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this was my spring.

listening to: "5 Years Time" by Noah and the Whale

The first time Ms. Russia made these for me was at my birthday party two years ago.  It’s funny to think about that birthday.  It was my 21st.  All the main characters were present, but also bundles of travelers who never meant to stay in my life.  And for the most part, they didn’t.  Ms. Irina, I am so grateful you stayed.  I am so grateful to have known you and learned from you, to have learned with you and lived with you.

To the future.  May it live up to the past.

These “Cheese Thingies” are a breakfast item in Russia.  They are super tasty with jam or just all by themselves.  I love them, and I hope you do too.

listening to: “You, Appearing” by M83

Cheese Thingies

16 ounces cottage cheese

4 eggs

2 tablespoons sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

oil for pan

Mix eggs & cottage cheese.  Stir in sugar.  Add flour in batches, mixing as you go.  Oil your pan and cook tablespoons of batter over med-high heat.

Blood oranges, yumssss.  I’m afraid to admit that these entered my life only two years ago.  But they’re so tasty, not to mention beautiful.  Yes.  And they have enhanced my life.  Hope they do the same to yours!

ingredients

3 blood oranges

1 avocado, diced into one-inch cubes

1/4 red onion, thinly diced

diced chili pepper (add to your desired level of spicy)

1 lime

Salt to taste

1 can black beans

3/4 cup shredded cheese

14 tortillas

Peel and segment oranges.  With a sharp paring knife, remove white pith without removing the flesh of the orange.  Cut between membranes to release segments (I did this over a bowl so I wouldn’t lose any juice).  Place orange segments in a bowl and add avocado, onion, chili (add just a little to start), juice of 1/2 lime and salt.  Stir to combine, and add more salt or chili to taste.

Heat the black beans over medium.  Turn on a second stove eye to medium-high.  Take a tortilla and hold in on the eye, move it around a bit to heat entire tortilla.  Turn the tortilla over and repeat.  You’ll begin to see marks on the tortilla when it’s ready.  Stuff heated tortillas with black beans and cheese, and roll.

These sunshiny days force me to be outside, even if I have to shiver a bit.  We’ll think about this back porch we are so lucky to have, and its future:  ice cream making parties & yoga sessions with recently certified Erin & crafting parties & Joseph’s birthday dog party & parties for no occasion at all.

But for now, teeth chattering, we’ll eat soup.

listening to: "Black Hole” by She & Him

I accompanied the soup with these Grilled Cheese and Lemon appetizers.

ingredients

3 tablespoons butter

2 leeks

2 cloves garlic

2 potatoes (approx. 1/2 lb)

6 cups vegetable broth

salt & pepper to taste

Melt the butter over medium heat.  Chop leeks and add to butter, cooking 3-5 minutes.  Mince garlic and add, cooking 30 seconds.  Peel potatoes and quarter.  Add vegetable broth and potatoes.  Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until potatoes are tender, approximately 30 minutes.  Blend soup in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

This month has been so hectic.  I feel like Spring arrived, bringing along its fullness of activity, only to soon retreat.   The activity stayed, but my energy  fleeted with the warmth.  Today, armed with two overly large cooking books, I’m ready to be here again.  I’m ready to wake with the sunshine and to cook with my eyes closed and to craft while doing everything else.

All with background tunes of course.

listening to: “Coriander” by The Pomegranates

Curry Powder

Using teaspoons will make just under 3/4 cup curry powder.  To make a bigger batch, use the same ratios but with tablespoons.

ingredients

8 teaspoons cumin powder

7 teaspoons coriander powder

2 teaspoons ginger powder

4 teaspoons turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon chili powder/cayenne

Mixes ingredients until well blended.  For a hotter curry, use 2 teaspoons chili powder/cayenne.

I am a collector.  It began with acorns that I would keep in this super fancy, wooden silverware box.  One day acorns turned into craft supplies, much of which wouldn’t be considered craft supplies at all, but just random objects that I would think I could make something out of .  That has never left me.

When my parents moved out of our house, I discovered this abandoned cabinet where hundreds of plastic bags had been stored.  I swiftly confiscated the bags, which my mother was delighted to see, and set about plastic bag crafting.  Here is my favorite of plastic bags creations I’ve come up with.  The pattern can be found here.  I ran out of yarn a couple of times along the way and had to make more, which made it a little time intensive.  I suggest making a whole lot of the yarn up front.  I love the result, and it was definitely worth the effort.  I want to experiment more with colors!

listening to: “Intro” by The xx

How to make Plastic Bag Yarn

                        1. Lay your bag flat.                                                      2. Cut off the top & bottom.

         3.  Starting from the side,                                     4. Cut strips every inch.  This will leave          
    fold your bag like an accordion                                            you with 1 inch width loops.
         roughly 3 inches in width.

                     5.  Take two loops.  Lay them flat,                                            6.Pull the loop through.
                                overlapping the ends.

Repeat steps 5 & 6 with all of the loops to form a chain.  Repeat steps 1-6,  & roll yarn into a ball.

Finally, a great sandwich bread recipe has been found. My husband was the one to bake it.  I think that means he should be baking the bread from now on, which I’m okay with.  His bread rose in the oven to nearly four inches over the bread pan!  I am lucky if my bread rises to even the top of the pan.  I was having a crazy workweek, and we were out of bread for Joseph’s sandwiches.  I wanted to give up, but John wouldn’t let me.  He did all kinds of research in bread-making to prepare himself, and went at it.  His recipe, with all of his new founded tips, is below.

Also, John & I had the most fruitful thrifting day a couple of weeks ago.  Among other amazing finds, was The Fiddle Bow Bread Knife.  With it you can cut “toaster perfect slices each and every time.”  Cutting is the most frustrating part of the bread process for me, and this knife has been a huge help!  It makes the bread look so much more tasty and professional.

Soft Sandwich Bread

ingredients

2 teaspoons yeast

1 cup warm milk

1 tablespoon sugar

4 cups flour

2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon oil (extra for greasing the dough)

4 cups flour

Mix the warm milk, yeast, and sugar in a bowl and let it sit for a few minutes.  After the yeast mixture sets, mix in the other ingredients.  Knead for ten minutes.  The dough should feel silky.  Pour 1/2 tablespoon of oil over the dough.   Turn on the oven to the lowest setting (for ours it’s 170 degrees), and when it preheats, turn the oven off, and put the dough in the oven to rise for one hour.  Take the dough out, punch it down, and shape it into a loaf.  Put it into a well-greased loaf pan, and pour 1/2 tablespoon oil over your dough.  Preheat the oven again, turn off when preheated, and return the dough to the oven to rise for another hour.  Take out the load pan, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and bake for 45 minutes.

I am picky about my spinach.  I really do love spinach but when it’s cooked it becomes this monstrous goopy creature that I just can’t handle.  For that reason, I was hesitant to try this risotto.  After reading through some recipes and finding that you can add fresh, chopped spinach in at the end, I knew that I needed to give it a try.  And I’m so glad that I did.  Creamy, salty, & delicious.  This was also my first experience with leeks.  Yum.  Perhaps I’ll grow some this year.

listening to: "Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap

                                                                                                                                             ingredients

2 1/2 cups spinach, loosely packed
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 garlic clove
2 cups vegetable broth
2 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup parmesan

Bring broth and 2 1/2 cups water to simmer in saucepan over medium heat, and reduce heat to low.   Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a separate saucepan over medium-low heat. Add leek and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes.  Add rice and stir until heated through, about 3 minutes. Add wine and simmer until absorbed. Add warm broth mixture 1 cup at a time, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding next, stirring often. Rice should be tender but firm to bite.  Cover and remove from heat. Blend the spinach, butter, and garlic in a processor to form a paste.  Stir paste, parmesan, and 1 tablespoon olive oil into the rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

February is the hardest month for me.  I am a believer in hibernation.  Humans, like all animals, work differently during different seasons.  We need seasons of rest, seasons of energy, and seasons of perseverance.  I think this is why farming is so appealing to me.  It seems so natural to work less in the winter time, as the plants too overwinter and take a break.  Though since we should hibernate, yet most humans don’t, winter can become a troublesome time.  Seasonal depression is rampant, by no coincidence a reflection of our lack of a slower paced season.  The chilly and, in Middle Tennessee, rainy weather keeps me inside.  The early-setting sun puts me to sleep.  February is the last inning, the long stretch.  Days grow noticeably longer, though temperatures stay cold.  It brings glimpses of Spring, and glimmers of hope.  It leaves me chanting this delightful song.

listening to:  “Home” by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

I love making homemade stock.  The smell alone makes it all worth it.  But, it is a time consuming affair, a messy straining process, and never lasts as long as I would like.  As I’ve been considering homemade bouillon, Heidi at 101 cookbooks posted about it not long ago.  I love when that happens!  I altered mine a bit, using the ingredients I generally use when I make stock.  Since you only use 1 teaspoon of bouillon per 1 cup of water, this will last a long time, stores great in the freezer, and you aren’t left discarding the vegetables after straining.

Homemade Bouillon

Stock is extremely versatile.  These are the ingredients I used this time, but you can add whatever you have on hand really (tomato paste, broccoli, shallots, etc.).  You can experiment a lot with herbs too (parsley, cilantro, etc.).

ingredients

1 onion

3 carrots

1 parsnip

1 leek

1 scant cup salt

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons basil

3 teaspoon black pepper

Roughly chop your vegetables.  Add three of your vegetables to your food processor and pulse until chopped.  Repeat until all of your vegetables are chopped up.  Add the salt, and pulse some more.  Add the herbs, and pulse until well mixed.  This should leave you with a pasty bouillon.  Store some in the refrigerator for now, and freeze some for later.  Use 1 teaspoon of bouillon per 1 cup of water.  Makes roughly 3 1/2 cups bouillon, which will make 168 cups of stock or 10.5 gallons.