Back in the Saddle - with a new recipe to share!

Well, I've given up.

I've given up on my China Journal. I've decided that I never actually intended to finish writing and posting about our adventures in China - so if you're curious about the last half of our trip, just ask! Otherwise, I think it's time that we all move on.

I may be alone in this, but I have been seriously missing my usual creative outlets that I share with you on this Blog. I haven't really been trying many new recipes, and I haven't pulled out the ole' sewing machine since we left for China! That changes today!

I know I'm way behind on my CSA posts (on account of being out of town, laziness, etc), but I thought I'd pick right back up with week 8 followed by a recipe using some of those tasty ingredients.

Here is what we got in the bag this past week:

A delish assortment of nectarines, squash, onions, tomatoes, blueberries, homemade bread, and eggplants {check out the teeny-tiny heirloom varieties! What do you do with those guys?}

I love the food this time of year! Yummy fresh produce + cooking on the grill = one happy lady! One of our go to sides at this time of year is a Caprese salad. Sooo tasty with fresh mozzarella and ripe heirloom tomatoes. All you need is a high-quality olive oil and some salt and freshly ground black pepper. Perfection.

Remember that recipe I promised you? The one that uses fresh local produce? Well here it is!
This is courtesy of Jill Forrester @ Whitton Farms (where we get our CSA).

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

This past weekend we made the trip back to Alabama to vist my folks and for Mr. Maestro to do this:

Yes, they are standing in the street.

In the meantime, I'm working on a new project! YAY! I'm not saying what it is, but here is a little tease:

Even MORE China!

Again, for those of you who have only read this one China entry, Mr. Maestro and I intended to keep a journal-ish log of our travels in China on this here blog. Unfortunately, what we did not realize was that Blogger is blocked in China! That being said, we are just now getting around to posting a recollection of our adventures in China (we were postponed due to some family circumstances which I will post more about later).


Today, I am posting our updates from Friday, June 3rd, Saturday, June 4th, and Sunday, June 5th:

Friday, June 3

What a long day! Sorry this one is so short, but it was a lot of traveling today:

This AM started early (4 AM early) as we prepared to leave Beijing. We barely made our flight to Shanghai (due to the "necessity" of our entire group remaining together every step of our journey- including airport security) - but we did, and arrived at the Shanghai airport just in time to load onto a bus and make our way to Suzhou and Wuxi.

We were on the bus for around 1.5 hours and made a couple of stops in Wuxi. The first was at the Tai lake (famous for it's "rockery" - large rocks found on the bottom of the lake and used to decorate gardens and fishing industry). It is the 3rd largest lake in China - over 2000 hectares in size. The day was foggy/polluted- so it was difficult to really appreciate the view (thus, no pictures of the experience as it was nearly impossible to appreicate!).

 The second stop was at the Fu garden - a large garden famous for its Tai lake rockery decorations. 

{As you can see, it appears very overcast in this photo - it's actually pollution}

Many of our crew are growing tired of the food - and so our dinner plans were cancelled so that everyone could have the opportunity for KFC or McDonalds. I admit, even we welcomed the change!

Saturday, June 4

We woke up in Suzhou and packed the busses for another busy day of traveling and sight seeing. We were joined by a new local tour guide, Tim, who we really enjoyed. We had two stops planned in Suzhou- the first at the Lingering Garden, the second at a local silk factory. The day began overcast and had progressed to a steady drizzle by the time we arrived at the Lingering Garden.

 Once a private residence, the garden (which is really a large indoor/outdoor house) is now a public space protected as a cultural treasure by UNISCO. Even on a cloudy day, the home did a remarkable job of capturing natural light. It was really a series of rooms connected by covered corridors. It was truly a beautiful space.

 Pay special attention to this sign that informed us of the expected behavior:

 Throughout the garden, traditional Chinese musicians dressed in traditional clothing were stationed. We heard both vocalists and instrumentalists- and we even knew one of the songs! 

{We did not know this song}

The steady rain provided a nice background to the music - I can imagine that it must have been a relaxing place to live!

After the lingering garden, we made our way to the silk factory.  When we arrived, we were greeted with display cases full of silk worm cocoons!

We watched the workers soften the cocoons in water and then how each cocoon is unravelled into thread (eight strands from eight different cocoons are used for a single thread.

We also watched the process for making silk batting for silk comforters. It is hard to believe that a single cocoon can stretch to "king size!"

As with most of our factory visits, we felt rushed through the "learning process," only to spend too much time in the government sponsored shops.  Suzhou seems like a beautiful city- we wish there had been time to get off the bus and wander around. We bid farewell to Tim and began our 2 hour bus ride to Hangzhou. When we arrived, we were taken to a street known for shopping for over 2000 years! There were loads of fun shops, but we only had 30 minutes to look! :( We were taken to dinner and then back to our hotel for the evening.

Sunday, June 5th -

Today we started our adventures by taking a boat tour of the Tai lake. We walked through a park to get to the harbor and our whole group boarded a very asian looking boat and enjoyed a 45 minute cruise where we had lovely views of the Hangzhou skyline.

Our time in Souzhou and Hangzhou have been very short, but I can't help but think i would really enjoy spending more time in these beautiful cities!

After the boat tour we began traveling into the country a bit to visit a tea plantation. We learned that Hangzhou is famous for it's tea production - specifically green tea. Green tea is made from the tiny end leaf "buds" of the tea plant, and grown in rows along the hillside. It is picked in April, so there wasn't a lot of action going on while we were there.

The same tea plant is used to make green, white, and black teas - the difference being the age of the leaf and the preparation process (black tea is fermented). The green tea leaves are dried in a giant wok and then ready for use! there are three different levels of green tea: the top level is Emperor's tea (and is very expensive!) the middle level is a combination of emporor's tea and a lower quality tea leaf and the lowest level is simply the lowest quality tea leaf. According to our guides, only the lowest quality of green tea is allowed to be exported!! In addition to learning about the process of preparing green tea, we also learned a bit about it's antioxidant value...

Since we are tea lovers, we of course bought some of the "higher quality" tea that would not be exported to the US as well as my favorite - Jasmine Tea or Mo Li Wah. Yum!

The Tea plantation was a fun stop. I loved this quaint little fountain in the garden of the plantation...How appropriate!

From Hangzhou we then started the trip to Shanghai- the final destination of our trip. We arrived in Shanghai and went straight to The Bund - which is like a river walk area. The Bund is full of European style buildings built pre 1940s. The buildings have since been turned into banks and shops like Prada and Dolce and Gabbana. According to our tour guide, these buildings still look so nice because they were "built to last" - not sure what he is saying about Chinese construction.... The sky scrapers here are a sight to behold. Again, according to our guide, 10 years ago, there were over 30,000 in Shanghai- I guess no one has cared enough to count since then. The tallest one is 101 stories tall- so tall it is most often hidden in the clouds. We will spend one night in a nice hotel before relocating to the educational hall for the remainder of our trip.  Here are a couple of shots of the Shanghai skyline (photo editing a la Mr. Maestro):

 {Note the "bottle opener" - second tallest building in the world - 110 stories}

 {we do not know what this building is, but these "pods" are actually parts of the building suspended}

 {The Pearl Tower is the 4th tallest TV tower in the world - it has a glass floor on the upper "pearl!"}



More China

-Today I'll post our blog entries from Wednesday, June 1st and Thursday, June 2nd. If you are just now "tuning in," Blogger is blocked in China, so my blog posts from that time are just now getting their time in to shine! Just pretend we are still there and are getting to share our travels as they occur....-

Wednesday, June 1

Today is the day our China Adventures really begin!

We started the day off with a delicious fusion breakfast at our hotel. At 8AM sharp, we loaded our tour busses and headed to our first stop of the day- The Summer Palace. Along the way, our tour guide, Jane, provided us with some more fun facts about Beijing. Here is a sampling:
- Beijing is 6800 km2 and is home to 16 million people (1/2 the Canadian population)
- Tourism is the number one industry in Beijing. The Forbidden City alone grosses over 500 million Chinese Yuen (~80 million US dollars) annually.
- 1 cup of human milk in the morning and a spoon full of pearl dust at night is the recipe for smooth ageless skin... Anyone?

The summer palace was lovely and serene. There is a beautiful lake that is surrounded by rolling hills and mountains that provides a constant cool breeze- it is no wonder the royal family spent so much time here!

{lake at the Summer Palace}

At the Summer Palace, there is a very long corridor- nearly one kilometer in length (738 meters, to be exact). This corridor was designed as a place for the royal family to walk, enjoying the lake view, shaded from the sun. There are some beautiful paintings covering the framework that are still vibrant and colorful despite hundreds of years of exposure to the elements. UNESCO added the Summer Palace to its World Heritage List in 1998.

{the long corridor}

{close up of the paintaing in the long corridor}

From the summer palace, we headed to a "western restaurant" for lunch. Not my fave! I am not that picky of an eater, but I am rarely a fan of buffets- this one was no exception. Give me Chinese food (what we had been eating) any day over this fare.

After that, we went to the Forbidden City and then Tianamen Square. Although we had been both places before, it was really nice to have a guide this time!!

Here is a picture of me with our tour guide Jane (her flag reads "Super Vacation" in case you were wondering...)



Here are a couple of facts about the Forbidden City-

-Construction began on The Forbidden City on 1406- and took 20 years to complete. Over 1 million workers were required.
- There are 9,999.5 rooms! The half room hosted a staircase. It was thought that Heaven must have 10,000 rooms, so it was only appropriate that the Emperor's Palace have 1/2 room less.
-It was open to to the public for the first time in 1978. Prior to that, no "commoners" were allowed.

{"Commoners" in the Forbidden City}

A note from Mr. Maestro:

One of the cultural traditions that I have observed and admire here in China is the meal time. Group meals at restaurants are shared around a big round table that seats 8-10 people. In the center of the table is a large "Lazy Susan" where the various dishes are placed.

It is the custom that individuals do not order their own personal food, but instead the table orders plates to be shared. There is usually a large bowl of rice (and/or noodles) and soup and then 8 or 10 plates of various vegetables and meats. Each individual has a small (desert size) plate where they place small servings of the various dishes. Once you finish your small portion, you help yourself to more. Hot tea accompanies every meal and fruit (watermelon usually) is served as desert.

I admire this custom for a couple of reasons:
You get to try a little bit of everything. This is great if you are like me can never decided what to order because everything looks good!
The small plate really encourages portion control. It's a lot easier to tell when you are full when you are eating in many little spurts instead of one large plate of food that you feel pressured to clear.
In this arrangement the meal is literally shared together and conversation seems to flow naturally and endlessly (even if you are just asking someone to pass something over and over again). This way the meal feels much more like a family communing together instead of just a simple refueling station. It's good to be reminded to slow down and share what we have with on another.

Thursday, June 2nd

Today we...


...went to the park within the Temple of Heaven. Here people (mostly retired) enjoyed hobbies including tai chi, fan tai chi, sword tai chi, ball tai chi (they really like tai chi), cards, dominos, ballroom dancing and "group singing". Guess which one Mr. Maestro was most excited about...



{Temple of Heaven}

...saw how jade was refined into jewelry and sculptures. {MC might have picked up something nice here.}

...learned how they make cloisonné (enamelware) vases. Oh you want to know how it is done? Ok. Take a look:

{attaching tiny copper wires to a copper vase in intricate designs}

{wires are now attached}

{filling the wires with the enamel paint}

{polishing the nearly finished product}

...climbed the great wall - no big deal.





...visited the Olympic Park where Mr. Maestro swam near the water cube.

...ate a delicious meal of Peking Duck (again, too busy enjoying the food to take a pic)

Two days packed full of Beijing adventures and now a 4 AM wake-up call in our future. Tomorrow we fly out of Beijing. Next stop: Shanghai en route to Suzhou, Wuxi, and Hangzhou.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Beijing, China

China - part one

We fully intended to update this blog regularly during our adventure in China; however, we did not anticipate that the country of China would have Blogger blocked (in addition to Facebook and Gmail) - poor planning on our part. That being said, we did blog during our trip, and we'll start to share those entries now (while sitting in the LA airport, waiting on our last flight that departs at 1:40 AM).
Today, I'll share our entry from the first day. I say "our" because Mr. Maestro is about to make his blogging debut! Hold on to your hats!


May 31, 2011
After more than 24 hours of travel, we have arrived safe and sound in Beijing! The first thing we saw upon arrival was the Beijing Capitol Airport's brand new international terminal - aptly named "Terminal 3" (as there were two previous terminals). It was bright, airy, clean and shiny new. Our tour guide, Jane, informed us that it was finished just prior to the Olympics in 2008. I snapped a quick shot before going through customs (which, i might add was slightly against the rules...) so you could get a glimpse of our first sights upon arrival. It was a stark contrast to the terminal I remember arriving in on our last Chinese adventure in 2004.



{these elderly people were not a part of the youth symphony}

Ok, on to a more exciting topic- FOOD!
After making our way through customs, we met up with our tour guides and loaded two busses to take us to breakfast and then to check in at our hotel. We stopped at this restaurant for a traditional Chinese dim sum breakfast. Apparently this establishment is famous as the first 24 hour restaurant in Beijing.



{are you jealous of my t-shirt? The best thing about traveling in a large group, besides being totally conspicuous in every other way, is wearing matching shirts}

We had seven courses for breakfast, including dumplings, steamed vegetables, pot stickers, "meat pancake" and a porridge that appeared to have chunks of mushrooms in it- which later turned out to be aged egg..... I regret to inform you that we were so hungry at this point, we completely forgot to document this part of the day!

We returned to our busses and made our way to the Mercure (Mercury) Hotel in Downtown Beijing. It is lovely! Here are some photos of our home for the next three days.






I will now it over to Mr. Maestro to wrap up our first day in China...

Hello, world! Mr. Maestro here. To wrap up our first day should be a simple enough task. We were so beat after our 24+ hours of traveling, huge breakfast, and check-in process that we didn't do much more on Tuesday. In a feeble attempt to stave off jet-lag we decided to take a walk. Highlights included people getting a hair-cut and shave on the side of the street under the bridge, an odd Bavarian style set of row houses In the "SoHo" section of Beijing(see picture), and a lovely ice cram snack from a local snack shop called "Da-Ri Quen." Ha!



We came back to the room around 5pm and shamelessly fell asleep. What adventures await us tomorrow? You'll have to come back to find out...

P.S.: to wrap up the day, I'll finish with some trivia about Beijing that I learned from our tour guide, Jane. Did you know:

That Beijing is almost the size of the country of Belgium?
That if you start in the center of the city, you can drive for 2 hours in any direction and still be in Beijing?
That Beijing's written history as a Capitol goes back over 3000 years?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Beijing, China

CSA - Weeks 3 and 4

Last week was a blur. I could bore you with the details or I could just summarize by saying I cooked for 200 veterans on Monday, was in charge of a full day nutrition symposium on Tuesday, had a "normal" day of work on Wednesday, and was in Nashville for Training on Thursday and Friday! I got back home on Friday afternoon, just in time for Mr. Maestro's parents to arrive for a quick visit! In all of the hustle and bustle, Mr. Maestro forgot to pick up the CSA, but thankfully we have understanding farmers, and he was able to get it after work on Friday. Here is a peek at what we got:

Delicious fresh strawberries, a GIANT head of broccoli, Rainbow Swiss Chard, some more spring onions, and a bear full of local honey!

We sliced the strawberries and served them for breakfast on Saturday with my Mother-In-Law's famous Baked Oatmeal {Although I substituted nearly all the ingredients for something else - so it wasn't much like the original. I'll check my pantry before starting to make it next time!}. Yum-O!

The onions are still in the frige, and the broccoli became Parmesean Roasted Broccoli {recipe to follow}.

The honey will be used off and on for all sorts of things. Did you know that honey has natral anti-bacterial properties? It's even been shown to help heal wounds! Crazy what a little bee spit can do, right?

I do have a confession - this weeks marks my first failure in the committment to eat 100% of my CSA. The beautiful rainbow swiss chard got lost in my veggie drawer and when I re-discovered it...well, let's just say it was too late. RIP swiss chard...RIP.

This week we got this in our CSA sack:

Hello, Summer time! Fresh yellow squash and zucchini, basil, sweet peas, new potatoes, a loaf of whole wheat bread, and PEACHES! I can't WAIT to gobble those peaches up! The peas are really great raw - I just washed them and pulled the tips and strings off so they are ready for snacking! The potatoes, I will store in a cool dark place for a rainy day.

I took some of both week's sacks and made this for dinner last night:

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli {with fresh basil, garlic and pine nuts} - Ina Garten's Parmesean Roasted Broccoli

Grilled summer squash and zucchini - drizzled with a little OO and seasoned with freshly ground pepper, a touch of seasoned salt, and garlic powder - then grilled to perfection courtesy of Mr. Maestro {Check out those perfect grill marks! }

A slice of freshly baked whole wheat bread, and a dainty little 3 oz filet mignon from a local meat shop.

Who is jealous of my meal?

At this point I would like to insert a picture of myself and Mr. Maestro with both sets of our parents {because they both graciously came to see Mr. Maestro conduct the youth symphony at their concert on Sunday}, but alas...I forgot to take one!


P.S. - Remember how I said I was going to china this summer? Well...I leave in TWO DAYS! More to come!

CSA - Week 2

As some of you may know, Blogger was down for a few days last week. That, my friends, is my excuse for the frightfully long delay in my posting. Yep. And I'm sticking to it!

So, as my previous post mentioned, our CSA has just recently kicked back into gear. Mr. Maestro and I have renewed our dedication to consuming 100% of our share each week - and so far {after one week} we're doing a great job! Wanna know what I ended up making last week?

Ok, you twisted my arm...

As excited as I was about the Sorrel Pesto, I had a last minute change in my game plan and decided to make this instead:

Sorrel Soup! Want the recipe? Click here
The soup was delicious, although Mr. Maestro and I decided that it would be great as an appetizer - perhaps served as a "shooter" in a shot glass. The taste was lemony and bright...or as I described it: "Green." Definitely worth a try, however, perhaps not the best consumed in large quantities.  I used some of our spring onions in place of the shallots.

We served it with some delicious savory roasted sweet potatoes and spring onions {tossed in olive oil and seasoned with a little salt, pepper, and some garlic powder prior to roasting} and a delicious chicken quarter. Hello, Chicken Quarter! Where have you been all of my {married/cooking} life! You are so CHEAP, and oh so tasty! I rubbed these bad boys down with a bit more oo {olive oil - extra virgin if you must know-  I am refusing to use RR's famous "EVOO" tag-line!}, and then sprinkled with a bit of salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried parsley, and some chopped fresh rosemary. They do still have skin {remove prior to eating to reduce Calories and fat}, but I rubbed the spice mixture up under the skin to be sure the meat was flavorful. I cooked @ 350 for about 40 minutes {or until the internal temp reaches 180}.  FEAST!

 And for dessert? Angel food cake with some of those yummy fresh strawberries!

I used the salad greens to make a couple of killer salads - and we enjoyed the fresh baked bread with a few different dinner meals. That wraps up week one of our CSA!

Now, on to week two!

I'd show you what came in our bag, but I seem to have deleted the photo! Oopsies!

I'll tell you instead.

We got more spring onions, more salad greens, more sweet potatoes, some radishes, some fresh rosemary, and a loaf of fresh homemade whole wheat bread!

We love radishes cut up and served with hummus. Want a great hummus recipe? Ok!
Try this one: 5 Minute Hummus

We have baked a few of the sweet potatoes and served with cinnamon {yum!} but we've roasted most of the so far.

The salad greens have made us some more great salads, and the onions have been used both cooked and raw.

I love the aromatic nature of rosemary and I've used it this week to season both meat and vegetables!

I still have a few ingredients yet to use before we pick up week 3 on Thursday!  Can't wait to see what's inside!

CSA - week 1

Yesterday was an exciting day {and no, i'm not referring to Cinco de Mayo} - it was exciting because it was the first day of our yearly CSA. What is a CSA, you might ask? Well, CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture" and basically, it's a way to source locally grown food to local people, in the appropriate season. Because it is community supported, we pay a flat fee to our CSA farm and then sit back and wait to share in the bounty of the harvest. The risk is that if the weather does not favor a bumper crop of tomatoes {like last season}, we do not get a bumper crop of tomatoes. The reward is that no matter the weather, our CSA goes on providing us with as much local, organic food, herbs, and flowers as possible.  This is our fourth year to participate in the CSA and our CSA farms fourth year to offer the service {which means we have been there since the beginning...oh yeah!}. Our CSA is from the delightful Whitton Farms in Tyronza, Arkansas. The owners are the ever inspiring Keith and Jill Forrester {if you are a Memphian, you may know the Forresters as the owners of the amazing Trolley Stop Market in downtown Memphis}.
So what is the point of this post? Well, I wanted to share with you what is in the CSA bag this week and what I plan to do with my goodies!

Here's a peek:

{L to R, front row: sorrel, spring onions, mint, strawberries 

back row: fresh baked bread, lettuce mix, sweet potatoes}

This week's most challenging ingredient? Sorrel!  Sorrel is a spring green with a sharp lemony flavor. It can be used to substitute for spinach (in small quantities) or along with other greens in a salad mix.

While searching for sorrel inspiration, I came across a blog called Two Small Farms filled with recipes for their CSA subscribers. These two small farms are located in California.  

Here is a link to their sorrel recipes: Two Small Farms

There were several recipes that caught my eye, but I think that this week I have decided to make Sorrel Pesto to use as a sauce for fish (I think the lemony flavor would be delicious!). Here is the recipe:

2 cups coarsely chopped fresh sorrel, ribs removed
1/3 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil

In a food processor or blender puree the sorrel, the parsley, the garlic, the parmesan, the pine nuts and the oil, transfer the pesto to a jar with a tight fitting lid and chill it, covered. The pesto keeps, covered and chilled, for 2 weeks. Makes about 1 cup.

As for my other CSA goodies, they seem a bit easier to use. The salad greens will be used for {obviously} salads. The strawberries will most likely be eaten straight from the container {yum!} or perhaps mixed with mint to make a Strawberry Caprese Salad { My dear friend Artsy Fartsy has been talking about this recipe and I am so intrigued by it!}. 

Take a look at this:

Strawberry Caprese Salad

The spring onions, bread, and sweet potatoes will also be delicious additions to our meals this week.  

What would you do with these ingredients?