Supper

Oh semantics!

In case you haven't heard, in Lancaster County it's called Supper - the evening meal. And to clear things up, Dinner comes in the afternoon. If you wander outside of this area, please keep in mind that Supper has little meaning and that if you are invited to Dinner, plan on the evening!

Straight from the garden: eggplant, green pepper, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, jalepeno peppers, onion, kale, basil, marjoram, and rosemary!

While the Brussels sprouts were boiling (for just a few minutes), I chopped up the rest of the vegetables

and threw into a skillet: olive oil, garlic, onion, the peppers and the herbs

lastly, I added the eggplant, tomatoes, kale, and Brussels sprouts

To half of the cooked vegetables, I added kecap manis, a popular Indonesian sauce that is a type of soy sauce. It is not salty, but thick and sweet with the flavors of anise and garlic.

Carrot Cake

We planted way too many carrots to consume at Scott's house, so last night we harvested a bunch and then made delicious carrot cake! We found a great recipe online.

Scott picking a carrot from his garden

Nate and I with bunches of the very sweet variety - Chantenay

Scott washing the carrots

The recipe, from allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into greased and floured 9 x 13" pan.
2. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
3. Frost the cooled cake.
   
   

Mini carrot muffins!

Finally... a golden carrot cake, ready to be iced!

Because of time, we opted for buying cream cheese icing instead of making it from scratch.

Also, we decided to make some into a cake pan and some into little and big muffin tins.

TIPS:

~the oil can be substituted with applesauce with little consequence, except a more healthier cake

~the cap on a bottle of vanilla is exactly a teaspoon, and most recipes call for 1 (or increments of) teaspoon

~grow carrots near onions, leeks, rosemary, or sage to keep the carrot fly away. And as the book title suggests, carrots grow well next to tomatoes (Carrots Love Tomatoes, Louise Riotte).

lunch with no name

The most wonderful thing about having a garden is that I can walk outside and take only a few steps and within minutes have a delicious meal! It is especially convenient considering my last paycheck was exactly $7.

So when I got home from work today, I turned on my skillet and added 3 store bought ingredients: olive oil, garlic, and onion. Then I headed out to the garden and from it added:

purple jalepeno pepper

basil

majoram

red bell pepper

kale

eggplant

After that was done, I piled it on top of some wheat noodles that I had left over from the ratatouille. It left me feeling cool enough to write a cookbook.

It's great having a variety of ingredients to experiment with - new combinations of flavors can be fun and surprising! Really the only thing you have to learn is which things to add first and last, but that comes quickly.

Ratatouille... it's not just a movie

Connected to my favorite cookbook is Simply in Season, which organizes recipes by season according to their ingredients.

This was perfect for me today - I just went to the "SUMMER" section and easily found a recipe that called for things straight from my garden!

Summer Garden Ratatouille

2 onions (chopped)

4 cloves garlic (minced)

1 bay leaf

Saute in 3 tablespoons olive oil about 5 minutes.

1 medium eggplant (chopped)

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh basil (chopped; or 2 teaspoons dried)

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (chopped; or 1 teaspoon dried)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon fresh marjoram (chopped; or 1 teaspoon dried)

Add, cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is soft, about 15-20 minutes.

2 summer squash (chopped)

2 gren, orange, or red sweet peppers (cut in strips)

2 cups tomatoes (chopped)

Add and simmer until peppers and squash are tender, about 10 minutes. Serve over pasta or polenta sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley, black olives, or freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

real live steam

Amaranth

Naomi made some delicious granola that I tried during my visit. She told me about amaranth, a grain she put into the granola. I was instantly attracted to it not only because it was in her amazing granola, but because I've been looking for new and exciting ingredients to add to my no-added sugar diet (more on that to come)!

Actually, the real reason I was so interested in this was because Naomi told me that if it is put into a hot pan with a bit of oil, it will pop just like popcorn! I just had to see this, so I bought some at Whole Foods this week and tried it myself:

amaranth grains

tiny little bundles of joy

about half of the grains popped, and the texture definitely changed!

Not only is this grain a source of cheap entertainment, it is gluten-free, very high in protein, high in lysine and high in iron. It has been around for over 8,000 years and was used by the Aztecs as a regular part of their diet.

Buying laundry detergent at the King of Prussia Mall: classy.

Introducing...

SOAP NUTS!

Last fall I discovered a phenomenon called Soap Nuts at the Ten Thousand Villages store in Ephrata. It might be hard to guess, but they are actually nuts with the properties of soap.

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical, but I happened to have Lorien along who had used them before and she had nothing but good words to report.

Soap nuts come from the fruit of the Chinese Soapberry Tree (Sapindus mukorossi), found in Asia, and have been used for thousands of years.

Not only are soap nuts used for their cleansing properties, they have also been known in India to treat eczema, psoriasis, freckle removal, and even to get rid of lice! They are odorless, biodegradable, and great if you have sensitive skin.

I bought just a handful from a store in Mount Joy to try them out, and at the register discovered them to be incredibly over-priced. However, the results were fabulous... they left my clothes bright and cheery clean, odorless, and quite soft!

So today I bought a 1 lb. bag at the Ten Thousand Villages Store (which sells fair-trade products from around the world) in the KOP Mall. For one load of laundry, just put 5 or six nuts into a muslin bag (included) and throw it in the washer. The nuts can be reused 4 or 5 times.

500 gram bag from Ten Thousand Villages - $14

De-seeded mukorossi soapnuts, from Nepal

The nuts can also be soaked in warm water to make a liquid soap to be used as a body wash or as a cleaning product!

See this website for tips on purchasing soapnuts.

Click here to watch a video of the harvesting process.

Manifesto: Mad Farmer Liberation Front ~ by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.

Not even your future will be a mystery

any more. Your mind will be punched in a card

and shut away in a little drawer.

When they want you to buy something

they will call you. When they want you

to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.