Celebrating one year of blogging! Happy Bday My Veg Table!
Well, friends, here we are again; I am two days away from taking down my Christmas decorations: that officially marks the end of yet another year. While 2015 had its challenges, it was also full of some pretty great stuff.
One of the most exciting things this year got lost in the chaos of the holiday season; my blog celebrated its one year anniversary on November 18th! Happy Birthday MVT! Putting myself out there and creating this blog was such a personal leap for me. I knew I wanted to start something where I could chit-chat about food, but then I got stuck. It took over a year of brainstorming ideas and then finally working up enough courage to begin a blog; it’s hard to believe that now another year has passed since I hit “publish” on my very first post! I hope you all have enjoyed reading it as much as I have loved writing it!
The most important decision I make every year around Christmastime has nothing to do with shopping and everything to do with baking: which cookies will win a coveted spot on my annual cookie platter? Each year, I churn out anywhere from 12-18 dozen cookies for Christmas; it’s my favorite holiday tradition. It has been twenty years since I first started giving gifts from my kitchen. Back then, I thought it was genius idea since I had little money for gifts. As the years passed–and I could actually afford gifts–I opted to keep on baking as a little extra something. My family gets excited about our cookie platter every year; the anticipation grows until they get their very own take-home box–it’s even more fun to see if their boxes are emptied before they make it home.
How do I choose the winners? After I pore over the pages of my favorite holiday cookie magazines and family recipe cards, I take a potential list to a vote with my husband and son. There is one rule–each of the five cookie “food groups” must be represented: something chocolatey, something oatey, something fruity, something spicy, and something nutty. I usually throw in some kind of candy for fun. Two cookies never up for dispute are my Grandmother’s Snickerdoodles–which are unlike any snickerdoodle you’ve ever had–and Oatmeal Scotchies.
Where do the holidays take you? Christmas is all about family for us, but since my son was born, we no longer rush to multiple houses on Christmas Day; we compromised to make the day less chaotic. Christmas Eve is now spent with my in-laws: first, dinner at Carrabbas and then back to our house for presents and cookies. Christmas Day is always dinner at either my Mom’s or sister’s house. This year, it’s my turn to host my family for a Christmas brunch. Me…make breakfast food? I’m sure you’re shocked. At this point, I should be seriously thinking about renaming my blog Breakfast24/7. At any rate, our holiday table will be a veritable buffet of my favorite brunchy foods–the catch is, they need to be practically effortless. This brings me to quiche–or as my son, Everett, used to call it, eggpie.
I distinctly remember the day last year when I finished my Florida Cracker Cranberry Jam from Urban Canning Company. I was so bummed; I took a picture of my last bite of toast spread thinly with the last speck of jam that I could scrape from the jar. That was the first time that I actually felt aware of the seasonal nature of produce–and that’s a shame. I think we take for granted the variety of produce that we can get year-round, despite the fact that a true growing season is anything but year-round. Our produce is typically shipped in from all around the world just so that we can have everything that we need–whenever we need it. Not so with this local cranberry specimen: it’s so unusual, you won’t see it at your local grocery store and once it’s gone, you’ll have to wait until its season comes again.
By mid-September, my Halloween decorations are up for my favorite holiday. I suppose the disadvantage of decorating so early is becoming overconfident that everything is ready for October 31st. Imagine my surprise on October 30th when I realized that we hadn’t picked our annual pumpkin! So, late that Friday night, after my son’s baseball game, we drove to a church pumpkin patch down the road from the ballpark. The pumpkins were barely visible in the dimly lit patch. The typical search for our prized pumpkin is a lengthy process: many are chosen and returned before the winner makes its way to our car. However, this year was surprisingly different. As we approached the pricing table, my son, Everett, eyed one of the biggest pumpkins ever–I could see the cogs turning as he went on his quest looking for its twin. It was as if the proverbial rays of light were shining down from above onto this pumpkin; he walked right up to it and said, “This one!” The search for the Ferrer Family Pumpkin was over in five minutes flat. Fastest. Ever.
Attempting to pick it up was a challenge; my arms weren’t able to make it all the way around its middle. If I couldn’t even carry it without help, how on Earth was I going to carve this monstrosity? Halloween morning, I carved our 3-inch thick pumpkin with my carving tools and a steak knife; cleaning out the inside felt like a never-ending task. I harvested over 2 cups of seeds: what to do with them? I needed to make sure I didn’t waste them; for the past several years, I’ve meticulously cleaned and saved them…and then forgot about them and into the garbage they went. Not this year! I had some sweet ideas. Because we had so many seeds, I decided to use them for two sweet treats: pumpkin seed brittle and spiced pumpkin seeds.
What is your favorite spice? For me, the award goes to this crimson beauty: smoked paprika. It’s interesting because growing up, paprika had only one purpose as far as I knew: topping the cream cheese-stuffed celery boats that my Grandmother used to make. I remember it not having all that much flavor, but it made that little crudité look fancier and definitely more colorful. I always thought paprika was one of those spices that you should have on hand–you never know when you’ll get a hankering for celery boats–but despite having it, I rarely used it. My attitude towards paprika changed when I discovered its smoky cousin.
What do you see when you look at this picture? The vertebrae from an unknown species? A tree from a Dr. Seuss book? Some kind of flower bud? Actually, it is a cluster of Brussels sprouts; yep, this is how they grow! Unless you’ve seen them in a garden, chances are, you’ve never seen them still attached to their stalk. I get so excited when I find these towers of sprouts: they are a rare find in grocery stores–your chances are better at finding them this way at the farmer’s market. They taste fresher than their loose supermarket counterparts because much of their moisture is retained via the stalk. So, yes, there is a bit of knife work needed to liberate them from their spire, but it’s not enough to deter me from buying them this way. The cashier at Trader Joe’s told me that his sister takes the whole stalk, oils it up and throws it right on the grill. Note to self: it’s time to deviate from my default roasting habits and try something new–I’m taking this enormity to the grill!
Pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin scones, pumpkin cookies: if you can bake it, you can bake it with pumpkin. These are just a few of the yummy treats that will be popping up very soon…it is pumpkin season! Since the weather here in Florida doesn’t really start to change until around Halloween, the release of pumpkin items is our cue that fall is on its way–even though the weather here still feels like July.
A proper matcha tea set along with a matcha latte (left) and matcha made with hot water (right).
Aeons ago, someone gave me a Matcha tea set as a gift; in that beautiful bamboo box I found a cup, scoop, tongs, spoon and a whisk–each piece also made of bamboo. The only item the set did not include was the actual tea. Even if I had the tea, I really didn’t know what to do with any of the equipment. Being a little intimidated, I never bought the tea, so all five pieces had been collecting dust in a drawer for more years than I can remember.
I pulled them all out a few months ago after I tried a green tea latte from Starbucks; it was so unique. That earthy, creamy concoction had me wanting more; I knew I had to buy some matcha to have at home. It is pricy: prices are around the $20 mark for 1-3 ounces–the fact that a little goes a long way helped justify the purchase. After all, it would only take four visits at Starbucks to pay for my own tin.
The dishes can sit; the laundry can wait. Today, I’m taking a moment: all of my September magazines have finally arrived–it’s time to sit and read and breathe. The summer has flown by, school started on Monday, and my house is now quiet. Before you know it, the time-warp known as the end of the year will be here. It happens every year: September magazines today, Thanksgiving feasts adorning the covers tomorrow and Christmas issues next week. The last half of the year blows by faster than the first half and I want to enjoy it.
