Oh the heat

Hello family and friends,

I love Austin. It's a great town with so many fabulous attributes. I almost can't believe that I've lived here for almost 10 years now. I remember going to back to Ohio pretty early on when I lived here, and I visited my high school. I was talking to Mr. Scott, my senior year English teacher, and he was asking where I lived - when I told him Texas, his response was "....why?" I didn't have a particularly good response, but at this point I also can't really imagine living anywhere else....except for now.

I know that we were spoiled a bit last summer. Then, sadly for our family in Florida and California, and from what I understand, there were high pressure weather systems sitting over both the southeastern and southwestern United States which was pulling rain from the gulf and raining over Texas just about every day. While at the time, I thought we were going to just about wash away since it was really soggy, I knew that our relatively low temperatures were a gift from mother nature.

Now, we are paying for all that lovely reservoir filling rain and cool temperatures. This year, that same weather pattern seems to have reversed itself.

I know very well that August in Texas is very much like February was in Ohio. By that time you're fed up with the weather that has been going on forever and feels like its going to continue forever. I fear that this year will not be even that generous.

For about 2 weeks now, we've had the consistent weather forecast of "high of 97, low of 75". In reality I think this has been playing out with a high of something closer to 102, and a low....well that never seems to get all that low. And the little pictures that go along with the predictions for the next week are all bright suns, untarnished by clouds, and of course with no significant variation in temperatures.

I'm fed up.

I want to go to the mountains or possibly the southern hemisphere. I assume that why I've started buying guidebooks again. The weather makes me not want to do anything - a common affliction I believe during the summer in the south. But I want to want to exercise, be about town, and have even the tiniest bit of motivation.

I feel a bit bad for being jealous that Tom gets to travel to places where the temperatures don't head anywhere near the triple digits.

Group quilt

My quilting friend Allison had a little boy recently. In our second act of organization within my small quilting group, we managed to get our act together and get a quilt made before Alexander arrived. Here is the finished quilt with the little guy (5 days old) enjoying it - well, ok, he was really just asleep and couldn't be bothered to wake up when we put him on the quilt....but can you blame him?

Miami Beach

I was in Miami Beach this past weekend for Sarah's bachelorette party. Her sister Megan organized a super swank weekend at the Delano with plenty of good food and fun places.

Here is the bride-to-be in her bachelorette party attire


We were staying in the penthouse suite, and here was the view from our window. Not too shabby.

Good writing, close to our hearts

Tom found this article. It's genius. 2 pages long, but totally worth it.

Veg this week

Here's what we got this week:

• Asparagus
• Beets
• Broccoli sprouts
• Garlic
• Green Onions
• White Icycle Radishes
• Swiss Chard
• Squash
• Strawberries
  

If anyone has fun ideas for recipes for any of these things, put them in the comments :-)

Recipe Review - Kimber's - Well actually Georgeann's - Grilled Jicama

Kimber mentioned this one in the comments a few posts back, and I tried it and wanted to mention it. It was a great dish, and I'll totally make it in the future. The texture of the Jicama changes quite a bit with the heat, and the salt and pepper make for a nice crust on the outside. I'm guessing if you like spicy food, this could be interesting with some cayenne pepper as well.

And as a correction - it was Kimber's mom Georgeann who gave her the recipe. Thanks Georgeann!

Grilled Jicama

• Jicama (one per each 2 people you are serving)
  
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

1. Peel and slice the jicama into discs. I cut them about 3/4 inch, and it was a bit too thick - so I recommend maybe 1/2 inch.
2. Oil both sides, and add salt and pepper to taste
3. Grill over medium heat until they are tender - if you push on them, you can tell when they are getting softer.

Recipe Review - Hummus and sprout sandwich

Hummus and sprout sandwich
Ok, so I admit this one isn't all that novel, but it did make good use of some of the items out of the box this week. We got some broccoli sprouts in the box (side note - I totally have to start doing this on my own - super tidy little package of yummy, and to buy them in the store is expensive, and unnecessary, and they usually rot)

• Toasted bread - I used homemade white bread. Clearly this would be good with your favorite type. I just happened to have made white last week. This week it's a straight wheat, so that's what I'll use.
  
• Hummus - use any type you like - this again, was homemade - recipe for that when I'm at home sometime
• Sprouts - enough to make a nice layer
• Lettuce - I used the red romaine that came in the box

Spread hummus on both sides of the bread and stick the sprouts and the lettuce in the middle.

Other nice additions:

• Tomato
• Cucumber
• Olives
• Mushrooms
• Radishes, thinly sliced
• Carrots - shredded
  

Recipe Review - Shredded Raw Beet Salad

Shredded Raw Beet Salad
Combine the following and chill at least 30 minutes
• 2 cups coarsely shredded raw beets
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/3 cuo oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• juice of 1 lemon
Then add the following, toss, and serve
• 3 cups shredded lettuce
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 1-2 shredded carrots (optional)

Overall this was a fine dish. Nothing that really made me overly joyous, but it was very pleasant. Since the beets are raw, they have that earthy smell. they are nice and crunch. I did elect to add some carrots, and I think the dish wouldn't be nearly as good without them. I'll make it again, since I know that I'll get more beets with the CSA boxes.

• Tom felt the dressing was too strong - I used Red Wine Vinegar. I'm thinking that a rice vinegar would be nice, and a bit milder. I think this is much like any vinaigrette - adjust the oil and vinegar according to your tastes
  
• I used a red romaine lettuce, and minced it up really well - sort of like you might do for a chopped salad. This worked well
• I didn't have any chives, or even anything chive-like. I think that they added zing that would add would make the dish much nicer
• I used red beets, and not surprisingly, the dish comes out ridiculously red as a result. It would be interesting to try it with some golden beets
  

How the kitchen was supposed to look

We got a different refrigerator recently. No, there was nothing wrong with the old one. The problem was that the form factor (side-by-side) didn't allow us to push the unit all the way to the back of the cabinet that was designed for it. When I designed the cabinets, I wanted to have a built in look for the fridge, but without the pricetag of an actual built in unit. However, I didn't know that the cabinet needed to either be wider to accommodate the one we bought, or I needed the whole thing to line up flush with the pantry wall. Not the most interesting technical details really, but it's the one really big thing that wasn't right in the house, and now it has been fixed (or rather, the problem is no longer visible) and I can stop talking about it.

So we sold our original fridge to Michael and Andrea - newly moved here from Kansas, and we got something that works given the weird constraints of the cabinet as it was built.

Here are the results. First of all, I think it looks quite nice all tucked up in it's cabinet.




Then here is the pathway. We've regained about 9 inches of space here, which is a big deal when you are only working with 36 inches total




Lastly, the wall got nicely munged up when we were moving things in and out.

Recipe review - Roasted Radishes

I tried this recipe the other night with the radishes I got from the CSA box. This is *way* better than you imagine it's going to be. Two thumbs up. I made this as is, and don't recommend any changes so far

Roasted Radishes with Soy Sauce and Toasted Sesame Seed
(Makes 3-4 servings, recipe only slightly adapted from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop.)
• 20 medium radishes, trimmed and cut into fourths (use all red, or a mixture of red and white)
• 1 1/2 T roasted peanut oil
• 1-2 T soy sauce (I used about 1 1/2 T)
• 2 green onions (scallions) sliced thin
• 1 T sesame seeds, toasted in a dry pan

Preheat oven to 425 F. Wash radishes, trim ends, peel if needed, and cut into same size pieces. I cut the white icicle radishes into diagonal pieces, and the red ones into half or fourths, depending on how big they were. Cut green onions into thin slices.
Toss radishes with peanut oil, then roast about 20 minutes, stirring one or two times. When radishes are tender and starting to brown, remove from oven, toss with soy sauce to coat and mix in green onion slices. Put back in oven and roast about 5 minutes more.
During final five minutes roasting time, put the sesame seed in a dry pan and toast over hot stove for about 2 minutes, or until starting to brown. Remove radishes from oven, place in serving bowl and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot.