A Year in Review

Wild Blackberry Pie

We picked a bunch of blackberries last weekend leading inevitably to the making (and consuming) of blackberry pie! We got to share with a couple friends, but for everyone further away I wanted to share our recipe. This pie is low on sugar and butter because we were using wild blackberries, and I really wanted to avoid masking their flavor (they are both sweeter and tangier than the kind I've found in the store, I'm thinking you could replicate with frozen if you use a bit more sugar and a splash of lemon juice). Here's the finished product.

Blackberry pie straight from the oven!

We started with a generous 5 cups of black berries. We picked a bit more than this but we gave about a cup to our neighbors so they could have them with ice cream. We also washed them super well because wild blackberries are home to all kinds of little critters... ick!

5 cups of fresh blackberries

Separate out one cup of berries and set aside, we'll use those later. Mix the remaining 4 cups with 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup sugar.

4 cups berries (reserve 1 cup for later)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar

Mix until the berries are evenly coated, don't worry if they break down a little.

mix until combined.

Let is sit for a few minutes while the flour and sugar absorb the berry juice

it should look like this.

While you are waiting prepare your crust. I made a simple oil crust because it's fast ans super easy to work with. A butter crust would probably be delicious though. My crust also ended up a bit soggier than I would have liked, after the fact I read online that you can avoid soggy crust by brushing the bottom with egg before putting in the filling. I'll definitely give it a try next time!

Bottom crust ready for berries!

Dump in your berry mixture and spread it out so that it evenly covers the crust.

Berry mixture, it doesn't look great, but it'll taste good.
Trust me. :)

Top with the reserved berries.

almost done now!

Top with a lattice crust so that the moisture has a way to escape. If you don't want to do a lattice you could also cover with pieces of crust cut out with a cookie cutter. Just make sure to leave enough open space for the steam to get out, nobody likes runny pie. To help the pie gain a nice golden color as it bakes brush the top with milk and sprinkle generously with granulated sugar. The sugar in the milk will brown as the pie bakes and the sprinkled sugar will add a little crunch to the top.

Protip: always put a cookie sheet under your pie so that
if they leak it's not a total oven disaster.

Pop it in the oven at 425 and set a timer for 15 min. Once your timer goes off lower the temp to 375 and leave it for another 30-35 min (or until the top starts to brown and you can see the berries bubbling). When it's done, pull it out and let it cool for at least 45 min. I know, waiting for pies to cool is pretty much the hardest part of life, but it's worth it!

Waiting is the hardest part!

The first night we had it with vanilla ice cream, but I think that actually masked the flavor a little. The next day we had it by itself and it tasted way better. Cold can numb your tastebuds a little, and you want them in full working order to enjoy your pie!

Ingredients:
* 5 cups blackberries
* 1/2 cup sugar (plus a bit more for sprinkling on top)
* 1/2 cup flour
* 9" double pie crust (pie speak for enough for the top and bottom)
* milk for brushing

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Reserve 1 cup of blackberries and mix the remaining 4 cups with flour and sugar until well coated.
3. Let berries sit to absorb the flour sugar mixture.
4. Prepare the bottom crust (brush with egg to reduce sogginess).
5. Pour in berry mixture and top with remaining berries.
6. Cover with well ventilated crust (lattice, or cookie cutter, or standard with lots of holes cut in it).
7. Bake for 15 min at 425
8. Reduce temp to 375 and bake another 30 min, or until pie is brown and bubbly.
9. Let cool 45 min.
10. Eat!

<3 Elizabeth

Summer Blackberries

The end of summer is hard to accept. One of the things that makes it easier in the Pacific Northwest is the arrival of blackberry season. Before today we had dabbled in a bit of urban foraging here and there on evening walks through our neighborhood. Today we committed, grabbed a bucket, and engaged in some serious berry picking.

 

Rule #1: Berries that are still warm from the
sun are to be eaten immediately.

This Seattle tradition runs deep, my dad took us when we were little (although we weren't really very helpful, and mostly just ate the berries) and the local practice was even feature on NPR several years ago. As noted by NPR, the plant is classified as a Class C noxious weed, which basically means it's totally invasive and grows everywhere. We have already experienced pulled armfuls or volunteer blackberries out of our backyard, we may partially submit to home grown bushes one day, but for now we are trying to limit our yard work to the variety that doesn't require rental goats to keep it under control.

Rule #2: Wear long pants, unless you you want to look
like you lost a war with a vengeful cat.

The bushed we visited today are some Nathan discovered when he was walking to work. They grow right next to the sidewalk and it's pretty common to see people stop to munch on a few as they walk past. On our way to this patch we also passed a small park that was covered with berry bushes with a little windy path making it's way through the berry packed bushes. 

Rule #3: Don't stop to eat too many berries or your
husband might walk off without you.

It didn't take long to pick enough for a pie (the goal). If we are successful hopefully I will post the yummy pie recipe soon!

Happy berry pickers, dreaming of pie.

Happy Picking!
<>< Elizabeth

Peeling LOTS of eggs the fast way.

We got to spend last week with Krista and Jason in upstate New York and it was so nice to get to spend time with them again.  We spent the majority of our time playing badminton, watching old Star Trek, and making lattes on their new espresso machine, but we also got to participate in their church picnic. Krista signed up to bring deviled eggs so in proper picnic fashion we found ourselves late the night before buying 18 eggs from the super market (if you are an organized person you should always buy eggs at least a week before, older eggs are easier to peel).

We tried a new technique for peeling large quantities of eggs and discovered a really great method (just make sure to let the eggs cool fully before you shake them! We waited the first time we did it, and then when we made the video we didn't wait long enough and we had a couple casualties and they were harder to peel... patience is a virtue)

Peeling eggs has always been my least favorite part of making deviled eggs and using this method they basically slide right off. It is the best trick ever! Well either this or the egg separating trick. :)

Happy Peeling!

<><Elizabeth

Pandas!

Our San Diego Zoo passes run out at the end of April and I'm kind of super temped to renew... I know we don't live in San Diego anymore but... PANDAS!!!

Ok, probably skip the first minute of that video unless you are super into Pandas, it gets more exciting around 1:03. SOO cute!!

Walking Panda!

The San Diego Zoo also has the HOLY GRAIL of Pandas (read as "they have a baby panda"). I haven't gotten to see him in person yet but sometimes I see him remotely on the Panda cam. He'll be one year old in July, so he's extra cute and fluffy. :)

Standing Panda!

So mostly this post was an excuse to look at cute panda videos and photos. Yay pandas!

:D Elizabeth

Valentines Day! (and Pasta Shells of Death!)

Nathan has always made me Valentine's dinner and brought me flowers, so this year we switched it up a bit. I figured after 5 years of being the Valentine's recipient, he deserved to be able to come home to a fancy meal. I recreated a Valentine's meal he made for me a couple years ago (although he did it full out by not only making home made foccacia, but also making homemade croutons from a second homemade focaccia, I considered doing this, but in the end I got a par-baked load from Fred Meyer... another reminder that Nathan is super human).

Table all set and ready to go!

The pasta recipe is similar to a traditional vodka sauce, with the addition of spicy Italian sausage and red pepper flakes to give it a little kick. This was a super popular dish in the house Nathan lived in in college and it's been with us ever since. We don't make it often since there's a fair amount of cream, and the sausage isn't all that healthy either, hence our pet name of:

Pasta Shells of Death!!!!
* 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
* 1 lb Italian Sausage (Hot)
* Red pepper flakes to taste
* 1 onion diced
* 5 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 cup vodka
* fresh basil leaves
* 1 16oz can of diced italian tomatoes
* 1 8oz can of tomato sauce
* 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
* 1 lb medium pasta shells

(I happen to think this would be awesome with mushrooms too, but Nathan and I are not agreed on this point, if you think you would like mushrooms, I'd suggest adding them in towards the end of the onions step. Also if you want to make a veg-version you could replace the sausage with mushrooms and I bet that would be amazing!)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the red pepper flakes

2. Add the sausage to the pan mush it around so that it breaks into manageable chunks, keep cooking until the insides of the chunks are not pink inside and the outside start to brown (set aside) <-- (I forgot to do this part because I have a thing about not reading directions, instead I drained the grease from the pan and added the onions and garlic directly to the sausage. I am happy to report that nothing bad happened, although in the future I think I'd like to try to drain the sausage on a towel for a bit to reduce the grease as much as possible).

3. Add onions and garlic and sauté until transparent

4. Start to boil pasta water

5. If you took the sausage out put it back in.

6. Add Vodka, if you are feeling adventurous, add a bit more. I went a little wild with a cup and a half, hey we buy this stuff at Costco so I can afford to live dangerously.

7. Simmer until vodka is reduced by half (not long, alcohol is good at evaporating)

8. Add basil, diced tomatos and tomato sauce.

9. Simmer some more, just let it keep going until your pasta's done.

10. Add cream and stir until well combined.


Yum!


I also made Tiramisu for dessert, that was more tricky because the directions I had were a bit skimpy. It turned out alright but I was a bit light handed with the Kahlua, we also buy this from Costco, so I think I'll add more next time, and maybe make some fresh espresso too!

Elephants enjoying the bouquet.

<><Elizabeth

San Diego February

Even though we moved, I'm still finishing up my degree in San Diego, so I have to go down about once a month to meet with my advisor and my research team. This is both great and hard at the same time because although I love visiting our friends in SD, I miss Nathan a lot. Between my San Diego trips and my conference trips I sometimes am gone for half the month or more. We have lived long distance quite a bit through our marriage (San Diego-Sunnyvale, Seattle-Sunnyvale, Seattle-San Diego, San Diego-Cambridge, UK), but somehow it is even worse to go back and forth between being close and far apart.

Oh palm trees and ocean! I miss you!
Please jump in my carry-on!
...Oh wait... do you count as a liquid?!? Drat!

I try to make my San Diego visits as fruitful as possible. This time I was able to give a practice talk, attend some group meetings, meet with my advisor, and have some fantastic paper visioning/outlining meetings with my officemate Laura. I also try to intentionally spend time with some of our closest friends in SD, which meant a mini road trip/sister reunion in mammoth (we'll get you next time Roshni and Laura!), a super fun movie sleep over/beach breakfast with our old roommate the night before my flight, an ammeture recording session with our CSE friends (I'll post when we finish, it's pretty rad), and my first ever country line dancing at In Cahoots with our friend Jennifer from GCF. Oh! I also watched the Bachelor for the first time and I think it seems an eery paralel to finding an academic job... you put yourself out there, try to look appealing but not desperate, you don't really know what the other person is looking for, and you progress or get eliminated in a relatively opaque fashion.

About to go down an unsettlingly steep part
of the mountain... or at least Sarah and I though so?
Everyone else was going rather fast
and looked pretty comfortable. :-\

Learning "Whiskey Drinkin" my first line dance ever!
OH MY GOSH I LOVE LINE DANCING!!!

relaxing post breakfast beach stroll
before my 10:10am flight

<><Elizabeth