Lake Mauch Chunk (Camping adventure #2)

You know how, when you were a kid, there was that huge sense of anticipation as the days of the school calendar dwindled down and you looked forward to summer vacation? Maybe your summer was going to be jam packed and busy with camps, friends, odd jobs, and late nights, but it still was something to completely look forward to. Well, since the middle of May, that’s how life has been here—Completely insanely busy, but all with wonderful things! I’ve gone on two camping trips, met with the Mayor of my town, worked on a farm each week, wrapped up the Girl Scout year for the Brownies with the First Aid and Hiking badges, helped run an Amazing Race for the Seniors, plus worked my regular job and made time for my husband and cooked up some tasty food. In the next 10 days, I’ll spend 2 nights in Washington D.C. for the world’s largest Singalong, 2 nights in Philadelphia for a cooperative business conference, attend a court hearing for the jerk who stole my camera, run a local 5k, celebrate Fathers’ Day, and hopefully attend the SouthSide Film Festival.

What am I getting at, here? Well, during summer vacation, there’s no homework—Even if that homework would be on a topic you love. It wouldn’t be vacation, otherwise!

So, From Here Now will be taking a summer vacation until the beginning of July. When I get back, I’ll be refreshed, invigorated, and full of cool things to do in the LV and foods to enjoy from our local sources.

In the mean time, go outside, find a fruit tree in your neighborhood for a free snack (make sure you bring someone who knows what trees are safe!), make garlic scape pesto, pick strawberries, sit on your porch and watch a thunderstorm roll in, read a book, and choose one of your daily tasks to put aside for a short amount of time—make your own summer vacation!

See you in July!

Dandelion Green & Potato Soup

Ingredients:

Ingredients

• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 scallions
• 2 medium potatoes
• 2 c. stock or broth (I used smoked turkey stock)
• 1 bunch dandelion greens
• black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Mince garlic and chop scallions.
2. Heat olive oil in large soup pot or dutch oven and sauté garlic and scallion for 2-3 minutes.
   

   Garlic & Scallion

3. Meanwhile, cube potatoes.
4. Add potatoes to garlic & onion mixture.
   

   A hearty yellow potato pairs well in this soup.

5. Add stock or broth, then add water until liquid covers potatoes by 1-2 inches.
   

   Simmering Potatoes

6. Bring liquid to boil, then reduce heat and cover, simmering for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.
7. Meanwhile, roughly chop dandelion greens.
8. After potatoes are tender, add greens and black pepper to pot. Cover, simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
   

   Dandelion Greens

9. Serve hot with crusty bread.

Dandelion Green & Potato Soup

Camp Hidden Falls

The first night, just the Seniors came along. They quickly found their favorite hangout location on this dock at Sunset Lake.

Our first night’s accommodations were in a nice cabin just past the lake. We slept in these bunks. I got the top bunk, allowing me to feel tall for once in my life! We spent the evening snacking, talking, tie dying, playing games and making crafts- A laid back night before the arrival of the younger girls Saturday morning.

Saturday morning, we took a nice hike to the ranger’s station to pick up the young girls as they got dropped off at camp. Ferns are one of my favorite woodland landscape elements.

This turtle ducked his head in just as we passed by.

While we waited for the rest of the girls to arrive, the punctual scouts visited Hidden Falls, a quaint bridal veil waterfall not far from the camp entrance.

Near the falls, we saw these dandelion-like flowers with pretty rust colored edges.

We hauled our gear to the Lake View tent site, where all of the girls would spend Saturday night.

The latrines were unlike what I was used to- Behind each large door was two seats with a partial divider wall … Awkward.

After a quick lunch and a discussion of Leave No Trace principles, we hiked out to Buttermilk Falls, completing a scavenger hunt along the way.

The girls had a great time exploring the falls, stream, and surrounding woodland.

The girls saw lots of critters, including toads, snakes, racoons, and millipedes. Fortunately, despite the presence of bears in camp, we didn’t cross paths with any of them.

These irises grew along the path back to our unit.

After the hike, the girls made Sharpie tie dyed bandana (Sharpie markers & rubbing alcohol) and played this game the Seniors developed. After rolling dice to move along the game board, the girls had to find a corresponding number card hidden in the surrounding area.

A symbol on the back of the number told the Seniors which task to have the girls perform before moving on. Tasks included creating dolls out of natural objects (pictured here), making toilet paper dresses, solving puzzles, hula hooping, etc.

While the girls played their game, I took a moment to check out the lake shore, and discovered these gorgeous Columbine blooms.

After playing games, the girls got to work preparing dinner. The Juniors built the fire and made soup, the Daisies made baked potatoes, the Brownies made salad, and the Seniors made spinach and rice casserole.

Pot of Gold Soup was tomato soup, loaded with nuggets of cheese wrapped in biscuit dough.

The dutch oven casserole contained spinach, mushrooms, rice, cheese, and eggs. It was a big hit!

By the time we finished dinner, the sun had set, so we washed our dishes by flashlight and toasted marshmallows for smores before loading “smelly” items into the bear box and putting the younger girls to bed. Then, once the young ones were sound asleep, myself and another leader took the Seniors to the dock for some midnight stargazing. We saw shooting stars!

Sunday morning, the girls had “Jungle Breakfast” (where their bag of cereal and fruit is hidden in the woods), and we said goodbye to the beautiful lake. By 11am, we headed home to check for ticks, shower, nap, rehydrate, and get ready for the week (and another camping trip next weekend!)

On these particular paninis, we paired some zesty spring arugula with creamy hummus, earthy mushrooms, bright pesto, and fresh mozzerella. It tastes like it takes a lot longer to make than it does!

Arugula, Hummus & Mozzerella Panini

Ingredients:

Makes 2 paninis

Ingredients

• 2 T. pesto
• 4 T. hummus (I used roasted red pepper)
• 4 white mushrooms
• 1/4 red onion (or 1 very small red onion)
• 2 handfuls arugula
• 4 oz. mozzarella
• 4 slices wheat bread

Directions:

1. Thinly slice mushrooms & onion and sauté until onion is translucent.
2. Spread pesto on two bread slices.
   

   Pesto on bread

3. Spread hummus on remaining two bread slices.
   

   Hummus on other side.

4. Divide sautéed mushrooms & onions over hummus.
   

   Mushrooms & Onions

5. Place handful of arugula on top of mushrooms & onions.
   

   Arugula

6. Slice mozzarella and place on top of arugula.
   

   Mozzarella

7. Top with pesto-spread slice of bread.
8. Grill in preheated panini press for 3-5 minutes, or until cheese is melted, or in skillet for 3 minutes per side.
9. Serve hot with pesto roasted radishes and salad.

Compared to the mellower flavors of winter, this really shows of the variety of flavors for warmer months!

I’m starting this Weekend Hodgepodge post with lunch break on Friday—The Greek Food Festival at St. Nicholas’ in Bethlehem! Twice a year, this church pulls out all the stops and cooks up Greek specialties en masse. For $10, I got two meals worth of stuffed peppers, green beans, orzo, salad, and bread. [Secret: If you go the last day, in the last 15 minutes, everything is half price]

Friday night, Moravian Seminary Commencement activities began, and I attended to carry out my responsibilities as event photographer and wish the students well. Just after work, the whole MTS community gathered for a communion service, followed by a banquet.

Esteemed banquet guest Billy Bob Zinzendorf made his annual appearance at the banquet, providing a humorous review of the year. (For those concerned, Billy Bob DID sign a photo release, haha.)

After grazing at the banquet, I ducked out to pick up Kevin and head to a friends’ home for dinner function #2—Takeout from Prince Palace Dumpling House! I forgot to take a picture of the spread, but it was delicious and seemingly endless.

Saturday morning I woke up with the determination to run a solid 4 miles for the first time. I ended up walking a portion of the last mile (why, oh why, did I put the Elizabeth Avenue hill at the end of my route???), but I did it!

This is my cat doing a pretty accurate imitation of how I looked when I got back from the run.

After chugging some water and chowing down on some kohlrabi, I traded my running shoes for heels and dove back into Commencement activities. My co-workers and I set up a reception, then dashed downtown to take part in the ceremony. Academia is so funny …

After the ceremony, our building flooded with people (One student had a CHARTER BUS of supporters. How cool!) for a reception.

I kept my nibbling at the reception to a minimum because I knew that Kevin was at home preparing homemade lasagna with freshly made ricotta and his own pasta.

For dessert, we pigged out on these ice cream sundaes. Yes, that is artificially colored mint chip ice cream and whipped cream from a can. It was utterly disappointing. However, the chocolate raw milk with whipped cream vodka was NOT disappointing.

Sunday morning, I woke up early enough to snap this photo of the pretty flowers I planted before our slew of rabbits ate the blossoms off again.

Two of my sisters and I took our mother to Sette Luna (review coming soon!) in Easton for brunch. After a bit of a wait, despite our reservation, the food was well worth it! I enjoyed this pizza topped with smoked salmon, ricotta, red onion, capers, and lemon. As my father noticed, “It’s like a twist on lox on a bagel!”

For my mother- and grandmother-in-law, we picked up some take out Mexican from Fiesta Olé (a favorite of my mother-in-law), then went out for dessert at the Melting Pot, where we enjoyed this Yin & Yang fondue and Flaming Turtle fondue.

After arriving back home, I popped a chicken in the oven to roast for dinners this week and set out to catch up on some of my work backlog. Now, I think it’s time to hit the hay.

The crust for this pizza was made without yeast, as I couldn’t find any in the house. It was a slightly denser texture than some crusts, but still quite good with a nice, crisp bottom. Best of all, it was sooo quick and easy to mix up.

Spring Brunch Pizza

Crust Ingredients:

Crust Ingredients

• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 2 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 T. olive oil (I used mushroom-sage flavor)
• 3/4 c. water

Topping Ingredients:

Topping Ingredients

• 1 T. olive oil
• 3 T. pesto
• 1 medium potato (I used a yellow one)
• black pepper, to taste
• 3 bulbs wild garlic or green onions, with green tops
• 2 duck eggs, or 3 chicken eggs
• 2 c. arugula or chopped spinach
• 8 oz. fromage blanc or ricotta cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix dry crust ingredients in large bowl.
3. Add water and oil. Mix until dough forms soft, not sticky, ball (add up to 1/4 c. more flour, if necessary).
   

   Pizza Dough

4. Knead on floured surface for 3 minutes.
5. Spread on greased pizza pan and brush edges of crust with olive oil.
   

   Crust in pan

6. Spread pesto over crust.
   

   Pesto on Crust

7. Slice the potato as thin as you can (use a mandolin if you have one). Layer potato slices on top of pesto and sprinkle with black pepper.
   

   The thinly sliced potatoes look pretty over the pesto.

8. Chop white and green portions of wild garlic or green onions and sprinkle over potato layer.
   

   Scallions scattered over potatoes

9. Bake pizza for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, scramble eggs.
10. When pizza comes out of oven, scatter scrambled eggs over crust.
    

    The colors look like spring!

11. Spread arugula leaves over eggs.
    

    Arugula layer

12. Drop fromage blanc or ricotta over arugula by spoonful.
13. Bake for 10 additional minutes, or until greens are wilted and crust is lightly browned. Allow to sit for a few minutes before slicing.

The flavors of spring appear in all different elements of this pizza. You can serve it for breakfast, lunch, brunch, or dinner!

Friday night, I darted to Best Buy after work (where I was surprised to receive really poor customer service- usually they jump on you right as you walk in the door, but this crew didn’t want to even be bothered to make a sale) to purchase a new camera. While it charged overnight, I went to my co-leader’s house for a Girl Scout sleepover (although I didn’t stay the night) with the high school troop. They had a good time making jewelry and eating brownies.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early, anticipating the highlight of the whole weekend- The Dirty Girl Mud Run!

I ran the 5K obstacle course (in the mud) with my sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and friend. Since the event was to benefit breast cancer research, we thought an appropriate team name would be “The Fembots,” a la Austin Powers.

Walking into the race area, we got a preview of the last obstacle- An enormous mud pit! Other obstacles included a 10ft wall climb, 20-30ft cargo net climb, mud up to my waist, rappelling down hillsides, and crawling through muddy tunnels.

Every 15 minutes, a wave began, totaling 8000 women running.

After an exhilarating run through the course, we tossed our mud caked sneakers into the donation pile and headed to the hose-off tent.

We were covered in mud and in high spirits after the run. We celebrated with a group fist pump before cashing in our free beer tickets.

After dashing back to Bethlehem, I jumped in the shower and went to catch the end of my professor and mentor’s Cinco De Mayo retirement party. I rushed in just in time to hear the toasts.

Sunday morning, I picked up some Jumbars breakfast to go and went to my old stomping grounds in Moravian’s art department to help my former professor pack and sort her old office items. An artist’s office is always full of the most fascinating objects.

Sunday afternoon, I set to work preparing some quick to reheat meals for dinners this week, including this dandelion & potato soup.

I also made a spinach, ham, and mushroom quiche.

I also made this spring pizza for our Sunday dinner, topped with pesto, potatoes, duck eggs, wild garlic, arugula, and fromage blanc. It was delightful! The recipe will be posted this week, just in time for Mother’s Day brunch!

So, all in all, the weekend made up for a lousy preceding week. Here’s to better weekdays to come!

Between some freelance design work (fun stuff, plus, it pays the bills!), training for my first 5k (the Dirty Girl Mud Run on Saturday), planning a science round-robin for my Brownie troop, working on the marketing plan for the food co-op, some big projects at work, and some other random events coming up, something’s gotta give! So, I am taking a brief hiatus this week.

This is a pretty accurate depiction of how my office looks right now. (from Void Magazine Online)

I hope this isn’t a huge faux pax in the world of blogging—But if it is, oh well, I’ve got sh*t to do, haha! I’ll be back with a ton of juicy posts on Monday.

In the mean time, go outside! And when you are done being outside, submit a recipe to the Bethlehem Food Co-Op Cookbook! We’re putting together a rad collection of seasonal recipes as a fundraiser. You can find a ton more information here. We need 150 recipes, so get busy—I expect to see submissions rolling in while I am bustling about this week.

See you all next week!

Birthday Cake Martini
makes 1 martini, but easy to scale

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. whipped cream vodka
• 2 oz. creme de cacao a la vanille
• 1 oz. amaretto
• 1 oz. heavy cream
• frosting
• nonpareil sprinkles

Directions:

1. Spread thin layer of frosting on small plate. Pour sprinkles into shallow bowl.
2. Dip martini glass rim into frosting, then sprinkles.
3. Add liquors, cream and ice to cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously and pour into sprinkle-rimmed martini glasses.
4. Serve immediately.

Cupcakes & Birthday Cake Martinis

Slow Cooked Soy-Ginger Chicken

Ingredients:

Yes, that is grocery store purchased chicken in this picture! I think it's the only meat we've purchased from a market in over a year. We had a gift card to Trader Joe's and decided to give their product a try. I've got to say, it was odd to have meat in a Styrofoam tray with a bar code sticker ...

• 1 onion
• 6-8 chicken legs
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2″ chunk ginger
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/3 c. soy sauce
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1.5 T. sesame oil

Directions:

1. Peel and cut onion into 1/4″ slices. Place onion slices in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Place chicken legs on top of onion slices.
   

   Layer chicken legs on top of onion slices.

3. Peel garlic cloves & crush them. Add to slow cooker.
4. Peel ginger and cut into 1/8″ slivers. Add to slow cooker.
5. Sprinkle chili powder and black pepper over chicken. Add bay leaf.
   

   Flavorful ginger, garlic & bay leaf

6. Whisk together soy sauce, honey, and sesame oil. Pour over chicken.
   

   Soy Sauce Mixture

7. Cook on low for 8 hours.
8. Remove bay leaf and serve over rice with sauteed greens.

Soy Ginger Chicken with Sauteed Kale