What the jimmy, jimmy?

In C-U today

2009-11-14T15:15:05Z

w00t! It's a beautiful day for a Cranksgiving ride. =)

end of season

2009-11-14T09:38:34Z

end of season, originally uploaded by kidmissile.

We spent a bit of Sunday afternoon cleaning up our community garden plot for the season.

I decided to leave the greens for another week before we had to officially be out of the plot for tilling. I am totally burned out on greens; the harvest at home is more than enough, so all the stuff at the plot gets donated.

We're happy with our 12x24 double plot, and you can see the local drainage problems in the grandstand infield just miss us, so we're keeping the plots for next year and on I hope. $20 rental for the season, you can't beat that!

This was the first year for the comm garden, and while there were a few snags early on, it's been a great experience.

We need to edit the planting list, as we (as usual) have grandiose plans for next year. I kinda think you need about three to six 12x12' plots if you want to cover all the bases.

Cranksgiving this Saturday 11/14/2009

2009-11-12T17:13:51Z

C-U people, I'm probably coming over to ride in the Chambana Cranksgiving alleycat this Saturday. I did it last year and had a lot of fun. And not to worry, while it is a race of sorts, the focus is more on food donations rather than speed. :) Let me know if you're gonna be there.

Recaps from last year:
pictures from me
from ChambanaCranksgiving
from Smile Politely

homemade gnocchi

2009-11-06T16:33:07Z

Finally got around to trying this again. I think the last time was years ago in our Chicago apartment, and we didn't like the results. This time it was pretty good.

I used a mishmash of the following three recipes:
http://italianfood.about.com/od/gnocchi/a/aa010298.htm

http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2009/05/19/15-minutes-to-fame-gnocchi-for-beginners-and-braggarts/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/perfect-potato-gnocchi-recipe/index.html

Baked a couple pounds of potatoes and peeled* them. Mashed the flesh and divided it into quarters (~1/2 lb each portion)

Going off the deliciousdays recipes for the first batch, I mixed 1/2 lb potatoes w/ about a 1/3 container of ricotta cheese, 1 egg yolk, salt, and about 1/4+ cup flour. These were decent, nice ricotta flavor, but almost too much work trying to be dainty with the ricotta dough. Ate these with our homemade pesto and roasted root veggies from the market. Actually would try something different next time, the pesto was too strong, probably better for plain potato-flour gnocchi.

In a mix of the other two recipes, I used 1/2 lb potatoes, flesh from a small roasted Ambercup squash, 1 egg white (left over from the 1 egg yolk in the first batch), 1/4 tsp baking powder, salt, and somewhere between 2/3-3/4 flour. With the squash the dough was really sticky, so I had to keep adding flour to be able to roll it out. This batch was a lot firmer than the first, which is right since I used much more flour. That was good to be able to see the difference between batches.

This batch I ate with a fresh roasted red pepper puree mixed with goat cheese (local from Prairie Fruits Farm!), and that was yummuy! Definitely going to use that "sauce" again and also do an brown butter sage sauce since our herbs are still doing fine in the backyard.

Tip1: Just pinch off a small amount of dough for your first batch. Roll out and cut 5-10 pieces of gnocchi and boil them. Then you can tell how long you need to cook them (2-4 minutes tops for this fresh recipe) or whether you need to add more flour to the dough (if there's not enough, then the gnocchi will start to disintegrate after 2+ minutes). Reserve some potato/squash/ricotta if you can in the case that you've added too much flour, so you can mix that into the dough (gnocchi shouldn't be too dense/hard after cooking).

Tip2: many recipes say the gnocchi are done 2 minutes *after* they rise to the top of the water. I found that the ricotta gnocchi started to fall apart after too long. So the optimal boiling times for my batches turned out to be 2-3 total. That's almost enough time to roll out and cut the next small batch (12-15 piece batches).

*Re: leftover potato peels: Not wanting to waste the peels, I chopped them up and fried them in bacon grease along with rough slivered onions and chopped mushrooms. Topped with shredded cheese and a couple poached eggs for a potato skin hobo skillet type thing. A junky treat to myself for raking leaves. ;)

vanilla extract: six weeks, comparison

2009-11-04T23:16:10Z

vanilla extract: six weeks, comparison, originally uploaded by kidmissile.

Store-bought extract on the left, homemade on the right. 2 weeks to go, so it looks like it's on the right track. Didn't have two white or two clear spoons and I wasn't sure the metal spoons would show enough, but I think you can see the difference.

Wish I had thought of putting a few drops of extract on a piece of paper each week to get a better record of it, but I think this will do just fine this time around.

Previously:
vanilla extract: six weeks
vanilla extract: two weeks
vanilla extract: one week elapsed
week 0, day 0

up to no good

2009-10-29T20:42:39Z

up to no good
Originally uploaded by kidmissile.

HP Halloween

2009-10-29T18:00:12Z

hands are sore from whittling my wand (please take this literally!) >_>

Dexter Moon Bun

2009-10-29T16:01:12Z

Hey Dexter fans, it's a Dexter Moon Bun!

(P.S. Last week, I got my greedy little hands on a Pris Moon Bun. ♥)

recipe for homemade Kahlua

2009-10-21T17:08:19Z

Saw this on a package for a vanilla bean at the grocery store, looks like it's worth a try. And having started the homemade vanilla extract, I'm confident that this would be pretty good. Anybody have a brand of instant coffee they like? (I'd rather not buy the instant stuff, but I could use it in chocolate-coffee muffins and other treats.:)

2 cups water
4 cups sugar
1/4 cup instant coffee
1 pt. vodka or brandy
1 vanilla bean

boil sugar and water; add coffee and mix well; let cool, then add vodka; pour into a jar and
add vanilla bean, age at least 2 months.

when ready add ice to a glass, pour over a shot of the mixture and top with cream

I would add that you should split the vanilla bean open, leaving the ends intact so it doesn't completely split apart.

I think we're a little crazy

2009-10-20T12:06:08Z

cold dark early morning test ride #1

fruit recipe suggestions?

2009-10-16T18:10:57Z

I'm looking for good banana bread and apple tart recipes! Do you have any that are your favorites?

Bento #65: Where the Wild Things Are

2009-10-14T14:43:24Z

Bento #65: Where the Wild Things Are, originally uploaded by AnnaTheRed.

What can I say? Bento + WtWTA = awesome. more info at Anna's blog post.

side dish suggestions?

2009-10-05T20:19:30Z

I would like to cook a side dish for a potluck we're attending tomorrow night. Anyone have suggestions/recipes for a simple tasty dish?

smoked stuff

2009-10-04T18:10:57Z

smoked stuff, originally uploaded by kidmissile.

Slow and low, with apple and hickory wood, about 3 1/2-4 hours. Had to finish the potatoes in the oven to free up the grill for other stuff; they needed to cook a little more, so braised them with a little oktoberfest and water. The eggplant was an experiment, I think I like it, probably about as much as regular grilled eggplant slices.

These are not really that good together, because once you start, the smoke flavor becomes overpowering. Good to use one smoked competent in a dish. For example, finely diced smoked potatoes make an awesome addition to enchilada or omelet fillings.

This morning I finely diced just one of these potato halves and added it to the egg mixture for these egg muffins. It was so good! The potato bits tasted like smoked ham!

meow meow

2009-10-03T21:05:54Z

Inspired by this, I'm starting a big cloth napkin project so we can stop using paper napkins. Thought I'd start easy, with some precut fabric quarters. Kinda like how the colors worked on this one, will probably get more to make a set (2 or 4?).

Lots of scraps and reclaimed clothing material will be going into future pieces for this project...

I think I have syfylis...

2009-10-03T00:43:03Z

About to find out if SGU is a BSG ripoff.

bloody mary mix recipe!

2009-09-24T03:51:58Z

Aunt Ione's Bloody Mary Mix Recipe

I made a huge batch of this today using some of our latest haul of Green Zebra tomatoes. Initially I thought it'd be a "slimy" mary mix, but the bright green flesh color dulled a bit and the carrot bits darkened it too, so now I'm calling it a zombie marie mix.

It is so good! I can't believe we never considered making this with our tomato hauls. Definitely won't make that mistake again. Yummuy!

update: Here's a picture of the stuff. About 45-55 green zebra tomatoes, plus the amount of vegetables in the recipe, yielded about a gallon of mix. I kept this batch on the thick and chunky side, thinking that the addition of vodka and ice would give it a perfect consistency. But it could also be stretched a little to have more mix. I'm calling it Zombie Mary Mix. ;)

2nd update: virgin zombie mary as served

Oh no he didn't!

2009-09-24T02:07:03Z

MC Chris's new tour t-shirt, his spin on this internet sensation. =D

She's baaack!

2009-09-23T16:24:01Z

Justine is coming back! Look out ladies. O_O

day 0

2009-09-21T04:33:26Z

day 0, Originally uploaded by kidmissile.

making vanilla extract:
-3 beans, split down the middle, but left intact at the ends
-1 cup vodka
-put in a sterilized jar, swirl around, and store in a cool dark place for 8 weeks!
Could someone please remind me to post a weekly picture to track the color changes? :)

It rained all day, which was sad for the art fair (though our friend said that Saturday is always her busy sales day), but good for our gardens. We spent the day lazing around, cooking (pasta sauce, leek confit, this vanilla extract, and cheddar biscuits), watching TV, and I worked on our new butcher block cart/kitchen island, which we scored at a garage sale last weekend for $30!

Butcher block overhead:

Nothing a little sanding can't fix:

It took some work to track down mineral oil, which I gather is what you should use for butcher block tops. Ended up getting it at Walgreen's of all places, I guess this wonder oil is often used as an intestinal lubricant. Now they did carry some "butcher block oil" at the big box home stores, but it was a more expensive repackaging of mineral oil. =/

Paintball Heaven

2009-09-20T04:14:55Z

Plans to open a combo church/paintball facility in our mall. I'm not making this up, people. I could not make this up if I tried. o_0

The online article comments are worth a skim too.

sleeping rider

2009-09-15T12:59:49Z

IMG_2836, originally uploaded by wabeck.

Just for fun, I've been doing more research on the Paris-Brest-Paris this week. From what I gather, this picture perfectly captures one of the main aspects of this challenging ride. (Others aspects include: riding at night, in the rain O_O; eating lots of baguettes, even while on the bike; all the nice French people cheering you on and providing snacks/shelter throughout the countryside.

Thanks to wurdsome, I now know about a good midwest randonneuring series put on by the Great Lakes Randonneurs club. The PBP distance is 1200k/~746mi, which you must complete in 90 hours. To qualify for the ride, you must complete a brevet series in the same year that you want to ride the PBP. At a minimum, that series consists of 200k, 300k, 400k, and 600k rides.

PBP is run every 4 years; 2011 is the next one. Some riders recommended that you complete the brevet series the year prior to the ride as additional preparation for the PBP year. Doing the series in 2010 is a realistic goal, but not the PBP in '11, so I'm going to pencil in 2015. And if the timing doesn't work out, there are other rides, such as the BMB (Boston-Montreal-Boston), which is on a different schedule.

I almost did it, again =)

2009-09-14T01:41:31Z

I almost did it, again. =)

This is my third year riding in the Springfield Bicycle Club's Capital City Century. The first year I did a metric century (100k=62mi), last year did an epic 111 mile ride, but this year I cut it short just shy of 93 miles. I skipped one of the loops (18 miles) because I rode the 10.5 miles from home to the ride start, so I ended up doing ~93 instead of 100. I could have gone for the 111 miles, but with a later than anticipated start (my fault) I wanted to get back to the post-race party earlier to meet pt and then get back home to watch U.S. Open tennis.

Though today's ride was just as satisfying as technically doing the full distance, since I figured out a couple things.

92.90 miles in 5:50:44, 15.7mph avg. Fixed gear. Okay results, headwinds made me kinda bonk around mile 70, so I had to really work to just finish at cruising speed. Total time including breaks was 7:12:06. Took more time than I wanted on the breaks, but that probably helped me more than it hurt me.

my route
official route (includes Loop 3, which I skipped)

For the record: I consumed 3 fish sandwiches, 1 hot dog, and 1 brat at the post-pedalin' party. =d Countless sandwiches, muffines, and cookies eaten during the ride.

When I got home, I relaxed in the shower with a Wheach. Now that's livin'!

The ride was pretty much the same as last year, nice cool start, and light cloud cover late morning, then clearing and hot by the end of the ride. I was cookin' on the back patio of the beach house as I snarfed my fish sandwiches. =) I think I'm done with doing the century distance for this event for now. Would do the century distance again at some point, but I think my mind is on the Chicago-Milwaukee-Century now. pt wants to try the CCC next year, so we'll start with the metric century. It's a totally doable distance with just a moderate amount of training, and we'd love to have guests come into town to ride it with us, so just think about it if you're interested. There's nothing like a day filled with bikes, gravel, beans, corns, and fried fish!!!

I think misskaz and wurdsome had a century in Chicago today, so I hope that went well for you guys!

albino octopus

2009-09-12T04:18:17Z

albino octopus, originally uploaded by kidmissile.

Started crocheting again, last week I made a glow-in-the-dark green alien octopus for my nephew's b-day.

Currently have about 5 of these guys going right now, playing with slightly different shapings for the head and eyes and having fun with various color schemes (stuff like dreamsicle, bluesteel, and Team Zissou! =). After I settle on a basic shape that I like, I hope to get into my 8x8 custom series, which will be a couple steps beyond different color choices.

The tentacles are totally poseable!

green zebra pasta sauce prep

2009-09-11T23:52:05Z

green zebra pasta sauce prep
Originally uploaded by kidmissile.

score, blanch, peel.

We're making a sauce tonight so I can have a couple big pasta meals in prep for the century bike ride on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the freaky green sauce, I've already made a small batch of pizza sauce with them. =)

These heirloom tomatoes are beauties, our current favorite. Perfect size for cutting and eating without worrying about storing leftovers.

That's my main problem with Brandywines—I love their flavor, but if you just want a couple slices for a sandwich, you have to contend with a juicy leftover. Not really a big problem, actually, but these GZ's fit our eating habits perfectly. =)