It was the kind of day that lifts people’s spirits. The sun shone warm – nearly 60 degrees – and the snow melted from most of my front lawn. I grilled bratwurst for dinner. I made summer kale salad. Anything seemed possible. Which is why I started planning my kitchen garden.

Although I am a working member at Happy Heart Farm CSA and receive a bounty of fresh produce every other week throughout summer, what I want more than anything is to walk outside my back door and pick a handful of fresh salad greens from my very own garden. At some point in a girl’s life, she realizes she’s overcome by an impulse to grow things. As with cooking your own food, growing a garden gives you a modicum of control over what you eat, and lets you indulge in the foods you love.

But, what to grow? This depends on several variables: how much and what kind of growing space on hand; how much child labor you can harness from any small beings that live with you; your budget; your lifestyle; your taste buds; and, your curiosity. I asked myself these questions: What do I really want to eat (and prepare)? What do I want to preserve for next winter? Do I want to experiment with any far out foods (like tatsoi)? What do I get in my CSA share that I want more of? How big a garden do I really want? And the clincher: What can I say ‘no’ to?

My answers, in random order, include:

1. Greens, greens, greens – lettuce mixes, arugula, tatsoi and herbs
2. Tomatoes – heirloom, paste, and small poppers like grape and pear varieties
3. Broccoli, golden wax beans, butternut and crookneck squash
4. Strawberries, rhubarb, peaches
5. I don’t know how to say no.
6. Did I mention that I go away a lot on weekends?

Based on this last question alone, I should take a more realistic view at my ambitions outlined above. Except I tend to ignore the obvious and go headlong into the dream. I’m anxious to build a few more beds in my back yard – or, at least one this spring and another no-dig bed next fall when leaves are in ample supply. You know how it is, the promise of spring just makes you giddy with the idea of color – crimson strawberries make me swoon – as well as the reward of fresh bursting flavors. Enough of winter already.

For the kitchen gardener, herbs present a lovely opportunity to experiment with flavor at a relatively low cost. If you’re starting out with your first garden (ahem, yes – that would be me), you might consider growing your herbs, greens and a tomato plant or two in containers. This method is ideal for apartment dwelling folk, especially if you have good light or access to the outdoors.

In case you’re dying to know, basil, chervil, cilantro, rosemary, thyme and tarragon are at the top of my herb list. I’m especially intrigued by thyme. A newbie to all this growing stuff, I just learned that some varieties of this herb makes excellent ground cover on garden foot paths. The more culinary variety happens to be a key ingredient in this walnut pesto appetizer that has become a favorite go-to for parties.

Lastly, since I can’t grow my own vanilla (what a shame), I’m interested in growing lavender – not for its flavor (although that’s an option), but for its aroma, especially when paired with vanilla. Ah the essence of relaxation. Maybe I’ll make soap, or candles, or infuse a little vodka. Or I’ll just stare at the pretty little flowers as they border my backyard fence.

Ready to get growing your own kitchen garden? Make sure you know your growing zone, consult your local Extension office for tips and tricks to growing vegetables in your climate, attend a seed exchange, talk with friends, check out garden centers, prepare your soil once the time is right, and enjoy yourself as you sprout a season of bounty.

What will you grow this year?

Smiling for spring,

Carol

Thanks to muffet for the wonderful photos.

Although single and without kids, I have an affinity for small children. I can relate to their needs (I require play time, too), I can usually act more goofy than they can (I have scared the occasional child with my zeal for dancing), and I have a fantastic repertoire of silly voices. So it should come as no surprise that given the choice to exercise myself to extreme pain at the gym last Saturday morning or bake cookies with my friends’ two daughters – Chloe, 7, and Becca, 5 – I opted for the latter.

I love baking cookies with kids, especially kids that are not my own, and especially in advance of a holiday – like Valentine’s Day. Their eyes sparkle with the anticipation of sneaking a taste of batter and decorating cookie tops with insane amounts of colored sugar.

I also find that kids love working with holiday-specific cookie cutters. This time of year they have no qualms about dipping into the Christmas cookie cutter collection because there are only so many heart-shaped cookies you can make. And, bless their little munchkin souls, they even forgive you when you realize you can’t make frosting because you forgot to buy powdered sugar. You simply agree to let them have not one but two cookies before lunch (in addition to the giant one you let them set aside for dessert after lunch) and everyone is happy again.

Like most children finding themselves in the kitchen with a grown-up, Chloe and Becca were eager to help prepare the batter for the cookies we set out to make. The recipe: Rodelle’s Rolled Sugar Cookies. In a stroke of brilliance, I let Chloe measure out the flour and sift it into a small bowl while Becca and I set out to cream butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Each kid needed her own sense of empowerment and this strategy worked like a charm. Of course, I had to let Chloe take a turn with the hand mixer while Becca tried out the sifter. Then, they each took a turn with the hand mixer as we added flour to the wet ingredients. Becca let me know at least four times during this process how much she likes cookie batter. I mean, she really likes it. Can I blame her?

Once we put the dough into the fridge for a brief cooling period, the girls came somewhat unglued with the prospect of checking out my stuff, running around the house dressed in my scarves, and parking themselves on the bathroom counter as they painted their small faces scary pink with my ‘make-up stick’. I did what any smart adult would do: the dishes.

After this interlude of fashion and frolic came to its sad but eventual end, we got to work rolling out dough and cutting cookies. I was clever a second time to avoid possible sibling disquietude by cutting a line down the rolled dough to designate their private dough property. Of course, I then learned again how much Becca loves cookie dough (by now she had managed to casually sneak about a pint of dough into her wee mouth). I also learned what Chloe and Becca love most about Valentine’s Day: the color pink. Not love. Not chocolate. Not even cookies. Pink.

As their little hands plied dough away from the heart-shaped cutters and we talked about how much we loved dough and couldn’t wait to eat a fresh out-of-the-oven cookie, I knew with certainty that Valentine’s Day was just a lovely excuse to spend a morning in the kitchen with little girls who would one day discover their own joy for baking with friends.

I hope your own adventures in baking include small children and their valentine, as well as a great story. Just wondering – how much cookie dough can your kids eat?

Dreaming of cookies,

Carol

One of the great mysteries of the kitchen is my knife drawer (it may be the great mystery of any kitchen, actually!). I grew up with a famously awful knife drawer that looks exactly today as it did 30 years ago. Nothing but wooden handled paring, slicing and carving knives that have never seen a knife sharpener and probably never will. However, I think it’s safe to say that unlike my mom, I ponder the health of my knives. For instance, I’ve recently noticed that my knives are just dull. I accept this fact because I figure it has to do with the quality of my knives, not how I treat them (right?). However, this I know: a sharp knife makes prep work go more smoothly, and more safely. A dull knife can be threatening to fingers!

Still, the mystery remains. How do you keep a knife sharp? How often should you sharpen it? What am I supposed to be doing with the knife sharpening rod that came with my entry-level Henkels knife set? Moreover, what am I doing with an entry-level knife set when I love cooking as much as I do? (If you have an answer to any of these questions, I would love to hear from you!)

To unearth these mysteries, I took a field trip to my favorite local kitchen shop – The Cupboard – and consulted Polly Erickson, their in-house knife specialist. Although Polly begged me not to say she was an expert, I will say that she was immensely helpful and served as an excellent resource in helping me learn the basics on the care and maintenance of knives. Here’s what she shared with me….

First off, don’t keep your knives in a drawer (whoops!). You want to keep each blade free from other objects that could chip or ding its integrity. If you have a knife set, it probably came with this standard butcher block keeper. I tossed mine aside b/c I like my counters free of clutter, but now I think I’ll invest in a magnetic strip (like you see in some professional kitchens). This also means keeping your knives OUT of the dishwasher. I know. I know. It pains you think about hand-washing, doesn’t it? Aside from dulling the blade, but according to Polly, dishwashers are hardest on the handle. So, grab your sponge and soap and start scrubbing (gently).

Now that you know where and how to store and care for your knives, here are the basics for keeping your knives super sharp:

Maintenance

You know the knife steel that came with your high carbon stainless steel knife set? It looks like one of these.

Your steel is not for sharpening. It maintains the edge on your knife. Some knife aficionados swear by steeling before and after each use. Do what works for you but develop a good steeling technique. Polly offered this tutorial. Be sure to use a steel that has the same if not greater hardness than your knife, otherwise your knife won’t keep an edge. Also, your steel should be at least 1-inch longer than your longest knife.

The angle you use to steel your knife should be the angle of the knife blade. FYI — European knives are usually 20 degrees, Japanese knives 15 degrees. The hips of some steels (where the handle meets the steel rod) are actually set to help you find this angle. Three to four passes on each side of the blade should do the trick. In addition to the steel rod, I also learned about ceramic and diamond steels. In addition to requiring fewer passes of the knife, the diamond steels I saw had a wider, almost oval shape which offers  greater surface area that some people find more easy to use.

Sharpening

Do this (ideally) every six months. You can get yourself into a quality at-home sharpener for less than $100. Be sure you use the sharpener correctly, and don’t sharpen too frequently or you might take metal off the blade. To eliminate worries of at-home sharpening, you can outsource the job for a minimal fee (for example, The Cupboard charges 25 cents per inch). A commercial grinding stone will give a sharper edge than what you can probably create at home. Ceramic knives are the exception. You typically need to return these to the manufacturer for sharpening.

By the way, a sharp knife is critical for scraping out vanilla bean seeds. Rodelle has a great video that demonstrates this simple task.

Want to know more? Polly recommends Chad Ward’s An Edge in the Kitchen for learning the ins and outs of buying, keeping and using kitchen knives. It’s a great resource! Given that knives are the one kitchen tool I use every single day, and I like my fingers, I think it’s time for a crash course in proper knife etiquette (and I should ask Santa for an 8″ chef’s knife that is worth more than $15). I hope these tidbits inspire you to do the same (if you aren’t already a seasoned pro!).

Thanks to Polly and The Cupboard for their time and participation in this week’s blog!

Keep it sharp,

Carol

Thanks to Joebeone for the magnetic strip photo.

Patience Crackstone and her husband Nathan toiled four days and nights to prepare their Thanksgiving offering, an earthy, roasted arrangement of carrots, squash and leeks that marinated hours in a ginger bath of water and stock before browning in a heavy skillet to bring out the sugars. They sat at the table in their Sunday best, exhausted, yet hopeful. There was much to celebrate.

The Crackstones joined in the First Thanksgiving to share the balance of their harvest and make friends with outsiders. Patience was smart enough to bring along a bottle of Tuaca, to smooth over the exhaustion and bring merriment to others. She blended it with cider and ginger ale, added whole cranberries and kumquats for colorful effect, and heated the brew over a bunsen burner. She enjoyed the hard cider with heavy whipping cream.

As did I, a small, dried blueberry who arrived late with appetizers in tow. It was my first, First Thanksgiving and I wanted to do it right. A blueberry with divergent tastes and a penchant for the nontraditional – hence the blueberry wig and not the pilgrim get-up – I knew my offering would have to satisfy palettes and tummies in a down home comfy way, yet also surprise and delight same palettes and tummies. I found this stuffed mushroom inspiration from one of my favorite blogs and tried out my fantasy sweet potato appetizer recommendation from last week. The Fantasy lives!!

Welcome to the joy of Rogue Rice, a supper club by way of quirky irreverence. My friends Katie and Lera spawned the idea last year – theme-based dinners that feature random concepts (for instance, All Things Pirate), yummy and reasonable food (you can’t spend more than $20 to prepare your offering), and of course, costumes. First Thanksgiving was a must and our team of foodies took to it with great gusto.

Sitting around the table, our collection of Crackstones, Native American goddesses (Skwantina Crackstone – she married Solomon Crackstone), Wishbones and Blueberries shared a meal of fantastic flavor.

Here’s what was on the Rogue Rice First Thanksgiving Menu (a little different to Patience’s all those years ago!):

Roasted Pork Loin
Scalloped Potatoes with Leeks and Nutmeg
Fall Salad with Persimmons, Toasted Hazelnuts, and Tangerine Vinaigrette
Ginger Infused Roasted Carrots, Squash and Leeks
Roasted Asparagus
Buttermilk biscuits
Pumpkin Cheesecake

I think we impressed ourselves. I know I was impressed, especially since our gluten-free Pilgrim Patience fared fantastically well – without us even trying. The only things she said ‘no’ to were the biscuits and the crust from the pumpkin cheesecake. Well done!

Over the evening, our Pilgrim talk – you know, how to survive another winter and where to source down for blankets and slippers – evolved into planning the next Rogue Rice event, which I’m thrilled to say will occur at my humble abode in late January (yes, I’ll have my furniture at last!). I’m keeping that theme under wraps for now. Unless, of course, you guess it, or better yet, share some ideas for future events. The more outlandish the better!!

Looking forward to hearing and sharing your Thanksgiving tales!

Carol

Since that is the standard opening for most conversations, it seemed like an appropriate way to begin our first blog entry. I am so excited to meet you and glad you’re joining me on this blog journey! Although I’m not sure where we’re going to end up (what fun would that be?), I do at least know where we’re going to start: the kitchen.

I’m in love with food because I have learned that making food can be a statement of love. My grandmother taught me to bake. I remember watching, amazed, as her arthritic hands whipped up a batter with ease. It was difficult for her to turn a doorknob, but she could crack and separate a half a dozen eggs within seconds without breaking the delicate yolk membranes. There was something comforting about being in the kitchen with Grandma Elsie as she hummed (pretty tunelessly) to herself, knowing that out of her tupperwared ingredients she would create something tasty and satisfying. Plus, she would always let me lick the beaters! Even though she is no longer around, my grandmother left a lasting legacy in teaching her grandchildren the simple joy of creating food.

I am not (yet) a great chef. In fact, Julia Child would probably consider killing me a justifiable homicide, arguing it was necessary to prevent me from torturing perfectly good ingredients (someday, I’ll tell y’all about the Great Chicken Catastrophe of 2009). But I’m learning! Now that I’m married and I’m not the only one who has to eat my cooking (and my husband doesn’t consider cold cereal an appealing dinner), I am indeed getting better at cooking, although it is not intuitive for me.

Baking, however, is a completely different story. I love everything about baking: the gloopy feel of the wet and dry ingredients being folded together, the blast of heat from the oven as I open the door to peer inside and the wonderful smell of cookies or breads that infiltrates the house, tempting all who walk in and causing my dogs to sniff hopefully at the air. I bake whenever I can find an excuse. Anniversaries, birthdays, holidays and Tuesdays are all acceptable reasons for baking. Yup, I’m that person: the one who bribes coworkers with muffins or bakes a pie for the friend who’s having a bad day. My grandmother’s famous chocolate chip cookie recipe even got me into grad school and my bread nourished my committee members as they poured over my thesis. Food is central to good relationships!

My favorite ingredient has always been vanilla. The subtlety and the depth of vanilla is amazing, making it my not-so-secret ingredient that I add to almost everything I make. However, until recently, I didn’t know very much about vanilla or how it was produced. So, I’ll end this first blog Letterman-style with five things you may not know about vanilla!

5. Vanilla beans come from the only orchid that produces edible fruit (yes, those extremely beautiful plants that require a lot of tender, loving care).

4. Vanilla has 250 taste components (which is why it is so versatile and complex).

3. Vanilla is THE most labor intensive crop in the world.

2. Rodelle Vanilla was established in 1936 in Denver, Colorado. Here’s a historic picture of the original Rodelle building:

1. Imitation vanilla is not only fake (hence, “imitation”) but it is almost entirely comprised of chemicals that are a by-product of the paper industry!

The more I learn about vanilla, the more excited I am to experiment! The real vanilla bean has all kinds of uses and properties. Over the next few months, we’ll explore and test them right here on this blog.

Until next time,

Laura