Blog du Wren

Apron Coffee

Have you ever made coffee for 60 people? What about coffee for 60 people at an outdoor, makeshift kitchen with not much in the way of coffee pots and no electricity? Well, let me tell you, it takes a little creativity and doesn't always satisfy everyone involved, but it can be done.

I'm down here at the Great Peninsula Future Festival in Kitsap County with Chautauqua for a fundraising event. It's like a mini-tour, with us all camping and cooking our meals over our propane burners. And the way we do coffee is, well...unique.

1) Get a giant colander.
2) Find a semi-clean linen(?) apron.
3) Situate giant colander over giant pot.
4) Pour a lot* of ground coffee in apron.
5) Pour a lot of hot water in apron.
6) Repeat.

Yep, brewing coffee in an apron lined giant colander isn't an experience I had before Chautauqua, but I guess I could say that for a lot of experiences. Good times. And now "apron coffee" is a new entry in my personal lexicon. You should add it to yours too.

Saturday July 31 2010

File under: circus, food

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Phone Booth Score

You've heard of a ground score, right? When you find something neat on the ground (ex: money, a crossword puzzle, train ticket to Peru, etc.) Well, the "score" concept can be applied to other locations as well—pocket score (finding something in your pocket you had forgotten about or that maybe you didn't even put there), public transportation score, etc. Well, this weekend at the farmers' market in Port Townsend, I had myself quite the phone booth score.

Have you tried Baconnaise? I haven't yet either, but the slogan alone has me extra curious: "The ultimate bacon flavored spread". Sounds like a pretty freaking good idea to me. Anyway, I found this sealed container of Baconnaise in a phone booth in Port Townsend and was forbidden from trying it while under a friend's roof (because the use by date was 3 months ago and the ingredients contain egg yoke). So now I am just waiting for the right "sandwich, salad, dip, sauce, chicken, fish, or fries" to come along so I can give it an initial try. I'll keep you posted.

(P.S. Dear animal loving friends: it's "kosher and even safe for vegetarians"!)

Monday July 19 2010

File under: food, misc

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Montreal Food Post

I've crossed paths with a number of Montrealers in the past couple years, or people who at least have spent time here, and one thing that always comes up is the food. "Montreal has the best _____!", people would say. Or "If you go, you have to try ______'s." Well, with one or two exceptions, I've tried it, and I have to say I'm not that impressed.

Other than the food, I'm totally enjoying my Montreal experience. And the food isn't bad. I've actually had some really good meals*. Nothing has warranted a "you gotta try this", but I'm not going to come home complaining.

Among the "you gotta try"s were bagels and poutine. The bagels don't really do it for me. Give me Bellingham's Bagelery anyday. As for poutine, the famous Canadian dish of fries served with gravy and cheese curd, I love the concept, but in practice, was disappointed. I'm thinking maybe I will have to try some homemade poutine sometime and see if I can do better.

Another "simply must" was , home of the smoked meat sandwich since 1928. While I can't say that there was any false advertising (their sandwich did consist only of smoked meat), I not only walked away disappointed, but also with a healthy jump on a triple bypass surgery.

Yep, so far Montreal's food scene hasn't come close to living up to the hype. The one possible redeemer will have to wait until next visit, as it isn't the season. Sugar shacks, literally shacks that serve everything coupled with maple syrup, definitely have a chance to win it all back. I mean, it's a jug of freaking maple syrup. I'll keep you posted.

Monday May 24 2010

File under: food, travel

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Avocado Pie

It is becoming a trend that whenever I return from travels, I have a craving for cooking. Perhaps it is from eating too many gas station corndogs or whatever the equivalent is wherever I'm returning from. Or maybe it is a grasp for control over what I'm eating, which is not always so easy on the road. Whatever the case, I usually return home with a list of recipes I'm aching to try out.

This time around, the recipe in my head started out as key lime pie. Somehow, thought, it morphed into avocado pie. I first had avocado pie down in Mexico a couple of years ago and loved it (after a brief skeptical bout with idea of eating essentially guacamole for dessert.) Anyway, when the opportunity to make it came up, I jumped at it.

Using this recipe, I created a spectacular pie which I've added to my permanent recipe collection. Yummo!* Next time we get together for dinner (and avocados are in season), remind me and I'll bring with me this green bit of heaven.

Monday January 11 2010

File under: food

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Processing Oats

I've always thought of oats, or any grains for that matter, to be one of the least processed food stuffs. Some form of grain is at the base of most diets around the world. You can imagine my surprise, then, when I found that getting oats from the stalk to my belly to be such an ordeal.

Step 1: Harvesting - I first attempted pulling up the whole stalk (or cutting it off low to the ground). To separate the grains from the stalk, I tried whacking the stalks around in a big bucket. A few grains were freed, but the majority stayed on. I ended up having to run my fingers down each stalk to free the grains, much like you get the thyme leaves from the stem. For my second field, I bypassed pulling up the whole stalk and instead just did the seed pinch thing with the stalks still in the ground.

Step 2: Separating Seed from Hull - (I know I am using the incorrect terms all over the place here, but hopefully you will still get the point) So when an oat comes off the stalk, it has a papery hull on it. You're not supposed to eat this part. To separate it, I first tried rubbing between my hands (as if you were warming your hands). This worked pretty well, but many seeds still had their hulls, apparently because they were dried out well enough. To remedy this, I put them in the oven for 20 minutes on low heat. This dried them out sufficiently to be able to disengage the seed from the hull, again via the hand warming method.

Step 3: Filtering Chaff from Seed - Now that the seeds and hull were not connected, I needed to actually separate them. This is possibly the most ingenious part of the process to me. Since the seeds are a good deal heavier than the papery hulls, a good will aid in the separating. I used a fan to keep a constant airflow.

After all this processing, I ended up with maybe 2 quarts of oat seed. Thinking about how much effort went into preparing the soil, obtaining and planting the seed, harvesting, and processing, I have a much better appreciation of all grains. I realize, of course, that using a machine to do all the work makes it significantly easier (and arguably more efficient). That said, however, there was a time that combines didn't exist and people did it by hand. In those days, the work equal to a bowl of oatmeal was nothing to sneeze at.

Future Step 4: Maybe Another Separating Step? - So now I've got a bunch of seeds. I thought I was done. The seed that is remaining, however, is still in 2 parts, one kind of enveloping the other. I might need to separate those from each other, but I don't know.

Future Step 5: Making the Seeds Usable - Most of us are used to oats as rolled oats or steel cut oats for oatmeal. It turns out that rolling oats is really hard (needs a big old machine) and I have no idea what steel cutting is, except maybe just cutting somewhat regularly. I'm thinking that the most accessible way to prepare my oats for my belly is to grind it into oat flour. From there, I'm sure there is something I can come up with.

Wednesday October 21 2009

File under: food

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Plants Grow

Back in May, I embarked on a little experiment. I planted oats (remember?). The skeptical among you might be saying to yourselves, "That doesn't sound like much of an experiment." To that I say, "Please save your questions until I'm finished."* The premise of my experiment was this: plants grow. That's what they are programmed to do. All this micro-managing that we impose on our growing of plants helps increase yield, allows us to grow plants not well-suited for our climate, etc. but my theory is that it isn't necessary. If you put some seeds in the ground and walk away, they will grow.

I'm pleased to report that my oats did just that. Despite having one of the longest rain-less periods in years, my oats, which I didn't weed, water, or fertilize, grew just fine. Had I done any of the above, I'm sure they would have grown better, but without doing anything, I still produced a yield. And while I'm sure this plant-and-walk-away method won't work for every crop, it works for oats here in the Northwest.

This concept, that plants grow, really makes me happy for some reason. It reminds me that many things in life are often much simpler than we are taught. It makes food production accessible to me, even though I may not be willing to devote 2 hours every other day to its pursuit. It reinforces that biology hasn't been completely reversed with all our fancy cross-breeding and specializations. Basically, I just think it is neat.

Now what to do with the oats? Stay tuned and you will see.

Thursday October 8 2009

File under: food, misc

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Portland Food Carts

Image courtesy of* Food Carts Portland

I recently had occasion to spend a few days in Portland, land of happiness (remember?). While I missed out on some of the happiness inducing elements (unfortunately there was no time for the cheap cinemas or frisbee*), I got to delve deeper into that [almost]ultimate bringer of happiness: food.

I love street food. While it isn't something you see a lot in the states, occasionally you will find pockets of food carts which is about as close as it gets. Portland has a wealth of food carts, many of which are conveniently clustered downtown. After passing by them many times on the bus, I decided it was time to drop in. The verdict: good, inexpensive food that completely fits my definition of street food.

My meal was as follows: Vietnamese sandwich* for $2.95, Thai ice tea for $1.00, carne asada taco for $1.50, and pork/vegetable dumpings for $4.00. Needless to say, I was stuffed, sated, and happy. It would take days to try out all the good food there is on offer down there. I think I'm up to the challenge.

Yep, chalk another one up for Portland. Remind me why I don't live there again...*

Sunday September 27 2009

File under: food

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Home Churned and Hand Pressed

Another [near-]equinox weekend means another Lopez JuggleFest. As with the years past, the weekend was wonderful. This was the first year I got to head out early to help with the prep, and with that came additional organizational tasks, which I accepted with pleasure. So in between as much as I could fit in, a shift in the bakery, and general set-up, I helped head up the cider press and the ice cream making.

The is a hand crank jobber (both the masticating and the pressing). If you add a few willing volunteers, it makes for quick work*. This year, we pressed maybe 30 gallons of delicious cider. I drank probably a gallon of it by myself*. (Oh, and it probably goes without saying, but all the apples for the cider came from on island if not from the property itself.)

Organizing the ice cream took a little more doing. Amiel and I were handed the ice cream torch due to the absence of the usual ice cream guru. We learned the recipes, bought/picked the ingredients, gathered supplies, facilitated the , , and helped to serve up the bounty. Everyone* agreed that the results were spectacular. The flavors were kiwi*, blackberry*, peach/nectarine, vanilla, and coffee. Yum.

If it wouldn't blow my strict word limit out of the water, I would go on about all the other great food there was (not to mention all the camping, , campfire, , marimba band, community goodness), but I guess that will have to wait for next year. Ah next year's Fest - another yearly traditional I love having to look forward to.

Monday September 21 2009

File under: juggling, food

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Local Food Party 2009

This year's Local Foods Party* was again a great success. Like in years past, there was homemade salt, garden grown veggies, and oodles of fresh berries. Like in years past, there were new and creative additions to the menu (some of which worked and some of which did not.) And like in years past, we had a great group of people gathered together to celebrate the bounty and abundance of northwest Washington's local foodscape.

Some highlights for me (besides being with good people): smoked bison, pizza*, a gorgeous , crab(!), and peaches and cream. As with the first year, there was also a little (esp. by the )

A couple of the foodie experiments that I was hoping to contribute didn't turn out as well as I hoped (but were still lots of fun to do). An attempt to make sugar from beets ended up as taffy so instead went to sweeten blackberry popsicles. The critics commented "I like the first taste, but not the last one that it leaves in your mouth". Also, I made another attempt at tortillas, which I was sure I had pegged. After rendering some fat into lard, finding a local flour source, and drying, storing, and grinding corn into cornmeal, I thought I had all the ingredients, but something just wasn't right. They turned out more like tostadas rather than tortillas. Alas.

Thinking, planning, and talking about the challenges* and rewards of local foods is always a great way to remind me of what we as a culture so often take for granted. Having a meal dedicated to not taking that stuff for granted makes me very . Having good friends around to share it with makes it that much better.

Sunday August 23 2009

File under: food, events

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Ready Set Eat

A big thanks to Andrew for the pictures!

What could be more American than gathering together on the 4th of July for a BBQ with friends? Doing exactly that but adding in an eating contest, of course. That's exactly how I spent my 4th and I have to say it was a hoot.

Recalling antics from college, I decided to put together a watermelon eating contest and get as many people to play along as possible. In the end, I could only convince 3 others to join me, but had a good time with it. As we all stood by with our first piece at the ready, the proverbial gun sounded. We all dove in and immediately burst into such hard laughter that our times suffered dramatically. Perhaps competitive eating and having a sense of humor don't go hand in hand.

With the exception of me (who couldn't stop long enough to get down more than 3 pieces), the competitors were neck and neck until the end. While Tone looked like he had it sealed up, judges ruled too much meat left on the bone so he had to go in for a second pass. Nater, who had been meticulously cleaning the rinds as he went, pulled ahead for the win.

The whole thing was so much fun that I'm inclined to do it again next year. In the meantime, I've got some practicing to do (and that's no laughing matter).

Wednesday July 8 2009

File under: holidays, food

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