Hello BODC, I'd like to introduce...

I must confess. I took possession of the blue (albeit slightly purple) bidet to crack the nut of the BODC. No pun intended. Yes, fellow readers, I, Christy McDevitt now own the bidet complete with Ava nail paint detail. It will likely be the main character in an upcoming post but for now I'll stick to my introduction.

As I mentioned, I live and play in Bend, Oregon. Which is a place generally cooler than most vacation destinations. I enjoy biking, hiking, running, collage work, home repair, volunteering at Antioch Church. Where they are decidedly balls out with messages of worship like this.

Micah Bournes :: What Can I Do? from Antioch Church on Vimeo.

Micah just released his first CD Falling In Love. And was an intern here at Antioch. Last year was pretty crazy as I had three interns from the program living with me! They are all now living, playing and working in Bend. Totally amazing women.

Jen

Audrey

Kathie

I work for the United States Forest Service here as the Staff Officer for the timber program. In summer sometimes I fight fires. On really good days I get to fly in a helicopter and look down on the Deschutes River.

And some amazing aerial views of Paulina Falls. A great hike if you're visiting or live here!

The Forest Service here is super engaged with the community. One of the cool things my co-workers are proud of is a recent grant to establish a Children's Forest here on the Deschutes. See the video for amazing pictures of doe-eyed children looking well-behaved and panoramic shots of a meadow (Ryan Ranch) we'll soon be reclaiming as a wetland!

As far as domestic abilities go I enjoy cooking, baking, yard work (although that's been a steep learning curve), interior design, art, building things from wood which ranges from children's stools to a chariot I once fabricated for a drama production. Ah, but that's another story for another time.

Lately I've been enjoying baking some wonderfully sensuous vanilla scones. I admit the motivation was provided after I realized I was spending nearly $10 a week on the tasty version from Starbucks. Hmm.. need to pay more attention in the Dave Ramsey classes! I found this recipe at Restless Chipotle and made a few revisions.

One of my difficulties with anything vanilla, is that I get tired of buying expensive vanilla bean pods. Predictably I only use a small portion and the remainder turns into a crusty edifice to dreamt-about-but-not-baked recipes. Much to my relief I have discovered vanilla bean powder. Composed of ground up pods and seeds the stuff is relatively cheaper than fresh beans, tastes excellent and keeps much longer.

I would recommend the Madecasse brand. Recently named as one of the "50 Most Innovative Companies in the World" for building a chocolate company in one of the poorest countries in the world. According to the company their aim is to:

Make fine chocolate [and vanilla] in Africa. It's a revolutionary idea in the chocolate world (some would say even a bit crazy): And there are a thousand reasons why it isn't usually done. But, it's an idea that can make the world a better place, generating 4x more income than fair trade cocoa alone. Even Madecasse product you savor starts the change in one, small corner: Madagascar.

Jaovavy (farmer) with freshly harvested cocoa

Vanilla orchids are meticulously pollinated by hand, no wonder this stuff is pricey.

Avenue of the Baobabs near Morondova in Western Madagascar

Tim, co-founder chats with members of the Ezaka co-operative Ambanja,Madagascar

Go in with your friends and order several jars, save on shipping, or they make great gifts! Along with the recipe!

Madecasse Vanilla Bean Scones

2 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. sugar

7 T cold butter, cut into 1/2" cubes

1 c. sour cream (full fat is best)

1 t. vanilla flavoring

1 t. madecasse vanilla powder

(you can substitute 1 t. of vanilla flavoring if you don't want to help save the world with the other stuff)

1 t. madecasse pure vanilla powder

1 egg yolk

for glaze

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla flavoring

enough cream to make a thick glaze (only a small amount)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl.

Add butter chunks to the flour mixture. With hands, pinch butter chunks against bottom of bowl and squish with your fingers until they are all mixed into smaller bits (pea-sized or smaller).

In another bowl, mix sour cream, egg yolk, vanilla flavoring and vanilla powder in another bowl. Pour sour cream mixture into flour mixture. Stir gently with spatula until mostly mixed.

Using additional flour as needed, form batter into 3-4 fist sized balls. Place on cookie sheet. Pat balls into small rounds roughly 2" thick. Using clean, wet knife, slice rounds into six scones each. Gently separate scones by 1" or so. It's okay if they rise and touch each other during baking you can cut them apart later.

Secret Step: Let them rest for 15 minutes. That's right, you heard me. Before they go in the oven. Let them rest. Your scones will be amazingly soft, fluffy and dreamy. Your guests/husband will say things like, "MgHTh.. vis is vee beft fcone eeve eeveer thad MgthbBTh!"

Once they've rested bake for 15 minutes or until slightly golden on top.

Cool completely. Mix ingredients for glaze. Roll scones top side down in the glaze and place back on cookie sheet. It may take a couple hours for the glaze to firm up. Getting the right thickness of glaze is a bit of a tricky process. Too thick and it breaks the scones, too thick and it all runs off. Either way they are delicious.

Great this time of year to use for Strawberry Shortcakes!

You aren't going to believe this...

So this morning, I walk outside to check on my peppers. They had finally started to dry! I was so very excited. But then, a little nagging voice in my head started to talk. It said "I thought chipotle peppers were red when they dried. I wonder when my peppers will turn that lovely shade of red?" Hmm....

I came inside and did what any self-respecting person would do. I googled "chipotle pepper picture." Yup. Definitely red. Interesting. So then I read a couple of articles that came up in my search. Cue ominous music now.

Turns out that chipotle peppers are made out of red jalapenos. Not green ones. Red ones at the start. I have been smoking, for 3 days, green jalapeno peppers. 3 days. My house smells, my hair smells, I scrubbed a filthy fishy smoker, and now I find out I AM NOT SMOKING THE RIGHT COLOR PEPPER?!??! Seriously? Seriously.

Apparently, I am making "jalapenos chicos" - smoked green jalapenos. Otherwise known as "stupid gringas." My recipe didn't say anything about red vs. green jalapenos - not one little peep about this whole color business. Evidently they assume you will know what color pepper to use. Ug.

So. Where do I go from here? I am going to take the peppers out of the smoker in an hour or so when the last of the wood chips is all smoked out. I will rotate them and stick them back in (I am invested now people). When they are done, sometime in 2025, I will make some adobo sauce and can them. Why not? Red, green, whatever. Those damn peppers are going to dry and I am going to eat them and I am going to like it.

So there.

Still Smokin'

Or "Just Shrivel Up and Dry!"

So begins day 3 of the pepper smoking. They are starting to look drier, but still look quite a way from dried. So much for an 8-12 hour smoking process. At this point, I am thinking 8-12 days. But, I will not be discouraged. I have come too far to quit. Besides, my house already smells like a curious mix of smoke, peppers, and fish. Why stop now?

I will post some pictures later for pepper comparison. Just wanted you all to know that I hadn't burned the house down yet...

Peter Piper Picked A Peck...

... of Peppers!

10 lbs of jalapeno peppers to be exact. I'm smokin'! Well, the peppers are smoking. I am making (or attempting to make, depending on your confidence in my abilities) chipotle chillies in adobo sauce. After successfully completing that, I will be canning them.

Now, you are probably thinking that I am way to ambitious for my first canning project. 10 lbs of peppers, 12 hours of smoking, canning... but this is the Balls Out Domestic Club! There is no halfway here!

Yesterday I hauled myself down to the farmers market to purchase the peppers. I am sure the very nice lady at the veggie stand though I was crazy. But she took my eight dollars anyway. Then I drove to my parents house to pick up my Dad's smoker.

The article I read about making your own chipotle peppers said that you should have a new smoker devoted entirely to peppers. Riiight. Barring that, the smoker should be perfectly clean and free of all food particles. Seeing as how a new smoker is not quite in my budget at present, I elected to borrow my dad's well-loved smoker. I say well-loved because it seems rude to call your father's smoker, loaned to you free of charge, filthy. Filthy and used exclusively for fish. Yah, fish (we are Scandinavian after all).



So I spent most of yesterday scrubbing the smoker. It still smells faintly of smoked salmon and perch, but it is all I've got so we are going to try it anyway. I prepped my peppers (with rubber gloves on) and loaded the smoker. As of now, we are smoking away. In 8 to 12 hours, I should have chipotle peppers. Chipotle peppers that may or may not smell like fish. Wish me luck.





In other news, we spent the long weekend putting wood by for the winter. You can see the fruits of our labor below. I also made Dilly Bread with freshly dried dill seed from the garden. It was wonderful!





Today is baking day, as I have to be here all day for the peppers. I already have my sourdough starter on the counter and I will make buns during Ava's nap. I will keep you all posted on the pepper odyssey.

Nerds Bake

Hi, my name is Annie and I am a nerdy baker. Yup, you heard me. Nerdy. Baker. To most people, those two words don't seem to go together. However, I think they are a little bit like sea salt and chocolate chip cookies - on the surface, it doesn't sound like a good thing. Underneath - they are made for each other. Try the smallest pinch of sea salt on the tops of your next batch chocolate chip cookies... trust me (and the New York Times, who came up with the idea in the first place).

My life as a nerd used to stunt my creative development as a cook. I was so dedicated to following the recipe that I never tried anything new. But then, I had a revelation. I discovered that nerds make great (and creative) cooks. How did I come to this stunning conclusion? I found two companies made up entirely of nerds. Nerds who are some of the best bakers and cooks in the world. Meet my friends at Cooks Illustrated and King Arthur Flour. As a side note, I don't actually know them, but I figure that I can call them friends if I heartily endorse them and pander shamelessly.

Let's talk about Cooks Illustrated first. You may have seen their editor, Christopher Kimball, on PBS. America's Test Kitchen? You know, the guy with the bow tie and apron? Anyway. These guys are great. They produce a terrific magazine that accepts NO advertising. If they tell you it is good, nobody is paying them to say it. Why I love them: They believe that cooking is a science that can be refined. Some recipes taste better than others, some ingredients work better than others, and when put in the right combination, you can achieve something pretty darn close to perfect. CI continually tests recipes, equipment, and ingredients to find the very best ones. The part that nerdy me loves - they tell you why they made the adjustments. Articles about how recipes are developed - not just the recipe. They rule.

King Arthur Flour produces some of the best flours around. They also have a cookbook that is one of the best out there - The King Arthur Flour Bakers Companion. Each section begins with in-depth info on why things work the way they do.

Okay, so you might not be a nerd. Why should you care about these two nerdy companies? If you skip all the info that they provide and just cook they way they tell you to cook (clear, direct instructions) you can't fail. You heard me. You can't fail. They are that good.

If you are a nerd like me, you might be wondering how these companies make you a more creative cook. Well, they experiment. And experimentation makes you better. Just remember that it is better to fail spectacularly than to skate along without trying. The dog will eat the failures.

If Megan and Laura let me stick around, I will be blogging about food. I bake all of our bread (buns, bagels, sourdough, baguettes, muffins, etc). I lean pretty heavily on CI and KAF... but there are lots of great cookbooks in the world (more on some of them later)! Once you get started baking, it is pretty hard to quit. I suppose you could say I am addicted. My name is Annie and I am a nerdy baker.