Supreme Being

Forgot to post last week that I discovered there is a Supreme Being. Remember my story about brussels sprouts ("b.s.")? http://juliebike.blogspot.com/2009/12/brussels-sprouts.html

Short version: I don't like 'em!

Ben asked me to plant some "b.s". a few months ago, and Mike likes them too, so for my guys I gave up some garden space, planting six starts. This spring/summer was very odd weather, so I kept waiting for the stems to shoot up (the "b.s." grow around a stem, if you didn't know). Waiting, and waiting, and I thought maybe it just won't happen because the weather messed up everything. The plant leaves, however, were getting HUGE.

Last week I discovered they are getting cabbage heads, not "b.s."

There is a Supreme Being after all!

Update on forgetting food.

Long ago I wrote about forgetting Thanksgiving food. See: http://juliebike.blogspot.com/2009/11/thanksgiving-and-forgettin-stuff.html

Update: this year it was the cranberry sauce! Yes, near the end of dinner Mike asked, "Honey, didn't we have cranberry sauce?"

Oh, yes. Usually he makes it, but I did it this year. Two batches, one regular and one sugar-free. I put it in the "outside fridge" which means on the table on the patio.

Don't you just love traditions?

The liquor store answer

Yes, Mom gets the prize (XOXOXO). Brooke and I were at the liquor store to buy

...drum roll...

Apple brandy for a recipe, not for general consumption. I've done a lot of different things with apples this fall, so the next natural step was apple butter. Yummy, although it does have a lot of natural sugars in it from the apples, apple brandy, apple cider, and apple juice concentrate. And then we add brown sugar! Although I only used half of what the recipe called for.

Community Supported Agriculture

Poor Mikey still doesn't understand our CSA subscription. He keeps describing it to friends on the phone as "...we just went to Julie's son Bill and girlfriend Ayn's place to pick up some of the food from the community garden."

So the three of you who have followed my blog (if you're still out there -- I haven't posted anything in more than a month) probably already know what Community Supported Agriculture is, and the difference from a community garden. And if you heard Mike say we had a spot in a community garden, you might be puzzled as to why we would have a garden at home and another spot somewhere else.

But just for fun, here's the explanation. In short, CSA is grown by a farm, and community garden is grown by you.

CSA is where you pay a "subscription" to a farm, and get a weekly share of goodies. Each farm can be very different in what you pay and what you might get. Here's a link to a good description: www.sightline.org/publications/enewsletters/CSNews/CS_6_05_csa

Our farm is Rainway Farms, in Hillsboro (practically a stone's throw from my old high school). Bill/Ayn pick up at the Portland Farmer's Market on the PSU campus, just a couple of blocks from where they live. We paid about $400 to get 18 weekly "boxes" (bags, really) of food, June through October. They also provide (by e-mail) information on what's in each week's box and recipes.

I've been forced to try some new things. Kale is very interesting. I tried a recipe for "baked kale chips." Oops, yuck. I've found it best to cut the leaves from the stem and just put it in a salad. Turns out that kale is one of the superfoods, and 1 cup has over 200% of your Vitamin A and ascorbic acid RDA, 25% calcium, 10% iron, 5 grams of protein, and only 45 calories!

I put turnip into a root vegetable side dish. The jury is out - maybe pre-roasting them in a bunch of butter, salt, and garlic would help.

Tonight was kohlrabi in potato-chip-like slices, baked with olive oil, garlic, and parmesan. Of course that's going to go down good!

There was another recipe for radish top soup which was great. And to think all my life I've thrown out the radish tops.

Now I have to figure out how to use these fava beans. Very strange.

Oh, community garden: you all know this one, right? Rent space and grow your own stuff. In Vancouver, you can rent a 20'x20' space for $40. Or 10x10 is $20 (with age 60+ discounts, and some low income scholarships). At the old poor farm (and maybe the other locales, I'm not sure there), you can't use pesticides or herbicides.

Any way you do it, here's to good eatin'!

Mayo or Miracle Whip?

Since my most-commented post had to do with food (remember B.S.?), I thought I would try another.

Are you a mayonnaise person, or Miracle Whip?

I am mayo. Not slathering, dripping, slopping amounts -- see Bill III for a fan of that much goo. But definitely mayo over Miracle Whip. So much that years ago when I ordered a tuna sandwich and found it was made with Mwhip, I only ate half.

Mike on the other hand is a Mwhip guy. Oh, yes, he is also the one who likes the old B.S. Need I say more?

Maybe next time we can discuss mac 'n cheese: homemade or Kraft?

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts? How can she blog about brussels sprouts?

Most of the family knows this story. So read along and let me know if I'm embellishing over time. Or skip off and clean the bathroom. Your choice.

Dad trained me to not like brussels sprouts. That was not his goal. I was about fifth grade, I think, and the vegetable for dinner one night was B.S. (My apologies if the initials offend you, but I don't feel they deserve the energy it takes to spell them out every time.) The rule was, you have to try everything at dinner.

I tried, but I gagged on the little buggers. Literally, could not chew and swallow one little B.S. Dad decreed, "You can go after you try one, but until you do, we're staying right here." My brothers were excused, Mom was working around us to clean up, and it was showdown time.

Really, I tried. I brought home good grades, I did what I could to please my folks. But those weird green things? And how do you describe that taste? Maybe it was just that smell, where your brain says, "Whoa, kiddo, something with that smell was not designed to be eaten and enjoyed."

And we sat.

And Dad fell asleep at the table.

Mom said I could go.

Thanksgiving and forgettin' stuff

Our family Thanksgiving tradition: forgetting something.

I know that the only people reading this already know the secret. But somewhere in posterity it needs to be recorded and will become very important. Or not.

For Thanksgiving dinner, something is always forgotten. Not on purpose. There's so much food, it is just not missed. The rolls were left warming in the oven. Or the vegetable was still in a steaming pan on the turned-off stove (amidst other now-empty pans). Or Ben's vegan dumplings never made it out of the freezer.

So this week was the usual routine. Made cranberry sauce on Sunday. Mike went through all of it by tonight, so I made another batch.

Last night tried a new recipe for a sweet potato - pineapple bake. Pretty easy, healthier than the brown sugar - marshmallow concoctions. We'll see how it goes over.

Tonight I also prepared a breakfast casserole to put in the oven first thing in the morning (Scott and Helen are spending the night before continuing on to Salem tomorrow).

Made a vegan pumpkin pie. Then as I was taking it out of the oven and sliding in the apple pie, I thought, "Darn, I was supposed to make a regular pumpkin pie too. What was I thinking? So should I make it tonight? Tomorrow morning, but will it set up in time?"

Then, "Oh, yeah, we already have it. We bought one of Costco's this year." doh.

Called Ben to see which basting he wanted for the Tofurkey (he chose the orange juice - soy sauce).

So I continued on with a new recipe for a fruit salad. Had to cut up a fresh pineapple, which is a pain. Then two mangoes, which are just the worst. Then two kiwi, but someone finally told me the trick on those. Don't try to peel the stupid little bugger. Cut it in half (around the "equator" so to speak), then scoop it out with a spoon.

Tomorrow I'm sure I will remember to pack all of that, along with the fixings for the green salad, veggies for Ben's meal, the three types of whipped toppings, napkins.

For now, I'm off to slumberland.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I'm ready to kick back and enjoy 'the kids' company.