Fiber Fool

Over a decade ago I was introduced to an amazing food by a former professor turned friend and her SO, Monica and Kip. I was quite young and not exposed to quite as broad a selection of ethnic food as I am now. But there was something magical about this triangle of crisp on the outside, yeasty crust filled with a magical blend of spinach and onions and spices. I’ve always loved my dark green vegetables and these spinach pies were just unbelievably good. I later found out that Kip had bought them at a Lebanese deli in Minneapolis, Emily’s. Needless to say, that deli went on my “must go” list and remains there today. It is one of my top picks of places to eat when I head back home to Minnesota.

When we got 2 *huge* bunches of spinach in our CSA share this week I decided it was time to dig in and try making some spinach pies of my own. While they don’t quite match Emily’s they are quite good and DH actually prefers the ratio of dough to filling of these. I think I still prefer Emily’s but until there is an Emily’s West here in Fort Collins these will do just fine.

In general the main ingredients are pretty basic - lots and lots of spinach, salt, lemon zest and juice, flour, yeast and olive oil. There is of course also some water and a bit of spice. It did seem somewhat common for the filling to use ground sumac which I was unable to source here in Fort Collins. I am kicking myself because when I was in Penzey’s on Hennepin in Minneapolis in December I had noted that they had it, but I didn’t buy any. A little research turned up that lemon pepper is somewhat of a substitute. I’m kind of hoping we keep getting spinach for a bit so I have time to order some sumac and try the recipe again :-)

Fatayer or Lebanese Spinach Pie

Makes 16 pastries.

For Dough:

• 1.5 lbs Flour (~4.5 C here in CO)
• 1 1/2 t Kosher Salt
• 1 1/4 t Dry Yeast
• 3/4 t Sugar
• 1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 1/2 - 2 C Water, divided
• 1 Egg, beaten for wash
• Olive Oil for Coating

For Filling:

• 3/4 - 1 lb Fresh Spinach
• 3/4 t Kosher Salt
• 1 Lemon, zest and juice
• 1 Yellow Onion, diced fine
• 2 T Chopped Parsley
• 2 T Chopped Mint
• 1 1/2 t - 1 T Lemon Pepper (if you have it, use ground Sumac)
• Pinch of Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• Pinch of Fresh Grated Nutmeg

First, chop the spinach and place in a large colander with the 3/4 t Kosher salt. Now, knead the spinach and salt mixture together for some time until much of the moisture has been rung out and drained from the spinach. Let sit in sink and drain while you make the dough.

Proof the yeast and sugar in 1/4 c of warm water while you measure out and mix the remaining dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Create a well in the dry ingredients and add the olive oil and yeast mixture. Add 1 1/4 C water to the yeast container to rinse and then add to the dough. Mix until combined.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead just until a cohesive and elastic dough is formed. Split into 16 equal portions. I like to flatten the ball of dough and use a board scraper to cut into 16 parts. I usually end up with pretty consistent results this way. Take each of the 16 parts and roll into a ball. Place balls of dough in a bowl, dusting with flour liberally between layers if you need to stack them. Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm location to raise until doubled, about 30-45 minutes.

Next, chop the onion, parsley and mint and add to the bruised, draining spinach. Add the zest of 1 lemon. Transfer mixture to a bowl, add the lemon juice (you don’t need to squeeze every drop from the lemon, just an easy squeeze of each half is enough) and the lemon pepper or ground sumac if you have it. You may want to take a small taste and adjust any seasoning. I found the salt had kind of washed away in the draining process.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Once the dough has doubled you can begin assembling the fatayer. First, whisk one egg in a bowl. Roll out each dough ball into a 5″ circle. Brush the entire surface with the egg wash. This will do two things - it will create a barrier preventing any remaining excess liquid in the filling from making the bottom soggy and wet and it will help you form a good seal. Now place a generous tablespoon to tablespoon and a half on the center of the circle. Pull up and pinch together three points of circle, then pinch along each open seam to seal closed and form a triangular shaped pastry. This process is similar to making hamentashen if you’ve made that before, but you close it.

Brush the bottom of each pastry with olive oil and place on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with more olive oil. Bake until golden about 25-30 minutes.

If storing or serving room temperature, move to a cooling rack to cool fully. They can be reheated at 325 degrees for about 10 minutes. These do also freeze well. Just place in a single layer in a freezer bag and remove all the air. I’m not certain how long you need to bake them from the frozen state, but I would guess 15-20 minutes.

It appears the third week is the charm. This week’s list is not quite the challenge the previous two have been (thank goodness). For me, I like to keep summer reading light. Oh wait, who am I kidding? I always like to keep my reading light it seems :-)

I do a good share of my reading on my iPhone in the form of e-books and audio books. For the audiobooks it has to be either free through my library’s subscription to NetLibrary or something that my mom also likes to read and is available at Audible. My audiobook reading is a bit more sporadic. If I’m in a knit phase of design I can devour them, but if I’m in design, editing or layout phase I can go weeks without listening to them.

For e-books, I like them to be available at Fictionwise.com or cheaper than mass market paperback list price from Amazon or Apple’s iBook store. Even then I have a hard time justifying their purchase since I could easily check out a print version from my library. I also hate buying a book and being unable to share it with friends or resell it. But, reading on my phone while on the treadmill is much easier than a paper book. Then again, I don’t read on my phone if I’m soaking in the tub either…

Well, onto the list which probably isn’t a summer’s worth of reading (at least I hope I read more than ten books this summer):

1: Spin a Wicked Web by Cricket McRae - this is third in a fun and really quick to read cozy mystery series that focuses on the home arts, though not on one specific craft. I believe the author has some sort of ties to the Fort Collins area as she frequently has book signings and her books are almost always readily available signed, even from Barnes & Noble. She’ll be at Old Firehouse Books near the end of July signing books and talking about cheesemaking and I think I just may have to go!
2. Beguiled by Lori Foster - I first exposed to Lori Foster through an audiobook or two my mom had gotten through Audible and discovered I quite liked her racy writing. I was surprised I enjoyed it so much as most of her stuff is published by a Harlequin imprint. I’ve learned that Harlequin is not the same today as it was when I checked those books out by the pound from my public library when I was in high school. Though I do in generally prefer to sprinkle them in here or there. Foster’s books often have a slight edge of suspence and danger which means a touch of mystery. I do need to look into her “darker side” books under the name LL Foster sometime soon.
3. Indigo Dying by Susan Wittig Albert - this is a good way into the China Bayles series set in Texas. I have really enjoyed this series, but haven’t read the series in quite a while. I was missing this book, but have the two following ones, but a stop into Old Firehouse last week had me filling my hole so I’m ready to move forward once again!
4. Aunt Dimity Goes West by Nancy Atherton - another cozy, this one usually set in a small village in England that features a young mother who gets help solving mysteries from an unlikely correspondent, Aunt Dimity in ghost form. I think what first attracted me to these books was how the ghost communicates through writing. It took me back to that old PBS TV show, Ghostwriter (I was a bit older than their target market, but my sister and some of the kids I babysat for were the appropriate age and I remember wishing I were). These are fun, often heartwarming quick reads that I love to reach for on rainy or sick days.
5. Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke - this is fifth in the Hannah Swensen series set in southeastern Minnesota. When I first read this series I was turned off by the similarities to the series by Diane Mott Davidson and a lack of attention to detail in getting the names of towns correct. But, the series is available in audio format from NetLibrary so I’ve started reading one here or there again. Plus, with it being read to me I don’t know when a town is spelled incorrectly. Also, since we got a cupcake bakery that has some innovative flavors I appreciate the same qualities in the fictional cookie bakery and the recipes that are included.
6. Maiden Rock by Mary Logue - I just devoured the previous book in this series over the weekend. What I love about her books is how often the reader knows who did it and the mystery is in how they are either going to discover it or going to find the evidence they need to bring the criminal to justice. Though I had forgotten about that aspect until I read Poisoned Heart. It is just a little different. These books also sort of straddle the line between cozy and police procedural as the main character is herself a sheriff’s deputy, but in a small town just east of Minneapolis/St. Paul in Wisconsin.
7. Unravel Me by Christie Ridgway - this is the second in the Malibu and Ewe series which combines knitting and cooking and romance all together. If I remember correctly there was even some mystery involved as well. The romance was slightly steamy. But all-in-all perfect “beach reading.” The Apple iBook store has this one so I think I’ll be trying out the new iBook app for iOS4 here soonish as it is a $1 less than list. I’m probably old fashioned, but I can’t get myself to spend the same price or more for an ebook version than for a print version when I can’t loan it out to friends and there is a chance that in the future I would not be able to reread it.
8. Hothouse Orchid by Stuart Woods - this is currently on my nightstand as I checked it out from the library on Friday. I was so excited to notice that there was a new installment in the Holly Barker series which my mom turned me onto. I read the previous book back in 2007 so I hope he does a good job of setting things back up! There tends to be lots of action and danger.
9. Lover Unbound by J. R. Ward - this is super steamy vampire romance. If you enjoy the Charlaine Harris books, but wish they were as steamy as the True Blood television series, this series if for you. This is the fifth book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood. I’m kind of surprised I haven’t read it yet. Maybe I’ve been putting it off because this is the last one of the series that I own and it is getting harder to find these books used. I didn’t think I’d like vampire books, but Chris’ recommendation of this series was spot on!
10. The Memory Collector by Meg Gardiner - this is a more traditional mystery/suspense novel. It is second of three so far featuring Jo Beckett who specializes in psychological autopsies. I really enjoyed the first book, The Dirty Secrets Club and just haven’t gotten around to this one because it wasn’t often available at the library. If it is still frequently checked out I think I’ll put a hold on it. I haven’t been making use of the hold option lately because my reading time has been in spits and spurts and I couldn’t always be assured of getting a book read in the allotted 3 weeks. I think it might be time to just bite the bullet and make time should that happen.

I’m sure there are plenty of other titles on my summer reading list, or ones that will make themselves a part of that list. There is a whole stack of Jim Butcher sitting here and somewhere I have a few more Gaslight Mysteries by Victoria Thompson and Freemont Jones by Dianne Day (though there may be holes in those series I need to fill before proceeding). Most definitely there will end up being some non-fiction in there as well. I just don’t happen to plan and anticipate those as much as the escapist fiction :-)

I don’t find a long reading list daunting so if any of these titles prompted some suggestions in your mind, please feel free to share them! I love finding new authors and series!

If you want to participate in 10 on Tuesday you can sign up with Carole at http://caroleknits.net/tot/. Also, be sure to check out her 10 on Tuesday posts each week and at the bottom you can add yourself and follow links to check out other participants!

While I was making sugar scrub and had my essential oils out and at the ready I decided to whip up some bath salts as well. It had been much, much too long since I had done so. Like the sugar scrub, it is pretty darn simple and I have no excuse as to why I haven’t mixed any up in several years. I routinely have Epsom salts around and take soaks with it unadorned, but there is just something extra special about sinking into a bath that is gently scented just for you.

Like the sugar scrub, I opted for a citrus-based scent. Since I tend to seek refuge from high pain days or that in the tub I wanted to go with a scent that would lighten my mood and energize me to get through the remainder of my day. I tend to take my baths later in the day so I went with real essential oils and will just be careful to not expose myself to the sun after soaking in a bath using them. I used a blend of grapefruit, lime and bergamont which I grounded with a tad bit of geranium and ginger.

Uplifting and Energizing Bath Salts

Makes ~8 cups

• Food Coloring (optional, 10 drop blue and 4 drops yellow shown here)
• 45 drops Grapefruit Essential Oil
• 26 drops Lime Essential Oil
• 20 drops Bergamont Essential Oil
• 14 drops Geranium Essential Oil
• 14 drops Ginger Essential Oil
• 1 C Sel Gris (gray salt, my local Food Co-op has it in the bulk section for a reasonable price)
• 1 C Table or Kosher Salt
• 5 C Epsom Salt
• 1 C Baking Soda
• 1 C Pink Himalayan Salt (again available in bulk from the co-op)*

Mix the oils and food coloring with the sel gris and table salt in a large bowl dedicated to non-food purposes. The sel gris and table salts more readily soak up the oils and coloring, helping to keep your salts from clumping. Then add the baking soda and stir again. Lastly, add the remaining salts and mix until evenly combined. I recommend you let the salts age at least a few days so the oils blend and become more uniform throughout the batch.

To use, sprinkle 1/2-1 C of salts under running warm water and let dissolve. Lock kids, pets and husbands out of bathroom and soak as long as desired!

I put a portion of my salts in a pretty apothecary jar and use a sea shell as a scoop. The remainder I keep in an air-tight canister under the bathroom sink. I have packaged the salts up with a nice little wooden scoop and given it as a gift. I’ve even saved some juice bottles that are shaped like old fashioned milk bottles that I want to give as gifts sometime with a variant that includes fat free powdered milk for a milk bath!

* I would leave it out next time though as it doesn’t dissolve very readily, but it sure looks pretty in the mix!

You can of course use any combination of essential oils you would like. A popular mix for calming and relaxation is chamomile and lavender. I am planning on mixing up another batch with rosemary, peppermint, and ginger to promote increased circulation and healing.

If you are unfamiliar with the properties of the various essential oils most manufacturer’s assign a descriptive word or brief phrase to each oil which can point you in the proper direction. Some say to follow your nose, that your body knows what you need and I have found that to be pretty true. When I first started using essential oils I lacked confidence in combining scents though. I found The Encyclopedia of Aromatherapy by Chrissie Wildwood to be quite helpful. It gives you information on how to combine scents as well as more in depth coverage of the therapeutic properties of the essentials oils. There are even recipes for various types of ailments that are a great place to start exploring.

What is your preferred scent combo for a soak in the tub?

This is what I spent a chunk of last week working with. The yarn is a combo of Madelintosh tosh sock left over from Cirrus and some Louet Gems Fingering I had in my stash. I’m sooooo excited about this project it is just killing me having to keep it mum. I’m hoping sharing this little peek will help ease the pressure a tad.

Because I was figuring out yardage per square inch over several types of stitch patterns I was needing to weigh my knitting at pretty frequent intervals so I could estimate total yardage for the official project. I found weighing the knitting and the balls of yarn it in a bowl the same size as the scale’s platform gave me more consistent readings. I was also spending a good chunk of time out under the patio umbrella listening to audiobooks while I knit and discovered the bowl was a good way to keep track of my yarn and keep it from snagging on weathered wood or picking up bits of pollen that had fallen on the patio and what not.

I guess it is a good thing that I’m the only one who tends to use the metal bowls in our kitchen because I think it might be a while before this one finds it way back. Though I suspect great grandma Davis wouldn’t mind her bowl being put to use in this manner.

While it is much too early for harvests of tomatoes here, there was a really good price on a 2-lb pack of cherry tomatoes at one of our local grocery stores. They were perfectly ripe and I knew with only the two of us we wouldn’t get through them all before they turned, but I couldn’t walk away from their perfect ripeness and great price so I brought them home. I washed and sliced each one in half.

Then I tossed the halves with ~2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive and a touch of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper (the pic above is before tossing, so it really is just a touch and not as heavy as it appears).

Next, I dumped them onto a Silpat lined sheet pan and spread them out into a single layer.I made sure each one was cut side up so all the liquid would more readily evaporate. I baked them for ~3 hours in a 200F degree oven. I then shut off the oven and left them in an additional hour.

The results are still quite soft and wet, but the flavors are more concentrated. Because I left them at a relatively wet stage they have been stored in the fridge. We’ve been enjoying them on pasta with chimichurri sauce (thanks to the parsley and cilantro from our first CSA box) and multiple types of salads (also courtesy of the CSA) all week. There is one small serving that remains that is likely to go on a final salad for my lunch today.