Spicy Fancy Carrots

So, I discovered something great this year, carrots come in many colors; white, golden yellow, orange, a rosy pink, red, and even purple. All of which have their own unique flavors, some more delicate, some more pungently "carroty".  Who knew! Probably a lot of people, but let's not get hung up on that.
I, and most of the people I know, love the pickled carrots at Mexican restaurants and taco stands. So when I started seeing this beautiful rainbow of carrots at the farmers markets, I got an idea. It came to me that the gorgeous colors of the organic local carrots and the flavors of the spicy, jalapeno/onion/carrot pickle were a natural match.

So, I did a cold-pack vinegar pickle with several colors of carrots, each in their own jar. I am not normally a proponent of segregation, however in this one case, it seemed best. The darker carrot colors are quite strong and will dye anything you put in with them, which is great if you want all-purple pickled something. However, in this case, I wanted to see each of the beautiful carrot varieties shine in it's own right. What came from this experiment was, in a word, wonderful. The jewel-toned jars of spicy carroty goodness are fabulous. Pickling each color separately really showcases all the diverse beauty of these carrots and it's so exiting to share them. Friends, family (and our customers) are fascinated by the variety of colors. This enthusiasm encourages conversations about bio-diversity, favorite foods and pickling, all favorite topics of mine. The flavor is delicious, crunchy, spicy and tangy, the jalapeno, garlic, and onion pieces add spice and richness without being overwhelming.
Here's the recipe, as always adjust liberally, but not on the amount of vinegar. Acidity levels are vital in pickling. If you know you don't like spicy, leave out some of the red pepper, if you like more jalapenos, substitute a half a cup of the carrots for more peppers. If you hate cumin, leave it out.  As long as the basic proportions of vegetable to pickling brine, and acid in that brine, stay the same, you can do whatever you want! Your jar is your canvas!
If you've never canned before PLEASE consult this website for all the beginning tips on how not to poison your loved ones.
Spicy Fancy Carrots
3 lbs. Carrots cut 1/4 inch slices
4 jalapenos cut in 1/4- 1/2 inch slices
1 onion chopped (1 cup)
6 cloves garlic sliced
Brine
6 cups distilled white vinegar (the cheap kind)
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 tbsp. salt
8 bay leaves
1 tsp. cumin
1 sprig of fresh marjoram or oregano
1 tsp, whole black peppercorns

- First, prep your jars. Then prep the veggies. Please wear gloves while you slice the peppers, jalapeno on your hands and in your eyes is unpleasant at best. Peel and slice carrots, onion and garlic.
-Put the Brine ingredients together in a large pot. Bring the brine to a low simmer for 5 minutes, turn off and let sit, stir making sure all the sugar and salt are dissolved.
- Pack your veggies into your jars, cover completely with the brine, leaving about half an inch headspace between the top of the brine and the lid of the jar. Wipe your rims, put on your lids and screw on the bands, not too tight.
Water-bath process: 15 minutes.
Pull out your jars with a jar lifter or tongs and set on a clean dishtowel overnight.
When they go POP! that's the sound of success, an oddly addictive sound actually, I love the sound of my jars sealing. If a jar doesn't seal, put it in the fridge and eat those ones first.
By the way, I tried these as refrigerator pickles, it didn't work as well, they need that processing time to soften up and soak in all the delicious flavors in the brine.
Remember, use fun colors, organic, local etc. if you can, but it's most important to enjoy the process so instead of driving 3 hours to find the perfect carrot, or stressing on the finer points of sustainable vs. organic; buy or grow some, chop, pickle, enjoy, repeat. 

Discover It, Pickle It, Live It, Love It!

Jamming - the new crack/ Pickle me this Batman...

So here again is an example of something I said I would not do because it is simply too trendy and now that I have, I am hooked. Summer practically demands that we think ahead, the sheer volume of beautiful produce screams to be enjoyed, and saved for the future.

It all started with a sale on blueberries. I thought a bitter pink grapefruit marmalade with blueberries would be wonderful and after the consulting the source of all knowledge (google) it turned out that a woman in Brooklyn thought so too and had a nice recipe on her lovely blog. Of course I played with it and added some of my favorite things, brown sugar and Tahitian Vanilla Bean and voila! my Jam Addiction was born.
The marmalade is fantastic, so much so that I will have to make more because I keep eating it all, but there's so much more.
Now my sister-in-law and I are actively making new seasonal jams and pickles all the time and selling them to friends and family and at private events.

                

Now we are officially Preservation Society! In the spirit of a true addict I cannot put down my jamming or pickling for long. I can swear off (with or without a solemn oath) and find myself back in the kitchen within 72 hours sterilizing jars and prepping produce. 

So, pickle me this Batman - what's the new Crack? Jam, pickles, marmalade! Preservation is the new Crack.  

More to come...

Is That a Bluetooth/Happy Birthday Morgan!

Is that a Bluetooth? This is the question I get most often in public places about my daughter's hearing aids.  I know if I left them off I could get my grocery shopping done a little faster, I wouldn't have to smile and say "No, they're hearing aids. Yes, she's deaf. No, she doesn't sign, she's 11 months old, although I do sign to her. We will be getting cochlear implants. Yes, I am aware that some members of the Deaf community would frown on my choice. No, she can't hear much of anything, even you saying "hi", she's profoundly deaf. Have a nice day. Yes, I prefer the French feta to the American, and those cookies are fantastic."

I don't mind the conversations, or the looks, or even the silly jokes about Bluetooths on babies too much. Although sometimes I feel like we are ambassadors for deaf and hard of hearing babies. People are not used to seeing babies with hearing aids on, I completely understand that. I would have been the first one to stare and say awkward things before I had my daughter. In fact, I think explaining it to strangers might be helping me process the whole thing.
Now that we have a date set for her cochlear implant surgery I know it's going to get even more intense. The external part of the implants look like big hearing aid with an additional piece that goes to the "coil" which sticks on the side of her head with the aid of a magnet on the internal piece. It can be startling and intriguing to see someone with one on for the first time. I am sure that there will be many "Bluetooth" conversations in my future about her implants. It is difficult sometimes to remain open and friendly with strangers when discussing something so new and personal.
 It has been difficult to come to terms with Morgan's deafness. The surprise of it alone is a shock to the system and then there is the education afterwards, and the questions you ask yourself; Why is she deaf? How bad is the hearing loss? What to we do to help ourselves adjust so that we can be the best parents to her that we can and provide everything she may need now, and in the future? What will Morgan think of our decisions as she grows up? What if we make a mistake? These are just a few of the questions that keep me up at night.
Some of these questions one is confronted with upon the birth of any child, whether they can hear or not, and some are more specific. Should we learn sign? Get implants? What about the people who don't agree with my decisions? One thing you find out quickly is that all of your choices now are political, communication methods for the Deaf/deaf are a matter of heated debate and even strangers feel compelled to offer their opinion, or someone else's for example "You're getting implants for her? You know Deaf people would consider her a traitor." Yes, someone really said that to me, how they would know what all Deaf people would think is beyond me, but that's another rant.  The more important questions to me are not about what others will think but what will be best for Morgan. Our reason for getting the implant is simple, if she doesn't want to listen or talk later she will have the choice, but we will never have this window of opportunity for her to acquire natural spoken language and listening skills again. The truth is all parents want to communicate with their children in the manner that is most comfortable for them, we will learn and use ASL with her as well but I think giving her the chance to hear and speak is a wonderful thing.
The adjustment so far hasn't been easy. I will say that when I tried to act as though I wasn't sad, the worse my grief seemed to get. These things are all true; she is special, perfect as she is, and everything is okay. However, the process of acceptance does not happen overnight. The more I tried to force it the worse I felt.  Something clicked for me when Morgan began to have trouble falling asleep. When Brigid went through the same thing I knew she needed to work it out for herself, I didn't let her "Cry It Out" but I also didn't coddle her. It was hard but I knew we were doing the right thing. She learned how to access sleep on her own and is a happier, more self-reliant little girl as a result. When it was Morgan's turn I became insecure and doubtful, I was scared I would do permanent damage to her somehow if I did the same thing as with Brigid. Our Auditory-Verbal Therapist put it to me this way "You have to decide if you are going to treat her differently because she's deaf, or not." That hit me hard, I hadn't even realized I was doing it, but I was doing exactly that. I was scared that because she was deaf she would not connect with me the same way Brigid did. We will not be treating Morgan differently, we will treat her with the same love, and the same respect for her process of becoming herself that growing up will give her as her big sister, and it started with letting her learn to fall asleep on her own. She is now a wonderful self-soother, and I am a bit more aware of my own well-meaning prejudice, and confident in my own inner parent, and in her. 
Now with our surgery date looming I find myself exited, scared, and a bit anxious about our future. How will she do during the surgery? how will she heal? I am starting a new job six days after the surgery, how will I adapt to being away from her? how will she adapt to daycare, especially right after surgery? will she react well to her new hearing and keep her processors on? As of right now she pulls her hearing aids off and sticks them in her mouth 10 times a day, but they don't do much for her so there's no real "reward" for having them on as far as she's concerned.
Morgan is a phenomenal little girl, beautiful, and funny. She brought a sweetness with her when she came to us that is indescribable. I know there will be more challenges, more adjustments, more growth, surrender, and change to come but as we approach Morgan's first birthday and surgery I know that nothing will be like this first year ever again. We have all been brought together and guided through this difficult time by a Grace that I know carries us all still.

Happy Birthday Morgan, we're so glad you could join us.

Zucchini Galore aka The Greedy Gardener

I love to garden, I am not very good at it but I love it, kind of like swing dancing.  I learned to garden from my mom mostly. When I was in my 20's we had a large vegetable garden with a forest of jewel-colored heirloom tomatoes with magical names like Purple Cherokee, Green Striper, and Yellow Roma. After a couple summers having such beautiful tomatoes, zucchini, green beans and more right out of the garden I was hooked. One of the things I wanted most when we bought a house was a vegetable garden.
Last year my husband built a wonderful raised bed in our backyard for me and I had a few plants, including one zucchini. I like both the process and the philosophy of growing one's own food.  Preparing the soil and planting the seeds. Watching in amazement as the seedlings grow take over my garden gives me connection to the earth and my own food that is not readily available here in Los Angeles, not even at Trader Joe's.  I love bringing my girls outside to hunt for zucchini in the evenings, my two-year-old daughter likes to play hide-and-seek with me under the big heart shaped leaves. I like the small sense of independence my garden gives me, as if no matter what happens we won't starve. Come poverty, come earthquake, Armageddon? Bring it on! We'll survive on our zucchini!
After moderate success last year, I was so pleased that I planted more this year. Because if one zucchini plant is good, more is better, right?  I admit to being a bit over zealous with my planting. I tried to follow the popular square-foot-gardening plan but I was afraid most of the plants wouldn't make it, (like I said, I am not a good gardener) so I planted a few "extra" just in case.  When almost all of them sprouted and grew I had to pull out several plants and pawn them off on friends and acquaintances, I even took some to the John Tracy Clinic preschool to plant for the kids, just to thin the herd enough to allow the plants I kept to grow. So, three varieties of zucchini - Emerald, Jade and Golden respectively, and three Early Yellow Crookneck plants later, I am in the typical greedy gardener's position. I am inundated with squash. However, this in not bad news. These are not the bitter bruised up zucs from the grocery store, they are light, sweet and easy to use in just about everything.

Zucchini is a delightfully easy thing to grow. For people like me who like instant gratification and big payoffs with a minimum of effort I would say it is the perfect veggie for your garden. I have heard heirloom tomatoes described as the "gateway drug" of home vegetable gardening but I would argue that summer squash, including zucchini, is easily as addictive in it's own way. Naturally, I planted both so we'll see what I have to say about tomatoes in a month or two when they ripen.

I love the insane abundance they bring to summer, each morning I go out to see what's ready and every day I have at least one very large squash to bring in and figure out how to use. Some days I will find that I missed one, usually the Emerald, and it's grown to mammoth proportions. The pace at which they produce and their brief shelf-life makes zucchini a challenge, but a fun one. Today I will bring some fresh-picked zucchini to my brother and his wife, put some in cookies, and grill some to go with Barbequed Chicken.
My zucchini make me feel like a good gardener, and have pushed me to be a volunteer, a generous sister, an inventive chef, and a Mom who makes her own baby food, all in all I would say that makes it a pretty powerful vegetable, all things considered.

As for how to best utilize the abundant harvest, so far I have made; Feta Zucchini/Yellow Squash bake, two kinds of Lemon Zucchini Bread, Zucchini-Orange Chocolate Chip cookies, Stir-Fried Zucchini, Zucchini-Basil Savory Quickbread, Zucchini Curry, Scrambled Eggs with Zucchini, Basil and Extra-Sharp White Cheddar, Shaved Zucchini Salad, Steamed Zucchini with Basil Olive Oil and Sea Salt, Pureed Zucchini Baby Food, and it being the 4th of July and all, it promises to be a perfect day to grill Zucchini Marinated in Olive Oil, Cumin and Fresh Oregano. I have added links to the recipes I used, I adapted them to what I had on hand i.e. basil instead of thyme, basil instead of oregano, (I am growing basil too) yellow squash for zucchini, etc.
Here is my just about perfect Zucchini-Orange Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 sticks butter - melted
1/2 cup Splenda or granulated sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract (preferably Tahitian)
2 large eggs
zest of 2 oranges (approximately 2 packed tbsp.)
2 cups zucchini - grated and squeezed
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (I like walnuts)

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
Grate your zucchini and squeeze out some of the extra liquid using a paint straining bag or a dishtowel, set aside.
Zest your oranges - set aside.
Dry Ingredients - in a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
Wet Ingredients - In a large glass bowl combine butter and orange zest, melt the butter in the microwave (30 seconds to 1 minute - don't boil it!) Then add sugars, vanilla, eggs and zucchini.
Combine by slowly adding the dry ingredients to the wet.
Add chocolate chips and nuts.
Use a small spoon and drop equal-sized cookies on to an ungreased cookie sheet, or you can use parchment paper if you like.
Bake for 10-13 minutes until golden.

Orange-Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are really yummy. Enjoy!
So, I am glad to have my garden overflowing with zucchini for the time being, and look forward to finding what has grown tonight, tomorrow.

Grow It. Cook It. Eat It. Live It.