Ode To A Cranberry

For years now I have been making cranberry sauce from scratch for Thanksgiving and sometimes Christmas. This year was the first when I canned cranberry sauce. Using my age old recipe and harnessing the awesome power of canning I have achieved I made me some cranberry sauce in jars.

My history of cranberry sauce is rather short in my food life. I only started to make it not more than 10 years ago. I would never eat cranberry sauce when I was a kid, it was the jelled canned type that was sliced into rings. The plate would be passed around on Thanksgiving and I would keep it going past me. The texture looked horrible and the one time that I actually tasted it was worse. I just remember it tasting way too sweet and slimy. Slimy I can deal with, sweet I cannot. So all throughout my childhood, adolescence and adulthood I avoided cranberry sauce.

One Thanksgiving, sometime last decade, I had a bag of cranberries that I somehow obtained, legally I hope. I went to my cooking bible, Fanny Farmer, and looked up how to make cranberry sauce. I was amazed, well not amazed more surprised, at how simple it was.

Cranberry Sauce
12 oz bag of Cranberries
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar

Wash the cranberries, boil the water, add cranberries and sugar. Scrape off froth as cranberries pop, cook for about 10 minutes or until all the cranberries pop, cool and serve.

OK, so it's easy, but how does it taste. It tasted great. It was enjoyed by everyone that year and I then added it the annual Thanksgiving menu. This is known as whole berry cranberry sauce which is different than jelled cranberry sauce like the type in the can. The difference is that with jelled you would strain out the cranberry skins. I like this better, it seems more natural, tastier and I'll admit I'm too lazy to strain it once it's cooked. I think you need to keep cooking it as well and you know how I feel about overcooking anything.

So every year I'd make a batch, or a double batch of sauce. I get a few extra bags and leave them in the freezer to make whenever I, or my wife, has a craving for some. Somehow between last year, this year and a great sale on cranberries, I found myself with nine bags of cranberries. Since I still have all of my fingers, limbs and internal organs from my previous attempts to can, I was ready to roll the pressure caner dice again.

There was a great sale on the 12 ounce tall mason jars, as seen on the top of the post, so I got two cases of them. The smaller jars cost more and who wants to only get 2 ounces of cranberry sauce. At the same time no one would want a quart either, so this seems like the perfect size to use for Christmas gifts. Reading up on how to can cranberry sauce, since it has a high acid content, a simple hot water bath for fifteen minutes will safely work.

I debated whether to use my pressure caner, it can hold 23 quarts or the regular stainless steel tall pot that we use for pasta and other general items. I'm not sure of the size but I think it holds about 12 quarts. I wasn't sure if all of the cranberries would fit in the smaller pot, but I didn't want to have to clean out the pressure caner just before I use it. I used the steamer/pasta basket that fits inside the pot to wash the cranberries and eight bags seemed to fit. I poured them into the pot, they fit, I decided to be daring and make the sauce in the smaller pot.

Added the eight cups of water, when it boiled I added the cranberries, which went right to the top since they float in water, and poured the sugar over all of it. Carefully shifting the cranberries I got the sugar to drop into the pot and moved the cranberries on the edge to the center. As the water began to boil again and the froth started to rise, so did the cranberries. I was fighting Mt. Vesuvius, frantically I kept moving cranberries to the center, making a pyramid, while scraping off froth and pushing the berries back down. By sheer determination and some luck I was able to keep the cranberry volcano from erupting all over my stove and the floor. I knew as the cranberries would pop, they would sink down. To be honest I panicked and lowered the heat and kept scraping. Finally about fifteen minutes later it was ready. And to avoid the red cabbage disaster of not adding the canning perseve, I added the proper amount, about three tablespoons to the sauce. I put the pot in the refrigerator and let it cool until the next day.

The funny thing was that while the cranberries were cooling I was more concerned with how to cook the black beans I was going to make for dinner. I've done a few hot water canings but never used the pressure cooker to cook food. I went through all the steps in my head how to sterilize the jars, heat the cranberry sauce, put the jars in hot water, blah blah blah. But to cook beans in the pressure cooker, that was getting me worried. More on that later, time to can cranberry sauce.

So after the Seahawks beat the 49ers on a last second field goal (Yah Olindo Mare), I started the process. Nothing exciting, filled the jars, boiled for fifteen minutes, removed, tested, looks great. I filled 14 twelve ounce jars, so I have over a gallon of whole berry cranberry sauce. Most will go as gifts along with some pumpkin bread. Or just when there is a craving a few months from now for some cranberry sauce, I can pop open a jar.

But my main concern was how to use the pressure cooker. When I first got the caner I looked at the recipes in the book. Besides how to make twelve pounds of corned beef in twenty minutes there were recipes for dried beans. The time chart listed on average two to four minutes. I'm thinking to myself "This can't be true, this is a filthy lie!" I'm starting to eat dried beans again, it would be nice to have them cook quickly, but in four minutes?

Back in the early nineties when things were really tight financially for my wife and I, dried beans were a staple of our diet. Along with pork shoulders and chicken drumstick/thigh quarters, our diet was limited to what we could afford. Doing food shopping in New York City for $25 a week won't get you much. Dried beans were cheap and filling. Since I didn't know much of what I was doing, I would soak them but would mess up the cooking process. The few times that they didn't taste like pebbles, they didn't have much flavor or taste good. It didn't taste like what you would get out of a can, and after making some more money we moved to store canned beans.

As I now realize the health benefits of making beans from scratch, mainly much less salt than the factory canned, having a faster way to cook dried beans would be great. I read over and over again and realized that all I had to do is after I soaked the beans, add them to the pressure cooker, cover with water, add one tablespoon of vegetable oil (keeps the vent from getting clogged I believe), put the lid on, put the weight over the vent and turn on the heat. When the gauge reaches 15psi time for four minutes, less if you want them firmer, turn off heat, remove and wait for pressure to drop.

I soaked the beans for about six hours. I drained them, added them to the pot covered them with water and a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Sealed the lid, but the cover on top of the vent and turned the heat up to high. I stood watching until the pressure gauge started to rise and then thought that if this thing blows up right now I'll be covered in shrapnel and the gauge would get wedged in my throat. Somewhere around the 10psi mark the vent cover started to rock, and I didn't touch it this time! I placed a pot holder over it to still allow steam out but to keep it from rolling. Not sure if this is proper, or safe, but when the gauge got to 15 I lowered the heat, set the timer for four minutes and adjusted the heat to keep the gauge at 15psi. The time went off, I turned off the heat, moved the pressure cooker off the heat and waited to the steam escape valve to drop.

I looked inside after I opened it, the beans didn't explode. I tasted one. It tasted as soft as if it came out of a can! I was amazed, unlike the cranberry sauce, this was true amazement. The total time from start to finish after I drained the beans from soaking, no more than 25 minutes. I remembered back to the early 90's waiting hours for the beans to be cooked and somehow they would never get there. Now in less than 30 minutes it was done. I then proceeded to make a black bean soup. I looked online for recipes, many different types but none seemed to impress me, even one with a tomato base. So I made one up, see if it works for you.

Black Bean Soup
2 cups prepared black beans (or two to three 14.5 ounce cans)
1/2 pound of smoked sausage
1 onion
1/2 head of garlic
4 cups chicken broth
2 to 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup dry sherry
Cilantro
Salt
Pepper

1. Saute onion, garlic and sausage to just tender, add broth
2. Add beans, remaining ingredients and stir.
3. Using a masher, mash about half to two-thirds of the beans. Leave some whole but mash up enough to thicken.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least thirty minutes, longer if possible.
5. Add seasoning according to taste.

Substituting vegetable broth and omitting the sausage will make it a vegetarian soup. The taste was terrific, savory beans, smoked sausage, there were lots of umami going on in my mouth. The soup didn't last long, but I will be making it again, as well as many other bean dishes this winter. I recommend getting a pressure caner, it's a two for one deal. You can can foods and you can cook in so much less time and it still tastes great, unlike the microwave where it cooks fast and tastes like death. In fact only use your microwave for defrosting and maybe making nachos. Use your pressure cooker to make magic, or at least black beans in four minutes.

Tales From The Harvest Market

The last farmers market of the season in Beaverton is the harvest market. I've been there previously, it's the Saturday just before Thanksgiving. People bring down the last of their fruits and vegetables. It's a good time to get fresh items for your Thanksgiving dinner and to stock up. This year, since I haven't blown up my house yet, I can can (jar) the last items of the season. Over the past two years, when I have gone to the harvest market I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to stock up for the winter, but that changed this year. Maybe I should be careful what I wish for.

My wife and I arrived about 9am, she went to get some coffee or cider or hot chocolate (or a mix of the three I think) and I decided to walk around and see what was there. There was one less aisle than usual, but the market was still full. Being a choosy shopper I looked at the prices and the quality. My first good deal was cauliflower. I bought two large heads from a woman who was taking them off a truck. They were two dollars for large heads and three for monster sized. I got two of the monster sized and then got a hernia carrying them with me.

To add to that weight I got two red cabbages that were 39 cents a pound, cost about five and a half (done the math yet?) dollars. Also grabbed a brussel sprout tree for half the price of what other boots were selling for. By this time I had no room in my bags so when I found my wife we walked back to our car and got some more bags. They were then filled with apples, Italian artichokes, cherry tomatoes and I can't remember if there was anything else. My mind was on the cauliflower and cabbage that I snagged at a great deal. Time to start canning.

But first let me talk about how the other items were served. The brussel sprouts were cut from the stalk, to clean remove any part of the outer leaves that look worn or spotty, just like a cabbage. I then split them in half, top to bottom not across the center, and then steam them for about five to ten minutes. The cabbage should be tender but not mushy. I also sometimes add some chopped garlic to steam as well. Remove the brussel sprouts from the steamer and drop into a hot frying pan with olive oil. Saute for a minute or two and then add balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, lemon juice, Italian seasoning and mix well. Lower heat and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken.

The Italian artichokes, only different from the standard artichoke in that the leaves are more meatier, were boiled for about twenty five minutes. They were eaten plain since they were so fresh and tasty, why smother the flavor? The apples, at least five different types ranging from sweet to super tart, were used in an apple pie. May I add that it was with a cheddar cheese crust. One problem with the pie, since I made it on Thanksgiving and prepared it in a hurry to get it in the oven right after the turkey came out, I forgot to add flour or corn starch with the apples and sugar (half cup white and half cup brown, so much better that way). So the crust was a bit soggy on the bottom and you almost needed a spoon to eat it. The one thing that everyone said was "The pie is good but these apples are the best I have ever tasted!" The tomatoes were eaten pretty much every time we walked by them in the kitchen.

Now to the main focus of the post, using my newly acquired skills as a canning ninja to can the cauliflower and the red cabbage. I weighed them both, there was eleven and a half pounds of cauliflower and fourteen pounds of cabbage. I figure that's enough to last through the winter. I put the cabbages into the garage since I know that they would last the week and that I need to make sure I had enough red currant jelly since that is part of my basting sauce for the turkey. I decided to pickle the cauliflower and make German style red cabbage, I knew I had enough jars since I had been stocking up on them over the past few weeks whenever there was a sale.

My good friends, and pretty much unrelated family, Rene and Wayne brought with them over the summer pickled cauliflower for my wife and I. It was a bit too salty for her, I was amazed. Trying to recapture that wonderful flavor I decided to use the same brine that I had left over from the pickled tomatoes but used cauliflower instead. I also had a bunch of really, really hot peppers one of my co-workers dropped off at work from his garden. I decided to mix them in with some of the cauliflower. It is a hot water canning method that I used, see here for how I did the tomatoes.

Of course since I am learning, I had to make a mistake. Today's lesson, as I hear J. Walter Weathermen in my head, "...and that's why you always fill your jars with hot liquid." I heated my brine, as well as the jars, filled them with cauliflower and sometimes with peppers, lots of garlic (did you think otherwise) and some dill seed and peppercorns. I turned off the heat on the burner for the brine so when I got to the last jar it had cooled to room temperature. I went to check on the jars just before the water was to boil and noticed that one of the jars was floating near the top. This is strange since I had at least three inches of water over the top of the jars. Upon closer review I saw that the jar split on the bottom. I fished it out, removed the broken base and threw them out. I was debating reusing the cauliflower but my wife offered wisdom by stating that who knows if there are any bits of glass in the mix. Good point and now I know that's why you always....(blah, blah, blah)....hot liquid.

The red cabbage I knew would take longer so I waited for the Friday after Thanksgiving. While I was making turkey soup I also made red cabbage. The recipe I use is from a German cookbook that I've had for years, I had to start making it since it's almost impossible to find it out here in Oregon. Back in New York it was everywhere, seriously. I remember once back in the early 90's going into a C-Town (supermarket chain on the east coast) in Harlem on 125th street and buying a jar of red cabbage. It was everywhere back there but nowhere out here. So I have to make it. It is a bit of a time consuming process, but one that is well worth it. I always make a batch for my birthday and usually around Christmas, Easter and whenever I get the craving. So if I make fourteen pounds of red cabbage, it'll save me time through the rest of the year. Right! Right?

First the recipe I used:

Ingredients
Red Cabbage
1/4 lb bacon
1 Tbs sugar
1 Apple chopped (peeled and cored)
1 Onion minced
1 cup beef broth
3/4 cup white vinegar
Salt
8 to 10 oz Red Currant Jelly

1) Remove outer spotted leaves from cabbage, quarter and remove core. Slice cabbage and set aside.
2) Mince bacon and saute slowly until it melts, when it begins to brown add sugar and mix.
3) Add chopped apple and minced onion, mix, cover for 4 to 5 minutes.
4) Add cabbage and stir around to get it coated and add vinegar. Add salt to taste. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until cabbage becomes bright purple.
5) Add beef broth, allow to boil and then reduce to simmer and cook until cabbage is tender, about 90 minutes to 2 hours.
6) Stir in red currant jelly about an hour before serving.

I used my pressure caner since it would be large enough to hold everything. I let it cook all day, transferred it to a smaller pot and some on the side since we were having dinner guests on Saturday. Got up Saturday morning and started to can. I spend most of the previous day looking for an official recipe for canning the red cabbage. Officially there is no approved method of canning plain red cabbage, no problem with me. The only recipes I found were either pickled cabbage or spiced cabbage, which was basically pickled cabbage with allspice. Since I couldn't find instructions I started to use logic. 1) You buy it in the store in a jar, so someone in a factory or nuclear power plant is putting this into a jar and I haven't died yet, not that I am aware of. 2) Seeing that there is a process, using 11psi for twenty five minutes will kill all the bacteria. It could kill the flavor too, but I wouldn't die of botulism. 3) Other people mentioned that they do this too, so I decided to thumb my nose at the USDA and can my cabbage.

Guess what, I made another canning mistake. I followed all the steps like when I used the pressure caner for my diced tomatoes, see here for that post, and all looked well. None of the jars exploded, they looked like they sealed well, I was going to have seven quarts of red cabbage. I then noticed something shortly after the cabbage came out of the caner. It wasn't red or purplish, it was brown. I'm starting to panic and think what has happened to my beautiful cabbage, but since I've never done this before I decided to just wait and see. That night at dinner my friend Peter told me that when you can fruits or vegetables like that you need to add a preserver. He wasn't sure what it was called but that they sell it next to the canning supplies in the supermarket. He said by adding small amount of that it will keep the color. I asked about the flavor and he told me that it will still taste the same just not look the same. A second d'oh is that I didn't season with canning salt but regular table salt. The amount of salt is minimal in the recipe, but since it was going to end up in a can it should have been seasoned with canning salt.

Anyway, it was good practice using the pressure caner and I do have a bunch of food to last all winter and probably next spring as well. One thing I want to add is a preserving e-book I found while looking for a process to can red cabbage. It's called The Beginners Guide to Preserving, click the link to see the pdf. It talks about the history of canning, how to can, how dry, how to freeze, just an over good online guide.

What Rhymes With Orange?

It's that time of the year, time to enjoy pumpkin. Ever since I was a kid the one thing I always enjoyed about this time of the year was pumpkin seeds. My dad and I would go to Keil Brothers, a local nursery in Queens, and grab a pumpkin from their giant patch. We would take it home to make a jack-o-lantern. In the kitchen the top would be cut off and I would help reach in and pull out pumpkin seeds. They were transferred to a sheet pan and roasted in the oven. Then using a spoon, the insides were scrapped clean, a face cut into it, usually something evil with fangs, and then add a candle. It would last a few weeks until my brother and I could poke holes in with pencils and it would be tossed into the trash.

After my wife and I got married, I decided one day for us to go to Keil Brothers to get a pumpkin, just like in my childhood. Found out that they moved from their location on Horace Harding and Springfield Blvd. This of course was after we got off the bus and then had to take another one to the new location, get a pumpkin, carry it back on the bus to our apartment, drag it up to the fifth floor....alright it wasn't that bad, we did have an elevator. But it wasn't easy to get a pumpkin, the supermarkets didn't sell them like they do out here in Oregon, you had to find a nursery or some guy in a back alley. To top it off, and the risk of rehashing a bitter moment in my marriage, the seeds were ruined. I was roasting them in the oven and then asked her to turn the oven off. She turned the knob the wrong way and set it from 250 to broil. About ten minutes later I asked what was burning, ran to the oven to find all of the seeds burned. No pumpkin seeds that year :-(.

But not all years were so bad. Why only a few years later at a Halloween party there was a pumpkin carving contest. Before anyone cut into their pumpkin I announced that I enjoy the seeds, please don't throw them out, I will gladly take them. The host gave me a trash bag and every one filled it with their seeds. I had at least five to ten pounds, took almost a month to finish them. Even though I was able to get as many pumpkins as I would like now, something kept bothering me. It was eating away at the frugal and environmental part of my brain.

You see, after I would open up the pumpkin and pull the seeds out, and seeing that I gave up on the jack-o-lantern years ago, I would throw out the rest of the pumpkin. I felt that this was a waste and that I should be doing something with this pumpkin. I don't like pumpkin pie and I couldn't think of anything else that you would use pumpkin for, so how could I use this pumpkin. I know that it is like a squash and can be eaten like squash. Have I mentioned that I don't like squash very much. To be honest I am learning how to cook it better now, but eating it plain is not on the top of my list of favorite foods. Part of this is due to the fact that my wife and I ate a lot of squash when we first moved in together, like two to three times a week. This was because squash is very cheap and when you don't have any money you eat what you can get as cheap as possible.

One day when I was making pumpkin seeds about ten years ago I decided that I was not going to throw out the pumpkin carcass. Too many people get rid of perfectly good pumpkins or engage in acts of pumpkin destruction. Smashing pumpkins, although one of the best alternative rock banks of the 90's,is a terrible pastime that needs to be stopped. I was now going to become of the few who will save the pumpkins. I will work to use all parts of the pumpkin. I will talk to the pumpkins, well maybe I'm going to far.

So I looked up in my cooking bible, Fanny Farmer, what to do with this pumpkin. I found a recipe for pumpkin bread, it called for a cup of pureed pumpkin. So I looked up how to make pureed pumpkin, made a few breads and came to the standard recipe that I now use all the time and will share with you. My wife also found a great recipe for pumpkin soup, I'll share it as well. Once I was armed on my mission to use pumpkin, I started to try and get as many as I could. I got them at work, the supermarket, the guy in the alley, anywhere there was pumpkin to be found, I was there. Now each year I prepare and pick up a few pumpkins during October and make enough puree to last me the entire year. Here is how you prepare pumpkin to use for cooking.

Step one, get a pumpkin. I recommend legal methods, but the adventure level of obtaining the pumpkin you use is still up to you, that is until the vegetable czar is named. First become one with the pumpkin. If that doesn't work, use a serrated knife to cut the pumpkin across the equator. Split it open and then scoop out the seeds. I recommend using your hands, it works best and gives you a sense of satisfaction, well it does for me.

Take the seeds and place them on a sheet pan, don't wash them off, leave bits of the stringy stuff, sprinkle with salt to your level of saltiness, about a even coat over the seeds. Put them in a 225 to 250 degree oven for about 75 to 90 minutes. Check every 20 to 30 minutes by shaking the pan and getting the seeds moving around. Test by taking a seed and seeing if you can crack it with your teeth and the meat inside comes out and can be eaten, it will be crunchy. They will last about a week to two weeks if you put them in an airtight container. I'm guessing since they only last a few days around me and my wife. Note, some people eat the shells, I would recommend against it. They can upset your stomach, I crack the seeds in my mouth, eat the meat and then spit out the shell.

Now that the seeds are in the oven, the time has come to process the pumpkin. Using a spoon, scrape out the orange stringy stuff until all you see is the white inside the pumpkin. The stringy stuff can be added to your compost bin, or in my case, compost crime scene. Cut the pumpkin up into wedge sized pieces and then drop into a pot, I used my pressure caner since it can hold two medium sized pumpkins cut up. The preferred method is to steam the pumpkin but you can boil it. I added about five to six cups of water, put the lid on and set the stove on high. After about twenty minutes I was able to poke though the pieces with a knife. You want the pumpkin to cook and get soft but not mushy. Carefully remove pieces and using a sharp knife slide under the skin and remove. The skin as well can go into the compost pile.



After all the pumpkin was peeled I added it back to the pot and using a hand blender pureed the pumpkin. When it was all smooth, I let it cool for about thirty minutes to an hour and then transferred it to Tupperware bowls as shown in the photo or when I did my second batch into gallon sized freezer bags. I set aside four cups at a time, this is what I use mainly to make pumpkin breads in batches of four. I'll put it in the freezer and pull it out later in the year when I want to cook with it. Here are two recipes that you may have not though of using pumpkin for. Escape from only using pumpkin for pumpkin pie, try these as well.

Pumpkin Bread
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Sugar
2 Eggs beaten
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 cup Water
1 cup pureed Pumpkin
1 Tbl Pumpkin Pie Spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice)
1/2 cup dried Cranberries

1. Reserve a small amount of flour to sprinkle on the cranberries, take remaining and sift. Add the other dry ingredients, stir and set aside.
2. In a different bowl combine the eggs, oil, water, pumpkin and spices. Stir until well mixed and then add to the dry mixture. Add the cranberries and stir until the entire batter is moistened.
3. Pour into a greased bread pan and cook at 350 degrees for 55 minutes, turn half way through to ensure even baking. Bread will be done when a knife is poked in and comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy. Bread can be frozen, recommend covering it with aluminum foil first to avoid freezer burn.

Pumpkin Soup
2 cups pureed Pumpkin
4 cups Broth
14.5 oz can Chopped Tomatoes
1 lb Ham Steak
14.5 oz can Black Beans
1 onion
Garlic
2 tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt
Pepper

1. Cut the onion and garlic (I'll usually use five to six cloves, you may want to adjust according to your taste) and saute in a soup pot in olive oil. Add the turmeric powder, salt and pepper. Cook until just tender.
2. Dice the ham steak and add to the pot, saute for two to three minutes.
3. Add the broth, pumpkin, beans and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then simmer for thirty minutes.

Chicken broth is most commonly used but if you want to make a vegetarian option then use vegetable broth and don't add the ham.

I must add in closing that I saved three of the seeds from one of the pumpkins. I plan on trying to grow my own plant next year. I've heard that a medium plant will give about three to four pumpkins, just enough for me to use for the year. I think I have enough space, I hear that they can grow ten to fifteen feet long, so I don't want them to take over my garden. If anything messes with my eggplant...........

Ok, you did hear an explosion, but it wasn't my pressure canner.

My previous post about canning I talked about my fears and all of the urban legends about canning disasters. Add to that I broke one of the locking handles on the top of the caner, I was ready for my kitchen to explode. I was taking time to show people which direction to look at over the weekend when they hear the explosion and they could watch my pressure caner shoot up to the stratosphere. I was convinced that I would blow up my kitchen trying to can some tomatoes.

After taking a class on how to can, doing a hot water bath for some pickled tomatoes, I was anxious and ready to use the pressure caner. But of course like a mental patient I ended up breaking it. Well just the locking handle, but it's not safe if the equipment is not fully 100% workable. I removed the lid while the water was boiling on the pickled tomatoes, realized that it was very, very hot and it dropped on my kitchen floor. I should consider myself lucky, it could have been worse. The pressure gauge could have broke, the floor could have broke, my foot, so all in all I should be appreciative of it not being worse. But I was still upset.

After I calmed down and allowed the aloe to soothe the burn, I went online and found that Presto, the maker of my pressure caner, has all of these parts on their website. I was satisfied but didn't order the part right then. A week later I realized, when trying to use my birthday gift certificate to Amazon, (thank you to Claire, Andrew, Anni and William) I found out that I couldn't order this part from Amazon. So I went back to the Presto website, ordered one for five dollars, two dollars for shipping and was told to wait ten to fourteen days. About a week later it showed up, I replaced it and was ready to start pressuring.

I was getting worried that my tomatoes were not going to make it. When I picked everything I separated the green from the red and somewhat red. Over the next few weeks the somewhat red turned red and the red turned very red. I knew I had to act soon. I could have easily did a hot water bath but it takes about 85 minutes, compared to the pressure method which takes 25 minutes. Not hard to see which one is better, and obviously uses less energy. I read my canning book, a government pamphlet handed out at the Forest Grove canning class and the instruction book from Presto, all said that I must can at 11 pounds of pressure. I took this a sign that I should use this level of pressure.

I still had 10 pint sized jars left over from my pickling canning, I ran them through the dishwasher with all of the utensils I would use. I started to boil water, frantically re-read over and over again the instructions and got all my ingredients together. After putting my lids in hot water and putting the jars in hot water, I started to cut up my tomatoes. I cut them into medium sized pieces, not minced but not halved or quartered. I put them into a large bowl and when I took each jar out of the hot water I put in a teaspoon of bottled lemon juice and then filled the jar with tomatoes. I didn't add salt since my wife and I have high blood pressure and we need to watch our sodium. We buy the no salt added diced tomatoes at the store, stock up when they are on sale, but this will be cheaper and healthier in the long run. And of course I reduce my carbon footprint, blah, blah, blah.

Jars filled to just under the neck, lids carefully placed on the top, band tighten slightly, added back to the pressure caner with the hot water. Put the lid on and started to boil, watched for the steam to start escaping. When it did I set a timer for ten minutes, then put the weight on and waited for the pressure to rise. I am skipping a few steps, all of the details are in the instruction manual, sorry to edit the blog for content, I just don't remember at this moment.

It seemed like forever but the pressure gauge started to climb. I will be honest and mention what I moron I can be, but like a dummy I touched the weight while the pressure was climbing. Instead of the steam only seeping out slightly, it was a runaway train rolling around. I was afraid to take it off and put it on again, I thought that I may end up breaking my jars. Seeing that this was the last of my tomatoes, I would not allow that to happen. So I gently placed a pot holder over the weigh, it help calm it down and the pressure started to rise.

At 11psi I started the timer, but now I needed to lower the heat since I have to keep it at that level for 25 minutes. Yes, I stood there watching it the entire time. A proud father to my tomatoes, curiosity of what will happen and a fear that it will explode kept me in front of my stove. I also realized that by messing with the weight I had to make sure enough steam was escaping but not too much. After 25 minutes at 11psi I turned off the heat and then waited for the thing that pops up to go down, real proud how technical I am. I was told that if I remove the weight before the pop up gauge goes down, which is a sign that the pressure has reduced, the jars will explode. It seem to take a while but it went down, I took off the weight, opened the lid and saw my jars below.

And then I realized that these would not be going to the county fair. To save them the embarrassment I didn't take a photo. The top of the jar had the tomatoes, looking almost crushed, and on the bottom a reddish colored water. I had separation because I didn't pack the jars well enough and probably from my messing with the weight, d'oh! But after a few hours it seemed to settle to the bottom leaving a gap at the top. This actually turns out for the best. The caned tomatoes, tin can that is, are 14.5 ounces. Most recipes list this as the amount of diced tomatoes to add. Seeing that I had about a half of inch space, it should be around 14 to 15 ounces in my pint sized container. This means I have extra tomatoes, which I will use first, to cook with.

In fact I cooked with one of them the other day, I added them to jambalaya that I made. Talk about a good seal, I had to use a can opener and pry the top off. Heard the loud pop, looked in the jar to see if anything moved, smelled to see if it went bad and took a taste. Literally tasted like it did the day I canned it, horrible! No I'm kidding, it tasted fresh. And with no added salt from the tomatoes I probably only had the 37000mg of salt that was in the prepared rice mix to deal with.

I also took advantage of the heat and hot water and while the tomatoes were cooling, made up another brine and pickled my neighbor's tomatoes. He grew one plant using that topsy turvey tomato grower, but started late so they were still green in October. A few were turning red but almost everything was all solid green. I offered to pickle them for him but keeping one jar as payment. He agreed and I picked them and made a milder brine than the white vinegar one I used for my last batch. I used apple cider vinegar, more water and very little garlic. Put them into pint size jars and hot water caned them for ten minutes. I ended up getting five jars out of the batch. So all in all I ended up with twelve more jars, minus four for my neighbor, of canned delights. I have overcome the fear, now I just need to figure out what I'm doing.

Why is it called canning, shouldn't it be called jarring?

This has been something that has been bothering me for a long time. When I think of canning I think of a metal can, something that tuna fish or green beans come in. Canning involves using glass jars, so I'm confused why isn't it called jarring? This is why I don't sleep well at night.

I wanted to do canning for awhile for a number of reasons: 1. It saves money; 2. It's a good way to have your fresh fruit and vegetables months later; 3. It saves money; 4. I can help reduce my carbon footprint; 5. It saves money; 6. There is no reason six; and 7. It saves money. Sorry, I have been watching a lot of Monty Python lately. I never canned before in my life, it was never done in my house growing up. My parents are from the generation that embraced modern technology like the refrigerator and supermarkets. As a child I believed that food came only from the supermarket. You went each week and bought what you needed and that was that. My dad did some gardening in the backyard of fruits and vegetables, but we ate what grew and used it up by the end of the summer. Not much was grown, just enough to add to what was bought at the store.

I too want to garden, but I believe my goal differs from my dad and other people. I want to grow my own food because I don't want to be dependent on the supermarket. Yes it's good for the ground to grow things, yes it's healthier to eat food you grow yourself, yes it does reduce your carbon footprint and yes, most of all, it does save money. A small package of seeds for a dollar or two will grow twenty dollars or more of produce. But the main reason is that I want to be in control of my food source. Not that I don't trust Safeway or Win Co, I support them as free market entities that do a great job in selling food. I want to be independent, or as close as possible, of obtaining my food. This is why I started to can.

You hear horror stories, like ones about Art Linkletter's daughter, about the dangers of canning. Botulism, exploding equipment, poising and other urban legends are commonly heard. Yes canning can be dangerous, but there are structured and organized steps. As long as you follow the procedures, have the right equipment and take your time, it's not that hard. By the way Art Linkletter's daughter did not die in a canning disaster.

Since I am afraid to do something the first time, but I become comfortable very quickly and an expert in no time. I watched a friend of mine from my peak oil group back in May about how to hot water bath can. She made apple butter and pickled asparagus. I realized that it's not that difficult and I had most of the equipment I needed. Thankfully Bi-Mart had a sale over the summer on pressure caners, a nice 23 quart model, a Ball canning book, a seven piece kit that had tongs, digital timer, side scrapper with a magnetic tip to pick up the lids and other neat stuff, and I also bought a case of quart sized and pint sized jars. I bought it and then let it sit around gathering dust. I still had to get enough nerve to actually start canning.

My tomatoes were growing but not many were turning red. This is good since I do enjoy pickled tomatoes more than regular tomatoes. But I wanted to use the pressure caner since it cuts so much time off the canning process. For example canning tomatoes with a hot water bath takes about 85 minutes. Using the pressure caner it takes 25. To the rescue came the City of Forest Grove, not actually the city, but an announcement inside my month water/power bill. A class on canning tomatoes was going to be held on a Saturday afternoon in town. I signed up and was ready to go and learn about canning.

I watched tomato sauce, vegetable juice and halved tomatoes get canned. The first two were with a hot water bath, which I have seen already, the halved tomatoes was with the pressure caner. Making detailed notes and helping along, I watched and saw how easy it was. I was ready to use my pressure caner as soon as my tomatoes were ready.

By the beginning of October I realized that most of my tomatoes were not going to turn red and that I would be making a lot of pickled tomatoes. I needed to find a brine. One that was bitter and salty. I miss having garlic sour pickled tomatoes. I acquired a taste for them many years back in New York City when I did a lot of deli work to pay my tuition. I looked for recipes on the internet but almost all of them added sugar or used milder vinegar. I finally found one for kosher dill pickled tomatoes which looked good to me. I got the ingredients, repeatedly read all of my canning books over and over and over again and got ready to use my pressure caner.

I did notice one thing in one of the books I was looking at, you cannot pressure can pickles. Something about it ruining the taste or flavor or something. So even though I was all ready to use the pressure caner, I used it for hot water canning. I first made up the brine, adding more garlic than it called for. I prepared my tomatoes, I cut out any parts that looked bad, I started to boil water. I ran all of the jars and bands in my dishwasher to sterilize them and then when the water boiled put the lids in a bowl with boiling water. This helps them heat up. I also placed the jars in the boiling water for about ten minutes, again you can't can in a cold jar, it could explode.

I removed one jar at a time from the hot water bath and added some dill seed, peppercorns, tomatoes and then ladled in the brine with garlic which I heated up. Carefully I placed a lid on top, finger tightened the band and when enough jars were filled, I put them back into the water, turned up the heat and waited for it to boil. I put the lid on and was concerned when I heard the jars rumbling, my worst urban legend was coming true, it was going to explode! I quickly took the lid off, noticed that all was well and like a mental patent, proceeded to drop the lid on the floor. The side locking handle shattered, the rubber ring fell out, my hand was hurting. I was able to get the lid back on, timed it and then pulled them out.

The next day I made more brine and instead of adding the garlic to the brine I just added it to the jar instead. When all was finished I had over a dozen quarts of pickled tomatoes. After testing them and making sure the lids were sealed I wrote what they were and the date on the top and then put them away in a cabinet inside my laundry room. I have to wait four to six weeks and it's only been two weeks so far. But I should have enough to last me through next year. Right, who am I kidding!

The Last Farmers Market or what am I going to do for the next seven months.

I know I haven't posted for some time and I have been to the farmers market almost every week this summer. My wife and I even one Saturday went over to the Beaverton farmers market, a big mistake. It's like taking Ma and Pa Kettle and putting them in the middle of Times Square and telling them to get to Soho. That's what we felt like, it was a sensory overload. I like the Forest Grove market, it grew on me this year and it seemed to grow as well. So much for my attempt at a play on words, but when you are used to a small market and go to a large market it throws you off, or me at least.

The real reason for this post is to talk about eggplant. Yes glorious eggplant, that fleshy fruit/vegetable/night shade that most people out here I talk to have no idea what it is or how to cook it. I will share some of my favorite recipes with you, feel free to use, adapt or let me know if you have your own. I didn't grow any this year so I had to depend on what I could find at the market. I was not disappointed.

There are various types of eggplant, I will focus on the common purple as you see here in the blog. Obviously look for one that is smooth and purple, when it turns brown it will taste bitter. I keep the skin one when I cook it since I believe it adds more flavor and possibly vitamins. Don't believe the myth of salting eggplant, it doesn't remove any bitter taste but it will make it salty. Avoiding bitter eggplant is accomplished by carefully looking over the eggplant and knowing from whom you are buying it from. The recipes I will list range from easy, moderate and challenging. All are worth it.

Easy
Eggplant Caviar
1 Eggplant
1 to 2 cloves of Garlic
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Split the eggplant from top to bottom, not across the middle. Rub with olive oil and put on a sheet pan and place in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Test by poking a knife into it, it should go in with no resistance. Remove from the oven and cool down, cut off top green part (be careful of the thorns, trust me). Cut into crude chunks and put inside a blender or food processor. Add garlic and drizzle in olive oil into the mixture becomes blended. Add a drop of lemon juice and salt and pepper for flavor. Serve as a dip or spread on bread for a great sandwich.

Moderate
Eggplant Salad
1 Eggplant
1 to 2 cloves of Garlic
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Lemon Juice
Dried Italian Seasonings
6 oz can of Tomato Paste

Split the eggplant from top to bottom, not across the middle. Rub with olive oil and put on a sheet pan and place in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Test by poking a knife into it, it should go in with no resistance. Remove from the oven and cool down, cut off top green part (be careful of the thorns, trust me, sound familiar?) Cut into small square chunks and place into a bowl. Mince the garlic and add to eggplant. Add the can of tomato paste, sprinkle in the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and Italian seasonings (basil, oregano, parsley, etc). Stir and chill for one hour, serve as a dip or as a side dish. It even makes a good sandwich, messy but good.

Challenging
Eggplant Parmesan
2 Eggplants
1 Onion
1 Bell Pepper
4 to 5 cloves of Garlic
6 to 8 Mushrooms
Olive Oil
28 oz can of Tomato Sauce
Breadcrumbs
1 lb Mozzarella Cheese
Italian Seasonings
2 Eggs
Mustard

(I make my own sauce because it tastes better. If you plan on using a jar skip this portion.) Saute the onion, pepper, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil until tender, add tomato sauce, Italian seasonings and simmer. (OK, start paying attention again) Slice the eggplant into even rings, about a 1/4 of an inch, not too thick but not too thin that they will fall apart. Mix the eggs with mustard and a bit of water. Take the eggplant rings and dip into the egg mixture and then coat with the breadcrumbs, place aside to allow the coating to stick. Heat up a frying pan and saute until golden brown. Shred the mozzarella cheese. Layer in a large pan or Pyrex dish sauce on the bottom, eggplant, sauce, cheese, eggplant, sauce, cheese, and so on until all of the eggplant is layered. Save a fair amount of the cheese for the top for presentation purposes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

I started to buy my eggs at the farmers market as well. I found out that the eggs that you get from free range chickens have less cholesterol, something that I need to keep in check. Granted they do cost $4 a dozen, but you get them the day they were laid which means they are very fresh, will last longer, and really do taste better. I'm getting my eggs from the L-Bar-T bison ranch, they sell them at their ranch on Highway 47.

Found a good recipe for zucchini, besides substituting it for eggplant in my eggplant parmigiana recipe, a zucchini cheese bread using this recipe, but making a few changes. First I added mustard to my eggs for more flavor, added granulated garlic and found that it works best in two bread pans. Try changing around the cheeses as well. My wife said it tasted good, but still won't eat it. She claims she just doesn't like zucchini. I'll grow it if I can find a good way to cook it. Seems like having a savory bread might just work.

It was a good year at the farmers market and hopefully next year I won't be buying as much since I plan on growing it myself. I will have additional posts updating how my garden went and the fall crops I have planted. So with what I have canned and what I'll get this fall, I'm going to have to wait until next year, but it does give me something to look forward to.

How Far Does Your Salad Travel To Get To Your Table?

There is a common expression used in Peak Oil circles, as well as sustainability circles, how far does your food travel? The carbon footprint for many food items is insane. A salad can travel thousands of miles before it reaches the supermarket. This is why I started to grow my own food. I can do my part to reduce my carbon footprint, and most of all I save money. Growing lettuce is a lot cheaper than buying it at the store. It's about as easy to grow as it is to buy at the store. Drop the seeds in the ground and then pick off leaves as it grows.

The photo is a proud accomplishment of the first lettuce picked from the garden last month. Tasted very fresh, very letuccy, a new word I just made up. It really did taste more like lettuce than what I would buy at the store. So right now my salad travels about twenty five feet to reach my kitchen, another five to ten feet to get the to the table. I haven't measured, just approximating, but I would be confident to go in front of any lettuce court in the county. The prosecutor would challenge me and it would go like this:

Lettuce Prosecutor: Mr. Mayer, how far does your salad travel to get to your table.
Me: I am proud to say that it is less than fifty feet. I may add that I picked it myself.
Lettuce Prosecutor: Mr. Mayer will you please keep your answers to the questions asked.
Me: I was just pointing out that I grew the lettuce myself and that I don't live next door to the supermarket.
Lettuce Prosecutor: Mr. Mayer that is obvious unless you lived in the supermarket.
Me: I wouldn't say that was obvious........
Lettuce Prosecutor: Uh, Mr. Mayer, do you add anything to your salad?
Me: Do you mean other vegetables?
Lettuce Prosecutor: Yes. Any tomatoes, mushrooms, other vegetables of that kind?
Me: No, I just have a plain salad. My tomatoes haven't grown in yet.
Lettuce Prosecutor: Do you add salad dressing to your salad?
Me: I would like to plead the fifth amendment and refuse to answer any more questions.

OK, so I do put salad dressing on that has probably traveled a bit to get to the supermarket. My salad is not 100% local just over 90%. But the great thing about growing lettuce in the northwest is that it can grow most of the year, hearing that from what I've been told. It is my first year growing lettuce, but as long as it keeps coming up I'll keep tearing off the outer leaves and eat them. I need to add different varieties of lettuce, I'll probably do that around early September when the temperature starts going down. I'll add them the same time I plant some beets. My goal is to have enough lettuce to have a salad for Thanksgiving.

I'll proudly pick and eat my lettuce and think of how much I can save in one year. Might be enough to bail out my blue cheese dressing. Boy that Lettuce Prosecutor is one mean dude.

Kim chi!

There are few things in the world that get my mouth watering than Kim chi. I make large batches of it myself, as seen by this photo of my most recent batch which is sitting in the refrigerator. I made 10 lbs, which was two cabbages, and this should last about four to six months. How did a white boy originally from Queens and now living in Oregon come to making his own Kim chi? A tale I will tell and follow up with my own personal recipe.

Back in 1994 my wife and I were living in downtown Flushing. At the time there was a growing Korean population as well as a good number of restaurants opening up. One night we went to one near the Queens Botanical Garden, can't remember their name, but it was a fancy restaurant. They had metal chopsticks! Try and pick up rice with those, it takes some practice. I ordered something that I had never ate before, Yukhui, which is a raw meat dish served with a raw egg. Before you get sick I'm telling you it is really good.

When the dinner was served the waiter placed out a bunch of small bowls with various foods in them. I found out years later this is known as banchan which is standard in Korean cooking. Looking at the bowls I saw items like seaweed salad and other interesting items and one bowl that had a green and white thing in it covered in red sauce. I asked what is that, I was told that it is Kim chi. I asked what is Kim chi and was told that it is a spicy pickled cabbage and that I should try it. I did and I fell in love.

Kim chi is a staple in the Korean diet, like the way potatoes are in our diet. I started to go to different Korean restaurants in my neighborhood, the metal chopstick place was expensive after all, and saw that it was everywhere. One night after work I stopped into a Korean supermarket on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing and bought a five pound jar of Kim chi for ten dollars. I started to eat it on a regular basis. I finished that jar and proudly turned it into a flour jar to reuse it, yes I've been an environmental geek that long, sadly even longer. I did buy another jar that was only five dollars thinking that I got a great discount only to realize that when I got it home that it was very old and was way too fermented to eat plain. I now know what to do with Kim chi like that, more on that later.

Shortly after I moved to Oregon and would pick up Kim chi when I could, usually at Uwajimaya over in Beaverton or at the supermarket. A 16 oz jar would cost almost five dollars, I thought there has to be a better way. And when I say better way I mean cheaper. I feel comfort with cookbooks, so I went out and bought one. This one to be exact. I started to read it and learn as much as I could since I am scared to try something the first time but can't wait to try something the second time.

The book explained about the red pepper used in Korean cooking, it is similar to the Mexican Cayenne pepper. They were planted by Portuguese missionaries in the early 1600's all over Korea and it ended up replacing the Schezuan pepper. Kim chi has been around for a long time, thousands of years it's estimated. Cabbage is the most common type but it can be made with a number of other vegetables. One for example is to use Korean radish which is very similar to daikon radish.

I found a recipe for Kim chi radish which is very simple. You cube up radish, julienne a head of garlic, ginger, green onions, fish sauce or salted shrimp, sugar and lots of red pepper. Put it in a jar, keep it out for 24 hours, then refrigerate and eat. It was easier than I though it could be. The radish shrank in the jar and after awhile I started to notice that the sauce got thicker. I am starting to realize that it might be the sugar that is creating the thickening. I was now ready to make a try with cabbage. I'll post the recipe first and how I learned to make Kim chi.

Kim chi (my version)
Napa Cabbage 2 to 3 lbs
Korean Radish (can use daikon) 1 lb
Bunch of Green Onions (usually 5 to 6)
7 to 8 Garlic Cloves
1" Finger of Ginger
Carrot
1 Tbs Salted Shrimp Fry (can use Fish Sauce)
1 to 2 cups Red Pepper (powder and flakes)
Kosher Salt
Hot Water

First split the cabbage in half from the top to the base. Put about a table spoon of kosher salt on each half, get it between each layer of leaves. Place the cabbage face down and allow it to drain for at least 3 hours. Wipe off the salt and squeeze out as much water as you can. Cut a few round cuts off the radish, enough to put two to three in the bottom of each jar. Take the remainder of the radish and julienne into small strips. Do this with the garlic, ginger and carrot. Cut the bottoms of the green onions, the white portion, thinly and the green tops about a half inch to one inch long. Combine into a bowl and add salted shrimp fry, the red pepper and enough hot water to make it into a paste. Take mixture and put some between each layer of cabbage, it may be easier to cut it smaller first. Place into mason jars, close them and let sit unrefrigerated for 24 hours, then refrigerate for at least one week. The jars don't need to be sealed like you would in canning, just cleaned out first. You are trying to get the cabbage to ferment so it doesn't have to be sealed too tightly.

I didn't list sugar since I don't eat much of it and I'm not sure if it is the "secret" ingredient that I'm missing. My Kim chi doesn't get very thick but I have time to learn. Years ago I was installing a T1 for a local company in Beaverton that produces Kim chi. I told the women working there that I make it myself, she was amazed. She was really shocked to find out that I make radish as well. She told me that she has never met a white guy who made his own Kim chi. I asked about how to make the sauce thick, she told me that the owner, whose recipe they were using, spent many years learning how to do that. Nothing more, no secret spilled.

The first time I was excited and painfully waited for a week. It tasted great, even if it didn't taste like what you got in a restaurant or at the store, I made it myself. At some point later I was diagnosed with high cholesterol meaning I would need to change my diet. Since Kim chi doesn't have any cholesterol and I needed to find breakfasts that had little to no cholesterol, I figured out how to make Kim chi pancakes. Buying a ready made pancake mix for scallion pancakes, and after doing the stupid metric conversion I was able to make a nice hearty breakfast, served with low sodium soy sauce and white vinegar.

I started to realize that after a few months that the Kim chi keeps fermenting. Facing the problem I had when living in New York, I read up on what to do. It turns out that when Kim chi gets to that point it's used in soups, stews and cooked with pork. The acids help break down the pork and make it much more favorable and tender. So every few weeks I make a pot of Kim chi tofu stew with fish balls and what ever else is laying around and toss in some Udon noodles.

The main reason for this post, besides putting up another of my favorite recipes, is to show that being sustainable in my view is to be in control of your food source. And it's very economical. The photo taken above cost me about 12 dollars to make. If I bought that in a store it would cost at least 75 dollars or more. Ultimately I want to be able to grow as many as the ingredients as possible. By the time for the next batch I should be able to use my own garlic. If I start growing cabbage, radishes, green onions, carrots, ginger well not sure if I can grow ginger, but to make a home made batch from home made ingredients! That is one way to reduce my carbon footprint. One tasty pepper covered leaf at a time.

So I get to dry my clothes and save money!

I just want to start off saying that I think the dryer is one of the greatest inventions of the last century. And if my dryer reads this post, I just want to say that I love you and that there will always be a place for you in my home. That is until you break down and I get the most energy efficient model that I can afford. But still, I won't give up my dryer completely anytime soon.

I have heard horror stories from people who live in HOA's about not being able to put up a laundry line. One of the reasons I chose the house I live in is that if I want I can put up a laundry line in my backyard. In fact there was a device that had a line to use for laundry but the locking mechanism was broken. If you pulled the line out it would sag when you put any weight on it, not a very useful way to dry your clothes.

So I decided on running the line in a different direction and attach to a hook on the side of the sun room. This was a good plan except that it didn't make the line taught enough. Using a hook to hang plants on pounded into the ground worked, that is until I put on more than two pieces of laundry. Then gravity (stupid gravity) took over, the hook tipped but I caught the line just in time. Then a solution presented itself.

Yes, I ran the line across the roof. Not actually the roof, but the covering over the south garage door. I then stretched the line as far as I could and found a nail on the sun room that it reached to. The line was now tight enough to hang laundry and to keep it from hitting the ground. I proudly put some on my laundry just wet from the washing machine with the wooden clothes pins I got at BiMart and went inside.

It takes time to dry clothing on a laundry line, but it doesn't use any electricity. It works better when the sun is out, but even though it was cloudy and late in the day, I was glad that I could get the laundry out and not have to run a dryer load. When I checked the laundry before I went to bed it was still a little damp, I knew it would by dry by the morning.

I woke up that Saturday morning and looked over at the clock and saw that it was 5am. I laid there and listened to the rain falling outside. RAIN! I got up and ran out to the backyard and quickly pulled the laundry off the line, it wasn't too wet but got a good soaking. I waited until it stopped a few hours later, put the laundry back on the line and let it dry, again.

As the days are sunnier during the summer I will put laundry out on the line. Why not, it saves money and it keeps the laundry room from getting too hot. Also the dryer does make a lot of noise (again sorry to my drier if it's reading this) which I can do without. Some items, according to my wife, still need to be dried in the dryer. I have done two loads of laundry in my life, last year while my wife was in the hospital, so I am no expert when it comes to laundry, I'm guessing that she must be right. She tells me that she is always right. But even if I can reduce at least one dryer load then I'm saving energy and most of all saving money. If the dryer is not running then I'm not paying the power company. The dryer will still be used in the winter, it will help keep the house warmer when it's on and I don't want to have to run out at 5am again to pull clothing out of the rain.

Tearing Up My Lawn Part 2

As from my first post a while back, I decided to tear up my backyard to start growing food. The first three strips were dug out in early spring and I planted garlic in one row, lettuce and fennel in the next row and onions in the third. I wanted to add two more rows for tomatoes. I bought some seeds and only got one plant out of that batch. I bought additional seeds and got twelve more, each one I prepared ended up growing. I was already to get them into the ground over Memorial Day weekend, but was sidetracked by having a heart attack.

While I was recovering I desperately wanted to dig up the yard and get those tomatoes into the ground, but didn't have the strength. To the rescue came family and friends, not the government. Maybe it's because we don't have a gardening czar, yet. My mother-in-law and close friends Heidi and Keven came out the next Sunday and helped dig up the next two strips. The ground wasn't as soft as it was a few months earlier when it was raining all the time, but Kevin and I were able to get the grass up.

My dad gave me advice that I remember doing when I was a kid, plant milk jugs into the ground with holes punched in the bottom. Fill them with water and it will drain into the soil helping keep the tomato roots well watered. I started saving my 1% half gallon jugs in February in the garage, I cleaned them out first of course. It was a struggle explaining to everyone why the milk jugs would be buried in the ground, but everyone agreed and pitched in.

As soon as the grass was removed and the milk jugs buried, bagged soil was added to the ground to mix in with the current soil that was broken up slightly with the new ground weasel spiky evil sharp thing to tear up earth. This was raked in and then I planted the tomatoes in between each milk jug. A baker's dozen which I'm hoping this will give me a bunch of tomatoes. Red and greens, especially the greens since I haven't had a pickled tomato in years. The tomatoes will be canned as sauce, chopped and whole to use during the fall and winter. My goal is to not have to buy canned tomatoes ever again, so I'll need to calculate over the next few years how much this will take.

So the garden is getting there, I actually had some lettuce the other day. I found a few garlic plants already growing when I cleared out some weeds near a rose bush. At first I wasn't sure but after pulling it out found some cloves on them, I cooked them in the chili I made (recipe listed in Farmer's Market part 4). The fennel is starting to grow strong, a few onions are starting to shoot up and the jalapeno I dropped in is still growing, I'll see if it gives me any peppers. As the vegetables grow I'll keep updates.

Forest Grove Farmer's Market Part 4

Another trip to the farmers market yesterday and there were a lot more booths there as well. Before I go into what my wife and I got there, I want to update from the last post of what I cooked. If you remember I got sugar snap peas, some of them were snacked on but the remainder were used in a stir fry with rice noodles. The potatoes were uses just as I stated, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted in the oven until tender. The onions I used in a batch of homemade chili, the recipe of the week.

Everybody has their own chili recipe, if you don't, start with this one and build from there. I focus more on the flavor and not so much on the spice. Granted I eat incredibly spicy food, to the point of inhuman levels but I can always spice it up after it's made and that my wife doesn't eat spicy food. She is getting better now, when we first met she found oatmeal spicy (just kidding, please don't kill me dear if you read this) but now she can handle small amounts of spice. Ether way its good to know how to make chili, its a good dish to serve to a bunch of people or cook up a large batch and freeze for yourself.

Home Style Chili
1 to 2 medium onions
8 or more cloves of garlic
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 lb chopped meat
28 oz can whole tomatoes
14 oz can beans
chili powder
Italian seasonings
season salt
lemon pepper
Balsamic vinegar

First fry the chopped meat and drain most of the fat. Cut up onions, garlic and peppers to saute in the pot that you browned the chopped meat in. Cook for a few minutes to get the mixture tender. Add the can of tomatoes, juice and all, and chop up with a knife or your hands until it resembles small pieces. Add the meat back and the spices, use as much as you want according to taste, a few shots of vinegar is always nice. Then the controversial issue of adding the beans, I'd add them now but my dad used to add them in the last hour of cooking. I usually use kidneys or black beans but this time there was a special mixture for Southwestern style with red beans, some other beans, corn and Southwest spices which usually means extra salt and sugar. It tasted good and I think it helped this batch. Pinto beans, chili beans, pretty much any type of bean will work. Cook at a low temperature for two to three hours stirring occasionally, like every thirty minutes. I served it with rice or just eat it plain. If you can, cook a day in advance, it is so much better if you let it sit in the refrigerator overnight then reheat it. Chili is one of those few foods that taste better the next day, like cold pizza.

Now for this week, first grabbed two cucumbers from where I got some a few weeks ago. They were really good and they seem to be the only booth selling cucumbers. When I went to buy them the guy selling them asked if I would take the last one in the bin and all three for two dollars. I agreed and I now have three cucumbers. My wife then got a small container of white and red raspberries. The guy selling said he didn't have any more change and for the additional fifty cents offered another cucumber from a different bin, so now I have four cucumbers.

That night with dinner I got lettuce from my garden, the first batch pulled out of which I am so proud, and added one of the cucumbers. This was a terrific cucumber, one of the best I have tasted in years. Usually the ones you get at the supermarket taste like water, this one tasted great. One down, three to go.

As my wife and I continued to walk through the market I was stopped by someone from Oregon Environmental, or something like that, they are the new name of OSPRIG. He started to talk to me about cap and trade of which I then explained to him why it doesn't work and the only way to solve pollution problems is through the free market. After about five minutes talking to him he realized and said that you have to use capitalism to trick businesses into doing what's right for the environment. I'll accept that as a minor victory.

While I was talking my wife was busy getting other stuff. When I ran back into her she had already got a gluten free chocolate cookie, some baking mix from the same gluten free vendor, a pint of strawberries, and some more small red potatoes. We then went to the booth where I got the sugar snap peas from last week and before we left a big bag of garlic Parmesan popcorn of which we will take down this weekend when we go visit our friends. We both realize that we would finish it by Friday but since there would be enough salt to kill us, it's better to have other people to share it with. Not that I am trying to kill people with salt, at this moment in time, but popcorn is much more fun when it's shared with friends. And of course less kernels stuck in your throat. I'll update what I cooked after the next visit, may use the fruit in a pie if I have the time and energy.