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Yesterday, from my Seward Co-op outing, I came away with these two reusable waterprooof cloth sandwich bags with velcro closures and a pack of four stainless steel drinking straws.
The bags can be purchased from the creators, 3 Green Moms, at lunchskins.com. How fun!
Plain and simple... I am drawn to food co-ops. The Seward Co-op on East Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis and the surrounding Seward neighborhood are especially fun. The free-spiritedness flowing through the area is evident in the oversized wall art that spans the Seward Co-op's interior front wall...
and in the native and wildflower plantings that have replaced traditional grass lawns in the front yards of many homes. The movement has really taken off in the Seward neighborhood where there are so many beautiful yards planted in wildflowers. I especially liked the steeply peaked roof and arched stonework over the front door entrance on this house. It made me think that gnomes live there. The garden makes a walk to the front door seem magical.
Our grandson was visiting this week from New Jersey, so I was so hoping that our hens would begin laying eggs. Perfect timing... we discovered our first egg yesterday underneath a truck in our yard. That is good, but not the proper place to be laying it. I instructed our grandson to place it in a nesting box in the chicken coop so that the hens would see where they should lay their eggs.
This morning, we discovered two eggs in addition to the one we had placed in the nest as a teaching tool.
Look at the perfectly domed, amazingly dark orange yolk that is produced from hens allowed to roam freely eating grass, seeds, bugs, and fruit and veggie kitchen scraps. The thick gel-like egg white holds its shape instead of spreading out as nonfresh eggs do. A thing of beauty...
I can't remember which blog I read recently where I ran across a simple dish to utilize some bok choy that I had plucked directly from my garden and freshly-laid eggs gathered this morning. It is super simple. So I chopped...
The colors on my plate were amazing and glistened in the sunlight. Such enjoyment before I had even dug in!
Just saute the bok choy stems and leaves in a little oil or butter. I used clarfied butter because of its high smoke point. After a few minutes, I slid the bok choy over to one side of the pan to finish sauteing while frying the eggs. Serve the egg on top of a mound of bok choy. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
This morning, we had a huge downpour coupled with thunder and lightning... a cookie baking day by all obvious indicators. The forecast predicted continued unseasonably hot temps with extremely high humidity, so I dug out the ice cream maker that my daughters gave me for Mother's Day and chose to make gelato instead.
I made Red Raspberry Gelato, a recipe from the booklet included with my Cuisinart ICE-30BC Series Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt, and Sorbet Maker. It's a little more time-consuming than other recipes that do not require a custard, but so very worth it. Since I had never eaten gelato before, I researched what sets it apart from ice cream. I learned that most gelato recipes have more egg yolks, more milk, and less cream than ice cream recipes. Commercially-sold ice cream has air mixed in during the manufacturing process to keep it from freezing too solidly. Some ice cream brands consist of more than 50% air in each carton. Gelato has less air mixed in, usually less than 15%, making it smoother and denser than ice cream.
Red Raspberry Gelato
Makes about fourteen ½-cup servings
4 cups red raspberries (thawed if frozen) I used fresh.
1 cup granulated sugar
2 ¼ cups half-and-half, divided
6 large egg yolks
¼ cup powdered milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla
1-2 drops red food coloring to enhance color, optional (omit)
Place raspberries in a food processor fitted with the metal “s” blade or in a blender. If using a blender, do 2 cups at a time for best results. Process until completely puréed and smooth. Press raspberry purée through a fine mesh sieve with a wooden spoon or spatula. Discard seeds – you will have approximately 2 cups red raspberry purée; reserve. Place the sugar and 1 ¼ cups of the half-and-half in a 2 ½-quart saucepan with a heavy bottom. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and stir to dissolve sugar. Keep warm over low heat. Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl and whisk until thickened, about 2 minutes. Alternatively, you can use a hand or stand mixer fitted with the whip on low speed. While whisking, add ½ cup of the hot half-and-half/sugar mixture and whisk until blended. Stir the egg mixture back into the saucepan; increase heat to medium. Stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture is thickened like a custard sauce and registers 180°F when checked with an instant-read thermometer. Stir in remaining half-and-half, powdered milk, and heavy cream. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer; stir in reserved raspberry puree and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours before continuing. Follow directions for your particular ice cream machine. For my Cuisinart: Turn the machine on; pour mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. The gelato will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the gelato to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.
A yearly field trip my students and I would take each spring was to Lindbergh State Park in Little Falls (Minnesota) to tour Charles Lindbergh's childhood home. Dick had never been there, so I suggested that it would be a perfect little outing for this afternoon... until we remembered that all state-run operations are shut down until the governor and the legislature come to a budget agreement. Rapidly switching gears, we jumped on our four-wheelers and headed down a trail on our property... and discovered a train wreck!
One hundred twenty-one coal-loaded cars, each carrying 116 tons of coal, were traveling from Montana to Superior Wisconsin. Eighteen of them derailed within sight of our property.
Such a mangled mess, but the conductor and engineer were not injured. Our day ended eventful afterall.