Happy Circling The Sun

It is important to start the year off right.  On January first our guests and ourselves slipped out of bed for breakfast.  I boiled and baked some bagels, roasted some root vegetables left over from dinner the night before (Chelsea had made us a delicious beef stew), John cleaned up the kitchen, Ashley and Judah poured us all mimosas, and Derrek brewed us cups of coffee in his Chemex pot in the living room (as now the kitchen was overflowing).  Along with bagels and roasted veggies, we had eggs, bacon, and potatoes left over from the night before (Ashley had made potatoes au gratin).  Lastly, and perhaps most important for the new year, everyone was made to eat black eyed peas.  Black eyed peas are to be consumed on new years day for luck and prosperity, and we could all use a bit of both.
It is my hope that all of our meals in the new year are as abundant and auspicious.

As luck would have it, my dad offered Nick and I some crab.  As if we would ever turn down crab.  I wasn't sure how we would eat the crab, seeing as Mondays usually leave me feeling less than inspired and it is so very hard for me to resist eating the crab right out of the shell. We did manage to fill a bowl with crab meat, and we decided to make crab cakes.

There are dozens of crab cake recipes out there, ours went like this:
Roughly a pound of crab meat
A few slices of green onion (I used the ends of the onions)

Salt & pepper to taste
A splash of white wine vinegar
A heaping spoonful of mayonnaise
Several tablespoons of panko breadcrumbs
One egg
I mixed all the ingredients together.

I then made small patties of crab on a baking sheet and popped them in the 500 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  I decided to also fry a few cakes in bacon fat. both ways of cooking the crab cakes were effective and delicious.  I mixed up a little spicy sour cream sauce for the cakes, though they didnt need anything, and we simply devoured them.

These crab cakes would make outstanding crab cake tacos, and I would highly recommend eating them that way if you can make it to a tortilla with enough crab to put in it.
Happy New Year!
Eat well!

Pumpkin Bread

We get so excited for trick-or-treaters; we dress up, arm ourselves with full size candy bars, light our jack-o-lanterns, and wait. Unfortunately we only get about ten kids, maybe, so there is some down time and we wrap up early. While we wait it is important to have some spooky music on and something warm and spicy to eat and to drink.  This time of year I rarely put away my crock pot, it is full and steaming with apple cider.  To eat, of course something pumpkin...
Spiced Pumpkin Filbert Bread (adapted from The New California Cook)
Preheat the oven to 350, spread 1/2 cup chopped filberts (hazelnuts) on a baking sheet and roast for 5ish minuets, until lightly browned. Set aside.
Beat 4 T soft unsalted butter with1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 granulated sugar until well blended. Add 2 eggs, 1 ts orange zest, 1/2 cup orange juice, and 1 cup pumpkin puree. Blend well.
In another bowl mix 2 cups flour, 1/4 ts salt, 2 ts baking powder, 1/2 ts baking soda, 1/2 ts cinnamon, 1/2 nutmeg, 1/2 ginger, 1/2 allspice. Add the dry ingredients and to the pumpkin mix, mix until just blended. Add the filberts and 1/2 cup golden raisins. Mix just enough to combine.

Butter two 4x8 loaf pans, and divide the batter evenly between the two. Bake for 45 minuets, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cook for 15 minuets before turning out and cooling completely (or however long you and reasonably wait).

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

Descry Presents

I've been busy making ice cream and shaking jars or hooch.
Chelsea is hosting Descry Magazine's second issue release party, and she asked us to make sure everyone had something sweet to eat and/or drink.
Gladly I agreed.

I've been roasting pumpkin for pumpkin ice cream and crushing up cardamom for a batch of cardamom saffron.

To drink I've put together a peach vanilla brandy that has been infusing for a month now.
For the last week or so vodka has been infusing with honey and oats.
The finished product should be something quite special.
I suggest you taste for yourself!

CATALOGUE OF THE NIGHT

3641 Main Street Gallery, Occidental CA

October 22, 7-11pm

 Issue No.2 Release

Art Exhibit

And Silent Auction Featuring Work By:

Kristoffer Axén

Gregory Bartlett

Randi Berez

Chelsea Rae Klein

Kati Mennett

Jordan Reznick

Ursula Sokolowska

Elena Zavala

And Chris Weller Presents:

A Magnificent Microcosm- The Smallest Circus in Western Territories

Performance By: Odd Bird

Homemade Ice Cream and Infused Beverages By: Born & Raised 

With Toppings By: Produce to the People

Hope to see you Friday!

End of Summer

My birthday celebration came to an end on Sunday in the most amazing way.
We threw a brunch at our house and invited a few friends.
Chelsea made this delicious raspberry-blackberry crumble from berries she'd picked the same day.


I went to the farmers market Saturday for eggs and spinach, and I came across the most beautiful peppers.


I sauteed the peppers with onions and squash from the garden.


Then I filled a few buttered casserole dishes with fresh basil, spinach and goat cheese, added the sauteed veggies and eggs (about 18, which I had beat with a little heavy cream). Then I baked the dish for about 30 minuets (until the eggs were set) at 425˚.
When they came out of the oven they were fluffy and beautiful.
I also tossed some potatoes in olive oil and rosemary, salt, and pepper and roasted them until golden.


We made some sausages, some friends brought fresh tomatoes from their garden, pastries, melon, orange juice, champagne, and iced tea. Nick prepared a Bloody Mary bar with all kinds of fixins, and we had a giant thermos of New Orleans style coffee with chicory.
We had no leftovers.


We ate and talked and laughed and I opened a few presents, most notably a chair Chelsea made with deer and moose antlers and leather. It is incredible, a museum piece. Pictures to come. My friend Danica, a poet, wrote a beautiful poem for me that when she read it aloud I was moved to tears.
It seems Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer. It feels that way for us. We are slowing down, getting back to work/school/life, and the days are noticeably shorter. We had a wonderful summer with a wonderful end. We are dubbing this summer the "Summer of Love and Adventure". It was magic, and I am looking forward to a magic autumn with plenty of warm bread and hearty soup.