Local Really Is Better

In Portland, pretty much everyone agrees that local is good.  We like to get our groceries at the farmer's market or grow them in our backyards, we will reuse, pass on, or repurpose anything, and we like to live close enough to bike to work.  So why buy mass-produced liquor that you could get anywhere in the country, when we have some amazing and creative distilleries in our own back yard? 

Frankly, I had no idea they were so amazing, so numerous, or so close, until my friends Rick and Elisabeth began inviting me to distillery tours and tastings.  Today we visited House Spirits and New Deal distilleries in inner southeast Portland.  I'm already a huge fan of House Spirits' aquavit and their Aviation gin, and today we tasted their newest batch of white dog whiskey.  I think that this whiskey is certainly not for everyone - it's un-aged and I tend to prefer a mellower sipping whiskey that's been sitting around awhile.  But I also think that the many flavors in this whiskey are much clearer than they would be in a barrel aged whiskey, which a lot of people really like. And they obviously do - this whiskey sells out almost immediately upon release.

Over at New Deal, we tasted nearly the whole selection, including two amazing gins and a mind-blowing chamomile liqueur.  I was so blown away by all of the spirits we tasted that I had to have a bottle of their New Deal Gin No. 3, even though I'm trying to save money.  It is wonderfully smooth and will make an excellent martini.  The Gin No. 1 was also fantastic in a completely different way, and I wish I could have justified buying two bottles. 

Finally, the best thing about these local spirits is that they are priced competitively with most major, middle-quality liquors.  So, for about the same price as a bottle of Tanqueray, I instead get this delightful gin and get to feel good about supporting my local economy!

The Rest of the Food Pyramid

Because I spend so much time making bread, which requires the minimum of ingredients and really provides the minimum nutrition, I sometimes forget that other food (like vegetables) exists and that I have to eat it.  Every year around this time I start mucking around in my garden.  And I do mean mucking - I often have little to show for my March activity other than a few sickly shoots.  This year, though, I feel confident that my March work is going to pay off.  I was careful only to plant seeds that I thought were hardy enough to weather the possible April cold.  Today, I sowed kale, chard, spinach, mesclun, and beets.  The greens can handle these temperatures and the wetness that comes with them.  And the beets should do fine, although I have plenty of extra seeds if they don't.  And, let's face it, much of my March work is just weeding and taking care of the flowers anyway.

Today, however, I had a bit of a crisis of confidence.  I was talking to my neighbor who told me that she never grows beets because her partner doesn't like them and she couldn't eat enough of them to justify growing them.  I thought about all the leafy greens I grow, and how I don't really like all of them, especially the lettuces.  Since I don't exactly have a green thumb, it had always been a point of confidence for me that I could grow such lush lettuce, spinach, and chard.  But, if I don't eat them, then what's the point?  With that in mind, I planted only a tiny amount of mesclun, with the majority of the spring garden devoted to chard and beets, and the rest of the space claimed by the spinach and kale. 

Since I'm pretty sure that I purchased my own body weight in beets last season, I'm confident that I will eat all of them.  And there are enough uses for chard that I will definitely eat as much as I grow.  I'm less confident about the kale, but I know that many of my friends are experimenting with kale recipes this year, so I have only to ask (or donate).

My one dream for this summer, although I'm not sure that I will accomplish it, is to grow cantaloupe in my garden.  I love Oregon cantaloupe, with its fleshy, non-tropical taste.  I love living in a cool climate that is just temperate enough to grow this delightful melon, but thus far I have not been able to grow it myself.  This is my project for the summer, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Extra!

This just in: I finally made a baguette that's crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside!  It's still not as airy as the baguettes I like best, but it's remarkably close to the standard French baguette. 

Crafts!

Sometimes, despite my best intentions and my love of homemade bread, very little baking happens in this house.  When I'm not baking, I'm often working, but I'm also in the middle of a number of other projects during my free time.  Lately, my main projects have been knitting and crocheting.  Individualized arm-warmers are so much fun to make, and typically only take a few days.  Over Christmas I made a fabulous pair for my best friend:

The pattern is easy - 36 stitches across, knit until they're long enough, then sew up the edges, leaving about two inches for a thumb hole.  On this pair, using a hunter green tweed yarn, I got a little creative with the cabling in an attempt to bring out the flecks of color in the tweed.  Every time I see my friend she's wearing them.  I recently followed this up with a lovely pair of teal, cabled arm-warmers for myself that button all the way up the sides, with a matching hat!

I have also been hard at work on a long-term crochet project - started in July 2010:

This afghan was meant to be a wedding present for two of my good friends who were married in August, but now it's March and I'm only about a quarter of the way finished.  I really hope they don't repaint their house anytime soon!

St. Patrick's Day Three in a Row

I have been an Irish Soda Bread baking machine this week, and I've loved every minute of it.  My new mixer takes all the arm strain out of mixing the dough - make no mistake, this is dense bread - although it's still advisable to knead by hand for best results.  I'm not sure if the mixer made a more pliable, well-blended dough, or if St. Patrick was smiling on me, but this bread turned out fantastic.  The soda bread I make using my family's recipe often comes out a bit undercooked in the center, but Thursday's loaf (pictured here) was perfectly and uniformly done all the way through.

Friday's was a bit denser, because I bowed to health concerns and used half whole wheat flour, but still very even and well-cooked.  I've also learned to slice further into the loaf when making the cross, which I believe allows more heat to reach the center.  Growing up, I thought that the cross was for looks, and I've only realized in the past year or so how important it is for even baking.

Finally, this morning I used up the rest of the buttermilk to make to quick soda bread loaves following the River Cottage recipe.  While this recipe lacks some of the complexity of my family's recipe, it is basic, fast, and will tolerate endless tinkering and substitution.  This morning, I added some carraway seeds and a very small amount of brown sugar, and I used one part wheat flour to three parts white.  It was perfectly easy and perfectly delicious first thing in the morning.

Roti

Last night I whipped up a delicious red lentil dal that made my whole house smell like spices.  As I sat down to eat it with a fork, it occurred to me that one of my favorite things about Indian food is scooping it up with naan.  Unfortunately, I realized that I had never made naan, didn't have a recipe, and didn't exactly have time to make a batch before my dal cooled.  However, I had been wanting to try the recipe for roti from the River Cottage Bread Handbook.  Since this bread, unlike naan, is unleavened, it is quick and easy to make.  Just mix together some flour, salt, and water, knead a little, then roll out into rounds like tortillas.  I think that the main difference between roti and a tortilla is that you cook the roti for shorter intervals over higher heat, which is what allows it to puff up like a balloon.  The first time I saw the bread actually puff all the way I was delighted!  After you remove it from the heat, it quickly deflates, but the resulting bread is soft and chewy, and perfect for scooping a nice, thick, dal and rice mixture.