Potluck!

Last night we met up with our downstairs neighbors for an outdoor potluck! We got the grill going and enjoyed corn on the cob, sweet potatoes and portabellas. R. made a salad of greens, pears, and a homemade vinaigrette that was perfectly complemented by some raw sheep's milk blue cheese...and, an amazing chocolate cake topped with raspberries (which, by the way, was vegan and lovely). All in all, it was a good night.

I will admit, though, that cooking corn on the cob on our little grill was tough; it took forever!! Next time I might boil it first, then finish on the grill...

Grilled Sweet Potatoes & Onions

Last night we took advantage of the cool weather and grilled out--burgers, coleslaw, and this yummy sweet potato side dish. More on the burgers later, I didn't get a very good photo.
The potatoes are super easy, and would translate well to a campfire. The directions are very loose, and open to interpretation!

2 sweet potatoes, peeled & diced in roughly 1" cubes
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
olive oil
salt & pepper
aluminum foil

Toss potatoes and onion with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Using a sheet of aluminum foil, form a packet and seal tightly on the edges (you might need to make two or three packets, I've found they cook faster when in smaller groups). Poke a few holes in the top of the packet(s) with a fork. Grill for about 20-30 minutes on medium-high, they're finished when the potatoes are pierced easily with a fork.

A Buckhorn Birthday

It was my birthday this past Saturday--yes, that lucky 07-07-07. That, along with lets-go-camping-together plans a year in the making, brought us to Buckhorn State Park on the Wisconsin River for camping with Brent & Michelle. It was hot. And humid. We were snacks for the local mosquito population, and hauled everything to our campsite with a cart. Climate conditions and bugs aside, though, it was a fantastic weekend.


Michelle made these great little campfire pizzas with an eclectic mix of ingredients (some from the garden, some from a local Polish grocery...the only one in the area). We were licking our fingers afterward and wanting more; I think someone said, “Hey, that's pretty ballsy! Putting that on pizza!"... thus, the little dish was given its name.

Michelle’s Ballsy Pizza
(feeds 4 as an appetizer)
2 Garlic pitas
chopped tomato
chopped mustard greens
chopped mushroom
a veggie bouillion cube
4 big slices Provolone cheese
some butter

Lightly spread some butter on one side of each pita. Then, crumble about 2/3 of the bouillion cube and sprinkle on the pitas. Add chopped veggies, and top each with 2 slices of cheese. Cook on a grate over a campfire, or on a grill until the cheese is nicely melted. Cut each in half and serve to hungry campers.


Michelle was so sweet and made me a birthday dessert as well! They were little shortcakes with raspberries and a liquer on them. The creamy stuff was some sort of Swedish pudding/creme filling. They were served with little bits of filled chocolate. Yummmm......

Potatoes Yayoi & The Furry Bandits

Before a pack of raccoons pillaged our campsite at 3 a.m. and stole the butter, ice, and a granola bar still in its wrapper, we were cooking with a campfire in Giant City State Park. It took a few hours to get the campfire going (somehow, we got it started without lighter fluid) and enjoyed delicious grilled apple/chicken sausages and these lovely potato packets. I call them Potatoes Yayoi, in honor of my friend who first taught me how to make them. She told me that this was how it was done in Japan when cooking over an open flame, and it is the ultimate easy campfire food. They literally melt in your mouth.

Potatoes Yayoi
1 campfire
1-2 sweet potatoes per person, plus enough foil to wrap each into a little packet
butter

Cut a slit into each sweet potato, and wrap tightly in foil. I tend to do this burrito-style. If I remember correctly, Yayoi said to add butter before grilling, but I have found that it works fine without doing this. Place the packets in the hot embers of the campfire, and forget about them for 1/2-1 hour. Use tongs to remove them (obviously, they’ll be hot) and if they seem squishy in the packet, they are done. Open carefully, and place a big dollop of butter into each one. Be generous with the butter—camping is no time to start dieting. Yum.

The next morning, after discovered the bandits had made off with a few items, we set off to our favorite downstate cafe, Long Branch Cafe (100 E. Jackson St, Carbondale, Illinois—sorry, no web site). This place is vibrant and puts most other casual organic vegetarian places to shame; the coffee rocks and the ambience makes me want to live next door. I enjoyed an omelet with tomato, spinach, and herbed cream cheese (complete with biscuit) and John had a soysage & egg buttermilk biscuit with vegetarian gravy. My mouth is watering again just thinking about it.

Kabobs in the Dark

My parents visited this weekend, and with all my “oh my goodness we just got a gas grill” enthusiasm we did kabobs. Beef, chicken, and salmon... why stop with just one?! Among bottles of Corona and a red wine from Spain we devoured those tasty little morsels plus some fresh berries. The unfortunate part was that it got dark before we finished the cooking!

I didn’t really follow any recipes, but here are some guidelines to follow with any kabobs. I marinated the beef, chicken, and salmon as follows:

Beef
• soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, chopped green onion

Chicken
• honey, dijon mustard, dash of soy sauce, black pepper

Salmon
• fresh lemon juice, cracked pepper

We skewered them with red onions and mushrooms, I think next time I'd add in red bell pepper and tiny potatoes. There are so many other marinades to try too... my vegetarian tendencies go out the window with stuff like this!

Green Weekend (and a graduation)

We spent last weekend in my nativeland for Rae's college graduation (B.A. Biology from Luther College; soon she'll be off to post graduate study learning to make body parts... er, prosthetics!). It was fantastic to hang out with my family for a few days, and even with the high energy that is always part of a graduation weekend we enjoyed quite a bit of the area's tranquility (something we can't get in Chicago). Above is a picture of John holding a little piece of Iowa.

Brent, Michelle, John and I went for a little walk before the graduation ceremony to Twin Springs: cool, serene, and beautiful.

This is Mom's new vegetable garden, it's fantastic! It's in an area on the acreage that gets plenty of sunlight, and in no time it will be bursting with veggies. Fortunately, the pups Lucy and Ollie haven't made their mark here....

Cucumber seedlings, freshly sprung from the garden. They are so sweet, and so tiny. Isn't it crazy to think about how food begins?

I counted about five of these big guys over the weekend, they're huge. And loud, I might add.

A cozy nest was spotted in one of the evergreens lining the acreage my parents live on. Tiny morning doves are taking a nap.

These two, a little older, were a riot. In peeking in at them, they froze as if stillness would hide them from our curious eyes. I wonder what they are thinking.

Meet Simon on Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day! I called my mom earlier today, and she woke up to a happy surprise: my dad built a vegetable garden for her and brought her breakfast in bed. Awww...so sweet! I'm planning to get a few pics of the garden when I visit next week. She's been digging in the dirt all morning now (one of her favorite pastimes) and has a few tomato plants and some pole beans firmly in the ground.

On a non-gardening note (but related to eating) this is Simon the Squirrel. In some strange way, he has become part of our lives and munches happily on nuts whenever possible (we have to ration the nuts, as I worry he'll become too dependent on us). Simon talks to us with his body language, and it is absolutely hilarious (everything seems to translate to “I want a nut”). Fortunately, he gets along just fine with our other deck inhabitants...crows are nesting on the east side, sparrows to the west, and we keep seeing a male cardinal that must be living in the vicinity as well. Oddly, Simon likes to dig near the romaine lettuce plants but won't actually uproot them. Sign of affection? Neuroses?

Mother Earth Gardens

We spent last weekend in the lovely Twin Cities visiting Brent & Michelle. It didn't take us long to fall in love with their neighborhood, and they took us to a few places we are still dreaming about.

The first adventure was to Mother Earth Gardens, where Michelle also happens to work. I have never been to a more serene and carefree garden shop. They made it easy to want to grow-your-own; we walked away with scented purchases of German and Roman Chamomile, Thyme, Lavender and Cilantro.

Turkish Delight & Momos

Brent & Michelle also took us to one of their favorite food haunts: Black Sea Restaurant in St. Paul. The husband-and-wife team running the place were so sweet, I had trouble getting upset when told that the Turkish coffee wasn't available late night (who knew?); fortunately, they had baklava and this great box of Turkish Delight for us to take back to Chicago. Yum!

Yet another restaurant we visited was Everest on Grand, where we failed to remember the camera but will never forget the momos. Ah, the momos. I think we actually became sufficiently addicted to them in the short time we were there. I vow to learn how to make those fabulous little dumplings...