A Bean Boot couple of days

I am back. Both to the blog and to civilization. This weekend I went to one of the more remote places left in the lower 48 states: Porcupine Mountains State Park on the shores of Lake Superior. This is one of two annual trips up there with my dad, sometimes my brother, and our friends. The winter trip is a guys only affair, but women and girls can come in the summer, though most of the candidates opt out. Both trips involve relaxation and good times off the grid. Neither are true backpacking adventures since we rent rustic cabins, but it’s about as much roughing it we get for the year.  We spend a few days with no electricity or running water, just hanging out and having a good time.  I was looking forward to seeing lots of snow and being able to use the snowshoes I got for Christmas, but even up there the snow was pathetic and I was faced with trekking it through the woods in my Bean Boots.  Leon Leonwood Bean was a genius for coming up with these boots.  They are American icons and are the favored footwear in my closet anytime it is damp in winter, spring, or fall.  I know some people even wear them with shorts in the summer, though I am not that adventurous.  I received numerous comments on how goofy they supposedly look this weekend, but I know my feet were dry and comfortable in any condition they faced.  Even with the lack of snow, it was as always, a great feeling unplugging from my phone, email, Facebook, and yes, this blog.  It would be downright impossible for many people,but I think that everyone should take a chance to escape from technology for at least one day a year.  It lets your mind slow down for a bit, because pretty much anything you want to get done has to wait until you get a connection back to the 21st century.

After my escape from modern conveniences, I came back to find that Alyssa was roughing it here as well.  With the cold weather last week, the water line in our basement froze sometime Friday between when I left and she got back.  Lucky for us, the pipe didn’t burst, but Alyssa was without water for a couple of days.  She managed to survive though by spending a lot of time at her parents.  Her dad got the water going right before I got home so I didn’t have to put my handyman skills to the test.  Needless to say, her and Ellie were excited for me to come home.  Alyssa will probably agree when I say I think Ellie was more excited to see me though.  She is still not used to being home with Alyssa when I am gone.

After all my complaining about a lack of snow, things sure did change today.  We got hit with quite a bit of snow this morning and Alyssa took the day off to keep from having to drive in the ice that came first.  My Bean Boots got a workout again today keeping me dry as I went to work and also shoveling the driveway tonight.  After finally getting snow, Alyssa, Spring Dog, and I got to use our snowshoes this evening.  Ellie loved the snow and wore herself right out.  She is curled on on the couch next to me sound asleep as I type this.

Check out this great article about Bean Boots and their growing status as a Made in America Icon.

Related articles

• Hot footwear must-have: L.L. Bean boots (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Play Hard, Crash Harder

It’s been a long time since I posted last and again I have no excuse for why.  After the last post I decided to wait until my DSLR is fixed to finish the house tour rather than post crappy pictures from my point and shoot.  Our Christmas and New Year were very busy this year.  Even though we had the same number of get togethers as the past few years, it seemed like we were pulled in a million different directions.  We survived the craziness and are looking forward to 2012.  Looking ahead to our first full year as a married couple and living in our house we are excited to share with you the projects, hobbies, and recipes that we come across.  We will try to post as much as possible and make our writing more interesting as the year progresses.

The first weekend of 2012 for us was a chance to breathe in a sense.  With the hustle and bustle of parties and shopping in our rear-view mirror we had a chance to unwind, undecorate, and spend time with the pooch.  One of the Christmas gifts we were most excited about was the snowshoes we got from my parents.  We were looking forward to taking Spring Dog out to Fumee Lake to run wild in the snow but mother nature hasn’t cooperated.  Instead of a typical UP winter with snow coming in 6, 8, or 12 inch dumpings we have gotten an inch or two at a time followed by warm weather.  This week was no exception and even though I wished it were snowing I decided to take Ellie out Friday afternoon to enjoy the sunshine.  I planned on a walk around town to wear her out so I could get some stuff done around the house.  My chores would have to wait after the walk because this is what she looked like when we got done.

I spent almost an hour wiping her off, covering furniture, and keeping her entertained until she dried off.  Magically, she came clean after drying all the way and she didn’t need a bath.

Saturday, Alyssa and I got sick of waiting for snow and decided to go to Fumee without snowshoes.  We took the pup for a long, long hike so she wouldn’t be too rambunctious when we put her in her crate while we went to dinner at my parents.  Here are a couple of pictures from the walk.

All this walking wasn’t enough to wear her out yet.  She wanted to play with her tennis ball even after an hour and a half in the snow. How can you resist when she looks at you like this?

FINALLY after lots of chasing the ball Spring Dog was finally ready to crash.

And by that time, I was ready to join her.

Recipe: Grapefruit Brûlée

 

Tonight when I got out of work and walked to my car I was chilled to the bone.  It’s not even that the air was actually that cold, but it just felt colder than any day yet this fall.  As you know from a few posts ago, I love winter as much as anybody, but when it is cold and there is no snow on the ground I will definitely complain.  Alyssa is staying in Escanaba tonight because she is on call, so I had leftover porketta and some breakfast potatoes for dinner.  That warm, hearty meal didn’t warm me up all the way, nor fill me up.  I knew we had ice cream, frozen custard, frozen yogurt, and Italian ice in the freezer but on a night like tonight something cold was out.  It just so happens we bought some grapefruit last night at the grocery store, mainly for a drink I want to make this week, but also because they are one of our favorite fruits.  I think one of the reasons we like them so much is that they are at their peak during the dead of winter in the UP and it’s a mini vacation eating tropical fruit during a blizzard.  I don’t know where I came across this idea for turning a tart, cool, fruit into a warm, sweet, spicy dessert in 5 minutes or less but it is fantastic.   Everyone has probably had some grapefruit with sugar sprinkled on top which is good, but broiling it transforms the fruit into something delicious.  The tartness mellows and it becomes kind of a sweet and sour mix that makes you wonder why there aren’t many recipes out there that use grapefruit.  So here is this simple, fast, delicious, even elegant dessert that is good for you too.  All it takes is a grapefruit, brown sugar, cinnamon, and some heat.

Start with a grapefruit and get your broiler going.

Cut it in half and cut out the wedges

Sprinkle some cinnamon and a healthy pinch of brown sugar on top, put it on some sort of high heat proof pan

Pop it in under the broiler, wait 3-4 minutes until golden brown on top and pull out.

Dig in and make sure to squeeze the juice out after you eat the fruit, I will even show you the proper technique.

 

Grapefruit Brûlée

• 1 grapefruit
• a dash of cinnamon
• 1-2 tsp brown sugar

Start with a grapefruit and get your broiler going.  Cut it in half and cut out the wedges.  Sprinkle some cinnamon and a healthy pinch of brown sugar on top, put it on some sort of high heat proof pan.  Pop it in under the broiler, wait 3-4 minutes until golden brown on top and pull out.  Enjoy.

Defending November

The decorative “in-between” season is upon us.  The fall pumpkins, leaves and gourds can still be displayed, but Halloween has come and gone, and Christmas is not too far off on the horizon.   While putting away the sparkly spiders and witch shoes, it is so tempting to bring out the new Christmas decorations.  In fact, if I had my say they would most likely already be out.  However, the hubby has stated that we are going to “defend November”…and not succumb to putting out the Christmas items just yet.   My sister, Erika, was over this past weekend and said “I think that people who have their Christmas decorations out before Thanksgiving are a little iffy.”  Iffy?!  I don’t want to be iffy.

     Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped me from putting out a few “wintery” items.  Ready or not, winter is coming.  This little moose was too cute to pass up.  I’ve taken a liking to the website pinterest.  I might even frequent it more than Facebook!  I recommend checking it out only when you have some spare time on your hands, because it is very addicting.  It has all kinds of recipes, DIY projects, house decor ideas, etc. etc. etc.  I recently found a simple way to make a rustic looking Christmas tree:  all you have to do is take a tomato cage and wrap it tightly with white lights = cute little tree for out on the porch or even indoors!

It may be pushing it, but I also put out some pre-lit garland over our fireplace.  I must say that it looks even better with Elf playing on the TV directly above it (playing on USA, I didn’t put in the DVD!).  If this movie doesn’t get you in the mood for the upcoming holidays, I don’t know what will!  Something tells me I’m going to have a hard time holding out until after Thanksgiving, but I’m giving it a whirl.  I’ll part with one of my favorite lines in the movie…

“First we’ll make snow angels for two hours, then we’ll go ice skating, then we’ll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse cookie dough as fast as we can, and then we’ll snuggle.”

Recipe: Beer Braised Chuck Roast

There are few people in this country that don’t like a good pot roast.  It’s almost as American as apple pie.  Reading online however, pot roast seems to be difficult for some home cooks.  Sometimes it’s bland, sometimes it’s dry, many times it’s both.  I came across this version of pot roast in GQ magazine a few years ago and have yet to be disappointed.  Instead of being a step by step recipe, it’s more like a method for getting deep, rich flavor that is perfect on cold fall or winter days.  The key step, and one that many people leave out when they make a roast is browning the meat.  Getting a good crust on the meat before roasting it is key to develop flavor.  I could go all scientific on you and describe why it makes things taste good, but I will let my favorite food site, Serious Eats, describe the Maillard Reaction instead.  Trust me, you want browned meat for great pot roast.  In this method it adds about 20 extra minutes to the process, but the vast improvement of your roast when you get done will make up for the extra time.  The rest of the method is variable depending on what you have on hand, what’s on sale at the store, or what your personal tastes are and that’s the beauty of it.  I will show you where you can change things up and give a few alternatives along the way.

Start with a 2-3 pound roast that is 2 inches or so thick.  I chose chuck roast for this but you can use any thick cut, rump roast, sirloin roast, even a rib roast.  Take your roast and cut it into fist sized chunks, obviously if you have giant hands you can go a little smaller than fists.  On my 2.5 pound roast I got 7 chunks.  Generously salt all the sides of each piece, coarse salt is better here because regular table salt tends to go overboard on the saltiness.

Salted Fists

Let the meat stand at room temp after salting for 20 minutes or so.  If you want, you can take the roast out and let it warm up before you salt and that way once you start in the kitchen you can keep going without the wait.  Peel and cut up 3-4 average carrots into pieces about the size of a pinkie, thicker carrots can be sliced in half lengthwise, or use 3/4 of a bag of baby carrots.

Carrots

Roughly chop a large onion.  Put the carrots and onions aside.

Carrots and onions

While the meat is resting, heat a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat.  I love my cast iron Dutch oven for this, but any 5-8 quart pan with a lid will do.  Add a good glug of olive or vegetable oil, whatever you have on hand and let it heat up.  When the oil is shimmering add some meat, leaving space around each piece.  Usually you have to break it up into two batches to prevent overcrowding which doesn’t allow the Maillard reaction to occur.

Let the meat sear for 1-2 minutes per side until nicely browned and flip until you brown all 4 big sides of each piece.  Take the meat out and set it on a plate and continue with the next batch.  Take all the meat out of the pan and set the plate aside.

Results of the Maillard Rxn

Pour in about a half a cup of beer to the hot pan and stir rapidly with a wooden spoon scraping all the goodness stuck to the bottom of the pan.  The beer will bubble and start to reduce.  I like to use a bit of a darker beer than your typical light beer.  A pale or amber ale are my choices for this but a Miller Lite will do to if that’s all you have.  You can also use red wine, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, or chicken broth with great results.

Add the onions and carrots and stir to coat with thickened beer.  Add about a teaspoon of salt and a good crack of pepper and stir occasionally, cooking about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to low and cook 10 more minutes stirring occasionally until your onions and carrots get nice and caramelized (there’s that Maillard Reaction again).

While veggies are cooking, preheat your oven to 300.  When the vegetables are done, set the beef chunks on top of the vegetables, throw in 2-3 unpeeled cloves of garlic (or don’t, your call), a couple sprigs of parsley (rosemary works too, or a teaspoon of dried parsley or rosemary, or no herbs at all, again it’s your call), and pour in enough beer to come about half way up the sides of the meat.  I used 2 bottles of beer total today, so if you are using one of the alternatives that’s 1 bottle of wine, 2 cans of pop, or 3 cups of broth.

Put lid on pot and put in oven for 3 hours. Remove from oven, scoop out veggies and meat and put pot on a burner.  Turn heat on to medium high and bring liquid to a boil, boil til thickened about 10 minutes.  Serve by spooning “gravy” over meat.  Dig in.

Final Product

Beer Braised Pot Roast

• 2-3 Pound Chuck Roast
• 3-4 Carrots, Peeled
• 1 Softball Sized Onion
• 2 Bottles Amber Beer (1 Bottle Wine, 2 cans of regular pop, or 3 cups chicken broth can be used instead)
• A sprig of parsley (or rosemary, thyme, or 1 tsp dried herbs)
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive Oil
• 2-3 Cloves Garlic

1. Start with a 2-3 pound roast that is 2 inches or so thick.  Take your roast and cut it into fist sized chunks.  Generously salt all the sides of each piece.  Let sit at room temperature 20 minutes while oven heats to 300.
2. Peel and cut up 3-4 average carrots into pieces about the size of a pinkie, thicker carrots can be sliced in half lengthwise, or use 3/4 of a bag of baby carrots.  Roughly chop onion and put vegetables aside.
3. Heat a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat.   Add a good glug of olive or vegetable oil, whatever you have on hand and let it heat up.  When the oil is shimmering add some meat, leaving space around each piece.  It might be necessary to separate into two batches.
4. Let the meat sear for 1-2 minutes per side until nicely browned and flip until you brown all 4 big sides of each piece.  Take the meat out and set it on a plate and continue with the next batch.  Take all the meat out of the pan and set the plate aside.
5. Pour in about a half a cup of beer or liquid of your choice to the hot pan and stir rapidly with a wooden spoon scraping all the goodness stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Let beer bubble and start to thicken.
6. Add the onions and carrots and stir to coat with thickened beer.  Add about a teaspoon of salt and a good crack of pepper and stir occasionally, cooking about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to low and cook 10 more minutes stirring occasionally until your onions and carrots get nice and caramelized.
7. When the vegetables are done, set the beef chunks on top of the vegetables, throw in 2-3 unpeeled cloves of garlic (or don’t, your call), a couple sprigs of parsley (rosemary works too, or a teaspoon of dried parsley or rosemary, or no herbs at all, again it’s your call), and pour in enough beer to come about half way up the sides of the meat.
8. Put lid on pot and put in oven for 3 hours.
9. Remove from oven, scoop out veggies and meat and put pot on a burner.  Turn heat on to medium high and bring liquid to a boil, boil til thickened about 10 minutes.  Serve by spooning “gravy” over meat.

We interrupt this program for an important weather update

As I look out the window at my office I see some big, fluffy snowflakes! I know it won’t last but you can’t blame a guy for hoping. Stop back later for Alyssa’s first blog post ever. Have a great day.