This is a tidbit of what I learned:

• A Jerusalem Artichoke has nothing to do with Jerusalem or artichokes.
• It is the root tuber of a wild sunflower and is native to North America.
• Harvest begins in late fall and lasts through light frost.
• The flavor is very adaptable and is mild, sweet and nutlike.
• They are great sources of iron and niacin and actually lower blood sugar, so they are recommended for diabetics.
• Sunchokes can be eaten raw or cooked, peeled or not.
• You can sauté, stir fry, steam, simmer, bake or boil them. (Mash them for a change from mashed potatoes!)
• Store them in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. For long term storage, bury them in sand in a cold but not freezing environment.

After reading up on the sunchoke, I decided to turn my stock of them into a soup, combined with carrots and rutabagas. To “hearty up” the soup for Kevin, I made some smoked turkey croquettes to serve in the soup. It was a great addition, but this soup is fantastic on its own, too!

P.S. This soup is very inexpensive to make!

Sunchoke Soup with Smoked Turkey Croquettes

Sunchoke, Carrot & Rutabaga Soup (with optional Smoked Turkey Croquettes)

Soup Ingredients:

Soup Ingredients

• 1 onion (Jett’s Natural Produce)
• drizzle olive oil
• 2 tsp thyme (my garden)
• 1 beer (someone had left this Amstel at our house—It worked well in this soup!)
• 2 medium rutabagas (Pure Sprouts)
• 7 sunchokes/Jerusalem artichokes (mine were each about 3 inches long by 1.5-2 inches thick) (Pure Sprouts)
• 7 small-medium carrots (Pure Sprouts)
• 2 c. stock or broth (we used homemade smoked turkey stock)
• Smoked Turkey Croquettes, optional (recipe follows)

Soup Directions:

1. Slice onion and cook in a drizzle of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until starting to soften.
2. Add thyme and cook until fragrant.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add 1/3 of the beer. Cook and stir until beer is almost gone. Continue adding beer a third at a time, cooking and stirring, until onions are caramelized.
4. Peel and dice rutabagas, sunchokes and carrots, and add them to the pot.
5. Add another drizzle of olive oil and sauté for a few minutes, until edges of root vegetables are just starting to turn golden.
   

   Veggies Sautéeing

6. Add stock or broth and bring to a boil.
   

   Simmering

7. Simmer 20-30 minutes, or until vegetables are soft and falling apart.
8. Use an immersion blender, or work in batches in a regular blender, to purée the soup.
9. If adding smoked turkey croquettes (recipe follows), place a few in center of bowl. Ladle soup around croquettes.

Smoked Turkey Croquettes

Croquette Ingredients:

Croquette Ingredients

• 4 oz. smoked turkey or ham
• 1 small onion (Jett’s Produce)
• 1 large cooked, peeled sweet potato (Jett’s Produce)
• 1 T. dried thyme (my garden)
• 1.5 c. pretzels (Snyders)

Croquette Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Mince onion in food processor.
3. Add smoked turkey and pulse until finely ground.
   

   Chopped Turkey & Onion

4. Add sweet potato and thyme and process until smooth.
5. Form turkey and potato mixture into slightly flattened patties about 2 inches wide by about 1 inch thick.
   

   Unbreaded Croquettes

6. Crush pretzels into medium crumbs and spread on a plate.
7. Press croquettes into pretzel crumbs.
8. Place on greased cookie sheet.
9. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.
10. Serve with sunchoke soup!

Sunchoke Soup with Smoked Turkey Croquettes

Each winter, my co-leaders and I take our high school Girl Scout troop on a winter “camping” trip where they have no responsibilities with younger girls, no strict agenda, and indoor sleeping quarters. Basically, it’s a sleepover in the woods (with no hot water and latrines instead of toilets!), and it’s a ton of fun for the girls and the leaders.

Friday evening, I headed up to Camp Mountain House to have a non-camping weekend with the gals!

We stayed in Pine Cabin, a cozy one-room building decorated with preserved leaves and mounted snake skins.

Friday night was full of giggling, a group trip to the grocery store and a chili pepper pinata. We crashed around midnight in order to get up for a full day on Saturday.

This particular weekend trip was exceptionally posh as the girls decided to earn their “Dinner Party” badge. It was the most sophistication my mess kit has ever seen!

Saturday morning began with some creativity as the girls fulfilled a badge requirement by experimenting with different garnishes and shapes for some fluffy pancakes. This little chick accompanied a menagerie of other pancake figures.

I turned my pancake into a breakfast taco of sorts with granola, yogurt and berries.

After breakfast, some of the girls helped one of the adults on the trip with some Bigfoot "evidence" for a mock-umentary she is making. It was pretty hilarious.

What should have been a pretty simple lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup became a little more exciting when a misunderstanding led to the addition of sweetened coffee creamer in the tomato soup. Luckily, a bit of improv (lemon juice, basil, salt, pepper, etc) salvaged the soup, leading to rave camper reviews!

After an afternoon spent playing hide & seek in the woods, the girls began preparing the menu they planned for their dinner party. I was really impressed with the choices they made- The recipes were fairly healthy, included lots of veggies and fresh foods and really showcased different cultures!

They started with this punch, the classic concoction of Hawaiian Punch, ginger ale & sherbet.

Appetizer, Group 1: Spinach Salad with Mandarin Oranges, Candied Pecans & Honey Poppyseed Dressing

Appetizer, Group 2: Lentil Soup

Appetizer, Group 3: Filipino Lumpias filled with fresh vegetables

Entree, Group 1: Farfalle with Lemon, Walnuts & Basil

Entree, Group 2: Indian Rajma (red kidney bean curry) with Cucumber Raita over Basmati Rice

Entree, Group 3: Beef Stroganoff over Egg Noodles

Somehow, I missed taking a picture of the first group’s dessert: Fresh Fruit with Chocolate Fondue

Dessert, Group 2: Kheer (Indian rice pudding with cardamom & almonds)

Dessert, Group 3: Apple Cobbler

After setting up one heck of a dish washing line, we collapsed in food comas for one more night in the cabin. Clearly, we really roughed it this weekend!

Throughout the weekend, I used spare time to put together this rag rug from some discarded t-shirts. It's currently matching our 1960s aqua & black bathroom!

Unable to settle in at home after a weekend in the woods, Kevin and I headed down route 309 to Trader Joes with a gift card in hand. We treated ourselves to a few organic goodies (like steamed pork buns!) and headed home to make some tasty homemade mac & cheese for dinner.

Finally, home for the evening, we settled in and hung out with Tober (who loved the Trade Joes bags!) in the kitchen. What a fun and food filled weekend!

It is ridiculous to me that when your car leaves the space, any extra time on the meter disappears! When I worked at the Boyd, we used to argue over who could act as the “meter fairy” and surprise people outside with extra time or fill their expired meter to help them avoid a ticket while they enjoyed a movie. With these meters, you can’t even pay it forward or carry out a random act of kindness by leaving time on the meter for the next person to use the spot! I definitely say a loud BOO to that. Plus, as Wink’s article points out- Isn’t this kind of unethical? If I put a quarter in a meter, I expect there to be that amount of time on the meter, regardless of whether my car is there or not.

[I once heard that the city's budget depends partially on parking tickets. Anyone know if this is truly the case?]

Read more about the smart meters here at Wink Magazine:

BPA part III.

Feta & Butternut Pasta

Ingredients:

Ingredients

• 6 T. olive oil
• 1 onion (Jett’s Produce)
• 6 T. fresh basil (I froze leaves in ice cube trays this summer)
• 2 c. roasted butternut squash (Jett’s Produce)
• 3 T. creamy garlic dressing (Apple Ridge Farm)
• 4 servings cooked pasta (Kevin’s recipe here)
• 1/4 c. feta cheese (Keepsake Farm)

Directions:

1. Heat 2 T. olive oil in large skillet or dutch oven.
2. Chop onion and add to oil, cooking until softened.
3. Chop basil and add to onion. Cook until fragrant.
4. Add creamy garlic dressing and stir.
5. Cube roasted butternut squash and toss with onions and basil.
6. Add pasta to pan and toss. Cook over low heat until pasta is hot.
7. Drizzle remaining olive oil over pasta and toss with crumbled feta.

Feta & Butternut Pasta

This bread is from Apple Ridge Farm. For months, I’ve arrived at their farmer’s market stand just after they sold out of the chocolate-cherry sourdough they occasionally bake. I kept hearing about how great these loaves were and seeing chatter about it on Facebook, but my less-than-punctual self was always just a few minutes late to market. So, I was thrilled when they decided to bake one last batch of this unusual flavor for the season. I picked up a loaf and started munching on it before I even left the parking lot (I think bread-loaf munching is a trait I inherited from my father). It was delicious! Not too sweet, chewy, tangy and crusty. All I could think of was how great it would be as French toast. So, even though I am not a huge breakfast maker, I mixed up an eggy custard and transformed some of this loaf into a yummy morning treat.

French toast is one of the easiest breakfast sweets to make. I normally add 1/2 tsp of vanilla, but I didn’t want to mask the dark chocolate and dried cherries in the bread, so I left it out of this recipe. It’s a pretty standard recipe, so use whatever bread you’d like, but if you can get your hands on chocolate-cherry, run, do not walk, to the nearest loaf and buy it to make this meal!

Chocolate-Cherry Sourdough French Toast

Ingredients:

Ingredients

• 4-6 slices crusty bread (chocolate cherry sourdough from Apple Ridge Farm)
• 2 eggs (Valley View Farms)
• 3/4 c. whole milk (Keepsake Farm)
• 1.5 T. honey (Rush Apiaries)
• cinnamon, to taste
• 3 T. butter

Directions:

1. Mix eggs and milk in medium bowl.
2. Microwave honey for about 10-20 seconds, or until runny, and whisk into egg mixture.
3. Add cinnamon and whisk well.
   

   Cinnamon Custard (if you have extra left over, it tastes good scrambled up in a pan!)

4. Melt butter on griddle or skillet.
5. Dip bread in egg mixture, making sure to coat both sides.
6. Cook bread on butter in skillet for 2-3 minutes per side.
7. Serve with additional butter or syrup, if desired.

Chocolate Cherry Sourdough French Toast

We got to the stadium just before the "game" started, and, as last minute spectators shuffled to their seats and vendors yelled for people to buy cotton candy and snowcones, we watched the athletes warm up.

The performance included exhibits of a wide variety of talents, from slapstick comedy to exemplary athleticism to acrobatics to choreography to acting. I was in awe of the number of skills these men displayed. At one point, I even leaned over and asked Kevin, “If one of these guys had to get another job, would they be athletes, actors or comedians?”

Like minor league sports games, this event included lots of family-friendly activities throughout. This race reminded me of the sleeping bag relay race I have my Girl Scouts do. It was sponsored by Howard Johnson hotels, though, which apparently now goes by HoJo. HoJo?! Really?! I am pretty sure the announcer even said to "Go to bed with HoJo." Um…

The game also included a penalty box, where unruly players were sent, usually after pants-ing a ref or throwing water on someone in the crowd. Spectators were encouraged to enthusiastically count down the seconds until these players were allowed back in the game. Circles on the floor marked special “4 point zones” where team members could make challenging shots. And, of course, a dramatic slam dunk or long shot always accompanied the sound of the buzzer at the end of a quarter.

The Globetrotter's classic mascot, "Globie," fired up the crowd from the sidelines.

This large, inflated character, "Big G," amused the crowd with self-deprecating antics. It was pretty amazing to see what this person could do from within a huge inflatable suit!

So, all parts of the Globetrotters performance provided a fun, lighthearted, family-friendly atmosphere. And then, there was the halftime show. I doubt the Globetrotters themselves had anything to do with selecting this dance group or approving their routine, but whoever did approve it, in my opinion, dropped the ball (no pun intended!). I couldn’t catch the name of the dance school over the half-time chatter and echo of the sound system, but it was a local group, and I think the announcer said they are performing at the 2012 Olympics! I hope this isn’t what they are performing to represent the US.

As the group of dance students (children, looking like they ranged from older elementary school to high school) gathered, I first noticed their outfits—dark, kind of goth, pretty suggestive, although several girls had leggings underneath. I didn’t think much of it—I don’t get bent out of shape over costumes. Then, I noticed two large black boxes. I then realized they were huge dog crates and wondered what they might be using them for—perhaps an animal component to the show?

I wish there had been an animal in the half time show. Instead, three young girls crawled into each cage and shut the door.

THERE ARE LITTLE GIRLS IN THIS CAGE! And parents were okay with this?!

The rest of the group went on to do some sort of choreographed routine to a medley of songs, including “Roman’s Revenge” by Nicki Minaj, featuring Eminem. I am not sure if the part of the song they played included these particular lyrics, but to get a taste for the message of the song, here is a segment:

I’m a bad b*tch, I’m a c*nt
and I’ll kick that h*e, punt
forced trauma, blunt
you play the back, b*tch, I’m in the front

I don’t even know exactly what sort of choreographed routine the rest of the group did because I couldn’t get over that there were little girls in suggestive clothing in dog cages on the court. This went against every Girl Scout leading fiber of my being.

Finally, after several other girls laid themselves over the tops of the cages, the girls inside were released. But, upon their release from the cages, they dramatically crawled towards a dancing solo male.

Where the person stood up in the middle of this picture, there is a single man dancing. The girls are crawling, dog-like, towards him.

Perhaps I am wrong in my interpretation of this routine. I hope I am wrong. I hope that the dance instructor is instilling confidence and self-worth in these girls, rather than submission and low self-esteem. But, if the instructor is instilling those things in them, it’s certainly not coming across in their performance.

So, Globetrotters= Fun, unique, laid back and enjoyable (We really had a great time. Thanks, Laini!!!)

Halftime show and whoever booked it= Discouraging and disturbing

Ricotta, Eggplant & Mushroom Paninis

Ingredients:
No ingredient amounts here! It’s a sandwich, you can figure out what proportions you’d like!

Ingredients

• crusty wheat bread (14 Acre Farm)
• olive oil (we used Tuscan Herb from Seasons)
• ricotta cheese (Keepsake Farm)
• grilled, sliced eggplant (Heritage Farms CSA)
• cremini mushrooms (Pure Sprouts, Mother Earth Mushrooms)
• microgreens (or fresh basil) (Pure Sprouts, OH Produce)
• mozzerella cheese, optional (Kevin loves his cheese, so he snuck that in!)

Directions:

1. Cut wheat bread into thick slices, and brush or spray outside of slices with olive oil. (I got to use our new oil mister here!)
2. Spread ricotta cheese on inside of bread.
3. Slice mushrooms.
4. Layer eggplant and mushroom slices over ricotta.
5. Top with microgreens or basil.
6. Add mozzerella, if using.
7. Grill sandwich on panini press for 3-4 minutes, or cook in skillet for about 3 minutes per side.
8. Serve hot!

Ricotta, Eggplant & Mushroom Panini

Sausage-less Gravy for Biscuits

Ingredients:

Ingredients

• 2 T. butter
• 2 T. flour
• 1 clove garlic (Apple Ridge Farm)
• 4 mushrooms (Pure Sprouts)
• 1/2 T. dried sage (my garden)
• 1/2  T. dried rosemary (my garden)
• 1/2 T. dried thyme (my garden)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1.5 c. milk (Keepsake Farm)
• 2 biscuits, english muffins or toast

Directions:

1. Dice mushrooms and mince garlic.
2. Melt butter in deep skillet or saucepan.
3. Add mushrooms and garlic to pan. Cook and stir until mushrooms are slightly browned.
4. Add sage, rosemary and thyme, plus salt & pepper, cooking for a minute until just fragrant.
5. Sprinkle flour over butter and mushroom mixture and whisk until it reaches a paste-like consistency.
6. Add milk all at once and whisk constantly until mixture is thickened and creamy.
7. Serve over split biscuits, english muffins or toast
   

   Sausage-less Gravy & Biscuits

   .