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Speedy Vegetable Garden: book review & giveaway

Posted by Nate On February - 11 - 2013ADD COMMENTS

I think many gardeners can admit patience can be a problem. It is hard to plant a seed and wait the one to three months for that tiny plant to reach maturity and produce the delicious food we have a hankering for. There really is no such thing as instant gratification in the vegetable garden…or is there?

Enter a new book with a whole new take on fresh eating: The Speedy Vegetable Garden by Mark Diacono and Lia Leendertz. This innovative new book is packed full of a nutrient most people overlook…fresh sprouts. Sure, there is some discussion on the usual, run of the mill alfalfa sprouts you might find offered at your favorite local deli. This book goes so far beyond boring old sandwich sprouts though. At a glance, readers can quickly learn how to grow each type of sprout, how long it will take before they can harvest those sprouts and finally what they can do with the finished produce.

Almost instant gratification can be had by growing some of these speedy vegetables. Some are ready to harvest within hours of planting. Others are ready within days. Want to learn how to grow something a little more substantial? They also cover quick-growing relatives of some longer-to-ripen vegetables like French beans or cherry tomatoes. Packed full of tantalizing photos and a recipe that goes along with each of the 50 quick crops highlighted, the authors really leave the reader with no excuse to try speedy vegetable gardening on their own.

I’ve only had this book in my hands a few days and have already sprouted some garbanzo beans and tried out the recipe for fresh humus. Now I’m hooked! Enter to win a copy of The Speedy Vegetable Garden below thanks to our friends over at Timber Press publishing.

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Around the World in 80 Pickles

Posted by Nate On February - 4 - 2013ADD COMMENTS

Pickling food is almost as old as civilization itself so it is no surprise that every culture around the world has their own take on this popular method of food preservation. No matter what culture, the transformation from raw food to completed pickle results in some of the most unique and complex flavors our palates can encounter and often with little work on our part. Pickling is often as simple as putting a few key ingredients together and letting Mother Nature’s wild side take its course with often fascinating end-results. I’m glad to see this lost art is beginning to see a resurgence in popularity here in the states.

Food maven Karen Solomon has embarked on a new journey with her intriguing culinary writings by publishing a new series of e-cookbooks called Asian Pickles. The first in the series, Asian Pickles: Japan, details the ins and outs of creating some of the most famous sweet, sour, salty, cured, and fermented tsukemono (preserved vegetables) of this western Pacific nation. At just 56-pages in length, Solomon cuts to the chase and immerses readers quickly into the most sought after Japanese pickling recipes. Solomon teaches you everything from creating the ever-easy and pleasing pickled ginger up to the most complex nuka-zuke pickling bed. She also gives a brief history lesson on each tsukemono, making these foreign kitchen journeys even more enticing.

With few words, Solomon got my tongue waggling for these innovative recipes steeped deep in Japanese tradition. She clearly explains the exotic ingredients used and the process to help push ordinary fruits and vegetables to a higher culinary plane. I can’t wait to dive into making some of these tsukemono recipes and will be anxiously awaiting Solomon’s next installment in her Asian Pickles series.

In the meantime, here is a quick recipe for making Karen Solomon’s “Sitting Fee” Cabbage Pickles:

Time: about 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lbs. head of green cabbage
  • 2 Tbsp. kosher salt
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 Tbsp. freshly toasted black sesame seeds

Directions:

Discard the tough outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut cabbage into quarters lengthwise. Cut out and discard the core from one quarter, chop the quarter in half lengthwise again, and slice into 1-inch pieces. Cut the remainder of the cabbage this same way, separating the leaves as necessary.

Place the cabbage in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with salt; toss gently. Allow the cabbage to sit for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using your hands, squeeze the cabbage very tightly to make it rain. It can take a full minute to extract all the juices. Discard the liquid and return the cabbage to the bowl. Squeeze in the lemon juice and add the sesame, and the cabbage is ready to eat. It will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for 1 week.

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Great Fermentations

Posted by Nate On January - 8 - 2013ADD COMMENTS

We were stoked to be in the path of the Christmas Day blizzard that socked the Half-Acre Homestead with Old Man Winter’s one-two punch. Stiff winds helped pelt the house with sleet most of Christmas night until it finally turned into snow sometime in the early morning. When we woke up, we were greeted to a winter wonderland of snow…8-inches to be exact!

Our flock of chickens has refused to budge from their coop, instead laying about and basking under the glow of their heat lamp while the flakes cover their yard. I can’t say as I blame them. Who would want to strut around in the snow without any giant woolen socks or insulated snow boots?

The weather outside might be frightful but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to enjoy some indoor pursuits. Homestead Hottie picked up a great Christmas gift this year, one that’s as nice to look at as it is functional. I was lucky enough to receive a 15 liter fermentation crock made by TSM Products.

If you read my blog frequently, you already know I like to homebrew and bake my own breads (other processes of fermentation). With Talina’s gut healing journey, we’ve learned the benefits of all those micro-organisms that so often get eliminated from our gut with today’s modern diet and convenience foods.

Sure, we eat a lot of yogurt and drink a lot of kefir and coffee but what about kombucha, kraut and the myriad of other fermented delicacies consumed around the world? Each live, unpasteurized, fermented food acts as a delivery vehicle, dropping all those strains of beneficial bacteria into our gut where they can flourish and aid digestion.

Last spring, we were gifted with several large heads of cabbage from another local gardener. They were gorgeous demonstrations of her decades of gardening experience but what is one to do with 4 bowling ball sized heads of the stuff? We made cabbage rolls, apples with cabbage and every other type of cabbage dish imaginable until it finally dawned on us: sauerkraut.


Thank goodness we found Sandorkraut (a.k.a Sandor Katz) to show us the fermentation process is not hard or scary. His book Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods is a trend-bucking bible of time-tested fermentable foods. The more than 180 page book is packed with just under 100 recipes that will keep your kitchen bubbling with beneficial bacteria and some truly tasty fermented treats to nourish your belly.

Back to the kraut, we didn’t have a giant crock to ferment this cabbage in but Katz taught us that something as simple as a crockpot can be used as a fermenter. Weighed down with a bag of brine solution, our kraut bubbled and boiled for about three weeks in the corner of our Half-Acre Homestead kitchen. The sharp tang and amazing taste of living sauerkraut was astonishing. Those cans of crap from the grocery store have nothing on homemade kraut!

Well, now the Half-Acre Homestead has another fermenting vessel proudly working away in our kitchen, just a few feet from my 5 gallon beer fermenter. The TSM fermentation crock looks stately sitting on display by our front window but few people probably realize the treat that is slowly converting inside. Another 5 pounds of cabbage are fermenting away and with the innovative water seal, you can’t smell a thing. I do like to lift the lid every few days and take a whiff though, reminding me the food inside is very much alive and the age old process is working just as it should.



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Homemade Cheese

Posted by Nate On August - 22 - 2012ADD COMMENTS

As a home brewer, I think there are some fairly natural progressions into other homemade commodities: wine, mead, fermented foods and cheese. In fact, a lot of home brewing suppliers also carry cheese making supplies, making it even easier to leap from one homemade pursuit to another (much to my wife’s chagrins).

My interest in home cheese making has really peaked now that a  coworker of mine is starting a commercial cheese making operation at her local farm. She’s built an entire dairy and four-room, underground cave to age her cheese in. We’ve even been lucky enough to taste her first test batches and they are delish! I can’t wait for the farm to start selling publicly because there is nothing finer than fresh, local cheese.

Because of my newfound interest in cheese making, I have been reading Homemade Cheese: Recipes for 50 Cheeses from Artisan Cheesemakers by Janet Hurst.  This new guide to cheese making packs 160 pages with full-color photos and recipes of palate-pleasing cheeses you can make in the comfort of your own home, using just a few simple ingredients and tools.

Homemade Cheese: Recipes for 50 Cheeses from Artisan CheesemakersHurst walks you through the basics of making cheese from beginner recipes like Chèvre and cream cheese on up to more complex recipes like Gruyère. Interplayed throughout the recipes and discussion of cheese making are profiles of dozens of artisan cheese makers who share their passion for fresh artisan cheese.

I would recommend picking up this handy cheese making guide if you’re interested in starting up your own small dairy operation or are looking to start cheese making in your home. With twenty years of cheese making under her own belt, Janet Hurst breaks down the process into a few simple steps that anyone with a little time and patience should be able to follow. Recipes using cow, goat and sheep milk are all included too! I bet the results are well worth it and can’t wait to try my first batch of homemade cheese!

Have you ever wanted to make your own Ricotta for a fresh batch of lasagna? Try Hurst’s recipe below:

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Ingredients:

1 gallon whole cow milk

1/2 cup apple-cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. non-iodized salt

Place milk in a large cooking pot over medium-low heat. Stir often to avoid any scorching. Bring the milk up to 190°F (87.7°C) and remove from heat. Stir and add the vinegar while stirring. Tiny bits of curd will form. Pour the curds into a cheesecloth-lined colander. Drain for about 30 minutes. Add the salt, working it gently into the curds. If you want a creamier texture, stir in 2 or 3 tablespoons of cream. This cheese keeps about a week in the refrigerator. Ricotta can also be sweetened to make a perfect filling for crepes, cannolis or any other desert using a sweet cheese.

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A Brush with Technology pt. 2

Posted by Nate On June - 4 - 2012ADD COMMENTS

I was hoping the new Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 with SmartGuide toothbrush might bring some fun back into the routine of brushing, at least for this adult who will always try to recreate the fun experienced with my first pediatric dentist. I’ve always used the standard old brush and have been weary of trying an electric or battery powered toothbrush. Now I think I’ve been converted! Watch my review video in the Featured Video box on the right of this post.

I’ve been using the Oral-B Professional Series SmartCare 5000 with SmartGuide toothbrush for a little more than two weeks and have seen some amazing results. I noticed right away after my first use how much cleaner my teeth felt. They had that slick, polished feeling I’ve only ever felt after an hour or two reclined in the dental chair. The surface staining on this java lovers teeth have been diminished and my gums have felt reenergized.

What intrigues me most about the Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 is the wireless SmartGuide that is included. The SmartGuide actually gives you real time feedback on your brushing performance, including how much time you’re spending in each quadrant of your mouth and if you’re pressing too hard on your brush. It does do an amazing job of recapturing that magic you might have felt going to your childhood dentist, gaining the encouragement and reward for good teeth habits!

I would highly recommend the Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000!

You can also check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of Oral-B and received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

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A Brush With Technology

Posted by Nate On May - 19 - 20121 COMMENT

I’ve heard over the years that the habits of oral hygiene are best set at an early age. Here at the Half-Acre Homestead, we’ve been working hard to get our not quite three year old daughter into the habit of brushing her teeth. She was eager to learn the ins and outs of brushing and still seems to look forward to the task every time she gets the opportunity.

I wish as an adult, brushing my teeth could still be as exciting as it seems to be for our darling daughter. The daily routine of brushing just becomes little more than that. I consider myself to have fairly good oral hygiene habits but am definitely not perfect. I don’t floss every single day and sometimes I only brush once a day. I do love my coffee though and that tends to speed up the rate at which my teeth stain. In fact, the dentist often lectures me on how I need to give up my favorite beverage in order to obtain that perfectly white smile. Too bad it’s not MY top priority in life to have a grill full of polished white Chiclets :-)

I’m hoping the new Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 with SmartGuide toothbrush might bring some fun back into the routine of brushing, at least for this adult who will always try to recreate the fun experienced with my first pediatric dentist. I’ve always used the standard old brush and have been weary of trying an electric or battery powered toothbrush.

What intrigues me most about the Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 is the wireless SmartGuide that is included. The SmartGuide actually gives you real time feedback on your brushing performance, including how much time you’re spending in each quadrant of your mouth and if you’re pressing too hard on your brush.

Over the next week, I’ll be playing around with the Oral-B ProfessionalCare SmartSeries 5000 and will tell you what I think about it at week’s end. Until then, happy brushing!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of Oral-B and received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

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Spring Into Heirlooms Giveaway

Posted by Nate On March - 16 - 2012ADD COMMENTS

As you round out your seed orders for the 2012 vegetable garden, have you considered adding any heirloom vegetables or fruits to your shopping list? This year we are making the push to dive even deeper into heirlooms and I encourage every gardener and homesteader to do the same.

Heirlooms are open-pollinated varieties of plants that are often 60 or more years old. Most date back 100 years or more. Heirlooms are the truest plants, often showcasing eyestopping individuality and some of the finest flavors you can get in a fruit or vegetable. Aside from sticking it to large agri-business based seed companies who deal in hybrid or Genitically Modified seeds, heirloom seed can be saved and replanted year after year. You can read more about it here.

If you’d like to learn more about heirloom gardening, you should pick up a copy of a brand new book on the subject. The Beginner’s Guide to Growing Heirloom Vegetables: The 100 Easiest-to-Grow, Tastiest Vegetables for Your Garden by Marie Iannotti.

If the 250 pages of scintillating photographs of heirlooms don’t have your taste buds watering and your green thumb twitching, I’m not sure what will. Iannotti gracefully shares her 100 favorite heirlooms, treasures that should be kept under lock and key. She also shares the wonderful stories that round out the unique history of each featured heirloom.

Don’t let the title fool you either. This book should also be a prize for any gardener with more advanced skills. I give it two green thumbs up!

Now you can win a copy of the book along with a spectacular heirloom garden prize pack including 35 packets of heirloom seeds and a bareroot tree! Click the link to head to Timber Press and enter The Heirloom Garden Giveaway

What’s your favorite heirloom fruit or vegetable to grow?

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