Hardcore Home Ec
I promised an update and more exciting things this Summer. The hooligan and I had a baby bunny on 6/25 she is beautiful.
I don’t want this to become a “mommy blog” but I am sure Little Miss will show up in posts on a regular basis. Since I am home on leave for most of the summer I hope to be adding recipes and other projects too.
A guest post from The Hooligan:
The recipe was adapted (stolen) from a sweet potato soup Adrian Stock used to make. It’s extended-family-holiday-dinner-sized, so reasonable people will want to halve the amounts.
2-3 Butternut squash
2 big onions
1 cup cashew pieces, roughly chopped
4 cups veg or chicken stock
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (for less fat, use evaporated skim milk)
It is feeling so much like Autumn here in the rabbit hole. The air is crisp and I am craving apples. We have been very busy lately with allergy testing, car repairs, lighthouse trips, and a new tattoo.
I found out I am allergic to every inhaled allergen they test for. And eggs. I have been editing recipes and trying egg substitutes but I still miss them. So, expect more entries about the ongoing battle to be eggless.
We have been canning a lot too. Salsa, lots of relish, green beans and eggplant. I will post pictures soon.
Autumn also has me in the mood to knit, everyday. I have been working on a blanket all summer and am starting to make real progress finally.
What are you doing now that Autumn is here?
I know that I promised you a guest post from the Hooligan about making ice cream it is not quite ready yet. If you know him feel free to send him a message telling him how much you are looking forward to it. In the mean time I thought I would let you know about a side dish we made this weekend that was very yummy. We had some beets that we picked up at the farmers market. Now roasted beets are delicious all by themselves. We added some blue cheese. Then we made some walnut brittle by melting butter adding sugar and walnuts then letting it cool on some parchment. We broke that up and and put it over the beets too. The Hooligan doesn’t like beets, but he ate these. So I think you might like them too.
You may have noticed that I have been doing a lot posts lately about my CSA. That is because I love it. So I thought I would share with you some of the reasons why. If you don’t know what a CSA is, it’s basically a share that you buy in a local farm. You pay for the share at the beginning of the growing season and you get a share of whatever they grow. We have a half share this year so we pick up every other week. I foresee this growing into a full share next year and here’s why.
1. Variety- The Hooligan and I kind of love to cook by experimentation and we like trying new things. A CSA is awesome for that because you never know what you are going to get. Sometimes you get vegetables that you have never tried before. It is great if you like trying new things.
2. Fresh Produce- Just tastes better than the stuff you buy in the store. Supermarket produce was sometime s grown a thousand miles away and picked before it was ripe. With a CSA you get the freshest possible produce.
3. Support Local Farms- I love that Connecticut still has farmland. I really, really want to keep it that way. That’s why local food is important to me. It good for the community and it’s for the environment too.
4. Get To See- Where my food comes from and get to know the people who grow it. That’s just really cool.
5. It’s Fun- If you get the chance to do it you should. I think you’d like it.
Stay tuned for a guest post from The Hooligan about making your own ice cream. I
There has been so much going on here at the rabbit hole. CSA, garden, homemade ice cream, stitch and bitch, Dilly Beans and other fun summer things too.
Out first CSA has been so much fun. The Hooligan and I both like to improvise when we are cooking. So, a bag full of produce some of which we have never cooked before is a blast for us. We have roasted kohlrabi, and sauteed greens of all kinds. One night I had golden raspberries and fresh cream for dinner. We put roasted garlic scapes in mashed potatoes. Lots of awesome food and it really is so much fun! Our CSA farm’s website is here Eve’s Corner Garden if you are in New Haven County and are thinking about a CSA next year think of Eve’s. We really like them.
Our garden has also been giving us plenty of produce. I am having better luck with my squash this year. Last year I had an issue with my squash plants that I later found out was powdery mildew. I saw a little this year too but seems to have beaten it. I am still not getting as much squash as I would like too but doing much better than last year.
My tomato’s and peppers that both got off to a rough start are doing fantastic. I have lots and lots of plum tomatoes coming in about a pound a day. Also have grape and beefsteak tomatoes coming in. I am also getting peppers in now and I have the cutest little bell peppers too.
In other news the Hooligan has been making homemade ice cream and so far this year we have had chocolate with chocolate covered blueberries, blueberry, Maple chocolate chip and chocolate raspberry. They are so rich and delicious. Maybe I can talk him into doing a guest entry about ice cream making.
I made Dilly Beans!! They look great and we are going to open our first jar tonight at Stitch and Bitch here is a picture:
Dilly Beans!!
I will let you know what everyone thinks of them.
We pickup another CSA this week and I will let you know what we get and what we do with it. Leave me message and let me know what you are doing this summer.
Last week we picked up our first mini CSA. We got some basil, lettuce, garlic scapes, and sugar snap peas.
Basil went into fresh pasta sauce. Had some tonight with meatballs. It was pretty yum.
Garlic scapes went into mashed potatoes on top of cottage pie for Ryan’s birthday dinner. The leftover scapes went into stir fry more about that in a minute.
Lettuce was Monday’s lunch.
A lot of the sugar snap peas went into my mouth raw with mustard vinaigrette. The rest went into beef stir fry with the left over garlic scapes and assorted other vegetables.
We pick up our next CSA on Sunday. I’ll let you know what we get. Also there are tomatoes and tiny adorable fuzzy green beans in the garden too. I see Dilly Beans in my future!
What did you cook this week?
To update on the the fly all week but for some reason my app is not uploading. I am sorry. I will update you CSA goodies and other exciting happenings in the next day or so.
It seems like it has been so very long since I have posted. My hands are doing a lot better now that my Dr has started me on the new anti-inflammatory. So typing is much easier.
Lots of exciting things going on here. We pickup our first mini CSA on Sunday June 24th. We have been promised garlic scapes and snap peas. I foresee a wonderful stir fry in our future . I have never cooked garlic scapes before but I am very excited to try them! I have been researching recipes online and have some ideas. I hear they are wonderful in mashed potatoes!
The garden is coming along wonderfully we are starting to see blossoms on the green beans and squash. I already have tomatoes! Also our cherry tree has fruit and our mullberry bush is overflowing with berries!
As for projects I just finished a “backup” sock monkey for my nephew who gets rather unhappy when “monk” has to be cleaned. I am also working on a throw for my couch in a beautiful oatmeal yarn that is wonderful but gets boring sometimes. So when I get bored of the same pattern, I am also knitting up little hats for all the new babies that our friends are having.
Things are great here in the rabbit hole. Leave me a message and let me now how your summer is going.
Today we planted. Tomatoes, lots of peppers both hot and sweet, green beans, green onions, summer, zucchini and butternut squash, escarole, carrots parsnips and lots of pumpkins. What’s in your garden?
punkhousekeeping 