Rhubarb Infused Vodka

It's rhubarb season in central Ohio! I like rhubarb in jam, strawberry rhubarb pie, and my grandmother's rhubarb crunch. But my favorite way to enjoy this slightly sweet, floral, first "fruit" of spring is in a vodka infusion. You might think I'm a lush but hear me out. Rhubarb is tongue-searingly sour and requires a lot of sugar or another strong flavor to temper the tart. Until I infused vodka with rhubarb, I had never truly appreciated the subtlty of the rhubarb flavor.

Making an infusion, with rhubarb or any other fruit, is dead simple. Chop or mascerate fruit in a clean glass container. Fill with vodka to cover all the fruit. Age in a dark place, tasting regularly, until the infusion matches your desired flavor. Strain out the fruit and enjoy the infusion as a mixer or on its own with fizzy water, a delightfully low-cal, high-zest drink.

In the case of rhubarb, I like to leave the infusion for up to two weeks. The clear vodka will turn a dusty red color and keep its piquancy for up to a year. The picture above shows the last of our 2011 rhubarb infusion, in one of my favorite jars made in Columbus Ohio, surrounded by the fresh rhubarb from the Greener Grocer that will make this year's batch.

I am reserving some rhubarb to make into a shrub, a sweetened vinegar infusion. I suspect that the shrub method will show off the many characteristics of rhubarb much like the vodka infusion I hold so dear.

Do you like rhubarb? How do you prepare it?

PVC Chicken Feeder Plans & Coop Video Tour

At last week's backyard chicken basics class, I admitted that our coop is a jumble of reclaimed parts and pieces, including two wooden boxes 'saved' from alley trash. Lil contributed a little whimsy with some Angry Birds pig faces painted on old rubber stepping stones. Our coop will not win any design awards but it works for us and shows that a coop can be made out of darn near anything.  Alex's PVC chicken feeder is a bit more brilliant. Made from four pieces of durable, inexpensive pvc pipe, the feeder uses gravity to allow our hen access to grains at all times. We buy the Gregg's Organic Ohio-grains layer feed from City Folk's Farm Shop - I am so thankful to have it available locally now!

Cami Snyder, a lovely sophomore intern from Linworth Alternative High School, recorded and edited this impromptu chicken coop tour starring me, Lil, and Austra the Australorp hen. My favorite part of the video is when I'm showing off the next box and Austra is cooing.

Gravity Fed PVC Chicken Feeder

Materials: 2-3 foot length of 4-inch diameter PVC straight pipe 1 4-inch slip-fit cap 1 4-inch to 2-inch coupler 1 2-inch 180 degree elbow with male end and female end PVC cement hand saw (we like the Japanese-style Fine Cut Pull Saw) sandpaper 2 stainless steel screw eyes 2 s-hooks, screws, nails, and or wire on which the feeder will hang

Assembly instructions:

1. Work in a well ventilated area. PVC cement can stain, so you may want a covered surface.

2. Cut food storage compartment (4" pipe) to desired length based on capacity you want it to hold. Ours, measuring about two feet, feeds our single hen and snitching sparrows for about five days.

3. Use PVC cement to attach reducer to bottom of 4" pipe by painting the inside of the reducer with PVC cement and then setting the straight pipe in place.

4. Attach the male end of the elbow to the 2-inch side of coupler with PVC cement.

5. Using a hand saw, trim feed end of elbow to horizontal with the ground so that chickens can feed easily. Use sandpaper to smooth the edges.

6. Twist screw eyes into the back of the 4 inch pipe near the top, allowing for the cap to fit.

7. Fill feeder from the top. Twist on the cap. It may need a little sanding to release easily.

8. Hang feeder from s-hooks mounted on a wire or nails on the run rail so that the bottom is 6 inches or so off ground.

Earth Day Events {Friday Five}

Earth Day is every day around here. We reuse, recycle, and repurpose. We grow our own, capture rain water, dry laundry on the line, and more. No matter where you are on your earth-friendly journey, here are some ideas for marking Earth Day this weekend.

1) City Folk's Farm Shop Grand Opening - Shop City Folk's from 9 am - 5 pm Saturday for discounts, samples, Sharpening on Site, GNix Food Cart, and a donation of proceeds to benefit Local Matters.

2) Do Something Outside - Take a walk, visit a park, look for eagles, identify wildflowers - be outside and enjoy what the earth has to offer.

3) Root Down Earth Day Celebration - Join the citywide celebration from 11 am - 10 pm at Columbus Commons featuring music, food trucks, a kid's area, ecofriendly booths, and more. Free!

4) Plant Something Edible - Plant a pea, transplant an herb seedling, and soon enjoy eating from your own patio or backyard.

5) Clothing Swap at OSU Urban Arts Space - How cool is this event on Saturday? Turn in your unwanted clothes from 11 am - noon, get tickets, and at 1 - 3 pm exchange them for other's used clothes!

What are you doing for Earth Day?

Old Hound Devie {Wordless Wednesday}

They say moving is one of the most stressful life events along with death, divorce, and illness. Most of the family is holding up well but the old hound dog Devie is a mess. Alex insists that I tell you I am the second in line for 'most stressed'.

First we took away her couch. Her twelve-year-old paws click and clack on the hardwood floors downstairs as she tries to find somewhere comfortable to rest.

Then, when we have showings, we are taking her on rides in the car (which she hates) to new and unfamiliar places.

She has taken to lying on our bed (previously forbidden) where I snapped these shots of her sweet greyed face, outstretched paws, and my favorite droopy lips.

I wish Dev could understand me when I promise that she will have a wide wonderful world to explore at a new house soon. We'll even find a place for her old stinky couch.

Cornbread & Butter Beans & You Across the Table...

...eatin' beans and makin' love as long as we are able." - Carolina Chocolate Drops, video below. The above tune is a catchy one. On autoplay in my mom's head last week, she wanted to build a meal around it. Is it obvious now where I get my propensity to create odd theme dinners?

We added a line from another CCD song, Knockin', to round out dinner: "Chicken in the fridge, half a bottle of wine, sit and eat your fill, then give me some of mine."

Alex fried chicken, Dad made the cornbread, we all drank a half a bottle of wine, and I cooked butter beans.

The all-knowing-Internet tells me that butter beans are lima beans, though a true southerner might correct me. I could only find dried limas at the market so that's what I used.

Beans stewed low and slow with onion, herbs, and pork fat is no new thing to my family. What amazed us was that cornbread and butter beans is more than a fine lyric - it's a well-matched set of sides. The savory melds with sweet and the buttery bean texture offsets the crunchy cornbread.

Cornbread and butter beans is a combination that will most definitely be repeated often, like a great song stuck in your head.

Butter Beans Makes: 12 large side-dish servings Time: 24 hours, active cooking 60 minutes

3 cups dried butter (lima) beans 1 tablespoon bacon fat 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 large sweet onion, diced 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced 1 large handful fresh oregano, washed and minced or 1 tablespoon dried oregano 4 stalks fresh thyme, leaves washed and minced or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 2 tablespoons honey 1 teaspoon soy sauce 3 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon dried mustard powder 20 grinds of fresh black pepper 2-3 bay leaves 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Wash beans. Cover with 4 inches of water and soak overnight. 2. Twelve hours later, heat a skillet. Add bacon fat, butter, and onions. Cook until onions are translucent. 3. Add onions to beans. Stir in all ingredients other than lemon juice and cover with additional water as necessary. 4. Heat in a crock pot on low for 10 hours or until beans are tender and liquid is absorbed. If you are close to serving time and the beans are too liquidy, simmer on stove top to boil off some water. 5. Adjust salt and add lemon juice. Remove bay leaves. 6. Puree beans for 30 seconds with immersion blender for buttery texture. 7. Serve hot with cornbread.

NB. An appropriate dessert would be the Carolina Chocolate Drop cookie I created last year.

Lessons in Spring at Inniswood Metro Gardens

I often forget about Inniswood Metro Gardens in Westerville, Ohio. The park is a little out of the way and the highly stylized gardens are more formal than I prefer. So when a friend and I took seven kids to Innis last week, I was pleasantly surprised to explore the relatively new - and fabulously educational - children's garden.

The Sister's Garden is a 2.8 acre child's paradise opened in 2002. Beyond the kid-friendly sculptures at the entrance is a playhouse and shed for dramatic play, a water feature open in warm weather, and small fruit orchard.

The early readers in the group used maps to guide us through the rest of the children's area. They followed along the Native American story stone path that leads to a statue. Continuing on a wooden boardwalk led us to the tree house with levels for climbers of different abilities. From there, a stone path took us to the Secret Garden, a recreation of a broken-down, walled garden with quotes, jewels, and sculptures hidden among the intentionally overgrown plants.

After lunch, my crew of three walked to the frog pond to the right of the main entrance.

The kids loved spotting turtles and frogs hiding among the cat tails. Our eagle-eyes spied other parts of the amphibian life cycle - eggs (bullfrog, I'm guessing) and tadpoles. How cool to see all stages of life in one place!

The boardwalk trail beyond the frog pond included labelled wildflowers. Lil and her friends remembered some of the names from last week's hike at Highbanks.

Though the rules about the formal gardens prickle my anti-authoritarian instincts, I must visit Inniswood more often. We observed and learned so much and there are many gardens and areas yet to explore.

INNISWOOD METRO GARDENS 940 S. Hempstead Road Westerville, OH 43081 Open 7 am to dark daily

Know if you go:

• Food is not allowed in the formal gardens. There are picnic tables across the parking lot from the park.
• Pack a change of clothes for kids as there are many opportunities to get wet or dirty.
• Remind children to stay on trails and not pick the flowers.
• Check the program schedule for preschool play days, gardening workshops, and special events. The Inniswood volunteers and herb society are offering a plant sale May 5th and 6th.
• Admission is free. Thank you Columbus taxpayers!

So Tired, So Simple - A New Pour-Over Coffee Ritual

This whole house-selling business is exhausting. I get up early to work on house projects and stay up late wondering how we will manage showings and what house we will buy. Like the addict I am, I'm making coffee a lot more regularly now. As recently as six months ago, I was grinding beans by hand and futzing with a French Press. To be honest, I couldn't tell that the finished product was much better than what my parents make with a drip machine but I liked the routine.

Jason from Thunderkiss Coffee introduced me to a better way: the pour-over method. The pour-over eliminates grounds in the mug, bulky appliances on the counter, and about 60 seconds from pour to sip.

The Way I Pour

I fill and start the electric hot water kettle. As that's warming, I pull out my mug, paper filter and $3 plastic filter cone. Someday I'll spring for a vintage ceramic cone and reusable gold filter but for now I'm hanging tight with the cheap ones.

I scoop a heaping tablespoon of ground coffee (that's right, I buy pre-ground coffee now because our hand-grinder was a mess and I realized I needed to upgrade to an expensive burr grinder or give in) into the filter. Typically by this time the water comes to a boil. I allow it to cool for just a second (Coffee Geek says coffee brews best at 192-204F) and fill the filter.

As the water drips down, I add more until my cup is filled. I usually unload or load the dishwasher in the 1-2 minutes I'm waiting for the coffee to finish.

Toss the grounds into the compost collector, rinse the cone, and I'm ready to face the day.

How do you brew?

  PS. I'm sorry that I didn't take a picture of the final product. I was, you know, tired.

Urban Homestead For Sale!

Our urban homestead in Clintonville is officially listed for sale!

You can read all about the 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, 2 car garage, new windows and kitchen on the MLS listing.

If you're a visual person, check out the slideshow.

But if you want to know what it's really like to live in our house, here are the top five things I will miss once we move:

1) Walking everywhere - Picking up milk, organic produce, and other groceries at the Clintonville Co-op is a short five minute walk. We are eight minutes from a ravine in either direction. If Lil were going to school at Indianola Alternative, she would need to leave the house approximately three minutes before the first bell. Post office, bars, coffee shops, restaurants, funky shops, the Olentangy trail, and more are all mere minutes away on foot or bike.

2) Active community - A week or so ago I was spray painting something in the backyard. My neighbor two doors down stuck her head out of the second story window to check in and make sure it was me and not some mischievous teens tagging a garage. People on this street shovel sidewalks, pick up recycle bins, remind you if the garage door is up, fill you in on local building projects, etc. It's a friendly place.

3) Sweet-ass kitchen - (those were Alex's words) From comfy cork floors to hand crafted countertops to the stove that vents outside to keep the house cool to the pass through into the dining room, this kitchen is perfect for us. It is perfect for anyone who cooks a lot.

4) Micro-climate - Because our backyard garden is surrounded by houses and backs up to a big brick church, the soil stays a little warmer than outlying areas. We rarely have frost when the suburbs do. Hawks and other predators can't get to our chicken yard because of the church and orientation of the yard too.

5) Perennial edibles - Seven fruit trees, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, rhubarb, leeks, herbs and more will feed the next person or family who tends the homestead. Many of these are just coming into maturity and so we have not enjoyed the literal fruits of our labor. We will leave care instructions and offer a garden orientation to the buyers if they want it!

If all of this sounds like something you or someone you know would want in a home, we would be very grateful if you would pass along the details about our homes for sale. Thanks!

Update on the buying side: We have a house we would like to make an offer on and are working on the details. We can't wait to reveal our next homestead!