Black Raspberries

It's become a tradition of sort in our family: black raspberry hunting in Western Michigan. We won't tell you where exactly because, you see, it's our private territory. Once fourth of July comes around, we won't let anyone know where we go to find these black jewels!



I am saving you, in many ways, from an incredible amount of mosquitoes that take up residence in the said territory once the weather is warm and humidity is high. They are big, vicious, and numerous. It's better if you don't venture into their home because you will most likely be eaten alive.



But our kids love this tradition. And so do we. So when we were back up there last weekend, we put on our mosquito-brave faces and out we went.



There was enough for a tub full of black raspberries. This time I think they are going to be turned into scrumptious sorbet, hand cranked the old-fashioned way in an ice cream maker. I know...that is a story in itself.



You will have to come here again (to this blog) to find out what that is all about! I can tell you it will be worth a visit back (but you will have to wait a few days)!

Chick and Garden Update: July 7

I am cheating. This is not exactly the most current garden update. We just got back from being away for a few days...and honestly, this garden is about twice the size that you see here!



The ladies, too, they are quite a bit more mature looking, and much more used to their coop! We are patiently waiting for them to lay their first eggs...knowing full well that it won't be until the fall...the fall!



Stay tuned for a real update...after some weeding and watering and animal-loving after a bit of time away.

By the Lake

When you live 5 minutes away from the Pacific ocean, you don't think much about when you will see the water next. Vacation plans don't always work around coastlines or lakes, although I think it's human nature to want to be close to some sort of water. It completes the soul somehow (maybe because we are made mostly of water?).



Well that was then. This is now. We were excited to leave the heartland for a few days to be near Lake Michigan. It is one of the Great Lakes that looks like an ocean with beautiful sandy beaches and sand dunes. Swimming in the water here is not only refreshing, but practical. No salty residue to wash off afterwards.



We came over the 4th of July, and didn't see a single parade (but some fireworks over the trees from the grandparents' home). Instead we laid on the sand, played in the water, and celebrated America's birthday by the lake. Blissful.



Grand Rapids also has a farmers market that happens 4 days a week during the growing season. They are a bit behind central Ohio, so I still saw early summer produce beautifully laid out for purchase.



We were happily surprised to find gooseberries and red currants (only one bucket of each) at the market. The farmer was happy that we knew what they were! Well...of course we do.



We say so long to the lake shore for now, while looking forward to our return in a short few weeks.

Chicks and garden update

As I take a little break from writing (not a blog post...this is my procrastination!), I wanted to give you a little update on the chicks.



Clearly I was over ambitious about having a blog devoted to the chicks and the bunny (who was I kidding?). I could keep it up, but the house may never be clean, the laundry unfolded, the dishes unwashed. So, my friends, what I should do it keep it all in one place, right? I should have known better.



At any rate, the chicks have graduated from their warm indoor pad. They are now in the coop (with an extension area -- photos to come) right next to the bunny. All is well thus far. We even have an official permit to proof that we are legal owners of chickens in this little town of Bexley!

Oh, yes, and the garden is thriving. It's a forest of 40+ tomato plants, herbs, and pumpkins with several other edibles in between!

My girl and the bunny

A quick, sweet photo of my girl and her bunny. She was determined yesterday to be able to hold it, love it, cuddle with it (the bunny is half her size). And she achieved her goal. No photo of that here, but you can trust my word for it.

Cincinnati, Part II, Findlay Market

This post can also be viewed at Cool Columbus

Of course I couldn't go to Cincinnati without visiting the Findlay Market, right? My understanding family was nice enough to be dragged there despite the rain that was pouring down on us on Sunday morning (that was NOT in the forecast, but oh well). I had read a little about this public market in Edible Columbus' sister publication, Edible Ohio Valley. It was time to see it for myself.



Findlay market is tugged away in a small block in a sleepy neighborhood north of downtown Cincinnati. Like I said, it was raining, and it was early on Sunday morning, so it was not the most happening place in the city. But in some ways, it was a wonderful introduction to the market - we literally had it all to ourselves.



The inside of the market reminded me of a smaller version of the one in Cleveland we went to last winter. There were lots of meat vendors, bakeries, and even seafood stalls (a bit of a puzzle to me!). The German food culture influence is big here as well with lots of options for sausages, and German baked goods. Outside a very small farmers market braved the rain. We got some fresh staples to bring home as edible souvenirs.



Just outside of the covered market, more restaurants and shops lined the small streets. I have not felt this way about other places in Ohio (besides German Village), but the quaintness, the local food vendors, plus the colorful hanging baskets reminded me of small European villages I had visited in the past.



I can only imagine how lively and well attended the market would be on a warm sunny summer morning. I don't even need to see it to know, but I do hope to get back there again sometime to experience this place at its best.




Findlay Public Market
1801 Race Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202

Hours of Operation

9am to 6pm - Tuesday through Friday
8am to 6pm on Saturday
10am to 4pm on Sunday
Closed Monday

Findlay Market is open year-round.

Cincinnati, Part I

The same post can be view at Cool Columbus

We took the slow way to Cincinnati.



I hardly ever make a hotel reservation the day of our arrival, but this time I did. The head cold that turned into something a bit more made it uncertain whether we should attempt a little road trip. But the weather was fine, and the travel bug in me had been very bothersome of late...so to Cincinnati we went.



It was a brand new territory for all of us. Sadly, our daughter knew more about Cincinnati from reading and watching Kit Kittredge than anything else! We were determined to make it a pleasant drive (knowing that we could make it a short 2-hour trip the quick way), going first down to the first capital of Ohio, then southwest toward the Queen City.

The landscape changed about an hour into our journey. Rolling hills, corn fields, and big old barns peppered our views. We stopped for a picnic lunch at the Seip Mound, which also happened to be a rest area with picnic tables and well kept grounds. We had visited another of these interesting Hopewell sites before, so it was fun to see another.



Then we crossed the mighty Ohio river into Kentucky, only to cross it again a few minutes later when we entered the city from the south side. Our hotel was smack in the middle of downtown, right across from the fountain square. We gave up our car and did not need it again until we checked out 24 hours later.



Downtown Cincinnati had a quaintness to it. The streets are smaller (than Columbus), and there seemed to be a lot of restaurants and shops within walking distance of the fountain square. We wanted to visit the National Underground Railroad museum before they closed for the weekend which was also a quick block and a half walk from our hotel.



If you are a foreigner like me, you would learn a lot in a short period of time about the whole anti-slavery movement, the history of slave trades in the US, and beyond. It's an intense experience - probably a bit too much for our 7 year-olds. But my husband and I agree that it's never too early to teach children the importance of equality.



Just outside the museum entrance, several quotations are imprinted into the stone walk way. Our son asked for a piece of paper and a pencil. I want to write these down, he said. I want to remember them.

One of the quotations he chose was this:

"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth." ~ George Washington.

Never too early, like I said.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I read a few food blogs regularly. Most of the time, they are a welcome distraction to what I should be doing. I love the visually beautiful photos, the stories behind the dishes, or just the plain inspiration for tonight's dinner.



Occasionally, these different blogs will start to talk about the same thing. A hype perhaps, but you can just sense that whatever the subject matter they are talking about has caught the wild fire in the food blog world. For instance, the No-Knead Bread took off like a jet plane. And then there was this wholewheat chocolate chip cookie thing that I wanted to ignore. Why? Because the regular white nutrition-less flour chocolate chip cookies taste just fine. I didn't want to be deterred. I already bake bread with whole wheat flour. Our pizza dough also gets a good amount of the healthier stuff. No need to go that way for cookies, thank you.



Intrigued, I was. So I allowed the concept to stick around, an option to go that way if I wanted to someday. Sure enough, that day came when I had to bring a little something to a dessert potluck recently. I was going to make Molly's tried-and-true cake since I had some lemons around the house. To my surprise, I had no regular unbleached flour left! Not even one cup of it. What I found in the pantry was a bag full of whole wheat flour. That was not going to make Molly proud.

So instead of the cake, I remembered Molly's post about the said cookies. I had all the other ingredients for it, so that would have to be the dessert of choice.

It was easy enough.  Basically, instead of using the white flour, you substitute with whole wheat flour. The recipe asks for baking powder, which is also different, but perhaps it helps balance the (heavier) weight of the whole wheat flour.

Out of the oven, I asked the kids to be my tasters. As sincere as you would like to hear about anything you make from scratch, they sang unanimously: They are great, Mommy! They taste just like the real thing! 

Well, they are the real thing, my children. And perhaps they will now be our go-to recipe (when we don't have any white flour in the pantry).

Below is the recipe I used, from Molly's blog. She also got it from yet another source. See what I mean about the food blog wild fire?

Whole What Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped into ¼- and ½-inch pieces, or bittersweet chips

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. (If you have no parchment, you can butter the sheets.)

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, and whisk to blend.

Put the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, mix just until the butter and sugars are blended, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the bowl, and blend on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the chocolate, and mix on low speed until evenly combined. (If you have no stand mixer, you can do all of this with handheld electric beaters and/or a large, sturdy spoon.) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then use your hands to turn and gently massage the dough, making sure all the flour is absorbed.

Scoop mounds of dough about 3 tablespoons in size onto the baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie. (I was able to fit about 8 cookies on each sheet, staggering them in three rows.)

Bake the cookies for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are evenly browned. Transfer the cookies, still on parchment, to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

These cookies are very good while still warm from the oven, but I find that you can taste the wheat more – in a good way – once they’ve cooled.

Yield: about 20 cookies

A visit to Bill's garden

Bill and I met over a swallowtail caterpillar on a dill plant. Hunched down, trying to get a good picture of it as usual, I saw two extra feet that were not mine next to me.



We started a conversation about the caterpillar that became discussions about gardens, communities, schools, and backyards. We clearly shared a passion, and it was just easy to hang with Bill.



Little did I know that Bill is a pretty important figure here in the community. I didn't go one week after meeting Bill before hearing his name mentioned here, there, and everywhere. His official title is Growing to Green Program Coordinator at Franklin Park Conservatory. In real life, however, Bill is the superman of community gardens. In fact, during our first conversation, I am pretty sure he said in a very peaceful, determined kind of way, that he firmly believes that "community gardens will make the world into a better place."



Time passed, and Bill and I stayed in touch in the busy people kind of way. Until one day, I found him picking ripe strawberries at the same garden where we met. "I was just thinking of you yesterday," he said. "I need you to come take photos of my garden sometime." Again, he said it in that peaceful, determined kind of way. Really, I asked - are you serious?



Of course he was serious. Bill is one of those genuine souls. I would get to see the garden of one of Columbus' heroes? I accepted without delay.



Not too many days passed, and I found myself in Bill's garden. He and his wife Jodi (who turned out to be, not surprisingly, the super-woman of gardening as well) welcomed me into their lovely, green, productive garden. I had a limited time to spend, but it never felt rushed. They gave me a tour of the different parts of their garden, the path to a small river running through their property, a small memorial garden for Jodi' father, a barn full of kittens cute as a button.



I left feeling full of gratitude. Someone told me when I first got to Ohio, a foreign land to me, that it's not really the place that will make you feel at home, it's the people. Clearly, I have found some of them already, in a bountiful peaceful garden just outside of a big city, no less.

Thank you Bill, and Jodi. I look forward to spending more time with you, amidst the beauty that you have created.

A winning dough recipe

I was weeding in the new garden when the phone rang. Balancing the phone between my ear and shoulder, I kept on working the soil. The lady on the other end was calling from Cooks Illustrated, a magazine for which I actually have high regards. So instead of politely declining without hearing the rest of the first sentence, I listened on.

The lady, for an unknown reason, wanted to send me two things: The Best of America's Test Kitchen magazine, and More Best Recipes Cookbook from the Test Kitchen. The former is complementary, and the latter is an optional purchase. I can have it (for a fee), or send it back (if I don't want it). Because they are coming from a source I trust, I accepted without much thought, hung up and kept weeding.

Weeks went by, and I completely forgot about this phone conversation until I found a large package outside the door one afternoon. The cookbook is a decent size tome, full of recipes, related helpful illustrations, and stories about each dish (just like in the Cooks Illustrated magazine).

I have been hesitating to go one way or the other about this cookbook. By nature, I am a horrible recipe follower, so another cookbook around here may just collect dust like the rest. But it takes an effort to send it back as well.

At any rate, tonight I wanted to make pizza since I was strangely inspired by the growing rustic arugula in the garden. I opened the new tome, and landed at Pissaladiere. I zoned into the dough making part as each time I make a pizza, I seem to go about it differently.

This one was nice and easy, so I went with it, and actually followed all the steps of the dough making part! The result? Brilliance. I might even stick to this one dough recipe from now on. And just because of this 1/10 of a page of success, I might just keep the book and pay for it.



Pizza Dough
2 cups all purpose flour, with extra for dusting the work surface
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup warm water (110 degrees)

Mix all the ingredients together (by hand, or food processor). Shape into a ball and let it rise. After about 1.5 hours, gather the dough, knead with a little extra flour, and divide into two balls. Flatten dough until desired thickness, and it is ready to become the base for your next best pizza! Bake at 500º for ~ 10 minutes or until brown and crispy.

The chicks and the bunny

If you have not visited our other blog which is devoted to our little urban garden, you can go there to get an up-to-date report. For instance, you will get a glimpse of the chicks' first day on the grass, and the introduction to the curious bunny.

Red Currants

I have a particular fondness for red currants. My relationship with them traces back to a particular time and place.  The year was 1992. The place: Besançon, Eastern part of France.

I was staying with a host family for 3 weeks while learning French with other high schoolers who were staying with their respective host families. We would meet for classes during the day, but the rest of the time we were on our own, or with the families that did not speak much English. In my case, the English part of it was virtually nil.

On the first Friday that I was with Catherine, my French host mother, we had a conversation over dinner. My French was still poor, and I could barely tell what we were talking about. After a few minutes of trying to understand, I got the sense that she was taking me somewhere with her young son the following day. That was all I could manage.

And I was right. We did go somewhere. It turned out to be out in the country, to her friends' house with a large garden. The word that kept coming up in the car (and I wished I had a dictionary with me) was groseilles. It usually followed with confiture, another word I did not know at that time.

Soon enough, I was standing in the middle of a field of groseilles: red currants. They were the most beautiful little jewel - like berries I had ever seen (rather eye-opening for a 17 year old). Catherine taught me how to pick them so that they would not be bruised. We picked from the stem, allowing the berry clusters to come off together. It didn't take long for us to have a bucket full of groseilles before we headed home to turn them into confiture: red currant jelly!

For the next couple of weeks with Catherine, I would have the freshest baguette from the neighborhood bakery with the groseilles confiture for breakfast. I still think about that day today whenever I see red currants at a market, or leaping out of our neighbor's fence as we are experiencing right now! I also allow myself to purchase a jar of red current jam whenever I see one because eating it with a fresh loaf of baguette transports me back to 1992 to the moment of clarity and introduction to these beautiful currants.

The Colors of Now

It took me by surprise, as I am still getting used to living in a place with four distinct seasons again, that we are in full growing-season mode now. It didn't quite happen over night as I recall vividly the evening I went to bed with the temperature below zero degrees and falling.



It hit me tonight when we dined on a bowl of salad, mostly grown in our front yard. To also browse through my iphoto albums and be hit with bright colors from the most current photos again is a sure sign that the dreary grey days are behind us. At least for now.



The kids are finding goodies in the garden, above and below the ground. They love pulling up radishes to find the perfectly round bulb hiding beneath the soil. There are also plenty of wiggly worms that our little boy savors, the way only little boys do.



And then, there are these chicks! Our very own chicks! They became part of the family about a week ago as tiny little 2-day old fluffs. They are growing fast now, and their stories reside on their own blog (I know... we will see for how long I can manage all these different blogs...they might have to all become one). For now, find them (and their friend, all in one garden) at Two Chicks and a Bunny! They are eager to meet you!