So meet our new birds: Chef Nugget (because she sleeps on the food dish), Lady Cluck (because she sings a lot), Chicken Boo (because we have been watching “The Animaniacs”), Stretcher (because she stretches so much she even points her toes while she eats), and Sweet Pea (because she’s cute, little, and gives green eggs).

I am planning to try a lot of container gardening this year. Any advice?

In case you can’t read the packages:

Corn Strawberry Popcorn- great for kid harvesting, popcorn, and decorating

Country Gentlemen Sweet Corn- this one has mixed reviews, will try it this year and see

Little Marvel Garden Pea- it’s a bush bean, with a heavy yield. Going to try it in containers

Calima Bush Bean- French bean

Purple Podded Pole Bean- because you got to have some color!

Mignonette Bronze Lettuce- Great for hot/tropical weather, which we certainly have

Lollo Rossa Lettuce- Again, color and it’s mild and delicious so the young’un enjoys it

Grandpa Admire’s Lettuce- heat tolerant butterhead, could you ask for anything more?

Cour di Bue Tomato- Italian tomato, apparently good fresh, cooking, or canning. We’ll see.

Great White Tomato- because really why wouldn’t I want a conversation tomato that has a taste mixture of apple,
melon, and guava in the middle of summer?

Striped Cavern Tomato- It’s pretty with it’s yellow stripes

Sara Black Tomato- It’s purply! Plus it’s sweet and spicy and known to be among the best tasting tomatoes

Gold Princess Onion- cipollini type onion that matures early and is great for any dish

Thai Red Roselle- It’s a hibiscus with citrus flavored flowers.

Albino Bullnose Pepper- a cream colored pepper with mild, sweet flavor.

Then I got a bunch of wild flowers, daisies, poppies, and a free gift of Sunflowers for all my pollinator friends out there. And to make the yard look pretty.

*All seeds were ordered from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

What are you growing this year?

I could post the recipe I made the night before up on my site for you to follow along as well. We’ll chalk the delay up to jet lag. Could I really come up with 80 different regions/dishes for dinner?

I would love to hear your suggestions for this challenge. I am going to need your help! Challenge will start 2 weeks from Sunday on March 10, 2013. And end on May 28, 2013.

I began researching CSA’s closer to home. None will ever hold a candle to the fondness I have for our previous one, but does anyone get over their first love. I found a farm that will hopefully fill our need. They are looking to expand what they currently provide, produce and eggs, into meat, dairy, breads, etc. Maybe I will be able to get involved more at the farm since it is closer or help them find opportunities. Who knows. Our new CSA starts in April. It delivers to our doorstep so no more worrying over who will find the time to go pick it up. And it is from a farm about 10 miles from our home so it really is more local.

Find a CSA, farm stand, farmers market, etc that works for you. There are many popping up every where. Perhaps contact an established one and see if you get a group of people signed up can you create a pick up spot more conveinent for you. Many accept SNAP so great, local food can be had. If you can’t find something now, keep checking back this is a growing movement and many more are popping up all the time.

Here are a few resources to help you find your local food:
www.LocalHarvest.org
www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml
www.csafarms.org
www.justfood.org
www.farmersmarket.com
www.localfarmmarkets.com

And there are many more specific websites by state if you google your area.

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I started by making the pretzels. While the dough chilled for an hour I started making the graham crackers for cookie butter. While the dough chilled for a half hour I started typing up recipes for you.

Soft Pretzel Bites:

.25 oz active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup baking soda

coarse salt for sprinkling (also good if you sprinkle cinnamon sugar)

In a medium mixing bowl, mix yeast, water, and sugar and let stand for 5 minutes. Gradually add flour and salt. Turn out onto clean work surface and need 3-4 minutes, until dough is elastic and smooth. Put dough in a lightly oiled bowl, covered, for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400. Oil a large baking sheet.

Bring 7 cups water and baking soda to a rolling boil. Punch dough down and separtate into 8 portions. Roll each piece into a rope about 1/2 inch thick. Cut pieces about 1 inch knife.

Drop 3-4 pieces into water mixture at a time. Boil for 30 seconds then remove with slotted spoon and place on baking sheet. Repeat til all dough pieces have been boiled. Sprinkle with salt.  Bake 10-12 minutes until all pieces are golden brown.

Graham Crackers

4 oz wheat flour

1 oz all purpose flour

1.5 oz brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1.5 oz cold butter

1 oz molasses

.75 oz cold milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together. Add cold butter until flour looks like cornmeal. Add molasses, milk and vanilla and mix until dough forms a ball. Press into a 1/2 inch thick disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350.

Unwrap dough a place on a piece of parchment. Place a second piece of parchment on top and roll out until 1/8 inch thick. Slide dough onto sheet pan. Remove top sheet of parchment. Slice dough into 2 inch square pieces.* Trim off excess. Poke holes throughout dough. Leave crackers right on pan and bake for 10-15 minutes or until edges just start to darken. Remove from oven and set entire sheet pan on cooling rack to cool. Once cool break into individual pieces.

*If you are using for dip just roll out, no need to make pretty

Cookie Butter

8 oz graham crackers

1/2 c powdered sugar

2 T brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

3/4 c vegetable oil

Put crackers into a food processor. Add sugars and spices. Process until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl. Working in batches put mixture into a spice grinder until very finely ground. Return mixture to food processor. Very slowly stream in oil, stopping to scrape down sides as necessary.

Mixture is good for 1 month at room temperature. If it separates, just mix back together.

Ginger Snap Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 T finely chopped crystallized ginger

1 c sugar

1/4 c Lyle’s Golden Syrup

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

you will need plastic wrap, parchment paper, and a cookie cutter, any decorating frostings and things you desire

Whisk together flour, five-spice, baking soda, salt in a bowl.

Pulse ginger with 1/4 cup sugar until finely ground (I do this in my kitchenaid mixer and it mixes it enough). Add syrup, butter, egg, and remaining sugar and blend until mixture is thick and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add flour and pulse just until a dough forms.

Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plasktic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 2 days.

Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut dough into quarters. Keep remaining 3 pieces wrapped and in the fridge. Roll out 1 piece on lightly floured parchment to 1/8 inch thick. Cut with cutter and transfer to lined baking sheet. Arrange cookies about 2 inches apart. Save scaps. Repeat process while previous batch bakes. Refrigerate scraps for another batch at end, giving a chance to harden.

Bake cookies until slightly puffed and a shade darker, 10-12 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on sheet. If desired, make holes with piping tip near edge to hang cookies. Transfer cookies, still on parchment to a rack to cool.

Once completely cooled, have a blast decorating!

You will need

For Cake:

Cooking Spray

1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs, separated

1/2 c unsalted butter at room temperature

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1/2 c whole milk

For Filling:

4 T non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening at room temperature

4 T unsalted butter at room temperature

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c sifted powdered sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Make the Cakes:

Make a mold. This is the trickiest part of the whole recipe. Rip aluminum foil into strips that are about 4×12 inches. Fold each piece in half so it creates a double layer. Shape the foil around a spice jar and tuck it in the sides so that you have a half cylinder mold that is as smooth as possible on the inside. Set it into a 9×13 inch baking dish and repeat until you have 12 boats. Spray inside of molds with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined. Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with wire whip attachment until whites hold soft peaks. Gently transfer whites to another bowl and set aside. Rinse and dry mixer bowl.

Put the butter in mixer bowl and beat with paddle until butter starts to get light and fluffy. Add sugar and beat again until fluffy. Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat to combine.

Add a third of the flour mixture to the mixer bowl, beat for a moment, then add half the milk and beat. Add third of flour, beat, then rest of milk, then rest fo flour. Make sure they are fully incorporated. Stir in a third of beaten egg whites into the batter. When fully incorporated, gently fold the rest in.

Using a pastry bag, pipe batter into mold filling each under halfway. Bake for 25-3o minutes, until cakes start to turn gold and toothpick comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool entirely.

Unwrap the foil from each cake, and use a knife to make a 2-3 inch cut in the  bottom. The cut should go about halfway into each cake.

Make the Filling:

Combine shortening, butter, salt, powdered sugar, and vanilla in clean mixer bowl. Beath with paddle attachment until fluffy.

Scoop filling into a clean pastry bag and stick the tip into a cut at the bottom of each cake. Keep squeezing the pastry bag until the filling begins to leak around tip.

*For fun festive alternatives add coloring to batter for different holidays. Add peppermint extract to filling for Christmas, also delicious orange extract, lemon extract, almond, don’t be shy. After making all those boats you deserve to make an extra fun treat!

Now for the most delicious lasagna I have ever made, dairy free or non. Please feel free to add meat, vegetables, whatever to this dish to make it yours, however the recipe below is for the straight up lasagna giving both dairy and non dairy options.

1 pound lasagna noodles (homemade or store bought) *although I usually make my own noodles I did try 365 brand no boil lasagna noodles and it came out alright, I prefer homemade, but can recommend the brand

1 tsp salt, plus a large pinch for pasta water if using store bought noodles

2 cups Ricotta (here you can substitute mozzarella Teese)

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

3 1/2 cups Tomato Sauce (I use my own sauce which has smoked peppers mixed in giving it an awesome heat, I would recommend adding some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce if you are using store bought tomato sauce)

1 pound Mozzarella (again substitue mozzarell Teese)

3/4 cup grated Parmesan (there are vegan cheeses that can be used here, but I just eliminated it when we made it and it didn’t loose too much “cheesiness”)

Preheat oven to 375. Cook store bought noodles if necessary. Combine ricotta, eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a mixer, food processor or blender. If using just Teese Mozzarella add it all here.

Spoon 1/2 cup tomato sauce into a 9×13 pan, spread evenly. Add a layer of noodles. Then a layer of ricotta mixture, then a third of the sauce. Then noodles, mozzarella (or ricotta mixture), 1/3 sauce. Then noodles, the rest of cheese mixture (unless only using mixture then save enough to top lasagna). Then noodles, sauce, and cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil, make a tent so foil doesn not touch cheese. Bake for 40 minutes, then remove foil and bake for 15 minutes more. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

First what does the launch of subscriptions mean?

Back in the day when Arubula’s Kitchen started it was weekly menus that were created specifically for you. I send you an email asking different questions getting to know your kitchen habits- foods you like, time you have to cook, comfort in ability in your kitchen, what you are wanting to make, what you need from your dinner (i.e. leftovers for lunch the next day), how many you are cooking for and who, nutritional needs, budgets,  etc…then every Friday by 3pm I will email you a grocery list, prep list if necessary, and 7 dinner recipes for the following week. If you have been using or are using the subscription process I track what you have in your house so that ingredients never go to waste. Some “leftovers” from a meal in one week will be utilized in the following week on occasion and are always noted on how much quantity should be set aside for a future dish. I will help you learn to cook for more than one meal at a time, making a double or triple batch of an item so it can be frozen or used in a future dish. Also all recipes are “from scratch” using whole ingredients. All for $25 a month. Interested? Please email LettuceKnow@live.com or go to the contact page.  Feel free to cancel any time! And there aren’t any other spam emails during or after you subscribe. All you get is your subscription!

Now for the fun part…

One lucky follower can win a Gift Certificate good for one month. This can be emailed or snail mailed to you or can be given as a gift. It is yours to do with what you wish!

To Enter:

Using Rafflecopter for several entry opportunities:

* Like Lettuce Eat Together on Facebook

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* Share this giveaway on Facebook

* Tweet the giveaway on Twitter

* Leave comment below saying what you are thankful for this year

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Giveaway Entry opportunities end Friday, November 16, 2012 at 12pm EST. Winner will be drawn at random and will be contacted thru contact info provided no later than Friday, November 16, 2012 at 2pm EST. In the event the winner does not respond within 48 hrs another winner will be drawn at random. And will continue until a winner claims prize. Prize is valued at $25 USD.

Gift certificates are available for purchase for all your gift giving needs and again to sign up for your own subscription, cancel any time, contact LettuceKnow@live.com or through the website

Clients that have found the subscription useful: working parents, new parents, new to allergies, budgeting help, stuck in a rut, new diet restrictions, college students, college graduates, picky eaters, learning to cook, wanting to eat healthier, wanting to eat seasonally/locally, newlyweds