30 x 30 Wrap-Up

Work Things
1. Find a Time Management System that Works
This is a constant struggle but the Pomodoro Technique, paired with a weekly priorities list, and a dry erase board listing the current status (urgent, backburner, waiting on a collaborator) and next step for each project are currently working for me pretty well.  I still constantly underestimate how much time everything will take me, but I'm getting better.

2. Five Publications 
I have only had two papers actually come out, one on paraoxonase in the Journal of Lipids  my dissertation work in Human Genetics but I have three more in press which will be out sometime in the next few months (hopefully) depending on the publishers' timelines.

3. Three Grant Applications
I've applied for more three applications and most importantly had one funded by Wenner-Gren.  I'll be ramping that research project up soon and I can't wait!  

4. Keep up with New Statistical Applications
This is a sisyphean task as there are always new methods coming out.  I did attend a great course taught at Cold Spring Harbor Lab in August which gave me all sorts of new references to work from.

5. Improve my R and Linux Programming

A friend of mine started an R programming group in San Antonio which has been great for learning new applications and meeting other nerds.

Fun Things
6. Go on a picnic
Not yet.  This whole fun things sectionis going to be ugly.  Evidently, I need to have more fun.

7. Go camping
Nope.

8. Go to a local festival
Turns out I don't like crowds.

9. Go to the beach
Yes!  In Malibu and Venice.

10. Go to a professional sporting event
Uh-uh. But I'm hoping for a San Antonio Silver Stars game this summer.

11. Participate in alumni association events
I cheered on the Jayhawks at a March Madness watch party.  Turns out the motivation I needed to finally get out of the house was getting rid of cable.

12. Use the library
I haven't actually checked out any books yet, but I've started looking forward to my commute thanks to their audiobooks.

13. Visit the zoo and botanical garden
Neither.

14. Watch classic movies

This one I've done a lot and, in agreement with every list ever, Casablanca was my favorite.

Crafty Things
15. Crochet a throw
Decided to be a bit less ambitious and crochet a pillow instead.  I'm really starting to get why people enjoy crocheting, though and may try a throw eventually.

16. Sew 6 garments for myself 
I did make two new items from scratch - my Easter dress and a mod pink pencil skirt I haven't posted yet - but I am even more excited to be upcycling new outfits from old clothes - teal pants and black cardigan with crepe ruffle, navy skirt and grey striped button down, and summer t-shirt dress (I'll be posting soon).  It's better for the environment AND my wallet.

17. Knit a sweater (Vignette Cardigan)
I knit one and I've cast on three others, because starting is the most fun part of a project!  

18. Knit a pair of socks
This was my first pair of socks with sock yarn and they are so decadent.  There is something really luxurious about hand knit socks.

19. Own no yarn that moved from PA
I'm counting those three cast-ons as using the yarn, so this is pretty much true.  All of my yarn now fits in the four wire baskets I have allocated for it, and I'm determined to keep it that way!

20. Put all photos in scrapbooks
Done, done, done!   

21. Learn to take better photographs
I really regret that I didn't put more time into this and I think I'll carry it over into the new year.  I do wish I took better photos, but I know it will take work.

22. Learn to draw
I started working on this and then realized that it really isn't that important to me right now.  

Yummy Things

23. Bake through Bread Baker’s Apprentice
I've learned to vary hydration levels (stiff dough for bagels and wet, sticky dough for focaccia), make lean pain de campagne and extremely rich casatiello, and leavened bread with direct fermentation (cranberry-walnut bread), instant yeast (stollen), and sourdough (pumpernickel).  My favorite development, though, is the sourdough pizza dough that has replaced my normal Friday dough.

24. Make brunch once a month
I love breakfast food.  This year we had apple-sour cream pancakes, Dutch baby, Southwestern omelet with extra crispy hash browns, waffles, spicy chicken biscuit sandwiches, peach and sausage kolaches, Moroccan merguez ragout with poached eggs, and migas.  

25. Try out six new canning recipes
Before summer rolls around, I'm using up my last stores of ginger pear butter, tomato jam, serrano jelly, ice-brined garlic dill pickles, peach butter, and - my favorite and already gone - chocolate balsamic strawberry jam.

26. Cook with a new ingredient each month
I tried out kala jeera, forbidden rice, pork belly, cocoa nibs, crab, caperberries, chia, and harissa, but I spotted three new fruits I'd never seen at the store today.

Strong Things
27. Run a half-marathon
I did it! I'm I ready to train for next year.

28. Compete in a 1 mile swim race
I missed the actual race (I was at my statistics course), but I've been swimming a mile most Sunday mornings.  

29. Complete two triathlons 
This year I completed the Spa Girl triathlon and Wurst Tri Ever.  Both had particularly fun swimming elements.  The Spa Girl was held at a resort and we swam the quarter-mile in the lazy river and the Wurst Tri Ever we road a water slide that dropped us into a spring-fed pond.

Last Thing
30. Purge things we don’t need from each room of the house
This has been so satisfying!  It is an ongoing project, and I think I may double back and purge more.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all of my American readers are enjoying time with family or friends following a delicious Thanksgiving meal.  Now that all the dishes are done and the leftovers stuffed into an overflowing fridge, those of you hosting should put your feet up and relax.  If you have house-guests, though, they might be expecting breakfast tomorrow.  Sure, you could make a turkey omelette or a sweet-potato hash, but I'd recommend that the morning after this quintessentially American holiday, you should make a German pancake.  This "dutch baby" bears little resemblance to the American flapjack, but it has two big advantages - you can dump all of the ingredients in the blender and it all cooks in one big skillet.  The result is a lemony, slightly eggy pancake with a great texture.  I topped mine with some truly excellent Ginger Pear Butter made from The Kitchenette's recipe, but you might consider topping it off with leftover cranberry sauce.  You'll want that fridge space back eventually.


Dutch Baby
Adapted from Gourmet


2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
3 large eggs
2/3 cup skim milk
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 lemon

1. Place all ingredients except butter in the blender and blend until smooth and light.
2. Place 10" cast iron skillet into oven and heat to 450 degrees.
3. Once oven reaches temperature, add butter to skillet and swirl.
4. Pour in batter and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice (it forms light glaze where the two meet).
6. Cut into wedges and serve with jam, syrup, fruit butter, or cranberry sauce.

Savory Jams

I've mentioned before that I try not to can things that are readily available at the grocery store.  Sweet and savory tomato jam definitely falls into that category.  I saw this on the Wednesday Chef blog more than a year ago and was drawn in by the idea of a tomato jam to use on sandwiches and especially as a new twist on my favorite Sunday morning toast and sunny-side up egg.  It is accented with cumin, which I love, but contains too much sugar for my taste.  I'm working on coming up with ways to use up the rest of the jar, but I've realized that I'm just not that into sweetness outside of dessert.  I like the idea of a tomato jam, but perhaps something halfway between a sauce and tomato paste with lots of herbs and a spicy kick.

My other canning experiment this month was the result of a very overgrown serano plant at Veronica's place.  While I was cat-sitting, I picked nearly a pound of red and green peppers and still left quite a few on the plant!  I had seen this recipe for pepper jelly at Confections of a Foodie Bride and decided that would be the perfect use for this bounty.  I have fond memories of party appetizers from my undergrad days consisting of just the block of cream cheese covered with jalapeno jelly and served with crackers.  I made a half-recipe each with red and green seranos.  A few notes of caution on this recipe.  First, boiling hot peppers in vinegar should only be done with the exhaust fan on - unless you are trying to drive guests out of your house.  Second, seranos are HOT, so I added back only a tiny amount of pulp that came through the sieve and the result was still pretty spicy.  If you don't like the heat, you can make a milder version by removing the seeds before boiling the peppers or increasing the proportion of bell peppers to spicy peppers.  This jam includes a lot of sugar, but here it is really necessary to cut the heat of the peppers.  The richness of the cream cheese is a great complement to the jam and I think this is the best way to serve it.  If you're facing an excess of peppers, consider making some pepper jelly and canning it in small jars.  The red and green would make for pretty stocking stuffers or hostess gifts.

I took the jam and cream cheese to a pool party with some girl friends which we all enjoyed until the first thunderstorm we've had all summer rolled through!  Not to worry, there is plenty more summer to be had here in south Texas so we'll have plenty more chances for lounging by the pool.

In a Pickle, Again

This was my second attempt at homemade pickles.  My favorite pickles are extra-garlicky and super-crunchy.  So basically, I want to can pickles that taste like refrigerator pickles.  It's a lofty standard, but I decided to try out this recipe for ice-brined spicy garlic dill pickles.  Supposedly, pre-brining the cucumbers overnight on ice keeps the pickles from getting too soft during canning.  I don't really follow the science of this, but I gave it a try.

I brined the cucumbers whole but sliced them before putting them in the jars because I mostly use pickles on sandwiches and burgers. I forgot that I was making a half-batch of these and included the full amount of pickle spices.  I didn't really notice a difference, but the pickling liquid is rather yellow.  After a couple days to let the vinegar penetrate the cucumbers, I cracked open a jar.  The pickles were good, but not particularly crisp.  This may be a case where store-bought will always trump my homemade.  I'd much rather spend my time making peach butter.

So what do you do with 8 jars of sliced pickles?  Make oven-fried pickles of course!  I've had my eye on this recipe from Skinnytaste for a while and I wish I had made them sooner!  I added an extra step by flouring the slices first before dredging in egg and the cornmeal/Panko mix resulting in a nice, thick crust that stayed on the pickle chips.  The results were delicious, especially when dipped in ranch dressing spiked with horseradish.  I took these to a ladies' night last weekend and got a bit of good-natured teasing for having biked to the farmer's market to buy these cucumbers, canning the pickles myself, and then making the breaded pickles and horseradish-yogurt ranch dressing from scratch.  That is, when their mouths weren't full.

Peachy Keen

This is the second year I've made this peach butter from Smitten Kitchen and I had to share it with you.  It is perfectly simple without the spices you find in most apple or pear butters.  You just cook together peaches, sugar, lemon juice and a bit of water until thick and then can it for those cold winter months when you need a hit of sunshine.  Of course it is great on toast, but my favorite way to eat it is swirled into Greek yogurt or oatmeal.  I've put up four jars so far, but that won't last me until next summer.  Not when it tastes like the platonic ideal of a peach and looks like a summer sunset.

Feeding Friendship: Chocolate Balsamic Strawberry Jam

HUGE and perfectly sweet strawberries have been overrunning the market lately.  Although they seem to be ever-present at the grocery store, it's this time of year when strawberries are really at their best - and their cheapest.  Knowing that strawberries will soon give way to their blue- and black-berry cousins, I wanted to put up some strawberries.  What I think my be my favorite book on home economics - Make Bread, Buy Butter - makes the very credible argument that you shouldn't can things you can buy perfectly good versions of at the grocery store.  And at my fancy-schmancy Central Market, you have shelf upon shelf of strawberry jams.  Some adorned with sweet, gingham fabric, some even made by nuns.

What you can't find, however, is chocolate-balsamic strawberry jam.; so that is what I set out to make using this recipe from Toronto Tasting Notes and the chocolate balsamic vinegar I picked up at the Tasteful Olive in Overland Park, KS.  My berries were huge so I cut them into about 8 pieces before allowing them to macerate about 3 days (I kept meaning to get the canning, but I procrastinated).  The flavor of the jam is quite complex with the sweetness of the berries (and lots of sugar) balanced by the tang of the vinegar.  The chocolate flavor isn't pronounced, but adds a depth to the flavor like it does for mole.  I'm in love with the jam and so glad that I have six more jars to last me into the winter!

In a (Triple Dill - Double Garlic) Pickle

I was thrilled to find an abundance of cute little pickling cucumbers at the farmer's market a few weeks ago because I had been waiting for several month to make this recipe from Coconut & Lime.  Dill and garlic are two of my favorite flavors so adding dill seed, dried dill weed and fresh dill to the brine sounded like great pickles to me!

I played with the amounts of herbs a little bit and added 1 tbsp. of dill seed, 1 tsp. of dried dill, and 1/2 tsp. of ground mustard (I didn't have mustard seeds) to each pint jar.

I also doubled up the garlic and crushed it lightly to let more of that great garlic flavor into the pickles.  Dropped in bay leaf and then I was ready to load up the cucumbers.

I filled about three pint jars in this batch, but I wish I had bought more cucumbers! After topping with the fresh dill, I poured on the boiling vinegar (the kitchen didn't smell great at that point!).

Ten minutes of hot water bath processing and then a few days of waiting before they were ready.  The resulting pickles are surprisingly crisp considering they were boiled for 10 minutes.  The dill flavor is assertive but not over-powering and the garlic is surprisingly subtle.  There is a sweet flavor that comes out despite the absence of sugar in the recipe.  Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome and these were by far the easiest produce to can yet!

We Be Jammin'

I got a good deal on blackberries at the farmer's market so I decided blackberry jam was in order.  So far, I have only made jam using low-sugar pectin.  Standard jam recipes call for shockingly high sugar to fruit ratios - more than one to one - so that the jam can set using only the natural pectin in the fruit.  The low-sugar pectin allows you to add no sugar at all or sugar to taste (I used about a 1/3 of a cup). 

I followed the recipe included in the pectin packet but added the zest of two lemons and the juice of one.  The jam was incredibly easy to make since there is virtually no prep of the fruit - just wash it and lightly crush with a potato masher. When I pulled the jars out of their water bath and they started to cool, I heard satisfying pops indicating that the vacuums had formed.

I opened a jar the next morning and slathered it on toast.  The small amount of sugar and the lemon meant that it was still pretty tart - certainly not as sweet as a standard jarred jam. I liked that the delicate taste of the fruit came through.

Although I happily ate it on toast every morning all week, the jam really fulfills its destiny in a peanut better and jelly sandwich.  The tartness of the berries cuts through the richness of the peanut butter.  

It occurred to me that canning requires a tremendous amount of science.  You have to think about the relationship between heat and pressure and the role of temperature and acidity in sterilization. I suppose that most of these things, as with yeast and bread making and countless other things in the kitchen, were learned first by trial and error and only later was the science understood.  Still pretty impressive, though.

Banh Mi, Banh You

My grapefruit jam adventure left me with 8 empty canning jars and the options for filling them in late March were limited.  However, the farmer's market had plenty of carrots and daikon radishes so I opted for some Vietnamese Pickled Carrots and Radishes (called do chua) to make banh mi.

Making the pickle was a lot easier and quicker than the jam without the slow process of cooking down the juice and making sure it gels.  With my pickle knowhow, I'm looking forward to some triple dill, extra garlic pickles in the summer.  For now, however, we have these crunchy, sweet-tart matchsticks just begging to be made into banh mi.  There are myriad toppings for banh mi, but I knew I wanted to go with pork.  Failing to find any at the farmers market, I picked up a lean pork loin, sliced it ever to thinly, and cooked it up in a black pepper marinade.  I cannot recommend this marinade enough.  The fish sauce gives a complexity to the pork that had us picking at the leftovers all night.

I layered the pork on baguettes with sriracha mayo, cilantro, onions, cucumber, a splash of soy sauce and - of course - the pickled veggies!  This combination highlights the perfectly balanced flavors I think of when I think of great southeast Asian cooking -crunchy cucumber, rich salty pork, sweet carrots, pungent daikon and onion, spicy sriracha, and creamy mayo.  Overall, I was really happy with the resulting sandwich.  There are  few things I will remember for next time.  The baguette I picked up at the farmer's market was really chewy, which is usually wonderful, but in this case let to occasional structural failures as the sandwich fillings slipped out the back.

With three jars of pickled veggies left, we needed to be eating them on something other than banh mi. So they also topped tacos made with leftover sweet and spicy pork shoulder and avocado.  An unusual, but quite tasty, combo.