Salsa Verde Variation

I still have a lot of tomatillos to harvest, yet I choose to do things in bite sized, manageable doses. So today I made a batch of salsa verde ...


Tomatillo Salsa
11 cups tomatillos, husked, cored and chopped

2 cups red onion, diced
1 1/2 cup green cayenne peppers, sliced in rings 1/2 cup sweet pepper, diced
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup apple cider vinegar
8 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt

Clean and sterilize your canning jars and lids, keeping everything hot until ready for packing. Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive pan, bring to the boil and reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes. Load up the jars, leaving 1/2 inch head room, cap and process in boiling water for 30 minutes (for pint jars). More detail can be found at Tigers & Strawberries which is where I found the recipe to adapt to what I had on hand.

If I had waited one more day, or even until evening, I could have added some nice organic cumin, but it arrived with my herb order after I was done. No worries though, I'll be making more because it came out quite tasty and I love the color that the red onion leant to it!

Also, I choose to leave the cilantro out and add it at serving time. I have a "pesto" supply of cilantro in my freezer and I prefer the bright flavor that it adds, when I don't have it fresh from the garden, that is.

That's what I made today. 

Peace.

Grape Vine Wreaths

The Boy cleared a patch of our little acre and amid the brush and such were grape vines. Lots of them. So I made wreaths. The Boy even made a couple. I made other stuff too and now I'm too tired to share them with you.

That's what I made today. Peace.

T-Shirt Yarn

This morning I made time to go through my crafting bookmarks and I rediscovered this tutorial for making t-shirt yarn. Well, I was inspired to search through my Goodwill bags for t-shirts so I could try this technique, which is, by the way, simply brilliant. I'll be making more. I'm not sure what I'll be creating with these first few balls, but I'm sure some strands will find their way into some Spirit Cords and I'm thinking upcycled cotton place mats and pot holders are in my future.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Harvests to Seed

Autumn arrived to my little acre early this morning and I was awake, up and ready to greet her. Rains fell, off and on, all day, so garden harvesting was kept to just what I needed for lunch and dinner. I made packets for my keeping seeds and spun more Spirit Cords.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Merry Autumn, or Spring as the case may be!

My Way Back to the Garden

Today the garden dried up enough to get out in it. Many of the squash vines were strained, dying or dead so I harvested a few of the colorful fruits. There are still more to harvest, but so far there's several meals in my future.

That's what I made today. Peace.

A Return

I woke up in my own bed this morning after a week away. It felt good, yet somehow I woke ripe with frustration and seething with more than a little anger. I got up, banged some stuff around while I fixed my tea. I journaled, finished unpacking and reorganizing, plowed through email, and started spinning some new Spirit Cords. All of these things proved to be good Medicine, especially the spinning. When the rain finally came, I went outside, despite the chill, and stood rooted in it to receive a blessed cleansing. While I was out there I picked a few onions and herbs to use with this evening's dinner. I still have messages and calls to return, laundry to do and other tasks to catch up on, but I'm almost home now.

I returned home to gorgeous clouds, circling birds of prey, the song of crow, baskets of tomatoes, a waning moon and a journal giveaway at Herbal Roots Zine. Be sure to drop by and leave a comment to enter to win my autumn inspired mini journal called, Goldenrod.

So, despite the rocky start to my day, I'm feeling more settled, centered, grounded … returned. Peace.

A Fresh Batch of Spirit Cords

I was expecting to be on the road today, but a change in travel plans opened up the day for me to do … whatever!  It was chill and damp, with some pretty steady rains throughout the morning, so I pulled out my fibers and yarns, expressed gratitude for the opportunity, and began spinning some new Spirit Cords.

That's what I made today. Peace.

A Recipe Concession - Pizza Dough

If you're a regular follower of this blog you probably already know that I don't really follow recipes when cooking. To me, cooking is mostly an intuitive alchemy that leans to what is fresh, local and otherwise at hand. Nonetheless, I do have a few guidelines that even I follow. Mostly.

Yesterday I made two pizzas and each of the bread doughs were slightly different. Both had (or as close as I get to) the same measures of wet ingredients, but one was made with less flour than the other, based on the following recipe:

Pizza Dough - enough for one large pie

Ingredients:

1. 1 ⅓ to ⅔ cups of bread flour (or any glutenous flour or flour combo you have on hand)
2. a healthy pinch of salt (about ½ teaspoon, I suppose)
3. ⅔ cup of tepid water
4. a healthy pinch of sugar (about ½ teaspoon) - cane, honey, molasses, maple syrup … (optional)
5. 1 tablespoon of yeast
6. olive oil (about a ½ teaspoon)

I blend the first two ingredients in my food processor, fitted with the bread blade, though any blade will do.

Mix the sugar into the water until blended and then stir in the yeast. The liquid will become active within minutes (how many minutes, depends on the temperature of the kitchen). Once the liquid is active and foamy I turn on the processor and slowly add all the liquid. A ball of dough will form and I let that process/knead for several seconds.

Make ready a separate bowl by coating the bottom and sides with a little olive oil. Transfer the dough into this bowl and turn it in the oil so that all sides of the dough get lightly oiled. Cover the bowl with a cloth and place it in a warm, quiet place to rise until doubled in size (about 30 minutes, but again, this depends on the temperature of your kitchen).

Once the dough is risen, turn it out onto floured board and roll out to your desired pizza shape. Place it on your desired cooking surface (a heated stone, a cookie or pizza sheet with organic corn meal or parchment paper) and let it rest in a quiet place while you prepare the toppings and preheat the oven.

The toppings can be virtually anything, like those offered in yesterday's post. This is where I really exercise my free will and creativity!

Preheat the oven to its hottest setting, mine is 550° F. Get your the toppings on the pizza dough in whatever way pleases you. Once the oven is hot, bake the pizza for about 15 minutes. Then slide the finished pizza onto a cutting surface, slice and … enjoy!

There. A recipe. Ya happy? ::grin::

Peace.

Pies of Foolish Love

Among other activities, today I made two pizzas. One with rather standard fare, onions, peppers, hot italian sausage, fresh parsley, tomatoes, mozzarella and pecorino romano.

The other with grilled eggplant and peppers, fresh tomatoes, chinese leeks, parsley, provolone and pecorino romano. I'll be visiting my mom and I always make some slices for her freezer.

Peace.

Tomato Puree

… Now … Back to work with me!

Peace.

September Harvests

Today tomatoes were harvested, sorted and several roasted. They will become puree for canning (The Boy is putting them through the mill as I type). Beans were picked, prepped, blanched, packaged and frozen. We enjoyed a big bowl of beans with dinner, slathered with fresh garlic, sea salt and extra virgin olive oil. A big tomato salad too, with cucumbers, and grilled, marinated eggplant.

One freezer, recently defrosted and cleaned, was plugged back in so that tomorrow I can begin loading it up with this year's goodies and transferring the contents from the second freezer so that it, too, may be defrosted, cleaned and made ready for more garden goodness and pasture-raised beef that expect later in the season.

That's what I made today. Peace.