Acadia National Park, the Vacation that Almost Was Not

Our campsite

The good news, Thom and I are reluctantly back from an amazing vacation in Acadia National Park. The not so good news, the trip almost fell through at the absolute last minute. I spent last Wednesday at work counting down the minutes until vacation. Our good friends were going to pick up our dog and then we were going to head down to my mother's house to pick up our camping gear. Then I was going to straighten up the apartment and finish up packing so that we could have a nice relaxing morning before going to a couple of appointments and heading off to our camp site. 

That was what was supposed to happen. In reality, I got out of work to find a very distraught husband. Our bank had a MAJOR banking error that resulted in our vacation savings being completely exhausted to the point of overdrafts. Rather than a leisurely evening before vacation, we ended up arguing with the bank and trying to figure out how to finance our vacation. At the absolute last minute, my mom came through and let us borrow enough money for us to go on our trip. We then called our friends to pick up our dog, they were completely understanding and amazing, and then headed over to my mom's house to pick up our gear. I gave my mom a very teary hug, she saved our much needed vacation, and for that I am forever grateful.

Peonies, from CSA week 3

We got home well after 9 o'clock, and neither of us had eaten dinner. Thom pulled something together, and we both fell asleep out of sheer emotional exhaustion. Needless to say, the majority of my Wednesday night plans became Thursday morning plans. We resolved our banking issue, which unfortunately meant cancelling the layaway on some furniture we have ordered. Sometimes being a grown up can be difficult. We made it to both appointments on time, picked up our CSA, packed up the car and headed on our way. Until we hit a traffic jam, which turned a 3 hour drive into a 4 1/2 hour drive. We finally got to our campsite at 8:30, set up camp in the dark, and ate cold hot dogs for dinner because we could not get the fire to light. Despite all of our set backs, we went to bed with a smile. At the end of the day, despite everything working against us, we were on vacation in Acadia National Park.

CSA Week #2

Just as we had almost finished eating all of our veggies we got from week #1, it was time to pick up our vegetables for week #2. In just these two weeks, we have had to completely change the way that we make dinner. When I was a teenager, my mom taught me that dinner should consist of a meat, a vegetable, and some type of starch. When you have two shelves of the refrigerator plus the crisper full of vegetables, things start to change. Starches are more or less out of our diet. We will occasionally have pasta for dinner, or share a baguette, but fruits and vegetables have definitely taken center stage. Breakfasts have become fruit salads, lunches have become wraps filled with different types of greens, and dinner has become meat with a side or two of vegetables. We absolutely love it, and just two weeks in, pick up days have become something that we look forward to every week. Thom is already talking about renewing our investment for next year.

This week's share consisted of a head of Boston lettuce, a bunch of Japanese turnips, a bunch of chives, a baggie of mixed fresh herbs, a kohlrabi, 1.5 pounds of potatoes, a zucchini, and 1/3 pound of arugula! Again, this is early in the season, and our shares will get bigger as the growing season continues. So far, the lettuce has been used in lunches, some of the chives have made friends with the potatoes to create an amazing batch of mashed potatoes, the zucchini was sliced and sauteed with fresh lemon juice and garlic, and the arugula was transformed in to an amazing lemon arugula pasta dish that I found on Pinterest. I promise I will post the recipe in the future. I need to have a chance to take a picture of the finished product. We still have turnips and the kohlrabi to figure out. The turnips can easily be sauteed and are really tasty, but I have never had kohlrabi. We were told it can be shredded and turned into coleslaw. Does anyone have any experience with this? Or other recipes that involve kohrabi?

One of the things I love about participating in a CSA is discovering new vegetables that I have never tried before. At the same time, that can also be the most frustrating aspect.

Creamed Spinach

I have been craving creamed spinach for a while now, but I refuse to buy the frozen processed variety that is loaded with salt, preservatives, and... pardon my French, crap. When spinach turned out to be one of our picks at our CSA pick up, I knew exactly what I was going to make with it. I just had to find a recipe.

I was disappointed to find that so many recipes for creamed spinach call for frozen spinach. Fresh spinach has a beautiful green color, and I find that it is actually easier to work with than frozen spinach. This is because frozen spinach is sold in bricks that is often times freezer burned and once you thaw it out, it is water logged. No fun, and not very tasty. Emeril Lagasse has a recipe on the Food Network that uses fresh spinach. The man has never done me wrong with a recipe in the past, so I decided to give it a try. Needless to say, my craving has been fulfilled.

The original recipe can be found here. I opted against the nutmeg because that just did not sound right. I also cut the recipe in half because I only had a half a pound of spinach versus the two pounds the original recipe calls for.

What you need:
1/2 pound of fresh spinach
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped shallot (which turns out to be exactly one shallot)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (one clove)
a healthy pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream

What you do:
1. Bring a pot of water to boiling, cook spinach for two minutes, then immediately drain in a colander. Press the spinach with a spoon while in the colander to squeeze out as much water as possible. Chop the spinach. I just sort of dumped the pile of spinach onto my cutting board and made four cuts across the pile.

2. Melt the butter in a medium sized skillet over medium-medium high heat. Saute the shallot and garlic until soft and fragrant, about two minutes. At this point, your kitchen will smell amazing. Add the spinach in, and saute for another minute or so.

3. Add the heavy cream, pepper, and salt. Stirring occasionally, cook until the cream has reduced by half, approximately 4 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

CSA Week #1

Thursday evening marked our first CSA pick-up. We really had no idea what to expect, and I am happy to report that we are more than impressed. We were expected a light pick-up because previous emails from the farm indicated that pick-ups would be light early in the season and larger towards the end of the season. When we got to our pick-up location, we were surprised to find out the amount of veggies we would get to take home. Every CSA member got a head of lettuce, 1/10 pound of chives (that is a lot of chives), and half a pound of Japanese turnips, then we got six additional picks, which we used to get another head of lettuce, a half pound of spinach, two half pound picks of baby bok choy, and two half pound picks of rhubarb. I would say we made out quite well, and if this is a light week, I am excited to see what is in a heavier week towards the end of the growing season.

Now we are in the process of figuring out how to use all the fresh veggies. 1/10 of a pound of chives goes a long way and we have been adding them to dinners for extra seasoning. The rhubarb was combined with a container of fresh strawberries I purchased from the local grocery store and became pie. The lettuce and spinach will be used for fresh salads for our lunches, and I am going to use some of the baby bok choy in a batch of Asian noodle soup. As for the rest, we will see what Thom and I come up with. The best part? We pick-up more veggies on Thursday!

CSA Update

Source

I got an email last week from the farm that we invested in to inform me and Thom that our first pick-up will be tomorrow! (Squeee!) On Monday, we received an email that explained what our available selections would be. The way our CSA (community supported agriculture) works is you pick out a size of share to invest in; small, medium, or large. Each week, everyone gets certain vegetables, then, depending on the size of share you purchased, you get a specified number of picks out of a selection of other vegetables.

Our CSA is a bit different from traditional CSAs in which everyone gets an evenly distributed mystery box. Thom and I can be picky eaters sometimes and we were concerned abut the possibility of getting a box of bell peppers or onions. This way we get a little more say into where our investment goes. We were also looking at a CSA that utilized a debit card system, the way that works is once you purchase your share, a certain amount is loaded into your account to spend at that farm's stand. After a little deliberation, we opted for our current CSA; it sounded like a better value over the course of the season, we do not have to keep track of numbers, and they have pick your own peonies.

Thom and I purchased a medium share. This week we get a head of lettuce plus six additional picks. The choices are rather scant right now because it is very early in the Maine growing season, but the farm promises to make up for everything in August and September. Regardless, I am still excited to have fresh, local, organic lettuce for our lunch wraps, zucchini for our grill, fresh potatoes, and baby bok choy, which will be a new vegetable for me.

Gardening, A Memorial Day Tradition

 For as long as I can remember, Memorial Day has always meant playing in the dirt, preparing the garden beds, and a trip to the garden shop to purchase plants. I look forward to the day Thom and I have a house of our own with a yard and gardens. Right now, we have an apartment, and a small deck. Regardless, tradition must go on, and I have made due with window boxes and flower pots. Despite a week of rain, we were able to get the dirt prepped, plants purchased, and planted. The next two days were rather chilly for plants that had just come out of the greenhouse, but everything is doing surprisingly well with the heat wave we are currently experiencing. The lovely petunia to the right is from my hanging pot right outside my kitchen window, it is full of purple and white petunias. These beauties are big! My hope is that they will vine out over the edge of the pot. So pretty, and you can never go wrong with purple.

Our window boxes are filled with herbs, and a random petunia that would not fit in the hanging pot. This one has parsley, lavender, rosemary, dill, and oregano.

And this one has sage, chives, and thyme; all of which managed to survive the winter. We also added basil, peppermint, and a random petunia. Fresh herbs are crazy easy to grow, and add a nice touch to culinary creations. Thom loves to add a few mint leaves to a glass of ice water, and dill adds a nice splash of flavor to scrambled eggs.

My flower pot is home to a morning glory and moss roses. This picture was taken a week ago, you can no longer see the garden gnome the moss roses have completely taken off. My morning glory is also doing really well, I have four or five new vines popping up that I need to train to the slats surrounding the deck. My hope is to have a wall of morning glories.

My miniature garden is a nice little retreat after a day of work, or for a morning coffee. We have a little bistro table out there and it is just the perfect place to sit. Unfortunately, I nailed the table with the black spray paint when I spray painted the baker's rack for the kitchen, so the whole thing needs to be repainted. The only question is what color?

In other gardening news, our CSA is doing well, and first pick up is going to be this week! So excited!

CSA Update

Source

Earlier this year, Thom and I invested in a local farm by joining a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. We chose a small farm in Freeport that grows a variety of vegetables as well as cut-your-own flowers. This is our first year participating in a CSA, so we are not really sure what to expect. An unseasonably cold April combined with minimal rain for the last couple of weeks can be more than a little concerning with a small investment on the line. I could not imagine basing my entire livelihood on something so sensitive to the weather.

I was very happy to receive an email update from the owners of the farm this week. They have spent the last three weeks planting lettuce, fennel, chard, kale, collards, celery, celeriac, parsley, scallions, leeks, onions, broccoli raab, broccoli, cabbage, mesclun, cilantro, arugula, spinach, beets, carrots, and peas. They have also started tomatoes, peppers, and basil in the greenhouses. Everything outside is planted under plastic tents to keep nice and warm, and they have irrigated the fields to keep all the plants perfectly watered. It sounds like everything is coming along nicely. Our first vegetable pick-up should be sometime in early June, we are definitely looking forward to getting a return for our investment!

Cheesy Cauliflower Pancakes

With our CSA starting up in June, I have been searching Pinterest for vegetable recipes. The last time we went grocery shopping we were able to get a really good price on cauliflower, so I decided to give one of the recipes in my collection a try. Cheesy Cauliflower Pancakes sounded good, and I happened to have all the ingredients in my pantry.

I am happy to report that the recipe did not disappoint. Thom was a little nervous about them at first, but we were both in love with first bite. The flavor and texture are very similar to a potato latke, just instead of potato you are definitely eating cauliflower. This is definitely on our "make again" list.

The original recipe can be found here.

What you need:
1 head of cauliflower
2 large eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (the sharper the better)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (the original recipe calls for cayenne)
salt to taste
olive oil

What you do:
1. Chop the cauliflower into chunks and boil/steam until tender. Drain well, and mash the cauliflower while it is still warm.
2. Add cheese, eggs, bread crumbs, pepper flakes, and salt to the cauliflower. I added my eggs on top of everything else because the cauliflower is still quite warm and I did not want scrambled eggs. Fold everything together, the mixture will be quite moist.
3. Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil over medium high heat. Drop cauliflower by large spoonfuls into the oil, I was able to make three pancakes at a time. Cook until the bottoms are golden, then turn.
4. Place the finished pancakes on a cookie sheet in a warm oven, repeat step three as many times as necessary.

Getting Healthy, or Why We Started Eating All Natural/Organic

I look like a cow in this picture

Thom and I have never pretended to be examples of someone physically fit. Whether we like to admit it or not, we are overweight. For several years, we have both been saying that we want to lose weight, but we never did anything seriously about it. We joined gyms, but never went; started a diet, but cheated on it all the time. The intention was there, but the commitment was not. Enter our thirties, when everything starts to fall apart. To spare details, Thom has always had gastrointestinal issues, and things really came to a head in March of last year. He was referred to a gastroenterologist and had to go through several tests, but no real diagnosis was found. On a whim one day, I suggested that we try cutting corn syrup out of our diet. I had a friend growing up that had an intolerance to it, so I figured why not give it a shot. Within 72 hours, Thom's issues had disappeared. We found the culprit.

Source

This led to research about corn syrup, specifically high fructose corn syrup. We learned that it was made through a chemical process that is currently unregulated through the federal government. We learned that it is related to intestinal issues, and it makes the body resistant to insulin. As well as some other really ugly facts about it, you can read for yourself here. What was even more infuriating was the fact that high fructose corn syrup is in everything; soda, cookies, candies, bread, crackers, ketchup, fruit juice, yogurt, the list goes on.

This caused a bit of a dilemma, how to we eat without poisoning ourselves? Our answer? Thank goodness for all natural grocery stores. In a matter of days we went from shopping at traditional grocery store to the all natural grocery store. I am so happy we made the switch. We are fortunate to have a Trader Joe's in town, so the switch actually saved us money. I can buy anything I want without having to worry about high fructose corn syrup or other nasty preservatives that we really just should not be eating. The best part? I get to fill up my cart with fresh veggies every week. Well, for now.

It turns out switching to all natural and organic food has caused a bit of a lifestyle change. Thom and I are quickly learning that when you eat better, you feel better. My own IBS has disappeared, our skin is clearer, we sleep better at night, and we have more energy during the day. To go along with this lifestyle change, we have joined a CSA for the summer. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Thom and I have invested in a local farm, and as a result we will get a portion of their harvest from June through to October. Fresh local veggies, I am so excited!

The additional energy has helped out too. Our Portland has hiking trails throughout the city, and now that spring has finally started to arrive, we have taken to after work hikes with the dog. It is a nice opportunity to spend time with Thom, take some pictures of the beautiful landscape around us, and, of course, get some exercise!

Our new, healthier lifestyle is yet another thing that I have to look forward to, and my jeans are definitely starting to get a bit looser by the day.