Homegrown in the Deuce

Just to clarify, apparently all the cool kids have started calling Ann Arbor, "the deuce." (You know, A^2, Double A, etc) I happen to think it's hilarious, and often refer to the deuce myself. At a point before Sylvie was born, she was also referred to as the deuce, and later deucette (after Molly found out she was a girl, and deuce came from eating for two). From here on out though, deuce will be synonymous with the city I adore.
And speaking of adoration, it takes some serious love of local food to attend the deuce's first Homegrown festival in the pouring rain. I picked up my trusty tasting partner around 11, and despite getting soaked just walking from the car to Community High (2 blocks), a little rain wasn't going to damper our hunger for fresh grown local foods. The festival itself was a little small, but well laid out. There were two giant tents for eating and music listening (several bands were playing), then there was a big square of vendors/restaurants on each side selling tasting portions of recipes made with local grown items on their menus. There was also a kids tent of activities, including a turtle walking around in the rainy grass, and a boa constrictor. What fun! The ticket booth was conveniently located in the center of the whole thing, for easy access to ticket purchasing for tasting.

Tents in the rainStephanie gets ready to taste

We started off by taking a quick peruse around the fest, to determine what we might want to eat and how many tickets to purchase. We also got rained into the Zingerman's booth, where they gave us free tastings of Potato Leek soup, Chicken Paprikash, and Pawpaw gelato. All were delicious, but the Chicken Paprikash found a special place in the take out container of my heart. It was spicy and chickeny, and seasoned oh so well. I even brought some home to eat later.
Our actual eating started right after Stephanie got finished telling Chef Brandon Johns from Vinology how in love she is with him. If she had doted on him a little longer, we might have gotten our food for free, but alas, we just purchased our Tomato Gazpacho and took a seat. At least it wasn't raining in the tent!

Tomato Gazpacho with Cilantro oil garnish

After being pleasantly suprised with free stuff from Plum Market (10% coupon and reuseable shopping bag, w00t!), we really set to work eating. It's tough work, but somebody's gotta do it.

Seasonal fruited bulgar from EveOrganic Pizza from Sylvio'sCaprese, watermelon soup, and smoothie from Carson's American BistroRighteous sweet corn tamale from Pilar's

It's hard to pick a favorite of everything we tasted, but if pushed, I'd have to go with the corn tamale. Chef Sylvia Nolasco-Rivers told us she makes them only once a year, because of the labor involved in shucking so much fresh sweet corn. Also, there's that whole, fresh corn being best in season at the end of August/early September that makes it extra great. Overall, I think Stephanie and I both tried some things we really liked, and we'll continue to frequent the restaurants that use local and fresh items as a focus on their menus. It was great to see so many like minded indivuals in one place. Now if next year we could just have it all with out the pesky rain. Not that I don't love puddles. But I could do without all the mud.
Also as a quick little aside while I'm already talking about food, I had a chocolate from Morgan & York this week that was shockingly spectacular. It was a rhubarb truffle made at Sweet Gem Confections.Chocolatier Nancy Biehn runs a pretty small batch operation, so they are expensive. But goodness, oh so worth it. I do I wish I had also tried the fresh peach truffle. Looks like I'll be heading back soon. Right after I go work off all that food I already ate today on my treadmill. :-)

Summer Endings, Fall Beginnings

It's that time of year again folks, the changing of seasons. I'll be the first to admit it. I'm not exactly sad to see summer go. Not that I'm over here doing a little jig, because deep down I do know, that summer ending eventually means winter is coming. And there is nothing I hate more than a long, cold, dreary Michigan February. But I do have a secret weapon to get me though. I LOVE fall. Like serious white-on-rice kind of love. Fall brings the return of college football and wearing hooded sweatshirts every Saturday. Apple picking and fresh donuts and hot mulled cider. Mums, falling leaves, pumpkins and gourds galore. I could go on for hours, but you'd probably get bored reading, so I'll just end my little fall rant by welcoming back one of my favorite seasons. I heart you fall!
With the end of summer though, does come the end of delicious fruit. I'm mourning the end of fresh peaches and blueberries. So I decided to honor them. With dessert of course. I was also contemplating the fact that I've been a fairly bad wife lately (I've been seriously so busy that I've had no time to cook for Brad and I), so in addition to a fun dessert, I even made dinner to go along with it. Go me!
Tonight's dinner menu consisted of a pretty simple salad, and something I've been dying to try ever since I ran across the semi-recipe here, Pasta Fagioli. I say semi-recipe, because while the gentleman making this soup makes it look fantastic, he provides absolutely no ingredient measurements whatsoever. I happen to not be intimidated by this, so I got to work.
First up for this delicious pasta/stew/soup, a pastoup, if you will (humor me here), is making some homemade meatballs. I've tried several different meatball recipes, but I admit, Food Beard Guy's way, with wet bread, has me sold.

Delicious Balls (in new meat flavour)
1/2 lb ground beef from chuck
1/2 lb ground turkey (breast meat only)
1 large ciabatta roll, cut into small pieces and soaked w/ water
1 large whisked egg (I use brown free-range)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste

Squish this whole thing together. Use your hands people! Play like a kid again.Then roll that mushy mess into meatballs. Mine were about 1" round, and this recipe probably yields about 40 meatballs. You only need half that for the pastoup, so freeze the remainder after cooking them over medium-heat in a little olive oil until browned and cooked through. Mmmm, meat-ball-ee.Okay, so onto pastoup. Here's the complete list of ingredients I used:

Lady Pastoup Fagioli (teeehee)
2 bell peppers (1 orange, 1 yellow), roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
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1/2 cup diced pepperoni
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
5 cloves minced garlic
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1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 small can diced tomatoes
1 box chicken broth (~4 cups)
2 bay leaves
2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 long sprigs fresh oregano
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20 cooked meatballs
1 cup grated Parmesan, plus the Parmesan rind
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4 (1/4 lb each) spicy cooked Italian sausages, sliced
1 15 oz can canneloni beans (drained & rinsed)
salt & pepper to taste
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1/2 lb cooked ditalini pasta

I can give you a recipe, but I have no intention of giving you complete step-by-step instructions, mostly because I forgot to take pictures of everything. First order of business though is to sautee your onion & peppers. Do this for about 5 minutes, then throw in the pepperoni, garlic and parsley. Keep throwing in ingredients in the order of the recipe above. Stir occasionally, letting simmer on low for about 1 1/2 hours. During the last few minutes, place the cooked pasta in the bottom of your bowl, then ladle the simmering pastoup on top. Shave on a bit more fresh Parmesan. Serve with warm crusty bread to mop up the mess, a tasty salad, and a really frosty cold beer. Righteous.Now that your belly is full of dinner, it's time to start thinking about dessert. As I mentioned earlier, I was mourning the end of peaches and blueberries, so I made a quick crumble. Crumbling goes something like this.

Lady Crumbles her Fruberries
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
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1/4 cup quick oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
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3 large nectarines, chopped in pieces
3 medium peaches, chopped in pieces
3/4 pint Michigan blueberries
1/2 pint blackberries
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp almond extract

Pulse the flour and butter in a food processor until it resembles cornmeal crumbs. Mix w/ the other dry ingredients and set aside. Mix all the fruit with the cornstarch/spice/sugar mixture, and spread in the bottom of a buttered 13"x9" pan. Sprinkle the top with the oat/dry ingredients, and bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes. Serve slightly warm with vanilla ice cream.How's that for sending out summer and ringing in fall?

All the mocha lattes, you gotta do Pilates

ah, gotta love Kanye West beats for working out. And speaking of working out, check out my new (to me anyway) treadmill!My uncle's fiancee is moving with him to Hawaii, and consequently has to sell a lot of her home gym equipment because it's just too expensive (and heavy) to move. Lucky for me, that means I finally get more equipment to work out my jiggles. Looks like mama's going to be BZivoing many episodes of 90210 and watching until I can feel sweat coming out my pores. Here's to hoping it pays off and I can see results by next summer!

I nectarine, you Necto

Friday night was the quarterly girls dancing night out. A good time was had by all, and by some moreso than others (those individuals shall remain nameless to protect the innocent). I would really recommend anyone (straight or gay) to check out Necto. It's been a long time since I had that much fun shaking my grove thing. And there were several floors of fun! 80's music in the basement early, and classic hits upstairs later on in the evening. Some of the ladies even said the $2 long island ice tea special was killer. Or maybe that was just this morning after drinking so many...

I love my Book Club gals (plus Molly and Nicole)Teehee, we read books too!Patio aficianadosDance, dance, dance

90New10

So I just finished watching the "new" 90210. Being a teenager of the 90's, obviously I went through a period of all things Walsh. I didn't watch religiously, and I certainly couldn't win any West Beverly trivia. But I did like the show, and was extremely skeptical about any form of "return" that would ruin an otherwise awesome show. I'll start by saying this. I think the new 90210 sucks. The acting is terrible, the story lines are bizarre-o, and the characters are entirely too PC (seriously!? A bi-racial family from Kansas moves to West Beverly to live with their rich Grandma?). And this new Brenda, "Annie" I almost can't even stand to watch as all I can picture is Heidi Montag crossed with Hannah Montana.
That being said, you know I'm hooked. Even though The Hills is the most awful program on MTV, I still get suckered in every Monday. So although you're most definitely rotting my brain, you're in (at least for a little while) new 90210. Now wow me with a scandalous Silver/Taylor divorce story, and make a guest appearance by David happen, and you may even score a few extra points.

Weekend Watersports is Laboring

It's Labor Day weekend people, and good grief, did I ever labor. In a semi last minute decision, Brad and I headed north this weekend for one last summer stint at the cottage. It made it easier because the weekend was going to be full of family, but we also decided in order to save our sanity, that we'd leave late Sunday night so we'd have one day at home alone before heading back to the work week grind. What a fabulous decision.
However, that left only two days for fun in the sun, and boy did we ever cram things in. Friday afternoon I rode north with Molly, as Brad and Jay headed to Roscommon to play Forest Dunes. (Their love for golf is intense, I seriously think I need to start a golf widow weekend for myself, but that's for another post...) Anyway, it was a fun drive north, filled with chatting, Lotus buns (mmmmm, so delicious - I can feel the Asian bakery on Fourth street getting richer as I type this) and general merriment. We arrived to the cottage safe and sound, ready for a little beach time, a delicious Mediterranean pasta dinner (I forgot to take pictures) and reading while waiting for boys to finish golfing.
Now here's where it gets serious, Saturday and Sunday were filled to the brim! I've noticed lately that I need to get back to good exercise habits, and this weekend was a kick start. I woke up both mornings, yeah, that's right, both to run a 5K in the morning sun. Saturday's run was MUCH harder than Sunday (I literally couldn't get my HR below 162 even while walking for a good stretch), but Sunday I learned a few race walking tricks and kept my HR at a consistent 176. I'm really proud of myself for getting back on the wagon. It's a difficult road, but I think my jiggles will thank me later (at least I hope). After my morning run Saturday, it was a quick breakfast of wheat toast, piled high with natural peanut butter, sliced bananas, and honey. I love this breakfast. It's one of my up north staples. But eating breakfast is not laboring. Kayaking is!
After breakfast, Jay, Molly, Sylvie, Brad and I, headed kayaking/canoing/tubing down the Betsie River. I haven't been kayaking in a long time, not since the first time I tried it last year, with someone who I unfortunately don't talk to anymore. But that's here nor there, the point is that going this weekend renewed my smooshy love. I seriously love kayaking. There's something about being out on the water to me, surrounded by trees and fishes, that makes me really happy. Brad thinks I'm nuts, but I'm all about buying a kayak rack for my soon-to-be new car before I even buy used kayaks. I'm that serious.
It was a really beautiful day out on the river, and nobody fell in! Not even Sylvie, who did her best impression of a wiggle worm the whole time. Here's our smiling faces.

Sylvie gets ready to canoeBZ and his leisure tube rideThe Zawacki's canoeMe and the Kayak

After kayaking, we returned just in the nick of time to watch the season football opener. Michigan of course! Being all Wolverine Alumnus, the Zawacki household is definitely a bit "Go Blue," and Sylvie even wore her "M shirt" for 2 days prior. She had a meltdown when she wasn't allowed to wear it again on Sunday ("I, tear, wuhhhna, tear, wear my M shirt, tear, like unka Beez, tear"). Heartbreaking I tell you. Despite the overall game loss, it was a good start to the Rodriquez era, and I'm really excited that the return of fall brings the return of football Saturdays and playing the Victors until my heart's content. Let's Go Blue.
After the late game there was some tasty grilled hamburger dinner, a round of putt-putt golf, ice cream in Frankfort, a nice toasty fire outside, a giant tub of margarita's, and several rounds of Euchre. Whew. What a day. Needless to say, you can see why I was exhausted!
Sunday, like I mentioned, began with another of my runs. Yahoo for not being lazy! After my morning shower and breakfast (this time eggs, toast, and homemade wild raspberry jam - shout out to Amber for making it), it was time for the entire Shuberg clan to arrive. I can't remember how many people there are in all, but let's just say that after everyone gets there, it's a house full of people, plenty of babies (4; including a set of twins), 2 dogs, and general chaos. We all headed down to the beach, swimming and sunning, until Jay convinced me to try my hand at water skiing. Oh geez. I've tried a few times before when I was much younger to water ski, but I never make it up, so I gave up. I don't know what made me try again this weekend (pure goat I guess), and even though I still didn't make it up, I'm glad I tried again. Now I have another goal for 2009! Water skiing is seriously hard, and I can feel literally every muscle in my body (aching btw) today, but that means it's an awesome workout, right? Hopefully next summer I'll be strong enough to pull myself up.

Jay gets up on skii'sBrad get's up on skii's

I sink in the water

After skiing, there was lunch, conversation, and finally, a much needed nap. Man, was I whipped. I awoke to find it almost dinner time; where there was a master plan to bike to the park and pick up pizza. Unfortunately, the plan was thwarted by a flat tire, and a car ride to the park had to suffice for a picnic pizza dinner in the park. Say that three times fast.
Finally, we closed out the weekend with some after-pizza birthday "happy cake" for Molly (who turns 34 next Saturday!), before we headed out at almost 9pm for our 4 hour drive home. What a weekend I tell you. At least I'm at home not planning on doing a damn thing but sleeping and being lazy today. (Alright, maybe a short walk just to keep me on track...)

Zucchini Ratatouille

I made a pretty simple dish this week that I'm absolutely in love with. It's perfect right now, as it's only comprised of three things, zucchini, tomatoes, and parmesan, two of which are in season as I write this.
First, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Next, cut 3 smaller zucchini's into circles, probably about 1/8" thick. Layer the zucchini's around the bottom of a round deep dish pan (you can use a casserole dish, a cake pan, whatever).Next, cut tomato slices (I used 3 medium size tomatoes) about 1/4" thick. Layer these on top of the zucchini. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt and course black pepper.Finally, top the whole thing with shredded parmesan cheese (~1 cup). It would be especially melty if you grind your own parmesan from a block using something like a Zyliss grater, but I didn't have that on hand, so I just used pre-shredded. Tuck the whole thing into the oven, and bake for 35 minutes. The cheese should be a bit browned on top, the tomatoes should be warm and juicy, but the zucchini should still be semi-crisp to the bite (just the way I like it; I can't stand mushy zucchini). Seriously, this is so good. You need to try it. Now.

That's my bag baby

I've been meaning to post about this since I got back from my mini-vacation last week. As I mentioned, I went to the Frankfort art fair. What I forgot to mention, was the wonder that is Victoria Velting and her handmade and mostly recycled material purses. You can tell I love them, because I own three! Somehow every year at the art fair, I gravitate to her booth, and always end up purchasing another one. My first was this brown "city" purse.It's hard to tell from the picture (because it's hanging on my purse rack on my closet door), but it's one of those purses that you wear across your shoulder and over the side of your body. I always carry this purse when I go to any sort of "event," be it an art fair, a concert, a Michigan football game, etc, because it's so out of the way, and yet fits snuggly to my body, so I never worry about things getting stolen from under my nose. It's also sturdy, well-made, and oh so pretty. Wish I could take adequate pictures of the inside so you could see all the pretty fabrics! I also love that this purse has a felted pouch for my cell phone right in front. Unfortunately, you can't get this model anymore, but by special order. Start sending Victoria your business, and I'm sure something could be arranged.
The last couple of years, I picked up these other two purses. The small brown one I bought just because I thought it was cute for a ladies night out. But the one with the dots was this year's purchase. It's almost large enough to be a tote, has pockets galore inside (including a handy dandy hook for my keys) and is seriously functional. I don't know how Victoria just knows where all my crap needs to fit! Props to you lady, and I can't wait to see what you have in store for me next year.Check out Victoria Velting's site, and beg her to start posting her cute baby clothes that aren't displayed.
P.S. That IS her baby on the homepage. Cute little thing, and I just love the name Fyn!

Pickles and Ice Cream

Just a quick Congratulations to my Brother and Sister-in-law. Now that the whole family knows the news, we can officially be excited to welcome Bebe #2 in late February/early March! I think Sylvie is in desperate need of a new little bro or sis, and I simply cannot wait to be the dotting aunt (again). Yahoo for babies!

Spread the love

I have to throw some love out there tonight to my gal, Kristal. Sweetheart, I LOVES you! Kristal and I both took half days today so we could meet for a "girl" session. The plan was to start thinking about and discussing our goals for next year, coordinate our schedules, catch up on our crazy lives lately, and have me teach Kristal about the world of technology! While there aren't any posts just yet, she now at least knows all about blogging (and has her very own blog) and has several new accounts for email, youtube, photos, etc.
What I wasn't anticipating though, was all the love that would be showered down upon me for simply showing up! We had a delicious Sadako lunch, then my gal surprised me with one of the most sentimental cards I've ever gotten. It's cutesty, cutesy, but the message follows:
"Once in a while, you meet someone you connect with so easily, who understands you so naturally-it's as if you've been friends all your lives...Once in a while, you meet someone who radiates love, laughter, and caring, and who's simple presence makes the world a more beautiful place to be...Once in a while, you're lucky enough to find a friend who makes a difference in more ways than you've ever imagined...Thank you for being that kind of special friend in my life." Seriously, I teared up a little bit. Really couldn't have summed up our friendship better myself.
Then to accompany this awesome card, was "diamond" nail polish to help me meet my goal of not biting my nails, homemade (and incredible-smelling) zucchini bread, cute recipe/notecards about friendship, and a fitness magazine already compiled and tagged with articles of focus for next year's weight loss goals. Girlfriend, you are too much. Sometimes I really do wonder what I did to deserve such a good friend. I feel like I don't deserve it! But I do appreciate all that you do, and am really happy to have you in my life. I love all my girlies, but I do have a special place for my "bestie." :-)
P.S. I flipping rocked a 108 at bowling tonight...best. score. ever. wOOt.