All posts by Monna

Oct 18
0

My Summer Harvest

By | Organic Gardening | 2 Comments

Some of you know I decided to grow a watermelon vine on my back patio this summer – right next to the mixed summer squash. Somehow I missed the memo that the vines would encompass my entire backyard (I have a townhouse!).

The summer squash vine grew over into our neighbor’s yard – who is a really great sport. We kept finding these on our back wall.

 They are some kind of summer squash and tasted kind of like spaghetti squash.
Here’s the watermelon that survived (sort of).
 This thing was SO heavy!! This heirloom variety, Moon & Stars, 
will grow to between 25 and 40 lbs. 
It is also beautiful with white and yellow “stars” on a field of green.

I also grew chard all summer (so yummy!) and easy stuff like mint. It was just so hot this summer I couldn’t bring myself to do much in the garden. Watermelon lessons: They need lots of room (either a 15’X15′ patch or a fence where you can train them and remember to support the fruit) and good fertilizer (like fish emulsion) every few weeks. Ripeness: watch for the yellow patch on the bottom and don’t wait for the little stem to turn brown (this advice was everywhere on the internet and in my books). This one never did – after months (!) – and it cracked in the last big storm, rendering it inedible. According to advice my farm girl mom gave me years ago, the huge yellow spot it had means it would have had great flavor and sugar content. Of course, I didn’t see it because I was waiting for the stem to turn brown. Oh well.

Now the weather is great and I’m off to help put in a garden this morning. This week, I’ll post pics of my large raised garden and the one I’ve been working on with my sister-in-law. Hopefully they’ll inspire you to grow your own!

Oct 15
0

Homemade Almond Butter

By | Recipes | 2 Comments

I’ve had a lot of requests for the homemade almond butter recipe that I took to my visit to ABC15’s Smart Families. It’s so easy, it’s almost not a recipe!

I make my own almond butter because I can monitor exactly what goes into it (oil, salt, sugar etc) and it’s cheaper as well. If you didn’t realize that almond/peanut butters often have unhealthy things in them, check the ingredient list on the one in your pantry. Surprise!

Here are a few of the ways I use almond butter – usually in place of peanut butter
Apples and almond butter
As protein in a fruit smoothie
Ants on a log (celery boats filled with almond butter and topped with organic raisins)
Almond butter and honey (or jam) sandwich
On toast for breakfast

Make Homemade Almond Butter
1. Place 3-6 cups of crispy nuts* in the food processor, depending on how big your food processor** is.  Don’t fill it much more than half or the nuts won’t pulverize properly.

2. Turn it on – high (see – not brain surgery!). 
3. Let the processor go – you might stop and pulse it for a while – until the nuts are pulverized. If they look like the pic below – keep going a few seconds longer. But, remember that almonds are going to be a little chunkier than peanuts.

4. Continue to process the nuts till they turn into almond butter. If you’re impatient like me and you don’t want to burn out your machine, add a little organic olive oil (1-3 T) until it’s “buttery”. As usual, just add a little at a time so you don’t end up with almond soup. You can substitute unprocessed, organic virgin coconut oil for the olive oil – but the butter will become pretty hard in the fridge if you do.

5. Store in the refrigerator. I can’t really say how long it will keep – because it never lasts long enough at our house to go bad.
*You can just use raw almonds out of a bag – but the crispy nut recipe gives the almonds a richer, toastier flavor

**You can also use a Vitamix to do this but not everyone has one of these incredible machines.

I said this in my post on homemade hummus – but I’ll say it again. A food processor it truly an invaluable kitchen tool and it doesn’t take up much space. If you don’t have one – you can find some great prices on Amazon – here.

Just a note on almonds…
As of 2007, almonds sold by handlers (i.e. non-growers) in the United States are required by law to be “pasteurized”. The intention of the pasteurization is to limit possible outbreaks of salmonella poisoning in the general public. Sadly, the method – super steaming the outside of the nut or gassing it – invalidates the “raw” categorization. These nuts go rancid a lot faster. Thankfully, the law does allow you to buy “real” raw nuts directly from growers.Here‘s a well written explanation of the process.

Oct 14
0

Finding Culture in Phoenix, the Sunnyslope Art Walk, part 2

By | Local Phoenix | No Comments

After a brief commercial interlude that included some bean cooking and hummus making, we are back to the remaining artists I met this weekend at the Sunnyslope Art Walk. If you missed part one – you can click here to read it.

Strangely enough, while both my husband and I are musicians, we didn’t really get the 411 on all the bands that were playing there – mainly because they were playing (not talking). But there was a wide variety of music from artists like Full Moon Jazz, Desert Gumbo, The Beaded Lizards, T-Bone Daily and many more. Now back to THE LIST…

I must begin by apologizing to Madison Hallock because I promised to go in alphabetical order, thus proving my impartiality to the artists introduced. Alas, unbeknownst to me, my nearly-two year old rearranged my notes as I was distracted by my day job (mothering) and dear Madison moved to part two. Of course, now she’s received even more blog space than she would have before, so it’s better for her. Wait. Madison, did you bribe my daughter with yogurt balls or something?

As usual, I digress…

And now…Drumroll please!

Artist No. 5 – Madison Hallock of merMadison.

This was the first thing that caught my eye when we reached the art walk because it’s truly unusual.
a merMadison gourd

If you’re thinking, “Hmmm, that kinda looks like a pumpkin.”  Well, you’d almost be right. It is a gourd, which is related to the pumpkin but has a lot harder shell. If you shake it, you’ll actually hear seeds inside rattle. Madison dries the gourds, then carves and burns these intricate designs all over them. I was simply taken by their shape and beauty. Of course, at my house, they’d probably briefly become a musical instrument. Right before being smacked on the ground to remove the seeds. by crazy-little-people.

Here’s another pic of her work. 

In the background, you can see there’s a gourd decorated with intricate feather designs. It’s amazing that anyone could draw something this detailed on paper, let alone convey their vision to a round object. Madison has a few more incredible looking creations like her apple and cameo gourds and the Koi designs. You can find them on Etsy or become a Facebook fan. There, Madison. Hope I made up for the alphabetical error.

And – on to –

Artist No. 6 – Cathy Manthey of Sophia Maria Designs
These little bits of fabric and color just filled the girlie side of me with joy. Yes. Apparently, I do have a girlie side hidden behind the hiking boots, books filled with big words and gardening gloves. This might explain my recent penchant for pink. Which is fully. Indulged. Here. Check out these DARLING designs.

Cathy Manthey with some of her Aprons
(Ok – I have to just insert here that I’m currently using a veeerrrryyyy old
*and crappy*
digital camera that just doesn’t do justice to Cathy’s lovely aprons. )

Regardless… Girls – you know how standing in the kitchen, cooking your life away can just be soooo exhausting, especially when you’ve been going all day and your feet feel like they simply won’t hold you another minute? I’m totally convinced that wearing one of Cathy’s aprons would immediately lighten the load.  

Rob – are you listening? Honey? 

And, that’s not all. Sophia Marie Designs doesn’t just do aprons, they have the most adorable little magnets you’ve ever seen – with a vintage look. Anyone need some FLAIR?

Would these be perfect to attach the shopping list or the kid-created art to the fridge or what?!
So, get started on your Christmas shopping early (really, Robert…), and contact Cathy Manthy through her Facebook page or email her at smdesigns@cox.net
Moving on…
Artist No. 7 – Barbara Redmond, mixed media artist
Barbara Redmond
Some of you will remember from part one of this post, my venture into felt – AHEM – art. After viewing that exercise in futility, it will come as no surprise I hold Barbara’s work rather in awe. My first glimpse into the world of felting came several years back while my college vocal ensemble was traveling through the British Isles and we ventured into a street market in Ireland, where vendors were selling gorgeous felted wool purses and scarves. I couldn’t believe that wool could be so beautiful or so soft and when I saw they were priced at nearly 100 EUR, I knew I couldn’t afford them either. Thankfully, while Barbara’s scarves don’t come close to the same cost as those of the Irish, they certainly are just as beautiful. 
You may be wondering why in the world a girl in AZ would want a wool scarf. Well, these are not your grandmother’s scarves. They are lightweight, delicate and filled with nuanced textures and colors. Perfect for a cool, Phoenix night out in “fall” – when you need a touch of color that won’t roast you alive. These would be especially great for my vocalist friends who are always wrapping things around their necks  – even in our mild winters. Here is a post from Barb’s blog on how she makes her scarves. You can reach her there or through her Etsy page.
Artist No. 8 – Katie at Flights of Fancy
You can actually see the work of our next artist in Barbara’s picture above – because they shared a booth. Katie is Barb’s daughter and talent must run in the family. She’s a bubbly lady with a great smile who clearly has her hands full. 
 Katie and her blue eyed boy
Yet, somehow she still finds time to create these incredible wind chimes out of items that most of us would consider junk. The way she combines the shapes and colors turns them into something beautiful. Here’s a closer look.
Yes, people. That is an old metal pitcher. 
I love this thing and it’s now on my wish list. (Rob, are you writing this down?) 
For your very own conversation piece created by Katie at Flights of Fancy, contact her at kt61180@yahoo.com 

This concludes the list of artists I met at the Sunnyslope Art Walk – though there were many more worth mentioning. After all, people, we had our four and (nearly) two year-olds in tow. And even being the
Ă¼ber cultured girls they are, while chomping yummy Baker’s Daughter chocolate and sitting in their comfy stroller – they were soon ready for new sights. So, feeling duly cosmopolitan-ized, we strode past the rest of the attractions and headed for home.

Did any of you go to the art walk? I love hearing from you! Leave me a comment. đŸ™‚
Oct 13
0

Homemade Hummus

By | Recipes | No Comments
And now, a quick break from my Finding Culture in Phoenix posts to finally offer up a recipe some of you have been waiting so patiently to see. I have had a few frustrating weeks of no camera and the pixels on my current cell are just too low to get a good blog pic.
This is the of homemade hummus I took to my visit on ABC15’s Smart Families, I got a lot of requests for the recipes for the hummus and the homemade almond butter. I’ll do another post about the almond butter, another super easy recipe, by the end of the week.
Now, being a frugal and organic mama, I try to cook the beans I use for recipes like this from scratch. I do this for a few reasons, including….
1. It’s cheaper. While I can buy a can of organic beans for about $1.09 (or less on sale), I can make about 5 times that amount of organic beans by buying them in bulk.
2. Avoiding canned food because of safety issues associated with BPA in can liners. A few companies are now using non-BPA liners and you can see a list here.
3. I can cook a lot at a time and freeze it for later use or just have an unending supply of hummus!
If you’re thinking that making beans from scratch sounds like a lot of work, I can reassure you that it’s not. It just takes a little planning. You can see how to make them right here.
Now, I do give an ingredients list but feel free to add a little more (or less) fresh garlic if you like and adjust the salt to your taste. It’s always better to add a small amount of something so you don’t have to go back and find more garbanzo beans to even out too much lemon or salt.
Also, I use a food processor for this. A food processor is an invaluable tool for a cook who has a lot to do and doesn’t want to mess around with a bunch of different tools. I can shred, chop and otherwise pulverize things that would take me forever to chop in this thing. If you don’t have one, you can get a smaller one here or a larger one here.
Hummus Recipe
Ingredients
2 1/2-3 cups garbanzo beans or one can organic beans, reserve the liquid
2 tablespoons Tahini, sesame seed butter – you can skip this in a pinch but it is going to change the texture & flavor a bit
4-6 peeled cloves of garlic
2 T lemon juice (more to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
*Optional – ingredients like red bell peppers, spinach, etc or add a little spice like red pepper flakes
Place all the ingredients, minus the bean liquid, into the food processor and blend till creamy.
If it’s too thick, add a little bean liquid – just a few tablespoons at a time – till it reaches the consistency you like.

 

If you like you can drizzle a little olive oil over the top before serving with your favorite chopped veggies. Ours are red, green, yellow and orange bell peppers, carrots, celery, jicama, cucumber, zucchini etc. Just take your pick.
See – told you it was easy!!