Purple Carrots

Photo: Lily Jenness [my oldest kiddo]

I have four sisters.  They are some of the most interesting people I've ever met.  This year, one of them decided this was her 'Year of Yes'.  Yes to new things, people, experiences.  A year to stretch that comfort zone.   This is remarkable because by and large we are a family of introverts.  Introverts with really great social skills.

My word for the year is 'Magnetic'.  It's a powerful word, full of import.  I have been careful to behave in a way likely to attract things that are long-term sustainable and healthy.   It has also really stretched my comfort zone.

I found myself trying things one more time.  Re-framing a problem.  Changing a mindset.  Looking at things in new ways.   Being brave.  Trying new things.  Trying again.  And again.  Sharing, sharing, sharing.

Which brings me to the carrots.   I have planted carrots a dozen years and gotten nothing but knotty, bitter, buggy, nasty things.   But I found a packet of seed for the purple ones this year when I was planting everything else and thought, 'Well.  I've got room for a small row in a new place.  We'll try again. One more time.'

Et voila'!  Some of the most beautiful carrots ever.  And get this....They're DELICIOUS, too.  

So here's my gift to you:  Whatever it is you've been thinking about - Try one more time.  Think about it in a new way. Say, 'Yes'.  You already are magnetic.

All my love to you-
R

Canned Carrots

I've been reading Hickery Holler Farm's blog and she cans *everything*.  She said to watch the sales and fill up those emptying jars with cheap winter produce.   Carrots are super cheap this time of year.   We've been getting 5 lb bags of carrots for a couple of dollars at Sam's.

I thought it would be a good idea to can some up to see if we'd use them that way through the year.    You know, to dump in soups, or for glazed carrots [instead of sweet potatoes], and in carrot cake.

Since carrots are a low acid food, I used the pressure canner to can them.    As you know, I'm just getting to know my canner.  Slowly.   Only a couple of things each year, mostly tomasqua and pumpkin.  Last year I used it for green beans, too.  I am happy to say that I'm slowly getting the hang of it. 

My goal this year is to do a few jars of new things so I can get really comfortable with the pressure canner. 

Basically the process is this:

• Fill up the jars and put them in the canner.
• Add a couple of inches of water to the bottom of the canner.
• Close the lid tightly and heat to boil [9 on my stove]
•  Let vent for 10 minutes then put jiggler on. [10 lbs for carrots]
• When the jiggler makes noise start the timer [25 minutes for pints of carrots] and you can drop the temp down to medium/high [6.5-7].  It should jiggle once a minute or more.
• When the processing is done, turn the temp off and leave everything alone until completely cool.   Don't touch the jiggler. 
• When completely cool, open the canner, wash the jars and you're done. 

It sounds complicated but it's not bad.   I keep a little list of instructions close by and the more often I do it, the more natural it seems.  It's worth it to be able to can squash and carrots and beans.

Note:   Pressure canning is not something I can do in very large quantities.   I get the best results [no siphoning] when I do enough for only one canner load a day.   Things siphon when I try to move things along too fast or take the jiggler off right away, etc.    If I just do one load and leave it to cool overnight, then I have very little siphoning, and that makes for happy food and a happy canner. 

Carrot Puff

I don't know about you, but this time of year, I like bright food.   [And brownies.]  

Brownies aside [for the moment], I've pulled out my favorite carrot recipe.  This carrot puff is a quasi souffle.  It's light, but not fussy and no one cares how high it gets or if it falls.  It's that good.  Since I change things up a bit every time I make it, sometimes it's light and airy, but most of the time it's just a good old fashioned carrot casserole.  My recipe marries grated carrots and onions [and zucchini, if you have some in the freezer this time of year] with a delectable cheesy sauce.   Hello, Sunshine! 

This is a terrific vegetarian main dish and an excellent side for potlucks.   It's good warm or chilled.   Personally, I like it just a little warm.

I posted this recipe a few years ago when I started the blog and now that I have actual readers, I thought you might like to see it again without having to fiddle through the archives.   [Though fiddling through the archives is kind of fun.]

Robin's Carrot Puff
www.rurification.com


2-3 C shredded carrots [and zucchini, if you have some]
2 C shredded or chopped  onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed.
3T butter [yes, the real stuff]

Cook that stuff in a pot until the onions are transparent.  It caramelizes everything and makes it sweeter.  Then add:

1/2 C oatmeal
1 tsp salt
pepper
a shake or two of nutmeg
1 1/2 C yogurt
1 C or more grated cheese
4 eggs, beaten

Put it all in a casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.   I always bake mine in a blue dish because the orange and the blue look so pretty together.   Then I serve it on a blue plate.  It just tastes better in the blue dish.

Hoop House Goodies

Here's a pic of the hoop house and the smaller cold frame all covered up for the winter. We're trying the cold frame without the straw surrounds this year - just to see what happens.   They say that it's the soil temp that matters, not the surround.   As long as the soil is covered and gets some sun, it'll stay warm enough to grow greens and things. 

I planted lots of greens in the hoop house in October, a few days before we put the cover on.   They will grow very slowly because we're not getting a lot of light this time of year, but by Christmas we should be able to start to harvest out of the hoop house. 

Here is a baby carrot.   It'll probably be early spring when they're ready.   Just after I planted the hoop house, we had 5 inches of rain one day.   It sort of scrambled the seed.    My carrots and radishes are no longer in rows in the hoop house.   I don't think they care, as long as they have enough elbow room. 

Carrots

 After last year's attempt at carrots, I swore I was done growing carrots.

Then over the winter, I read The Winter Harvest Handbook, by Eliot Coleman and realized that carrots are a cool weather veg.  As in COOL weather.  Not summer. 

So I picked up some mixed-color carrot seed from Rural King or Menard's or somewhere like that and sowed a row in the hoop house on Valentine's Day.

And look what I grew!    I harvested early this month and was pleasantly surprised at the size of some of them. 

I noticed that the white ones were tiny and not very tasty - but those purple ones!  Mmmm.  

I'll be planting another row of carrots this fall for overwintering.

Carrot Puff

It's winter.

[In case you hadn't noticed.]   

The days are really short.

[In case you hadn't noticed.]  

The truth is that short days make me kind of nuts.  We live in a lovely little hollow and there is a big hill with a lot of trees on the south side of the property.   In the depths of winter, it takes a while for the sun to come up behind that hill and then it's blocked by those trees.    It's pretty, but kind of not very sunny.  It takes a long time for the sun to clear those trees.

I like full sun.

I'm going through sunshine withdrawal.   My skin is so pale it's translucent - but not in a vampire sparkle way - in a white grass under a rock kind of way.  

I'm desperate for sunshine.

So desperate that I have even been taking my daily walk in the cold.

In the cold. 

In. The. Cold. 

Eric tells me I'll live.

While I'm waiting impatiently for the north pole to get closer to the sun and for the days to get longer, I've been eating golden food.   Golden soups, golden cheeses, golden vegetables, and this golden carrot puff.   Just to remind me of the sun.     Plus, all those beta-carotenes are good for me.

Here's one of my all time favorite winter dishes.   Golden like the sun plus enough beta-carotenes to give you a fake tan, if you don't mind looking like Anne Hathaway in Bride Wars.

The recipe is very forgiving, so if you add more or less of something, it'll still taste wonderful.  


Robin's Carrot Puff
www.rurification.com

2-3 C shredded carrots
2 C shredded or chopped  onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed.
3T butter [yes, the real stuff]

Cook that stuff in a pot until the onions are transparent.  It caramelizes everything and makes it sweeter.  Then add:

1/2 C oatmeal
1 tsp salt
pepper
a shake or two of nutmeg
1 1/2 C yogurt
1 C or more grated cheese
4 eggs, beaten

Put it all in a casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.   I always bake mine in a blue dish because the orange and the blue look so pretty together.   Also, it tastes better in the blue dish.

This is great served warm or at room temperature.

Carrots

I grew carrots from seed this year.

They are woody and very bitter. 

At least they grew.  

The end.

Carrot Cake Doughnuts with Cream Cheese Glaze

I know.

I know!

They sound fabulous don't they!

Trust me, they are.    And they're good for you!  -  Carrots!  Oats!!   Mmmmm.

We made these with that wonderful doughnut maker that I won on Chickens in the Road.   Remember....

It made wonderful brownies!

But I was hungry for carrot cake.

And cream cheese frosting.

Mostly the frosting.

I'm sure you understand.

I'll get right to the point.   Here's the recipe:

Carrot Cake Doughnuts [or muffins,  or cake or whatever.]

Plug in the doughnut maker.

• 1 1/2 cups grated carrot
• 1 1/2 cups ground whole oats/oatmeal [No, you don't have to grind them.  This is America.]
• 1/4 cup water

Combine these in a microwavable bowl.   We microwaved them for 1 minute, then stirred, then 2 minutes, then stirred, then 1 more minute.   Stir well.   Make sure the carrots are cooked enough for you.   They won't cook long in the doughnut machine.

When the carrots are soft enough for you, add:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• dash nutmeg

Ready to come out!

Stir well.   Pipe into the doughnut maker.  [Don't try to spoon it in - too messy!   Use a ziplock bag with a corner cut off if you don't have a fancier piping tool.   You'll be glad you did!]

Bake doughnuts for 6 minutes.  Take them out and let them cool a bit.   Glaze when warm.   Or not.  Whatever you want.   I glazed them when they were very very warm so the glaze would melt all over and get gooey.    This is the glaze I made:

Cream Cheese Glaze

• 1/2 block of cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• a few drops of milk - only if necessary

Melt the cream cheese in the microwave.   Stir in the powdered sugar.  If the glaze is too stiff, then add a couple of drops of milk and stir well. 

Coriander Pickled Carrots

My next experiment in pickling came from a recipe that Shauna Ahern posted herself on the Gluten Free Girl pickle party post.  I had some aging carrots in the fridge and some of last year's coriander seed put away, so I pulled them out to try this. 

These had a nice flavor, but I kept thinking they needed a bit of sweet and more oomph.   [Of course, next to the Szechuan beans, everything seems a little bland.]   Next time I'm going to add 1/2 cup of sugar and  double the amount of coriander.  

Coriander Pickled Carrots

• Carrots - enough to pack 2 pint jars
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups vinegar - my own white wine vinegar!
• 1 T canning salt
• 2 tsp peppercorns
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 inch of ginger, sliced

Peel and slice the carrots into sticks.   Pack them into the 2 jars.  Put 1 tsp of peppers and 1 tsp of coriander into each jar.    Boil the water, vinegar, salt and ginger.   Pour over carrots, covering about 1/2 inch above tops.   Process 10 minutes for canning.    Let sit for at least 3 days before opening. 

Carrots - Sunshine in a stick

Robin's Carrot Puff

Confession:  Cooking is not generally my idea of a good time unless we're all in the kitchen together cooking a bunch of different stuff at the same time.    Last night was one of those nights.   While the builder, who is a divine cook and baker, was making a green bean, bacon, onion and feta skillet casserole, the kids and I made carrot muffins and carrot puff.

The muffins are carrot cake with a lot of whole wheat flour and a lot less sugar.   If you want them sweet, add up to 3/4 C more sugar.     The puff is sort of a carrot/onion souffle.  Don't worry about the 'puff' part.  It's fabulous served at room temp the same day.   Bake it and set it aside while you worry about the other stuff on the menu.  Refrigerate overnight.  I like it best the next day.

Robin's Carrot Muffins
www.rurification.com

3/4 C sugar
3/4 C veg oil
3 eggs
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour [the real stuff]
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 C shredded carrots
1 C nuts
1 C yogurt [especially the thin whey-y stuff that floats around the top]

Bake at 350 degrees until they're done.  Done will depend on the size of your muffins and the type of pan you're baking them in.   



Robin's Carrot Puff
www.rurification.com


2-3 C shredded carrots
2 C shredded or chopped  onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed.
3T butter [yes, the real stuff]

Cook that stuff in a pot until the onions are transparent.  It caramelizes everything and makes it sweeter.  Then add:

1/2 C oatmeal
1 tsp salt
pepper
a shake or two of nutmeg
1 1/2 C yogurt
1 C or more grated cheese
4 eggs, beaten

Put it all in a casserole dish and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.   I always bake mine in a blue dish because the orange and the blue look so pretty together.   Also, it tastes better in the blue dish.