Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Spring Soup


To usher in spring, I made a nice minestrone soup with carrot flowers.  It's still cold enough here for me to want to warm myself with a bowl of hot liquid for lunch -- especially if I take this bowl out to the deck to eat where I proudly survey my domain.  *smiles*

I'm so happy to walk around and watch the buds of magnolias burst into flower and see the daffodils brighten yards.  My tulips are even budding.  Spring excites me.  

What's your favorite part of spring?

Breathe deeply, 
  Laugh with abandon, 
    Love wholly, 
      Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com



Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Garden is In!

Today, assisted by my sweet angel, Kitte, I was able to fetch my yard of organic gardening soil. They even gave me 6 little spinach starts with my purchase! Yay! We transported it home, G and I moved it from the truck to the garden bed, then I began the process of planting – a process which I finished just in time. I sowed, labeled, watered and had just stood back to admire my work when it began to hail. *laughs* Fret not. My Mom had given me her plastic gallon water jugs a few weeks ago, so I quickly cut the bottoms off and placed them over the little spinach starts to protect them from the ice. It’s all beautiful.



I must say, there is nothing quite like the thrill of working in soil. After a while, I abandoned my shovel and just shifted the earth using my hands. It’s amazingly satisfying. I am entranced by the smell and texture of it, and I am in love with how enriching it will be for my veggies.

Breathe deeply,
Laugh with abandon,
Love wholly,
Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com
Dazzling jewelry that reflects sparkling personalities!



Tuesday, March 24, 2009

All Hail Spring's First Day!

Sunday, I had one of those moments where circumstance wakes me from my bliss with a solid slap to the face.

Mom was here and we were sitting at the dining room table sipping tea and talking. I heard the comforting sound of rain so I spun around in my chair to watch. What I saw were streaks of white hail. Since I was safely inside (and not riding my bike at 12 miles per hour, thus experiencing a very painful exfoliation process), I sat back enjoying the beauty of the moment. Pretty white hail falling from the sky, bouncing on the deck, the lawn, my little seedlings… MY LITTLE SEEDLINGS! It was there that the Universe made bold to remind me that hail on little baby plants is bad. Very bad. I found myself dashing between the deck and the kitchen floor bringing the poor babies to safety. I did this just in time, for next it began to sleet.

My poor seedlings aren’t looking so well, now. I may decide to start anew with fresh seeds, just in case these babies don’t make it.

Breathe deeply,
Laugh with abandon,
Love wholly,
Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com
Dazzling jewelry that reflects sparkling personalities!

Friday, March 20, 2009

The Mysterious Tea of Three Mountains


Every year, we host an International student who comes to attend our local university. They stay with us for a few days until their dorm rooms open or their apartments are ready. We have a lot of Asian international students which, when they learn of my deep and abiding love of green tea, results in them exposing me to their area’s best teas.

This year, we hosted Alex from Beijing. He surprised me about a week after he moved into his own apartment with a special package of green tea he’d asked his Mom to send. Part of the fun was figuring out what the tea was. Alex isn’t a big tea drinker, and it’s all written in kanji. I could tell the Dragon’s Well tea simply by the scent and cut of the leaves. The other tea was more of a mystery. There were only two kanji I could recognize on the container, three and mountain. Alex translated the rest of the kanji, but it was a proper name, the company. He couldn’t figure out what kind of tea it was. So, it was up to me to experiment.

I’m happy to announce, I’ve finally cracked the code of how to brew it. I still don’t know what it is, yet I can tell you what it isn’t. I can actually eliminate a whole slew of tea types and still have too many left to make an ID. Many Chinese greens are best in a 90 degree C steep, this one had no taste at that temperature. I reduced it to 85 degrees and hit it’s flavor point. It also likes a 2-minute steep on the first pour. The only other Chinese tea I know that likes 85 degrees is Dragon’s Well, so I’m wondering if it is a breed of this.

Breathe deeply,
Laugh with abandon,
Love wholly,
Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com
Dazzling jewelry that reflects sparkling personalities!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Murals of Avalonne

I have brought my mural room painting to the next plateau of completion. I’m not guaranteeing it’s done, I may still make some minor additions like highlight some leaves, add a branch, or paint something between the door and the closet doors. I’m merely saying it’s at the stage I feel comfortable lifting the tarp from the floor and capping the paints.

Here they are. Please enjoy!

Breathe deeply,
Laugh with abandon,
Love wholly,
Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com
Dazzling jewelry that reflects sparkling personalities!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Gardening: Hardening my sprouts

I bought the last two bricks needed to build my raised veggie bed last night. Now, I merely need the soil. Meanwhile, the days have warmed enough for me to begin hardening my little veggie sprouts on the deck. While they were prolific when I first planted the seeds, they have been flagging, of late. I feel they really want to be out in the yard. The nights, though, are unpredictable, so I’ll just keep taking them in and out.

Breathe deeply,
Laugh with abandon,
Love wholly,
Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com
Dazzling jewelry that reflects sparkling personalities!

Monday, March 16, 2009

How I Make Beans from Scratch

I promised a friend that I'd post how I make beans from scratch. My method doesn't seem to cause gas in myself, nor in my husband. I've also not heard any intestinal issues from friends that have eaten of this recipe. If you do, please let me know.

The flatulence we experience from beans is due to sugars the beans possess that stay with the food until they reach our large intestine where they cannot be digested. The way I process the beans seems to help nullify these sugars in my system. If you experience problems, try messing with the amount of sugar and baking soda or the cooking time. I haven’t the science to defend this, it’s all trial and error experience for me.

I use this procedure for all kinds of hard beans (black, pinto, kidney, red, etc.). I've found that split peas, mung beans and lentils soften too quickly for a 12 hour soak. Instead, I rinse them in cold water, then let them sit in the colander in warm water for an hour or so before adding them to the pot and making soup.

2 cups beans
6 cups warm water
1 pinch sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Wash the beans and pick out any hulls, shells, etc., until the water runs clear.

I boil water in my electric kettle (about 3 cups), pour it into a soup cauldron, add another 3 cups of room temperature water, then add the beans. This sits overnight with the lid on fully.

After 12 hours or so (I usually set the beans to soak either before I make, or when I'm cleaning up from, supper), I use a medium heat to draw the intestinally challenging part out of the beans.

Stay with the pot. What happens is the nasty gas bubbles up in the form of a scum. I take a spoon and begin skimming this from the top of the beans and chucking it in the sink. Usually, this process only takes a few minutes before there is very little bubbling at the top. Just don't leave the pot. Any time I've been distracted and walked away, within moments, it tends to bubble over the lid. I just stand there, spoon at the ready, lift the lid every few moments and look. If there's scum, I eradicate it.

Once all the scum is removed, I lower the heat to simmer with the lid on for a couple of hours. I prefer to slow cook them to make sure every last bit of the gas is gone.

I usually strain the beans from this liquid once they are cooked, yet it depends upon how I intend to use them. If I’ve used up most of the liquid, I might just leave them in the thickened sauce and start adding herbs and spices. If I intend to make soup, I drain them and start with fresh water for my base.

I’d love to hear your experiences and suggestions!

Breathe deeply,
Laugh with abandon,
Love wholly,
Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com
Dazzling jewelry that reflects sparkling personalities!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Ode to New England


I’ve been thinking about chowder. I’m not a big fan of potato chunks, dairy products have decided I am not their bosom friend anymore in quantities greater than tablespoons, and clams are, well, texturally, um… interesting, at best.

So, why am I thinking about chowder since these are all major ingredients in it? I want to find a way to make a tasty chowder that tastes as good to me as the chowders of my youth smelled. I am originally from Rhode Island, home of the quahog and many interesting ways to incorporate said invertebrates into recipes. Rhode Island had a clear broth chowder that I distinctly remember. I also remember experiencing some seafood bouillabaisses that were served in a trough for the whole table to share. Both of these were far more intriguing to me than milk based chowder.

I’ve been mulling the creation of chowder I’d like for a few days now. I walked to the local seafood market and bought some salmon trim for the protein, sautéed an onion, garlic, thyme and other herbs, then added chopped celery, two tomatoes and frozen corn. Yes, I’m cheating. In my defense, fresh corn on the cob won’t be in season for many, many months. I didn’t think my urge for chowder would wait that long. My concoction has been simmering in the cauldron much of the afternoon and is ready to eat.

The result: After dinner, I added more lemon juice and salt and will allow it to simmer. It’s tasty, yet it’s lacking something. Perhaps I’ll know tomorrow when I reheat it for lunch. It’s a recipe with promise.

Breathe deeply,
Laugh with abandon,
Love wholly,
Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com
Dazzling jewelry that reflects sparkling personalities!

Galloping Garlic!

It’s a lovely accent to a Vietnamese soup to sprinkle a bit of fried garlic upon it. Since we both enjoy it, I keep a jar of it on the shelf above the stove. One little jar lasts forever packed in its olive oil so I maybe make it once a year. This morning was that once. I bought a crooked elbow full of garlic cloves and spent this morning shucking, washing and chopping them. I heated the pan full of olive oil and suffused everything in the house with the pungent odor of alliums. It wasn’t until after I had finished cooking the garlic and walked into the living room that my eyes really started to water. I’d been using my onion goggles while cooking and taken them off when done, so I hadn’t realized quite how thick the air had become. I’ve opened the doors and windows and lit a few candles and things should return to order shortly. Meanwhile, I have a fresh batch of fried garlic.

Breathe deeply,
Laugh with abandon,
Love wholly,
Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com
Dazzling jewelry that reflects sparkling personalities!

Cooking Up Art's inaugural post

I’m an artist. This is my blog about my adventures in cooking, baking, tea, coffee and art. Please enjoy.

Breathe deeply,
Laugh with abandon,
Love wholly,
Eat well.

MiLady Carol
www.miladycarol.com
Dazzling jewelry that reflects sparkling personalities!