It's a beautiful day here in Eugene, Oregon. Sunshine peaking through the tall trees and azaleas and rhodedendrums beginning to blossom. Daffodils and tulips spreading their special white, yellow and pale pink loveliness all over town. Such sweet beauty. It is easy to love and respect this beautiful place on a day like today. Oregon has really opened my eyes to the drop-dead gorgeousness of the natural world and how very lucky we all are to simply be alive and be part of this magnificent earth.
Now that I can finally go outside and soak up some of those honey rays from the sun, I'm unfortunately soaking up honey tea and theraflu. First cold of the 2010-2011 year and boy, it's a beast. Ah well... Good time to read, I suppose and rest.
This is the time of year when I get the most hopeful and excited for what "may be" just around the corner. New Year resolutions really mean very little to me until March. For it is in March when the seeds are planted - literally and figuratively for me.
I'm a true optimist and is in late winter/early spring that the big dreams resurface for me. Every year.
I work hard on my dreams. I'm the industrial type and I'm always working on a new plan or approach to success. I've seen good results and many of my dreams have been accomplished. The big ones are harder, but like I said, I'm an optimist.
It is after a long winter like this that my hope resurfaces in a major way and the the big dreams seem more possible. Even (especially) the one that is completely and so cruelly beyond my control. Yes, I am ready for my spring. This winter has been too long and too heartbreaking.
I knew this could happen. But it was just so heartbreaking to return home from a vacation (The Comforters went on a mini CD release tour) down south to see that the deer had snacked on both the front beds AND made it into the enclosed back patio for a feast. I lost all the strawberries, all the pole beans, beets, cabbages, raspberries and peas. Hit hard were the tomato plants, sweet potatoes and squash. Hope to have something to harvest after all is said and done. Favas, squash, hot peppers and one or two tomatoes may be possible...
It is truly amazing that so much can come from so little. My first real veggie garden (not just a container garden) is doing really well despite the slow start (due to a very wet spring and major surgery) this year. It looks more like a late spring garden at this point, but I'm very pleased.
About 60% the garden came from starts (both from local growers and my green-thumbed mom), and the rest from seed. The pole beans seeds were planted about 3 weeks ago and they are growing like crazy. Every day they have managed to climb higher up the trellis. It is wild that we still have lettuces in mid July after 90 degree temps last week. And the pea transplants have decided to come to life - They spent the first month and a half doing nothing (and I really thought they were goners) and now they seem to be ready to produce. The eggplants, squash and tomato plants are flowering and the berries are ripening.
In addition to the veggies, all the blooms and dark greens make me so happy. Come summer this part of the world has got to be one of the prettiest places on earth.
Pictures are from mid/late June. My first raised-bed veggie garden.
Our wet and cool Oregon spring meant late planting, but I think the sun is back for a good while now and I'm looking forward to some late summer harvesting.
The deer haven't messed with the beds...keeping my fingers crossed! Walrus has attacked my blueberries though...
These were perfect on a day when I was really craving something crunchy and Chinese but didn't want to eat out. They were a meal for the two of us filled with tofu and some sauteed veggies.
Ingredients:
3 cloves of garlic sliced 4 scallions diced (white part and some green) 2-3 tablespoons of tamari soy sauce 1 block of firm tofu- rinsed, and patted dry 1 tablespoon canola oil plus canola oil for deep frying 2 cups of sliced mushrooms (I used crimini) 1 cup of shredded napa or savoy cabbage 2 tablespoons sliced ginger or powdered ginger 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon rice vinegar sriracha or chili sauce to your liking 1/2 package of wonton wraps
Instructions: Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a wok or large pot Add tofu in crumbled pieces - cook for 3-5 minutes Add mushrooms - cook for 3 minutes more Add garlic and ginger and 1/2 the soy - saute Add cabbage and cook until wilted
Remove from heat and toss with sesame oil, remaining soy, sriracha, vinegar,and scallions. Allow to cool down a bit and flavors to meld. Place 1/2 a tablespoon of mixture in the center of wonton wraps Wet the perimeter of each wrap with a bit of water Fold wraps over and press to seal
Deep fry dumplings in canola oil for 1-2 minutes Drain on paper towels
Serve with dipping sauce of your choice and a side of bok choi or broccoli.
Yum!
The deer came back again but this time they checked us out from the back yard.
Tofu loves to be paired with spicy flavors. I love adding tofu to curries or in a stir-fry.
This dish is more of a Chinese/Japanese mix-up prepared by a Italian/Scandinavian mix-up for her Ukrainian/Polish crack-up!
I made it up on the fly and it worked.
My favorite kind of miracle.
Ingredients:
Sweet and Sour Sauce: 3 tablespoons tamari soy sauce 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar 3 garlic cloves minced 1+ tablespoon catsup 1+ tablespoon hot chili sauce (like sriracha) 1 teaspoon ginger (fresh diced or in powder) 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 2 tablespoons canola or sesame oil 2 green onions diced (all of the white part and a bit of the green) juice of half an orange
whisk all ingredients in a bowl and set aside
Veggies: I used what was left in the fridge(not much): cabbage (half a head) onions (1 yellow and 1/2 red) sliced garlic - 3 cloves sliced ginger - 1 teaspoon carrots - 2 shredded green peas - half a bag of frozen 2-3 tablespoons of canola oil 1-3-4 oz. of soba noodles cooked as per package instructions 4 green onions diced
Instructions: Heat the wok or pan with a little canola oil and crumble the tofu in. Cook the bite sized crumbles for 3-4 minutes then remove from wok. Add another tablespoon of canola oil to the wok and saute the onion for 2-3 minutes then add garlic and ginger. Cook for another minute or so then add whatever sliced veggies you have in the fridge chopped or sliced into bite sizes. Add one veggie at a time - cooking each for a minute or two on it's own. Add a little tamari/soy sauce with each new veggie to layer the flavors. Cook veggies through 7-10 minutes.
Add the tofu back to the wok and toss with veggies. Add noodles and sweet and sour sauce and toss to coat.
Another rainy Saturday afternoon here in Western Oregon. What better than a hot bowl of creamy mushroom bisque to warm us up?
It was delicious and fairly simple to make.
Looks like we're not the only ones craving something warm. This sweet doe looks very interested in our soup du jour:
Mushroom Bisque: (totally vegan - but it can obviously be made with dairy if one is so inclined) Ingredients: 1 onion diced 4 cloves of garlic - chopped finely 3 cups of chopped mushrooms (I used cremini) 3 tablespoons of canola butter (Earth Balance is great) 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil 3 tablespoons of whole wheat flour 2 cups of plain soy milk 1 teaspoon of dried thyme 7-8 cups of vegetable broth or water 1 cup of barley (rinsed) 1/4 cup chopped parsley (optional) 1/4 cup of sherry or Marsala (optional) salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Saute the onion in olive oil until translucent Add chopped mushrooms and saute for another 2-3 minutes Add half of the garlic - saute until mushrooms begin to sweat Season with a pinch of salt, thyme and pepper to taste Add barley and saute for one minute De glaze pan with sherry at this point or simply add broth(water) and bring to a boil Lower to a simmer, cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes to cook barley.
Meanwhile make the roux: Melt canola butter in a small saucepan Add remaining garlic and saute for a minute Add flour and whisk Cook the flour for a minute then whisk in milk Continue to whisk as the sauce thickens (4-5 minutes) Add salt and pepper to taste Set thickened rue aside until needed
After 40-50 minutes the barley will have cooked and the soup will have reduced and filled the kitchen with a glorious smell At this point lower heat and stir/whisk in the creamy rue Adjust seasoning to taste Top with parsley
I love this homemade "Nutella" on top of bananas. I think hazelnuts and chocolate are a divine combination. I first tried Nutella when I was a junior studying abroad in Europe. My uncle Luigi (I kid you not) had stocked up on the sweet treat a few months before when my kid brother had come to visit.
Nutella on crusty bread is a favorite of many bambini d'Italia.
And apparently 20-year-old foreign exchange students too!
Unfortunately, Nutella, like most commercial nut-butters contains a few ingredients that I am not so crazy about. Nutella contains a LOT of sugar, a LOT of modified oils and not a lot of hazelnuts (only about 13%).
So I searched the Internet for a healthy(but yummy),homemade recipe and found a great one at: Su Good Sweets. This recipe contains more nuts, less sugar and more real cocoa than the Nutella you can buy at the market. I used organic brown sugar in place of powdered sugar and it turned out great. I also used just a tablespoon of canola oil instead of the 1/4 cup of oil called for in the original recipe.
This is a truly, delicious, alternative to peanut butter and you can adjust the sweetness to your liking.
Walrus loves the roasted hazelnuts that fall to the floor when I'm rubbing the skins off.
Lucky dog.
This spread is great on pancakes, waffles, toast, in sandwiches and it is brilliant partnered with bananas.
