28 July 2014
25 August 2013
21 July 2013
new brunswick community garden [Shiloh]
finally revisited the garden...and the wildflowers we planted 3 years ago continue to persist--especially this one, which I kept calling a "lady slipper". Alas, that is not it's name! Oh well. Anyhow, over the years, it has dropped seeds and perhaps the soil, or the weather, or the seed itself has made the flower turn from a very bright pink to this pretty pale color, with just as bright a yellow center as ever.
09 July 2013
13 March 2013
Soup Season
Well, it's actually always soup season in the Schellack household, but we've been busy buzzing about with much in life!
Below is a really delicious, savory carrot soup that Benjamin whipped up last night--it far outdoes the carrot and ginger soup I attempted in the beginning of the season--by leaps and bounds.
I give you: Curry Carrot and Cayenne Soup, garnished with yogurt and pistachios
02 March 2013
Celery Soup (a pictureless post)
An e-mail to friends:
"I can't believe I'm this excited, but I suppose I am, because I barely expected celery soup to taste this good. We had a TON of celery in the fridge, carrots, and other veggies that needed to be used. It's definitely GF (gluten-free), and if you don't use butter (which, in this particular case, I would use butter), could be dairy-free.
So to my culinary friends--or just those who like to eat good food ;] --below is my recipe that I modified (I didn't keep track of it when I made it last night, but this is my best guess) from three other recipes (ny times, martha stewart, and all recipes). It looks daunting, but I promise, I am just going for detailed ;]
One-pot recipe! Plus, a cutting board ;)
Makes 4 to 5 for main dish, or 6-filling sides.
Time: approx 1hr - 1.25hr
Ingredients
2.5 lbs - of celery (after all trimming)
1/2 white or yellow onion
2 (0.5lbs) - large carrots (optional)
0.75 lb/small head of broccoli crowns
handful - fresh spinach (optional, but I like it)
1 - small lemon
3-4 tbsp - of butter or grapeseed oil
2 quarts - water or stock
1/2-1 cup - uncooked rice, preferably brown and white--(or 1.5-2 cups cooked)
white pepper
parsley
thyme or basil
fresh Parmesan
sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
(Always read through an entire recipe first...)
• Slice 2.5 lbs of celery (after you've trimmed all the parts you won't use), in 1/2"-1/4"
• Toss those into a Dutch oven or large pot of 3-4tbsp melted butter (I don't use EVOO, since it shouldn't be heated to too-high of temperatures. You can also use grapeseed oil)
• 1/2 white onion, diced (I used less, though...and in fact, used dried onions, since the baby belly hasn't really wanted onions lately!)
• 2 large carrots (~0.5 lbs), and cut the thick ends into half moons. Save the smaller ends for later.
• Dash of salt, to help the veggies "sweat", and stir often for about 8 minutes. Don't let the celery get too wilty! They should still be a bright green
• If you want, add 1 clove of garlic, minced. (again, not a huge fan of garlic and onion these days, but I think it could be good)
Meanwhile:
• Prepare an "herb bouquette" (ny times calls it a fancy, "bouquet garni"). This is where I really guessed on everything, so use your best judgment/opinion. I used a small organic, canvas pouch (you can use whatever you want), tied with cooking twine (thanks momma schellack! Finally used it! ;)
• two bay leaves, *two rinds from fresh Parmesan cheese* about 0/5"x1.5", parsley, and basil (and/or thyme)
• Steep this in a measuring cup, filled to 2 cups (0.5 quarts) of hot water (I just pour hot water from an electric kettle into the measuring cup, and stick the bouquet garni in)
• I think this bouquet garni made the soup... don't skip it!
After ~8 minutes in the pot:
• Add ~1lb/a small head of broccoli (crowns, cut up, of course)
• Sprinkle pot across with some white pepper.
• Add 1/2 cup of UNCOOKED brown/white/yellow rice (I had leftover rice, so I would add this a little later. Personally, I'd have the rice cooked, so you don't end up with uncooked rice--but I think it'd be fine)
• Add 4 cups (1.75 quarts) of water (some recipes call for stock; I think it's more than fine with just water)
• Bring back to a boil.
• Add the 2 cups of water that the bouquet garni was steeping in. Stir well.
• Add the bouquet garni to the middle of the pot, and turn the burner to a simmer for about 30 minutes. Cover.
• Halfway through (15 min), pull the bouquet up, stir the pot again, and set the bouquet back in.
• If you're using cooked rice, add that now: about 1.5 cups of cooked rice.
• Add a sprinkle of sea salt (not too much now! you can always add more)
Meanwhile:
• Julienne up the rest of the carrots.
• Wash 1-2 handfuls of fresh spinach. If the stems are really long, cut in half. Dry, set aside.
After ~30 minutes in the pot:
• Toss in all the spinach.
• Take out the bouquet.
• Squeeze 2-3 tbsp of lemon juice into the soup. Stir.
• Blend time! Hand blender or traditional blender/Vitamix. For texture sake, I prefer the Vitamix in this case.
• Handblender: Just don't blend up the whole thing :) Leave 1/3 soup un-blended.
• Vitamix: Scoop out much of the celery and all the carrots into the blender, trying to keep back the rice and spinach. No big deal if you get some in; in fact, it makes it nice and creamy without potatoes or cream (I needed to do this in two batches). Turn on; slowly increase to half-way--never more. Blend for 10-15 seconds. If you don't have a blender that lets air out, DON'T cover completely! The steam from the soup will pop your top off. For the Vitamix, just leave the center cap open, or not screwed in place.
• Do second batch. You'll leave about 1/3 of the soup, un-blended.
• Incorporate all back together.
Serve in bowls, garnished with julienned carrots plus whatever you want from Parmesan to fresh thyme. Add fresh cracked pepper.
Win!!
This could go great with bbq chicken drums, or, as a meal itself...perhaps with pita chips?
Hope you enjoy it sometime,
Jessica"
"I can't believe I'm this excited, but I suppose I am, because I barely expected celery soup to taste this good. We had a TON of celery in the fridge, carrots, and other veggies that needed to be used. It's definitely GF (gluten-free), and if you don't use butter (which, in this particular case, I would use butter), could be dairy-free.
So to my culinary friends--or just those who like to eat good food ;] --below is my recipe that I modified (I didn't keep track of it when I made it last night, but this is my best guess) from three other recipes (ny times, martha stewart, and all recipes). It looks daunting, but I promise, I am just going for detailed ;]
One-pot recipe! Plus, a cutting board ;)
Makes 4 to 5 for main dish, or 6-filling sides.
Time: approx 1hr - 1.25hr
Ingredients
2.5 lbs - of celery (after all trimming)
1/2 white or yellow onion
2 (0.5lbs) - large carrots (optional)
0.75 lb/small head of broccoli crowns
handful - fresh spinach (optional, but I like it)
1 - small lemon
3-4 tbsp - of butter or grapeseed oil
2 quarts - water or stock
1/2-1 cup - uncooked rice, preferably brown and white--(or 1.5-2 cups cooked)
white pepper
parsley
thyme or basil
fresh Parmesan
sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
(Always read through an entire recipe first...)
• Slice 2.5 lbs of celery (after you've trimmed all the parts you won't use), in 1/2"-1/4"
• Toss those into a Dutch oven or large pot of 3-4tbsp melted butter (I don't use EVOO, since it shouldn't be heated to too-high of temperatures. You can also use grapeseed oil)
• 1/2 white onion, diced (I used less, though...and in fact, used dried onions, since the baby belly hasn't really wanted onions lately!)
• 2 large carrots (~0.5 lbs), and cut the thick ends into half moons. Save the smaller ends for later.
• Dash of salt, to help the veggies "sweat", and stir often for about 8 minutes. Don't let the celery get too wilty! They should still be a bright green
• If you want, add 1 clove of garlic, minced. (again, not a huge fan of garlic and onion these days, but I think it could be good)
Meanwhile:
• Prepare an "herb bouquette" (ny times calls it a fancy, "bouquet garni"). This is where I really guessed on everything, so use your best judgment/opinion. I used a small organic, canvas pouch (you can use whatever you want), tied with cooking twine (thanks momma schellack! Finally used it! ;)
• two bay leaves, *two rinds from fresh Parmesan cheese* about 0/5"x1.5", parsley, and basil (and/or thyme)
• Steep this in a measuring cup, filled to 2 cups (0.5 quarts) of hot water (I just pour hot water from an electric kettle into the measuring cup, and stick the bouquet garni in)
• I think this bouquet garni made the soup... don't skip it!
After ~8 minutes in the pot:
• Add ~1lb/a small head of broccoli (crowns, cut up, of course)
• Sprinkle pot across with some white pepper.
• Add 1/2 cup of UNCOOKED brown/white/yellow rice (I had leftover rice, so I would add this a little later. Personally, I'd have the rice cooked, so you don't end up with uncooked rice--but I think it'd be fine)
• Add 4 cups (1.75 quarts) of water (some recipes call for stock; I think it's more than fine with just water)
• Bring back to a boil.
• Add the 2 cups of water that the bouquet garni was steeping in. Stir well.
• Add the bouquet garni to the middle of the pot, and turn the burner to a simmer for about 30 minutes. Cover.
• Halfway through (15 min), pull the bouquet up, stir the pot again, and set the bouquet back in.
• If you're using cooked rice, add that now: about 1.5 cups of cooked rice.
• Add a sprinkle of sea salt (not too much now! you can always add more)
Meanwhile:
• Julienne up the rest of the carrots.
• Wash 1-2 handfuls of fresh spinach. If the stems are really long, cut in half. Dry, set aside.
After ~30 minutes in the pot:
• Toss in all the spinach.
• Take out the bouquet.
• Squeeze 2-3 tbsp of lemon juice into the soup. Stir.
• Blend time! Hand blender or traditional blender/Vitamix. For texture sake, I prefer the Vitamix in this case.
• Handblender: Just don't blend up the whole thing :) Leave 1/3 soup un-blended.
• Vitamix: Scoop out much of the celery and all the carrots into the blender, trying to keep back the rice and spinach. No big deal if you get some in; in fact, it makes it nice and creamy without potatoes or cream (I needed to do this in two batches). Turn on; slowly increase to half-way--never more. Blend for 10-15 seconds. If you don't have a blender that lets air out, DON'T cover completely! The steam from the soup will pop your top off. For the Vitamix, just leave the center cap open, or not screwed in place.
• Do second batch. You'll leave about 1/3 of the soup, un-blended.
• Incorporate all back together.
Serve in bowls, garnished with julienned carrots plus whatever you want from Parmesan to fresh thyme. Add fresh cracked pepper.
Win!!
This could go great with bbq chicken drums, or, as a meal itself...perhaps with pita chips?
Hope you enjoy it sometime,
Jessica"
24 August 2012
Family Dinner
very few places will take a reservation for 22 people...who knew?!
Between the conversations, we were also much entertained by the good, old game of "Telephone". Among the many "important messages" to send around the table, one went something like this: "There's an alien in my ear and It was so bad that It won't get Christmas presents this year."...or something like that.
And below, just another wonderful exchange of words:
23 August 2012
Mt. Hood
on the road again...
one of the best parts of this trip was the great conversation we had driving all over Oregon -- that is, if you were awake ;) we took turns.
We stopped for a break near the top of Mt. Hood on our way back from Sunriver. Ben picked me a flower.
22 August 2012
elevation check.
Grandpa Joe worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture puts in these awesome looking elevation checks. I have a photo of something just like this in Taipei, Taiwan -- I'll have to dig it up!
and up here, this is what it looks like:
makes you feel kinda small...
Crater Lake (Mount Mazama)
through the thicket and around the bend, there is a lake that is the deepest blue
19 August 2012
17 August 2012
16 August 2012
welcome.
and a very warm one, it was!
so much delicious food, beautiful gardens, paths, sunsets, and even better company.
so much delicious food, beautiful gardens, paths, sunsets, and even better company.
 |
| Lobdell's, 2012 |
Corn and Chevy
After picking up Aunt Sandy, we stopped for super sweet white corn in Mollala off the bed of a Chevy 6500, c.1950s
15 August 2012
how does your garden grow?
black-eyed susans and daises from the Ebel Garden -- one of many beautiful bouquets around the house
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