The verdict.....

So.....I didn't win the pickle contest, but it was really interesting. There were 37 entries which ranged from the standard cucumber to the exotic pickled tomato (that's a TON of pickles to taste!). First place went to the balsamic tomatoes.

The pickle contest in action at Downtown Home and Garden

In any event, I will be pickling more vegetables in the future. They make great snacks and refreshing side dishes for heavy meals. My recipe was actually an attempt to recreate the spicy pickles at Tartine Bakery that accompany the croque monsieur (one of my favorite sandwiches ever, especially with one of their lattes in a bowl). Sigh.

SPICY PICKLED CARROTS

1 cup white wine vinegar

2 cups water

1/4 cup sugar

2 bay leaves

6 sprigs fresh thyme

5 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns, cracked

1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (preferably marash)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 lbs small carrots, or standard carrots cut down to sticks about 1/2 inch wide and 2-3 inches long

handful pearl onions

In a medium saucepan, combine white wine vinegar, water, sugar, thyme, garlic, black peppercorns, red pepper flakes, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, and let cool for 5 minutes.

Put the carrots and pearl onions in a large, heatproof bowl, and pour the warm brine over them. Cool to room temperature.

While the carrots cool, make sure your canning jars are clean.

When the carrots and brine are cool, distribute the carrots evenly among the jars, arranging them snugly. Using a ladle, divide the brine evenly among the jars. The carrots should be completely covered by brine. Seal firmly and refrigerate for at least a week to three weeks depending on the thickness of the carrots, and how spicy you like it.

Making progress

Spicy pickled carrots

Ingredients for tomato jam

The final product

 Practice shot in photography class at Blue House

I am happy to report that I am making progress on my list, my friends! In the past few weeks I pickled carrots, made tomato jam, and took a dosa class at Hollanders (which was great). Sadly, I missed blueberry season in Michigan. Do you think that picking raspberries should count (being berries and all)? 

I really enjoyed making the jam and pickling the carrots...so much so that I am planning on entering my pickled carrots in a local pickle contest on Saturday. A friend of mine is also entering some pickles, so it should be a fun event. 

Next on the list: apple picking, visiting the cider mill, and picking out some pumpkins in a pumpkin patch. I can't believe that it is almost Halloween. Yikes.

1. Bake something once a week
2. Visit Cannon Beach
3. Sew something (maybe a quilt?)
4. Roast a chicken
5. Read King Leopold’s Ghost
6. Make a necklace
7. Pick blueberries
8. Go to a Michigan football game
9. Take L. to the zoo
10. Buy Zingerman’s bread once a week
11. Pick apples
12. Visit The Wave Field
13. Make croissants
14. Pickle carrots
15. Take L. to the pumpkin patch and corn maze
16. Visit the cider mill with L. and O.
17. Take a class at Pot & Box
18. Learn more about our camera
19. Get up early and go bird watching
20. Plant succulents
21. Take a BAKE class
22. Make a snowman
23. Visit Leelanau County and Sleeping Bear Dunes
24. Work on photo album for L.
25. Make pâte de fruit
26. Go to the Homegrown Festival
27. Take a winter stroll in the Arb
28. Make Bûche de Noël
29. Go for a walk once a week (even in winter)
30. Put up a Christmas tree
31. Read The Brothers Karamazov
32. Make jam
33. Plan monthly art project to do with L.
34. Take a class at Hollander’s
35. Visit the Natural History Museum

Recipe rundown: Roasted brussels sprouts

This week was a huge week for us. O passed his proposal defense and will officially be looking for a job. Woohoo! We are very excited about this next step in our lives. Where will it take us?


More on that later...for now, a recipe. I thought that I hated brussels sprouts for many years. When we received them in our CSA box a few years back, I decided to give them another chance (and was hooked). My favorite brussels sprouts recipe comes from Mario Batali, but this one is a close second. This recipe would be fantastic with chicken clay pot from Slanted Door. 

The addictive dressing

Yum.

ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS
Adapted from David Chang

For brussels sprouts:

2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthwise

3 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For dressing:

1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (preferably Tiparos brand)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons finely chopped mint

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro stems

1 garlic clove, minced

1 (1 1/2-inch) fresh red Thai chile, thinly sliced crosswise, including seeds

Roast brussels sprouts:

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in upper third.

Toss Brussels sprouts with oil, then arrange, cut sides down, in a 17- by 12-inch shallow baking pan. Roast, without turning, until outer leaves are tender and very dark brown, 35-40 minutes. Add butter and toss to coat.

Make dressing:

Stir together all dressing ingredients until sugar has dissolved.

Finish dish:

Put Brussels sprouts in a serving bowl, then toss with just enough dressing to coat. Serve remaining dressing on the side.

NOTE: The original recipe also calls for puffed rice topping, but I was lazy and did not make it. I think that it would add a nice crunch to the dish. I may have to try it next time!

Raspberry shrub: Work in progress

Picking raspberries

The raspberry thief

Squish.

When we were in Portland over Labor Day weekend, I had some amazing blackberry drinking vinegar at Pok Pok. Inspired by the drink (some might say obsessed), I decided to give it a shot at home. 

Apparently drinking vinegars, also known as shrubs, were popular in the 1800s. Who knew? A shrub is essentially a fruit vinegar, and at Pok Pok it was mixed with sparkling water.

I convinced a friend that picking raspberries with babies would be a fun Sunday afternoon activity and so we headed to Makielski Berry Farm (Note: Raspberry bushes have thorns and thus may not be the best activity with one-year olds. Oops. Next time we'll try apple picking.).


After the fruit macerates in the vinegar for a week, you boil the concoction with sugar and strain out the solids. O. and I thought that the shrub was pretty good, but next time we'll use a more potent or a larger amount of vinegar. The shrub at Pok Pok definitely had more of a punch. Work in progress.

SHRUB

From the NYTimes

Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts, depending on fruit used.

These measurements can be played with quite liberally, as some fruits contain more natural sugars.

2 quarts fruit, use any fruit, pears, figs, raspberries, cherries
1 liter apple-cider vinegar (preferably Bragg) or other vinegar.
1/2 to 1 cup raw sugar
Soda water
Ice

1. Rinse the fruit and discard any rot. Place in a large non-reactive or ceramic pot and mash for several minutes with your hands or a wooden spoon to break up. Pour in enough vinegar to cover and top with a lid. Let macerate at room temperature for a week, stirring once a day. (Do not be alarmed by the smell or the sludge on top.)

2. After a week, stir in 1/2 cup of the sugar and gently boil for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly, then strain. (The smell created from boiling is a bit offensive, so open the doors and windows.)

3. Make a test shrub: cool 3 to 4 tablespoons of the fruit mixture. Fill a 20-ounce glass with ice. Add water or soda water to almost the rim, then add the chilled fruit mixture. Taste to determine sweetness. If it is too tart, add sugar to the fruit mixture, little by little, while still hot. Cool fully and funnel into bottles. Will keep indefinitely in refrigerator.

NOTE: Next time I would try a different type of vinegar so that the shrub has more of a punch. They are not kidding about the smell. Open your windows or better yet, boil it on the grill. 

Lovely reminder

Via Mary Ruffle, via Gabrielle Loves

Recipe rundown: Maple-Roasted Butternut Squash

Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite season. I love the cool, crisp air, the colors, and the food. Many varieties of squash have started showing up at the farmer's market. What better way to enjoy it than with some Michigan maple syrup and pancetta? This recipe was fantastic and will definitely be making a regular appearance this fall (and beyond).

MAPLE-ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics by Ina Garten

• 1 large or 2 small butternut squash
  
• 1 head garlic separated but not peeled
• 2 Tbsp. good olive oil
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, chopped
• 16 whole fresh sage leaves
• French bread for serving

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°. Peel and seed butternut squash and then cut into 3/4- to 1-inch cubes. Place squash and whole unpeeled garlic cloves in a baking dish or sheet pan large enough to hold them all in one layer. Toss with olive oil, maple syrup, salt, and pepper, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until squash begins to brown, turning once during baking. Sprinkle pancetta and sage leaves evenly over squash and continue to bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until squash and garlic are tender and caramelized. Season to taste and serve hot with French bread for guests to spread with the roasted garlic.

Trip report: Portland, OR

We went to Portland to attend the wedding of some good friends over Labor Day weekend. We hadn't been there in 10 years and wow, it has really changed. We really enjoyed the city! The food (including the Singapore-like food truck pods) and the local craft scene were fantastic. It's definitely on my list of places to visit again (hopefully sooner rather than later). And L. absolutely loved Cannon Beach. So fun.

Some the highlights:

Coffee: Spella Caffe and Stumptown Coffee.

Fav grub: Monte Cristo sandwiches at The Big Egg (with gorgonzola!??!). Khao Man Gai at Nong's. Burek at Ziba's Pitas. Seriously addictive Vietnamese chicken wings and drinking vinegar at Pok Pok (more on the drinking vinegar soon). Pizza from Ken's. We also managed to try cult favorite Voodoo Doughnut without waiting in line for an hour. Crafty.

Shop stops: Canoe, Noun: a person's place for things, and AM Living for the fantastic balloons.

Stumptown

The Big Egg

Monte Cristo sandwich

Cannon Beach- Check!

Balloons at AM Living

Khao Man Gai

Noun

Drinking vinegar at Pok Pok

Voodoo Doughnuts. Yes, that is bacon.