Limoncello

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

Lemon peel in vodka and everclear on their way to becoming limoncello

Starting with 750ml of Vodka and 750ml of Everclear, Caroline peeled approximately 35 lemons she picked in Santa Barbara, California, threw them into a jar with the alcohol, and will now wait a patient 2 months for the mixture to brew. In November she will boil water and sugar to make a syrup, add it to the lemon alcohol mixture minus the zest, and again, let it sit for a while. Just before Christmas and in time for giving away as gifts, Caroline will have made her first batch of the popular Italian liqueur called Limoncello.

Apple Annie’s

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

Apples ready to be picked at Apple Annies in Willcox, Arizona

Headed down south with my mom Karen and sister Amanda for some apple picking at Apple Annie’s in Willcox. Willcox is about 85 miles east of Tucson in the southeast of our state of Arizona. We picked about 45 pounds of apples that will be made into dehydrated apple rings over the next week or so. Asian pears, red bartlett, and peaches were also ripe for the picking, so a few pounds of those came with. From the orchard, we made our way to the vegetable farm for some tomato picking, along with some peppers. The 28 pounds of tomatoes will be made into tomato sauce and ketchup, the peppers will be pickled and canned.

Raspberry Picking

JWise Food, Photo of the Day, Travels

Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

Attention: Some images had to be moved around, and additional information needed to be added to these 4-days as when I first blogged about this trip, it wasn’t in my head that exacting placement of details should be very precise as long as we had an idea of what was what. Well, here I am in November 2022 with COVID-19, repairing those bungles because I’ve got nothing better to do.

A lot happened between yesterday afternoon’s last photo and this photo of four jars of raspberry lavender jam and four jars of raspberry mango jam. Caroline and I are spending a long weekend at Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico, as the guests of Cliff and Bess Crouch – who turned out to be wonderful hosts. Our lodgings are in a converted barn featuring a two-story custom-made apartment with two big bedrooms and an equally big living room and kitchen – each room is 25 by 25 feet. It being monsoon season, and with a chance for storms, we went directly to work yesterday after we got in. With no time to waste, there was no time to document things. But from my old itinerary, I can share that dinner last night was a hot vegetable curry with spiced noodles using veggies from the Crouch’s garden. Breakfast this morning was fried tomatoes with marinated halloumi cheese; maybe you can tell that Caroline was still a vegetarian at this time.

Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

Done with those things, the geese arrived to bring us out for more veggie picking

Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

Cliff and Bess live in the puny two-story house on the right, while our apartment of gargantuan proportions is over in the red barn on the left.

Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

We are here for raspberries, lavender, beans, corn, and squash, along with some rest and relaxation. The former was easy to get, although hard on the back; the latter never came as work was the order of the day.

Caroline Wise at Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

Once the raspberries and lavender were had, the cooking, canning, and freezing began. Caroline helped with the occasional washing of something or other but had brought her homework along that required her attention. Meanwhile, I made jams and sauces, cleaned, prepped, froze, cleaned some more, and then made dinner. Nine pounds of raspberries were far more work than I anticipated, and I will sorely need a short vacation following this short vacation.

Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

While staying at Lavender Spring Ranch, we had some time away from cooking and homework to smell the flowers and talk at the various creatures roaming the farm. Not much was said to this butterfly, well except maybe a thank you for letting me take this photo before it fluttered away. The farm, not far from Ruidoso and the historic village of Lincoln, is situated at the eastern foot of the Capitan Mountains, with its peak stretching up to 10,083 feet. Bees were abuzz throughout the raspberry patch but paid us no attention as they flew about intoxicated by the sugary sweet juice of the nectar they had been munching on. Lizards, birds, an occasional mosquito, geese, Patches the dog, catfish, deer, turkey, ducks, and weekend visitors picking berries and veggies were all part of our stay. If you would like to see the farm from a satellite view, click here.

Caroline Wise at Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

Hmm, maybe Caroline helped more than I first said as I do believe she organized all of these berries so they weren’t touching each other so we could freeze them before bagging them up.

Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

A rafter of turkeys skittishly makes its way from the pond after feasting on corn that had been put out for the resident ducks. The nearly dozen flightless wild birds were just outside the window of the kitchen as I spotted them pecking away at the corn. Quietly, I crept around the outside corner to snap a photo, but that was enough commotion to send them the other way. What did I do? Well, I went around the other way to cut them off and get another photo, but there was fencing and no escape for the turkeys. By the time I returned to my original location, they, too, had found there was no outlet and were headed back my way. With nowhere else to go besides the pond, the turkeys glided right by me, returning to the hills behind the farm.

Caroline Wise at Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

And off we went, this time to collect some of the ingredients for dinner and obviously some that would be coming home with us.

Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

Corn, green beans, and…

Caroline Wise at Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

…squash was all part of my dinner plans.

Lavender Spring Ranch in Arabela, New Mexico

Homemade roasted vegetable stew with course rye bread we brought from Phoenix was on the menu tonight. Try as I might, I couldn’t find a hearty stew recipe that used lavender so that wasn’t part of the flavors on offer this evening.

Bibimbop

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

Korean dish Bipim Bop. Consisting of stir fried vegetables and tofu over rice

This was my first attempt making the Korean dish bibimbop which is basically a dish that consists of rice with a topping of meat and/or veg. Following a couple of different veg recipes and improvising on one of my toppings, tonight’s dinner was pretty darn good for a novice attempt. I have made kimchee before but this was my first hot Korean meal made at home. The dish is served in a hot clay bowl with the rice at the bottom. On top of this, I placed warm soy sauce and sesame oil prepared bean sprout salad, next to it is steamed baby bok choi tossed in a tamari ginger garlic sauce and finally, the third element is fried tofu with sweet potato cooked in sweet ginger garlic and vegetarian fish sauce mix. This is something I will be trying again but maybe with different toppings. And yes, we did have the Korean red pepper paste to go along with it.

Floating Garden Tea

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

The ingredients for making floating garden tea similar to the tea served at House of Nanking in San Francisco, California

One of our favorite Chinese restaurants is House of Nanking in San Francisco, California. At the beginning of the meal, hot tea is delivered to the table. This tea is one of the most fascinating and beautiful cups of tea one may ever lay eyes upon. While green tea leaves float and unfurl at the bottom of the cup, a floating garden of ‘things’ at the liquid surface dazzle the eye. But what is that stuff? Well after much searching, I found a now neglected website called Munchiefood where someone figured out just what is in this cup of tea. And so today I went and purchased those ingredients from our local Chinese Herbalist. The ingredients are as follows, wolfberries also known as goji berries also known as Lycii Fructus, chrysanthemum flowers, and tiny rosebuds. While at the herbalist, another customer hearing what I planned on doing with the ingredients, recommended skipping the sugar and using red dates to sweeten the tea, they are pictured top center, gojis are left, chrysanthemums right, and rosebuds bottom center. Now the tricky part that only further experimentation will be able to determine. According to Munchiefood, you should mix 4 part chrysanthemum, 2 part goji berries, 1 part rosebud, and 3 part green tea, store in a container and use 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture for a 10oz glass of hot tea.

The helpful customer at the herbalist said, first wash the ingredients thoroughly because they are from China, then put a palm-size portion of chrysanthemum, about 1/4 cup of goji berries, 10 to 15 rosebuds, and 15 red dates cut in half into a crockpot. Fill with water and slow cook overnight. Next day, put water and plant mixture in a container and refrigerate, heating the water as needed to make tea and then adding a tablespoon of chrysanthemum, 5 to 7 goji berries, and a rosebud or two you cooked overnight to the cup of tea.

According to the herbalist, goji is good for the eyes, red dates are good for blood, roses help in relaxation, and chrysanthemum is good for the eyes, too.

What We Eat

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

A weeks worth of food Caroline and I will eat at home. The items are all vegetarian as Caroline is veg, although I am not, we only cook vegetarian at home

Inspired by the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel, I took today’s photo to show what Caroline and I will eat in a typical week, minus restaurant visits. Our food costs for grocery shopping are about $120 per week which does not include meat. With Caroline being a vegetarian I have found it easy and satisfying to only cook vegetarian meals at home. When my meat craving strikes I go out. What foods are pictured and what we will eat over the coming week are as follows:

Homemade pomegranate syrup (used for making Fesen Jan), cauliflower, Napa Valley Grapeseed Oil, Bates & Schmitt Apple Balsamic Vinegar, fresh mint, fresh thyme, sweet butter from Spain, goat and water buffalo yogurt, flaxseed oil, orange juice, collard greens, cashews, pine nuts, currants, celery, Roma tomatoes, limes, jalapenos, brown eggs, fresh corn, red bananas, Himalayan pink crystal salt, chipotle chilies, walnuts, organic pasta, Kala chana (black chickpeas), red onions, nectarines, green beans, margarine (used for making Ethiopian flavoring), Nanak paneer (Indian cheese), tofu, bell peppers, carrots, cilantro, potatoes, pattypan squash, soy kielbasa, Sprecher soft drinks, brown rice, fresh coconut, blueberries, green peas, gobi mix (Indian cauliflower dish), vegetable Tawa mix, vegetable biryani mix. Most of our fruits and veggies are organic. Missing from the photo are curry leaves, fresh dill, parsley, strawberries, Thai green chilies, yellow split peas, and homemade sauerkraut.

So, what does one make with the above? Here are some of the planned dishes:

Herbed rice with currants marinated in oil, thyme, and balsamic vinegar

Yellow split pea stew and gomen (Ethiopian-style stew and collard greens)

Fesen Jan with tofu and veggies (Iranian pomegranate and walnut dish)

Vegetable Tawa (a veg dish from India)

Vegetable Biryani (rice dish from India)

Sauerkraut and sausage

Kala Chana dal and gobi (dishes from India)

Smoothies or eggs with veggies for breakfast, dinner leftovers for Caroline’s lunch.