Obligatory End-of-Year Blog Post
Happy New Year!
I can’t say I’m completely sorry to ring 2009 out, but it has been a year of food revelations and yummy treats. This went from all-purpose blog to food blog to food blog I forget to update for enormous stretches of time. Our family went from eating out of bags and cans (figuratively – we use plates…most of the time) to filling bags and cans with food!
We made our own cheese, canned tomatoes, pickles (and more pickles). We made mixed berry, blackberry, cranberry, jalepeño and basil jams. Brandon became a master baker of many, many pies, and he made killer ketchup.
from wordle.net
Most surprising of all, Adventures In logged nearly 11,000 visitors this year! I’m shocked, befuddled and amazed. I’m humbled and more than a little confused.
I’m pleased as hell. So thank you. Even if, like almost half of my readers, you only dropped by to learn about some really big pizzas.
Thanksgiving 2009
2010 holds great promise, and among my resolutions is “better blogging” – so many of our adventures go unreported…and I know people are dying to know EVERYTHING! We’re looking forward to more baking, canning and cooking, but also to renew our DIY spirit…which for me drifted away a bit in the fall. More needlepoint! More sewing! More crochet! I’m hoping to get the older boy in on more of the activities, and am expecting great things from Mr. Adventures In in the coming year.
And I hope you, whoever you are and wherever you are, have a marvelous 2010 full of amazing adventures of your own.
~Tarehna
The Thanksgiving Menu
Starters:
Rogue River Blue, Beecher’s Cheddar, Washington Havarti and Wisonsin Portobello Jack Cheeses
Assorted Home-Baked Crackers and Scones
Home-Made Apple and Pumpkin Butters
Neufchatel with Home-Made Cranberry and Jalepeño Jams
Salad:
Pumpkin, Pear and Pomegranate Salad with Pecan Vinaigrette
Squash Muffins
Entrée:
Cider-Brined and Herb Dijon Roasted Turkey
Caramelized Onion Gravy
Pomegranate Sauce
Caramelized Onion and Cornbread Stuffing
Side Dishes:
Mashed Red Potatoes with Sage and Tillamook Vintage White Cheddar
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Cranberries
Roasted Parsnips and Carrots
Desserts:
Pear and Cranberry Cake with Cinnamon Glaze
Apple Pie with Tillamook Vintage White Cheddar Crust
(We’ve got a lot of cooking ahead of us!)
The PieMaker
This is the fabulous Mr. Adventure making that apple/cheddar cheese pie I wrote about a few days ago:
Oh how I love this man!
Quick Update
1. I am decidedly not dead. I am, in fact, undead.
2. Working on finding a balance that will have me blogging regularly again soon. That balance also includes making opportunities to do stuff to blog about.
Mr. Adventures In has been busy!
4. That is Pie! It’s apple and pear season and we’ve been taking advantage by making lots of pastries and getting our winter weight on! Pictured above is apple pie with Tillamook Aged White Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese baked into the crust. Mr. Adventures In made it. It was fabulous.
5. Another fall favorite – one that I actually made – is pear turnovers. I make my own faux puff pastry dough and fill little triangles with pears sauteed in butter, cinnamon, sugar and a little balsamic vinegar and…(this is the good part) Rogue Creamery’s Smokey Blue Cheese. To make them easy, you can buy puff pastry at the store and follow the package directions. These are, hands down, my favorite fall treat/snack/breakfast/food.
6. The Adventure Boys have also been doing a lot of DIY crafts – salt & flour playdough, cornmeal moon sand and – my favorite – cornstarch goo. Recipe: put some cornstarch in a bowl & add water (slightly less water than cornstarch seems to work best) … move your hand slowly through the goo and it’s like pudding; poke it with your finger and it’s like silly putty. Honestly, I think I played with it longer and with more enthusiasm than my kids did. Very cool stuff!
7. I’ll be participating in NaNoWriMo. I have no idea what I’ll writing about. I’ll figure that out today…or sometime next month, I suppose. I have no idea what that means for the blog (which really has a life of its own – thank you, people who read the big burger and big pizza entries!) or for me or for you or for anyone, but I just wanted to put that out there. I’m writing a novel! Yay for me!
Canning!
Yesterday I finally put those Ball jars I bought a couple of weeks ago to good use. I canned – albeit on a very small scale.
Canning requires a little bit of equipment:
1. An absurdly tall pot. We found ours at Target for $16
Okay, that was pretty much it for equipment. Except for the jars. Of which I have no pictures.
You’re also going to need something to can. Like tomatoes.
I used a variety: heirloom orange, Russian black and Beefsteak.
I did a “hot pack” method, which means I cooked to tomatoes before I canned them.
Pretty AND Yummy!
Then I fought them into the jars. I could really use a wide-mouthed funnel. (The list of “required” equipment is short, but the list of “recommended” equipment is a touch longer). I had enough for two pint jars of tomatoes.
Then it’s time to process! The reason for the absurdly tall pot is that the jars need about an inch of water above their tops to do their thing.
The jars in their bath. Note the cookie cutters I used in lieu of a canning rack in the bottom of the pan.
I love that picture. If you’re so inclined, take a look at a larger version. The wisps of steam coming off the water, the clarity of everything. I want to take all of my pictures through a water bath now.
Where was I? Oh yeah, depending on the recipe and the type of thing you’re canning, you let the jars boil, lid on, for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. I did these tomatoes for about 25 minutes.
- Here they are all done!
I also made jalepeño carrots, but forgot to take pictures of the process.
But I did take a picture of the finished product!
The Two Fridas: Super Secret Crafty Project Revealed!
The cause for the super secretiveness was the fact that this was a birthday gift for my mother (Hi, Mom!). You can take a look at the real Frida’s original here. I took some liberties with color and left the background clean, but I’m fairly pleased with how it came out.
I had so much fun making this that I’m headed back to the store this afternoon to gather supplies for the next one. Then I just have to figure out what the next one will be.
Any suggestions?
Super Secret Crafty Project: The Teaser
We know I made it
We know I used some groovy stitches. (And that the lighting sucked today)
We know there are beads
We know somebody's cutting something.
We know that I went nuts for (french) knots.
Come back tomorrow for the full reveal!
About That Scarf Problem…
Way too many scarves? Check
Big ugly blank wall that’s stayed that way because I’m not painting as much/quickly as I thought I would? Check Check!
What to do?
Behold: The Wall of Scarves
It's madness, I tell you, madness!
