Mom's, Ethel's, Sally's Mom's & Mrs. Gregory's Mustard Pickles

I'm inspired to share a recipe.

My father passed away on July 4th and I just haven't felt like writing since then. I was at our family cabin this week and looked through some recipes. A while back my good friend Wendy asked if I had "The Mustard Pickle Recipe". I told her I was pretty sure I did and I said I would look for it. That was at least three or four months ago. . . I found it. Three versions, actually.

You need to get that "The Mustard Pickle Recipe" used to be a secret. The funny thing is, apparently everyone in the generation older than my mom used to make them. I read three very similar, but slightly different recipes from that older generation, plus I know I have another one floating around here someplace that is in my mom's handwriting that says "Ethel's Mustard Pickles" on top of the card, which is the one she wouldn't share, even though it wasn't hers in the first place. In a small town, recipes as awesome as "The Mustard Pickle Recipe" are a secret. And if you are lucky, you get a jar for Christmas.

The recipe listed here is a conglomeration of the three, plus my memories of watching the process multiple times, plus some logic.

Wish I had a picture of a jar of the "Real" ones. . . maybe next year. Here's what they look like, sort of. The color is right, anyway.

Mustard Pickles
2 or 3 quarts cucumbers, unpeeled - quarter lengthwise, scoop out big seeds & slice.
NOTE: 2 recipes called for 2 quarts, one called for 3. I don't recall any scooping out of seeds ever and this was suggested on only one of the recipes - I am including it as an option. As I recall, my mom used smaller cucumbers and cut them in half and sliced them in about quarter inch slices. 


2 quarts pickling onions, peeled & left whole
NOTE: My father used to come home from work and sit at the picnic table with a small paring knife and peel these things for my mom and Ethel until it was dark. It is tedious work and best if you can find someone else to do it. You can just cube up a bunch of onion, if you don't have the patience. Also, if you got a jar for christmas with the little onions, you were damn special. Those jars were usually saved for family or those who were invited to dinner. 

2 quarts cauliflower, broken into medium-sized pieces
NOTE: Not one of the recipes said what to do with the cauliflower. This is where I participated. I think you could call it child labor. . . "Not too small!" is the size. 

2 red peppers, 2 green peppers
NOTE: Also no directions for these. I guess we all know what to do with them. . . cut 'em up, right?

Make brine with 1 cup salt & 1 gallon water.
Let stand 24 hours.
NOTE: What this means is put the brine on the veggies, preferably in a small crock, and let them soak for 24 hours. This is when you take a break, have a cocktail and eat some sort of grilled meat, corn on the cob and salad for dinner. My dad was responsible for grilling the meat - and making the cocktails. After he was done peeling all those tiny onions. 

Bring to a boil, drain
NOTE: If you have a big enamel pot, that's what you should use. That's what my mom used, anyway. I'm pretty sure I recall her using another huge pot that was Club Aluminum. We all know better these days. Seriously, just to a boil. 

Add Sauce:
1 cup water, 2 quarts vinegar
6 cups white sugar
1/2 cup dried mustard
1 tablespoon turmeric
1/2 cup flour

Heat to boiling, cook for 20 minutes. Just before putting in bottles, add 1 or 2 tablespoons celery seed.
NOTE: These pickles are in fairly big pieces. They are not exactly crisp, but they aren't mushy, either. Makes me wonder if 20 minutes is too long, even though all three recipes said the same thing. Also, I don't remember my mom adding the celery seed at the last minute and the amount varied from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon to 2 tablespoons on each recipe. Maybe it should just say "to taste". I can tell you that there are definitely seeds in it. Enough that my mom probably used 2 tablespoons. 

Bottle & Seal
NOTE: This means boil the bottles & seals long enough to make the kitchen hotter than hell (20 minutes, as I recall) and put the hot pickles in the hot jars, slap on a lid and crank on a ring tight - and don't burn yourself. Make sure the lip of the jar is CLEAN - my mom wiped each one with a hot well-wrung wash cloth and rinsed it often. Then put the jars on the counter or a rack to cool. each one will "Pop" when it seals. You can tell if any didn't seal by tapping on top of each one. Jars that don't seal sound flat - no "ping". Jars that don't seal can be put in the fridge to be eaten sometime in the fairly near future - a bonus that rarely happened with Kerr jars, seals and rings (Shameless promotion - my mother never used Ball). 

GENERAL NOTE: OK, which kind of vinegar, white or apple cider? Your guess is as good as mine. None of the recipes say. I'm pretty sure it was apple cider, although we had both in the cupboard during canning season. Maybe Wendy knows. . . That's a lot of white sugar, by the way. Have no idea how to substitute for that. I think you might be able to sub tapioca flour for the wheat flour if you are gluten free. And, by the way, this "sauce" will stain EVERYTHING. I can remember a spot on our counter that faded gradually by the new year, kitchen towels that, after multiple washings, became rags and a wooden spoon that my mom dug out each time she made these pickles that was stained permanently. You can double or triple this recipe. I can remember hours and hours of cutting, peeling, laughing and swearing. And two large crocks that sat out overnight on the patio in the backyard in Rupert. There must have been a lot of Mustard Pickle Christmas Gifts that year. . . We always had the privilege of some of the new batch at Thanksgiving. . . they go really well with turkey. Yum!

If you don't grow a garden, all the fresh ingredients can, of course, be found at your local farmers' market. My mom used to drive around and get her ingredients from various friends with large gardens and people who sold produce out of their yards. Someone would call with a hot tip on where you could get cucumbers and the pickle making was on!

These pickles are best if you can get together with a couple of other women to make them. . . the shared labor, shared love and shared result is wonderful.

I get that it's a little late in the season to put this recipe out. It's really a mid-July recipe.

If you make these, I hope you will include me on your Christmas List.

Love to All and happy pickling!

Grow Your Own!

We did it! We planted a winter garden. The seeds have been in the ground for two weeks tomorrow and there are a lot of seedlings pushing up through the soil.

Back in September Mr. Green and I had a conversation with our farmer friend Elijah from Tara Firma Farms about how we could make our garden more productive. He offered to take a look at our space. One beautiful Sunday in early October Elijah came to the city and saw our garden. He loved it! He said it was enough space to feed 20 people!

Yikes! Who knew?

He suggested that we orient the whole thing differently to waste less space and said we needed soil amendments. Our poor plants were being choked by the sand. He said, "Find a friend who has cow manure and get a lot of it." Now, I have friends who have, or can get, cow manure. Lots of them. They all live in Idaho. Shipping really isn't an option.

Craigslist is the next best thing to someone you know who has what you need. I signed on later that evening and found a listing for "aged organic horse manure" for fifty cents a bag. . . fifty cents a bag? That fits right into my budget. I sent an email to Victoria's Fashion Stables ordering up six bags and "Voila!" they would be left outside the gate, on the appropriate day, just for me.

The soil was a different story. Tons of "dirt" or "fill dirt" available. . . immediate concerns about contamination. . . I don't want to sully our clean growing space. We were very careful in the spring to keep it "organic". So. . . I invested in six bags of organic planting mixture from Sloat Garden Center. At eight-something a bag, it was a bit much, but worth it, I hope.

We now were driving around with six fragrant bags of horse manure in the back of the truck and six bags of soil stacked in our garage. I was looking forward to the next weekend!

Earlier in the season, about a week after we had pretty much given up on our summer garden - having pulled the tomatoes, and harvested every bit of produce except the carrots and artichokes, it rained. I was ignoring the garden at that point. Nothing new going on. We were waiting for advice.

And suddenly, there was oxalis! We hadn't really seen any since we sifted all the sand and took out all the bulbs in the spring. It wasn't as bad as it was last fall, but it definitely was making itself known. We weeded. The damn stuff is impossible to pull up completely. It breaks off so easily and then comes right back. If it flowers and goes to seed, it's everywhere. We weeded some more.

The morning of beginning the winter gardening, we weeded. . . then the fun began.

We drug and carried the six bags of manure and six bags of mulch through the 1st floor hallway into the back. Then we stripped the earth of everything except the two artichoke plants. We turned it all over once with a shovel. I don't know where the eight bags of mulch from last spring went, but the soil was very sandy.

We poured out two bags of poo and two bags of mulch, mixed it up with the fork and shoveled it out onto the garden. We did this three more times.

It may not seem like a lot of work reading it, but it was. The garden is mostly in the shade in the winter because it's on the north side of our three story building. This was a good thing that sunny day. After the "amendments" were evenly spread, we turned the soil over again. Twice.

Then we raked a path down the middle, leaving a large bed on each side, and lined the path with some of the bags that the manure came in.

Mr. Green mixed up some of his magic "adobe" to pack on the sides of the beds - this combo of sand, mulch, compost and water mixed to create mud, we discovered, keeps the dirt contained and doesn't allow run-off, creating our poor-man's version of raised beds.

By this time it was late in the day and cooling off quickly. I was exhausted but happy to have the garden ready to plant.

On Sunday we planted.

peas peas

artichokes carrots

turnips lettuce

radishes spinach

beets garlic

broccoli cauliflower

cabbage

And garlic planted along the edges of the garden about every two feet to keep the bugs out. But not by the peas. Peas and garlic are not friends. The way I planted (as listed above) is companion planting. all these plants like their neighbors and, because they do, we are supposed to get a higher yield.

I have never companion planted before. I'm excited to see if it works. I found a handy dandy chart on a site called Gardens Ablaze. Just a matter of plotting it out once I knew which plants are friendly with which.

Again, another exhausting day, but fun work. We planted, watered the seed, cleaned up the mess, hung the tools and called it a day well spent.

I tagged each area that I planted with the date and what is growing. Mr. Green made worm tea and sprayed the whole thing the next day.

At this point, two weeks later, we have a bounty of seedlings. The turnips and radishes are up and crankin'. Almost everything is popping through except the carrots, beets and garlic. . . I'm sure they will be up by the end of the week. Awesome!

I doubt that we'll be feeding twenty people, but there will definitely be food to share. Assuming that we don't end up sharing it with the snails and bugs. . . we have plans for them if they show up. . .

We do this because we can. I like growing my own food. Between the farmers' market and our garden, we keep it local most of the time, supplementing with a trip to the co-op or regular grocery a couple of times a month.

I like to think that more and more of us are on the path to sustainable living. I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.

I'm sure you are, too.

Do you grown your own? Would love to hear about your winter (or summer) garden!

A Winter Garden

I get that this photo doesn't seem too impressive, but it is. These tomatoes were grown in the Outer Sunset in SF. Something everyone said couldn't be done. And, they are not the specially formulated "fog" tomatoes, either - which I hear don't taste like much. Ours, being smaller than usual, are like the dry land Early Girls that are now available at the Alemany Farmer's Market, full of intense tomato flavor. Yum.

This is the handful I picked yesterday. I ate them sliced on toast - one of my favorite breakfasts! We've had probably four or five other handfuls of tomatoes. . . not much fruit considering how big the plants are. Next year we will definitely trim them back. I've never trimmed a tomato plant in my life, but, considering our small garden space, it makes sense. The plants got absolutely giant this year, shading the peppers we planted in front of them. Not good. The peppers aren't going to produce squat.

We have already started our winter garden. I had visions of the summer garden being over, reworking the whole space and then planting the winter garden. Actually, there is overlap. The tomatoes aren't done yet and the sunny months are just coming on. I don't want to tear them out. We have beautiful carrots on their way (the 2nd batch) and lettuce, too.

We did tear out the zucchini and summer squash plants. We had beautiful zucchini. We ate it as-is and in a variety of recipes including zucchini bread. Made a loaf with almonds for Mr. Green. It was interesting. I'm not a big fan of nuts in bread - or nuts in anything, really. He liked it, I think. He didn't rave about it, or complain. It got eaten. The Zucchini Orzo recipe from Animal Vegetable Miracle is definitely a fav. We made it twice!

Summer squash didn't do so well. For some reason the squash would come on and then rot starting on the end before they were big enough to bother picking. Too bad. We threw away alot hoping that the next round would be OK. Not sure what to do about that. Skip it or fix it. Maybe if we spray the plants with worm tea earlier. . .

I'm so excited about being able to grow food in the winter! I've been in San Francisco for a year now. Looking out the window at this moment, the sun is shining in the Sunset today! A rarity, but I wouldn't trade this for anything! It's great fun being in a large city and our tiny garden is part of my new Urban Experience.

In Idaho this is the time of year when we glean the garden for anything even remotely ready to eat and hope the killing frost holds off for a few more days. It is such a joy for me to be able to bike to work and walk out of my office at lunch to stand in the warm sun. And I love the thought of looking out at a green garden all winter. Of course, the rain will come, but not for a few weeks longer. . .

Speaking of rain, it is my hope that we will use very little water on the winter garden. Mr. Green has already prepped the dirt for the next round of planting. He's worked in another round of compost and worm tea where the squashes, carrots and radishes were. Over the next couple of weekends we will put in shell peas (these are delicious and hard to get at the Farmers' Market - very short season), broccolini (I like it better than the regular), turnips (Mr. Green likes these), cauliflower, and garlic. We've already planted spinach (the second round), cabbages, carrots, lettuce and artichokes.

We planted three artichoke plants. There were all exactly the same to start with. Now two are thriving and more than a foot tall. I swear the other one hasn't grown since the day I planted it. It's still green but has only one set of leaves past it's seed leaves. At first I figured it would come along. Some plants do better than others. Now I've decided it's just a dud and I'm going to replace it with another one. The only thing I can figure is I was too rough on it getting it out of it's container. I'll be very careful with the next one.

Interesting phenomenon in our garden - we noticed that the plants in the front of the rows are taller than the plants further back. This is not the norm, which would be the opposite, and we puzzled over it briefly while we weeded a few weeks back. Were we being so careful to water the front that the plants were doing better? Did we work in more mulch or compost in the front?

Actually, it is the cement wall that is the front of our garden. It gets hot when the sun shines and then keeps the soil warm over night. The plants do better that are closest to the wall. Mr. Green says he's going to cover our fence with reflective material that will turn the garden into a tropical paradise when the sun shines - or at least heat things up a lot more. I'm envisioning something along the lines of those tanning sheets we all used to lay in the sun on back in the early 80's - before we knew better.

A novel idea, don't you think? I'll keep you posted.

Food, Health, Life & Michael Pollan

I have, for the last I-don't-know-how-long (would have to ask my BFF Yvonne) been interested in farmers' markets, local food and fostering community where I am. The benefits for me have been huge. I've had the privilege of weeding raspberries, trimming fruit trees, helping prepare farm dinners, click here eating local eggs that came in all different colors and sizes, pulling potatoes and onions from just outside my back door for breakfast, managing a farmers' market, eating amazing local food at a local restaurant click here and knowing all the people who who were a part of all of it, and feeling like I was a part of it, too. That is community.

I have lived in San Francisco for ten months now. And guess what?! I'm back shopping at the farmers' market, wondering how I can get one started at the beach in the Outer Sunset, growing my own food in the backyard (well, actually, Mr. Green grows it, truth be told) and enjoying the bounty of a CSA that I will visit soon. I'm starting to meet farmers, hoping for a yard-share, and enjoying all the food/farming banter and amazing information on Twitter.

Obviously, there is something more to this than just food. Part of "healthy" for me is this connection to the dirt and the people who work it. I'm not sure I really want to be a farmer, but I can sure as heck organize an awesome farm dinner with a live band and more guests than you can feed if your a farmer who wants to have one! And, I don't mind spending the day pulling weeds or pressing apples into cider, either.

This is not what this post was supposed to be about. . . I'm going on vacation tomorrow, back to Idaho to visit, and I'm reminiscing. Smiling face goes here.

Here's what I really wanted to say. . . If you want to be healthy, there are some pretty easy and basic food rules to follow. I didn't make them up. Michael Pollan did. He's a pretty smart guy and he lives near me over in Berkeley. Who knew?!

The Food Rules Are:

1. Would your grandmother recognize it as food? If not, don't eat it.

2. Don’t eat any foods that have more than 5 ingredients or that your 2^nd grader can’t pronounce or have high fructose corn syrup.

3. Shop the perimeter of the store only – stay out of the middle.

4. Stop eating before you are full.

5. Cook your own food.

And finally, and probably most importantly:

6. Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

These words are quoted from a radio interview with Michael - the program was called It's Your World - that was rebroadcast on KQED here in SF last week. click here

I'm pretty sure they are from his book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, which I have read, but don't recall word for word. It a good book. I recommend it. click here Actually, I recommend anything by Michael Pollan.

Do I follow all these rules? Heck no! I seldom stop eating before I'm full. The food would have to be mediocre and why eat that?

As for the rest - Sans a 2nd grader, I am becoming an avid label reader. Now I read labels in the store instead of when I get home. It's a bit to late to return that chutney laced with high fructose corn syrup and three things I can't pronounce if I've already eaten two bites and just happen to turn the jar around out of curiosity while I eat a third. I do put things back on the shelf. A lot.

My grandmother wouldn't recognize half the stuff I eat as food. Although I truly believe that if I explained it to her, she would say, "Oh! Well that's interesting. Can I taste it?"

They keep the garlic salsa that I like in the middle of the store and even if I had the bushel of tomatoes, I'd be too lazy to make it myself.

We do cook our own food more often than not. When I "landed" last fall I ate in a lot of restaurants. Who wouldn't? This town is full of great food! I'm kind of over that now - ten pounds up and down later. Although I'll still travel across town to eat at a food cart. Especially the Sexy Soup Cart or the Magic Curry Cart!

I know you've heard this all before. I'm going to say it again, anyway. It's fun to cook together. Last night we made 4 kinds of homemade pizza, crust and all. It's delicious! Way better than any crap we could have had delivered. We chopped, we grated, we assembled. And let me tell you what, I didn't stop eating until I was Full.

There is an opportunity, tomorrow, to be a part of an interview with Michael Pollan. . . here's the tweet:

erinelyRT @TakePart Got questions 4 Michael Pollan? Join us on FB for a live chat with him Thursday July 2nd, 3pm PST#foodinc http://bit.ly/jQB0z

It will be a fun opportunity to hear what he has to say about farming, local food, the movie, Food, Inc. and whatever is on the minds of the twitterverse.

Join in. You don't have to be on twitter to participate. I won't be there typing questions. . . I'll be in the car on my way to Idaho.

I'm hoping to meet Michael in person soon, anyway. . .

Enjoy!

Urban Gardeners

This is our small urban garden. Even though we are on the third floor, we are the only non-commercial residents in the building so we get access to the small rectangle of dirt in our "backyard". We get to our spot of green by climbing down the fire escape. It's a beautiful, warm inviting spot of about 200 square feet with a palm tree on one end.

We (I) decided we should turn the patch of oxalis "out back" into a garden in early April. I guess that's when the gardening bug hits for someone from Idaho. What I have learned since then is that people start their gardens in March here in San Francisco! Who Knew?! The only thing my inner clock inspires me to do in March is build another fire in the fireplace.

The really amazing thing for me about the garden space is that it sat fallow for six years. Nothing was done with it. The only thing that grew there was oxalis season after season. A very clean plot of dirt for a city gardener! I would even venture to say "organic".

Mr. Green agreed to the garden - a bit reluctantly - and the fun began. We did some internet research to find out about getting rid of the oxalis. What we found out was it's almost impossible to get rid of. In order to really make it go away you have to dig down twelve inches and sift the dirt, throwing away all the bulbs. Then you have to weed it consistently, never letting even one plant bloom. After five years, it will be gone. Yes, I said five years.

Undeterred, we pressed on. The next weekend just happened to be sunny and beautiful. We borrowed a shovel from our neighbor and descended the fire escape. It really didn't take very long to get the almost solid green matt of plant matter off the top of the soil. I only wish I would have taken a picture before we removed it! In the shot below you can see some of it piled on the patio. Needless to say, there was a lot.

The shot above is during the sifting process. We went to Home Depot and bought a piece of screen. The ingenious Mr. Green cut the bottom off an old trash can and made a huge sifter with the help of some scissors and duct tape. Sifting consisted of one of us shoveling three shovels of dirt onto the screen and the other rocking the can back and forth until all the dirt sifted through, leaving a ridiculous amount of oxalis bulbs to remove. We worked two or three inches of forest mulch into the top six inches of soil as we went. The forest mulch bags made great containers for the bulbs and they, and all the plant matter, got hauled to the compost pile at the dump the next weekend.

It took an entire weekend and two evenings just to sift the dirt. Quite the arm workout. We came in each evening covered in a fine coat of dust with streaks of mud on our arms and faces and barely able to lift our arms. And yet, I have to say that it was much easier than it would have been with the soil I'm used to in Idaho. The Outer Sunset soil has a lot of sand - because it used to be a sand dune - and was very easy to sift - no clay, no clods. We did find some construction debris. Hunks of cement, pieces of tile, nails, etc. We managed to get the whole thing sifted, mulched, organized into rows and planted in two weekends plus three

evenings.

During the process Mr. Green fell in love with, and took total ownership of, the garden. I came home from work on the Monday after we planted and he said we were going to have to do something about the cat. He caught her digging and chased her out. Seems she thought we were creating a huge sandbox just for her. By Tuesday evening, after online research by Mr. Green, we were the proud owners of a "ScareCrow" (see top picture). This amazing, and odd looking, device was just what we needed. Hooked to the hose, and set in the front edge of the garden, it watches. If something enters its line of site and triggers its infrared eye, the rainbird attached to the top sprays back and forth really fast three times. Scared the crap out of me! To see a description click here: ScareCrow. Mr. Green bought ours at Orchard Supply Hardware OSH which I hear is a pretty cool store. I've only forgotten to turn it off twice. . . and yes, I got wet both times.

The cat only got wet once. It was in the middle of the night and she promptly came in and hopped up on the bed to let us know. She steers clear of the whole space now. She goes down with us and hangs out while we are weeding or walks the fence line and sits looking down at us, but she doesn't get near the dirt. Smart cat.

Below is the progression from sifting to organizing to planting.

We planted all organic plants and seeds, mostly from Sloats Garden Center Click Here. They are a bit pricey, but just down the street. We made the rows so it would be easy to weed, planted every other one. We were expecting A Lot of oxalis. We covered the "walking rows" with some brown paper on a roll (very similar to grocery sacks) that Mr. Green had.

Then we waited. This was not easy for Mr. Green. Being a new gardener he wanted everything to come up right now. The first week he commented that he certainly understood why people bought plants instead of planting seeds. . . for the instant reward of seeing green in the dirt!

With a couple of rounds of weeding and Mr. Green's TLC the garden has flourished over time and we now have tomatoes in bloom (Everyone says we won't get tomatoes, but I'm holding out for enough sun in July!), 3 types of beans in bloom (these little buggers were supposed to be bush beans, but they are All Over the place.), beets that are about an inch and a half in diameter (I've never planted beets before and can't wait to EAT them), scallions almost ready to eat (also a new plant for me) and four different kinds of peppers in bloom (these guys seem small to me, but, hey they are blooming), cucumbers (also a bit small) and a pathetic stand of carrots. I've never had great success with carrots. My dad could grow them like crazy and used to give me a couple big bags each fall (out of sympathy, I think). OH, and Squash! Looks like the plant from Little Shop of Horrors!

So far we have picked three batches of spinach, which grows really really well here. Delicious! We've had salad & also steamed a bunch. I'll pick the last batch off these plants on the weekend and then start over with fresh seed. Mr. Green has also enjoyed a pile of radishes & already replanted them. I'm not a huge radish fan. He loves them. The second batch of the season is coming along well.

The best part of the garden is coming home from work, pouring a glass of wine, sitting on the 2nd story balcony in the late afternoon sun and chatting while we watch it grow. I realize, just now, that this is what my parents used to do when my dad would get home from work in the summer. Only they were looking out at 80 acres of farmland. I used to join them. We are creatures of habit, aren't we? Makes me smile.

I'm so looking forward to the larger produce!

I love touching the dirt. If you have a spot of land, plant a garden. It's a great way to get your earth fix.

Oh, and the Oxalis? Literally haven't seen more than one or two plants while weeding. Guess that whole sifting thing was worth all the effort!

Veggie Paella Outer Sunset Style

Dinner is served!

As promised, even though he spent hours fixing the sink, Mr. Green made Paella on Sunday. This veggie dish is just plain delicious. I don't know if it's the saffron or the variety of vegetables or the pan. We've tried it with different whole grains including farro, which has a nice nutty flavor and chewier texture and is my favorite substitute so for for regular brown rice. When we have paella I always eat more of it than I should and then I eat it for breakfast!

Boise, Idaho, the fair city where I resided for 19 years, has the largest Basque population outside of the Basque country. Some of the many benefits of this are a Basque Bar (Bar Gernika), a Basque Restaurant which is part of a quaint little inexpensive downtown hotel (Leku Ona) and a Basque Market (The Basque Market). There is also a museum and a palla court! All situated on a beautiful tree-lined street that is often closed for festivals and special events - where the Basque Market makes, and sells, Paella.

Basque paella, cooked outdoors in large flat copper pans, is a feast for senses. It's beautiful to look at and the smell is irresistible. The pans themselves are beautiful! I have had the privilege of eating it not nearly enough times and it's wonderful. This paella has shell fish and chorizo in it, so it's different and a much heavier dish than our veggie version. And, a treat. Not something that fits in to my diet more than once or twice a year.

Our veggie version is also a feast for the senses. One that I can eat much more often! I say "our" very loosely. I do very little of the actually cooking. On Sunday I got the vegetables out of the fridge, sliced the potatoes and did clean-up. Mostly I just stand around and sip wine when

Mr. Green does the magic. I like that.

The labor in this dish is all in the cutting of the vegetables, which takes about 20 minutes. Putting it together is a breeze and the smell get richer and richer with each addition of vegetables. I love it because it's beautiful on the plate, it smells amazing while it's cooking and it is an amazing eating experience. The veggies retain their character and each bite is slightly, deliciously, different.

Here is the recipe:

Veggie Paella Outer Sunset Style (by Mr. Green)

Ingredients:

• EVOO, aprox. ¼ cup - enough to cover bottom of pan

• 6-8 SMALL potatoes, sliced to 1/8"

• 1/4 cup raw almonds, split length-wise

• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 small onions, coarsely chopped

• 1 - 1.5 cups coarse chopped mixed peppers (green and colored Bell - Anahiem - Lipstick - etc.)

• 1/2 cup fresh green beans, cut to approx. 1"

• 1/2 cup fresh shelled peas

• 3/4 cup yellow zucchini, coarsely julienned

• 1/4 cup pimiento slices or roasted red peppers, coarsely chopped

• 2 medium firm tomatoes, coarsely chopped

• 1/2 cut green onions, loosely chopped

• 14 oz jar of artichoke hearts (in water)

• generous pinch of saffron threads (see photo)

• 1 teaspoon sea salt

• 2 tablespoons paprika

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• juice of one large lemon

• 4 tablespoons tomato paste

• Cooked grain to yield around 5 cups - short brown rice, farro, etc.

• approx 3 cups water

Prepare the grain ahead of time being careful to NOT fully cook the grain. It should be chewy as it will finish cooking with other ingredients.

In small bowl add saffron threads to 1/2 cup cold water and set aside.

In large flat bottom skillet heat the olive oil - medium-high setting.

Evenly spread out potatoes, and pepper flakes. Brown potatoes on one side.

As you turn potatoes, add almond pieces, garlic, onions, peppers and green beans. Sauté for 5 minutes.

Add peas, zucchini and pimentos. Sauté an additional 2 minutes.

Add saffron mixture, lemon juice, spices, tomato paste and an additional 2 1/2 cups water.

Bring to boil and make sure spices and tomato paste are well mixed.

Add grain, reduce heat and allow to simmer.

Once moisture is taken up by the grain and it is about fully cooked add green onions, tomatoes and artichoke hearts.

Cover and simmer until green onions are wilted - it's time to serve!

This is not a traditional paella in any way. Usually the grain is cooked in the pan with the vegetables. This muddles the individual flavors of the different ingredients and makes everything a bit mushy. Cooking the grains first allows the vegetables to maintain their crispness and character. You can add anything you might want . . . asparagus tips or any other vegetables. You can also add other spices. One nice addition, at the end, is a little smoked paprika. No salt mesquite seasoning is good also.

Enjoy!

By the way, not going to the grocery this week didn't work out. We didn't have artichoke hearts. At least we bought them from the little store up the street.

There are two great movies out there right now to see. . . funny how things surface in pairs.

One is free & you can watch it on the net. It's called HOME. Beautiful beautiful beautiful footage from all around the world with insightful information about the global condition. A hopeful ending. Make organic popcorn the old fashioned way (in a pot - on the stove), pour a glass of wine and enjoy.

The other is one you'll have to pay $9 to see. It's called Food, Inc. A great combination off all the stuff you probably were already aware of put forth in a format that is both shocking and not surprising. Don't buy the popcorn. It's a Monsanto product. Bring water in your own bottle. :)

I'm a farm community girl. I've seen animals in all their pieces and parts. The most shocking thing for me, in this movie, was the unidentifiable blobs that scooted along conveyer belts and went through a lot of bleaching processes surrounded by steam and large pipes - in my head I kept saying, "Wait a minute! What is that? Rewind! I don't get it. Is that chicken? beef? some sort of pork leftover? I don't know what that is!" as it turns out, what was ground and ended up as a frozen square that fit perfectly into a box was. . . yes, folks - the % of fat additive in your lean ground beef. . . just the fat additive. All alone. Frozen in a box. Yummy? See the movie. Find a local source. They are there. Just look.

Also, new to my world is a Farm Fresh to You box every other week. What fun! An organic surprise at my door every other Tuesday. We get a small mixed box. If you'd like to see what they have to offer, go to www.farmfreshtoyou.com and click on one of the food choices on the right hand side of the page. Tomorrow our small box will contain a mix of local, organic, seasonal fruits and veggies that we will use as the basis of most of our meals and snacks for a few days. It doesn't last long.

We also have a small organic garden out back. I'll post pictures soon. We planted a whole month late, but things are coming along. So far we've enjoyed radishes (Frank's favorite) and spinach (2 pickings). It's fun and easy! Grow your own!

All the best,

Tamara