Kohlrabi Slaw

Perhaps I should have called this post "What the heck am I going to do with that?" or "What to make with the strange things in your CSA box." As I mentioned in my last post I am sharing a CSA box with my cousin and his wife. We have been getting delicious vegetables, lots of greens. We haven't had much sun in Maine, well we have had sun but we have also had A LOT OF RAIN. Like MEGA downpours and thunderstorms. The gardens around here have been a bit, um, damp. So we are just starting to see things like peas and summer squash. One vegetable that we have gotten for the past few weeks is purple kohlrabi. What is kohlrabi? Well apparently a lot of people who get CSA boxes ask the same thing.

Garlic Scape Pesto

How are the farmers' markets in your neck of the woods? The ones in Maine have been open for about a month now. We've been flooded with greens for the past few weeks and now strawberries, radishes, scallions and peas are showing up. Today I skipped the greens, I am sharing a CSA with my cousin and his wife and we've been eating A LOT of leafy greens for the past three weeks, and made a bee line for the fresh basil and garlic scapes. I may also have made a stop at one of the bakery stalls and gobbled up a raspberry and cream cheese pastry. A girl's gotta eat a sweet flaky freshly made pastry when she finds one. Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

Mexican hot chocolate cookies or how to keep high school teachers relatively sane during final exams.  Emphasis on RELATIVELY.  We are probably never completely sane and rarely does that sanity line up with final exams.

Cranberry Maple Corn Cake

Cake!  What nutcase is making cake after the butterfest of the past two weeks?  This nutcase of course!  And let's be truthful, it was really a month long butterfest.  I saw this delicious recipe pop up on Naturally Ella yesterday and thought  that it would make a perfect Saturday morning breakfast.  Just a few changes, some stirring and 35 minutes in the oven.

Lemons

 

Look at those gorgeous Meyer lemons!  Just look!  And imagine how lovely they smell in the sunny window.  There are actually five on my little lemon tree, but one is on the other side and I thought it would be much more impressive to get a picture of four all together.  I've been coaxing these babies along since they were blossoms back in July.  It takes a long time to grow citrus up here in Maine!  All summer this little Meyer lemon tree sat on my porch enjoying the sunshine and the honey bees.  In September with teeny tiny green lemons on the branches I moved it inside to the sunniest window in the house.  And I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  And now the lemons are ripe and I just have to decide what to do with these beautiful yellow treasures!

How appropriate to find this on The Kitchn!  Lots of delicious ideas!

Hats Hats Hats

Admittedly this is not the best picture.  But I thought I should give you a glimpse of what I had been working on, and rambling on about, and the hats have now gone to their owners so no chance of a retake.  These are two of the three hats I made for Christmas gifts.  The third felted strangely and because I thought it had turned into an epic fail I neglected to take a picture of it.  However when I gave it to Becky with the promise to make her a new one and that my feelings wouldn't be hurt if she didn't like it she promptly tired it on and declared it to be PERFECT.  Perhaps I can get a photo of her wearing it sometime soon.  I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and a Hap-Hap-Happy New Year!

Homemade Gifts

Still need to make a last minute homemade gift?  One that doesn't include ridiculous amounts of butter and sugar?  No that I am knocking butter and sugar.  Believe me I LOVE butter and sugar.  But if you have someone on your list who has more of a savory tooth these are perfect.

Holiday Babble

Are you making homemade gifts this year?  I decided, around Thanksgiving, to break out the knitting needles and wool and get to work.  I thought it would be a good idea to practice my somewhat rusty knitting skills, seriously all I have made for the past few years are baby hats.  And more baby hats.  And maybe some more baby hats. 

It may have been an over ambitious decision.

While I was pulling the yarn off the needles for the third time because I had neglected to pay attention and had done two full rows incorrectly, one stitch off the whole way around, I had a conversation with myself.  I am sure Pippa thought I was losing it.  It went something like this...

"Self, why did you decide to do this?  Why did you actually think it was a good idea to make three hats, two with a fancy looking pattern and one that still needs to be felted, and two other projects that you have yet to get started on?  When did you think you would have the time?  While we are talking about time why did you think you should get a new cat?  A new cat, in the winter, when the plants have been moved inside and he is very tempted to eat them?  In the winter when you have a Christmas tree aka a climbing tower and toy?  Wait, focus, back to the knitting.  Get a grip and pay attention.  Count your stitches and stop messing around.  You still have some other projects to get to!"

So there you have it.  My mind is a mess of K1, P1, YO, SS and so on.  Thank goodness for the knitters who put demos up on YouTube!

This is my long winded explanation for why I haven't been posting about Christmas cookies.  I haven't made any.  I haven't made much of anything in the kitchen for the past few weeks.  I do have some gifts that I will be making in the kitchen this weekend.  I am hopeful that they will turn out well and that I will have some pictures and recipes to share with you.  And don't worry, they are quick projects so if you need some last minute, and I do mean last minute, gift ideas I think I can help you out!  I am also hopeful that I will finish these knitting project on time!s  My other goal for the weekend is to finish my Christmas card, I have it drawn out I just have to paint it, so that I can share that with you too.

Best wishes for finishing any homemade gifts that you are working on!

Tomatoes Roasted in Olive Oil

This project happened back in September.  Around the same time as the crisp.  I had tomatoes galore.  Big fat heirloom tomatoes.  Before we go any further I have something to admit.  Don't judge.

Plum and Apple Crisp

I made this back in, gulp, September.  In September when you could still wear flip flops.  In September when there were still flowers at the farm down the road.  In September when it was still light out at 4:30.  Before we had snow.  Before I got completely overwhelmed with school and took some time off from sharing recipes and pictures with you.  But I am back, baby!  I can't make any promises that blog posts will be super consistent.  Because they probably won't be.  But now that it is dark at 4:30 why not bake?  And share!  And get myself back into the swing of things.  So here we go!

Tomatillos

Most of the Farmer's Markets are closed now.  And the winter Farmer's Market won't open until December.  I luckily live near a working farm, they have their own store which is open until just before Christmas.  So I don't have to look too hard to find delicious fresh and local produce.

I bought these tomatillos on my last trip through the York Farmer's Market at the end of September.  I never made anything with them.  But I kept them in a bowl in the kitchen and looked at them for a week.  They were just so cool!  Purple and green and wrapped up in their own cool natural wrapping paper.

I thought on this dreary snow, sleet and rain filled day you might like to take a look at them too.

 

Quick Quinoa Salad

This is a great quick salad to take to a pot luck.  I'm sure you have a few fall cookouts lined up!  And it really couldn't be simpler.  Quinoa, feta, apple, olives, honey, lemon and mint.  That's it!

Pesto Presto!

I'm starting to close down my garden.  There are just a few yellow brandywine tomatoes left, some carrots and some beets.  The bugs and blight seemed to get the best of me this year but baby do I have plans for next spring!  I am going to do some research on companion planting this winter and make the most out of the space I have.  I may even put in another raised bed for cutting flowers or simply to give my veggies more space.  But you saw PESTO in the title here.  You probably aren't fascinated by my garden musings.  Let's get on to that pesto - presto! 

Sorry I couldn't help myself.

From the Garden!

I have 20 feet of carnival carrots growing in my garden.  20 feet!  They are one of the only things in my garden that the bugs haven't destroyed!  So I am happily throwing carrots into every salad and sandwich I can.

From the Garden!

I've been picking tomatoes, beans and basil from my garden for the past few weeks.  How great to just walk down into the field and find such delicious rewards for all of my hard work this spring!  I hope you are all enjoying fresh fruits and veggies from your own gardens or local farms.

Peach Cobbler

I thought about calling this post "What to do when you have six peaches and four stitches in your shoulder."  But I thought you might be frightened away, horrified by the thought that you might be looking at pictures of stitches.  So although this is what I did today with six peaches and four stitches in my shoulder, I think "Peach Cobbler" is a better title.  Much more appetizing.  Unless of course you like gross things...

Ok, focus.  We're here to talk about peach cobbler.

Cherry Cobbler Scones

I must admit I haven't been doing all that much in the kitchen recently.  I've been enjoying my time outside pulling up weeds and shoveling compost.  I had been eying this blog post by Joy the Baker and wishing that I had some peaches.  I did not have any peaches.  I did however have a colander full of cherries.  And plenty of buttermilk and butter.  I think that you could easily make these with any stone fruit.  They were great with the cherries but I think they would be even better with peaches or nectarines. 

Strawberries are HERE!

Strawberry season is just beginning Maine and I'm not the only one who is excited about it!
 

  

I hope that where ever you are you can pick up some local strawberries soon!

Lucinda's Birthday Cake

Lucinda loves carrot cake.  So of course a four layer carrot ginger cake with orange frosting was a must for her birthday! 

Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Millet

I've been ignoring you.  I know.  Totally my fault.  But I haven't been idle.  I been busy.  Very busy.  I've been building vegetable gardens.  And trying to gain control over what was once a nice garden around the house but has recently turned into a jungle.  So I am working foot by foot to clear out the grass and the weeds and the debris.  But I'll save that for another post.  And because you have been so patient waiting for me to come back and share recipes with you again I am going to give you a great one.