Archive for agates

What Happened To…

June 28, 2009 at 10:20 pm · Filed under Cooking, Great Lakes, Michigan, agates, birds, garden, indian cuisine, wildlife

…. the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer?


have a listen to Nat King Cole’s classic, set to pics courtesy of Snowqueen555.
The last sunset pic reminds me of Michigan,
so thanks, Snowqueen, whomever you may be!

Well it’s certainly crazy, but not hot and hazy — more like a June monsoon in my neck of the woods. If New England has seen five sunny days this month, I’ll eat my hat. Also not much time for lazy! The girl-child is off to drivers’ ed and then summer camp — while the boy-child is on break between classes and a summer internship. It seems once school lets out, life gets more hectic! I was, however, fortunate to enjoy a visit to my beloved upper peninsula over the past couple of months.

sandhillcranes_crop2
sandhill cranes ~ twenty miles north of nowhere and just south of Lake Superior

snowbuntings wfp
snow buntings playing at whitefish point

wfplightandpt
the lighthouse at whitefish point ~ with a laker far off on the horizon

paradiseagate4_09
lake superior agate

ryerson1_crop
dream boat ~ the Edward L. Ryerson ~ steaming downbound from the Soo

paradise409_a
a sunset in paradise…

And the garden, of course, takes much spare time in a most rewarding way!

As a very late birthday gift, I bought myself some organically grown heirloom tomato plants which arrived late in May, all the way from California (thanks, mom!).

In spite of the heavy rains and lack of sun, these tomatoes are taking off.

mariannaspeace1
marianna’s peace ~ heirloom ‘potato-leafed’ tomato ~ early June

mariannaspeace
… and late June

How does your garden grow?

Oh, and by the way… I’ve been cooking too, albeit mostly simple things of late.
I am hoping for some hot weather in July to get homemade dosa/idly batter going quickly! Tonight, it’s cool and rainy, so it’s this Udupi temple special from Ramya’s Mane Adige ~ a dish so delectable that it’s become a fast favorite. She made hers with brinjal; I also added pumpkin to mine in the form of sweet buttercup squash. So sweet in fact, that I didn’t add much jaggery. The squash was also a good thickener, so I didn’t use coconut. And of course, for seasoning, it was none other than ISG’s magical sambhar podi :) No photos of that, as it’s still on the stove, but check out Ramya’s pic and you’ll be drooling, I promise. Thanks, Ramya!

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Hmm… It’s About Time!!

September 7, 2008 at 4:38 pm · Filed under About, Cooking, Great Lakes, Michigan, agates, garden, indian cuisine

hmm...
hmm…


seeds of the delectable drumstick!

How long has it been since I posted that mystery photo — days, weeks, months?

Fall is flying by fast and furious; it seems I hardly have time to take a breath.
There was the flurry of school starting — you know how that goes. Then my favorite (and only) aunt turned 75 — there was a huge gathering for that at my cousin’s home and I had the chance to catch up with lots of family I haven’t seen in a long while. Shortly therafter was a weekend in NY to visit the newly-installed-in-college-boyfriend (ok, I spoil my daughter!).

Next up, the annual walk for JDRF — always a big hit. Meg recruited a big bunch of friends for a great cause. My son Michael brought his friend Peter up from school to help me shepherd them all over Boston on train and subway. Mike is busy in the honors program this year, and has been invited to tutor underclassmen.
I am one proud mama with my two babies nearly grown :)

Late in August I started with a new company in the midst of their busiest season, and suddenly I wonder whether I really *had* a job the past 6 years. Now I am exhausted when I get home from work, but the commute is shorter and it’s good to be busy again.

Finally I have a weekend (mostly) to myself where I can play catch-up, and blogging is at the top of the list.

The garden is about done, but I still have a tiny stash of bell and poblano peppers to pick later this weekend.

Every time I go to pull the tomato vines, there are blossoms and new growth. In spite of autumn’s chilly nights, today I had enough green to make a batch of picalilli, or at least start one. It’s really more of a mixed pickle relish — an old New England concoction. Tomatoes red and green, peppers sweet and hot, onion, cabbage and cauliflower — all ground coarsely and salted overnight, then cooked with vinegar, sugar and spices. If it turns out well I will post a recipe — and I won’t wait six weeks to do so! ;)

It was a fun garden year with lots of lessons learned.

What I will miss most is the amazing, season-long harvest of real-deal brinjals.
I had the most beautiful assortment of eggplant this year, thanks to the never-ending generosity of my dear friend ISG — now my garden fairy as well as my kitchen fairy :)

Thank you *so* much, ISG!!! :) :)

Not only that, but ISG also sent me a bag of scrumptious (and addictive!)
Tangy Tomato Banana Chips from Haldiram’s! Hard to believe I didn’t eat the whole thing in one sitting. There was also a big container of Gulab Jamun in the package.
My dad’s 75th birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year, so I am saving them for that special occasion :)

How lucky am I? As they say in New England — “wicked lucky” ;)

~~~~~

What follows is an assortment of pics taken over the past couple of months.

In the brinjal section I have only photos of the plants and fruit. I don’t have one of a finished dish –mostly because I gobbled them up before I could think to get the camera.

I hope everyone is doing fine — once this post goes up it’s time for some serious blog-hopping!


bell peppers and an eggplant


pasta salad with shrimp, feta cheese and gardenfresh michigan cucumbers ~ greek olives and whole wheat naan on the side


a garter snake hiding beneath tomatoes


juvenile swan at seney nwr, august 2008


an eye agate


a candy agate


a tube agate


brinjal plants in bloom ~ thank you, ISG!!


pretty pale purple brinjal blossom


fruit on the brinjal vine ~ courtesy ISG!


the yummy brinjals!


swiss chard…


and aloo paratha made with chard in the dough


jalfrezi with lowfat paneer and my own bell peppers!


mike and his friend peter bringing up the rear at the jdrf walk — a beautiful day to stroll around the Charles River!


the scene at the esplanade on walk day


every year a live band entertains the walkers… this year meg’s group caught their attention with their enthusiasm and impromptu dance ~ they were invited up on stage for the last song ~ at the famous Hatch Shell where the Boston Pops play ~ what a thrill! (meg in braids…)


mike, the honors scholar ~ he’d KILL me if he knew I was posting this! ;)


one last summertime shot ~ honeybees aren’t gone yet ~ cornflowers in northern michigan

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Holding on to Summer ~ Sweet and Spicy Yellow Tomato Chutney

September 1, 2008 at 3:39 pm · Filed under Cooking, Great Lakes, Michigan, agates, garden, indian cuisine

golden jubilee tomatoes
peeled golden jubilee tomatoes

Procrastination is my middle name.

Sometimes I get so bogged down *thinking* and *planning* that I can’t bring myself to actually do anything.

lots of tomatoes
red and yellow tomatoes in various stages of ripening

For the past week, I have watched the Golden Jubilee tomatoes on the counter turning riper and riper. Last year I made yellow tomato jam, and it was good,
but it wasn’t GREAT. This year I wanted to make something really special.
Golden Jubilees are rather sweet, as tomatoes go. I wanted something that would enhance their peachy flavor without overpowering it.

horned tomato!
see the horned tomato at the bottom?

I searched every book in my pantry. Surely I could find just the right recipe for what I had in mind — a thick, sweet, yet spicy preserve — one which would, in the chill dark days of winter to come, transport me back to these warm golden days of late summer.

Alas, even online, I did not find an overabundance of yellow tomato recipes.

Procrastination threatened to turn to desperation as I realised the tomatoes would break down and spoil if I didn’t get a move on. Finally I gave up on printed recipes and put procrastination on the shelf. Armed with my trusty sharp Forschner knife,
I dove in and began chopping.

The result was a dense, golden chutney — rich with a melange of flavors from panch phoron (courtesy of dear Mandira!), the heat of fresh and dried chiles, and the mellow sweetness of jaggery.

A couple of notes about this recipe:

The amount of jaggery is not absolute — 3/4 c is what I needed.
I added it in 1/4 c increments, tasting every time. You may need more or less depending on the sweetness of your yellow tomatoes.

For canning tomatoes, a small amount of acid is often required. A general guideline I read is to use about 2 tsp of lemon juice per pint of finished product. The lemon juice may be omitted if you’re making a small batch for immediate consumption. If you’re canning, be sure to read the instructions that came with your canner. It also helps to learn from a reputable source — I found an excellent reference at Ball’s Fresh Preserving.

juicy golden jubilee
a juicy peeled golden jubilee tomato

Golden Tomato Chutney
makes about 3 pints

1 TB canola oil
10-12 curry leaves, chopped
4-5 slit green chiles
1 TB panch phoron
1 TB grated ginger
1 TB grated garlic
4-5 dried red chiles
2 c yellow onion, chopped
12 cups yellow tomatoes, peeled, cored and roughly chopped (about 6-7 lbs)

1/2 – 3/4 c jaggery or to taste
2 tsp salt or to taste

juice of 1 1/2 lemons (about 6 tsp) — if canning

fresh ingredients
freshly grated ginger and garlic, with homegrown chiles and mandira’s panch phoron

In a large heavy pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the curry leaves, fresh chiles, and panch phoron. Fry for a minute, then add the grated ginger and garlic.

frying the savory spices
frying the aromatic spices

Fry a few minutes longer, then add the onion and dried red chiles. When the onion begins to turn translucent, add 1/4 cup jaggery, the chopped tomatoes and their juice. Stir well, raise the heat to medium-high and cover the pan partway. Bring to a boil and cook down, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is reduced by about a third.

cooking the chutney
tomatoes cooking down with onions, chiles, and spices

Add 1 tsp salt and taste — add more jaggery if needed. Continue cooking down until the mixture is reduced by half. Add lemon juice if canning. Taste again and add more salt and jaggery if needed.

When the mixture is seasoned to your taste, turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly. If you’re canning, ladle into sterlized jars while still hot, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for processing.

~~~

Find great recipes for home canning at Pick Your Own.

The finished product!

golden jubilee tomato chutney
golden chutney made with golden jubilee tomatoes ~ aglow in late-summer sun

~~~

A different kind of ‘peachy’ treat — a piece of an eye agate with unusual coloring — another reminder of sweet summer days :)

peachy eye agate
a piece of an eye agate with peach coloring ~ filled with quartz

peachy eye agate
showing the round white ‘eye’ on the top

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A Fond Farewell to 2007

December 29, 2007 at 9:36 pm · Filed under Cooking, Great Lakes, Michigan, Travel, agates, birds, cats, garden, indian cuisine, wildlife

This post comes to you from the beautiful wintertime woods of Northern Michigan, where I am currently enjoying a far-too-brief break complete with bald eagles, woodpeckers galore — and to top it all off — my first-ever sighting of an owl!
The jury is still out on whether it was a barred owl or a great grey ;)

Lovely Nupur of One Hot Stove, a dear friend who is always an inspiration and always ready with an encouraging word, has asked us to search the archives for our “Best of 2007″! Break or no break, I didn’t want to miss it, so here I am in my snowsuit.

I thought this would be a fairly easy task, but in the end it turned into something of a slippery slope. Once I started noting favs, I couldn’t stop!

Here are a just a few of the things I enjoyed about blogging in 2007:

Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables challenged my imagination every week for a spectacular twenty-six weeks.

Lakshmi K’s Regional Cuisines of India took me traveling all over India. A great index page for this ongoing event can be found here.

Bee and Jai, dynamic duo of Jugalbandi, started the popular food photography event Click!; I may have to take a class now!

And of course, there was another fabulous year of Indira’s Jihva For Ingredients, “the original” event, to me, and one which continues to amaze and delight me.

If I had to choose one favorite part of 2007 at Out Of The Garden, I would say without hesitation, it was my long-awaited turn to host Jihva. Toor dal was the theme, and what a party it was! To say I was thrilled would be an understatement. Check out all the fabulous dishes from the bottom of the page here.

More fun that landed on the blog:

amazing agates
amazing agates from Lake Superior

waterline agate
waterline agate close up

black legged kittiwake
black-legged kittiwake over Lake Superior

black tern
black tern at Tuttle Marsh near Oscoda, MI

canning
home canning ~ red tomato chutney, yellow tomato jam, and green tomato pickle

cozy kitties
cozy kitties

redpoll
redpolls mixing with the usual suspects (goldfinches) at the feeder, December 26, 2007 ~ could this be an irruption year!?

Thanks Nupur, for this great opportunity to look back on 2007! It turned into much more than a foodie-journey for me :)

It’s been alot of fun poring over past posts. In doing so, the biggest thing I learned is — at the risk of repeating myself — I have learned so much from all of you!

To each of you who have taken the time to stop and visit, offering encouragement, suggestions, advice, or just a friendly hello, I thank you sincerely.

It is the interaction that makes blogging fun. Without that personal touch, this would be just another site with so many pics of kitties, kids, and khichdi.

I wish you all a wonderful New Year filled with health, happiness and lots of time to go “blog-hopping”!

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Springtime in Northern Michigan

May 4, 2007 at 9:39 pm · Filed under Great Lakes, Michigan, Travel, agates, birds, wildlife

Spring comes slowly to the upper reaches of Michigan… it’s a beautiful time for leisurely walking and watching the world wake…

(click on the photos for larger view)

crocus
crocuses and trout lillies peek through last year’s leaves

deer
fawns begin to lose their spots…

wondering eyes
…but their wondering eyes remain

fluffy ~ click to see all of him!
and a baby squirrel knows a good supper when he sees one!

ore boat passing sleepy town
further north, a huge ore boat glides past a sleepy little town ~ early morning on the shore of Lake Superior

beach glacier
a “beach glacier” holds hidden treasures…

lake superior agates
…buried all winter, they appear in early spring

swans
graceful trumpeter swans in the warm spring sunshine ~ Seney National Wildlife Refuge

st. helena island
St. Helena Island floats serenely in Lake Michigan ~ view from Gros Cap

dreaming…
dreaming of summer and the next trip home…

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Recipe for a Spring Agate Hunt

February 27, 2007 at 1:04 am · Filed under Great Lakes, Michigan, Travel, agates, birds

Finding Spring Agates
click on photos to enlarge

A very simple recipe for a spring agate hunt on Lake Superior!

You need:

1 warmish spring day, after ice break-up on Lake Superior
1 kindred spirit
1 reliable automobile
1 full tank gasoline
1 good pair walking shoes
1 camera
1 Song Of The Lakes cd in the player
1 big lunch in picnic cooler

Instructions:

1. Wait for spring. Takes all winter.
When you notice things like this…

trout lillies
trout lillies

blossom
cherry blossom near opening

… then you know it’s time.

2. Get in the car. Start the engine.
Place SOTL cd in player and cue to track 1.
Press play. Drive north. Time varies.

I 75
keep driving north…

3. Continue north until you see…

mackinac bridge
mackinac bridge

… the Mackinac Bridge. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a laker passing beneath!

4. Go over the bridge. Continue north until you get to a deserted stretch of Lake Superior agate beach. Takes about 3 hours.

beach
agate beach on Lake Superior

5. Walk on this beach. Wear the good walking shoes. You’ll be glad you did.
Search on the beach for agates. Takes all day.

water
millions of rocks in Lake Superior

6. Also search at the water’s edge. Bring gloves. The water is cold.
When you need a break from bending over, have a look in the trees.
If you’re lucky, you might see…

sapsucker
yellow-bellied sapsucker

… a sapsucker!

7. Continue searching. At the end of the day, you should have several treats to help you remember your spring agate hunt :)

spring agates

spring agate

spring agate

“February is a short month… then March is spring… ”

— Laura Ingalls Wilder

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More Lake Superior

May 20, 2006 at 3:30 am · Filed under Great Lakes, Michigan, Travel, agates

Rainy night summertime dreaming…

~~

Agate Beach

Lake Superior Agates

Lake Superior Solitude

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Lake Superior Spring Agate

April 27, 2006 at 5:36 pm · Filed under Great Lakes, Travel, agates

Lake Superior agate

Took a little vacation break to Northern Michigan last weekend for bird watching and agate-hunting. Here is what you can find if you venture 20+ miles from the nearest electricity!

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