Farm Share Friday

Farm Share Friday, I just made that up right this second. NaBloPoMo makes me crazy like that. Oh sure, you'd probably like to see some "Friday Finishes." I'd oblige if I ever finished anything. Let's face it, that's not going to happen anytime soon, so for this month, I'll share some crazy thing from the farm share and what we did with it.

First up, kossak kohlrabi.Most people haven't even heard of regular kohlrabi, which is a brassica that my old CSA once described as looking like Sputnik (if that even has any meaning for anyone). It's a bulb that grows above ground and has leaves that shoot upward off long stems. Kossak kohlrabi is like kohlrabi on steroids.

Do you know how hard it is to photograph yourself
with a four pound kohlrabi in one hand?

Seriously, right? Kossak kohlrabi grows up to 8" in diameter and this particular one weighed four pounds. That's a lot of kohlrabi, right?

My go to kohlrabi recipe includes grating the kohlrabi, sauteing it in butter, stirring in an excessive amount of parmesan, (The original recipe called for 1/4 c but I didn't have my glasses on the first time I made it and went with 3/4 c, it was delish!) This dish highlights the nutty aspects of this crazy vegetable.

But we weren't going to be able to eat four pounds of that! So I googled and found this Iraqi lamb recipe. I substituted ground beef for the lamb cubes because that's what we had, and skipped the dried lime, because while I might like to try it in the future I didn't have any hiding in the cupboard. The dude loved it. And he's not that crazy about kohlrabi usually. Good thing because we still have the other half of the kohlrabi!

When I was cooking this, I remembered too that Amy Thielen (The New Midwestern Table and Food Network's Heartland Table) serves iced kohlrabi with salt as an appetizer. So I tried that. If you really salt it up, it's pretty good.

So there you go, three recipes for kohlrabi.

Irish Potatoes

Last night as Sunday dinner was winding down, I told everyone they had to get out of my house because I needed to make a craft. Someone pointed to the Irish potatoes, and asked, "Why don't you just take a picture of these?" And then there was brief discussion of food craft. I figured since it's a category on Craft Gossip, and the potatoes need to be manipulated to look like potatoes (clay!), I was done. Plus which I doubled the recipe*, but forgot to double the butter, then I needed to work a stick of butter into an incredibly stiff dough. It wasn't just crafting; it felt like a workout! 


Oh, and dinner was awesome. This easy brisket. Everyone wanted the recipe. (I wish I had had the online version. In the paper, it said a 4lb brisket fed 4-6 people. Online a 4lb brisket serves 8-10. We have eight, and Jersey eats for three. I bought a brisket that weighed more than I did when I was newborn. Leftovers!)

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Irish Potatoes are a particularly Philadelphia treat which are not at all Irish, and are not made from potatoes. It's candy. When I first moved here, I thought they were the weirdest thing. And not terribly tasty. Then Cathy, a Philadelphia native, gave me her grandmother's recipe (and permission to share it). This year, Sissy asked me to make them. So these have gone from "weird" to "family favorite" in three years! 

I did not photograph potatoes.

Cathy's Grandmother's Irish Potatoes
2 lb confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, icing sugar, 10x sugar)
4 oz. butter softened
4 oz. cream cheese softened
1/2 cup coconut (optional)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Cinnamon

Keep a little bit of confectioner's sugar aside. Mix everything else in a bowl with hands (Do it; I almost broke my KitchenAid mixer with this recipe.) Roll into bite-size balls. (Or not so much balls as potatoes. You know what potatoes look like.) Mix the confectioner's you held back with cinnamon until it resembles the color of potatoes. Roll balls in cinnamon mixture. (Don't worry if the color seems off. While they chill, the powdered sugar will disappear, leaving the candies looking just like potatoes!) Chill the candies, but let them soften a little before you eat them

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So I sat on my bum and stitched while watching an old Midsomer Murders. I may have a finish of this sort to show you soon, which is good because I don't want to alienate my stitching friends with this turn toward general crafts.

My cousin and I are taking a last minute trip to New Hampshire for my grandmother's birthday tomorrow. I will be on the road for much of Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm trying to figure out a portable craft from my list but I'm not sure I have two. Sissy and I will travel to Florida to visit our parents this month, and when I made my schedule I built in crafts that were easy to travel with. Of course, cross-stitch travels, it just takes so damn long. In fact, someone asked if I would be embroidering this month but I didn't think I could  stitch and finish-finish a piece of embroidery in one day. So there's a question for you: if I start a stitching project for a craft, do I have to finish-finish it the same day to count as a "craft-a-day?" Poll in sidebar.

* Don't double. Make two batches.

Put One Foot in Front of the Other

I want to thank you for all your kind comments on the State of the Craft Room. I am happy to report that I have taken that giant stash of plastic bags to the recycling. (In the first photo, it's the pile to the left of the chair.) The plan was--and you know I am awesome at planning--to make two--or perhaps a million--totes from fused plastic bags. I was collecting all the plastic bags from my trips to Joann's, Michael's, and AC Moore so it could be a craft bag craft bag. Sigh. So clever on the initiating, so crap on the follow through. Oh, and I also looked up the place to send my sneakers to be recycled. So soon those shoes will be up off the floor. One step at a time. Don't want to push myself too hard.

Today, I am baking. I made the dude some cashew scotchies for his lunch and for our neighbor, chocolate cherry bars, a staple in my family since the 1970s. Run, don't walk. At Christmas, we gifted him with a "dessert of the month club" because we knew he wouldn't take money or a gift card for all the things he does for the neighborhood.

Foodstuff

More memes. I guess I'm all thunk out lately. I got this from Brave Astronaut.

Instructions:

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: Post a comment here linking to your results.

The Omnivore's Hundred

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile--Alligator, does that count?
6. Black pudding --and (Canadian) blood sausage which is more hard core.
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush and can I say how annoying that Bud Light ad is with the "fair food," "what's baba ghanoush?" Um, not fair food.
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses--not sure if I've had it but it sounds like something I'd like.
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns --you mean char siu boa?
20. Pistachio ice cream but I don't choose to eat it.
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda --sounds like something I'd like; I'm a huge fan of the anchovy
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar--we've got the photos to prove it.
37. Clotted cream tea--thank God for the English. You people make cream creamier!
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat--the dude had this at lunch recently
42. Whole insects--I'd like to try scorpions.
43. Phaal not sure I can handle this kind of heat but I'm always willing to try.
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more--not yet but we're getting there.
46. Fugu at a reputable place in Japan
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnuts I've had them hot and I still don't get it.
50. Sea urchin --my favorite sushi!
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi --at Morimoto
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal --only when desperate; in Poland they didn't have a filet o' fish.
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV--I'm a beer distributor's daughter, remember?
59. Poutine --not really a fan of gravy, but I'm always game for regional specialties
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads--always if they're on the menu
63. Kaolin--I've swallowed toothpaste and taken kaopectate, so I'm guessing yes.
64. Currywurst Who knew this existed? I'd eat that.
65. Durian--I'm thinking if Andrew Zimmern can't eat this, I couldn't manage it.
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake Beignets and a really lousy churro once.
68. Haggis --I don't get what people think is so wrong with this. It's scrapple, or you know, sausage. What do you think sausage casing is made from? Man up, people.
69. Fried plantain mmmmmmmmm
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette--have I told you about the plan to travel the world to try sausages in every country?
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost--I think I'd remember eating brown cheese
75. Roadkill Why?
76. Baijiu--sure, why not, but only the good stuff
77. Hostess Fruit Pie a staple of my high school life
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini--when my mom was in Italy she dragged the group to Harry's to try it. We're dedicated to the regional cuisine, even if it's just for the tourists.
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict --I don't love ham. But I will eat it with lobster tail
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam--I'm sure I've eaten it, I lived through the 70s after all. One of my friends' mom's once invited me to stay to dinner for "Spam Pie!" I called my parents immediately with the fear. They came and got me.
92. Soft shell crab--another favorite
93. Rose harissa--I'd try that
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor Not my favorite, ruins a perfectly good lobster
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Gone to the Dogs

I'd like to tell you I finished stitching that white house on Edgar's RR this weekend. I did do quite a bit; the house has a front door and four of five windows. But I know you're all feeling me with the white. Fortunately, Edgar is a doll and he tells me to take my time. Words he may live to regret!

In between loads of laundry and an obscene amount of cooking*, I started a new project. I know. It's LHN's Dog House Sampler. I'm making it as a Christmas gift for Sissy. And since Belle was right there--that is, on the other end of the couch--the whole weekend, I tried to match her. Not easy since she has that beagle/shepherd mix coloring.

I'm thinking of further personalizing it by substituting the dog's name where the sampler has "Bark." Just because I like to get way ahead of myself, I'm also considering making it for my mother and getting rid of bark in favor of writing her name, "Coco," in the first line or substituting "ball" for bark because that chocolate lab is crazy (as in OCD) when it comes to balls. Then I'm thinking all the dog lovers in my family should get one. I just need to figure out how to work in something specific about Jameson the airedale and Jett the bedlington terrier (French knots down the nose?). But maybe I should finish this one first.

* turkey breast slow cooked with marmalade and cranberry sauce served with roasted CSA carrots and potatoes; CSA pesto; CSA zucchini bread; pesto eggs; cold brewed ice coffee; sausages with peppers (from our garden) and CSA onions; and roasted CSA eggplant with baked ziti. Now we're almost ready for Wednesday's delivery.

Bananas

The dude finally got off the computer! He's been watching lectures from his library course all day.

I've had a strangely domestic day. In addition to doing four loads of laundry, watering indoor and outdoor plants, and cleaning the kitchen, I rescued the rotting bananas from the fruit bowl. Here they are in their new incarnation as banana muffins. The recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. Unfortunately, I didn't alter one thing so I can't share the recipe. I can, however, highly recommend that you go get yourself a copy. They have a basic muffin recipe that you can change to accommodate your excess zucchini, abundance of apples, or rotting bananas. I can name about eight recipes in this book that I know by heart because we cook them so often. In fact, the book fell apart right at Hawaiian skillet beans. Which, with hot dogs, is a fabulous summer meal. Look, just because it's a vegetarian cookbook doesn't mean I can't eat an all beef frank with those beans!

Stitching content tomorrow, with photos! I'll have two finishes and Edgar's RR to show.

Silly Silliness of Epic Proportions

I am working on things I can't show, don't want to show, or I'm waiting to show until I finished ten hours. (I'm close to having two pictures for you. Really!) So I was thinking I've shown you food you can stitch, but do we ever have occasion to stitch our food?

I came up with trussing a turkey. (Thought Alton Brown says you shouldn't.) We string popcorn and cranberries which involves a needle but that isn't quite stitching.

So, do you stitch your food?

Photo courtesy of Wikicommons.

Fair Food

As is our 4th of July tradition, we headed to the Pennsylvania German Festival in Kutztown today. We looked at the quilts (and bought! I'll show you that tomorrow) and checked out the crafts and the artisan demonstrations. Mostly we grazed. It's going to look like we ate a lot...but we shared...okay, we ate a lot. But what are these holidays good for if not for eating?

The dude wanted to start with ox roast. This ox was put on the spit last night. They take about 20 hours to cook. This was the fifth ox of the festival. We ate its predecessors. They were good.

I turned this photo around. Promise. I don't know why it's uploading like this. This was billed as a corn fritter but it was a corn pancake. And pretty yummy.

Homemade chips. We sprayed them with vinegar and sprinkled salt on. These were awesome.

Pickle on a stick. The dude's was spicy and mine was half sour. Everything tastes better on a stick. (I was tempted by the frozen cheesecake on a stick, but the dude pooh-poohed the idea.)

After we bought our quilt we brought it to the car so it wouldn't get wet. On the stroll back through the food area, the dude saw pie and coffee and had to have it. That's blueberry. I had a bite, but it turns out I still don't like fruit pies. He thought it was a good solid pie.

I only had two bites of the ox sandwich, so I was still hungry. I had the sweet potato fries and the hickory smoked sausage with onions and peppers. The dude who'd just had pie and coffee claimed to be full but the power of sausage was too great. And those peppers and onions were awesome.

To make up for the lack of vegetables (that weren't fried) we had a veggie dinner of kohlrabi and salad. The salad included spicy greens mix. They taste like mustard and horseradish. If I liked roast beef, I'd totally put those greens on a roast beef sandwich. But they're good in salad too. More on kohlrabi in the days to come.

Hope your 4th of July was as tasty as ours!