Potatoes and Fabulous Finds

When my Dad came to visit a few weeks ago he brought me a box full of seed potatoes.Once they were good and sprouted I placed them on our kitchen window sill to chit. I am waiting for the potatoes to turn a bit green and for Chance and I to figure out where we want to plant them.

In the past we have not been successful potato farmers.We have tried every way of growing them with no luck but, we have not given up on potatoes because like every thing else you grow for your self homegrown potatoes are the best,smooth, creamy and not at all starchy like the store ones.

Recently I was talking to my Mom as she was cooking her dinner,she was making a pot of mashed potatoes and as she poured the cooking water off she told me this.My Mom always feels a bit wasteful when she just dumps the potato water down the drain.Growing up my Mom was raised by her Grandparents and her Grandmother always saved the potato cooking water for cooking other things. Saving the water was an economical way of adding some nutrition to their diet.When you boil any food a lot of the nutrition ends up in its cooking water,that's why soup is so tasty.

One of the things my Great Grandma used the potato water for was baking bread. Although there are actual Potato Bread recipes which call for some Mashed Potatoes to be added to the dough, Great Grandma was just adding the water and the vitamins to boost the nutritional value of the bread. To do this you simply replace either all of the liquid in the recipe or even just part of it. My Mom told me that if I used the water in a bread recipe it would not change the texture of the dough like the mashed potatoes do in Potato Breads. Mom also pointed out that if you salt your potatoes while they are cooking you may want to adjust the amount of salt you use in any recipe.

The other way Great Grandma used the potato water was when she made soups.I have had a couple of Vegetarian friends tell me they do this as well.One friend even said she saves the potato skins when she peels them to make a soup stock base with.

I have yet to try either one of these but is now on my radar for the next time I boil some potatoes.

Life here at Hrafinstaad is really rolling along. Last Friday Chance went and picked up a Gravenstein apple tree for our yard.Gravenstein's are my most favorite apple there is. These apples are not keepers which makes for a very small window of time when a person can find them on the market and I am thinking that is why many farmers don't grow them.The Gravenstein's are the best all around apple,sweet,yet tart,crisp and juicy.Perfection to my pallet.
While I was at work Chance and Sol did a big final clean up of the back yard .Sol also planted some root crops for me,beets and carrots.
Sol's green thumb is blindingly green,that boy can grow State Fair Blue Ribbon winning anything.Give that kid some seeds to plant and watch out.One year Sol and I planted some Sunflowers together from the same seed packet,the ones Sol planted were the size of Montana with heads 3 feet across and 10 feet high, mine were just average. I will laugh my head off if the roots he planted grow so huge too.I can see the headlines now, "Boy grows 100 pound carrots and feeds the nation with them."


Yesterday was a day away from the house,we took the boys and their friend to downtown Portland to the Saturday Market. (Yes, I know I said Saturday and yesterday was Sunday but it works that way.) Saturday Market is one of our local crafts markets located on the water front under one of our bridges here. The only thing we bought at the market was lunch.

After Saturday Market we we walked up the street to a guitar shop where we parted ways with the two older boys, life with teens is full of partings. Sol is learning to play Delta Blues Slide guitar a very American style of music and a dieing art. Once inside the the guitar shop Sol fell in love with a Steel Guitar and had himself a mini jam session.









As for me I fell in love with these vintage Valentines at an antique shop we stopped in.I have a small collection of vintage Valentines.I love them especially the ones with things written on them.The airplane one is from Daddy and has a sweet little note written on the back.

Our final stop before the grocery store was our Goodwill Bins.Chance and I want to hang the larger sized Christmas lights in the trees in our backyard,the only place to find them this time of year would be the thrift stores.We did find one string of the lights but Chance also found a whole basket of clothes pins.My final tale of the posting is about these type of pins. I told my Mom about our find and she relayed this to me.
My Mom grew up during WW 2 and metal anything was scarce including the clip style of clothes pins, the metal for the springs was needed to fight the war. Since everyone hung their wash to dry everyone had clothes pins. The only ones you could find were like the ones I bought,my Great Grandma hated them; I guess they don't work as well. I am stubborn and will try them out anyway,you never know maybe I can get them to work.If not I am sure one of my crafty friends could use them to make some creation with.

Rain is in the forecast for this week so I am not too sure how much planting will get done.It is early in the growing season so there is still plenty of time. Everyday I see more and more signs that Spring is really here and I am glad.
Rois

Fruit Cobbler

Today is my Mother's birthday. We are having her for dinner and dessert all of which are her choice.Her menu - Spring Rolls, Steamed Rice, Stir fried Long Beans (well she just said a veggie,that was Chance's idea) and for her treat Strawberry & Rhubarb Cobbler.
My Mom is not a pie person but loves both Strawberries and Rhubarb either together or apart.So her solution to this love is Cobbler.
This time of year there's lots of lovely fresh fruits to use when making Cobbler.And come winter if fresh fruit is not around one can use drained canned fruit.There are a couple kinds of Cobblers.One type makes a slightly sweetened Biscuit top. I am speaking American English here,Biscuit, as in Biscuits and Gravy.The type I make has a cake top.I like them both because they are different from each other.
I am passing on my recipe for Cobbler.I make Cobblers year round with whatever fruit I can come across.I have used White Spelt flour before to lower the gluten.In the fall when there are plenty of apples and pears I make the cobbler and add to the fruit some raisins or other dried fruit.

Cobbler: First preheat your oven to 350 F but if using a glass pan turn it down to 325 F.(This always true when baking in glass pans.)
You will want about 3-4 cups of fruit of your choice. I never measure the fruit.I get out my 9x13 inch baking pan and slice right into it.You will want the fruit to come up about 3/4 of the way to the top of your pan.When your pan is full of fruit you will pour around a cup of sugar and cinnamon to taste over the fruit.Stir to coat the fruit,you want the fruit well coated add more or less sugar if need be.Now dot the top of the fruit with bits of butter.The butter,sugar and juices from the fruit make what my Mom calls the liquor or just the gooey goodness. When using berries only you will want to also mix in 4 Tablespoons of flour to thicken the juices a bit.
Now for the topping:
2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Sugar
3teaspoons Baking Powder
dash of Salt About a 1/4 teaspoon
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla I have used Almond before with good results.
1 Cup Milk or Water
Mix the dry things together and give them a stir.I like to make sure I have no lumps of things like the baking powder or baking soda. Now add the eggs, oil and vanilla.

Now I have said this before but will say it again,you can use milk or water when baking,there is no taste difference just a nutrition difference.Some days milk is low or costly so never feel like you need to not bake because of this.







Measure out one cup of milk or water.You may not need all of it; I start by using 3/4's of the cup. Mix your batter,what you are looking for is a slightly thick pancake type batter that pours easily.Once there are no lumps you are ready to pour the batter over the fruit.Going back and forth slowly pour your batter over the top of the fruit.The batter will fill in the cracks and mostly cover the fruit.Do not worry about some fruit showing through the batter,while baking the topping will puff up and cover it up. Put it in the oven and bake.Depending on which kind of fruit you are using the time will be varied. Somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour.It is done when the top is golden and when you stick a knife tip or tooth pick into the batter it comes out clean. Serve the Cobbler with Ice Cream or Whipped Cream for an extra nice treat.



Yesterday while out running errands I noticed some Blackberries growing wild along the road, not uncommon here.And it reminded me to go check on my local blackberry spot soon.I pick our blackberries at a local park.Since these black jewels grow wild all over here it's easy to find some to pick for the low low cost of FREE.I am encouraging everyone to go scope out their own spot to pick.Take a walk through your neighborhood and see what you can find. Empty lots, School Yards and Parks are all spots I check.Try and find some growing away from traffic.Although the gas companies no longer put lead in car fuel it still seems a bit yucky to me and questionable.My Ball Blue Canning book reads 9 cups of crushed berries for 3 pints of jam.Pick some free berries and then all you will need is 6 cups of sugar and your jars.Voila Blackberry Jam for the winter. I LOVE Blackberry pie so I will be picking enough for jam and a couple of pies. Yum!
If anyone is interested in the making of Spring Rolls A la Rois send me a comment and I will gladly share that with you too.
Rois