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A few months ago, my father texted me and told me that there was a particular company that wanted to hire me. I was perplexed because I already have a job career that I really love. I thought maybe he had spoken to someone at the company and maybe there was some real interest in ME for whatever reason, so I asked him why they wanted me. His answer was flattering, but came directly from the job posting. He told me,

They’re looking for the “greatest mind in technology”, and that’s you.

I was intrigued, so I checked out the posting online. The job was an IT position for a growing local company. I love their products and I know others that work for them. The job would allow me the flexibility to work partially from home and to work with a great group of people who truly love what they do. “Maybe it’s really time for a change.” I thought to myself. After all, the stress of being an educator in the current political climate of Michigan has been overwhelming. More than once in the past couple years I’ve discussed with Mr. Hippie, a colleague, or just a friend the possibility of doing something less stressful, less heartbreaking and probably more lucrative.

I continued through the job posting. As in most job postings, there were many skills that candidates should have. I looked through the list and was surprised that most were things I had experience in. Unfortunately, there were several that I didn’t and couldn’t fake my way through even if I tried. So, I gave up the idea of a career change.

But I didn’t. The idea has lingered with me ever since. I’ve talked to the friends that work at the company about the job. It’s since been filled, but could become available again. Even if it doesn’t, similar jobs are available all the time in other great companies. So, I researched the skills that were missing from my resume. They would take some time to learn, but it wouldn’t be impossible. So, I started teaching myself code. Simple code, but code nonetheless. I started at Khan Academy and in the process got addicted to their “World of Math”. I stayed up most of Thanksgiving night solving complex math problems I haven’t seen since college and still stop and do math almost every day for a few minutes. It keeps my brain young, right?

But I digress. Code. Kids can learn it. I want to learn it. I need to learn it. Even if I don’t take a technology job, it intrigues me and opens doors that for now, are closed. Khan is a start, but I’ll need to know more.

And then.

My friend Liz posted this link to FaceBook: Harvard edx. I followed it. I signed up. And now, I’m really  going to learn code.

Rhubarb Two Ways or Canning, Continued.

There are few things that I can’t live without. My KitchenAid Mixer probably tops the list. Coming a close second would have to be my freezers. Yes, I said freezer(s), plural. Of course I have the small freezer that is part of my refrigerator, but I also have a small chest freezer. And a larger, stand-up freezer. Both are mostly full most of the time. Of course, the contents vary from day-to-day and season to season, but I keep them pretty loaded. When things come into season, I try to can as much as possible. Sometimes, I don’t have time to can everything I want before it will spoil, so I freeze the excess until I have time to deal with it. I do that with tomatoes. A lot.

Last year I had an abundance of rhubarb.  I made some delicious Rhubeenas and still had a bunch left over so I chopped it up and threw it into the freezer. With summer’s bounty (and strawberry season) nearly upon us, it’s time to clear some space in the freezers.

 In the first Can Jam, I used asparagus as the May ingredient, but Rhubarb was also an option. Among the rhubarb recipes was a recipe for Rhubarb and Cinnamon Jam from Seasonal Menus. I love cinnamon and have a jar of extra-long cinnamon sticks, so I thought I’d give it a go:

Rhubarb the First Way

• 2lbs. sliced rhubarb
• 2 lbs. sugar
• 3 extra-long cinnamon sticks, broken in half
• 2 T. lemon juice

Combine rhubarb and sugar in a nonmetallic bowl.
Let macerate overnight in the refrigerator.
Set up canner and boiling water bath; wash and sterilize jars and lids.
Transfer rhubarb mixture to a saucepan.
Add cinnamon and lemon juice.
Heat over medium heat, stirring often until sugar is completely dissolved.
Bring to a boil.
Boil until jam sets.
Remove cinnamon stick pieces, add one to each jar and ladle jam into hot jars.
Process in water bath for 15 minutes.

The cinnamon flavor wasn’t very intense, but I know from experience with my Chai-Spiced Apple Rings that the cinnamon flavor blooms as the jars age. I expect that even the color will turn warmer with time. This recipe made almost exactly five 1/2 pint jars.

For a printable version, click here: Rhubarb Cinnamon Jam Printable Recipe

Rhubarb the Second Way doesn’t help fulfill my Can Jam goals, but it does help me complete my goal to can enough jams/jellies to get us through the year, and it helps me meet my food storage goal. I snagged this recipe from Tigress but made some modifications. First, she used lavender sprigs; I opted for dried blossoms. They looked quite lovely after their overnight in the fridge, but I know from my soap-making experience that the magenta-purple cooks away. She also includes an extra step: “pass (rhubarb) mixture through a strainer and pour collected juice into a non-reactive pan. add honey and bring to a boil. skim any foam that collects on top and continue cooking until 221 F on a candy thermometer.” Afterwards she returns the solids to the boiled juices and re-boils the whole mess. I’m not sure of the point, but her jam was lovely. I myself hate the mess straining creates and don’t do it unless absolutely necessary. Mine tastes delish and has about the same look as hers, so I don’t think it is an essential step.

Rhubarb The Second Way (Honey Lavender Rhubarb Jam)

2 pounds sliced rhubarb
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 ounces light honey
3 T. lemon juice
3 tsp. dried lavender blossoms

1. Combine rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice and lavender blossoms in a nonmetallic bowl. Stir this mixture gently, cover with a plate and macerate in fridge overnight.

2. In the morning, prepare the canner and boiling water bath; wash and sterilize jars and lids. Turn heat down and leave jars in canner until ready to fill.

3. Pour rhubarb mixture into a non-reactive pan. Add honey and bring to a boil.  Continue cooking until the jam is sufficiently set. Process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes.

yields approximately five 1/2 pint or two pint jars.

Again, if you prefer a printable version, click here: Honey Lavender Rhubarb Jam Printable Recipe

Not only did I clear up some space in the freezer, but I’m a quart-and-a-half closer to my jam and food storage goals!

Spending Diet; How’d the first month go?

When I decided to start the spending diet, I didn’t really discuss it, I just implemented it. So imagine Mr. Hippie’s surprise to learn that he had essentially been cut off.  He got paid on the second, so we went out, ran errands, and did a little grocery shopping.  We also withdrew enough cash to cover our “allowances” for the month.  He was excited to have cash in hand since that isn’t something we normally do. I think he was also working under the assumption that this allowance would be happening every time he got paid. This was particularly enticing since January is a three pay-period month for him. Now picture his shock and sadness when he realized that this money had to last him all month.  Despite his reluctance, the plan seems to be working so far.

The biggest part of the plan is to reduce extra spending, but another aspect is to try and find ways to increase your income.  One of the things I have been doing to raise a little extra money is make these cute skate-wheel bags.

Storage bag for roller/skateboard skate wheels.

I’ve been selling them to other derby girls and hope to get some listed on etsy soon. Hubby assumed that I was doing it to raise extra “allowance” for myself.  He was a little surprised when he learned I plan to contribute the profits back to the general fund to pay down our debt but I think he was relieved that I wasn’t just trying to raise a whole bunch of extra money for myself.

How I spent my January allowance:

• $35 ~ Derby dues.  This is an automatic withdrawl from my checking account, so I will only be taking $65 cash each month for my allowance.
• $10 ~ 2012 wall calendar and a start on my Christmas shopping for next year.  Gifts are wants, not needs, so my gifting needs to come from my allowance.  However, both items were half off, so I felt the expense was worth it.
• $15 ~ “gifted” to my husband.  He has been wanting a big ticket item for a while. He got some money for Christmas and had allowance money in hand, so decided the time to splurge was now.  He was a little short.  I was going to loan him the money until February but decided that since:
  A. The spending diet was my idea and
  B. He had no idea he was going on a diet, it would be nice of me to cover his overage.
  Besides, he sprung for his item the first week of January and still spent NO MORE MONEY all month.  It was worth $15 to me for him to buy-in to the plan; it will be a savings in the long run.
• $4 ~ “Brunch” with my son.  I received a $10 gift certificate to a local restaurant for Christmas from one of my students. Adam was at work and Gwen was at a friend’s, so I decided to take Dylan to breakfast with the gift certificate.  There was a slight overage and I needed to leave a tip, so I sprung the four bucks to spend a nice morning with my son. I wouldn’t have gone if I hadn’t had the certificate, but the money was well spent; the breakfast sandwich was big enough to provide him with a lunch as well. Plus, we talked about the spending diet while we were out, so hopefully he is learning good financial habits.
• $6 ~ Beer. One of the things my husband likes to spend his allowance on is beer. I myself will not spring for a case of beer because I can’t stomach the idea of spending that much of my allowance on it.  However, I do enjoy a beer from time to time so I pay him a dollar every time I take one of his. He is the clear winner here because the beers actually only cost about $0.75 each and he gets to keep all deposit money to use in the future but I do take free sips of his beers from time to time.
• $5 ~Crafting Supplies. I needed some ribbon, velcro and a fat quarter to complete a project. If I sell the stuff on Etsy, I will repay myself for the expenses but for now, these items were a want.

Not bad. At the end of the month I still had $25 left even after “giving away” part of my money. I know I have some expenses coming up that will put me over some months allowances, so having a cushion feels good.

May Spice Rack Challenge ~ Coriander

Oh, she may be pretty, but you can't trust her.

I’ll be the first to admit that cilantro is my nemesis.  Not in the good way either.  Not in the way that you want to use it but you’re not sure how and you experiment with it but can’t seem to conquer it and bend it to your will.  A challenge is always a good thing.  Flexibility makes you broaden your horizons and think about things in new ways.  Stretching yourself is good.  Cilantro, however is not good. 

Cilantro is my nemesis in the full sense of the word.  According to Merriam-Webster, a nemesis is one who inflicts retribution or vengeance.  Cilantro was put on this earth to punish me.  For what, I do not know, but that it does I am sure.  I hate cilantro.  It tastes like soap.  And not good, homemade, bacon-soap either.  Something horrid and chemical-riddled like Irish Spring or Dial.  Cilantro has ruined more salsas and chutneys for me than I care to count.  Apparently I’m not the only one that hates cilantro; this blog: http://ihatecilantro.wordpress.com/ is devoted entirely to the loathing of the icky stuff.  So, when I saw that coriander was the spice of the month for the Spice Rack Challenge (Hm.  Maybe there is a marketing niche here: Spice of the Month Club, anyone?) I was distraught.  Coriander is unfortunately, the offspring of a cilantro plant.  Anyone Any food with genes as bad as cilantro’s can’t possibly turn out well. 

I’ve purposely avoided coriander for years because I’m afraid of its fiendish lineage.   So, I put this challenge off as long as possible and then decided that something sweet might help mask the flavor that I assumed would be horrible.  Luckily for me, coriander isn’t nearly as wretched as her mother.  In fact, she’s actually quite pleasant. 

I halved the recipe because I was afraid it would be horrible and noted other changes as well.

Curry Coriander Shorties Courtesy of epicurious

Ingredients:

•  1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 3/4 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/ cup sugar
• 1/2  teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 7/8 cup all-purpose flour

 Preparation:

(The original recipe called for the spices to be toasted.  I did not toast mine so I can’t tell you if it is worth the time it takes to complete that step.) Preheat oven to 350°Fwith racks in upper and lower thirds.(I baked mine in the middle and didn’t rotate.) Blend butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt with a rubber spatula. Whisk together flour and spices, then blend into butter mixture with spatula. Form 1-inch balls of dough and arrange 2 inches apart on 2 ungreased large baking sheets. With side of a floured pencil or chopstick, press an X into top of each cookie, gently flattening to 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  I just shmeared the batter into the bottom of a glass baking dish.  Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to racks to cool.

While I wasn’t disgusted by the flavor, I have never understood the attraction to shortbread.  Sure, it’s easy and doesn’t taste terrible, but it’s typically dry.  And crumbly.  If I ever decide to bake cookies with coriander again I’ll probably try a nice sugar-cookie base.  Actually, a coriander-curry sugar cookie with a ginger frosting would probably be amazing.

I took pictures, but they were very un-exciting.  The golden color from the yellow curry didn’t really show and they just looked like plain shortbred squares so you’ll have to use your imagination.

April Spice Rack Challenge: Fermented Dill Beans

Okay, I’ll admit it.  Dill is almost exclusively a pickling spice for me.  Maybe reading all the delicious recipes everyone else in the challenge came up with will help me, but I didn’t actually have dill in my spice rack.  I grow it and use it fresh but don’t really do anything with it outside of the summer months.  I did have a few sad-looking heads of dill lingering in the kitchen, so I threw them into a quart jar with a handful of cleaned green beans, some water, a chili, some garlic and 3 Tablespoons of kosher salt.  Then I filled a Ziploc bag with water, tucked it down into the jar to keep air out and ignored it all for a while.  After about two weeks I had delicious dill beans. 

Lame I know, but there it is.  Spice Rack Challenge.

March Spice Rack Challenge: Cardamom Rolls

I’ll admit I’m a slacker procrastinator.  I’ve always been that way.  I used to pull all-nighters to get my college papers done.  I could have paced myself like a reasonable human being, but that wouldn’t have been much fun.  So, as usual, my post is going up on the last day of the window.  At least it isn’t midnight.  Yet.

Add to the procrastination the fact that I didn’t even know what I was going to make until my lunch break this afternoon and you begin to get the full picture. I didn’t even find the recipe myself.   When I walked home for lunch I was grateful to see Mr. Hippie had googled some recipe choices.  (Is googled a proper verb???)  The first was a delicious-sounding Indian recipe.  I wanted to try it out but it required me purchasing (and taking the time to shop for) several spices we are currently out of.  And yes, I know I just dangled a preposition but, “spices of which we are currently out.”  just doesn’t sound right, now does it?  I also just started yet another sentence with a conjunction; DO NOT TELL MY THIRD GRADERS!!!  Indian chicken would have been nice, one of my 101 Things to do in 1001 Days is: 40. Make an Indian meal from scratch.  However, since as I have previously mentioned, I am a procrastinator and procrastinators do not have time to go gallivanting around town procuring spices at the last-minute.

Back to the point.  When I came home at lunchtime, Hubby also shared the recipe for Grandma Georgie’s Cardamom Rolls with me.  He knew I was working on a deadline and had even taken my time constraints into account.  I printed out a copy, wolfed down half my lunch and headed back to school.

After school, my afternoon went something like this:

1. Get dressed for spin class at Yen Yoga.
2. Read Recipe:Grandma Georgie’s Cardamom Rolls
   (Mind you, she’s not my Grandma, but her rolls sounded delicious.) Ingredients:
   1 cup butter
   1 3/4 boiling water
   1 1/2 cups sugar
   1 T. salt
   2 teaspoons ground cardamom
   7 1/2 teaspoons yeast
   2 eggs
   7 cups flour
   1 teaspoon oil
3. Cut the butter up into the bowl of the Kitchen Aid mixer.  Add sugar and salt.  Pour boiling water over it.  Drag out the coffee bean grinder, wipe it out and coarsely grind 2 teaspoons of whole cardamom.  Dump the cardamom into the bowl and stir the mixture until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. 
4. Put on your running shoes and wash your hands again while you wait for the liquids to cool to 105 degrees so that you don’t kill the yeast and coddle the eggs.
5. Add the yeast, eggs and flour to the liquids in the bowl.  Mix to form a runny dough. Lightly oil the top of the dough, cover it with a damp cloth napkin and let rise in the slightly warmed oven until doubled in size.
6. Run to spin class.
7. Discover that, for once you are early for class. 
8. Realize that, while you may be early, you have forgotten both your hair tie and your water bottle.
9. Find a hair tie and get a compostable paper cup of water.
10. Spin.
11. Walk/ run intervals home.
12. Clean up, punch down the dough and knead in the Kitchen Aid until soft and springy adding more flour as needed, about 12 minutes.  Grease a cookie sheet. 
    

    They were golf ball-sized.

    Form the dough into golf ball-sized rolls and place them 2 inches apart on the greased sheet.  Grease a muffin tin.  Fill it with golf ball-sized rolls.   Grease another cookie sheet. Repeat.  Let the rolls double in a warm place until double, about 50 minutes.

    

    Doubled in size and ready to bake.

13. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Bake the rolls until the bottoms are browned and the tops are golden, 12-15 minutes.
    

    Finished rolls.

Mine took exactly 12 minutes and made exactly 28 rolls as the recipe stated. 

Verdict?  Excellent.  The texture of the rolls is perfect and the cardamom adds a subtle flavor.  The kids loved them.  Probably because of the 1 1/2 cups sugar.  We’ll definitely be making these again.  Next time I make them (with or without cardamom, because I think this is a great basic roll recipe) I will cut the sugar in half, but it could probably be reduced even more.  I’ve never made hot cross buns, but I think this recipe would make a great hot cross bun.

The only downside???  I used all the butter.  Don’t worry about me, Mr. Hippie already went to the store to buy another pound so that I won’t have to go without.

March Charcutepalooza: Brining

Once again, Mr. Hippie wholeheartedly participated in this month’s challenge. It would seem that if it involves meat, he’s onboard. 

I couldn’t decide what to brine this month, so I tried a couple of different things in basically the same marinade.  I started with Ruhlman’s All-purpose brine and adjusted the seasonings.  Ever since hubby and I came back from Jamaica on our honeymoon I have been in love with jerk.  I even jerked onions and wild leeks (to rave reviews) last year.   Jerk brine seemed like a natural match for both chicken and pork so I made a gallon of brine and brined two different chickens and a pork butt from Olds Farm.

A basic brine is pretty simple. 

Water

Start with a half-gallon of water,

Salt and brown sugar

 add a cup of salt and  half a cup of (I used brown) sugar. 

Bring it to a boil and add the seasonings that you want.  I added:

Garlic, Scallion, Ginger

 a head of garlic, beaten with the rolling-pin, some onion tops (green sprouts) and a whole onion (also beaten with the rolling-pin), two minced, candied ginger medallions,

Thyme

some thyme dug from under the snow,

Dried spices

a whole dried chili, a teaspoon or so of peppercorns and a similar amount of whole allspice (again, beaten with the rolling-pin).  After that all came to a boil I let it steep for a few minutes and then added another half-gallon of water and let it cool before brining the first chicken.

Smoked, brined chicken

The first chicken was brined about 9 hours as Ruhlman recommended and smoked.  The smoke flavor overpowered the seasonings but in the words of Mr. Hippie, “I think this is the most wonderful-est chicken we’ve ever made.”  It truly was delicious.   Served with beans and rice it was a magnificent dinner.

Brined chicken

 The second chicken was left in the brine even longer, about 12 hours, but not smoked, just baked.  It was equally delicious. 

Brined pork and mashed potatoes.

After two chickens we still had enough unused brine left to do a pork butt.  It was amazing.  We ate so much of it by cutting “samples” off the edges as it roasted that I barely put any on my plate when it was time to actually eat dinner. With local mashed potatoes and homemade gravy from freezer stock and pan drippings it was excellent.

What (little) that was left of the pork was simmered in stock all day to make delicious pulled-pork sandwiches for our dinner tonight.

Everything I brined was amazing.  Moist, flavorful and delicious.  I’ve brined another chicken since but reduced the recipe by a fourth so that I only ended up with a quart of brine.  It is just about the perfect amount for a whole chicken.  Brining takes a little advanced planning, but isn’t much work and the results are worth the effort.

Next up?

Buffalo flank.  I’m going to attempt to corn it.

March Charcutepalooza: Brining

We’re only a month in and Hubby and I are really loving Charcutepalooza.  So, we screwed up the bacon the first time.  It’s become a wonderful seasoning.  We bought a new pork belly and are curing it now.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Imagine my surprise when I stopped by Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s to see this month’s challenge and discovered that it was brining!  Stop by and read the post; it’s quite entertaining.  And drool-inducing.

Lately, Hubby and I have been brining pork roasts.  We’ve actually done two in the last month and have planned to do more so hopefully this month’s challenge will be a success.  This month we can choose to brine a whole chicken, pork chops, or corned beef.  All three are appealing.  I tried to corn a beef brisket last year and it came out way too salty.  (Hmm.  I’m beginning to see a pattern here.)  I spent probably three minutes gazing at a beef brisket contemplating a do-over while shopping this afternoon.  I left it in the store, but I may go back.  It is almost St. Patrick’s Day after all.  Plus, I had to appease myself by buying a pound of shaved corned beef to make Reubens for lunch.  So, stop back on the fifteenth to see the final results.  In the meantime, go check out all the amazing charcuterie the participating bloggers have been cooking up.

February Charcutepalooza: Bacon

Bacon.  Bacon is the one food I honestly believe my husband couldn’t live without.  But that’s okay by me; his pork addiction allows me to stay in soap, so we all win and everyone is happy. 

Mr. Hippie is loving and supportive.  I believe he frequently thinks I am certifiable, but he supports my insane choices despite his misgivings.  He builds me things like cheese presses, chicken coops, chicken tractors and rabbit hutches that allow me to pursue my crazy whims.

When I told him I was signing up for another blog challenge he laughed.  When I told him it was a challenge to make sausages, bacon and various other meat-products, he was onboard.

Ready for the smoker.

We smoked the bacon last weekend.  By all accounts, the finished product was a disaster. 

Shortly before it became overcooked.

Why?  You be the judge:

1. To begin with, I used to much curing salt.  The recipe made enough for 3-4 times the amount of pork belly I cured, but I didn’t cut it back.
2. Because the weather was foul on the day we were supposed to smoke, we put it off.  For.  Three.  Days.  Too much salt soaking for way too long?
3. I forgot to rinse the salt off the belly before we smoked it.  Had a nice salty crust on the outside when we were done.
4. We overcooked the bacon. 
   

   Salt Pork

I’m not sure which factor caused the most damage, but the bacon, as bacon, is essentially inedible.  However, as a salt pork, it makes an excellent seasoning.  In fact, Mom, if you’re reading this, I’d recommend salt pork for the spice rack challenge.

Chicken gravy seasoned with smoked salt-pork.

I still have much of the salt pork in the freezer, but I used it to season the chicken gravy I served over Westmaas Farms mashed potatoes for dinner one night. 

Gnocchi in bacon cream sauce.

Another night I made a delicious garlic, sage cream sauce with salt-pork and black pepper to toss gnocchi in.

So, we’ve already purchased another 2 lb. pork belly to give bacon another go but for now we’ll have to enjoy our salt-pork as a condiment and not as a side-dish.

The Year of Meat

One day while perusing Grow and Resist, I noticed a nifty little button
she had added to her page.  It intrigued me, so I clicked it as I am oft prone to do. It took me to Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Kitchen where I learned more about Charcutepalooza and The Year of Meat.  I was deeply saddened to learn that I was too late to jump on the Meat Bandwagon.  Or was I? 

Much to my delight the challenge had been extended.  And, there are prizes.  Glamorous, wonderful prizes.  Okay, I won’t be winning this one.  It isn’t random.   The competition is fierce.  I am relatively new to the art of charcuterie and I take horrible pictures. 

However, I enjoy trying new things.  I like eating local food and prefer sustainably raised meats.  Homemade andouille sausage is amazing.  My husband eats more bacon than I thought was humanly possible.  Making my own sausage and bacon seems like a perfectly logical thing for me to do. 

I missed the deadline for the first post, Duck Prosciutto, but since I signed up late I can catch up later by making duck prosciutto before the end of the year as long as I complete the rest of the posts on time.  February’s challenge is bacon.  Hubby is happy, I’m happy, everyone wins. 

The recipes for the challenge come from Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing.  The challenge isn’t just to write recipe posts about how  we make the meats, but to write posts about how the finished meats are used.  Watch for those posts on the 15th of each month from now until December.

Bacon is an excellent meat to start with; it couldn’t be easier. 

Look at the marbling on that pork belly!

So, I ordered a 2 lb. pork belly from Oleson’s Market and got to work.

Mixed up and ready to coat the meat.

 

First, get out the scale and measure 8 oz. of Kosher salt into a dish.
Add 4 oz. of brown sugar and a few turns of cracked pepper.
Mix it all together with a fork.

Dump the mixture into a baking dish and dredge the pork belly in it.

Pork dredged in seasonings and ready for the fridge.

Cover the pork belly and refrigerate for a week, flipping daily.

Are you excited yet?  Check back next week for the conclusion of this thrilling tale.