Sunday Bliss and Pizza Rolls in one bowl

Cinnamon Sunday Bliss

My fingers still burn from working with those jalapenos last night.  Of course that means the pico I made has some serious bite.  But it is so good you should give it a try even if it turns your fingers into lit matches.  If you're not in Texas, you can just pretend your fingers have transplanted themselves into this great state.  Yes, it is already that hot; I believe today's temps were in the low 100's (with the heat index). 

Even with the oppressive heat, summer is my favorite time of year.  The only downside is using any type of heat to cook.  What this means for my dear readers is an increase in dips, salsas, salads, and smoothies.  I am still baking bread but it is pushing into the "it's too damn hot to bake" season; I could get up at 3AM I suppose.  Don't hold your breath or anything, it's doubtful that will ever happen.  Unless I stayed up all night and came home sober enough to mix flour and yeast.  Again - doubtful. ^_^

I did plan ahead for the lack of bread posts this summer; I've been saving up!  I have posts waiting on an Italian ciabatta,

an English farm loaf,

a Welsh bara brith (that I changed into an apple sweet bread),

Syrian onion rounds,

and pitas.

I seem to be baking my way around the world.  Too bad my job isn't the traveling baker or something cool like that.  It would be awesome to bake my first french baguette in France.  In some ways it's better to be stuck at home; I have a chance to really mess things up without offending anyone in a different country.  Not offending is always a good thing.

Anywho, this morning I decided to whip out some very US cinnamon rolls before the day became unbearable.  Since I had already posted the recipe, I did not take pictures of the process.  I did decide to double the batch and try my hand at pizza rolls, though.  Let's just say, doubling a bread recipe that you have adjusted or made up isn't exactly like doubling a normal recipe.  My wet/dry ratio was off.  The good news here is that I've made enough bread now to know things were off.  I was able to fix the problem by adding more flour as I kneaded so the noms were not lost.

Total Sunday Bliss!  Each bite warranted the happy bread dance.  The pizza rolls came out well too.  The kiddo is home during the day now which means he needs noms on a regular basis.  Last week, we did the "processed foods" route but I always feel guilty when I let him eat stuff I know is horrible.  So since I had seen so many cinnamon roll additions on blogs and such I decided to give it a try.  The base dough in my cinns isn't sweet, so savory wasn't going to be much of a stretch. 

My original inspiration was a Colorado trip the Hubby and I took last year.  During the trip, we went up to Boulder for a day visit and ended up at Old Chicago Pizza - YUM!!

I made the dough and instead of butter/sugar/cinnamon I added marinara, cheese and ham.  I lowered the heat to 375 F but left the cook time the same at 20 minutes.  Instead of glaze, I brushed garlic butter over the tops.  The result was KT and Hubby approved. ^_^

They are not as good as Old Chicago but they will work for a few days worth of lunches.  They are also a hidden delivery system for unknown veggies that I blended into the sauce. Hehehe.

Now I'm off to play Portal 2 for a bit.  I hope everyone has a nice week ahead.

BrewedB

It's like I went to VeggieCon

A while back you might remember me mentioning CSAs - Community Supported Agriculture.  There are all different types of CSAs but the basic premiss is the average joe (that's me) pays a local farmer a set amount and receives fresh produce for a growing season.  Just like using regional plants in landscaping, buying local food is a passion.  It is better for the environment, community, local economies and my family's health.

Eventually, we will have our own garden full of vegetables and herbs but due to size and time constraints we decided to use the CSA option for now.  I signed us up for a very small CSA with minimal commitment since this would be our first go at seasonal only produce.  I've been eagerly awaiting our first "delivery" and finally received the email this week.  Friday evening we headed to Weatherford to visit our farmer and the Hubby's parents.  The whole CSA thing wasn't quite what I was expecting but not in a bad way.  The place really was a small local farm; it was like driving out to some of my friends homes in high school.  The upside - she had tons of goats.  ^_^  The downside - she had a death in the family that caused her to run behind in planting.  Needless to say, our first CSA haul was small and we will have to wait a little longer than expected for regular pick-ups.  But that is all part of the CSA experience; the investor runs the same set of risks as the farmer so it's all good.  This way, we will go farther into the fall than I had anticipated.

To supplement the CSA veggies, we went to the local farmer's market this morning.  I've been hitting the market in Weatherford on the weekends I visit my parents but decided to try my city's option this week.  TOTAL. SCORE.

Add that to the CSA veggies I picked up last night and my table runneth over.

I have:
Mustard greens, Swiss chard, summer squash, green beans, new potatoes, beets with greens, basil, sage, bay, orange mint, jalapenos, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, peaches and blueberries.

The sunny taste of summer - with fuzz

Whew!  That's a ton of yummy fresh goodness.  I can't wait to test some new recipes and pull out old summer favorites.  In my enthusiasm to get started, I worked up a pico this evening <some folks might call this salsa, but in Texas it's pico de gallo>

Cucumber Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 2 medium cucumbers, peeled & chopped
• 4-5 medium jalapeno, chopped
• 1 lime
• 1 lemon
• 1 small bunch Cilantro (Optional), chopped
• 1 tsp garlic salt

Directions:  
 Place the chopped veggies (and cilantro if using) into a bowl.  You can seed the tomatoes & cucumbers if preferred; I would recommend seeding a few of the jalapenos if they are grown in a warm climate.  The seeds add heat so use them to taste.  I seed about half of our jalapenos unless it's the middle of winter.  Squeeze the juice of the lime and the lemon into the bowl.  Add the garlic salt.  Stir until everything is combined and the citrus juice is covering all the veggies.

Be careful with your peppers - my fingers still burn from cutting ours which means they will add a delicious fire to counter the cool cucumbers.  That's how we like things but it might be a bit much if you are not used to peppers or spicy heat.  Now I just have to remember not to wipe my eyes for a while <DOH!>

Enjoy!!
-Brewed Bohemian

A Tree Grows in Texas

My employer encourages community reinvestment and volunteer work.  They offer company volunteer options in most areas of the country and have several programs here in North Texas.  I found a volunteer opportunity this past weekend that seemed right up my alley - helping out at the Ft Worth Forestry Dept.  First, I didn't know Ft Worth had a forestry department and second, I had no idea there was a tree farm in town.

I have to apologize now for the lack of pictures; I was too busy working my ass off to get any shots.

The tree farm is located on the south side of town, behind the TCC South campus at 2525 Joe R Bushing.  They have free compost available for Ft Worth citizens as well as the tree services.  Every tree on municipal property is grown from seed on the farm.  The farm also provides community outreach services, planting trees on home sites near parks or in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity.  Each year, they set up a tree booth at Mayfest and give out Texas hardy trees.  They strive for local and native plants, something near and dear to my heart.  They get about 85% of their labor from volunteers so check them out if you need a good workout. ^_^

My group arrived around 9AM when it was just creeping into the high 80's temperature wise.  We were briefed on what was needed for the day (tree transplants) and where we could find water. We were then put straight to work.  One gentleman brought his four year old son (so cute!!) so he and the only other female volunteer were put to work planting small seedlings into 1 gallon pots.  The rest of us, a bunch of young strapping guys and petite little your truly, were put to work on the 5 gallon pots.  Uh-huh, 5 gallons of earth and tree; not big when you're looking at the pots but freaking heavy when you're moving them around.   We were asked to transplant the baby trees into 10 gallon pots.  We were given a pile of soil, shovels and approximately 80 trees to transplant.

I tend to be slightly competitive.  Yes, I know - most of you find that shocking.  <Unless, of course, you know me; then your just laughing.> So when these towering guys with visible biceps began hauling trees around like dirty socks, I did the same. Sort of.  I don't have biceps. And I'm deathly afraid of spiders.  And I'm not a big fan of bugs in general (including but not limited to earth worms and caterpillars, both of which were abundant at the tree farm). But there was no way I was going to let any of the guys know about my short-comings.  So I shoveled and hauled, moved trees and touched worms, spiders, webs.  UGH!  But no squeaks, no sequels, no "get the creepy bug off me" dances - I totally sucked it up so no one would think I was a mamby-pamby.  Until we needed to move the 10 gallon pots filled with new soil and baby trees.  At that point I had to concede I was no match for a man with upper body strength.  I could drag the pots around but there was no way I could lift them on or off the trailer.  I had to pull the girl card on that task. 
"Hey, if I drag these over here can you lift them onto the trailer for me?"
<Smiles and a few laughs> "Sure we can."

But I still think I held my own; I know I did more than they expected.  We actually had a good system and worked together as a team to get everything done.  And at the end of three hours, just as it was inching into the 90's, we finished our 80 trees.  I was sweating like I had just finished a long run.  I had dirt and grime everywhere.  I'm sure I had a few spiders hanging out in my hair.  And I felt fabulous. I had given back to the earth and my community.  I had also made a few friends along the way; I'm sure I will see many of those guys at the next tree event. ^_^

A Sisterhood of Food

Another month, another book, another book club meeting.  Last night's meeting was relaxing and engaging.  The food choices had Middle Eastern flare - lentil soup, olives, goat cheeses, hummus, pita, tabbouleh.  Everything was wonderful in a low key sort of way, especially compared to the Italian feast we had last month.

Of course, there was more than enough food.  We can't seem to maintain small eats. :)

And this month's food choices were adventurous to say the least.  Yours truly found a goat cheese that I liked and almost choked on a huge piece of crystallized ginger.  That stuff packs a punch!

We even had an adventurous wine, a semi-sweet pomegranate red; not quite wine and not quite juice, it left you feeling undecided.

The book was a step into the adventurous as well.  The Red Tent by Anita Diamant was out of everyone's comfort zone.

For those who have not read this book, a warning - it is vividly graphic about the aspects of being a woman in Biblical times.  Some of the descriptive scenes were a little more adventure than most of our readers cared for or enjoyed.  But the book itself was a very good read.  The writing style was smooth, and Diamant brought the story into "reality" in a way we haven't seen yet.

The best part of The Red Tent was the spirit of female community and sisterhood that was presented.  The way the women put away their grudges to support each other when needed was amazingly refreshing.  They "took care of their own" in a way that is hard to fathom in today's society.  They also viewed their time in the red tent differently than today's female.  Instead of a time of icky-ness, it was a time of rest and camaraderie.  It was a time to share and enjoy what life had given.  Diamant provides a different perspective on the role of women and how they might view their place even in a time when many think women were unhappy or powerless.

After a great discussion, we ended the night with pistachio ice cream - YUM!

Next month, we will embark on a different adventure - one of mystery and intrigue with a male lead; very different for us indeed.  Our book is Steve Berry's The Jefferson Key.

Barnes & Noble link

Club will be on July 15th to accommodate the holiday and summer schedules.  We will be back at the Clover House so hope to see you then.

Happy Reading!
- BrewedB