Refrigerator Pickles

We used the carrots and jalapeno peppers from our garden and some cauliflower and beans from our local farmers' market to make refrigerator pickles!

For the beans and cauliflower florets, I used a really simple recipe that is equal parts of white vinegar and water, a smashed clove of garlic, and a dash of salt, sugar, and black pepper (I also used a couple of pink peppercorns with the cauliflower). Boil the brine, pour over veggies, let cool, and refrigerate!

For 2 qts of mixed veggies pickles, I made the brine with 8 cloves of smashed garlic, 2 cups white vinegar, 4 cups water, 5 tsp salt, 2 tsp sugar, and 2 tsp of pickling spices.

{harvest} Black Vernissage Tomatoes

I am so glad we decided to keep this black vernissage tomato plant after the freaky hailstorm that destroyed parts of our garden. This plant seems to have recovered well enough to not only ripen these few tomatoes, but also grow a couple more new ones.

Zach thinks this little tomato has won itself a place in our garden again for next year. It is a hardy plant that resisted blossom end rot and other forms of abuse. And best of all, these tomatoes taste as good as they look! We'll have to make ourselves some caprese salad for lunch tomorrow!

Bauer Mural on the news!

The Bauer Community Center mural was featured on the local news twice! Once on July 10th:

and once more during the official unveil last Friday afternoon:

 

bauer mural: 'together'

since the first of june, i've been meeting with kids in Bauer Community Center's summer program.  i met with 3rd and 4th graders on mondays and 5th and 6th graders and a group of teenagers on tuesdays.  we discussed what to do with the mural, and i wanted each kid to be able to have the opportunity to draw whatever they wanted on the wall.  we had cartoons and dancers and made up things.  we had a lot of chicago bulls images and other chicago-themed ideas.  through the weeks i discovered that about 80% of the kids in the program were originally from chicago.  so i let them run with it.

they were a tough group to work with, and learning to compromise and work together was a challenge that they all had to come up against.  in the end, sharing wall space and learning to accept the ideas of others was a great learning experience for these kids.  i hope they'll take this with them into other areas of their lives and when issues arise, they seek thoughtful solutions, rather than simply dismissing someone else's ideas or opinions that differ from their own.

it was a great experience for me as well.  i learned that making kids who are resistant participate is not always the solution.  sometimes there are real fears and hidden issues behind their anger and resistance.  and rather than forcing, it's more important to discover a solution that can work with each kid.  they're all different.  they all respond and learn different.  it's hard to teach them each individually when there's 30 of them and most are defensive, but it's what must be done to get them to reason out that trust is a two-way street.

the mural is a great accomplishment for Bauer.  it provides a lot of life for what was once a monotone concrete block building.  there's a lot of life in that building, and now the outside reflects that.  the kids that i painted for the upper sections are all loosely based off of specific kids in the class.  i tried to capture the reluctance of some and the inhibition of others in approaching the wall.  mostly i wanted to depict different attitudes of working together and ideas of mine, yours, and ours.  i hope that comes through with the spirit of collaboration that is intrinsically built into this many kids depicted painting in the same space.

Recipe of the Week: Summer Harvests Ratatouille

After our garden got devastated by the freaky hail storm, Zach and I were left with a huge bunch of salvaged tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers. We also had a bunch of huge zucchinis and yellow squashes from Zach's mom, and gorgeous bulbs of garlic and onions from our friend Kathleen. I wanted to use all of these ingredients for dinner, so I made ratatouille!

Other than the balsamic vinegar and the olive oil, everything I used in this recipe (including the herbs) was homegrown. The result? An amazingly delicious vegetarian dinner! 

Ingredients

10 sauce tomatoes, diced (I used San Marzano, but you can also use 1 can (28oz) whole peeled tomatoes)

1 large eggplant, cubed

2 medium onions, diced into large pieces

2 bell peppers (any color), seeded and chopped into 1-in pieces

1 large zucchini, diced into large pieces

1 garlic bulb, peel and smash cloves

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp parsley

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Prep the eggplants by tossing the cubed pieces with 2 tsp salt. Let sit in a colander for 20-30 mins, then squeeze out excess liquid.

In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil and cook onion until translucent. 

Add garlic and peppers, cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, bay leaf,oregano, thyme, and parsley to pot. Season with salt and pepper, and vinegar.

Increase heat to medium high, stir occasionally until vegetable mixture comes to a simmer. 

Cover, reduce heat, and cook at a gentle simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve hot.

"Draw on the wall" is back!

When Zach, Pete, and Craig did their show at Artists' Own last year, they left a blank wall in the gallery and invited visitors to draw on it for the duration of the show. The wall was a hit with everyone, so it's back again for the rest of the summer. This is such a great activity for kids too. If you live in the area, we hope you stop in and doodle something!

This has been the summer of Queen Anne's lace ...

Her body is not so white as

anemony petals nor so smooth—nor

so remote a thing. It is a field

of the wild carrot taking

the field by force; the grass

does not raise above it.

Here is no question of whiteness,

white as can be, with a purple mole

at the center of each flower.

Each flower is a hand’s span

of her whiteness. Wherever

his hand has lain there is

a tiny purple blemish. Each part

is a blossom under his touch

to which the fibres of her being

stem one by one, each to its end,

until the whole field is a

white desire, empty, a single stem,

a cluster, flower by flower,

a pious wish to whiteness gone over—

or nothing.

                                                                   Queen Anne's Lace by William Carlos Williams