Fall's coming!

You know fall's coming in my house when a few things happen:
1. We get another windfall of raspberries
2. The joy of grilling outside has been completely replaced by our renewed love for all things pasta
3.  I start talking about knitting projects again.

In the spirit of #3, I saw this SUPER cute little hat pattern, and endeavor to try it soon.  It may even replace "Ugly Red Hat", which I crocheted in college and pretty much wear all winter.  I'm also hoping that a nice beret can jazz up my outfits since I've basically given up on wearing jewelry for little guys' first year of life at this point...

The pattern designer made it out of a wool and silk blend yarn, but I've got my eye on this sweet Kelly green cotton yarn I've had for years.  I also have not successfully knit in the round before, so I may have calls into my mother and friend, Erin, to get this one accomplished.

Wish me luck!

Blind Faith Beer Clone

A few weeks ago, the big guy seemed flabbergasted at the fact that we had no more IPA's left in the basement for us to drink and made me promise to brew more ASAP.  So I chose two, brewed one, and even employed a new hopping technique in the process!

The first one I brewed up was a Blind Faith (Magic Hat) clone.  Blind Faith is one of the few truly hoppy beers that Magic Hat produces, but it still has a pretty light mouth feel.  I remember it being pretty light in color, but it's been a while, so I could be completely wrong on that one.

The coolest thing about making this recipe is that it called for dry hopping (throwing a bit of the hops in after/during fermentation and during the boil) and with our new kegging system I used a new technique to dry hop.  I threw the 2 oz. or so of the hops into a muslin bag, tied it to the inside of the keg so that they sat in the beer without clogging up the intake and voila!

I think the only thing that this clone got right was mouth feel, but I still like my beer.

This weekend, hopefully I'll be able to brew an Oktoberfest!

On the menu for next week

I realized that even though I've been doing a pretty good job of sticking with my meal-planning, I haven't shared my experiences in this arena lately.

I have not stuck with a meal planning service--I didn't LOVE the recipes, and our fickle tastebuds tend to crave things that weren't in any of the menus I found.  I did, however, find a lot of inspiration of how I should be doing things and continue to use the models of execution from many of the websites I found.

So what exactly am I doing?  I've started bookmarking recipes and (GASP!) making a running grocery list of items we'll need to execute those menu items for the next few weeks.  You'll notice some things are crossed off, and that's because their procurement was delegated to the big guy who drives past a butcher on his way home from work.  Other things missing from the list are things I have in my garden, so no tomatoes, eggplants, herbs, cucumbers or raspberries will show up on here until October.

And what will we be cooking?
-Peach sauce for the little guy
-A shrimp, peach and spinach hot salad thingy (once I make it and figure out what I'm doing I'll post about it)
-Pasta with hot sausage, fried sage, and a cream sauce.
-Grilled flank steaks (probably slightly Mexican-style w/ fresh salsa and tortillas)
-Grilled chicken breasts marinated in a yogurt curry sauce.
-Eggplant (roasted, fried and baked into a "lasagna", possibly into a chutney I saw)
-Pretty much all meals will be accompanied by a tomato salad since it's that time of year.
-Left over corn chowder to eat with hamburgers and hot dogs over Labor Day weekend

It's amazing how just this little bit of conscious planning has really taken away the stress, made me a better grocery shopper in terms of both time and money, and has really made our evenings that much more enjoyable.

Pistachio Milk

I definitely think this could be a contender for weirdest breakfast of the week, but I DARE you to try it and tell me it's awful.

A few weeks ago I was reading FoodBabe's Blog, and she posted a pistachio milk recipe.  Intrigued, I set out on the semi-daunting task of finding unsalted, unroasted, shelled pistachios.  It took a minute and two grocery stores, but I found them at the fancy farmer's market near the in-laws.  Biggest draw back:  $20 a lb.

This recipe is easy-peasy, so try it if you have a $20 spot to burn, because it really is worth it.  It also only took about 2 minutes to make, though cleaning up the food processor took about 5.

The pistachio milk is really satisfying, nutty, and even a little thick (thanks to my less than fine mesh strainer), and a half jar and a banana was a perfect breakfast.  I added a bit of vanilla, and I think for a really awesome fall drink, I'd warm this up and add a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Other possibilities going through my brain:
-Making this into an icecream
-Booze--why does it always come back to booze?  I'm thinking a bit of spiced rum could be nice.
-Whip it and put it on a chocolate dipped graham cracker
-Smoothies--Add some oranges and a creamsicle appears!

Drink the pistachio milk.  Seriously.

Corn off the Cob

Apparently I am on the same writing and cooking schedule as a NYTimes food columnist--Corn is on my brain!

In an effort to send better quality videos your way (with minimizing effort on my behalf), here's a really great video to show you how to remove the corn from your cobs.

Stay tuned for a recipe for corn chowder...

Tomato Basil Bisque

August to me means lots of fun foods from the garden, and a panic attack trying to make sure I use everything before it spoils!  To preserve those 80 lbs of tomatoes I've been picking, I make this super yummy soup with a portion of them.  Everything could come from my garden (save the dairy), but alas, my garlic didn't do anything this spring...

Here's the recipe for the only tomato soup I'll eat!



Tomato Basil Bisque
1 medium onion, chopped
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
About 5 lbs of tomatoes, peeled and seeded (view the video tutorial here)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1-2 TBS of basil pesto

Heat large sauce pot on medium with olive oil. Add onions and garlic with a pinch of salt, stirring frequently until they become translucent. 

Boost the heat to high and add one tomato, stirring until it fairly well disintegrates and much of the liquid has evaporated. 

Then slowly add the remaining tomatoes (this eases the mess more than anything).  Bring to a simmer and then set heat to low, stirring occasionally.  Let the soup simmer for a few hours until it has reduced by at least 1/3 (sometimes a bit more if you have watery tomatoes). 

Off heat and using a stick blender, blend the tomatoes to your desired consistency. 

Slowly stir in the cream (to avoid curdling, keep the mixture off the heat), and then add in the pesto.

Consume immediately, or store in fridge for up to a week/freezer for a few months.  I recommend reheating on the stove--the microwave changes the texture and can make for some curdling.

Apple Peach Pear Sauce

This started as an attempt to make baby food and get rid of some fruit just starting its downward spiral, and I must say it's probably one of the yummiest things I've made in a while.

2 pears, peeled, cored, cut into large chunks
3 apples, peeled, cored, cut into large chunks
2 peaches, peeled, cored, cut into large chunks
1/2 cup of water

Put all ingredients into a sauce pan (medium to large) and cook over medium heat until fruit softens a bit.  Stirring helps to even out the cooking, so I encourage occasional stirring.  Estimate 10-15 minutes for cooking max.  Whiz everything in your food processor until you get the consistency you desire, and enjoy!

I made two servings for the little guy to take to school (2 oz. cups) and froze the rest (though I stole a huge spoonful for me beforehand!).