Little Break

I am on Sping Vacation, and while I will be eating well, I won't be cooking. :)

Happy First day of Spring!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2010

I hope all my readers (and everyone else) has a safe, happy, and yummy New Year's Eve! I can not believe that we are at the end of a decade. 10 years ago I was in NYC with a life-long friend awaiting Y2K. I tried caviar for the first time and drank far too much champagne. It was a good trip! I was 22 and sure I knew everything. Now I am 32 and feel like I still have a lot to learn.

This has been an amazing decade for me:
Learned to cook and then started writing about food. See my very first article!
I left a dead-end job and boyfriend and returned to graduate school.
Moved away from home, moved back into my folk's house, finally moved out again.
Became a teacher and adore my job.
Met the love of my life and married him! When you meet your best friend, you need to keep him around!
Bought a house, adopted a pug and said goodbye to my faithful Volvo sedan after 11 years together. She was 21 years old. I hope she is driving someone around somewhere.
Turned 30.
Worked in Italy for a nice, long summer. Learned a little Italian and ate a whole hell of a lot.
Went to school in Guatamala, although failed to learn Spanish. Ate a lot.
Got engaged in Croatia. Drank lots of lovely wine, and uh, ate a lot.
Ate my way through China and Thailand.
Honeymooned in Montreal. Failed to learn any French. Ate a lot.
Saw my beloved friend move across the country.
Had a dear friend from middle school come back into my life and she is now like a sister.
Lost my grandfathers and a grandma.
Gained a Mother-in-law, grandma-in-law, father-in-law and a whole lot more Sooper family!

My life has been a series of wonderful events! Knock-on-wood, I have little to regret or mourn.
May the next 10 years be just as sweet and filled with adventure.

Cheers!
Farmer Jo

PS. If haven't already, please join my site. I would LOVE to have 30 followers by January 1, 2010.

Tis the Season - Sooper Jo Gift Ideas

Tis the season for getting gifts for friends and family. I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the thought of getting "perfect" gifts for people. I personally, would love someone to just send me a link to what they want and I will happily get them what they want. :) But that is just me.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I love to cook. The following are some of my favorite Go-To kitchen items perfect for the beginner cook or someone a little more advanced.
I received this lidded Calphalon hard- anodized pan about 8 years ago from my aunts. I probably use it 5 times a week. It can go on the stove and in the oven. It only gets better with age.

A really good knife makes cooking easier. I love Japanese style knives, this Calphalon 7 inch is a great find! It is not expensive, but has kept a sharp edge for years.

OXO Salad Spinner

A good set of tongs

Any of the above combined with a great bottle of olive oil, some smoked paprika, or a jar of great salt would make a great gift basket.

I am also a huge fan of making gifts. Pickles, jams, or handmade napkins aren't expensive and (generally) make people happy. It has been a rough year for a lot of folks. A gift certificate for a home-cooked meal would make loved ones feel the love.

Still need ideas? Check out my etsy shop for holiday ornaments or brooches. Looking for jewelery? My dear friend, Amy Wing, makes one-of-a-kind handcrafted silver and gold jewelery here in Portland, Oregon. Check her out, her artwork is unique and beautiful! If you live in town, Amy is often at the Portland Saturday Market.

Turkey Success

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for and I loved having my family around the table to celebrate with. The food was great too! If I do say so myself.

Leading up to Thursday, I was having nightmares about the thirty pound turkey. In addition to the farm turkey, we had another one from the store arriving on Wednesday. The stress of housing 45 pounds of meat really got into my head!


Justin did some research and we decided to divide the thirty pounder in half. It took some time and muscle. I have to say Martha makes it looks MUCH easier then it actually is (but then again, that is why she is Martha). We spatchcocked it, but then cut through the breastbone to divide it.

One half of the turkey was rubbed with garlic, rosemary, and butter (oooh, how local!) and then slow grilled for 4 hours over mesquite chips. It came out a gorgeous burgandy, with skin as crispy and smoky as bacon, while the meat was tender and smoky and lovely!

Rainy BBQing

The other half was flavored with lemon, parsley, curry powder and garlic. It took 3 hours at 300 degrees. It was juicy and delicious!

Oh, and Justin (my hero!) brought the smaller turkey back to New Seasons. The lovely butcher cut it up so our freezer is now full of turkey breasts, legs, and thighs. The neck, wings and back are simmering on the stove. Soup for the future!

No more turkey nightmares for a while.

PS. Here is Doug, ready for the party. (Not really, he wore it for 1.2 seconds)

In over our heads?

Two nights ago I took part in a parking-lot Tryptophan trade. Under the cover of darkness, a pick up truck pulled up behind our car. I slipped the driver a wad of cash and she opened the truck. There, nestled in the ice, was 30 pounds of turkey. Quickly, we transfered the goods to our cooler and bid farewell.

So, perhaps it wasn't really all that covert, but it felt like it. Makes a good story. :)

We are now the proud owners of a thirty pound turkey. I have never seen anything like it! It is over a foot tall, and at least 2 feet long! We usually buy a 10 - 13 pound organic turkey which fits on our little weber. (Justin BBQs the turkey each year.) This sucker is so huge that we had to remove shelves from our refridgerator to fit it in. I am pretty sure I don't have a pan large enough to fit the whole thing into.

This may be the year I learn to butterfly a bird. Maybe grill half? I will keep you all updated.

What would you do with a 30 pound bird?

Foodie Fourth

We had our annual rib cook-off, birthday party and 4th of July celebration yesterday. It was wonderful! As always our friends came up with tasty ribs and made the day fly by.

The birthday boy and our rib entries. His was a classic southern rub and sauce. I did a Thai spice rub (which ended up being too salty) with a sweet chili and garlic sauce rub. Justin came up with an ingenius way to cook multiple racks of ribs at once. Turn a turkey roaster upside down and stand the ribs up. Works like a charm!

Our friend with his rib entry, which was so good! I loved the sauce he invented (recipe remains a secret.) :)

The winner of the beef rib category finishing up on the grill.


We did have some greens too, to go with the all that meat. Here is the roasted beet salad (I grew those beets!!), baked beans and lemony, chickpea coleslaw.

To drink, I soaked fruit overnight in vodka, sugar, and mint. When mixed with fizzy water it was a great cocktail. We had dessert too, it was Justin's birthday after all. Frozen raspberry yogurt, brownies, and rice crispy treats - but by the time those rolled around I had too many cocktails to remember to photograph the birthday treats. :)
Hope you had a great 4th too. We are off on our adventure Tuesday. I hope to update here with some of our foodie adventures.