Sunday, August 28, 2011

Farmer's Market to Table

Ry has been tethered to the task of refinishing our fireplace mantel, which left me lots of time to kill this weekend. I filled it by riding a good fourteen miles on my bikecycle and gathering the fixin's for a home-cooked Sunday meal.

One of the places I rode was the West Allis Farmer's Market, which I believe is the best market in the metro area. My purchases were limited to the capacity of my bike basket, so I kept it simple. I purchased a whole organic chicken to roast with a tried and true Cook's Illustrated recipe, some taters, tomatoes and lovely flowers.

Flowers at the market are such a steal! It was quite a task making it home with them safely in tact given the cool and strong breeze flowing through the city this weekend.


Farmer's Market finds in tow.


Cook's French Chicken in a Pot recipe.


Naked, patted-dry, salted and peppered bird.

This was my first experience with preparing an entire animal for supper. I freaked out when I had to stick my hand in the cavity and pull out the gizzards. I only managed to get the heart out and had to have Ry come in and get the liver.

I think it was a good experience for me. I believe Ry's direct quote was "woman, if you can't do this you have no business being a carnivore", which is completely true. Since we've morphed back from vegan to veggie to meat eaters again, it's important for me to have this experience. It reminded me that what I intended to eat was at one time a living, sentient being. Holding the whole animal in my hands and preparing it, instead of some freakishly large frozen chicken breast out of a bag, was quite the reality check.


I seared each of the sides with just a bit of celery, onion and garlic in the dutch oven.


Lined top with foil before setting it to roast for two hours at a low temperature.


Internal temp of at least 175 degrees with the instant-read thermometer after two hours in the oven.


Our lovely table.


Chicken, peas and homemade pesto pasta for sup.


And I can't resist a pick of my mow-mow to finish out the day. He must miss his Uncle Steven 'cause he kept sleeping on the guest bed until we took the linens off.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Summer Feet

I swear my hubby is a walking ad for Chaco!




Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Hello Kitty

Sometimes you've just got to lighten things up a little. Last weekend I bought some new coloring books and have been indulging in easy-cheesy art. My conclusion is that coloring = zen.



In other kitty related news, ours is sick. Silvio has some kind of cat upper respiratory infection or the like. He got expensive little kitty tests at the vet and a shot. Now we are feeding him antibiotics which is a two man operation. For this week I've changed his pet name to "wheezy-sneezy".

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Repotting Orchids

In the fall of 2008 we went to an orchid show at the Milwaukee Domes. At that time I purchased a set of two different phalenopsis varieties planted together in one pot. One had dark speckled blooms and the other a lighter and more familiar purple color. I never put them in a real pot and never really did anything to help them prosper like feeding or even really enough misting.

I did put them in the windows in cool weather to try and spur blooming and I'd cut off the blooms with a razor blade as is recommended. So, given my minimal effort it was no surprise to me really that they never bloomed again. In fact, I saw it as a blessing that I hadn't killed them because these plants are supposed to be notoriously finicky. I never found them to be that way.

Early this spring one of them shot up a stalk of blooms that lasted for a couple of months and finally just wilted. After the blooms kicked it the plants started to look really sad with some leaves turning yellow and just looking kind of deathly in general. Over the last year huge sections of roots had also started to spring out of the pot on all sides.

This weekend I finally got up the gumption to buy two separate pots and split them up into their own new homes. At the store I had picked up two pretty large pots when the plant lady told me that they'd never work because orchids like to be root-bound in tight, tall pots. I picked out two smaller ones instead. I also bought the special aerated orchid mix which you need to soak overnight for best results. Last night I did that and today I was ready to go.

Everything I read called for removing the current potting mix, trimming long roots down to six inches with a shear that you've cleaned with isoprophyl alcohol, placing them in the middle of a new pot and then filling in with pre-soaked orchid mix.


Pulling the plants out of the old mix and separating them. You can see from this picture just how root-bound those suckers had become.


I had a sense that one of the plants was choking out the other from how they'd been growing. I see after pulling them apart that I was wrong about which plant didn't have enough spaces. I was a-MAZED at how long the root structure had become. Probably over a foot of root complex for the larger plant. I snipped them down to six inches and was ready to put them in their new pots.


I picked out two pots that don't have drainage holes, which means that I am going to have to be extra careful with watering. Once you pour water through orchid mix it instantly drains out, leaving behind wet bark. They hate to sit in water, which means that every time I water I will have to tip them over and drain everything out completely. This choice was directly related to vanity, as all of the pots with drainage are super ugly. We'll see how it goes. You can see all of the other little supplies in the background.


New orchid home #1. This is the little guy that was suffering in the previous space sharing agreement. This pot looks like a knobby stump. Ry thinks it's ugly. I do too, but I also like it. Kind of kitschy cool, but also maybe just ugly. I'm alright with it.


New orchid home #2. This is the one that was large and in charge. I'm hoping this pot is big enough. The roots took up most of the space and I'm hoping that the woman was right about how they like a tight fit.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Huckleberry Pie

Ry and his bro Jon collected a Nalgene full of huckleberries on their recent back country hiking trip to Montana. They lugged the berries all the way home with the agreement that Ry would make a huckleberry pie for us to share.

We just spent the evening with Jon and his lovely lady Megan having dinner, drinks and of course, the pie. Ry made Cook's Illustrated Stuffed Manicotti. I made my famous homemade salad dressing and also some Texas Toast, which was about as far from homemade as it gets.

Family, good food and quality beer always make for an excellent night!


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Homemade Cards Are Magic

...even when the ink smears! This is a sample of the homemade bridal shower invitation I made for my cousin's fiance. It's taped up to our fridge collage in case you are trying to figure out what the heck is happening with the photo angle.

My mom, sister and I are co-hosting the shower to honor Alex and I got excited to make some homemade cards since I haven't done it in a while. I've been slowly amassing stamps, ink, adhesives, ribbon and blank cards. This was a fun little project.

I chose colors in the bride's palate and did it all by hand including writing out the message on the inside and addressing the envelopes. I took so much joy in creating something unique to honor a loved one. Can't wait for the party!

Pesto-rific!

Our garden is starting to overflow with herbs. Ry decided to make pesto so none of that good basil would go to waste. He used a Cook's Illustrated recipe, of course. If anyone is interested I can send it your way.


Proud Pesto Papa!


Basil bounty. He only harvested roughly half the leaves.


Bruising the basil leaves.


Leaves chopped up. Recipe also calls for some parsley in order to help maintain color. It came from our garden as well.


Pecorino Romano, garlic cloves and toasty pine nuts.


Using our friends' food processor after breaking our second in less than a year. I think it's time to go high end. That'd be cheaper than getting a new one every six months.


Plopped into ice cube trays. This was the only part I helped with, unless you count eating shredded cheese or observing.


Silly face, but look at how green that stuff is. We use our empty Bonne Maman jars for everything!


Frozen pesto cubes. I had to pry them out carefully with a butter knife. They don't just pop out like you might imagine.


All bagged up and ready for the freezer.