FOOD ON THE FOOD

A Conversation at the Beach

The 8YO and I had the following semi-silent conversation over lunch at the beach the other day:

Him: My vegetables are sandy. Do I have to eat the rest?

Me: Yes.

Him: But the sand…

Me: Just eat them.

Him:


Me: How sandy are they?

Him: VERY sandy.

Me: Fine, you don't have to eat them.

Him:


Kids, anthropomorphize your food. Works every time!
 

Garden Artists

I was cleaning out the 8YO's backpack last week when I came across a big stack of handmade cards. Being a nosy mother, I started flipping through them and discovered that they were for me—for helping his second grade class plant pumpkins in the garden the week before. Another stack of cards came home the next day from a class of first graders that had planted sunflowers with me.

The cards were so sweet and earnestly rendered. I loved reading them and seeing what made the strongest impression on each child based on what they decided to draw. Here are some of my favorites:


Watering the pumpkin seeds.


Anticipation of the fall harvest. (It's a rather ambitious forecast—I'd better get busy planting some insurance pumpkins!)


I may have forgotten to mention that pumpkins don't grow pre-carved.


Some kids were fascinated by the wildlife in and around the garden. Others loved tasting the snap peas, mint leaves, and lemon balm.

I had so much fun with these kids: their great questions, observations, and enthusiasm. I should be thanking them!

So on behalf of everyone's favorite garden cyclops, thanks kids!

Here's wishing everyone a happy (and fruitful) summer!

Campfire Sausages

We went camping in Maine last weekend. Before we left, I stocked up on sausages from Moody's Delicatessen in Waltham: chorizo dulce, bierwurst, cheddar and jalapeño, sweet Italian, and garlic sausages. They were absolutely delicious, especially the chorizo and cheddar jalapeño. We used the leftovers to make breakfast sandwiches on our neighbor's vintage camp stove the next morning, browning the sausage slices, toasting buttery English muffins, and melting cheese all over everything.

Looking back, I guess we didn't need 20 sausages for the seven of us on a quick overnight, but with one kid on his way to middle school and both about to surpass me in height, it won't be long before we do!

A Lovely Rhubarb Cake

Readers, let us now turn to page 109 of your well-worn copy of WINTERSWEET, where you'll find a recipe for Cranberry Torte. Though cranberry season is well behind us, that simple butter cake is easily adapted for summertime fruit like black raspberries and blueberries. Just reduce the sugar topping to a sprinkling or omit it entirely. If rhubarb is your pleasure, sub in 1-1/2 cups of chopped fresh rhubarb stems for the cranberries, omit the almond extract (or keep it), and reduce the sugar topping to 1 tablespoon. It's perfect for dessert or tea or brunch or breakfast or a midnight snack or just because. Rhubarb cake doesn't judge.

Enjoy!

Scenes from the School Garden: June 2014

The first few years I was involved with the school garden, I didn't dare plant anything, only watered. Then I took a chance and planted some seeds, which refused to grow. When I poured those same exact seeds into the hands of a bunch of children with zero gardening experience, they would grow just fine, but if I so much as touched them, instant death. Or so it seemed. Still, I watered everything. And weeded sometimes. Not much. The plants grew well until the rabbits honed in on our location and mowed everything down like little weed-wackers with no taste for weeds. We put up rabbit fencing around their favorite beds, and then everything grew like crazy. It was a good year, and the school's PTO voted in a generous garden budget.

I must have learned a few things over the years because now when I plant things myself, they actually grow. Still, it's better when the kids do the planting. We had four first grade classrooms come out during science class and plant sunflowers and cucumbers. The second graders are coming out next to plant pumpkins, pole beans, and squash. The afterschool program planted snap peas, radishes, beets, and cilantro. My sons planted spinach and kale. I planted bush beans, lettuce, corn, basil, parsley, zucchini, and more snap peas, not to mention a dozen tomato seedlings, peppers, eggplant, Swiss chard, and herbs. Here are some other things that are doing well:



The rhubarb is going gangbusters. There are four others the same size as this one with big thick stalks.


I planted three-dozen bare-root strawberry plants and fenced them in.


The snap peas are growing up and out of their bed. They don't seem to like the teepee I built for them for support and instead prefer to lean on the tall weeds around the edge of the raised bed. It's a favorite hiding spot for baby bunnies, I've noticed, who enjoy the sheltered canopy (until the hose is pointed in their direction, which is their cue to flee Peter Rabbit-style, leaving coats and shoes behind them).


Apparently, deer love Swiss chard. How do I know it was deer that ate all the beautiful Swiss chard in this photo? The hoof prints. And the fact that only an animal that heavy could bend the entire fence down on one side. Luckily, the Swiss chard grew back within a week. (They didn't touch the lettuce and spinach.)

But perhaps the most exciting thing about the garden this year are the apple trees. I planted a Roxbury Russet and a Jonathan last month, which still look like sticks in the ground at this point. The Roxbury Russet is considered to be the oldest heirloom table apple to originate in the New World, a chance seedling discovered right here in Boston in 1635. I've wanted to plant apple trees behind the school for ages. I just love the idea of kids being able to come outside and pick their own apples, even if the reality is they'll probably end up whipping them at each other when I'm not looking.

So now, my friends with the naturally green thumbs, I need some advice. How do I keep the deer away from the fruit trees? They've already sniffed out the cherry tree and done some significant damage. I don't want the apple trees to meet the same fate or I fear it's going to be venison burgers on special in the school cafeteria come fall.

Why You Should Always Keep the Canister For Your Ice Cream Maker in a Plastic Bag in the Freezer

Yesterday I went digging around for the canister to my ice cream machine. I always keep it in the freezer in a plastic bag so it's ready for action (my ice cream cravings wait for no one). When I finally found it, I noticed that it wasn't in a plastic bag. I mean, ideally, it wouldn't get dirty just sitting there in the freezer, but somehow it always does. Things inevitably melt, drip, and then refreeze in the bottom of the bowl. Crumbs appear out of nowhere. So I've learned to keep the canister in a bag so I don't need to worry about contamination.

I inspected the canister. Sure enough, there were crumbs (where do they come from??). So, I moistened a paper towel to give the bowl a quick, cleansing swipe. Just one problem. Can you guess what it was? Whenever you apply something wet to something frozen, what happens? It sticks. Remember Flick's tongue on the frozen flagpole in A Christmas Story? Well, the same principle applies to paper products, it turns out. The wet paper towel tore as I tried to swipe the crumbs, and little shreds of paper towel pulp froze to the walls of the canister, enshrouding the crumbs, cocoonlike. My instinct—the wrong instinct—was to wipe the area again and again to try to remove them, which caused even more shreds of wet paper towel to rip and freeze. Realizing my error, I grabbed a butter knife and tried to scrape off the frozen pieces, which was only 50% effective and left little shavings of ice and paper towel all over the bottom of the canister. In my infinite wisdom, I then added some water from the faucet to rinse everything out….which instantly froze upon contact, suspending all of the aforementioned detritus in a thick, impenetrable layer of solid ice on the bottom of the bowl like frozen fossils of my lunacy.

For the love of god, Tammy, YOU KNOW HOW AN ICE CREAM MACHINE WORKS! Sub-freezing temperatures + liquid = ice crystals. It just goes to show that even published cookbook authors are morons sometimes. (At least I didn't try to lick the crumbs out of the bowl. I'm not sure how I would have played that one off with the ice cream canister dangling from my face.)

Anyway, a reasonable person would have thrown the whole calamity into the sink, filled it with hot water, and just called it a day. Let it soak and defrost overnight, wash it thoroughly, and then refreeze (in a plastic bag, this time). In a couple of days, I could finally have some homemade ice cream. But I never claimed to be a reasonable person. No, I went ahead and made my ice cream anyway. To hell with everyone, I said. If I want crumbs and paper towel fragments in my ice cream, then, damn it, crumbs and paper towel fragments I will have! You're not the boss of me, Internet!!

After a good night's sleep, which is always a welcome sanity check, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to eat any of that ice cream. No promises, though. It sure does look good, paper towels and all.