Dilly Beans

I ask you:  why is it that the shorter days of late-summer seem to come on so much faster than the longer days of spring?

I'm not sure what the answer is, but lately I've felt I've barely been able to keep up -- with work, with cleaning, with the yard, with the garden, with family, with most everything! I long to be outside whenever I can to enjoy the green and the sun and the lushness of the NY summer, yet I'm finding that the days seem to blow by with seemingly little getting crossed off my To-Do list each day.

Thanks to the little guy, we have a candid glimpse of what
his Mama looks like to him while she's working!

I guess it is just a cost of the type of life we've chosen since we moved here. In order to have the pantry and freezer shelves full, there is always something to weed, harvest, clean or preserve.

If we want to have four acres of property to play on and enjoy, there is always something to mow or trim.

In order to have fresh eggs to cook with, there will always be chickens to tend.

I'm not saying I don't enjoy the ways my days are spent; quite to the contrary actually, as I feel richer and happier with my time than perhaps ever before. I just am realizing that my "free" time is now filled in advance. I've chosen to prioritize things whose time-costs are not just in the immediate moment.

This home I'm making isn't just about what I'm doing now, it's also about how what I'm creating impacts how time will be spent building and maintaining it in the future.

I guess reading back on that statement, it sounds pretty obvious, something that most people just move into as they "grow up". For me though, I'm apparently just figuring this all out and these verbalized realizations are good for me.

See? I feel better about this passage of time already! I just need to change the wording of my To-Do list!

That all said, one of the things I've spent some of this fast-passing-time with lately is beans.

I planted a short row of green beans in the garden, and they've produced wonderfully for us. We can pick nearly every third day or so enough to eat fresh with dinner or freeze for the winter, and this had been going on for at least three weeks already. The last batch we picked I decided to preserve a different way:  Dilled.

Here's what I did:

• Washed and Trimmed beans to fit in cleaned jars with 1/2" head space.
• Added one clove of garlic, 1/8 tsp of red pepper flakes and 1 tsp of dill seed to each jar.
• Boiled together 2 1/2 c white vinegar, 2 1/2 c water and a heaping 1/4 cup of kosher salt.
• Once my hot water canner was boiling and ready to go, I added the brine to each jar, still leaving 1/2" head space.
• Processed them 5 minutes at a rolling boil.

They need to sit at least two weeks to dill-ify, at which point I'll let you know how they turn out!

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In other local happenings:

We had a fantastic trip to Wisconsin to attend the wedding of a great friend from Palmer. Below are just a few shots from our "loooonnnggg trip", as it has come to be known as.

Our first rest area stop -
somewhere just inside PA.

Checking out the new DVD player from
GramE - a looonngg trip life saver!

On the playground.

Our friend Tyler and his mini-me, OR
The Bug with his giant-me!

Reading on the hotel bed with friends.

The groom playing music at his own wedding, next to the
new-mom and reverend Geisz.

Playing outside a restaurant near
Kalamazoo, MI on our way home.

Basil Basil Everywhere

It's funny, after a winter of concentrating so hard on eating local, carefully planning and buying just what we would need for a week of eating, the glut of summer produce seems especially... gluttonous! Among other things that those Dark Days taught me, I think I'm even more appreciative of the bounty that we have this time of year, and I'm trying my darndest to not let it, or much of it anyway, go to waste.

Of course I saw it and ate accordingly in the past, but the seasonality of our food has really struck home as of late. I guess I'm just a slow learner. Or maybe life in Southern California all those years spoiled me on the idea that in the "real" world you don't have strawberries and avocado and oranges available and in season and local nearly all year round?

But now I get it.

Early in the year it was the asparagus, then the rhubarb, then spinach and peas, now we have kohlrabi and zucchini, and the tomatoes are just starting to ripen one at a time. Soon I'll have more than I know what to do with, and beans, peppers and eggplant will not be far behind. Carrots and onions and celariac should be ready for storage long before the first frost. It will feel so good.

First zucchini(s?) of the season. We'll probably have at least
one a day now for a while - anyone out there have a favorite
zucchini recipe they want to share?

But right this very moment?  It's basil season.

Raised basil bed, after first major harvest.

Did I mention that I put in some raised beds for the herbs this year? I thought it would be easier to weed and keep the edges tidy that way. It seems to have worked. Of course, I also planted eight plants with several different varieties... so that might also have something to do with my overflowing plants!  

What is one to do with so much of this wonderful green plant anyway?  Some of my favorites are salad dressing, caprese salad, chopped and mixed into salad, sauteed in eggs, veges or pasta, and of course, pesto.

A great hot summer night supper: caprese salad, fresh
sliced kohlrabi and a glass of nicely chilled home made
pinot grigio.

This year, I'm determined to put more of this glorious herb in the freezer than I have in the past. Somehow pulling a container of pesto out and tossing it with pasta or mixing it in soup on a cold, dark winter evening never ceases to bring back wonderful, refreshing memories of summer. I want to be able to do that more often.

Here's what we've been up to:

Pickin' and Washin'

Laid out to dry. For reference, this amount of
basil made two batches of pesto.

One of the varieties of basil I tried this year was
a mammoth - check out the size of the leaves in
front compared to the "usual" ones in back!

I also tried freezing some chopped fresh - I covered them in
water, froze them, then popped them out to store in a
ziplock for quick access.

Pesto making process. Here, I decided to add a little more
garlic after the basil was already ground.

For the freezer, I use short plastic containers, and cover
the pesto directly with plastic wrap to minimize oxidation.

Basil Pesto

My version is not traditional as I put a few "extras" in, but this is how I've grown to like it. It freezes well if I press down some plastic wrap directly onto the pesto before putting on a lid. I tried this year to freeze it in ice cube trays for easy use in soup; it was a little hard to get them out of the trays (maybe I'll oil them first in the future?), but they now sit safely tucked away in a freeezer bag, ready for quick access! Also, I've read that pesto stores best if you don't add the cheese; I've always added it without noticing any ill-effects, but this year I tried it both ways. 'Tis up to you!

3 T pine nuts (or walnuts), toasted

2 large cloves garlic, crushed

big pinch of kosher salt

juice of 1/4 lemon (to taste)

2-3 cups (packed) fresh, cleaned basil leaves

1/2 to 3/4 c olive oil

1/2 to 3/4 c grated romano or parmesean cheese

In a food processor, briefly chop nuts, garlic, and salt. Add basil and lemon and turn on blades again. Drizzle in olive oil until all leaves are processed and pesto is of desired consistency. Stir in cheese. Taste and add more lemon or salt as needed.

Great on toast, stuffed in baked mushrooms with a touch of feta cheese, or of course tossed with pasta and some diced tomatoes.

YUMMM. 

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I other local happenings:

Annual "first Thursday concert of the summer" family picture.

Little Peep is growing up quickly - and
for some reason she LOVES the top of
my head!

My "miscellaneous stuff" kitchen drawer
after an addition by the local toddler.

Said local toddler who got ahold of the camera
and actually managed to get himself in some
of the shots!

Here he actually managed to get ME in a shot!

These 90°+ days, were mighty happy to be able to go for
a swim in the lake! Even when the water's warm, it still cools us down!

Garlic Scape Dip

I finally got around to trying the white bean and scape dip that I mentioned in my last post!

Yumm... so good that I forgot to take a picture of it when it
was first made. This is the little bit we had leftover after
the party! Still good though...

I started with this recipe from the NY Times, which also showed up here and here over the years, among other places. The basic recipe seems always to be the same, but I'll repeat it here, just in case you want to try it "my" way!

Garlic Scape and Cannellini Bean Dip
slightly adapted from the New York Times
1/3 cup garlic scapes, roughly diced (about 4-6 scapes)
1 T lemon juice (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Ground black pepper (to taste)
1 15 oz can Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 c olive oil
1/3 c crumbled feta cheese

Put all ingredients except the oil and feta into a food processor and process until coarsely chopped.
With motor running, drizzle in olive oil until smooth.
Add an additional splash of lemon juice or water if it's too stiff.
Mix in feta by hand, reserving a little to sprinkle on top when serving.
Serve with pita chips, corn chips or as a spread on crostini. Good as a "hummus" type spread on sandwiches too!
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In other local happenings:

The Kendal Kids all came to visit last week when they
dropped of the baby chick for us to raise. We all had so
much fun running around, playing on the jungle gym,
in the creek and with the chickens!

Little Peep - our newest addition to the flock!
Here (s)he is, two weeks old. She was the only
bird who hatched (and lived) from the eggs
that were incubated at Day Care.

We had a great visit this week from my
cousin and her son too, and they brought
such fun toys! The little bug now has his
very own shovel!

Fourth of July Kozlowski Family Portrait (sadly backlit).

Pontoon boat captain.

Playing on the inner tube with Daddy on the Fourth.

Garlic Scape Pesto

I am forty years old and I have a confession to make.

I just this summer found out what a garlic scape is.

It's true. I'd like to think I'm not the very last person on earth who knew what a garlic scape is, but it might not be the case (can anybody out there help me?!). I look on the web now and they're everywhere. I flip through my seed catalog and pictures of them are in there too, I just never noticed. They're at the farmer's market and they're even on Facebook.

Clearly, I've been living under a rock.

But now that I'm out, I'm trying to make short order of making up for lost time!
Last weekend my mother mentioned to me that it was time to cut the scapes from their garlic.

They've probably told me this also each of the last few years also, but I never heard. Or paid attention. Or something. Anyway, she wanted to know if I wanted them.

She originally thought she'd motivate to do something with them, but decided that in reality, it wasn't going to happen. She'd talked with some people at the market who said they were actually quite tasty and my mom thought I might like to try them instead.

Thank goodness I was actually listening this year.  These things are awesome! Not just cool to look at, but fresh, green, garlicy, lively tasting love. How have I lived this long without you, dear beautiful scape?

Here's the story as I know it. There are three main types of garlic - elephant, softneck and hardneck. The elephant variety is actually a different family all together, but is the one with the huge heads, and it tends to be very mild flavored. I don't generally use it at all, despite the temptation of its namesake-sized cloves.

Softneck garlic is the most common commercially grown garlic, and the kind you traditionally see in the markets "braided" together into a beautiful and artsy strand. It tends to have more skins surrounding the head, stores very well, has smaller cloves, and it often grown in warmer climates (southern US, Mexico, South-Western Europe).

Hardneck garlic doesn't store as well, but tends to be the most flavorful, with fewer, larger bulbs than the softneck varieties. It grows a woody stalk or a scape, out of the center of the head of garlic, which comes up and curls out through the greens. If left to grow, a sort of seed head starts to form part way down the scape (thought it's not technically either a seed head or a flower), and it's generally thought that this takes energy away from the growing of the bulb - the part that you want eat. So, most growers remove the scape, right around this time of year.

Luckily, it's a win-win situation for the garlic, and the garlic grower, as, at least for those of us who love garlic, scapes are tasty little treats in and of themselves. They can be eaten fresh (I've chopped and added them to salad or sprinkled them on cream cheese with a bagel), or lightly sautéed (they were fantastic cooked into a spinach frittatta tonight for dinner). They store well, and are easy to clean and use. The flavor is somewhat milder than garlic, but the same taste is decidedly there, with a little bit of "green" added in, if you can imagine what that color tastes like.

I plan to make up some dip of scapes combined and cannellini beans (to which I'll also probably add feta), and I've heard that they make a mean butter for toasted bread -- I'll let you know how both those come out, but I'll give you a hit about the other thing I've done with them so far, and it has to do with pasta.

I've said it before and I'll say it again now: how can you go wrong???

Garlic Scape Pesto
adapted from Dorie Greenspan 

10* garlic scapes, cleaned and tough ends removed, then diced
1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
1/3 cup nuts**, toasted if desired
sea salt to taste
lemon to taste
about 1/2 cup or so olive oil***

Combine scapes and nuts in food processor. Blend until finely chopped. Add cheese, salt and lemon, then drizzle in oil with blades turning until you have the desired consistency.
Eat immediately (on hot or cold pasta, with tomatoes and/or lightly steamed asparagus, spread on toast, etc).
I assume that like basil pesto, if sealed properly it will also freeze well, or at least I hope so!

* In my limited experience, I found when chopped into roughly 1/2 inch pieces, this was about a cup and a half of the greens
** I tried this recipe with almonds (toasted), walnuts (toasted) and pistachios (not toasted). All were excellent, but if I had to chose a favorite, it was (surprisingly) the walnut version. I'm sure it would also be excellent with pine nuts (toasted), but I wasn't willing to part with that many of them in one shot for some reason!
*** For the walnut version of the pesto, I actually used about half olive and half walnut oil. Perhaps this is why I liked it best - it seemed lighter somehow than the full olive oil versions.

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In other local happenings:

The kitchen help only sticks around these days
when he can get his hands on  black olives...

and clearly if I'm not careful, I'm going to lose
him to a career of bus driving.

Then again, both my boys seem to
enjoy riding slides!

If you can combine the two pictures above, you'll have one
good one of my three favorite men on Father's Day.

The father's day present to the Dad who has it all?
Littleneck clams and a cold Genny Cream Ale, of course!

For Father's Day, we grilled in the park, and this Daddy even
brought cream, sugar and a whisk to make the "icing" for
the strawberry shortcake. How lucky are WE?

Enjoying said whooped cream!

The already nice evening ended with a gorgeous sunset...

Our best to all of you...