CSA Week #4 and a Midsummer Night's Feast

This summer has been flying by with trips, weddings, showers, friends, all the wonderful things to fill summer with.  But this weekend I purposefully made absolutely no plans and vowed to let the weekend run its own natural course.  After staying in with CC on Friday night I was well rested for Saturday and looking back, I can't think of a more complete or perfect summer day.

I went to an early yoga class at Cleveland Yoga and then headed to Shaker Square to pick up our CSA share at the North Union Farmers Market.  On my way I did a quick drive by of the new house and it is less than 15 minutes from my yoga studio, yay.  CSA Week #4 brought broccoli, sugar snap peas, radishes, summer squash, a big white turnip, and some spinach. While at the market I also picked up a 4 lb. whole Tea Hills chicken, a pint of local blueberries, a dozen eggs, and some garlic.  

Next stop, Gallucci's Italian grocery store.  I am a serious sucker for cheese samples and couldn't leave without the peppery pecorino they had on special.  I also picked up fresh mozzarella, cerignola olives, and a big bottle of citrus sangria.  While I was in the store, a monsoon hit Cleveland.  With all this food and rainy skies, all I wanted to do for the rest of the day was cook.  So I invited Rae Rae and Monster and her bf over for a feast.  Now if you are reading this and I didn't invite you over, I'm sorry but my current apartment has a max 4 guest limit.  I can't wait until I am in the new house and can invite many more.

While prepping, CC mentioned that he would like to go to Lily's Handmade Chocolates in Tremont to pick up some beer for dinner.  In addition to the best and prettiest chocolates, Lily's also sells unique beers which you can mix to make your own six pack.  I picked up my own version of a 'make your own six pack' and bought a six piece of her handmade chocolates (After I wrote that sentence I had to get up and eat one.  Went with Pistachio - bittersweet sea salt ganache and milk chocolate with chopped pistachios on top).  I also have some BIG NEWS - see bottom.

Next stop, Westside Market.  I guess I felt the need to somehow hit all my favorite Cleveland food sources in one day.  I picked up more lemons and limes and some poppyseed from the Mediterranean Store.  I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen cooking up the menu shown in pictures below.  Dinner was lovely and followed by dancing and a lot of 'cheers' at Dive Bar.  Overall the perfect day!

Citrus sangria: wine, lemons, limes and peaches soaked in sugar and brandy, and tonic

Tea Hills whole roast chicken with fresh rosemary, garlic, and lemon

Pan-Roasted Turnips with Poppy and Paprika from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano

Cherries, olives, and pecorno cheese

CC's homemade pizza with fresh mozz, tomatoes, basil, sea salt and olive oil

Rae Rae's summer berry salad (greens, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, grapes, brie, and raspberry vinaigrette)

Not pictured:  Mint Sugar Snap Peas (awesome), Blueberry Boy Bait with Blueberry Sauce (very awesome)

BIG NEWS: The culmination of my life's work will take place this Sunday, July 19 at 6:00 pm at the Taste of Tremont.  I am in a chocolate eating contest sponsored by Lily's Handmade Chocolates!!!!  I'm competing against 4 others to eat as much chocolate as I can in 1 minute with no hands to win a six piece box of Lily's amazing chocolates, a t-shirt and serious bragging rights.  Come watch!!

Feast Menu for the Fourth

I spent the holiday weekend in Indy with my college roommates. Miss Marti (previously referred to as Monk) has a gorgeous condo built in a converted church that housed two from Cleveland, two from Columbus, two from Cinci, one from Nashville, one from Louisville, and two cuddly lap dogs for the weekend. Our roommie reunions are always filled with laughter, dance parties, baked goods, lounging and over eating - just like college!

Friday night we planned a birthday party for Rachie with some of her favorite foods. Thanks to Ness for great planning and for Snickerdoodle for sending a menu recap. Here we go, we had: puppy chow, Martha's sugar cookies (and I don't mean Stewart), quinoa salad, labor intensive salt and vinegar potatoes (which made even better second day hash browns), mango guacamole with scoops and hint of lime chips, cheese fondue with bread, broccoli, and cauliflower for dipping, strawberry citrus salad, watermelon, Asian marinated grilled flank steak, and grilled corn on the cob. The cocktail of the weekend was Miss Marti's concoction of Absolute Pear Vodka with a splash of cranberry. I would normally never think to buy pear vodka, but this drink was the perfect summer fare pairing.

After dinner we convinced Rachie to go to the movie store, although she knew something was in the works. While she was gone, we decorated the condo and assembled quite possibly the best and easiest birthday cake ever - a krispy kreme pyramid!! Complete with sparkler on top. Happy Birthday Rachie and America!

We had grand plans for Saturday's Holiday Festivities, but the Indy weather was rainy and gray. So instead, we lounged, played wii, drank a ton of PBR, and of course ate way more than we needed to. The theme of our reunions is always something like this, "I am so full...(rub belly or lay on floor), why am I still eating?? (grab cookie)" What a great weekend, I love these girls!

In house news, my offer was accepted by the seller! Monday evening I had an inspection done and I signed the loan application last night. So if all the loan stuff comes through I will be a home owner by the end of this month!! This has all happened really quickly and I am nervous to become such a grown up, but very excited to live in this beautiful home!

One Perk of the Niles Commute

Is that I hear the Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor at 8:30 on WYSU. I loved this morning's poem. Probably because it combines love and food, enjoy:

Terms of Endearment
by Sue Ellen Thompson from The Leaving: New and Selected Poems

Sweet biscuit of my life,
I've been thinking of your smile
and how I'd steal a little bite
of it if you were here; of the delights

I've known in the alleyway between
the whitewashed storefronts of your teeth;
of how I've pressed one smithereen
after another of mille-feuille, mousseline

of late-night conversation upon your lips,
forever poised at the brink of kissdom,
their slightest sigh enough to lift
a tableskirt. Perfectest pumpkin

in the patch, your heft on mine
is what I crave, your brows so fine
I could not carve them with a steak knife.
You have the acorn eyes

of the football season, the ass
of an autumn afternoon, of boys en masse
in soccer shorts. Yours is the vast
contained candescence of a Titian under glass,

it is the gold leaf laid
by February sun, the lemonade's
pale wash in August. Should you fade,
like sun on windowsills crocheted

with shadow, then suddenly gone dark,
your face will leave its watermark
upon this page, which is already part
of love's confection, our little work of art.

Terms of Endearment" by Sue Ellen Thompson, from The Leaving: New and Selected Poems. © Autumn House Press, 2001.

CSA Week 2 and Poached Egg Salad

This week’s CSA share was similar to the last week, more radishes, broccoli, green onions.  It also brought mixed greens and an asian cabbage.  I have been beginning to learn more about the Slow Food movement and I pick my CSA up on Saturdays at the North Union Farmers Market in Shaker Square which is Northeast Ohio local food market.  One of the pioneers of the Slow Food Movement is Alice Waters.  Her book, The Art of Simple Food, is the perfect companion for the CSA share and tonight I made a variation of her Poached Egg and Curly Endive Salad.  I subbed the mixed greens for the endive and apple cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar.  It was fresh and immensely satisfying on a hot Sunday night paired with a gin and tonic. 

Poached Egg with Curly Endive Salad

Remove the dark green outer leaves from :

2 large heads of curly endive 

Separate into individual leaves and wash and dry well.

Cut into 1/3 inch pieces:

2 bacon slices

Warm in a small heavy pan, over medium heat:

2 tablespoons olive oil

Add the bacon pieces and cook until brown and rendered, but not crisp.  Remove from the pan.  Pour off the fat from the pan and reserve.  

To make the dressing:

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Salt and fresh ground pepper

1 garlic clove, crushed

Whisk in:

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons bacon fat

Taste for salt and acid and adjust as needed.

Fill a heavy saucepan with 4 cups water and add:

1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Heat to just below simmer and slide in:

4 eggs, cracked from their shells

Poach egg for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes.  Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the water and keep warm/  Put the vinaigrette into a large bowl (remove the crushed garlic), add the bacon, and put the bowl over the pan of hot water to warm.  Add the greens and toss well.  Divide the greens among 4 warm plates.  Gently blot the eggs dry, and put 1 egg on top of each salad.  Grind a little black pepper over the top and serve immediately.

I love the flavor that a small amount of bacon can add, but omitting the bacon and increasing the amount of olive oil in the dressing this salad could easily be vegetarian.

Things have been hectic lately.  I have been working on a client in Niles, which means adding a 1 hour 20 minute commute each way to work.  I have been spoiled living downtown and I don’t know how people commute like this all the time.  It is aggravating to spend so much time in the car.  The time is completely unproductive, and though I have become well versed on current events by listening to NPR, I could not do this on a long term basis.  

CC and I have grand plans to take full advantage of the Obama stimulus programs.  The cash for clunkers program was pretty much written for his 12 mpg, 220,000+ mile Ford Explorer.  And I have been house hunting in hopes of taking advantage of the $8k tax credit.  Me and pretty much everyone else I know is seriously house hunting, so I would dare to say this program is going to be a huge success.  

I love downtown, but I have also fallen in love with Shaker Square.  The Square has everything I am looking for in a community: an array of restaurants, coffee shop, grocery store, movie theater, dry cleaner, train station, art galleries, CVS, and a weekly local farmers market.  I put an offer in on a house that is walkable to the Square - keep your fingers crossed for me!!   I did a test drive on taking the rapid train into downtown from the Square and I loved it!  Hopefully soon I will be making that commute on a regular basis. 

Garlic Scapes and Radishes: C.S.A Week #1

This summer I joined a CSA. What is a CSA some of you may ask? Well it stands for Community Supported Agriculture and it means that you pre-purchase a share of a farm's harvest. My friend Blaze (lives in Nashville) joined one last summer that she raved about and this summer Ruby and I joined the Covered Bridge Gardens. For the next sixteen weeks we will be receiving a portion of the latest pickings and last night I picked up the first share: popcorn, green onions, garlic scapes, broccoli, and radishes.


I started with the popcorn, popped in a little oil on the stove; fresh and white and lovely with a little truffle salt and fresh rosemary.


Next up are the radishes. Taking inspiration from the Greenhouse Tavern, I am going to keep the radishes simple and let their spicy flavor shine by eating them with just a dab of herbed butter. I will herb the butter with some of the garlic scapes and green onions, fresh basil and rosemary, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.


I'm not very familiar with garlic scapes (AKA green garlic) so I did some googling and came across this article from the June 2008 NY Times on having "A Garlic Festival without a Single Clove". I am going to make the White Bean and Garlic Scape dip to take down to Columbus with me this weekend. I think it will be perfect with carrots and celery sticks and pita triangles.



White Bean and Garlic Scape Dip

1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (3 to 4)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt, more to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling.

1. In a food processor, process garlic scapes with lemon juice, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process to a rough purée. 2. With motor running, slowly drizzle olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. Pulse in 2 or 3 tablespoons water, or more, until mixture is the consistency of a dip. Add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if desired. 3. Spread out dip on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with more salt.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups.

Blood Type "O"?

Calling all “O” blood types! I have a friend with a beautiful wife and young daughter who need your help. Please read the e-mail below and consider changing this family’s life forever.

Dear friends and colleagues -

Matthew and I are writing today to make you aware of a problem we're facing, and to ask for your help. This is very hard for us - given that we're typically private people and try not to impose on others. Matthew is facing severe kidney failure. It has come to a point where he requires a kidney transplant - and the sooner the better given the fact that he's a type 1 diabetic. We're trying to avoid dialysis as long as possible since the process boosts one's immune system and increases the odds of rejecting a donor organ. However, the toxins in Matthew's body continue to build, he's facing severe back pain and fatigue, and his kidney function continues to decline.

We're reaching out today to ask your help in locating a potential donor. We're looking for possible kidney donors that are an "O" blood type, under the age of 70, with no known history of cancer, diabetes, or kidney problems.

Our friends have told us to ask as many people as possible for help and we're taking their advice. If possible, could you please forward this email to others in your life (friends, co-workers, church groups) to help us reach as many potential donors as possible? It's amazing to read stories about complete strangers willing to share life with someone; it's truly a selfless, altruistic gift.

For anyone willing to consider donating, we have five locations that are screening candidates, with additional sites in the works. All the hospitals have donor coordinators, so the candidate would simply call one of the numbers below, and mention that they're considering donating to Matthew Figgie (and have your blood type handy, because they'll ask!). The donor coordinator will ask a series of questions about the caller's blood type and medical history. After this cursory review, the hospital will determine if the potential donor should come in for some preliminary testing.

Thank you for your continued support, your good thoughts as we work through this process, and any help you can provide by passing this message along. We try to keep a positive approach, and our little Madeline (2 years old already!) helps us remember what's important in life.

Sincerely,
Matthew, Betsy & Madeline Figgie

University Hospitals
Janie Morrison
216-844-7064

Cleveland Clinic
Gloria Oster
216-444-0486

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Angela Barber
412-647-5489

The Ohio State University Medical Center
Bonnie Warrens and Leah Huhn
614-293-6724 (#4)

Johns Hopkins Transplant Center
Athelene Henry (410-614-6604) or Patricia Deberry (410-614-9345)

Washington DC Trip - Video

I finished it!  I have mentioned it several times, and I have finally finished editing my video of our trip to DC over Memorial Day Weekend.  This time I uploaded it to YouTube and I think the video quality comes through better, especially if you select "HQ" (although I noticed it looks about 100% better on the Mac vs. the PC, I'm just sayin'...)  Song credits: "Lovers in Japan" by Coldplay and "The Story I Heard" by Blind Pilot.

Back in November, I wrote about losing both of my maternal grandparents within 3 weeks of each other.  It was a tough time for our family, and this trip was one of the first times we have gathered to celebrate joyous occasions:  one cousin graduating from college, another with two beautiful children, and an uncle's 63rd birthday.  It was a wonderful trip and I think our happiness shines through.  Enjoy!