When Pigs Fly...

What did you do on YOUR day off?

Peels Were Not Harmed

My dear friend Jessica is the proud owner of approximately 785 cookbooks…and counting. Not one of which was left behind when she made her move to the UK. It's not unusual for me to be woken up in the middle of the night, by a beeping phone, only to find that it's an incoming email with a recipe for something that I "MUST try". Understandably, she's usually my first point of contact for obscure, or not so obscure recipes. So, armed with three uneaten ripe bananas, and Pig 1’s wish for banana bread, the emails began….(actual email exchange below):

Me: Need a good banana bread recipe for tonight.....any thoughts?.....
J: Didn't I email you a recipe ages ago? I'll look - I do have a personalized one.
Me: I'm sure you did....but it's probably in boxes somewhere....I have 4 extremely ripe bananas (possibly 3 if C ate one this morning after I left for work), that I'm trying to get rid of......Does that pulled pork really need 2 hours in the oven?.....(this relates to another recipe…obviously)
J: Yes! Can you wait a few hrs for BBread?
Me: crap! ok.....Yes, can def wait a few hours for banana bread....

A few hours later...(more like two):

J: BEST EVER BANANA BREAD 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter 3 very ripe bananas 2 eggs 1 1/4 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 1 cup crushed walnuts Preheat oven to 350 degrees,Cream sugar and butter. Add bananas and eggs beaten. Sift flour,salt and baking soda 3 times. Blend and add to banana mixture. Pour patter into a 9x5 loaf pan. Bake for 55 min. Cool on rack. If this is not the tastiest and moistest bread you've ever eaten, I will eat your peels.

A few (more) hours later:

Simply put......Banana Bread Heaven!

Confession: I omitted the walnuts (sorry Jess!)

A Garden of Our Own

When I thought of our garden, I saw clusters of potatoes, fresh grown peppers, and rows upon rows of luscious, plump tomatoes....not to mention my favorite section "the herbs". I envisioned walking into the rows, and walking out with a basket full of what would later make up our dinner....What I didn't see was the actual planting. In other words, the (hard) work involved...ie, the endless sweating, the leg cramps from crouching to weed, the mosquito bites, the shoveling and hooing, the carrying of the water buckets, the burying of the hands in compost, the dirt under the fingernails....and most of all...the worms...all of this with no gloves allowed...by decree of Pig1.

What I also didn't see, or rather, realize, was the pride I would feel at holding my ground (and not run screaming from our plot), when Pig1 placed a worm (my first!) in my hand...the desire to actually go to the garden "just to say hi", as Pig1 does...the sense of community that I would feel every time one of our garden mates stops by to either introduce themselves or ask what we're planting, or share planting tips....the great feeling of accomplishment when we leave the garden, dirty and sweaty and tired....and best of all, the sense of contentment at sharing this 750 square foot plot of land with someone who is as eager as I am to, one day soon, sit at our table, and eat the food that we've grown.

Oh, what a feeling...

Pics in order of appearance:

Potatoes - Herbs - Cucumbers - Tomatoes - Can't remember

Happy Mouth...

The first post of a blog created to share our cooking and eating adventures, with an emphasis on "adventures", is ironically enough…..about chicken. Admittedly, the most mundane ingredient in a world of ingredients, chicken gets more of a bad rap than it deserves. As an avid chicken eater for most of my life, I can tell you that I have had it in all its variations…..broiled, roasted, fried, braised, stewed, sautéed, barbecued, jerked…and they've all shared one thing in common….The Yawn Factor….

As of last night, that has changed. Yesterday, Pig1 (the boy) decided to visit the Champlain Valley Rabbitry (which does exactly what it sounds like it does) in West Haven, VT. With the promise of rabbit for dinner, he set off for West Haven. 7 hours later, instead of the rabbit that I had been expecting, he returned with a chicken…a freshly slaughtered chicken, but a chicken just the same. 2 hours after that, chicken became my new favorite fowl. He served up the most flavorful, succulent, tender, perfectly cooked roast chicken perfection, which almost made me want to build my own chicken coop, get some chickens, and start slaughtering hens on a daily basis….it was THAT delicious….

I was served a breast, with a piece of the wing still attached...the skin was a golden shade of maple, with the crispness of the thinnest of wafers, the meat itself was plump, juicy, and bursting with flavor and most surprising of all, it had a slight barnyard flavor....almost gamey...which might have been a side effect of the hours old slaughter, but might not appeal to chicken purists who would rather not have their chicken taste like anything other than chicken. Served with a side of toasted crusty bread atop a mound of shredded pork (yes, we do manage to eat pork at every meal), it bore absolutely no resemblance taste wise or otherwise to the bland supermarket chickens of my pre free-range/organic/ hormone free/pastured chicken days, nor of my current post free-range/organic/hormone free/pastured chicken days, a result which I credit not only to the bird itself, but also to Pig1's superb culinary skills.

Unfortunately, being new to this blogging thing, it never occurred to me to take a pic of the finished dish until after my last bite, but take my word for it, last night, chicken was the new pork....