Birthday Drinks

Last weekend was my birthday and, as a result, I'm now the proud owner of a Soda Stream water carbonater.

It's taken me a little while to write about this because it's a little overwhelming.  With the ability to carbonate anything, how can I possibly choose?!  Here are the drinks I've made so far:

• My first carbonating endeavor was simple, just plain carbonated filtered water.  I'm still marveling at the money (and bottles/cans) we'd save this summer by not buying La Croix.  

• Next I added fresh lemon juice and a little maple syrup (my usual lemonade).  Of course, it's even better carbonated.

• My first fail was a honey and rose water soda.  The idea is good, but the execution was flawed.  And the result...chunky {shudder}.  I'll need to work on this one.

• My favorite drink: TX grapefruit syrup (that's a jam that failed to set) with fresh mint and carbonated water. Amazing!

• Also good: Strongly brewed mango ceylon tea (decaf for me), fresh lemon, mint, sugar syrup and carbonated water.  It's sweet tea soda.

• My latest experiments are with rosemary syrup and lavender syrup.  Rosemary and grapefruit with fresh mint are perfect together: citrus-y tart with floral notes from the rosemary and bright mint!  

I can't wait to until my herb garden isn't covered in snow and I can play with fresh lemon verbena, basil and stevia!  And you don't really need a Soda Stream to make these drinks- any carbonated water will do.

Making these syrups is really easy- First, make a big batch of sugar syrup (Heat 1 part water and 1 part evaporated cane juice to boiling.  Cook a minute or two and make sure sugar is all dissolved.  Cool.).  Then flavor small batches of the syrup with each herb/spice.  If you're trying something new, I recommend simmering 1/2 cup sugar syrup with 1 Tbsp. of the dried herb for just a minute or two.  Then cool and strain into an air-tight container.  Store in the refrigerator.

A Proper Pantry

I know people are really busy these days, but I think it's really important to make time in life for baking cookies. Or bread.  Or bars.  Or really just cooking in general.  So many people think they're too busy to bake cookies, but I think that with a properly organized pantry, it doesn't take more than 5-10 minutes of actual work to pull a couple dozen cookies out of the oven.

Remember the old study that showed that using a boxed mix isn't any faster than baking from scratch?  Sometimes just the perception of something being time-consuming can keep you from doing it.  Sure, baking cookies takes longer than opening a package of Oreos.  But it's only a few minutes and the taste is SO much better.  Not to mention, home-baked whole grain, naturally sweetened cookies with actual dark chocolate, fruit and nuts are a heck of a lot healthier.  

As long as you have all of the ingredients you need and are able to read a recipe, you can bake a little something.  But finding all the ingredients you need is pretty critical.  If it's hard to find the baking soda and the chocolate chips are hidden, baking becomes a chore.  This is where having an organized pantry comes in.

Labeling
I'm a big fan of organizing things in jars (what?  you hadn't noticed?).  And I'm an even bigger fan of using a label-maker in conjunction with said jars.  This, paired with logical placement of the baking ingredients on the pantry shelf makes whipping up some cookies no big deal.

Grouping
I recommend grouping your ingredients as they are found in recipes rather than alphabetically.  So my dry baking ingredients are together (baking powder, sugar, cocoa, xanthan gum), my liquid sweeteners are together  (agave, stevia, brown rice syrup, etc.) and my flours are together (millet, tapioca, wheat, pastry, etc.).  Spices are grouped similarly, but then alphabetized within each group.

Stocking Up

It's also important not to run out of your baking staples.  I like to know that on any given day I have the ingredients make nearly any basic baked good: gluten free chocolate chip cookies, a loaf of whole wheat bread, biscuits, cornbread, etc.  Sure, this required extra attention when making my grocery list- But it's pretty easy if you use a grocery list template!  

My list template is an Excel spreadsheet of all the staple grocery store items I never want to run out of.  There's a column for us to check off when we use the last of something.  This means that everyone in the family is responsible for adding to the list as they use the last of foods.  Then when it's time to shop, I just grab the list, do a quick check and then head to the co-op!  Everyone's list is different, but just send me an email if you'd like my copy to use as a starting point for creating your own.  

My guess is that if you're still reading this, you're either already doing most of these things yourself and this is making perfect sense or you're concerned about my sanity for caring so much about the organization of my pantry.  But I promise that it helps make cooking and baking so much faster and easier if you organize things and always keep the staples in stock.  And anything that enables me to bake two dozen Chocolate Trail Mix Cookies (when it was parent-teacher conference night, I had to work until after 7pm and still hadn't made my dinner at 8pm) is worth it.  

Spicy!

I was so surprised when I arrived home last night to find brand new homemade risers on my spice shelves.  I knew Mike was planning on making these some day, but I squealed with delight when I saw how great they looked!

Mike's woodworking is almost exclusively with dumpstered reclaimed wood.  I love that the materials are put to good use now, instead of sitting in a landfill or getting burned.  He mostly makes banjos, but now he can say he's made a spice risers, too.  And I had a fantastic time organizing them, #1: by frequency of use and #2: alphabetically.

On another note, I'm a big fan of Microplane graters.  But I was really disappointed when the plastic housing of my box grater broke.  So I wrote them a little note explaining this and they're sending me a brand new one!  I love it when companies stand by their products and know how to make a bad customer experience into a great one.  So good job, Microplane!  

Different Type of Pantry Challenge

This week I'll be doing a different kind of pantry challenge.  This kind of pantry challenge is not optional.  It's the "my fridge broke right before Easter weekend and so a new one won't be delivered until Wednesday" kind of pantry challenge.  Not exactly fun.

The good news is that I have HomeSmart appliance insurance from my gas/electric company and get $675 towards a new fridge since my beloved one died.  The even better news is that Fridgidaire decided to change their handle design and the old handle fridges were crazy on sale at Warner's Stellian.  I got a new stainless steel fridge for $699!  The repair guy said that the "all fridge, no freezer" models tend to die faster, so this one is a regular ol' fridge/freezer.  Hopefully this one will last longer!

The bad news is that there's lots of spoiled food in the kitchen right now that I have to dump in the compost.  I'm not looking forward to that.  I hate wasting food.  And it'll be interesting cooking this week.  Planning meals that don't use a fridge is sort of like planning for meals while camping...Except I get to sleep in my soft bed.  I don't do very well with cooking just enough to eat at one meal.  I like leftovers! So I predict lots of sandwiches and eating a the co-op's salad bar.  I might use up all my frozen and pickled vegetables, though!

My Kitchen

I'm feeling really grateful for my kitchen today.  I love having a space to cook that I'm so familiar with, I barely had to open my eyes to prepare the soup tonight.  My hands knew my knife, my counter, my stove so well that they didn't even have to ask my brain if it was time to crush the garlic.

I started thinking about this a couple weeks ago when making dinner at my friend Morgen's house.  I was chopping shallots and was going soooo slow.  Something that normally would take me a few seconds was taking forever because the knife was unfamiliar and the countertop a different height.  I realized then that I take my kitchen for granted-

I'm so grateful to have this space to cook in and the time to cook and the energy and passion for it.  So many problems in our culture are linked to not taking the time to cook at home- I think it's on my mind because of that Jamie Oliver show that premiered last Friday (oh, yeah and because that what I'm trying to promote everyday  at work).  Cooking might not solve all of our society's problems, but it can certainly help with a good number of the environmental and health ones. Oh heck.  It can help with the emotional and familial ones, too.

So here's a tour of my kitchen. It's not perfect, but I love it.   I hope you have a kitchen that you love, too.

"The pantry"

Home to the chest freezer, all the dry goods in cute canning jars, salvaged soap display shelf from the co-op, recycling station,  chile ristra and the KitchenAid that has broken 4 times.

My main prep space

Home to my Fiestaware, my favorite knife, the ledge that I can never get totally clean, a juicer starting to gather dust, and of course, the beloved dishwasher. Off to the left is the office part of the pantry, a.k.a. cookbook storage area.

Fridge and cooking central

Home of the oven that's 50 degrees off its gauge, my super awesome commercial fridge, Whirly Pop popcorn maker, pressure cooker and the condiment lazy susan.

Tortilla Fiesta!

Last night we had an all-out taco fest!  

I had soaked some pinto beans overnight and used the pressure cooker to make some quick "refried" beans (really just cooked, seasoned and mashed).  Then I pulled down one of my jars of garden tomato salsa, mashed up some guacamole, washed some lettuce, opened a container of Tofutti sour cream and sliced some olives.

What's missing?

Tortillas!!! That's the most exciting part!

I treated myself to a nice double-burner cast iron griddle this holiday season (it is the season of giving...) and Mike got me a traditional corn tortilla press.  

I'm practically a tortilla factory now, I can make them so fast!  This dinner came together surprisingly quickly and the kids declared it the best thing they'd ever ate!  I can't wait to try pancakes on this giant griddle- I might actually finish making the pancakes in time to sit down and eat mine with the family now.

Here's the tortilla press in all its glory- The plastic wrap is a necessary evil to remove the tortillas and transfer them to the skillet. Someday I'll make a video.

And here are the tortillas cooking away!  The texture is SOOOO much better now that I can press the tortillas evenly and thin enough.  Before I was using my cast iron skillet to smash the dough into tortillas...but I also needed my cast iron skillet to cook the tortillas.  So it never really worked out very gracefully.

Now I'm thinking enchiladas, arepas and pupusas are in my future on this griddle!

Day 1- Pantry Challenge

Today was tough- Not because I was tempted to buy food to eat today, but because it was the last day of the November sales at the Co-op.  I REALLY wanted to "stock up". Except I'm already stocked up.

For example- The tea I tried to justify buying yesterday is a really good deal.  But I have about 10 varieties of tea already in my cupboard, including 3 that I just bought this month.  Kinda ridiculous.

Here are some photos to illustrate my point (Not pictured: canning pantry, tea/spice shelf and freezer):

Pantry Left

Pantry Right

Fridge...With Hannah trying to get into the crisper 

It's kind of a mess.  I hope that by the end of this challenge I'll have a much more organized pantry and fridge!

Here's what I ate today:
Breakfast- Water, satsuma orange, almonds
Lunch- Leftover risotto, pickled beets, 2 Peppermint Jo-Jo's
Snack- Water, Rye crackers, cashew cheese
Dinner- Crockpot brown rice and split peas with tomato chutney and soy yogurt raita

Tonight's dinner was totally easy.  I just threw some brown rice, split peas and water into the crockpot to soak last night and then turned it on high when I left for yoga this morning.  Then after work I found it all cooked (okay, really a bit overcooked) and added tons of cumin, coriander, mustard seeds, garlic, fennel, turmeric, garam masala and salt in hot oil.  That's it!  It was really yummy- especially with tomato chutney and yogurt.  We all agreed that nearly anything would be delicious with those condiments, though!

I'm certainly eating pretty good...We'll see how I'm doing in a week.  I'm not sure how long my pantry challenge should last, but I think it should be at least 7 days.  I did 13 last time, so maybe that should be my goal...But I don't want to commit to that!  I'm thinking about taking my checkcard out of my wallet as a reminder to myself, though.

A Mixer Update

After much deliberation and advice from ya'll, I contacted the KitchenAid folks about my ever-broken mixer.  Sadly, they told me that since my warranty was expired, the best thing I could do was take it back to the repair shop...or use a $30 off coupon for an online purchase. 

I decided that I have nothing to lose by taking it back to the repair shop- if it's the same problem, it's free.  If it's a new problem, I'll most likely just get a new mixer.  So I'm back to life without the mixer for a while- the repair process can take 2-4 weeks!  Thanks so much for all the advice everyone offered.  I'll post as soon as I get any news!

I took last week off from bread baking and it was liberating.  Sometimes when fun things become routine and more like obligations, they lose their fun.  That started happening with my bread baking.  But after a little time off I'm ready to bake again.  Plus, it's super rainy and thunderstormed this morning, so baking is exactly what I want to do today!

If it hadn't been raining, though, I was going to be in the garden planting.  So I am a little bummed about the weather.  My little cauliflower and broccoli plants in the basement are about ready to join the real world and meet the real sun!

What to do...What to do?

I need advice.  

Since I was a little girl I've believed with all my heart that KitchenAid mixers are the very best mixers to be had.  And I continued to believe that even though my beloved tangerine artisan stand mixer broke once.  I even believed it after it broke twice.  But now, after the motor has died yet again, I'm starting to doubt my commitment to KitchenAid.  

But maybe I just got a lemon of a mixer and need to give the brand another chance. Afterall...my dishwasher and food processor haven't failed me [knock on wood].  

 Here's the situation:  The last repair is under warranty.  I can have it repaired again for free if it is a problem related to the previous one or pay for parts only if it's a whole new problem.  Or I can return the whole darn mixer to the repair guy and he'll give me my $80 back from the last repair.  

So what do I do?  Get it repaired and possibly have it break again?  Or just take my $80 and buy a sturdier model that can handle my quadruple pizza dough recipes?  

One option is clearly cheaper than the other, but I don't want to get stuck in a loop of continually repairing this thing.  I've already spent nearly the original cost of the mixer in repairs!  

What would you do?

Some Spring Cleaning

I went on a little cleaning spree this past weekend...in the freezer.  I keep a pretty good inventory of what's in the fridge, but the freezer is uncharted territory.  Our freezer is a chest style freezer because our fridge is 100% fridge.  So when you put something down into the freezer, it is instantly lost.  

I found some wild things in the freezer that I didn't even remember I had.  Like fake shrimp that was a sample product from the co-op...a couple of years ago.  And popsicles.  And a gallon of local strawberries I forgot about.  And a gallon of mulberries.  And ice cream.  

Ice cream wouldn't be that surprising except that Mike and I were just lamenting about not having any ice cream!

And it wasn't just one tub.

Clearly we have a problem.  

So I've instituted the freezer inventory list, just like the refrigerator has.  Nothing goes in without going on the list!  I've got to use all those berries, and cauliflower, and green peppers, and pesto, and jalapenos, and ICE CREAM!

Weekend Update

Gosh- I can't believe I didn't post anything all weekend!  I guess that just goes along with the cleaning, laundry, and baking that I didn't get around to...

But I did get my new canning pantry set up.  I know I already posted a picture- But this one is better!

Here's the naked stairway area with the reinforced shelves.

Here it is all painted!  Yes, allularpunk, I painted them yellow!
And here's a better look at all the canned goodies.  I had to make some jam-print cookies last night after I realized just how many jars of jam I had.  It might be a bit excessive.
And here's the yellow paint in my hair.
It feels great to have this project done.  Now it's time to do that baking I didn't do this weekend.  

It's so insanely cold today that I can't bring myself to go back to the store, but I promised the kids that they'd get to have vegan hotdogs while the rest of the kids ate meaty hotdogs at the zoo fieldtrip tomorrow.  So sorry, gluten free folks.  I'm busting out the wheat gluten sausages tonight!

Problem Solved!

Since this summer my kitchen has been cluttered with canning jars filled with peaches, pickles, tomato sauce and jalapenos.  It's a delicious problem, but a problem nevertheless!

Until today...

My super handy, amazing step-father-not-quite-in-law just built me these shelves in our basement stairway.  Now I am the proud owner of a canning storage shelf!!!

Tonight I put a few jars on the shelves to see how they fit.  Don't they look great?!  Plus, there's space for my water bath and pressure canners.  

Of course, I still need to paint them and he's going to reinforce the shelves so they are extra strong.  But I'm already planning what I'm going to do with all the empty space in my kitchen now.  Perhaps some more appliances... Or I might just enjoy not having an overflowing kitchen.

My problem

I think I have an addiction. Drinking never appealed to me that much and just don't have time for smoking weed anymore. I've safely avoided gambling problems. So you'd think I was in the clear.
But kitchen appliances ...they are just too much for me.

Here is a list of some of my choice appliances and gadgets:

• My Frigidaire commercial refrigerator (no freezer, baby. It's all fridge)
• Haier chest freezer (holds enough kale to last us a year, plus still has room for ice cream)
• KitchenAid mixer with pasta maker(in Tangerine to match my walls. Okay, no, the walls match the mixer because the mixer came first)
• KitchenAid Food Processor
• Champion Juicer (it will chew through anything)
• CuisineArt ice cream maker
• Presto stainless steel pressure cooker
• Presto pressure canner (18qt)
• Salton yogurt maker
• Whirly-pop popcorn maker
• Two 2-gallon Burley clay pickling crocks

So you'd think I would be satisfied with these, right?
Wrong. I just put a Soyquick Premier soymilk maker and tofu kit on my credit card. I feel super guilty and super excited to make my own tofu, yogurt, and soymilk/oatmilk/etc.

Validate me. Please.