what donut are you?

apparently, i'm a caramel crunch donut. *shocking.*

i would have guessed "glazed" or "vanilla with rainbow sprinkles." i mean, i've never even TASTED a caramel crunch donut. (i luv caramel, but what's the crunch part made out of?)

well, i guess it's true you learn something new every day.... what kind of donut are YOU? let me know, i'd love to hear!

CAROLINE, YOU ARE A
CARAMEL CRUNCH DONUT

You're a complex creature, and you're guilty of complicating things for fun.

You've been known to sit around pondering the meaning of life..

Or at times, pondering the meaning of your doughnut

To frost or not to frost? To fill or not to fill? These are your eternal questions.

please take a number at our deli counter

one of the biggest limiting factors to my, ah, hobby of acquiring cooking gadgets is storage space. our kitchen is on the small side, so kevin has to remind me periodically (ok, FINE, *often*. HAPPY?) to settle down and get realistic about what we can and can't fit. sometimes he tries to tell me the gadget i'm at that time coveting is the most ridiculous thing ever and not only do i not NEED it, but i also have no good reason for WANTING it.

well, frankly, all that this crazy talkin' does is make me want whatever it is even more. i mean, honestly, i only covet WORTHY things. jeez, you'd never catch me wishing i owned an egg cooker or pining over something as useless and impractical as a hot dog toaster. (yet, notice i don't say things like: "raclette maker" or "fully-automated espresso machine"...hmmmm, coincidence? i think not.) usually what i do is figure out a way to fit the soon-to-be-newest-addition-to-the-kitchen item SOMEWHERE that won't cause grievous bodily harm, say, when the kitchen cabinet door is opened to retrieve said item. depending on how large the thing is, this sleuthing process can take a mere day to several months.

enter the meat slicer.

yes, you heard right. M-E-A-T S-L-I-C-E-R. definition: an electric device used to slice food in thicknesses ranging from paper thin up to 2" thick. usage: "the deli man used his meat slicer to slice up cold cuts for my italian hoagie."

now, i've wanted one of these for YEARS. YEARS, i tell you. which, if you know me and my tendency for instant gratification (kevin says i'm the hardest person to buy gifts for b/c when i want something, i just go out and get it), is the equivalent of, say, at least an eon to most anyone else. if you've ever seen the size of a deli meat slicer, and you've seen the size of our apartment, you can understand why, no matter how hard i tried, i couldn't find a way to squeeze this wondrous gadget anywhere in our house. (and believe me, i was so desperate at one point i actually seriously entertained the idea of storing it under our bed.) i'm sure you can imagine and sympathize with all the longing and heartache i've endured. [excuse me...*sniffle* i need a moment to collect myself.]

then, one day at work, i shared with byron my not-so-secret desire to own a meat slicer and the insurmountable and inflexible space constraints i had been defeated by. that day, the heavens opened and a light shone down on me as he told me when he was growing up, his mother had a folding meat slicer. a FOLDING meat slicer?!? i had no idea these sorts of things even existed. so i furiously researched the topic (ok, so maybe it was just a few google searches), and sure enough, i found a professional-grade, folding food slicer. heart a flutter, i went home to share my good news with kevin, but i didn't buy it right away.

now, why the restraint, you ask? well, the thing is, kevin doesn't usually put his foot down about anything i *really* want in the way of kitchen gadgets. but when i revealed to him (i remind you: YEARS ago) my not-so-secret desire to own one, he flat out told me "No Way." the details are a little fuzzy, since it was so long ago and i was so scarred and disappointed that i've blocked most of it, but i think he also said things like "crazy" and "nuts" paired probably with "you're," but i'm not 100% sure. that said, i did remember that he promised if either we ever moved to a place with a larger kitchen OR i could find a way to store it EASILY, that i could then be the proud owner of a food slicer.

so, with memories of his being adamantly against the idea, i went home that night and told kevin i had found a meat slicer that folded up to basically the size of a mandoline, wasn't that great, and couldn't i buy it? [dead silence. (uh-oh)] after haggling (mostly involving my swearing i would be solely responsible for cleaning it. can't you see now how desperately i wanted it?), i got kevin to agree if in a few weeks i was still cooking often then it would be ok to buy it. so, i interpreted a "few weeks" as "a week of actual waiting + 2 weeks shipping time" and ordered it 5 days later.

i've had the food slicer for about a week and so far i've only used it once to slice up some cheese, deli style, but it was so wonderful...words can't even describe how beautifully it performed. that moment was years in the making, and i savored every second of it. i sliced up a bit from a block of havarti cheese i bought at rainbow grocery - about 6 paper-thin slices - and used them on a couple turkey sandwiches for lunch. maybe it was just my imagination, but the sandwich tasted extra delicious. must be some special flavoring imparted from the meat slicer. that maybe is just all in my head. i'm now plotting what other things i can make so that i have many excuses to use my slicer. please feel free to send in any suggestions. (no need to send in the "shredded lettuce" or "cold cuts" ideas. i'm "crazy," not an "idiot.")

if you ever come over to our place for deli, my friend aaron forth would like to remind you to please, TAKE A NUMBER and that the LINE STARTS HERE. ;)

holy moly, butternut squash ravioli!

a couple weekends ago we went over to our friends LV & mikey's for dinner (aka the ventursons). we had roast chicken with string beans, roasted potatoes and butternut squash. everything was really delish, but what stood out for me was the butternut squash. LV had prepared it very simply - peeled and cut into 1" chunks and then roasted with salt and pepper - and it was so good.

i've been looking to make something with butternut squash since that weekend (especially as its season is basically over). i thought maybe ravioli would be a fun thing to try out; i haven't made any in the longest time and rainbow grocery happens to carry sheets of pre-rolled pasta, so the most labor-intensive (read: annoying) part of the process wouldn't be an issue. i also conveniently *just happened to have* a mess of fresh sage that would pair well with the squash. (sage: yet another impulse buy...sometimes...i don't know what gets into me. i lose my head at the farmers' market. apparently, i'm excited by produce. but i've been getting better. sorta. *sigh*)

i thought a nice hazelnut brown-butter sauce would go well with the squash and sage; rich, yes, but considering that the filling was, well, NOT, i figured it'd be fine. i made the ravioli a little larger than intended, so there were enough for about only 3 servings - basically, dinner for two, plus leftover for someone on "fend foh yo'self" night. (otherwise known as: "wednesday," since kevin is ditching me to go out to dinner with some dude. hmph.) recipe below - adjusted this time to make enough for 4 - enjoy!


Butternut Squash & Sage Ravioli with Hazelnut Brown-Butter Sauce

Ravioli
1-lb butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 medium onion, diced
2 tbsps very finely chopped fresh sage
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 garlic clove, minced

Wide fresh pasta sheets
1 egg + 1 tbsp water, lightly beaten with fork

Brown-Butter Sauce
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 handful whole hazelnuts, lightly toasted and then skinned, coarsely chopped

Grated aged goat cheese

Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease baking sheet and place squash halves, cut sides down. Roast in middle of oven about 20 minutes, or until flesh is soft. Scoop out squash into a bowl, discard skin. Mash squash with fork until smooth.

While squash is in oven, in a medium pan over medium heat, melt butter and saute garlic until softened. Add onion and sage and cook until onions start to turn brown on edges. Add onion mixture to squash and stir well.

Unroll a little less than half the pasta on lightly floured surface. Mound 2 tsps of filling at about 1" intervals (the width of the pasta I use made two rows). Brush egg wash on pasta around the filling. Lay the other half of the pasta on top of bottom layer, making sure to ease pasta along the mounds of filling and patting down edges. Use a knife and cut raviolis into squares; use tines of fork to seal ravioli edges shut. Allow ravioli to dry slightly. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil.

In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat and then add hazelnuts until butter begins to brown (~5 minutes). Remove from heat; season brown-butter sauce to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm, covered.

When water in pot comes to boil, add about 6 ravioli at a time and cook until they rise to surface. Remove using slotted spoon and transfer to colander to drain. Divide ravioli among 4 plates; drizzle hazelnut brown-butter sauce over ravioli and then sprinkle grated goat cheese on top. Serves 4.

young dave evans had a farm, e-i-e-i-o

today, we went on a farm tour at marin sun farms, which is up the coast in inverness, ca. it was a gorgeous spring day in the bay area (sunny, cloudless, high 50s / low 60s); literally something you would see on a postcard.

we met at the "historic H ranch" @ 10am. marin sun farms is located on land that's part of the point reyes national seashore (the evans family leases it from the gov). we spent the next 2 1/2 hours walking around the farm with dave evans - the man responsible for turning part of the farm's ranching operations into a "sun farm" (or grass farm, for those of you who've heard of joel salatin and his polyface farms). he showed us how they raise the cows, chickens, and goat. it was pretty interesting to get a glimpse of what goes into ranching sustainably.

that said, a word to the curious, but not yet converted: this farm tour is probably not for you.

let me start off by saying that after having read michael pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, i'm a believer in supporting local producers who use sustainble farming methods. it feels like this "food movement" is gaining momentum around the country; what would really boost awareness are "ambassadors," for lack of a better word, to help educate consumers and businesses (e.g., supermarkets, restaurants, cpg companies) about why old skool "traditional foods" (NOT to be confused with conventional and/or processed foods) are better in the end for us, not only health-wise but environmentally as well. and by ambassadors, i mean persuasive and articulate individuals who can effect change not only at the grassroots level (convincing common folk like you and me) but also at the corporate and government level. michael pollan, absolutely, is an incredible example of one.

so having said all that, if you're open to learning about why you, too, should join this movement, i honestly think you shouldn't go on this particular farm tour to be convinced. on the major plus side, you get to see proof that the farm does what it claims to do (raise animals humanely and sustainably): happy animals = tasty meats and eggs; so yummy. but on the minus, there's a little preachy (and somewhat contradictory) narrative that goes along with it that may actually do the opposite of what's (passionately and from-the-heart) intended: turn you off.

like i said, i'm already a convert, and i've spent a lot of time reading about the obstacles that sustainable farming faces, so i get it and i wasn't at all turned off. i understand where the anger and frustration comes from. but, if you don't know the backstory, you may walk away thinking the guy who runs the farm is one angry, leftist dude. he railed against the whole foods execs who don't get what it means to be a local, small-scale supplier because they seem to only care about having as much consistent supply and profit margin as possible. but he also told a story about how he was burned by an up-and-coming farm who he'd helped distribute, only to have this farm, once successful, leave him. so now he's setting up distribution agreements with new farms that will guarantee him - yup, you got it - consistent supply and margins. apparently capitalism on the small, local scale is ok, but not so much when it's a national corporation.

but whatever, i didn't go there thinking they were going to be a bunch of saints, and it was actually great to see dave's a normal guy with opinions about his career / life (a la US magazine: "farmers and ranchers, they're JUST LIKE US!"). dave, if you ever read this, i hope you don't get mad and cut me off.

all that aside, i actually had a lot of fun today, despite the fact that it was UNBELIEVABLY WINDY. it's a good thing i wore my puffy vest (i luv mah puffy vest). we got to see cute little lambies, goats, baby chicks, chickens, and cows. btw, have you ever seen cows RUN?! me either, but those ladies were running around like you wouldn't believe. it was awesome to see them out and about and (i'd like to think) happy. they were also super pumped to see us, at one point lining up all along the fence like paparazzi when we walked near them and mooing excitedly. (although, we found out it was b/c they thought we were there to move them to the next pasture, where new fresh tasty grass awaited them.)

we also learned that the laying hens and roosters live together [in sin!!!] because, surprise surprise, hens and roosters like being together, which makes them happy. i didn't know until then that the eggs the farm sells are fertile; to be honest, i wasn't sure what to feel. but the eggs are really good, and their being happy is pretty important, so my conclusion so far is that it's cool.

ok, so maybe "happy" is a little wishful anthropomorphisizing, but the animals at marin sun farms are given freedom to do what comes naturally to them, so this is immensely appealing to me. they should have only one bad day (the day they're slaughtered), and every day before that day shouldn't be one where they're trapped in places like feedlots, gestation crates, or other factory-farming constructs, living miserably and sometimes tortured. :( i love meat, but i have a conscience, too.

anyhoo, enough of my own proselytizing (how's that for irony?). the farm provided us with an extremely delicious lunch afterwards. i've never tasted goat before, and i have to say...yum! i had some roasted goat leg on a slab of country bread, slathered with green garlic aioli. damn, it was good. we also got to taste super fresh raw milk - i swore i could taste a grassy finish to it. wishful thinking? (who...me?!?) i can't remember the last time i had milk with lunch (maybe 2nd grade?), but today, it was the perfect beverage.

oh and props to kevin for willingly going with me on the tour. he's been pretty openminded about my "sustainable food" thing, but he had to get up early on a sunday and then endure several hours on a SUPER WINDY farm (he's convinced the wind-chill factor made it feel more like 40. i was wearing mah puffy vest, so i wouldn't know. HA. not), so yes, there's a big credit at the bank of caroline. :D

i'll leave you with photos of our day up in inverness so you can get a glimpse for yourself of what a sustainable farm is like. snuck in a gratuitous photo of the froons, too.