Finding Oneself Again. . .

 

So many memories. . .  I can scarcely believe that five years has passed since Cooking for Adventurers hit the press.  Now that I'm finally finding the time to work on Cat Hair in the Coffee Maker, I seem to have that old feeling, again. It's been so long since I've found the time to write anything meaningful that I'd almost forgotten what it meant to me. The simple act of putting written word to the page has, for as long as I can remember, been my chosen method of communication. It is, for lack of better terminology, the chief expression of my soul.

By the time I had done any meaningful work to CfA, we had been living in our current home for nearly five years. Sure, I had been working on the book for a while before, but in short bursts of productivity--mostly organizing recipes and jotting down the odd thought or two as they randomly appeared in my brain. It wasn't until we got to this spot that everything finally started to gel into a stream of consciousness that would become the guide that I had wanted. I would spend my days off from work traveling about the parks and boreal forests of the area cooking in the wilderness and taking photos. Along the way, I even made a pretty nice hobo stove and alcohol burner, though its use never found its way into the book. Much of my free time was either spent working on its writing, or finding adventures to increase its depth.

And the stories!

I actually wish I had put more stories in CfA. Though I wrote it to sound more like a story book than an actual cookbook, giving depth to the recipes and methods through the experiences that birthed them gives relevance to the book's existence. Learning how to cook bacon from a roving band of backpackers is all well and good, but the memory of Travis and I warming ourselves in the steam from our campfire-baked potatoes always brings a smile. Perhaps in the next book, I'll tell the story of the picture on the cover, when we got ourselves a little deeper into the Porcupine Mountains than we had originally intended. I'll definitely tack in the story of how my dad and uncle went out frog gigging, and managed to shoot a boat.

We will actually be in a different house by the time I am ready to put the next book to press. We are in the process of remodeling it, room by room, to make it totally ours. Kim and I never got the chance to build the house we wanted, but this will be the next best thing. We've done a finished basement before, and some interior design, but nothing quite as encompassing as this. We didn't settle into our current house so much as a family, but more along the lines of an invading army. We have beaten it into something that suits our needs, with work done to the kitchen and bathroom mostly, but that was about it. Cat Hair in the Coffee Maker will include an entire chapter on the kitchen remodel, in the hopes that mistakes I make will help others in similar circumstances suffer a bit less.

This is, if you'll pardon the obvious pun, a new chapter for me. The last five years have been a roller coaster-- changing jobs, building a workshop, moving the workshop, the constant chaos of four kids moving through school, the oldest going to college and the second moving across the planet with the Army, issues with a publisher that could care less and of course, losing dad in 2019. I may have lost myself along the way. My mantra has always been "we are all adventurers". Somewhere, I lost myself in the work and had forgotten to look for that adventure. I still have two kids in the house, and a lot of opportunity ahead--who's with me?

Comfort Foods from Miles Away. . .

Living up north has several advantages--you don't roast in the summer, you get to make fun of tourists from the south who pull out the coats when the temperature hits 50 degrees (that's 10° for everyone else on the planet), there is plenty of snow to play with in the winter, and you tend to develop a serious relationship with comfort foods.  Whether it's chili, stew, pasties, cottage pie, etc., comfort foods are often piping hot and very filling.  If they're easy to make, that's just a bonus.

Meteorologically speaking, life in Upper Michigan can be a roller coaster--trees begin showing color in early August, and you can have snow well into June.  Today was a somewhat warm day, as the afternoon temps touched the 40° mark.  We were able to get a few things cleaned up outside, and the chickens got to stretch their wings a bit.  Of course, there is a lake effect snow maker coming tomorrow, but today was nice.

Inspiration on days like today come from the most innocent places.  Today, whilst running a few errands, we stopped at the local Co-Op for a few small odds and ends.  Just walking into the place makes you want good food, as the first thing you smell is an amalgam of spices and fresh tea, with underlying hints of sandalwood incense and the aroma of whatever the deli is making that day.  Among other things, I picked up some Tandoori Masala and Vindaloo Curry powder, which I had to smell for the rest of the ride home.  Kim and I had the usual "what's for dinner tonight" conversation, in which we remembered the inexpensive pork loin I picked up the day before, and a dish we haven't had in a while.  My kids have deemed this meal a winner--a consensus so little seen in our home.

Jamaican Pork Stew

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1.5 lbs. Cubed Pork (loin, chops, etc.)
2 Tsp. Flour
2 Medium Onions, Thinly Sliced
2 Cloves Garlic, Crushed
4 Tsp. Light or Dark Rum
32 oz Crushed Tomatoes
4 Small Potatoes, Diced
2 Cups Beef Broth
2 Tsp. Molasses
1 Tsp. Ground Black Pepper
1/4 Tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
1/4 Tsp Ground Allspice
Salt to taste
Cooked Rice

Heat the oil in a good-sized pan.  Dust the pork with flour and brown it in the oil, moving the meat to a stew pot when it is done.

Saute the onions until they begin to get tender, then add the garlic and cook for just a bit more (until the garlic becomes fragrant).  Add the rum to the pan, taking care to scrape up any browned bits, then dump the whole smash into the stew pot, over the pork.  

Stir in all of the remaining ingredients and bring the pot to a boil.  Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer until the potatoes are cooked through.  If you think it looks too dry, add a can of tomato sauce. 

This recipe translates well to slow-cookers (that's how I made it the first time!)--Prepare everything as described above, but add it all to your slow-cooker.  Cook on low for 8 hours.

Serve over rice (I season mine to taste with Tandoori Masala powder)!

I am currently working on two new manuscripts; a light-hearted look at home improvement, and an addition to the 'Cooking for Adventurers' idea, focusing on sustainable living.  If you haven't purchased a copy of Cooking for Adventurers yet, please do!  It will be one step closer to getting my other works off the ground, plus it will help fund the instructional material I want to put forth on my You Tube channel and within this blog.  You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!  For copies of Cooking for Adventurers, you can go to my Etsy shop, or Amazon (The latter can provide you with both paperback and electronic formats, the former will get an autographed copy).

Good night and good cooking, fellow adventurers!  Next time, we'll talk backyard chickens!

Keeping Your Spirits Up. . .

For those of you who've read Cooking for Adventurers, it's no secret that I like cooking with various forms of alcohol.  Whether it comes from fine wines or brown bottles, people have been using alcoholic beverages to enhance the flavor of food for an exceptionally long time.  Wines boil down quite easily, concentrating the flavor and adding either a sweetness or acidity (depending on the type used).  Aside from adding flavor, sauteing with wines is a good way to reduce the fat content of a recipe; substituting wine for part or all of the oil.  Even cake mixes can benefit, substituting white wine for oil entirely, giving the cake a lighter texture.

Now, before we delve into this too deeply, I feel the need to bring up a point of etiquette; a notion I like to call "pie with a fork".  In some parts of the world, it is acceptable to just scoop up a piece of pie and eat it by hand (assuming it is of the well-crusted variety).  In other parts, it is not, and eating in such a vulgar manner could be considered insulting, or at least disgusting.  Ergo, wherever you go, be prepared to eat your pie with a fork.  Why is this relevant?  Allow me to explain. . .

It should be noted that just because something is thoroughly cooked, doesn't mean the alcohol has been completely evaporated!  Alcohol evaporates at 172°F, which means that, with sufficient cook time, sauces or gravies should come out fine.  Baked or roasted foods, however, can still have between 5-25% of the alcohol remaining, depending on variables such as cooking time and exposed surface area.  If you find yourself cooking for small children, pregnant mothers, recovering alcoholics, people with specific medical conditions (such as diabetes), or people who do not believe in using alcohol for anything other than its medicinal purposes, there are several non-alcoholic wines or beverage substitutes to chose from.  Be considerate!

One of my most consistently-used recipes is a simple sauteed vegetable combination to accompany the meat and potato dishes that our house usually sees.  I rough cut a good-sized onion with a couple of bell peppers (any color) and toss in some sliced mushrooms.  I start them cooking with a small amount of oil, but when the onions just begin to get soft, I'll pour in about four or six ounces of beer and sprinkle the entire mess with some seasoned pepper.  Reduce the heat and simmer the beer away, taking care to not let the veg scorch.

Red wines will give onions and mushrooms a deep flavor accent, making them the perfect addition to any gravy.  Basically, saute the mushrooms and onions as above, then use them in any gravy mix you like.  An easy variation is to add a cup of broth and whisk in about a quarter cup of flour.  Simmer the mix down to the thickness you want (if you go too far, adding a little water will help.  Season with salt, pepper, and parsley.

We've all worked with less expensive, leaner cuts of beef.  Let's face it, not every meal can be filet of beef or prime rib--sometimes you just end up with a hunk of flank steak.  The simplest way to make a piece of meat that has a lot of personality more manageable is with beer.  The slightly acidic nature of the brew makes it an excellent tenderizer.  Place the meat in a zip-sealed bag and add beer, marinating for anywhere between 4 and 12 hours.  

A bit more complex and flavorful marinade that can be made into an accompanying gravy or used as a fond for roast beef is found on page 9 of Cooking for Adventurers:

Mix--

1/3 cup red wine

1/4 cup beef broth

2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 Tsp. coarse, black pepper

3 minced garlic cloves

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

Marinate beef (steak or roast) in a gallon-sized zippered bag for 20 minutes to an hour (or longer, for tougher cuts of meat).  To use as an accompanying sauce or fond for gravy, bring the reserved marinade up to a simmer and reduce to your desired consistency.

Cooking rarely has to be expensive or difficult (unless you actually want it to be).  I seldom use expensive wines and, though I do like the more interesting brews, beers can be found cheaply, too.  One thing I usually don't skimp on are spirits--even if you're only going to use them for sauces and marinades, cheap whiskies and bourbons can ruin recipes (you are going for flavor, after all).  As far as which wines to use with what, that can truly be up to you.  One of my favorite action movies involved a scene where the master spy figured out who the Russian agent was because he actually ordered red wine with fish!  Horrors!  True, reds are usually paired with red meats, as the tannins in the wine act as a palate cleanser for some of the bolder proteins and white wines are paired with white meats, as they tend to be a bit more acidic and compliment the proteins well (like a squirt of lemon on baked fish).  In the end, though, go with what you like--just remember, those for whom you cook may have different tastes or convictions.  Pie with a fork!

Protein Bombs and Other Weapons of Mass Construction. . .

Fitness is an important part of life.  Whether you do it for stress relief, improved performance, greater stamina, or just aesthetic reasons, working a fitness routine into your life is just a good idea.  Whatever your approach, you are going to need proper fueling.

Now, the jury is still deliberating over whether eating pre or post workout is the best, but my experience as a personal trainer has shown that morning workouts with a post-workout meal are the best for both weight management and muscle gain.  Everyone is different, so there is always some required fine tuning, but a good rule of thumb is a meal of protein and carbohydrates within a window of 15-30 minutes, post activity.  The obvious exception to this would be if your workout includes cycling, running, or some other form of moderate to intense cardio--in these cases, you would want to eat 30-45 minutes before the workout begins composed of easily digestible carbohydrates and a small amount of protein.

That being said, what can you make that will be substantial enough to get you into your day without having to fret over prep time?  For mornings that I cannot cook, I fall back on peanut butter sandwiches (two tablespoons has about 7 grams of protein).  Sliced turkey would be another good staple to keep around for quick sandwiches, also.

When you CAN cook. . .

In Cooking for Adventurers, I went on and on about the wonders of the common egg.  Eggs can be as complex or as simple as you want to make them, and can be prepared in as little as a couple of minutes.  One of my favorite post workout meals is a bit of a fridge cleaner, as I tend to use leftovers for an extra protein punch.

Cluster Scramble--

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 smallish onion, chopped

2 oz. chopped mushrooms

1-2 eggs, beaten

Pepper, basil, cayenne to taste
A sandwich-sized portion of whatever leftover protein you have in the fridge.

Dice or shred whichever protein you selected (it could be steak, turkey, even fried bologna or spam, if that's all you have).  Heat the olive oil until it begins to shimmer, then saute the onions and mushrooms, stirring constantly until the onions start to become tender.  Add the meat, stirring until it has warmed thoroughly, then pour the well-beaten eggs over the top of all of it, seasoning as you see fit.  Remember to pull your eggs across the pan, rather than trying to flip them; this gives them a fluffy appearance, plus it helps get them thoroughly cooked  in a timely manner.

Another way to sneak protein into your post-workout morning is in pancake form.  Some recipes are rather involved, but if you take a page from every backpacker's guidebook, you'll see that many of the dry ingredients can be pre-mixed for quick execution.  These are a couple of recipe variations that I've used frequently.  The first is a bit more traditional pancake, while the second utilizes some special ingredients that not everyone has lying around.

Banana Nutbutter Flapjacks--

Mix (this can be done ahead of time):

1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour

2 Tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 Tsp. salt

Mix:

1 1/4 cups milk

1 mashed banana

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1 Tbsp. canola oil

Dash cinnamon

Begin heating your griddle as you prepare to mix together the ingredients from both sets above.  Whisk everything together thoroughly, then pour out about a quarter-cup of batter per pancake.  Cook until the edges start to dry and air bubbles form on top.  This will take anywhere from 2-4 minutes, depending on the griddle you're using.  Flip and keep cooking until both sides are golden brown.  Each pancake comes out to be just under 5 grams of protein.

"I'm Not Messing Around" Protein Pancakes--

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup egg whites (or two more eggs--we'll talk about this in a little bit).

4 Tsp. baking powder

1 Cup oats

1 Mashed banana

2 Tbsp. flax meal

1-2 scoops protein powder

1 Tsp. vanilla

Begin heating the griddle as you blend all of the ingredients together.  Cook in the same manner as you would any other pancakes, keeping in mind that these have a much different consistency as a regular flapjack.  Note that each pancake comes out to around 5 grams of protein before considering the protein powder.  Every powder is different, so results may vary!

A note on egg whites--The easiest way to get your half cup of egg whites is to use a pasteurized egg white substitute.  An egg white is about two tablespoons, which means you would need four eggs to get enough egg white for this recipe.  A whole egg is the equivalent of 2 egg whites, so adding two more eggs to the mix (4 eggs total) would work, though it may make for a thicker batter.

Quick substitutes abound, though you should be wary.  A banana and plain yogurt is a good combination, but most flavored yogurts (in the cute, little single-serving cups) are very high in sugar.  In a coming entry, we'll cover making our own energy bars, and talk a little about some workouts that can be fit into the week's adventures with little effort.   Until then, stay active, stay creative, and don't forget your morning coffee. . .

I have no idea who made this meme, but they know me quite well. . .

What's So Difficult About this Parenting Thing?

Saturday night, I came home from work and noticed that there was a basketball in one of our pine trees.  As there is no pavement anywhere close by upon which to even piddle around with a basketball, I asked my kids the inevitable question, "Why is there a basketball in the tree?"

The answer came from my oldest son in a very matter-of-fact tone, "We used it to get the frisbee out of the tree".

My next question was a bit transparent, but I asked it anyway:  "Didn't you try to get the basketball down?"

The answer that followed was, "we tried to use the frisbee, but it almost got stuck again".

I don't care what anyone says, these are the parenting moments that I live for.  All of the bedtime arguments, squabbling over chores, teen angst, etc. are more than made up for by the times when I actually have to wonder if I am hearing Calvin and Hobbes logic, or my sarcasm lessons have taken hold.

Over the years, I have done my best to teach them what I could, as it is a parent's job to make certain their children can operate in the real world when the time comes.  It's all well and good to teach them to play myriad sports, but the best thing you can do is teach them how to work things, fix things, deal with problems life is going to hurl at them.  Life is so much easier to deal with, simply from a financial standpoint, when you don't have to huck $300 or more to a plumber when your drains clog up.  My kids know what a plunger is for, and they know that boiling water is sometimes all you need for a stopped up kitchen sink.  My youngest has developed an affinity for livestock care, and my oldest son would probably gain weight if you dropped him off in the woods with a knife for a week.  Everyone can cook for themselves, when the need arises, and they are also fair hands with gadgets.  If the power goes out at night, you will likely see a milk jug full of water with a headlamp strapped to it for area lighting.

Today, we celebrated father's day with my parents with a ride and cookout.  Lacking charcoal, we used forest detritus for our fire, and the kids followed my "if you're going to grill it, mean it" rule and made do when we didn't have a pot for the baked beans.  Zack even fussed at me for using a regular can opener, rather than the one on my multi-tool.  There was swimming involved afterwards, and the kids even got to learn how to remove a leech with minimal effort and no puking.  It was a good day.  I hope yours was, as well.  Next time, I'll share my recipe for Ultimate Showdown Potato Salad.  For now, good night, friends and happy father's day.

The Upcycling Foodie, or How to Turn Garbage into (Mostly) Useful Stuff. . .

Anyone that has followed me for a time, either here or on my YouTube channel, knows I have a thing for upcycling.  I literally cannot stand to see anything go to waste.  Cans bother me, food scraps are utter torment, and don't even get me started about wine corks.  Everything is made for a reason, and most things can be recycled, like tin, aluminum, plastics, etc., but it takes a special bit of your imagination to come up with a better use for something.

First of all, there are tin cans.  The wondrous technology available to us includes can openers that will cut off the lid of a can in such a way that it can be replaced, and all without leaving an exposed, sharp edge.  This opens the door for all kinds of shenanigans!  Of course, there are the obvious uses--pen cups, craft storage, etc.  My personal favorite use for cans is making camping gadgets.  I learned to make lanterns and camp stoves from tin cans in the Boy Scouts, back before they were afraid of people getting hurt doing such things.  Two different designs I've made can be
found here and here (be warned, the last one was one of my first videos, so it's not very exciting).

Another nice little use for tin cans is, of course, a survival kit.  The average sized tin can is capable of holding enough small gear to make the expert survivalist feel like he or she is staying in a luxury suite with mosquitoes.  For the average Joe, it carries enough equipment (if you know how to use it) to make you possibly feel like you are just on a lousy camping trip, rather than dying slowly in the wilderness.

Cooking on a tin can stove (a.k.a. "hobo stove") can be challenging, to say the least, as you have a very small space in which to start and maintain your fire.  Larger cans can be used to obtain bigger cooking surfaces and fire space, but the bigger you go, the more difficult it is to pack small and light.

Granted, if you are cooking on a hobo stove, you most likely are boiling pine needles or small animals, not attempting Lobster Thermidore.

Now, for a truly useful object, wine corks come in a very close second.  As a cooking adventurer, you just might have an abundance of wine bottles passing through your kitchen over the course, leaving you with a collection (if such is your way) of both real and synthetic corks.  These can be used for everything from floating eyeglass lanyards, to bulletin boards, and even bath mats and furniture tops.  I keep a couple in my survival pack to use as fishing floats and fire starters.  Wine cork keychains have kept my keys from hitting the bottom of the lake on more than one occasion, and simply made coasters keep your houseguests from ruining the finish on your prized coffee table.

The end-all recyclable from the kitchen is food, itself.  Where vegetable matter is concerned, there is almost an endless parade of possible continued uses.  Romaine lettuce, pictured here, is easily rooted in water and will soon provide more leaves for several sandwiches before finally switching to "survival mode" and growing spindly.  If you keep it around for a while longer, it will provide seeds to plant, starting the process over again.  Potatoes are another easily planted scrap food.  If you cut chunks of potatoes and plant them (the parts with the growing "eyes"), you will find that the vines are quite prolific.  There are several ways to raise potatoes, each one accommodating your particular space.  Indoor potato planters can produce year-round, if given proper sunlight and water, though you may not necessarily grow massive bakers.  Peppers and tomatoes give seeds that are quite eager to grow, also adapting to pots and buckets just as easily as the garden.
The point I am trying to make here is that everything has its use and, sometimes, it also has a litany of other uses.  We are living in a world of filling landfills and failing ecosystems, so the planet could stand a little less garbage.  Before you pitch an object, think to yourself, "could this still have purpose?"  We'll talk about this a little bit more in the near future, including a use for bottle caps that even Uncle Scrooge would find impressive.

Good night for now, fellow adventurers!

Prepping for the Months Ahead. . .

Yes, I know.  The average person hears the word "prepping" or the term "prepper", and the first thing that comes to mind is that semi-unstable guy down the road with a basement full of canned goods and water jugs and the tendency to dig holes in his yard at odd hours of the night.  This is not about anything like that.  Though I do advocate having a store of non-perishable foods for emergencies, all we're going to talk about tonight is keeping yourself in tomatoes and veg for the year.

When you have a large family, groceries take up an enormous chunk of your monthly budget.  With all the soups, stews, and pastas we make, it is truly staggering just to think of the amount of tomatoes my family consumes in a year.  This is why I garden.  Let's face it, quality produce is sometimes hard to come by.  Either produce was picked to soon, so as not to ripen before reaching its destination, or it arrives in a little sad shape to the grocery store.  Some items can even be off the trees for nearly a year before reaching the grocers' shelves, spending most of its life in cold storage, or what not.  This is not to rag on commercial growers--they're doing what they need to do in order to ensure the crop remains sellable when it hits the store.  I'm just saying that it's not always the best when it arrives.

That's what makes local farmers' markets such a wonderful thing.  Many farmer's markets are stocked with locally grown produce and some domestically grown items (meaning they shipped things in that can't be easily grown in that area).  These market are usually run by one or two people you can actually get to know well enough to get the lowdown on everything they sell.  Some other types of markets look the same, but will only have one or two "local" items, and the rest of the stock is shipped in from all over the planet.  You can still get some good produce, but pay attention to labeling.

 The absolute best produce to have is, of course, your own.  Today, I ventured into my greenhouse for the first time since the snow flew, taking stock of seeds I had left out for the winter temperatures to set, and looking over the onions that I had left to go dormant.  It is the second week of April and we are still looking at the possibility of snow on the Copper Island, though the temperatures should be steadily increasing over the course of the week.  The itch to garden is becoming maddening!

Were I still down home, my garden would already be tilled, as the Kentucky Derby heralded the start of the planting season.  Up in the hinterlands, there is no telling when winter will let go of you, plus the threat of frost is real up to and sometimes through June.  With such a stunted growing season, you have to do what you can to artificially extend summer for your plants.

The first step is, of course, to make a plan for the season.  It's more than just putting some seeds in the ground and standing back; you have to work for it.  Whether you have acres to till, or just a postage stamp-sized yard, you have to figure out where things are going to go, and when.  Do you till a row for potatoes, or do you put in a spud box between the privacy fence and the central air unit?  What about frost?  Which plants will survive and which ones need more coddling?  I always begin the cycle with the plants that we depend upon the most:  tomatoes and peppers.  I'll plant seeds in starter trays to get the jump on the warm weather.  When they've reached a good transplant size, I'll put them in tilled soil (usually, the snow has abated by then) or in planters.  As long as the threat of frost exists, I have a portable greenhouse that I sit over them for protection.  Once we're beyond that threat, in go the onion sets.  That spud box I mentioned?  I'm using one of those this year, just to see how it works out.  I will still be putting potatoes in the ground, for sure, but you never know what might come in handy.

For anyone who has grown tomatoes successfully, you are aware that they will start producing slowly then, all of a sudden, it looks like a tomato bomb has hit your garden, and you start looking for people go give the fallout to.  Peppers come in a close second, and onions never make it to that point, as I have an awesome recipe for onion soup.  As for leafy greens, I will be planting spinach in elevated planters and lettuce will just be strewn, ornamentally, about the yard.  I am literally turning my yard into a side salad.

Over the course of this adventure, I will be applying some massive amounts of science to different techniques, up to and including the canning of our harvest.  I am going to be experimenting with different methods of composting, and a biomass heater that may or may not keep me growing through the winter.  During this little romp, I welcome open discussion, both here and on the Cooking for Adventurers Facebook page.  I'd like to hear what has and hasn't worked for you in your own gardening experiments.  I will, most likely, be offering to build spud boxes, for a price, on the Copper Island Makerspace Facebook page, also.

And, just in case you forgot why we're here in the first place, here's something you can do with all of your newly-grown tomatoes.  This is a bit of a modification on the recipe you'll find in the pages of "Cooking for Adventurers":

MARINARA SAUCE

• 1/4 Cup pinot grigio (or, for a lilt of flavor, a white zinfandel works nicely)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Small onion, chopped well
• 2 Garlic cloves, pressed or finely chopped
• 3 Cups diced tomatoes
• 6 Oz. tomato paste
• 3/4 Tsp. salt
• 1/4 Tsp. coarse ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp. Chopped basil
• 1 Tbsp. Oregano
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms, if desired

Heat the oil in a 4 quart saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.  Add the mushrooms and keep stirring for a minute.  Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer (don't let it scorch!).  Stir in the tomatoes, wine, tomato paste, salt, and pepper, then heat to boiling.  Reduce the heat to a slow simmer, add the basil and oregano, and stir occasionally for fifteen to twenty minutes to blend the flavors.  This sauce freezes well, so don't be afraid to make extra!

We'll get into the ins and outs of making your own tomato paste and other sauces in other posts.  For now, it's time for bed and dreams of warmer weather.  Here's to a good start to your gardens this year, fellow Adventurers!