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.