Turkish Coffee with Jewish Honey Bread

This bread is flavored with instant espresso coffee, honey, raisins and orange peel. Rather than use a loaf pan, I tried a bundt pan, so it looked more festive.

Spring Cleaning: Pantry

Production: Drying, Canning, Freezing

Once I start tilling and planting, hauling manure and compost, I want quick meals in minutes. So, I've made batches of Khoshari Sauce, Rasam Stew, and various rice-lentil blends which can be frozen and thawed for a quick meal. I candied and dried all the orange peels from the orange sauce we use over yogurt, then canned the pulpy syrup.

Falafel and Roasted Eggplant Burritos

Mixed the fried falafel into roasted eggplant; added chopped parsley, leeks and onions, red pepper and tomato. Served with leek soup.

Liver & Onions - Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

This meal was so good, warmed up the next day. As I slid the meal onto the plate from a little pan, the result looked like a rippled river bottom.

Egyptian Khoshari on Whole Wheat Flatbread

Khoshari features a variety of carbs - lentils, rice, garbanzos, beans and orzo. The sauce is poured over everything. When this meal is finished we can eat the plate!

Red Lentil Currry

Garlic, onion, tomato, garam masala, molasses powder, salt.

Flatbread and Whole Grain Bread

The whole grain bread has raisins in it and will be used for French Toast. The flatbread will be used as a plate, to hold Khoshari, curries and chutney.

I baked these yesterday, and hope to make the Khoshari today...but first, back to the walla walla onion sets at the garden. I've got about a hundred that need planting.

Twins: Lunchtime

Best place for lunch: Outdoors, in any kind of weather! My sister at Glacier Park this week, and myself at Gold Creek last fall. Food just tastes better, after you've hiked for a few hours. Lunch: Soup, sandwich. Good snacks: Nuts, dried acai fruit, slices of red and yellow pepper, and Hunza Flatbread made with sprouted wheat and dried apricots. Oh, and don't forget, 'Bugs on a Log' - celery, with raisins and peanut-butter.

Solitude: Snowshoeing in Glacier Park

Farhad's Persian Cookies

From Hilton Pastry Shop in Vancouver, BC. They were heavenly!

Soba Noodles: Chewy Buckwheat Strands

In Japan Soba noodles are served either hot or cold, with a dipping sauce, a zesty combo of vegetables, or a savory broth.

I boiled them, then slightly fried them in peanut oil with dried garlic to make a fluffy noodle with a crispy texture on the outside.

We enjoyed them with barbecued chicken and a splash of stir-fried vegetables.

I placed a few smoked mussels into a shell for a delicious appetizer.

Hiking the Molly Porter Trail: Capitol Forest

After the Naw Ruz brunch we spent the afternoon hiking the Molly Porter Trail in the Capitol Forest.

This particular trail collects water, so I'm glad I wore my muck boots. I started this hike wearing six layers - three shirts, a sweater, a warm wool coat, and a light-weight jacket.
By the end of the hike, much of which was uphill, I'd removed four layers. Wonderful workout, refreshing temperature!

Setting up the Naw Ruz Brunch

Keeping the Kitchen Warm - Cookin'

Friends were coming for dinner, so I thought, "What can I do with a handful of basmati rice, a package of turkey burger, and a jar of sliced apples for dessert?

I started by preparing a casserole using meatballs, Persian rice, lentils, and stir-fried vegetables. The process used by the Persians for preparing rice is complex and time-consuming - much of it spent steaming the rice at a very low temperature, then letting the rice cool on a damp cloth to loosen the tadiq on the bottom. I used a different approach for the tadiq so it didn't harden or become golden, but the variation in texture was enjoyable, never the less.
The turkey meatballs were seasoned with at least a tablespoon of freshly ground cumin, pomegranate molasses, egg, whole-grain bread, finely chopped onion and garlic, and salt and pepper. Once sauteed, I drizzled sweet chili sauce over them, frying them until a soft, deep brown glycation occurred, intensifying the flavor.

I made cottage cheese salad for my lunch yesterday. Turmeric and paprika add antioxidants. Served with a simple balsamic and olive oil dressing, a splash of chow-mien noodles, walnuts, vegetable chop, and dried cranberries.

I used the jar of home-canned unsweetened apples for apple pie, made a crushed almond-walnut bottom crust and a whole wheat upper crust. The proteins from the nuts and yogurt temper the glycemic rush from the caramel-rum syrup. This pie was best served warm, so the caramel syrup could settle into the pie and bring out the flavor.

I'm pulling more leeks for soup. So good, as a bedtime snack, with a sprinkling of za-attar and crumbled tortilla. Since leek soup is exceedingly light, I side-dressed with buckwheat groats.

Brushetta on Dilly Bread & Vegetable Soup

I have about 40 mature leeks in my back yard that must be used up quickly so I can transplant the young starts from my Franklin Park garden. I thought of Leek Soup, but eventually threw in turnips, potatoes, hominy, tomatoes, carrots, chard, kale, and a bit of pork sausage.

This soup 'saved my life' yesterday when I came home from gardening for two hours at Franklin Park - I was too weary to cook. So, I warmed up a bowl, grilled the brushetta toasts, and collapsed in front of the TV. I never should have done my morning run/hill climb and then turned soil for two hours in the afternoon. It was too much. Interesting how it never feels excessive when I'm doing it! But once the work is done, I can barely move.

One of my plots at Franklin Park has been switched to 'Year Around', which means that the Park District won't till it - I can use it all year for crops like aspargus or raspberries. The other plot will be plowed by Metro Parks every spring. However, I had to work in manure, compost and leaves yesterday to ready it for plowing. It is double-duty, but it really makes for smooth, beautiful soil. Some of my friends at the garden already have their peas and potatoes in, their spinach and lettuce. I've purchased my seeds, 40% off at Fred Meyer, and that is all I've done. This coming week I'll lay out my growing beds on paper.

I've been preparing meals for the freezer, planning ahead for the gardening season, when I'm too busy to cook. Soups, pizza, east-Indian curries, stews, breads.

Keeping the Kitchen Warm: Baking

Orange Biscotti and Dilly Cottage-Cheese Bread.

Challah Bread French Toast

Baked the Challah on Friday, and enjoyed French Toast on Sunday. Challah is just an egg bread with a braid of dough on top - which I omitted due to excuses and laziness. However, I sprinkled the top with poppy seeds, and prepared a nice Huckleberry-Mandarin Orange Compote in heavy syrup.

"Skook Is A Waste of Gas" - Try the Cowlitz

We drove down to the Skookumchuck Wildlife Reserve on Saturday for an afternoon of exploring and hiking.The Reserve is about an hour's drive south, into Lewis County. The property consists of prairie, farmland, meadows, orchards and forest habitats, a pleasant mix that provides enjoyable hiking.

Lots of moisture here - little ponds and streams meander through the orchards. The forest is a frequent habitat for elk, deer and bear - we saw the scat. The refuge harbors pheasant, grouse and occasionally a few wild turkey.

Not far from the refuge is the Skookumchuck River, a popular fishing area. Rainbow and cutthroat trout are fished above the reservoir and steelhead and sea-run cutthroat below it. Lots of fishermen were trying their luck along the river. They parked their cars along the road and families sat around make-shift bonfires to keep warm.

Online sites like Gamefishin.com offer river reports:
Cohokiller caught 22 coho in January, all fire truck red and black; didn't keep any.
fishon wrote: "kookumchuck went all day mass fisherman no fish but a few dark steelhesds. cow is getting good try it out boys. skook is a wast of gas."

Alan Rainwater reported: "Spent the morning on the Wynoochee with nothing to show for it. On the way home we hit the Skookumchuck, it was also very low but I was surprised to see a little bit of color. Drifted eggs with no weight below the gravel pit. I had a solid strike on about my 15th cast. When I set the hook my 6 lb. f-carbon snapped like button thread, I guess I tied a lousy knot (I know that's hard to believe!). Re-tied and moved up to the next slot. Made my first cast up under a down tree and wham !!! FISH ON !! 5 seconds later FISH OFF ! #$%^&**! Fished for another hour or so with no luck. Saw enough to make me want to come back even with the low water. Maybe next time."

I know nothing about fishing, but wished I did - I enjoy the details: Boober and jigs, pink worms, #10 corkies, baiting with sand shrimp. Stuff like that.

We drove to Cabella's, spent about an hour shopping - or at least I did, as I had a Christmas giftcard burning in my pocket.

George took pictures and listened to a lecture on fishing.

Crockpot Cooking - Beef 'n' Bean Stew

A wonderful fragrance in the kitchen greeted us when we arrived home from our hike! This beef stew simmered in the crockpot for six hours while we hiked the Skookumchuck on Saturday. Right before serving I added a can of white beans to the stew, and warmed some home-made challah bread.

Persian Khoresht - Parsley and Spinach

First I prepared lamb meatballs, using a Persian recipe; lots of minced onion, garlic, coriander, dill, mint, and cumin. I modified the recipe for Khoresht-E Esfenaj Va Aloo to my tastes, using pomegranate molasses and my home-made 'mixed berry' syrup.

The Khoresht and meatballs simmered in the crockpot on low until dinner. Sidedishes: A spaghetti squash from my garden, and basmati rice mixed with yellow split peas.