As the Holidays Approach

Ben's Red Leaf

My favorite holiday is less than a week away.  I love Thanksgiving.  It's the one holiday I celebrate that is rooted in gathering around the table and sharing a feast.  This will be my third year cooking this celebratory meal in our own home and I must say I'm once again enjoying the menu planning and thoughts of a relaxing Thanksgiving morning.  I love to rise early and go for a nature walk then settle in and watch the Macy's Parade.  My parents are joining us this year from east-central Illinois and will likely arrive midday.  I'm planning to start cooking a day or two in advance to lighten the load the day of so I can spend time with my guests.  But, really, isn't it about spending the day in the kitchen?  My mom always pitches in while the men relax, watch football, and enjoy hors d'oeuvres and warm beverages.  After dinner we'll likely play cards or a board game.  Mmm, I can almost smell that turkey roasting already.  Speaking of turkeys, I've been trying to explain to Vera that tomorrow we're going to pick up our bird--that there will be a turkey riding in the car with us.  I even joked about reinstalling her infant carseat so the Tom could ride alongside her.  She stared blankly as she probably can't imagine seeing a turkey outside of her story books--feathered or not--let alone riding alongside one in the backseat.  This should be interesting.  We're getting another delicious heritage turkey from JenEhr Family Farm in Sun Prairie near Madison.  I ordered it on Sept. 1 and have been dreaming of the juicy meat since then.  This is our 4th year getting a bird from Kay and Paul and we've never been disappointed.  On that note, it feels like pre-vacation madness around here because I'm trying to empty the fridge to make room for this character for the next few days until I start brining it on Wednesday.  Then is sits outside in the cold in a 5-gallon bucket overnight until showtime on Thursday.

Holiday feasts always remind me of my Gramma Lucille, a Caledonia farm girl who made her living as a cook.  She would use the outdoors as an extended fridge/freezer to accommodate all the food that one guessed would be fed to an army the following day.  She also had a thing about turkey.  Her favorite part--and stop reading if I've already told this story--was the neck.  Until I worked at a Japanese restaurant where the natives shared how they delicately fry up the turkey neck and nibble off all the meat, I never understood how anyone could savor what appeared to be a twisted length of cartilage.  But my Gram loved it and, in fact, one year had a fit because she lost the neck during the rinsing/stuffing/trussing/roasting process.  It was one of the few times she let people into her kitchen as she cooked--my dad helped her dig through the trash until they finally uncovered it.  She proceeded to rinse it off and cook it up like nothing had happened.  Whew!  The drama!  We won't be preparing any turkey neck on Thursday, but I may use the giblets for stuffing (against my will...I didn't want stuffing this year, but a certain loving member of this household insisted...Vera can say "turkey" (well, it sounds more like "hockey") but she can't yet request her favorite holiday side dish so you can guess who it was.)  Long story short, tomorrow I clean the fridge in preparation for the big feast.

Bucket 'o Acorns

While we're on the topic of seasonal foods, I'll tell you about my next urban homesteading experiment.  According to Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen, authors of The Urban Homestead, foraging is a big part of sustaining the urban homestead.  As you know, I love to forage and have continued this activity into the fall.  Yesterday I was out there with the squirrels gathering nuts for the winter.  It felt almost as goofy as that sounds.  I took Vera's little red pail on our walk and stopped in the park under some huge oaks and in no time picked up a bucketful of acorns.  There were so many that even if the squirrels had descended upon them as they did Veruca Salt in Tim Burton's Charlie and Chocolate Factory, they still couldn't have grabbed them all.  Coyne and Knutzen, as well as more famous foragers like Euell Gibbons, have found ways to make flour out of acorns.  I've always wanted to try it.  I know it involves boiling the acorns a few times to get the bitterness out.  Stay tuned for the results.  I may have found another source for super local flour.

Before:  Holey Socks!

This week I also found time to catch up on some odd craft projects.  There was a pile of holey socks on my mending stack so I turned them into more legwarmers for Vera.  Everywhere she's gone in the "murmormers" she already has, we've gotten so many compliments on their cuteness, mostly from middle age women wondering where they can get a pair their size.  The legwarmers are so simple to whip up.  They can also be worn on the arms under/over a shirt.  There's a link to the original pattern on my first post for this project.

After:  Cute Toddler Legwarmers!

Yesterday Vera and I showed up at City Hall at 4 PM to join fellow Milwaukeeans, proud progressive Wisconsinites, and recently disappointed voters in singing "This Land is Your Land" on the ground floor.  Ben said it was Vera's first act of "civil disobedience" (as if there might be others), but really it was a chance for all of us who felt our voices were not heard in the mid-term election to make some noise, spread the word, and hopefully pass the spirit to others that we must use our voices, make ourselves be heard, and stand up for what we believe in no matter who's running the show in Madison or Washington.  I will post the YouTube link when I get it.

After that uplifting event we crossed the street to catch our first ever City/County Christmas Tree Lighting at Red Arrow Park.  Vera was most interested in looking at (thought not getting close enough to touch) the police horses while I enjoyed the carolers, Salvation Army band, and of course, people-watching.  I just may be in the holiday mood now.

I would like to leave you with a warm, hearty fall recipe.  It's such a treat to harvest cilantro from our garden this time of year.  The row cover I laid down a few weeks ago is doing its job to keep this crop toasty and growing strong.  The original recipe called for turnips instead of the potatoes and squash.


Chicken Curry with Whole Spices, Potatoes, and Winter Squash
Serves 6

1 4-lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces, skinned
2 whole chicken legs, cut into drumsticks and thighs, skinned
1 small acorn squash, seeded and coarsely cubed
4 medium potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1 1/4 t. salt, divided
1 t. cayenne pepper, divided
3/4 t. turmeric, divided
1 large onion, cut into 1-inch cubes
5 large garlic cloves
2 1-inch long pieces fresh ginger, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 T. coconut oil, divided
14 whole green cardamom pods, husks removed
9 whole cloves
1 1-inch piece cinnamon stick
1 t. coriander seeds
1/2 t. cumin seeds
1 small hot pepper, stemmed, halved
3 medium tomatoes, cubed (I used frozen)
2 T. tomato paste
1/4 c. plain whole-milk yogurt
1 c. water
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
2 T. lemon juice

Toss all chicken, squash, potatoes, 1/4 t. salt, 1/4 t. cayenne, and 1/2 t. turmeric in a large bowl to coat.  Pulse onion, garlic, ginger in food processor.  Stir 2 T. oil, and next 5 ingredients in heavy large pot over medium-high heat 1 min.  Add remaining 1 t. salt, mixture from processor, and chile.  Saute until mixture begins to brown at edges of pot, about 10 min.  Discard cinnamon stick and chile halves.  Mix in remaining 3/4 t. cayenne and 1/4 t. turmeric, then tomatoes and tomato paste; simmer 5 min.  Puree sauce in blender or food processor until smooth. (Can be made 1 day ahead.  Cover chicken and sauce separately and refridge.)  Heat remaining 1 T. oil in large wide pot over medium-high heat.  Add chicken, squash, and potatoes.  Saute until chicken is no longer pink outside, about 4 min.  Slowly mix in yogurt, then 1 c. water and onion-tomato sauce; bring to boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover pot, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, about 40 min.  Uncover and simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 min.  Mix in cilantro, lemon juice; season to taste with salt.  Transfer to serving platter.

I Feel the Urge to Purge...

...excess material things that is.  I've caught the annual bug to clean, organize, and pare down.  I got on a kick last weekend during my staycation, but it carried through last week and the urge is still there.  I held a rummage sale on Saturday and couldn't believe all the stuff that left our house--whether we sold or donated it.  I wondered why we'd hung on to it this long.  After getting all of this stuff out of our basement where it had been accumulating for the sale in a large corner for the last month, I decided to vacuum the basement.  This chore is mine on our weekly/bi-weekly/annual cleaning list (yes, it exists and we love it that way!) so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to check off this twice yearly task.  I worked high and low for at least an hour getting every cobweb and piece of gook from every nook and cranny.  This is not a finished basement, but one with a cement floor and exposed beams on the ceiling, so you can imagine how visibly buggy and dusty it can get.  Well, as I cleaned I felt the urge to totally rearrange my craft area.  Though I'd love to have a mom cave, I can't begin to compare my corner to the gorgeous getaways the Haute Apple Pie ladies recently blogged about.  But I can at least try to design a space where I feel comfortable, organized, and inspired to create on a regular basis.  There wasn't much wrong with the old setup of my "cave," but as any woman, especially a busy little mama, will tell you it's nice to freshen things up once in a while and change the scenery.  While I sat in the cold garage on Saturday at my ill-attended rummage, I had some time to surf the web and get inspired by the blogs of some fellow female crafters who are doing incredibly creative stuff!  I hope to make time this week to pick up some of my own projects and start more.

At My Sewing Table

Tray of Notions and Tools

Dried Sunchokes (they look like mushrooms) 

Grinding into Flour

A Fairly Fine Flour (say that 3X fast)

In other news, the first two steps of my sunchoke experiment have been successful.  The sunchokes were completely dry as of Sat. (took a few days with the oven on and off at low temps. to dry them.)  Tonight I ground them into flour.  I started by putting them in the food processor, but that was about to tear up the blade.  I transferred them to my spice grinder (a coffee grinder dedicated to spice grinding), which took a bit longer because of multiple batches, but was much more efficient believe it or not.  From the seven pounds of sunchokes I dried, I rendered one quart of flour.  Not peeling them didn't hurt the final product at all, in fact, it imparted a nice earthy aroma that I imagine will add an interesting flavor to savory baked goods.  Stay tuned to read what I make with this flour.  It was by far one of the most interesting urban homesteading experiments I've tackled yet.  The product was 100% grown and processed on our property--even better than the dilly beans with homegrown dill and garlic, but outsourced vinegar and salt.

A Quart of Sunchoke Flour!

Making My Own Flour

Big Bag of Sunchokes

In the last month or so I've been trying to avoid gluten and generally cut back on carbs.  This has prompted me to consider alternative, especially gluten-free, flours.  I've learned that "flour" doesn't have to come from a grain, though it typically does.  There are low-carb, high-protein, high-fiber flours such as coconut, almond, and garbanzo that can be used in baking.  After further research of alternative flours I learned that there's also such a thing as "sunchoke flour."  A member of the sunflower family, sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem artichokes.  They are low-carb, high in inulin, native to our area, and they happen to grow in our garden.  (I say "they grow" instead of "I grow them" because they're perennial and completely self-proliferating.)  I don't have to do a thing but harvest.  I wrote about them back in the spring and noted that my neighbor had given me the first tubers to plant in my garden.  They've been extremely prolific since then.  As I worked to close the garden for the season this past week I cut the very tall stalks and dug up these "roots."  I'm sure I didn't get all of them--they can be quite elusive--but I ended up with nine pounds.  One can harvest them between October and April so perhaps I will find more in the spring when I prepare the soil for the garden again.  I washed and sliced them thinly, putting them into a pot of water with a little lemon juice to avoid discoloration while I sliced the rest.  I drained them then spread them on a few sheet trays and loaded them into my oven at a low temp. (175-200 degrees).  I found some information online about turning them into flour.  I chose not to peel them because A) it's an extremely tedious process and B) having worked with sunchokes before I know that the skin is completely edible though it adds a more earthy flavor and color.  I'm willing to adapt to that flavor in exchange for time saved on peeling.  One could also dry them in a dehydrator, which I do not have.  Stay tuned for the results.

"Midwest Capers"

I also finished my "local capers" this week.  I didn't reap many seed pods from my friends plot at the Hide House, but after a meeting earlier this week I found myself a block away from a restaurant at which I used to work (which has since closed) and knew they had nasturtiums growing in there planters outside.  I did some genuine urban foraging and helped myself to the seed pods that would otherwise go to waste.  I loaded my pockets then hopped on my bike for home to quickly get them brined.  I came up with about 3-1/4 pint jars, which should be plenty to take me through the year.

In another attempt to get more veggies into my daughter's and my family's meals, this week I prepared a split pea soup and added broccoli and bok choy.  She loved it and ate three (small) bowls for dinner that night.  Yay!




Split Pea Soup with Broccoli, Bok Choy, and Ham
Serves 5

Adapted from a recipe in 1000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles.  It could certainly be made without the cruciferous vegetables.

Split Pea Soup with Broccoli, Bok Choy, and Ham

2 T. ghee or coconut oil
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped carrots
3/4 c. green split peas
1/2 bunch bok choy, finely chopped in a food processor
4 c. water
2 c. vegetable stock
1 head broccoli, finely chopped in a food processor
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
1-2 c. diced ham (I use leftovers)
Salt and pepper to taste (don't add too much salt before tasting after adding ham.)

Heat ghee or oil in a stockpot and add onions and carrots.  Saute a few minutes until soft.  Add green split peas and toss to coat with oil.  Add bok choy and water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, 1 hour.  Add vegetable stock, broccoli, garlic, and parsley.  Return to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered 30 min.  (Add more liquid if needed.)  Stir in ham and seasoning to taste.

What I Did on my Fall Stay-cation

I am down to the last couple of hours of my first, and much anticipated, stay-cation.  Ben and Vera headed down to the Chicago-area on Friday so that I could have a quiet weekend to do whatever I wanted.  It was the first time Vera was away from me overnight and I think we both fared well based on what Ben tells me.  Of course, I miss my two sweeties, but it's been great to catch up on things from my rainy day list and putz, which is an activity I've been famous for since high school.  If you know me, you understand that I don't easily sit still.  I did promise not to do any cleaning this weekend (which almost happened except I shampooed the couch last night), but otherwise I was ready to organize, pare down, and refresh--physically and mentally.  It began with a serious session of cleaning out my recipe file box on Friday, Saturday I started going through my notoriously extraneous basement files (articles, ideas, and clippings of things that may someday come in handy).  I purged A LOT, which felt great!  Saturday night I organized my closet after getting rid of several articles for an upcoming rummage; I also hung a doubler rod to prepare for Ben's move into my closet.  He's still using the closet in Vera's room, but it's proving to be more and more difficult as he often wakes her up in the morning when he gets his clothes.  So, yes, you heard me correctly, I am voluntarily welcoming my husband to share my small closet.  The last time we did so was at our two bedroom apartment downtown when we had a HUGE walk-in closet despite a smaller living space.  This time it felt good to get rid of things--seriously consolidate and simplify. I started reading a book lately about organizing one's home then quit after A) I realized it was more for the obsessive hoarding type who can't see their floor because of all the "stuff" and B) just reading the intro was enough to motivate me to be very generous in getting rid of things.  The author suggested that everything in one's home should be either functional or beautiful.  Can you think of anything in your home that doesn't fit that bill?  I could!  I was reading a great article this morning on Mother Earth News online about wabi-sabi, the Japanese art of imperfection.  I first came across the term in 2002 when I was working at a Japanese restaurant and in love with all things Japanese.  When I asked one of my Japanese co-workers what it meant, he had a hard time putting it into words.  Since then wabi-sabi has become more of a household term and I think it sums up very well how I like to decorate and why I appreciate antique stores.  According to the article's author I might consider myself a wabibito:


"Wabibitos live modestly, satisfied with things as they are. They own only what’s necessary for its utility or beauty (ideally, both). They revere humans over machines, surrounding themselves with things that resonate with the spirit of their makers. Wabi-sabi is imperfect: a beloved chipped vase or a scarred wooden table."


Here are some examples of wabi-sabi from our home:

One of today's projects was organizing the upright freezer in the basement, taking inventory of it along with my preserves pantry and creating my annual spreadsheet so we can see and check off to know what we have.  To make the freezer a bit more manageable, I purchased some baskets and such after reading an awesome article in Better Homes and Gardens last year about this daunting task.  I feel as though it was a success.  Time will tell.

Before Organization

After Organization

Fall Greens

Aside from ramping up for my staycation, this past week I was in the kitchen preparing meals from our garden--yes, it continues to grow.  We had our first killing frost on Friday night, but the swiss chard, radishes, rutabaga, and beets survived as well as the cabbage, cilantro, mustards, arugula, and turnips under the floating row cover I had put down as I awaited colder weather.  I did some gleaning early last week and managed to come up with a pretty decent fall green salad from red streaks mustards, pineapple sage, sorrel, and nasturtium leaves (spicy like their flowers).  This was the base for tossed salads as well a fresh accent to the high-protein vegetable wraps I've been making lately with sprouted grain tortillas.  I also dried a good amount of lemon balm for winter tea and adapted a salad using broccoli stems and carrots from our yard and more of my foraged pears.

Curry Pear and Broccoli Slaw
Serves 4-6

Adapted from a recipe in the Outpost Exchange magazine, November 2009.  Don't discard your broccoli stems, most of them--but an inch or so of woodiness at the bottom--are edible.


3 large carrots, trimmed and shredded
2 large broccoli stalks, trimmed and shredded
2 firm but ripe pears, trimmed and sliced thinly (about 1/4")
1/4 c. dried cranberries
2 T. fresh parsley, chopped
2 T. white wine vinegar
1 T. curry powder
2 t. honey
1 t. salt
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. roasted peanuts
pepper to taste


Place pears, carrots, broccoli, and cranberries in a large bowl and sprinkle with parsley.  In a blender, combine vinegar, curry powder, honey, salt and pepper.  While blending, add the olive oil.  Pour curry dressing over veggies, add peanuts, and toss gently to combine.  Serve immediately.

I also made some homemade catsup.  I missed the boat on making it from fresh tomatoes, but used the amazing slow-roasted tomato paste from Ruegsegger Farms.  The recipe is from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious, which adheres to my recent efforts to sneak more veggies into Vera's diet.  Store-bought ketchup often contains a lot more than you might bargain for in the way of sugar and additives.  I'd always wanted to make my own.


Homemade Ketchup
Makes 1 c.

6 oz. tomato paste
1/2 c. carrot or squash puree
1/4 c. water
2 T. apple-cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/4 t. salt
1 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. chili powder, or to taste

Stir all ingredients together in a big saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture has reduced by about half, 10 to 15 min.  Let cool before serving or refrigerating.  Freezing also works well.

You may have heard me mention my urban homesteading journal.  One of the first entries in that book of ideas was a brainstorm of foods and ingredients that we use a lot that are not local, including oils, coffee, some fruits, etc.  On that list was peanut butter.  I had noted that I would try to "use less" as a solution, but last week I had a though about making a local substitute.  I thought, if roasted sesame seeds can be ground up to make tahini, why can't roasted pumpkin (or squash) seeds be ground up to make pumpkinseed butter?  I did a web search and found that a lot of people had tried this.  My first attempt was very coarse, but I believe I can tweak it to make a reasonable substitute.  Imagine growing your own "peanut butter" substitute!

Pumpkin/Squash Seed Butter
Makes about 2 c.

2 c. roasted pumpkin/squash seeds
3 T. vegetable oil (you could even take this opportunity to use flaxseed oil!)
Salt to taste

Put the seeds in a food processor and process until finely ground.  Add the oil gradually and process until smooth.  Add salt and pulse to combine.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  Store in the fridge or freezer.  Enjoy on crackers, vegetables, or fruit.  Try baking with it.

And I just realized I gained and hour last night--wasn't on a schedule today to notice...maybe I will finally sit down.