I Can Can

Learning how to can seems like a skill from the days before refrigeration, but it has been growing in popularity recently as a way to maintain a commitment to local produce year-round.  But as the bounty of summer gave way to the slim pickings of the winter market, I thought I had missed my canning window.  But then we moved to Texas, home of these beauties.

The Texas Rio Star Grapefruit

As I think about what types of canning recipes are worth my time, I really want things I can't find at the grocery store.  So simple orange marmalade wasn't good enough.  The salmon-blush of grapefruit marmalade, however, can rarely be found on a supermarket shelf.  I found this recipe online at the cosmic cowgirl's very cute blog and set to work.

I love the smell of grapefruit, but I find it can be too bitter for me.  I also decided that I wanted to cut the amount of sugar in the jam so I added additional low-sugar pectin.  In the end, I removed almost all the peel  to reduce the bitterness and ended up with four jars of mildly bitter, but sweet and bright jam.

Look how pretty!!

Of course, there is no better use for freshly made jam than spreading it on warm, homemade bread.  Luckily, I've been baking two loaves a week so I always have some on hand.

Realizing that it will take me months to get through the jam one tablespoon at a time, I decided to incorporate it into a BBQ sauce for a shredded pork shoulder.  The sauce was delicious - just a little sweet with a good bit of heat and a deep, rich flavor.  I piled the meat onto homemade buns (definitely worth the extra effort) and paired it with a feta coleslaw inspired by the BBQ truck that parks at the farmer's market each weekend.  If you want to try them (and I think you should), I've written out my recipes below.

You can decide whether or not you want to take an artistic still life of your ingredients before you begin.

Fruity, Spicy BBQ Shredded Pork

This makes a pretty spicy sauce - feel free to reduce the chipotle chiles to taste.  My local market had pork shoulder cut into large chunks labeled "carnitas meat," but a bone-in shoulder would work just as well with an increased cooking time.  If you don't have grapefruit jam, I'm sure orange marmalade would be almost as good.

     3 lbs pork shoulder, cut into 6 pieces

     1 small onion, finely diced

     4 cloves garlic, minced

     3 chipotle chiles in adobo, minced

     1/2 c. grapefruit jam

     1/2 c. hoisin sauce

     6 oz tomato paste

     3 T balsamic vinegar

     2 T wochestershire sauce

     2 T chili powder

     1 T cumin

     1 T salt

Mix all ingredients together and coat pork in the crock pot.  Cook on low 4-6 hours (during which time, you should make the buns and watch KU win an NCAA tournament game).  Remove pork and let sit until cool enough to handle.  Meanwhile, let sauce continue to simmer in crockpot to thicken.  Shred pork and return to sauce.  Serve on soft buns, with pickles if you have them.

Feta Slaw

     1/2 head cabbage, green or red

     2 carrots, grated

     1 red bell pepper, julienned

     5 green onions, thinly sliced

     6 oz feta, crumbled

     1 T canola oil

     1/4 c red wine vinegar

     1 t dried oregano

     salt and pepper

Shred half a head of cabbage (I made a stirfry with the other half, but you'll do as you see fit) and toss with grated carrots, julienned bell pepper, and green onions.  Whisk together oil, vinegar, oregano,  several grinds of pepper, and a pinch of salt.  When ready to serve, mix vegetables and feta with the dressing.

My first run at canning was really time-consuming (the better part of two nights).  But it was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to making super-garlicy pickles, our own house-blend of salsa, and more jams and fruit butters as the farmer's market options grow.  I may even go pick my own berries for preserves

Hank Likes to Help in the Kitchen

{clapclapclap} Deep in the Heart of Texas

We arrived in Texas late in the first week of the new year (now more than 2 months ago!!!) and I began work  the following Monday.  I've been sending my mom a picture of myself on my first day of school every fall since I left for college (prior to that, she took the picture herself).  So it only seemed appropriate to text her a quick photo on my way out the door on the first day of my postdoc.

I'm a dork.

Work has been great so far. I'm getting to learn different skills than I used during grad school - which is exactly what I was looking for.  The transition to a new job is challenging because I hate constantly feeling like I don't know what I'm doing!!

I'm official!

The second week of work, there was a "snowstorm" that closed my office until noon.  It looked like this:

See how the sidewalk looks white?  That's the snow.

Geoff and I are really liking living in a larger city and having a lot more options for food, shows, museums, and more.  We really miss our friends in State College, but our favorite thing in San Antonio is living a block and a half from the Holtz!!  Veronica and I haven't lived in the same state for ten years and this is closer than we have lived our whole lives - it's wonderful.  They introduced us to our favorite thing in the neighborhood - Paciugo gelato!

We like it so much that Geoff even requested a gelato pie for his birthday in February.

Happy Birthday!

We formed a Wii Rock Band, have each other over for dinner, and go to the farmer's market every weekend.  

The farmer's market in San Antonio is great because it is year round!!  The growing season starts so early that there were strawberries at the market today.  Between the farmer's market and all the "Made in Texas" food at the grocery store, it has been relatively easy to hit 50% local food.  Not to mention, everything is bigger in Texas:

That dog is a Afghan Wolfhound.

The Move that Ate Christmas

"And then the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin

Moving was a logistical challenge (last minute delay to replace tires, 4 hours to get the cat into the car, movers stuck in traffic), but the hard part was really the emotional toll of leaving so many amazing friends and the only town Geoff and I had ever lived in together.  I just can't imagine my life without some of these people so I'm sure we will see them again.  Still, heading out into the unknown is scary, even with Geoff by my side.

Goodbye last remaining granary in Pennsylvania

Despite the move, and knowing that it would be taken down prior to Christmas I went ahead and put up our little Christmas tree.  Almost all of the decorations are tiny knit sweaters, hand-sewn felt shapes, and the annual painted wooden frame with a picture of Geoff and I that I make each year.  Best of all are the red crocheted snowflakes my mom made from the same pattern she used to make snowflakes for she and dad's first tree.

It made me smile amidst all the packed boxes.

During the move, a lot of junk we (okay, really, I) accumulated was donated or thrown out which was desperately needed.  Among all the cleaning, sorting, and packing, I convinced myself that I needed to get as much knitting done as possible - because then I wouldn't have to pack the yarn (my powers of justification are legendary).  I made quite a few of these little sheep sachets with bits of white, black, and gray yarn.

Get it?  They are sheep.  That protect wool.

But the best stash-busting project?  This guy:

Just look at that face.  I almost couldn't give him away.

I had some leftover orange and tan yarn and I had found a board book called "That's Not My Monkey!"  The book ends with an orangutan, so I knew this would be a perfect little stuff animal to knit for Miss C.

Unfortunately, I didn't pay much attention to the pattern and "little" isn't how it ended up - I needed all of a second ball of yarn!  You'll see why in a minute but it was all worth it.  

Like all good toddlers, ripping off the wrapping paper was all part of the fun.

And once it was opened, C found an orangutan as big as she is!

The orang has velcro hands so it can give hugs!

Perhaps the most fun part of the gift?

We left State College on December 22rd and got to my parents on the 23rd, so Christmas sort of snuck up on us.  I had meant to send out cards or a letter, or even an e-mail - but I ran out of time.  So....

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM GEOFF AND ELLEN!!!

Thankfully, my parents were more than amply prepared for Christmas so we arrived to stockings hung by the chimney with care.

Stockings are strictly hung in descending age order in the Quillen/Harp household.

It would be a while before our truck arrived in San Antonio so we spent about 10 days in Lawrence and Geoff found a great open mic night to play at the Jazzhaus.

But eventually we had to get back on the road.  Hank had finally started to trust us again, when we strapped her back into her kitty harness and dragged her to the car.

30 hours of freaked out cat on my lap.

Next stop...Texas.

...And we're back!

Wow!  I can't believe four months has passed since I last posted - well, I suppose I can because a lot has changed since then.  In December, I graduated from Penn State and two days later we hopped in the car to start the drive to Texas.

The quintessential PSU graduation photo.

Graduation was exciting - if for no other reason than this is probably the most fabric I've ever had on my body at once.  Geoff calls these my Tycho Brahe robes, but they don't include a silver nose.  My friend Julia and I were able to walk together at the ceremony, five and a half years after we started together in the department.

The Doctors.

The actual hooding took place while we were at our seats in the auditorium so Mark and I staged some photos ahead of time.  This is right before he taught me the secret handshake.

Pomp and Circumstance indeed.

My family all flew out for the ceremony and my friend Sarah drove up from DC.

Trying not to look bored

It made me feel all warm and fuzzy that they all sat there for two hours just so they could see this:

That's me on the left after shaking President Spanier's hand.

My best supporter!

It was wonderful to have Geoff and my family there to share in my graduation because I couldn't have done it without them.

Proud parents of TWO graduates in one year.

After graduation, we had a lot of people over for a party - a lot!  It was freezing cold outside but the house was so full people were on the porch.  It was really touching that so many people came out to say goodbye!  Geoff's band played and we stayed up way too late with about 50 of our bestest friends.  

The trouble with graduate school is that there is a built in end date - almost everyone has, is, or soon will be moving on to somewhere else.  For me, my time at Penn State wasn't just about earning a degree, it was the time when I grew most as a person, met the love of my life, and made some of the best friends I have ever had.  

Knitting Up a Storm

I've done quite a bit of stash-busting knitting (plus and a few pieces with new yarn) over the last two months.  First up was a fish-shaped dishcloth I found on ravelry. I was hoping it would motivate me to do the dishes - it does not.  But it did use up the last of my lemon-lime kitchen cotton!

Then a sweet little baby sweater based on my Grandma Dot's pattern who taught it to my mom who taught it to me in turn. My mom loves making these so much that she sells them on etsy. I may put one or two up in her shop too. They are really a lot of fun to make. I'm really in love with yellow and gray as a color combo right now but yellow is not a good color on me - so I'm foisting it on babies instead!  My friend Sara loved it and cried at the fact that three generations of women in my family have knit this (Geoff points out that it is no great feat to make a pregnant woman cry).

Baby Quinn (in utero here) was born five weeks ago.

I knit up this sweet little summer weight scarf (pattern from Purl Bee) out of a free skein of yarn my mom got from Caron. It is soft, drapey (is that a word?) acrylic/wool blend that feels really luxurious - but it is a weird salmon color. I'm trying to figure out how to work it into my wardrobe, but I'm glad it is out of my stash.



Actually, it works with this outfit - so that's one.

 Next up were one year old sweaters for my cousin's baby Wyatt and my dear little friend Clara out of leftover cotton yarn.  I have a penchant for stripes so they came out in both sweaters:



For Miss Clara, the Confection Shrug





For Master Wyatt, the Candlestick Baby Sweater 

 And another baby sweater for the Christmas baby due to my friends Khytam and David.  This one had a sweet little monkey on it that matched the nursery patterns.  I love how the monkey turned out!

Khytam loved the sweater!

Close-up of the monkey.

And lastly, to keep my toes warm on our hardwood floors, some cuddly alpaca socks with turquoise toes and crochet trim.  I knit these on the way down and back to DC last week.



Our backyard is a blanket of golden leaves - so pretty!

 I was talking to my Khytam (who is a psychologist) and she asked me how I have time for knitting and I told her that I can't handle having my hands unoccupied while I watch TV or ride in the car.  She replied "You have a manic side I've never seen before, don't you?"  I suspect she may be right.