Someone old, someone new

I've been pacing around the house tonight. I am nervous. On Thursday night, I'm volunteering at a local elementary school to help with their science night. I'm presenting something science related to a group of 8 year olds and their parents. I'm assuming they're 8 since that's 3rd grade, which is smack in the middle of the whole elementary school years. 75 people. I have a ton of ideas swirling, just haven't picked which one I want to do most.

I know it will be fine. Make it entertaining and keep it simple. But, this is my first attempt since the new job and my boss will be there. Gulp, gulp. Meanwhile, my folks sent me this picture of me from around those years. Hard to imagine sweet little angels like me could be so terrifying.



So that's Thursday night. On monday, I'm going to see a group of high schoolers (60 of them). Then a few weeks later, it's senior citizens. I love that it's constantly changing, but it's terrifying at the same time. Again, keep it entertaining and keep it simple.

I think.

I'm learning tons on this job and it's a huge change from what I was doing before. Communication skills are most important now whereas I could go a week without speaking to anyone before. Crazy. So, wish me luck. Hopefully, I'll be coming to a school near you soon.

Urban Homesteaders

At our first cheesemaker's meeting, we learned that there were quite a few of us who like to make things ourselves -- make cheese, sausage, grow our own veggies, compost our scraps, learn beekeeping, practice canning our harvest, etc. We decided to form a group to get together and talk about these things. Hence the beginning of Urban Homesteaders.

Our first meeting is this Wednesday (1/23), 7 pm at Harriet's house (NE 14th St). I know there are at least 5 of us going so far. Open to all.

A weekend of DIY

Smoked Turkey Chili
The cold weather meant I stayed indoors most of the weekend and cooked. I made a big batch of turkey chili -- eating some of it last night for dinner and freezing the rest. I got two free turkeys at Thanksgiving which I broke down; froze the parts in bags and made stock with the carcasses. I smoked the turkey legs this week, pulled the meat, rehydrated/cooked the beans and then combined it all on Sunday. Yum. I am eating it for lunch today, too.

Bread
My new job means a whole new world. Filled with yeast. I couldn't do anything yeast-related before since yeast spores travel easily and can ruin a month of experiments in the lab. But now, the lab days are over and my days making bread (and soon-to-be beer) are just beginning. I got The Bread Baker's Apprentice from Ken's folks for Christmas and have been happily reading it nightly and trying the different formulas. Fermented dough. Sicilian bread. Baguettes. Boules. Whole wheat rustic loaves. I am having a marvelous time. I'm not very good at it (yet), but I am loving it. I made 4 loaves this weekend and have some dough in the fridge to bake off tonight.

Cheese
I made my second batch of queso blanco on Saturday. I cooked the curds and allowed them to coagulate longer this time. The texture seemed a lot better. I am excited.

Homemade Bitters
I love Angostura bitters. Love them. So, when I found the Last Crumb's blog on making homemade bitters, I had to try it. I bought a bottle of rye and started infusing this weekend. I am trying a quarter batch of the House Bitters and the Cherry Vanilla bitters. Recipes can be found here. They smell wonderful so far.


Homemade Tuaca
Made a new batch this weekend since we finished the last two bottles. I use the same recipe that I posted before, but I've stopped adding sugar since it gets too sweet for some drinks. Can always add it later to taste. I have learned that I like the homemade (unsweetened) tuaca in Old Fashioneds. Delicious.

Birch Beer
Birch beer is my favorite. Especially old school, Pennsylvania Dutch birch beer. It is hard to find in Oregon, so I looked up some recipes to make the extract myself. Everything from steeping the bark for 10 minutes in boiling water to fermenting the birch bark with fresh sap, honey and a yeast-soaked piece of rye bread. Hmmm. I settled on the overnight soak. The first 30-120 minutes smelled divine. 3 days later, it smells like the woods. The wintergreen aroma is completely overwhelmed by the smell of bark and dirt. This was not my favorite project from this weekend.

Homemade Tonic Water
This is a project in the works. A Portland bartender makes his own and published the recipe last year. This inspired another Portland blogger to try it himself. Hilarity ensued. But Kevin Ludwig, the bartender who is opening Beaker and Flask in June, insists it isn't hard. So I'm going to try my hand at it and ordered 4 ounces of chinchona powder (aka quinine) from the herb store 5 blocks from my house. I'll keep you posted on how this goes. I'd love to figure it out in time for the summer. And Kevin says you can freeze the extract once it's made.

Accepted

My final research paper from grad school was just accepted for publications. 4 years to finish, but it is now complete. I have spent most of the last year working on getting it published and now it is over. I am thrilled. The proofs should be coming soon and they anticipate an April publication date.

(wiping my hands of it)

Bitter Holidays

They were wonderful. The bitter part comes from my very sweet mother-in-law, who took me to their small town's (surprisingly large) herb store in New Hampshire. When she saw my eyes open wide at the jars of gentian and burdock roots, she sweetly smiled. Like my mom, she is patient and kind. She asked why I was so excited and I explained that I've been interested in making my own bitters (for drinks, a la Angostura or Peychaud's) and that burdock and gentian roots are two of the strange ingredients of yore that I've never heard of nor seen before. She nodded sweetly and waited patiently for me to check out, then she purchased said ingredients for me for Christmas. I was thankful and excited. I can't wait to make them. And thanks to Alyson for first showing me the site that has bitter recipes here and here.

Ken and I went to New Hampshire for the holidays to visit Ken's folks. We had a great time and took Kinley along, too. He loved playing in the snow with the other dogs and to follow our tracks while we snowshoed through the woods. At one point, Kinley fell and got stuck in a tree well... just like I did on my first date with Ken. He is my dog.

I got to ride on a backhoe/tractor down to the barn and play in the snow. I got to sleep. Ken watched football and went on hikes with the dogs. We got to spend time with family. We were happy.



We got back on Thursday night and left Friday morning for Bend, Oregon. 30 people in two cabins for New Year's weekend. It was fun. Ken and I skied Mt. Bachelor on Saturday. It was the worst day of skiing of my life. White-out conditions; 50-mile-an-hour winds. I felt nauseated with every turn. I couldn't tell what was high or low. Ken stopped for wait for me, only to realize he couldn't move. Turns out there was a snowbank 3-feet tall within arms reach of him and he couldn't see it without putting out his arm to see why he wasn't moving. Monday was clear and gorgeous. I made pot roast for 30 people. Many thanks to my mom and mother-in-law for teaching me how to make pot roast in the first place, let alone pot roast for 30. As an added bonus, Bon Appetit published almost the exact recipe I made. I read it the day after. PS Parsnips and sweet potatoes are amazing in pot roast. We ran out of veggies; an impressive feat considering the carniverous crew in the house.