Mellow Yellow

Steamed plantain with pan-fried tilapia made for a feast for me and made for special, hand-fed treats for my furry friends. To my surprise, this included our finicky kitty, who got the least contaminated (by my liberal use of turmeric and peppers) bits of fish. Tumeric turned the tilapia bright yellow, blending perfectly with the yellow of the plantain. There is something especially appealing about the color yellow in food for me. I love bananas and have to hide them out of my sight, or their cheerful yellowness will beckon to me. Canaries, golden yellow melons, hold a much stronger attraction for me than any of the other kind. There probably are deeper reasons to our attractions and our use of colors, even in food. Van Gogh's often interpreted use of yellow related to his physical and psychological health does come to mind. Whatever it may be, we enjoyed our monochromatic meal.

Domesticity

Got my kitchen faucet fixed, finally. The hot water started to leak in early September. This faucet had leaked before - and stopped, yep it happens the professionals explained to me how. I had held high hopes for another 'miracle' meanwhile I would shut off the main incoming valve during those times I did not need water. That's when I really learned to appreciate the frequent need for running water, the seemingly incessant need for washing hands when living with and caring for companion animals. 

When the main incoming valve started to leak last week I got worried and wondered if I was to experience my own kind of flooding shortly, as I was preoccupied mostly with the horrible catastrophe that was and still is unfolding in Puerto Rico. So, last Friday I reluctantly called the professionals. It took 5 days, 3 visits from the Drain Surgeons, the proceeds of 4 hours of my own labor, countless buckets of collected water transferred for use later, and the expense of a brand new, but luckily on sale faucet, though not nearly as nice as my old one that pleased my eyes and I really liked. The silver lining, the mess under my kitchen sink got duly inspected and mostly rearranged.

Wähe

Wähe is what we ate in Switzerland on Fridays when Catholics would not be allowed to eat meat. Wähe would be offered in bakeries by the slice in varieties made most often with apples, apricots, plums or berries, but were also made from onions or cheese alone. Friday lunches consisted for us usually of a choice of two pieces of Wähe per person served with coffee. Wähe and Birchermuesli are by far my favorite Swiss-style delicatessen, Fondü does not even come close.

In an attempt to clean up my diet and get a hold of a recent flare-up of inflammation, I have resisted the temptations of sweets and bread but resorted to baking myself almost daily now apple tarts, a nice ritual first thing in the morning. Yeah, it may be better to abstain from flour in regards to the calming of inflammation, but I can do only so much at any given time. I abstained from coffee and buying sweets for the last 3 weeks, mostly. Meanwhile, I drink a whole lot more, probably still not enough, but hey, one step at a time.

So, I prepare a crust from organic spelt flour with a bit of wheatgerm and flaxseeds mixed in mainly for texture. (I am afraid the benefits of those ingredients are no longer great after having been baked.) With a mix of purified water, sesame oil and Braggs I make a simple dough, cover the pan and place it in the oven that got pre-heated to 425 degrees. Next, I break one, maybe two eggs, add a dash of cayenne, maybe a dash of sugar, depending on the quality of the topping, the juice of one small lemon (clementines or oranges make for welcome variations) and then add one or two grated apples. Then I may add one or two cut-up dates or a few currants and if available cranberries. (I keep some in the freezer all year, grab a handful here and there as needed. They are great in soups too.) This mixture gets to fill the pan and to bake for another maybe 20 minutes. Plenty time to prepare a cup of coffee, or of late my ginger-brew, and check on my social media sites.

My pups get to enjoy pieces of the crust after I savored my treat. I figure a bit of flour and oil with no sugar or salt is better for them at any time than the usual commercial dog treats. They seem to agree, considering their enthusiasm. 

Wishing all a peaceful and nourishing day this Sunday morning.

Loot

This year's abundance started off with bright orange berries on bushes at our park I had not ever realized were edible. It took  my observing a blond Swedish mom with little kids picking some so as to make jelly (and complaining how many it took to make only a small batch) that I got the idea to give them too a try. Not a fan of jelly, I would grab a handful and place them on a pancake. The refreshing, subtly sweet and tart explosion of taste when grinding teeth would pop those berries was delightful.

Next came the apricots and they were littering the streets, it is a shame how perfectly good fruit gets wasted while so many still go hungry, especially in our state. So I have no compulsion about picking fruit off trees that overhang public streets and neither have my pups. My little Sumo-boy absolutely loves sweet and ripe fruit, but will reject any other kind. I fed them so many apricots in between gathering the fruit in to my basket, that I got worried about their intestinal plumbing. But all was well, my pups suffered no observable ill effect from eating too many apricots, hallelujah!

I worked those apricots in to a spicy compote concocted from a mix of spices that included ginger, cancer fighting tumeric and a dash of infection fighting cayenne, unbeatable as a topping to vanilla icecream (there did go my dairy abstinence, but not for long. Life is too short to worry about a slip.)

Apricots made in to a simple pie, what we would call 'Aprikose Waehe' is one of my very favorites, and a staple food for meat free Fridays.

In the back of our home we do have one pear tree and I got to gather a few pears, most though got eaten by birds or fell off the tree never having reached maturity. In fact I am rather surprised how much fruit never reaches what must be an inherent goal to any organism - maturity. I realize this may be just the same on a human level, oh no, this touches a personal soft spot! My friend Rui from Madeira Portugal used to make pear pies with an arrow root glaze and distribute them all over Amsterdam. Today I just lightly cooked the few pears so as to save them from the fruit flies. They will make for a welcome change as a topping over a hot breakfast cereal.

Apples are currently aplenty and I pick some up almost everyday, careful to avoid picking the too small ones, but rather give them time to fully mature on the risk of course that others may take them. Those green apples that grow in my 'hood are great for cooking, but a bit sour for eating raw. I discovered that apple sauce just like apricot compote makes for an excellent carrier for tumeric of which I hear more and more accounts of it's benefits, such as relieve from joint pain due to inflammation.

Our community garden this year is devoid of cilantro, so no salsa for me so far, but I might look forward to an ear or two of corn. It astounds me that my downtown 'hood offers so much free food for the taking, something I had discovered only 2 years ago in 2010.

Domestic Goddess By Default

1:55 p.m.; Finally my chicken, inside a Dutch Oven, is now inside my real oven (not the toaster as initially intended.) This is my first use of a Dutch Oven and my first use of my real oven, probably since my separation from my husband two decades ago! Wrong side up though I had placed the darn bird I had to learn from my neighbor, the one that had gifted me with his outdated, but perfectly fine Dutch Oven 

(see earlier post Christmas In May.) 

A chicken ought to be baked breast side down, or else the meat will turn bone dry is what I just learned.

As a mature woman, some may think I ought to know how to bake a chicken by now. Well, I have avoided touching dead meat most all of my adult life. My husband was, and the man still is, a strict vegetarian despite the heavy physical labour he always enjoyed. (While I would bring home the bacon, most of my domestic partners would usually do the cooking. I would reserve my attention to the important task of eating.) Needless to say chicken in any form or manner was not a part of our menu. My X had shared with me that after having enjoyed a chicken as a pet, he no longer could stand the thought of eating one. Bless his tender heart. I feel quiet similar without ever having had a chicken as a pet. This need for killing life, making oneself more important then another form of life is trying to say the least. I abstained from all red meat and after a decade had only a occasional bites of chicken disguised and made unrecognizable as when covered in a heavy spinach sauce such as one usually finds at East Indian buffets.

All of this changed dramatically when I brought home Isabella-girl, decidedly a meat devouring creature and lover of gross raw bloody bones. 

Isabella sucking bone as if it were a lollipop in 2006.

So this is how an advertisement of a whole, organic, free range chicken, on sale, managed to catch my attention and imagination and succeeded in my bringing the bird home on impulse.

Only once, last winter, when I scored for our Occupy camp a whole chicken  from a farmer at the close of our farmers market,  not trusting the flimsy set up of our Occupy kitchen with the  preparation of raw meat, I resigned myself to the the making of a stew that I must say got rave reviews from our Occupy campers.

Back to the afternoon, I made myself a juice from a few of those apples I gathered in public parks, plus carrots, celery and bit of beet (powerful!) in order to use the pulp which I mixed in with garlic , lemon and herbs (some growing in my pots) for stuffing. As I rubbed the chicken with the mix on the outside god-dess behold, I found myself growing fond of this bird. It felt clean and trim to the touch and looked rather well proportioned, I go as far as beautiful, this bird of mine.

The aroma of the veggies was heavenly and attracted all three of my furry ones, including the Pretty Kitty (who tends to refuse my offerings of home made cooked food in favor of canned junk) to sit, stare, wonder and wait in great anticipation.

We all had our fill by now, even the kitty took a few morsels off my hand. The skin did not come out all nice golden and crispy looking, but none of us minded. The half lemon stuffed inside might have been a mistake as it did not blend perfectly with my herbs and veggies, but the meat came out perfect, moist and delicious.

5:55 p.m.: So it was a day that started out with an apple pie, made of course from apples gathered from public parks and streets.

It progressed to my having cooked the pears picked off a tree in the back of our home and in danger of being diminished by fruit flies. The day continued on with my attending to the Garbanzo beans that had soaked for more then two days and needed to be made in to Humus. Ah, I had no idea how much I might love beans when prepared to my liking, without too much salt or oil and no canned anything, please! (Not liking beans and not liking meat makes for a precarious diet.) My day passed with having accomplished nothing but domestic tasks once more, as if I had no pressing matters to attend to, such as anything that revolves around money.

Small Town Living

I got my mom's tiny nail scissors, dulled by years of 'schnibbling' away at my furry companions, sharpened at the farmers market, finally. Told the guy too that he had pissed me off when he payed too much attention to his apprentice and none to me, not once, but trice about 3 years ago! He apologized and I shared some of my freshly gathered apricots with him before we parted with smiles.

Apricots are in season and are dropping off trees on to public streets where it is legal to gather them. So far I collected three big bowls full, but darn it takes a lot to fill one jar with compote.  I still lack enough for freezing, much less to pass on to the nearby shelter. I have had apricots for breakfast, lunch and dinner, almost, everyday of late. In Switzerland we eat big platters of fruit pie on meatless Fridays. Here is how I make my kind of Aprikosen Waehe:  

I cup of organic spelt flour, maybe half and half with organic whole wheat flour enhanced with some sesame seed and wheat germ. 

Mix to a dough with a bit of water, braggs and sesame oil (careful of too much kneading.) 

Press in to a pie form, oiled also with a bit of sesame oil, so much better tasting then olive oil and a lot healthier then butter. 

Cover with almond pieces or more traditional hazelnut meal.

Place in heated (toaster-) oven for about 10 minutes.

Decorate pie with halved apricots, squeezing in as many as possible.

Place back in to oven for another 10 minutes.

Pour one egg sweetened maybe with sugar, or tangerine juice, added lemon juice, maybe vanilla and/or cinnamon, including a tablespoon full of yogurt or rice milk - or not.

Place back in to oven for another 10 minutes.

Voila, Aprikosen Waehe ready to eat in an easy half hour!

I love living in a small town where the fruit falls down on streets, ripe for the picking, where the conductor will wave at us from a passing train and where the security guy will stop to check in on how things are and will share the latest news, some relevant to the 'hood, but some more personal. I have not yet dared to ask about Sam's teeth, he had them before, but no more.

The Gods Are Smiling

 Coffee & Cream

 Home Made Apple/Cranberry Pie

Freshly Picked Lilacs

The Gods Are Smiling

How I broke my fast today

The best Quesadilla ever! Made with greens from our community garden. Leeks and kale never tasted better, plucked fresh last night. I picked only a few of the largest leafs, so the plants keep on growing. Last year nothing was growing at this time, but last winter an experiment got under way that kept plants alive and growing all winter under a plastic cover. Bottles of black water kept enough heat for the one bed to thrive. Really thrilling. Seemingly an old traditional way of growing in our Land of Enchantment. Last year I remember our May 1. unexpected deep freeze. The little bit that was growing in the garden got killed and shriveled up. This year again, today, we have a forecast for another late freeze. This time I sure hope those plants will survive and thrive.

So, I took two sprouted whole wheat tortillas, melted a slice of Pepper Jack cheese on each and then added the kale, leeks and parsley from the garden, stir fried quickly in Sesame oil with half an onion,  2 medium hot green Hatch chili peppers, a bit of fresh ginger and a spritz of Braggs. A bit of extra stir fried greens on the side did not last long and the tomato salsa made a perfect compliment in color and taste. 

This is certainly a very pleasurable way to eat more greens, which is my intention. My motto of 'eat sweets instead of greens' no longer holds water.

After Easter Extravaganza

Hot chocolate made from rice milk, topped with fake cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I just love to play with that white stuff out of a can. Instantly I am transported in to a childish set of mind. Even though in my growing up years whipped cream required about 20 minutes of beating the cream to the desired consistency. There were no cans for instant gratification. And I do know the difference between what is real and fake, most certainly in cream. Do you?

Breakfast Today

Out by eight, I walked my pups, then shopped, then treated myself to breakfast out in the yard on a beautiful, bright Spring morning. Black, spicy, hot coffee with warm croissant, the weekly paper just out. My Orchid, in bloom since last July, enjoyed a bit of extra light out in the yard and swayed  happily in the wind until the sun would reach the table. The Catnip plant almost got demolished by the Pretty Kitty, who had stayed out all night, again, I came to the rescue just in time. The Strawberry plant, usually near it, was gifted to me by one of the Farmers Market vendors, so sweet.

Om's Sweet Home

Caught

Caught in the act of nibbling on Catnip I had brought home of course for our Pretty Kitty - success!  

Sticking his nose in to where for once it does belong. 

The Pretty Kitty goes for a second helping of Catnip, 

while Isabella looks dubious.

"Is he really supposed to be up there? You not gonna object?"

Maybe my Isabella-girl still remembers the one time, years ago, when they ate ALL of my freshly acquired flowers out of that whiskey barrel - I was livid when I discovered that not one bit of flower power had remained while I had been out for only one hour in celebration of my Spring brightening efforts with a cup of coffee.

My kitty threw up again this time thankfully in the early morning, rather then the middle of the night. I want to grow a variety of grasses from sprouted Wheat, Barley, maybe Oats as both, cat and dog (Saemi and Sumo) like to graze. They might as well feast on organic greens rather then the kind infested with pesticides and god-dess knows what. Sometimes I worry if all that throwing up of Saemi the cat and Isabella the one dog is normal?

It was a freezing night, temperatures fell drastically despite our longing for Spring. I was glad I took my plants, including the Catnip back indoors. 6 AM I woke to the sounds of a cat's whining. Instantly I jumped out of bed, raced down the stairs, this time without falling, opened the sliding door and to my great surprise found a black cat hightailing out over our high fence. I had to tweak myself, our Pretty Kitty spent the night indoors, but what I seen was his spitting image. I was reassured when our kitty came down and my eyes fell on his collar, yep, no mistake he is here and he must have friend outside, hooray, how sweet. Rarely ever does a cat dare to scale our fence much less come down in to the yard, at least to my knowledge, so this is unusual. Next will have to be capturing those two pretty black cats in one image. Wish me luck!

Domesticity

If in doubt

 cook or bake

seems to be my motto of late.

Loot

The pears are ripe for the picking. I boiled them down with a few cloves, a bit of sugar and added arrowroot for thickening at the end. A whole pile made for 1 quart jar and a whole lot of work, but so worth it. Tastes not bad on plain frozen yogurt.

These Crabapples are finally ripe without a doubt. I picked them this morning and they came off easy. They are huge and taste especially good boiled down with 2 apples, the juice of 2 lemons, some raisins, and a bit of brown sugar. Delicious,  I can attest, still warm on top of frozen plain yogurt or piled on hot pancakes.

I hope to find some more at the nearby public park as I want to experiment with some sort of relish. Crabapples are great added to my kind of Salsa Verde, and also  ads taste to my vegetable soup, so I discovered.

Really I am not in the habit of picking up fruit from public spaces, even though it is legal. I never had a garden of my own and live an urban life style downtown.

Maybe sometime last year the absurdity occurred to me of buying fruit when the streets and parks were littered with the rotten kind. I really hate waste but love getting a great deal.

According to my sources the city has not sprayed pesticides in years, only occasionally some soap. And according to one city worker these apples, from the very same tree, are not dumped and discarded as expected, but are fed to his sow! Knowing that there is one thinking, self directed city worker makes me very happy.

Well, I gathered my share of the tree's free fall. While the apples taste not the best, cooked with a few added crabapples, the juice of 2 lemons, a bit of applecider for good measure, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and some vanilla, they make for a great topping on pancakes or wholesome flavor to plain yogurt.

Truth be told, I am not terribly domestic. But creating these jars of goodies feels very satisfying and kinda exciting. It's a lot of work that reminds of times past and makes me kinda feel rich.


My fridge now holds applesauce in bits and pieces with added vanilla,  applesauce blended with a dash of ginger, crabapple sauce, pear bits, salsa verde and in the mood I also made a huge pot of vegetable soup. The sprouting jar below holds wheat kernels for wheat grass which my furry friends adore and the big jar holds water infused with fresh peppermint tea - sun tea. How much greener can we get! Hooray for living a more and more sustainable, holistic life style!