it's about time i came on here and professed my food and blog related aspirations for 2012, no? (particularly because i realized i never even got around to doing it in 2011 - for shame!)
i for one, love new starts. when the new year comes i have loads of things i plan to do in the 12 months sprawled out and beckoning in front of me. below are the ones i think you might like to know about:
1) i have one very big new start coming soon; after a good full year has passed (yikes!) since i first roared about it here and over there i am this close to redesigning and relaunching these two blogs on one brand new website! i am so excited about it that it's hard not to jump in and tell you all about it right now! but, alas, i'll wait, because in just a few more weeks i'll be able to show it to you!*
2) grow more beans! this was the first year i earnestly attempted to grow beans for drying. i did four varieties and cannot believe how easy they are to grow and shuck (is that the right word?). i love me my beans, and yes i know that rancho gordo has cornered the market in heirloom beans. but, it's really, really fun to grow your own! and then you really do know how fresh they are.
3) have fun with it! all of it; growing, preserving, eating. it's easy for me to be obsessive (have i mentioned that before?) about the things i get into. but gardening and preserving, and eating locally and seasonally doesn't have to be another stress causing endeavor. let's face it, for most of us in the modern world it's a choice, not a necessity. so...
in 2012 i'm having fun with my food! i will grow and preserve as much as i can. but you know what? if i can't do as much as i want to do (who me?) then that's OK.
4) eat more whole grains. give me my bread, my cheese, and my cultured butter and i am as happy as a tigress in...(um, a jungle?) oh, and olive oil, too. basically, i can literally live on bread and fat. which i don't think in and of themselves are bad things, mind you. but, i do love whole grains, and they are good for you. so this year i'm making an effort to eat more of them.
5) get back to baking bread. you peeps are going to think i'm crazy. i know you know an oxymoron when you see one. but - let me explain. about four years ago i decided that i was going to learn how to bake bread. that led me down a year and a half path of never buying bread (theme?). it was really fun, and i must admit, i turned some good bread out of my kitchen. then my oven broke and it took quite a few months to fix. nuff said. the bread baking flew out the window never to return.
until now - i'm bringin' it back for 2012! and to prove it, i revived my little pet (photo above). this is the same wild yeast AKA sourdough that i started four years ago. he was tucked in the back of my fridge, starved nearly to death. but i took him out and lo, after just one feeding he got all bubbly and excited.
i can't let this poor bugger down, i just have to make bread now! plus it's a good way to eat more whole grains (ahem).
*pawnote: it's been so hard to refrain from telling you about all of the updates coming your way on the new site; the new look, the recipe index, the new categories - and lotz more amazing stuff. but, shhh! mum's the word! for now.
HAPPY 2012! BRING IT ON!
Yay for beans! After my first dabble with lima beans I was hooked, and last week I enjoyed hoppin' johns with my own black eyed peas. The challenge for me this summer will be building adequate trellises to get even better productivity. I look forward to seeing what varieties you grow.
ReplyDeletevalhalla - i had to look up hoppin' johns. i had no idea what it was (damn yankee)!
ReplyDeletei am so glad that you are also roaring about beans! isn't it so fun to eat your very own? last year i grew only bush beans so i did not have to deal with trellising and it worked out so well i am planning the same for this year - only many more of them.
aw girl, you've been to SC!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm a beanatic. I went with the plain old black-eyed peas and then discovered the marvelous diversity of field peas--next seed order, I guess. My limas were supposed to be "semi-bush" but then they grew all up into my tomatoes. Those spotted beans are gorgeous.
de-lurking to say that I very much enjoy your site, and I would love to know what kinds of beans you grew. I've been dreaming about doing the same, and I think I live up the road from your summer home (and probably your garden?) - in the Berkshires. Knowing what kinds grew well for you would be a good place to start!
ReplyDeletei'm excited!! i love me some tigress.
ReplyDelete~erica @ gawkylu.com
Exciting about joining the two sites..I look forward to it..
ReplyDeleteFunny thing about yeast...it is amazing! (and did you know you can freeze it for ever use! Freeze it in little packs about the size you want to use..amazing stuff!)
Looking forward t your adventures..
Beans have come along way since I was able to grow them. Used to grow flageolets, Santa Maria pinquitos, plus cranberry. Now the heirloom catalogs are loaded! Fun times ahead.
ReplyDeletep.s. I do freeze yeast and it has lasted at least 8 years. I keep thinking it won't start but it just wakes up and goes.
Can't wait to see what you have in store for us! Especially interested in the growing your own beans thing...I love me my beans too!
ReplyDeleteHmm. I have a little jar of beans from my garden,but couldn't possibly expand in my little plot. The beans grew so big last year they uprooted their own support stakes and simply carried them away.
ReplyDeleteI've also been gathering steam for a bash at breadmaking. I haven't plunged into the yeast quite yet, but...
I look forward to hearing more from you, oh intrepid Tigress! Happy 2012!
everyone - i am lovin' the bean love! this past summer i tried a whole bunch of them - the three that worked the best for me were:
ReplyDeletetiger's eye bush bean - territorial seed co. #bno73/p
etna bush bean - territorial seed co. #bn045/p
jacob's cattle (trout) bush bean - southern exposure seed exchange #13402
and the one pictured above is:
yin yang bush bean - territorial seed co. #bn065/p
they are gorgeous, but the yield was about 1/3rd of the three listed above, so i am not sure i will grow them again next year.
thanks for all of the kind words on the upcoming new site. and i love that we have some wanna-be bread bakers in the houze too!
on freezing sourdough starter - yes i had heard that, and since mine was tucked in the back of the fridge not freezer i wasn't sure if he was still alive - but yay, he survived!
stay tuned all.
It seems we are all obsessing over beans. This year I discovered yellow eyed beans here in New England. Of course, I fell in love,but then, I think local has a flavor that most people haven't touched to their lips yet.Looking forward to the new site,HOWEVER,we love you just the way you are.
ReplyDeletethank you for your kind words. and yes i think it is true, the fact that the beans are so fresh and locally grown counts for a lot. i could not believe how large my homegrown beans became when i cooked them!
DeleteI first found your blog last summer and have learned a lot- thanks! Maybe there is bean-love crossing the country, because my seed order includes dried beans. I will have to look into territorial seed co. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI also declared that I would only bake my own bread as of October, 2011. Lasted a while and now I am back at it. I look forward to seeing the new website.