brisket dry. Trim any extra fat, but it's OK to leave a little bit.
2. Place in the bottom of a stock pot, fat side up. Sprinkle the spice pack over top. Add the garlic and the brown sugar.
3. Pour the can of Guinness over the meat. Add the water until the meat is covered by a half inch.
4. Bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to your lowest setting. Skim any foam that has been created off the top with a slotted spoon.
5. Allow to simmer on low for 3 hours.
6. Pull out the meat.
7. Add the carrots, potatoes and stir. Press the cabbage cut side down, leaving most of the cabbage above the broth.
8. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook the carrots and potatoes until al dente.
9. Add the meat back in, but bring the cabbage back to the top of the pile and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook until the everything is softened.
10. IMPORTANT: Pull the meat out and let it rest at least five minutes. You will see little indentations in the meat running parallel with each other. This is the "grain" and you need to cut across the grain! If you don't heed this warning, you can resign yourselves to chewing on shoe leather for the meal. This goes for most cuts of "cheap" meat by the way, flank steak and all brisket included.

And now for the photos!

The secret to perfect corned beef is in the marbling. A bit of fat offers flavor and juiciness, but a inch-thick slab of fat is kind of disgusting to eat. Look for marbling and less fat, but don't worry if there's a bit. You can always trim it off.

The spice packet looks like this. It's mostly pickling spices (mustard seed, etc.) and cinnamon, sage, fennel and allspice. You can make it at home if you have a well stocked spice rack, but most corned beef briskets come with the packet.

When you add the Guinness you get this lovely head that the beer is so famous for. But you will end up skimming a bit of it off once it boils. Don't skip this step though, or your broth will be gross and your veggies will be just as disgusting.

Corned beef is best with large chunks of root vegetables. Try to keep them relatively the same size, but bigger is better.

I recommend Yukon Gold potatoes because they hold up well in boiling water, but they also have a buttery creaminess that is perfect with salty corned beef.

You'll see I left the "stem" of the cabbage on. This helps keep it together so it will soften but not disintegrate. It also makes a pretty platter if that's what floats your boat.

Once the root veggies are done, you put the meat back in to just warm it back up. The goal with all this take it out, put it back in nonsense is so you don't toughen the meat by boiling the broth a second time, which is pretty much the only way to get the carrots and potatoes tender. I also don't recommend putting the veggies in at the beginning because by the time the meat is cooked (minimum 3 hours total), all those pretty carrots and potatoes will have become mush.

See the little grooves running in the meat toward the top right corner of the photo? That is the grain. If we were cutting this meat within this photo, you'd put the tip of your knife in the top left corner of the photo and the handle in the bottom right, or "across the grain." Then cut the brisket into traditional, thin strips and you have tender, beautiful meat. Easy, right?

Top it all off with from-scratch cheddar biscuits and a tall glass of Guinness and you'll be thankful for the Irish.

Wedding Photo Wednesday: The actual wedding

My stepfather acted as the photographer for our wedding. His camera is amazing, but he had a lot of trouble with white balance, thanks to the crazy bright sun. That's one of the reasons I've been putting off fixing these photos for so long. I'm afraid I won't be able to rescue some of my favorites and then I won't have a good record of the day.
This week I started working on some of those especially problematic photos. These are all from the wedding itself, and I absolutely love them and the fact that I was actually able to rescue them.
One tip for those asking a friend or family member to do their photos for any event: If they can take photos in the RAW format, make sure they do. If I had, these would not have been so difficult for me to fix.

Exchanging rings

First kiss as husband and wife

Married!

Photos by Alfred Lambert

When it's cold outside...

My puppy takes over the couch and bundles himself up under the covers. He's the cutest!

Wedding Photo Wednesday: Not-so-insurmountable project

We have a huge project ahead of us, one that I've been putting off since September. That's right, I still haven't edited wedding photos. Beyond scanning the photos given to me by my stepdad or uploaded to the paid Flickr site we set up just so we'd have easy access to all of our guests' photos, I haven't even really given a second thought to how we would preserve our wedding for posterity.

It's not that I don't enjoy looking through the photos. So much of that night was a blur, so it's fun to go back and relive some of the moments that have grown fuzzy. The problem is that completing the task always seemed a little insurmountable.

Not only would I have to tone and crop the photos, I'd have to weed out the ones that, despite how much I like the moment they represent, really don't deserve to be printed due to quality issues. There seem to be a lot of those, unfortunately.

Luckily we were introduced to a program from Creative Memories that makes it much easier to pull something together that we can eventually have professionally printed. Basically we purchased the company's Memories Manager, which not only organizes files but also allows me to edit photos within the program and with many of the more useful Photoshop tools, and Storybook Creator, which is basically a program that lets me lay out scrapbook pages using a computer interface similar to scaled-down InDesign. In fact there are some options I wish PS or ID had that are really easy to do in the programs. Plus, instead of buying our programs straight from the company, we were able to support a friend who also happens to be a consultant (go to her page if you are interested in scrapbooking! If you look at her profile picture, you may recognize her husband as a pretty awesome biology professor at CNU). She is EXTREMELY passionate about the programs. Seriously. A quick demo from her was all it took to convince us. Plus the awesome markdowns that were going to end two days after we finally had time to meet with her. Talk about serendipity.

I say all that to preview a new weekly post I'll launch today: Wedding Photo Wednesday will be an ongoing look at some of the photo editing and scrapbook page layouts I've been working on. This serves the purpose of giving me deadlines (which I work better on) and giving you guys a chance to critique some of my work.

I'm brand new to this particular program, but like I said, it's so similar to PS that I had no trouble adapting (though I miss a lot of the useful shortcuts Adobe developers spent so long coding) and already have examples of editing that I've done.

This first picture is an example of some of the detail shots that I am really grateful that some people thought to capture. The colors in this particular shot are sort of washed out and there a few pesky background components that really annoyed me.

So I cropped it to bring the centerpiece in as the focal point. I did a few other things, but if you can't find them, then I'm happy not to point them out:

I loved this next shot for capturing a great shot of dad getting ready to give me away, and Travis ready to take me. Can you guess what annoyed me about this one?

Well, color definitely became an issue. My dress in most of the photos looked white when it's not white at all. In fact, my favorite thing about that dress was the color, and that of course is my biggest challenge with most of the photos. But that wasn't even the hardest part with this shot.

If you thought I just cropped my mom's elbow out, you're wrong. If had just done that, I would have lost my bouquet (which took too much work just to crop out) and that detail of Travis in the upper, left hand corner ready to receive me. So I used the editing software's simple cloning tool.

It only took me about 5 minutes to not only completely rid my mom from the shot (sorry, Mom), but to also replace it with believable details, like continuing the pattern the sun was making in the grass and remembering to give Travis the leg my mom was blocking in the original.

So, what do you think?