Tart Cherries: Picking, Pitting, and Processing!

Our final foray up to northern Michigan for the summer included a mamma-mandated trip back to Rennie Orchards to pick tart cherries! Homemade cherry jam is one of my favorite things to eat all winter long, and there is just something about the fact that I hand-picked and pitted these cherries that makes the jam even sweeter for me. I love preserving the season for later!







Jackpot! Low-hanging fruit!

We ended up with about 18 pounds of fresh tart cherries to take home to Chicago with us, and the next day we got right down to business. (Tart cherries don't like to wait around.)

With this new cherry pitter in hand, we pitted and pitted and pitted! Anne helped, of course. Never underestimate the enthusiasm of a toddler for an excruciatingly tedious task.



Once pitted, the cherries were processed in one of three ways:

1. Maraschino Cherries, a half batch of this ginormous recipe, using about 5 pounds, and yielding 2 pints and 8 half-pints: http://leapphotography.com/blog/2015/06/maraschino-cherries-home-canning-recipe-boise-photographers/

Assemble booze, etc:



Bring to a boil:



Pack the pitted cherries:



Pour over hot, sweet, boozy goodness:



Voila!

2. Tart Cherry Jam, doubling this trusty recipe that I've used for the last 2 years, using about 8 pounds, and yielding 3 pints and 8 half-pints: http://foodinjars.com/2009/07/sour-cherry-jam-recipe/





3. Frozen pitted tart cherries for pies, etc. Two pies' worth, about 2 pounds per pie.

The final product:



Not pictured: one exhausted, cherry-stained, and happy pregnant mamma.

The Comforts of Home + {Penne with Mushrooms, Asparagus, and Cream}

We were away from home visiting family in Michigan for almost a week leading up to Memorial Day. I always forget how exhausting it can be to parent on location. Maybe it's just the inflexible, hormonal pregnant lady talking, but it's hard. We have wonderful families who love us and do everything they can to help out and make sure we're happy. And we always have a great time! But by the end of a longer trip, I am just aching to sleep in my own bed, walk out onto my own street, and settle back into my own routines.



A basic and foundational part of the way I live out my vocation is the ability (and responsibility!) to feed my family three delicious, nutritious meals a day. Away from my natural habitat, or otherwise deprived of this basic task, I sometimes feel like a castaway.



When I have to forage in a foreign fridge for my sustenance and my family's, it's amazing how quickly I realize that my idea of "staples" is not the same as anyone else's. Please don't misunderstand me: I don't mean to judge other people's choices. I would never expect someone else to have a fridge stocked just like mine would be. People prioritize differently, have different preferences and needs, and buy their food accordingly. But anyone knows that opening someone else's fridge can feel like walking on a strange planet. We have the industrial food revolution to thank for this dizzying variety of possible food choices, and sometimes I wonder if we would be better off without quite so many. But I digress.

Here are some of our family's basic everyday necessities:

Coffee
Half and half (for my coffee)
Butter
Bacon
Eggs
Whole milk
Plain, full-fat yogurt
Honey and/or maple syrup
Olive oil
Onions
Garlic
Lemons
Pasta
Cheese

The fresh fruits and vegetables change from month to month as the seasons change, but we almost always have those things on hand on any given day, and we use them up quickly. What things would you add? What does your list look like?



I'm so glad that the season of deciding what to eat based on what's at the market is back. It is infinitely more fun for me to cook this way, not to mention much more fun to eat. Here's an easy dish I made for friends a couple of weeks ago, based on what I could get at the market that weekend.



Penne with Mushrooms, Asparagus, and Cream

1 pound penne
2 bunches asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1.5-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 package chicken sausages, split in half and sliced
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup cream
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
zest of one lemon

Cook the penne in boiling, well-salted water. About a minute before the pasta is done, toss in the chopped asparagus. Drain and set aside, saving a bit of the starchy pasta water in case the sauce needs thinning.

In a wide, shallow saucepan or skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and taking on an attractive brown color, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Add the sausages and cook about 5-6 minutes, until nicely browned on the sides.

Add the wine and scrape up all the delicious cooked-on goodies from the bottom of the pan. Cook until reduced slightly, 3-4 minutes. Add the cream and cheese, and stir to combine well. Stir in the hot pasta and asparagus, adding a splash of pasta water if the sauce seems too thick. Cook for a minute or two, tossing well to allow the sauce to thoroughly coat the pasta. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon zest.

Serve with a simple green salad and crusty bread.

Rhubarb Streusel Pie

This is it. The best rhubarb pie in the world. Did you hear me? THE. BEST. Perfect crust. Tangy-sweet rhubarb flavored with vanilla bean. Crumbly, crunchy, nutty streusel topping. This afternoon I'm planning to make my fourth in a span of two weeks, because if I'm with people, I need them to be eating this pie. And I need to be eating it. I ate almost the whole first one by myself.

I mean, I had help. A little. In the person of a tiny baby girl who is making her presence known more and more each day with kicks and jabs to my abdomen.



I'm a late sharer of pregnancy news online. I so love telling people in person and seeing their reactions; hugs and squeals of excitement and actual congratulations are SO MUCH BETTER than Facebook likes and comments. When mostly everyone knows, and it's starting to be visible no matter what, then I finally share the news online. It's a girl, and she's healthy! I'm feeling great.

{Apparently, I like to announce I'm having baby girls by sharing recipes for pink vegetables. Last time, Radish Pickles! And more thoughts about the weighty responsibility of raising girls into women. Head over to check it out.}

Rhubarb season is just warming up in the Midwest, so you have plenty of time to get some reddish pink treasure from the farmers market and make yourself and those you love an amazing pie.



Rhubarb Streusel Pie

I always, always use Heidi Swanson's pie crust recipe, and it is amazing every time.

Filling:
5 cups (about 2 pounds) fresh rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste)
3 tablespoons tapioca starch (corn starch will also work)

Topping:
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup butter, cut into cubes
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour

Make the crust and refrigerate it until ready to use (making it a day ahead of time breaks up the effort required to make the pie, and ensures the crust is fully chilled - win-win).

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Place the sugar in a small bowl with the vanilla bean (if using), and use your fingertips to rub the sugar along the inside of the vanilla bean, scraping out the seeds and distributing them through the sugar. (You could also do this ahead of time - the vanilla flavor will be more pronounced if you leave the vanilla bean in the sugar for a while.)

Place the chopped rhubarb in a large bowl with the vanilla sugar (or sugar and vanilla extract/paste) and tapioca starch and stir to combine. Set aside for about 15 minutes, while you prepare the crust and topping.

In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, salt and flour. Add the butter, and use your fingers to rub it into the sugar mixture until well-combined.

Roll out the crust and fit it into a pie plate. Decoratively crimp the edges, and pour the rhubarb filling into the crust, being sure to scrape all of the sugar and juice out of the bowl. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit (ahem, vegetable) filling and slide into the oven. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, then decrease the heat to 350 and continue baking for 50-60 minutes, until the filling is bubbling, and the topping and crust are golden.

Cool at least 2 hours before slicing, and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Pasta Luglio

It feels like summer. Yesterday we spent the entire morning at the park and pool, and most of the afternoon in the front yard. Last night after Anne was in bed, I scooped a bowl of homemade strawberry ice cream and sat on the front stoop watching the fireflies come out. This morning, we spent a solid hour sidewalk chalking the front walkway (a beach scene!), blowing bubbles, and watching the planes fly overhead. This afternoon we walked to the park and the farmers' market. We stopped at the market for a while and listened to a woman play the accordion. Anne danced, and drank tiny sips of water out of the top of my Klean Kanteen bottle.

I tend to read mostly non-fiction: memoirs, parenting, self-help, religion. I've decided that July is the Month of the Novel, and I am doing what I can to get through as much fiction as possible this month. On the list: The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and The Godwulf Manuscript, by Robert B. Parker. I've bitten off more than I can chew, but that's not terribly surprising. The bigger your stack of books, the more books you read in the end, even if you never finish the whole thing (How could you ever finish? Have you seen a library?). What are you reading this summer? Have you seen the selections for the Well-Read Mom for this year? I am excited for that.

I'm running a half marathon next week (!), and I've run something like 170 (!!) miles in training since March. I don't particularly love the running, especially the amount of time it takes each week. I'm looking forward to crossing the finish line and getting back to more reasonable, balanced workouts. What has been amazing about this process for me has been seeing myself uncompromisingly committed to reaching my goal. I signed up for the half marathon and paid the ridiculous entry fee, I downloaded a training plan, and I have done basically every single thing on the training plan, rain or shine, in spite of other plans, fatigue, soreness, or just plain whiny laziness. I have gotten out and run my miles 3-4 times a week without fail for 4 months. I feel shocked! I guess it just goes to show you that you never stop learning things about yourself. I, apparently, am very goal-oriented, and benefit greatly from a specific schedule that I can follow. I'm excited to test this knowledge in other areas of my life.

I let Anne run around and pick things at the market for dinner tonight (her contributions: yellow squash and mushrooms), and as usual, the simplest seasonal ingredients worked their magic to form the most amazing pasta dish I've eaten in a long time. Buon appetito!




Pasta Luglio
(serves 2 for dinner, 4 as a first course)

This is a weeknight dinner, and I have a busy toddler who likes to "help," so I go as quickly as I can. This means that I do not chop everything before I start cooking. Chop one thing, toss it in. Chop another, add. Chop more, add more, etc. Cooking times between additions would honestly be something like "as long as it takes to chop half and onion." It's a very forgiving recipe, just wing it.

1/2 pound penne or other short pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow summer squash, quartered and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
splash of white wine
6 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
5-6 large leaves fresh basil, shredded
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste

Boil a pot of water for the pasta. Salt generously (it should taste like seawater), and cook the pasta about a minute shy of al dente (for penne, 9-10 minutes). Reserve about 2 cups of the starchy pasta water for the sauce (or splash it in the sauce as you're cooking the pasta, as I did - see below).

Place the olive oil in a wide, shallow saucepan over medium heat. Add the squash, season with salt and pepper, and let sit for a minute. Add the mushrooms, onions, and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softening and pan starts to look dry. Splash with white wine and cook another minute. Add the tomato paste and stir together, splashing in enough pasta water to thin the paste into a sauce that coats the vegetables. Stir in the pasta and cook for a minute or two. Remove from heat and add grated cheese, basil, and butter. Stir until the butter and cheese are melted. Taste, adjust seasonings if needed, and serve.

Market Day!

I thought it might be fun, as the market season heats up and I start buying the lion's share of our food there, if I started showing you what I got, and sharing what I hoped to do with it. In the winter I try to shop with a specific list in hand, having plotted out meals ahead of time. But in the summer, I do things the other way around: head to the market (with a limited wad of cash), buy what looks best, and plan meals from there.

This morning's haul:

1 5.5-pound chicken ($21.25)
1 dozen large eggs ($5)
1 pound asparagus ($5)
2.5 pounds rhubarb ($10)
1 bunch (about 12 ounces) rainbow chard ($3)
1 bunch (about 2 ounces) chives ($2)
12 ounces feta cheese (buy one, get one free! At $6)
2 peonies ($5)
1 loaf bread ($6)
1 rhubarb galette ($6)
1 cup coffee ($1)

Grand total = $70.25

My plans:

Asparagus, chive, and feta frittata
Roasted chicken (+ leftovers + chicken stock for the freezer)
Rhubarb shrub syrup
Rhubarb tart
Sautéed chard and fried eggs on toast

What would you make?

Cream of Asparagus Soup

**NOTE: I have fixed the thing that was making it impossible to pin photos to Pinterest, thanks to this helpful post. If you have a blog and you've been having the same issue, I hope that helps! If you don't have a blog but you like to pin my posts and recipes, thank you! I love it when you share!!

For my blogday, I asked people to suggest things they'd like to see on the blog. My good friend Cassie asked for some asparagus soup, and since this hot weather is about to send the asparagus packing, it's now or never! I had never had asparagus soup before, and I have to say this is not my favorite preparation of this vegetable. Upon first taste I thought maybe I hadn't seasoned it well, or maybe it was too much stock and not enough vegetable, but after letting it rest a day in the fridge it turns out it was actually a pretty nice soup. It's just very, very subtle. And since asparagus has such a short season, I'd rather just barely saute it and toss with pasta, or shave it and pile it on a pizza, or steam it and dip it in a creamy sauce. But! If a velvety, subtly-flavored light green soup sounds like just the thing for you, give this a try!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

I've seen several recommendations from other sources that if you puree asparagus, you should strain it to remove any lingering tough or woody pieces, but I found it to be an unnecessary step. My soup was plenty smooth without straining. Follow your heart, though, and make sure to trim your asparagus well. Peeling the hard edges might also help with especially woody asparagus.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch spring onions, or 1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1- to 2-inch lengths

4 cups water, vegetable stock, or chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute about 3-5 minutes, until slightly softened. Add asparagus and toss together. Season with salt and pepper, add the water or stock, and simmer until the asparagus can be easily smashed against the side of the pot with a spoon, about 10-15 minutes (more or less depending on how thick your asparagus is). Puree in batches in a blender, and then return to the pot over low heat. Stir in the butter and cream, taste, and adjust seasoning. Serve warm or cold.

Yield: about 4-6 servings

Rhubarb Syrup

Rhubarb is back, and this syrup is a delightful way to start off the season. The lime really complements the strong tangy rhubarb flavor, and the rosewater is so subtle as to be more of a scent than a flavor. Absolutely lovely.





If you're thinking that it's a lot of sugar, remember two things: this is rhubarb we're talking about, and we're trying to make a syrup. A lot of sugar is necessary. Here are some of my favorite ways to use this springy syrup!



Rhubarb Italian Soda!



Drizzled over yogurt and cereal in the morning...



AND used in place of maple syrup on buckwheat pancakes. Genius!



Rhubarb Syrup

from 101 cookbooks

1 pound rhubarb, chopped
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
2-3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from one lime)
scant 2 teaspoons rosewater (more or less to taste)

Combine rhubarb and sugar in a medium saucepan and let rest for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the water and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook the rhubarb about 15-20 minutes, until it begins to break down. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, return to the saucepan, add the lime juice, and continue to cook until reduced and thickened quite a bit, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

When cool, add the rosewater a teaspoon at a time, being careful not to add too much - it's a very strong flavor, and you only want a whisper, not a scream. Store in a jar in the refrigerator - mine stayed good for about 2 weeks.

Yield: one pint jar.

Armenian Potato Leek Soup

Friends, I have been living large this week. I found out about an absolutely amazing donut shop that is a short walk from my office (Do-Rite Donuts OMG), accidentally stumbled upon the downtown Chicago Farmstand (as I was trying to find aforementioned donut shop for the first time), and went to the first outdoor Green City Market of the season! So exciting!



I love the produce at the beginning of spring. It's so tender and bright green and delicate. It deserves to be treated gently. Last Thursday, I was impatiently waiting our trip to the market on Saturday morning, so finding the Farmstand was like getting to open a present on Christmas Eve. I got some rhubarb, leeks, pea tendrils, and mint, and started dreaming about dinner.

As I started pulling things together for this soup that evening, I wasn't purposefully trying to turn it into an Armenian-flavored dish. I just wanted a light, simple way to spotlight these first few springtime treasures. But when I tasted it, the mint and yogurt were unmistakably Armenian. One of my favorite meals from my childhood was Tan Abour, a delicious soup made with lamb stock, yogurt, mint, and barley. This hits all the same flavor spots, and only takes about 25 minutes to come together, making it a perfect supper for a springtime weeknight. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!



Armenian Potato Leek Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 small potatoes, about a pound, peeled and cubed
2 leeks, rinsed well and sliced
2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

In a wide, shallow saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and onions, and saute for a few minutes, until the vegetables are getting some color in places. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and add the vegetable stock or water. Cover and reduce the heat to low, and simmer about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Puree in a blender. Return to the pot and stir in the milk, and heat through over low heat.

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, lemon juice, mint, and salt. Stir yogurt mixture into the soup and mix well, or ladle soup into bowls and drizzle a little bit of the yogurt mixture over each bowl. Serve warm or chilled. Top each bowl with a little pile of pea tendrils.

Serves three as a meal, four as a first course.

Roasted Buttercup Squash

The last day that they had the outdoor farmer's market near my office this year was a cold, drizzly, dreary day that made you just feel so sorry for the few farmers who had decided to man their stands until the bitter end.  Three days later, the market near my house (yup, I'm lucky enough to have a weekday one about 2 blocks from work, and a weekend one steps from my apartment) opened warm, sunny, and breezy - the kind of fall day you live for, that you can't help but savor.  I've been trying to branch out to different hard squashes (butternut and acorn rut, anyone?), and that day I found a Red Thai squash (the orange one above) and a Buttercup squash (the green).  Oh yeah!  And a magic brussels sprout wand.  Don't you love that they grow like that?  Look at this picture of a whole field of them!  It's like alien vegetables!

They look very similar to acorn squash, don't they?  Taste similar, too - more flavorful, I thought.  Into each little quarter went a bit of butter, maple syrup, a pinch of salt and a whisper of cayenne pepper.  For a second I was reminded of my brief, ill-advised foray into the world of the Master Cleanse and shivered.  Then I popped these babies into the oven, and in about 45 minutes, here's what came out:

Ahhhhh.  Comfort food.  Look at those little pools of love! 

A pan-seared pork chop, some brussels sprouts, and roasted squash.  Virtues: low-carb, more vegetables than non-vegetables, multiple colors.  Vices: butter.  But who's counting?

Here we go!

I like to decorate with vegetables.

Like many of the best journeys, this one begins with a trip to the farmers' market.

Going to the market is the highlight of my week.  Getting outside in the sunshine and the fresh air, walking among the stalls and selecting the most beautiful-looking fruits and vegetables, talking to the farmers.  It's an experience I wouldn't miss.  Which is why I've making biweekly trips to the market all summer.  It's been lovely.  This week, at the start of the Locavore Challenge, I felt a little more pressure to be a smart shopper.  I'll be out of town all weekend at a wedding, so I won't be able to make my weekend trip.  Normally, this would not worry me.  If I forget something at the market, I'll just make a quick trip to the grocery store!  But I have pledged to eat locally, which makes the store a little bit tricky.

Not to say that you absolutely can't get local food at the grocery store - not at all!  Yesterday I found Michigan blueberries at Costco.  But last week, I saw Guatemalan blackberries at Whole Foods.  That was exactly the opposite of what I would have expected, but it just proves that you have to read labels.  And not just nutritional labels!  Just because something is in season where you live doesn't mean that your local grocery is sourcing their produce locally.

So anyway, here's what I got today, and what I plan to do with it:

2 quarts of peaches (homemade ice cream, canned peach halves in simple syrup)
1 quart of plums (breakfast and snacks)
about 6 pounds of tomatoes (canned whole tomatoes)
giant red and golden beets (salad for lunch next week)
20 red hot cherry peppers (homemade hot sauce)
gourds and mini pumpkins (to look pretty)