Tent City: Meet, Greet, Eat -- Sweet!

(photo by Dan)

In Maine for Molly and David's wedding, 20-30 of us (I'm guessing based on the number of tents) camped out in Molly's mom and stepdad's backyard for the weekend of festivities.








(photo by Dan)

Inside our tent, I was able to try out Dan's new camping lantern, hung from the ceiling by a few items meant for the taming of hair-dos.




We had games, port-a-potties, a sink, an outdoor shower, a swing, chairs, friends, babies, dogs, and more. It was so glorious.



Mike tended the fire throughout our stay. S'mores were had here. And S'morks (pulled pork s'mores minus the marshmallow). Drinks were drunk around this fire. And singalong songs were sung. Ukuleles and guitars were strummed. Soles of shoes were melted in its heat, so loath were we to back away from the blaze.



Ever-accommodating, Molly's parents created as luxurious and festive a camping environment as I've experienced. We enjoyed tables and chairs and shade and sun.



Dogs and babies got along swimmingly.




Speaking of swimming, some went to the beach. Others sat and relaxed. Still others discovered that one cannot rent a keg in Maine with an out-of-state ID (or passport).




Bride and groom pig cookies appeared.



So many flavors! One wedding guest described these as hallucinogenic in their audacious composition.



One evening there was a vegetarian lasagna many times bigger than Kyle's head. It was grander than grand.




(photo by Dan)

Would you be surprised if I told you that the fifteen-year-old baker responsible for the pig cookies also made a red velvet groom's cake in the shape of an armadillo (in a nod to Steel Magnolias)? James learned the hard way that the thing that looks like a rock in the photo above -- is a rock.



(photo by Dan)

Here's another view (it's partially eaten at this point).



(photo by Dan)

There were bagels. There was coffee. Babies enjoyed toast and eggs. The morning of the wedding was all about quickbreads, quiche, ...



(photo by Dan)

and baked beans.




A good and tasty frolic was had by all.

Let's build a better airline food.

I've flown on 8 flights in the past month (Delta/NWA/JetBlue) and the only decent food I ate on any one of those planes was that which I brought myself (Midwest, how I miss your fresh-baked cookies).

My favorite item? This chocolate chip and ricotta tart from A-Roma Bakery. I ate one bite at home, then decided that it was too early in the morning to eat much of anything and that I'd finish it on the plane.

It got a little smished in my carry-on, but was just right on board.

Elusive Entenmann's

Entenmann's Frosted Devil's Food Donuts are not your average grocery store boxed doughnut. I couldn't care less about the yellow-on-the-inside chocolate doughnut, but these are special. They're devil's food inside, as the name suggests. The chocolate "frosting" has a great texture, and both the interior and exterior are rich and chocolate-y.

These are hard to find in my neighborhood, though the yellow chocolate doughnuts and the variety boxes are everywhere. If you're looking for devil's food, pay close attention to the picture on the side of the box. You don't want to see a that yellow peeking through on the graphic of the bitten doughnut.

The chocolate-on-chocolate's elusiveness probably makes them taste that much better. They're really a special treat, as I only run across them a couple of times a year.

Best of all, in terms of practical considerations, a box of 8 will last a week without going stale, so you don't have to stuff them all down at once. Or share them.

Adventures in CSA: Weeks 12 + 13

I was home for week twelve of our CSA share, but out of town again for week thirteen's retrieval (I gave Jennifer those goodies, since I couldn't get them). This means one little post will cover the last two weeks of vegetal (and occasionally fruity) adventures.

During week twelve, we had:

Corn
Squash
Yellow cherry tomatoes
Assorted tiny peppers
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Melon

Now, let's talk about the eats!



(photo by Dan)

1. Untitled Cucumber Sandwich. Dan made this sandwich of chevre, tomato, and cucumber on a roll. It was made and eaten while I was at work, but he kindly snapped a photo of it for my (and your) edification.

Although the experience was not photographed, I do believe I finished the cucumber by eating it as raw slices. I'm a sucker for raw cucumber. Can I also mention that I never peel or seed my cucumbers? I don't understand why people bother.





2. Eggplant Bread Salad. The second I saw the recipe on Serious Eats, I knew I had to make and eat this baby. Grilling the eggplant took a little time, but all the assembly was worth it. We used up more yellow tomatoes in this dish, as well as some leftover turkey bacon. So delicious! This is one of my favorite recipe discoveries of the season so far.





3. Pasta with squash and cherry tomatoes. Here's an easy, self-explanatory dish. I found it needed just a drizzle of olive oil over the top (and some cheese). The sauteed squash had a rich, outstanding flavor.




(photo by Dan)

4. Unknown Melon. Can anyone identify this small, yellow, oblong variety of melon? It had a very mild, slightly sweet flavor. We ate it raw.




(photo by Dan)

5. Corn and Pepper Soup. Dan found the recipe (though he added peppers and omitted ginger) for this soup online one evening, and it worked perfectly to utilize the corn and peppers (and buttermilk) in our fridge. It had a slightly coarse texture (might have benefited from longer cooking or straining), but was lovely and thick, like a hearty chowder. We ate it warm, but it could have been served cold. The jalapeno tortilla chips as garnish were really, really nice. I really can't imagine the soup without them.

----

Even though week twelve was a light one, in terms of effort spent and dishes made, it was hard for me to not have any CSA vegetables at all during the portion of week thirteen for which I was in town (since I missed the pickup). I didn't quite know what to do with my dinners, and I missed having lunches of leftovers that week.

Because of this, I have to thank Paul in advance for his willingness to pick up my vegetables for this coming week (fourteen). I will be missing the pickup myself (again), but Paul volunteered to tote my lot to work. So, thanks to him, I'll have my vegetables for the coming week. And thanks to him, I'll be reporting back to you soon!

What to do with leftover buttermilk

(photo by Dan)

Leftover buttermilk got you down? Keep it simple, dummy! Make Marion Cunningham's buttermilk pancakes for your household. If you're lucky, this household (apartmenthold?) will include a visiting awesome friend. Add blueberries!

As I reported in my comment on the blog post linked above (where you will find the recipe):

I doubled the recipe and made it this morning with leftover buttermilk and blueberries. I had to sub wheat flour for 1/2 cup of the A-P flour, as I didn't have enough A-P flour. I added 2 T of sugar to sweeten it a little and used the extra baking soda as directed. We had great results!

(photo by Dan)

One more thing about St. Paul...

I haven't finished talking about my trip to St. Paul, MN until I've mentioned our trip to get ice cream at Izzy's. It was, in a word, splendiferous.




Izzy's was packed with people patiently waiting in a line that wrapped up and then back down the length of the store. The regulars seemed to know that the ice cream would be worth their patience. And it looked like every local had brought 2 or more family members visiting from out of town.

In the photo above, you can see the circular ice cream signs that announced the night's available flavors. I could have happily chosen almost any one of them. There was incredible, tempting variety.




My nephew, who couldn't read the signs, announced that he wanted vanilla. "Vanilla!" he yelled every time his mom asked him if he was sure he didn't want her to read the list of flavors available. So she casually worked into conversation with the rest of us that it was too bad her son didn't want to know the flavors, as she was pretty sure he'd like to try the cotton candy ice cream. Wouldn't you know it -- someone happened to overhear that comment. That someone immediately changed his order from, "Vanilla!" to shockingly blue cotton candy ice cream (with a malted milk ball on top). And that someone ended up with a bright blue cotton candy face.





I had salted caramel ice cream. For my "Izzy" (that's the name they've given to the mini scoop on top of most of the adult-sized cones and cups), I tried their Norwegian chai flavor. Both managed to taste warm, despite being cold ice cream. They were rich and impressive flavors. Splendiferous.




As a bonus, we got to peek into a side room. There, on the wall, were hints of other flavors to come on other days. If I lived in St. Paul I would be stalking this place with a list of these names, trying to collect them all. Yum.

Giant Movie Night -- Bowie Bars Fwends!

GMN Week five
Film: Labrynth, starring David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, and a fake baby.
Snack: Bowie Bars, carrots and hummus, taro chips.
Guests: Dan, Dave Johnny, Kevin D.
Outcome: This was a great Giant Movie -- nutty and sweet and soft like the Bowie Bars, as well as silly and dated in a pleasing way. Why didn't I notice how tight Bowie's pants are when I first watched this as a child? It's awful hard to miss.


Bowie Bars
Adapted from Ruth Wakefield's Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, a recipe found in The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook

2/3 c. (5.3 oz) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. bread flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. peanut butter chips
1 c. chopped pecans

Stir together (I used my KitchenAid mixer) the melted butter and brown sugar until combined and smooth. Add vanilla and stir to combine. Set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set dry ingredients aside.

To the wet ingredients, add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition until incorporated. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, while stirring. Add baking chips and nuts. Stir to incorporate.

Press this dough into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.

Bake the bars roughly 30-35 minutes at 350 F, until set and golden brown. Cool before cutting into squares. The center of the bars will be set and baked through, but squishy and not dry. You can also use all-purpose flour in this recipe (as called for in the original). Bowie wouldn't use all-purpose, though. I'm pretty sure. He might also throw in some glitter, which I wouldn't recommend.