Boreal Witch

Arthur starts school next Tuesday. School supplies have been bought and left in his locker. His first week menu has been planned. His bus ride has been scheduled. It's all become so real. I've been excited for this day for five years and I find myself - surprisingly - a bit sad. 

I love vegetables. It's a sickness, really, but I'll sneak grated zucchini into lasagne, substitute spaghetti squash for noodles, and dry kale chips for snacks. But...I have a shaming confession to make...

...I have never before had swiss chard!

Truly embarrassing, I know.

When I thought we'd be living at the farm, I purchased a CSA from Taste the Color, located just five miles away in Lomira. We ended up in Beloit, so my dad has been the recipient of these boxes, which he has shared with us when he comes to visit. He's brought pickling cucumbers, lettuce, green beans, and, most recently, swiss chard.

What was I going to do with that? I wondered.

So, I did what I always do...experiment!

Here are the delicious results:

On the Menu: Bacon and Swiss Chard Stromboli
Serves 4

Dough:
1 1/4 tsp yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tbs sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs olive oil
1 3/4 cups flour
oil for greasing the pan

Filling:
3 strips bacon, diced
1/2 lb swiss chard, roughly chopped
1 tbs vegetable broth
1/2 cup swiss cheese, grated

For the dough:
Mix together yeast, water, salt, sugar, and olive oil. Let sit for five minutes. Stir in flour and let sit for 2 hours, or use immediately. Spread on a well-greased cookie sheet or pizza pan.

For the filling:
Place chopped bacon into skillet over medium heat. When bacon is almost crisp, throw in the swiss chard and vegetable broth and saute until wilted. Place filling in the center of the dough and sprinkle on the grated cheese. Wrap up the filling - almost like a calzone - and cut some holes in the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Raise temperature to 400 degrees and bake until the top is golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Note: To make this meal vegetarian, omit the bacon and add six cloves of garlic, minced, and 1 tbs butter to the swiss chard. Saute until wilted, then proceed as indicated.

Blessed be.

I have mixed feelings about going grey. On one hand, I have to accept that I'm getting older and that eventually I will perish. Not anytime soon (I hope), but it's becoming clear that I am simply mortal and my time is fixed.

On the other hand, I relish in the fact that I am getting older. I know a little something about life. I feel a little wiser and I've had enough amazing experiences to be satisfied if I died presently.

I can safely say that I am comfortable with death. It doesn't make me any less afraid of what is after or distressed if there isn't an after. This doesn't mean that I now what happens when you die; I don't. I am still ignorant about that fact.

Life and death are a balance. You can't have one without the other. So, my friends, enjoy those experiences while you can. Be brave. Experiment. Have adventures. Live with little regret. Cherish loved ones. Above all, be happy. Be fulfilled. If you aren't these things, what kind of life are you living?

Blessed be.

Since our move to Wisconsin, we've eaten a lot of fresh green beans. We eat them raw for snacks. I saute or blanch them as a side. We even pickled 6 pounds of green beans this weekend for future treats. I'm a bit surprised none of the boys have screamed, "Enough with the green beans, Mom!"

My favorite way to eat them, I've discovered, is in this delicious salad. If you are a vegetarian like a few of my faithful readers are, you can omit the bacon and bacon grease and saute the beans in garlic olive oil or coconut oil. The flavor of the bacon grease is really wonderful, even though it's not the healthiest thing you could eat.

Bacon and Green Bean Salad
Serves 8
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tbs - 1/4 cup bacon grease (to taste)
2 lbs fresh green beans
1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds or toasted almonds

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonaise
1/4 cup kale
1/4 cup fresh parsley (or basil or cilantro)
1/4 cup green or white onion
1 clove garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook bacon, reserve bacon grease.

Blend all dressing ingredients in a blender until well mixed. Set aside.

Heat bacon grease and then saute half of the green beans until bright green. Remove from pan and add more bacon grease, if needed. Saute remainder of the green beans. When cooked, set aside with the other half of the green beans.

Pour sauce onto green beans and mix well to incorporate. Sprinkle bacon and sunflower seeds on the top. Serve immediately.

Blessed be.

I've had to rely on public and alternative forms of transportation for a few weeks now. It's kind of fun and refreshing and brings out my inner hippie. I've lost a few more pounds and hope to make my pre-Balin weight by the end of the summer. The plethora of cheap vegetables have helped, too.

My only gripe is that Beloit is not very bike-friendly (neither was Fairbanks, so that isn't much of a change). There are few bike paths - with the exception of our hip and/or edgy downtown - and the sidewalks are really, really crummy, especially in our neighborhood. In some areas, the sidewalks actually disappear and reappear several blocks later. It's weird and unsettling. I can't really explain it except to say that the city planning committee in Beloit is probably made up of five-year-olds.

I bought a new bike trailer. The wheels come off and it folds up so that you can store it easier. It's pretty posh. The boys love it. We found a nearby park and I plan to take the boys there often. Every Friday the boys and I ride eight miles (round trip) to the grocery store and do our shopping. The trailer is invaluable.  

It's also difficult only having a bike though, because while I would love to volunteer, I don't have time except on evenings or weekends. I don't feel comfortable biking at night, so that leaves weekends. I miss having people depend on me. I miss having a purpose, so even though I'm settling in, I still feel a bit lost here.

Blessed be.

My dad came to visit this weekend for a couple of days. He loves going on fun outings so he took us to Lake Geneva which is about 40 miles away. The boys weren't too excited about the drive over, but they were thrilled to be at such a large body of water. They watched boats, splashed in the water, and played some instruments.

The lighting was perfect (I even saw a couple getting their engagement pictures taken!) and I managed to get some lovely photographs of the boys. They must have been in a cooperative mood because they sat down when I asked them to and even posed when necessary. (The promise of ice cream must have been quite a lure. It was awesome ice cream, so well worth it!) 

They spotted fireflies in the fields we drove past on the way home. Arthur discovered that some of the lights looked yellow and some looked white. Balin repeated, "Butts light up!" all the way back.

We are all looking forward to checking out some of the other places around Wisconsin and Illinois. Any place that has water or a beach should be a hit with the boys.

Blessed be.

 Shopko is starting to get rid of their summer stock of vegetables and flowers so I decided to get the boys each a tomato plant. Their pots and potting soil were outrageously expensive, so we bought their pots at the Jo-Ann's right next door (you can't beat 70% off!). I might even stop by at a later date a pick up a few more pots for next summer's gardening or future houseplants. After picking up some soil at the Ace Hardware down the street, we were ready to plant the tomatoes!

Both plants have a tomato, so we'll have at least one for each boy. Hopefully there will be many, many more!

Blessed be.