Ready to ride

Yeah, I KNOW this is not the way I'm supposed to mount a child seat onto a bicycle. Geez! Obviously it is meant to not be lashed on with bungee cords. And be right side up.

For heaven's sake, I was just picking it up this afternoon in Columbia Heights so my brother and his wife, who found it on Craigslist, can take the world's cutest niece out for rides this spring. (Is it spring yet?? Sure felt like it last weekend.)

Ah, Elena. Look, she's all hydrated and ready to go:

We've got a child bike seat. Now all we need is a nice afternoon....

Pierogi in the sky

I grew up, like many American kids of the 80s, on boiled Mrs. T's potato and cheese pierogis. I have fond memories of tossing boxes from the frozen food aisle into the grocery cart in middle school. And I liked them. Then, a couple of months ago, during our annual Slow Food DC board holiday dinner at Boundary Road, my tastebuds were rocked by the real thing. (Or at least what I imagine being the real thing, having not ventured to Poland. Yet.) Light, buttery, rich pierogis that melt in your mouth. Oh god, they were good. I've been obsessed with the idea of making them ever since.

I'd considered making some for my birthday dinner in late December, but then got distracted preparing tajines and curries and ran out of time. I'd contemplated making them with more daring gentlemen sous chefs (I mean, er, dates) in January and February, but, well, it seemed extreme for someone who was just starting to know me to be subjected to 3+ hours of solid cooking and my friendly but firm reminders of "Don't overknead the dough!" So when my dear and daring foodie friend Kathryn suggested we get together to cook yesterday, I knew exactly what we were going to make.

Initially we were going to simply have different fillings, but after some online research we couldn't decide which dough recipe to try... so of course we decided on 3 different doughs, each with a different filling. (Don't you lecture me about the Scientific Method! I know!!) We figured that if one of them resulted in total, inedible disaster, at least one of the others would turn out, right? And if all of them failed, well, we still had a nice growler of Hellbender scotch ale and things to nibble on.

We started with what appeared to be the simplest dough, and the most traditional filling:

As the dough rested, I riced some of our boiled potatoes before stirring in some mashed celeriac and sauteed cabbage, along with the not-at-all-Polish addition of garlic for the second filling. Then it was time to boil some sweet potatoes to mash, before stirring in freshly grated nutmeg and slices of quick-seared guanciale for our third filling:

Oh, the guanciale? Don't worry, there is going to be a whole post soon about this much-anticipated first attempt at curing meat sourced from Farmer Bev over at Eco-Friendly Foods. For now, I hope you're content with knowing that the public debut of the cured pork face was delicious and that nobody got food poisoning. Meanwhile, here's Kathryn working her magic on doughs 2 and 3:

In the blink of three hours, we were ready to start cooking our homemade pierogis!

Luckily Kathryn's husband showed up just in time to help finish filling the final dozen pierogis, and taste test our final product, washed down with ample ale. (Yes, yes, I know, it would have been more authentic to sip on potato vodka, but I'm using all of mine in the current batch of limoncello.)

Delicious. Thanks, Kathryn and Chris, for participating in this cooking adventure! And for those of you who want to try making your own, I recommend dough #1 or 2 from this site, and fill them with whatever your heart desires. (Mine desires more guanciale.) Don't worry, mom and dad, I saved a few of each in the freezer for the next time I see you. :)

International [Whatever] Day

I love any excuse to celebrate. (It's true: my college roommate Mary can attest to my strict adherence to Margarita Tuesdays at our apartment during our senior year. In case you're wondering, no, I don't still stick to that rigid schedule. Any day is a good day for a margarita. But I digress....) Last month, on the eve of the big snowstorm, I stopped by my local Giant supermarket to pick up a few things. You know, the important stuff: rice crackers, an avocado, heavy cream. As I strolled by the cereal aisle, I saw this display:

Really? I'm surprised it wasn't promoted at school -- lord knows kids in the DC public school system could stand to eat more whole grains. I went home and made myself a fruit and yogurt parfait with granola, lest I be accused of neglecting this important occasion. Twas as delicious as it was patriotic.

Now, over this past summer, I acquired a jar of fancy chocolate hazelnut spread from my dear friend Susan. I vaguely recalled a few years ago hearing something about an international nutella day, and I distinctly recalled missing this most significant of days last year. So I made sure that I put it into my calendar and set a reminder. I mean, I wouldn't want to have my foodie card revoked -- the blatant use of fake cheese powder on my popcorn already has me on the food police watchlist.

This Friday -- February 5 -- I participated in my first local celebration of IND. As we sipped on our morning coffees at the school, my interns and I enjoyed slices of farmers market apples slathered in luxurious chocolate hazelnut spread. And then we proceeded to teach kids how to make a healthy butternut squash sauce with whole wheat pasta. (Are you kidding? Of course I didn't tell the kindergarteners it was IND or there might have been a riot.)

Last night, the IND celebration continued over handmade, mini nutella pop tarts that one of my dinner guests brought over. (In case you want to crank out some pop tarts yourself, here's a recipe that I used when we made them in a Brainfood class a few years ago.)

As we nibbled on Suzanne's flaky homemade pastries, her 10-year-old daughter informed us that she and her friends had celebrated National Icecream For Breakfast Day. What?! How did I miss that one? I'm marking NIFBD on my calendar right now. My dear readers, are you aware of any food-related holidays I should know about?

Hardly hibernating

I don't know where folks get the idea that gardeners and farmers aren't working in the winter. The same goes for food educators. My goodness, there are gardens to plan, pieces of equipment to fix, seed catalogs to browse, bee hives to build...

And there are plenty of fun indoor lessons to teach! Seriously, it's freezing out -- what better time could there be to look closely at soil in the classroom? Here are some kindergarteners examining soil samples brought in by Zach, the farmer-in-residence at one of my schools:

The coldest months also tend to be when many garden/farming-related events happen, like the annual Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture conference up in College Park earlier this month. Or  the awesome and free annual Rooting DC forum, coming up at the end of February.

Among my favorite activities are wintertime seed swaps, like the one put on by Washington Gardener Magazine earlier today. My friend Mike kindly gave me a lift to and from Brookside Gardens (which I hear is quite beautiful when it's not under three feet of snow). There, we met other area gardeners, learned about winter sowing, and oohed and aahed at some of the unusual varieties people had brought along to trade. I even worked up the nerve to make a little pitch for folks to check out Slow Food Ark of Taste seeds, a few of which I had to offer at the swap. (Have I mentioned how I generally avoid public speaking because it is scary? Though it was a large group, it was a friendly crowd, and exactly the type of folks who would buy into growing and eating heirloom foods in order to preserve them. So I spoke up. Now where's my gold star?) It was so fun to see folks really stoked about the new varieties of tomatoes, flowers, and odd cucumbers they would be growing in warmer months, and a handful of them asked me about my white velvet okra seeds. "Yep, they can grow to be eight feet tall." Holy plantzilla, Batman!

This year, I'm going to try growing quinoa for the first time, from the heirloom seeds I got at the swap today. (Lord knows I eat enough quinoa to justify growing it.) And I'm going to attempt growing a bed of asparagus for the second time. (I think I got bad rootstock last year. Hmm.) Now, where will they fit in my limited garden space...? Wish me luck!

Snow gets in your eyes

The organized snowball fight at Malcolm X Park was pretty epic. The abundance of hipsters in attendance inspired me to compose a parody of the Platters classic on my walk home....

They asked me if I threw
Snowballs landing true.
I sheepishly replied,
"I just aimed inside,
But it went quite wide."

They said, "Some day you will find
That jerk who clocked you from behind
When your arm’s on fire.
For now realize
Snow gets in your eyes."

So I packed them, and I fired away --
To think they would hit a thing! --
Thankfully at last, one or two I cast
Finally struck something….

Opponents did deride
My repeated tries
To protect my head.
They aimed from the side,
More snow got in my eyes.

So, yes, though I ducked and weaved constantly, I got hit directly in the face precisely four times. I worried that the last one would lead to a fat lip -- someone was definitely making icier snowballs on the other side of the battle line -- but I am happy to report that did not come to pass. I seem to lack both the killer instinct and the aim to be much of an asset in snowball fights, but it sure was fun. And I sure am sore today, though that may just as easily be a result of my multiple shoveling shifts, hiking, sledding, and snow angel making as from snow combat. Here's my friend Sarah demonstrating proper angel making technique:

After all of that physical activity, I arrived home ravenous, and ready to make something hearty that could cook while I soaked in the bath. As I stripped off my 47 layers of outerwear, the appeal of mashed potatoes was suddenly overwhelming. And, readers, you know I rarely stop at making something as simple as mashed potatoes. A few minutes of rummaging around the kitchen resulted in the following delicious new dish:

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
(Definitely not vegan, though!)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup leeks, chopped
• 1 cup shiitakes, chopped
• 1 cup butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1-2 cups chickpeas (from a can, or pre-soaked and boiled until soft)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• handful of fresh herbs, leaves only, minced: parsley, thyme, rosemary

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F.

Saute leeks, shiitakes, butternut, carrots, chickpeas, and garlic in a medium cast iron skillet. Stir regularly.

Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add potatoes. Boil until potatoes are soft. (20 minutes should do it.) Drain potatoes, then return them to the pot, add butter and milk, and mash with a fork until smooth.

Add herbs, broth, and tomato paste to veggie saute, then top with the mashed potatoes.

Bake until heated through and liquid creeping around the edge is bubbly (about 30 minutes). Viola! You're done!

I took out the remainder of the pan the following day -- yet another snow day!

Well stocked

The bike lanes are already icy and unridable after a mere inch of snow last night, so Ollie's hanging out in my living room making friends with the houseplants. The DC government has preemptively decided to close schools tomorrow. Metro has announced that no trains will run this weekend, and only limited buses, due to what weather reporters are calling a "historic" blizzard heading our way.

Am I worried? Not a bit (though it may mean I'll have to skip my usual weekend dancing, which is a bummer).

I'm well stocked here, though, with a freezerful of various soup bases (veg, chicken, shrimp, and fixins to make more), along with veggies and other goodies to toss into simmering pots. There's plenty of (semi-carbonated) homebrew on hand, and odds and ends to make cocktails. I've stockpiled some Netflix to watch and sci-fi to read. The Australian Open is on. I've just put my fuzzy flannel sheets on the bed and broken out my favorite sweatshirt. Ahhh.

Yes, I am *ready* for this blizzard.

What I want to know is: when are they holding the big snowball fight in Dupont Circle? (Maybe that's when my fortune cookie prediction will come true. He'd better not clock me in the face with an icy snowball is all I can say.)

Snail mail is the best

I love surprises. And snail mail. But the best are surprises that come IN the mail. And one of the best surprises of all came in MY mail just a few days ago...

Yes! As temperatures have dropped this past week, a set of brand new lobster claw bike gloves arrived. They're a belated birthday gift from my best friend Becky, just in time for the below freezing morning bike commutes.

I 'm not going to lie: I was more than a little afraid to wear my new winter bike gloves. I have a bit of a track record of losing them, you know. Luckily, Becky thought of that, too. She's such a mom. THIS set of gloves came with some little accessories:

So what if those clips are usually used by moms of 7-year-olds to keep mittens from getting left on the playground? They work!