Looks like rat turds. There will be panic!

What are you doing for New Year’s Eve?!

Most of the students within our Study Abroad program are in Paris right now. Two students, my mother being one of them, chose not to go to Paris, and it was my duty to stay behind and lead them on an excursion somewhere in the UK instead. So today the three of us went to York. We had a blast, and some of the sillier travel flubs that my mother and I made will likely wind up as funny stories for #ds106radio in a while.

We spent most of the day wandering around York’s city center and enjoying ourselves. When we got back to Nottingham my mom made up this dessert, pictured above, from ingredients obtained while exploring York, and she decided to call it a York Biscuit. Here is how to make one:

Go to York. Walk up the Shambles to the Little Shambles Tea Room, have an English breakfast for lunch, and then go out into the open air market near the butcher shop and buy some locally grown fresh strawberries and some clotted cream. Tip the purple man so he will move. Have Constantine direct you to York Minster and have a look around inside. Note the health benefits of bile beans. Take a walk on a fortress wall. Enjoy afternoon tea at Betty’s, and buy Chocolate Orange Crisps on your way out. Take all purchased food home with you.

Once home, top a Chocolate Orange Crisp with a generous portion of clotted cream, then top with strawberries, and you have a York Biscuit.

My hubby complains from time to time that the store only has apricot jam, no peach jam. So I decided to lease a peach tree from local Schnepf Farms – they’ve been growing organic peaches for 45 years. The variety of peach tree we got is Earligrande – they ripen early, and, man, are they ever grand!

Our peach tree ripened during the last two weeks of May, and I ended up with 17 boxes of fresh, juicy, sweet and delicious peaches. Probably somewhere between 100 – 120 pounds of peaches. I’d say we consumed or shared 3 boxes worth of them fresh. Plus I went crazy buying jars and canned pints and quarts for just under two weeks. I’ve become a peach peeling and peach pitting expert. I have a peach pit callous on my index finger. And I’m proud of it!

The final tally:

• 5 pints Peach Raspberry Freezer Jam
• 5 pints Peach Cherry Almond Freezer Jam
• 8 8oz jars Peach Butter
• 6 pints Spirited Peaches
• 4 pints Peach BBQ Sauce
• 11 pints Honey Spiced Peaches
• 1 quart Honey Spiced Peaches
• 2 pints Curried Peach Sauce
• 3 quarts Peach Pie Filling
• 10 quarts Peach Halves in Syrup
• 5 pints Peach Pistachio Chutney
• 4 pints Peach Cherry Chutney
• 5 pints Peach Jam
• 2 8oz jars Peach Jam
• 2 10in Peach Pies
• 2 9in Peach Pies
• 2 pounds dehydrated peaches

I have a new nickname. My husband now calls me “Peaches,” and I don’t mind one bit.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque, that is, as concocted and published by PJ Mullen, who says, and I completely agree, that “a dad’s place is in the kitchen.” I made a big bad batch of this soup today, and my taste-buds are singing!

Like Mullen, my dad did a lot of the home cooking while my mom toiled away at the office. Like Mullen, my dad loved to experiment in the kitchen and was always tweaking recipes, figuring out how to make them better. Unlike Mullen, my dad got stuck on the zucchini end of the squash spectrum, and spent way, way too much time figuring out different things to stuff into them. Unlike Mullen, my dad never got around to butternut squash.

Which is why, having bought several pounds of Maya’s butternut squash, I needed recipe ideas to use it up, and gratefully found myself ogling Mullen’s beautiful bisque. Thick, hearty, creamy, good for you and resonant with the flavors of fall. The longer I watched him make it, the more I had to make my own. And I have to say, after tasting the soup, the vanilla bean was truly a genius move.

Of course, like my dad would have, I tweaked Mullen’s recipe to what I had on hand. I was out of celery, so I threw in an extra apple. I let my onion really caramelize in the pan before adding the apple. Instead of using 6 cups of broth I used four. I replaced the remaining 2 cups of broth called for with the zest and juice of three oranges, because here in Phoenix, citrus is a Fall Flavor, too. I had no fresh ginger, so I tossed in a little ground ginger just before blending the soup. Being too lazy to go get celery, do you think I went and got mascarpone? If you guessed no, you are right. My finishing touch was a simple sprinkle of toasted walnuts on top.

But the soup is it’s-rainy-and-cold-out-and-I-want-something-warm-and comforting-inside-me heaven. We ate it for dinner, I’ve got two more servings in the fridge for later this week, and six more in the freezer for the next rainy day. And a new blog, peaches en risotto, to drool all over whenever I need food ideas.

I can’t help it, friends. He’s still new to us, and it’s a delight getting to know this little guy. I may as well share my delights. I hope you understand.

It’s silly but I was really worried about this when I planted my watermelons back in February. I’ve never grown them before. I had no idea how big this variety gets, and no idea how to decide whether the melon was ripe. I was really worried I would waste my first, great big watermelon by either harvesting it while it was unripe, or accidentally letting it rot by not picking it in time. Hurray for the internet!

I learned there are three things to look for:

1. The tendril:  When the tendril closest to the melon dries up and turns brown, you know the plant is no longer sending water to the melon. It’s not going to get any larger from this point on. (Use common sense here: if the leaves are dried up, too, that’s water stress, not ripeness.)
2. The creamy spot:  There should be a creamy white or yellow spot where the watermelon rests against the ground. (This presumes you haven’t disturbed its natural orientation.) My husband says the spot should be yellow, not white, but as he’s never grown watermelon either, and hasn’t cited any source, I have know way of judging the credibility of that statement. (Yes, I fact-check my hubby.)
3. The sound:  The melon should sound hollow when you hold it to your ear and thump it. Personally, this is the most difficult test for me, because I grew up eating watermelon from the grocery store, where they are all presumably ripe. They certainly all sounded the same to me. But growing my own, I was able to thump the young ‘uns and compare that sound to the ripe melon. So now I think I’ve got this part down.

The video was shot with my iPhone on July 20. Unfortunately I never got to share this watermelon with my Mom as intended. We forgot to eat it while she was in town. Fortunately, since I harvested this one, I got four more, so I’ll be taking a couple up to her house this weekend. They are SO good. And I love this one-or-two-serving-size variety – it makes much more sense for a small household.

This will be one of my last garden reports for this growing season, if not the very last. As you’ll see in the video, my poor plants are frying in the intense 115ËšF heat.

Just a little tour showing progress so far. Nothing easier than rolling outside with my phone and shooting a little Qik video. I’ve got plants. Most of them I started from seed. Most of them grew. Hurray me! Soundtrack by local birds. Guest appearance by White Kitty.

Now, I don’t remember what date I shot it, or what I wanted to say. Duh.

My favorite thing about buying locally grown produce is that it forces me to be creative in order to use whatever happens to be fresh. I go shopping with a general plan, but instead of knowing I need potatoes, I might know I need “some starchy vegetable” and I get my choice of all kinds of great stuff, but I could end up with jicama or turnips instead of potatoes. That means I have to be flexible and let the food inspire me. In turn that makes me feel very alive, instead of like a cooking robot sticking grimly to the shopping list and the menu plan.

So, the other night at the market there was this cutie little mix of Heirloom tomatoes, cherry size, that came in four colors. When I was washing them at home, I noticed I’d squashed one in my grocery bag, so of course I ate it on the spot. Oh! My! Goodness! It was super delicious, almost like a summer tomato, only less acidic, with a mellow sweet tang. I knew some of these babies would have to be lunch the next day.

In the cabinet I had half a pound of orzo pasta and in the fridge some leftover feta cheese. I remembered a Food Network recipe for Orzo with Feta and Tomatoes and decided to make it. It called for pasta, feta cheese, grape tomatoes and fresh parsley. Had all that stuff. But I also had a couple roasted red peppers left over from when I wrapped them around goat cheese last week, and half a handful of leftover chopped scallions I’d used for a garnish on some Thai noodles. Meanwhile, I had bought fresh dill at the market, and I love, love, love tomatoes with dill. While the pasta boiled, I did the minimal prep work of halving the tomatoes, chopping fresh parsley and dill, and cutting the peppers into bite-sized pieces.

So the improvised recipe turned out to be:

• half a pound of orzo pasta
• a handful of feta cheese crumbles
• fresh parsley
• fresh dill
• half a pint of mixed cherry tomatoes, halved
• two roasted red peppers, chopped
• half a handful of chopped chives
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

After draining the pasta, I mixed in the butter and oil and feta, then dropped in everything else and tossed it a bit. It was so good I completely forgot about fresh ground pepper or salt.

This will serve 2-3 people as a meal, or four people as a side dish.

All this local, organically grown produce was $24 at Downtown Phoenix Public Market. I joined Maya’s Farm CSA tonight, too. That means next week I’ll get a dozen fresh eggs and a share of whatever vegetables have just been picked. So I better get cooking! Usually this many veggies last Gary and I a couple of weeks.

I chose Maya’s Farm because Maya herself was selling me the vegetables, and her farm is just ten miles from my house. My CSA membership is for three months – actually a little less, just whatever is left in the season. Maya offered to prorate the amount or just let me beef up my share with some additional selections from her market tables. I took the beef-up option. I also gave her all my saved up egg cartons to fill up with more eggs! Reuse, better than recycling.

Maya’s stand looked so beautiful – everything there was top notch. I’m pretty excited! I think her produce will keep me motivated until I get my own garden in the ground.

Tim Tams in hand, you brew up your favorite tea or coffee. Take a Tim Tam and bite off two diagonally opposite corners. Seal your lips around one corner, dunk the other corner in your hot drink, and suck the liquid up through the Tim Tam. As soon as the liquid hits your tongue, slam the Tim Tam in your mouth and savor the melty chocolaty goodness.

Repeat as often as necessary.

This video was shot and edited entirely in my Xacti HD1A camera, my new favorite method for getting video up quickly. I have not been compensated by Arnott’s, but if they ever want to pay me in Tim Tams I’ll make all the ads they want. Yum!

The funny thing is, I never had any idea where the place was. The phone number was on the fridge. The menu was in a drawer. They showed up at the door. With great food. This is something I never questioned, never thought about. It just was, and boy, was it good.

When I moved back to Phoenix, I missed this food so much I could barely believe it. After fifteen years, I still dream about those egg rolls. I could remember exactly how they tasted. The only other foods I dream about, with the exception of a certain Mexican food restaurant here in Phoenix, are foods my mom, dad, or grandma made when I was a kid. So it’s a big deal that I dream of Pekin House egg rolls.

So when I went to Chicago for BlogHer this past summer, I had to see if I could find the place. I found an address on the web, and figured out how to get there. It would be a 45 minute journey by El-train and bus from my hotel room. I talked up these egg rolls all day long to everyone I met, but at the end of the day, nobody wanted to be adventurous and go with me.

There was no way I was going to give up on these egg rolls, so I went all by myself, even though my very favorite thing is sharing good food with friends.

So I brought you with me. It was better with you there. We had an adventure together on the streets of Chicago. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you that you came with me for this long. Thanks so much for coming along with me. It really meant a lot for me to share this with you.

I got truly crappy audio in the restaurant, because I was a little embarrassed sitting there telling my camera about dinner, so I did it quietly. I got even worse audio on the El, because it’s just so loud. So I subtitled myself. If you have trouble reading the wee little version, consider downloading the mid-size.

Oh, and you should be amused. Jeffery and I have the same apron, and we both posted cooking episodes for NaVloPoMo Day 11.

Potato Soup

very slightly adapted from The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas

Ingredients

• 5 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 – 4 leeks, finely chopped
• 4 cups water
• 1.5 cups milk or cream
• 2 Tbs dill weed
• 1 tsp salt
• fresh-ground pepper
• 2 – 3 Tbs sour cream
• butter
• garnish options: chopped chives, parsley, fresh dill, basil

Instructions

Simmer potatoes and leeks in salted water about 30 minutes, until they’re tender. Add milk (or cream) and dill. It will be salty enough, but add pepper to taste. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes until you reach your preferred consistency and the potatoes are falling apart a little.

Now stir in a few tablespoons of sour cream and a tablespoon or so of butter. Let that heat through, and serve. Garnish with chopped chives or whatever fresh herb seems yummiest to you.

Makes 4 – 6 servings (4 in my house).

Potato Peel Broth aka Garbage Soup

Ingredients

• peels from 5 – 7 large, healthy potatoes
• 1 large onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 small stalk of celery
• sprig of parsley (optional)
• clove of garlic (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Quarter the onion. Cut the carrots and celery into large pieces. Put the potato peels and veggies in a big pot with 1.5 quarts of water. Add parsley and/or garlic cloves if you want them. You can add any other vegetable bits you want to pull nutrients from before they hit your compost heap. Squash, green bean ends, carrot tops, broccoli leaves, the tough outer skin from beets, anything.

Keep adding water as it evaporates so everything stays covered. Simmer this concoction over low heat for at least 1.5 hours, until everything is very soft. At that point, you can go one of two ways:

1. For a clear broth, just drain off the liquid and correct the seasoning.
2. If you want a thin puree-like consistency, remove the celery and garlic and put the rest through a sieve or food mill.

Your broth will be light brown in color, fragrant and delicious. It’s a great starter for almost any soup. Store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it, but try to use it within 5 – 7 days.

Makes about 6 cups.

Sheesh.

You want more self-confidence in your bread-baking vlogger chick? You want the recipe written down? Then check out MissBHaven’s exemplary good eatin’ vlog post about the no knead bread. You want a piece of me? You want a piece of bread?