Aliens

E and J visit the Monk's Kettle and order hamburgers. Some way into the meal...

E: Can I have a french fry?
J: What happened to YOUR french fries?
E: Aliens. Very dangerous. They came all the way from Mars.
J: [elbows him in the ribs] Fine. You may have a french fry.

Several moments pass.

E: [reaches for fries again]
J: It's not my fault you let aliens steal your french fries!

Memorial Day Weekend: Sunday

Porter Creek Vineyard
Originally uploaded by jessajune

We had a glorious long weekend. We got out of foggy, cold San Francisco and up into wine country for a day trip. We arrived around noon and grabbed some delicious sandwiches at Oakville Grocery before visiting Porter Creek (pictured above), C. Donatiello, and Nalle wineries (picking up a half wine barrel planter and some old grape vines for use in smoking along the way). The excuse for the trip was to pick up the Porter Creek wine club shipment. Contrary to what you might think from the photographs, we like the place because the wine is delightful, as well as the beautiful setting and the fact that they own a gorgeous Great Pyrenees (unfortunately, he was not out visiting that day). We had an especially good time at Nalle, where we had the senior winemaker all to ourselves for half an hour or so.

I've posted the rest of the day's pictures to my Flickr. More photos and the tale of Monday's longer-than-expected hike at China Camp to follow.

Quinoa

I tried quinoa (also see Wikipedia) for the first time this week - Mom got a vast bag at Costco and when I accidentally ran out of rice, I borrowed a little. (Thanks, Mom!) Quinoa is often referred to as a grain, but is actually a seed, and it is a good vegetarian source of complete protein. According to the World's Healthiest Foods link above, it is good for migraine sufferers due to the high magnesium content, and has a host of other beneficial qualities.

I admit the reason I tried it was largely that the back of the package indicated it could be prepared in a regular rice cooker, and because I had Chinese leftovers and no rice. The results were good - once cooked, the grain has a couscous-like texture, and worked excellently as a sauce-medium, not infringing on the flavor of the rest of the food. I did rinse the seeds before cooking, as recommended on the package to reduce the bitter flavor, and the only bitterness I found was along the bottom of the cooker where some portion of the quinoa had become brown (my cooker goes straight from "cook" to "warm" and I did not retrieve it right away, which may be the cause). For the record, a friend has noted to me that he has skipped the rinsing step without finding a notable difference in flavor. (I suspect this is because packaged quinoa is rinsed or processed before selling.)

Today I finished the remainder on its own, with some olive oil and chili salt. By itself, I found it somewhat less enjoyable, if more healthy, than rice or couscous in the same preparation. I would and most likely will purchase some of my own in the future, but I will most likely reserve it for use as a healthier sauce-vehicle or perhaps cook it with something flavorful, such as curry.

Springtime Lunch

It is a gorgeous day out there - sunny, warm, breezy. Everything is sprouting or blooming.

And to top it all off, I just had a perfect spring lunch. Salsa-cooked chicken in corn tortillas topped with peppery wild arugula, followed by a Toracco/Tarocco blood orange so juicy I ate it over the sink.

I usually say autumn is my favorite season, but today I am loving spring.

Does Pasta Really Need All That Water?

Maybe not, says Harold McGee in the New York Times: How Much Water Does Pasta Really Need?

As someone who is living with a non-kitchen and has been reduced to making pasta in an electric skillet on more than one occasion, I am glad to see someone investigating this matter of blasphemy. I agree that the extra stirring is key. And that short pasta shapes are easier to keep from sticking or tangling.

Via Not Martha.

Mundane Hallucinations

One day, not long ago, I was tidying the kitchen area (calling the area where I cook in this cottage a "kitchen" is generous to the extreme), and I encountered a box grater, of the sort usually used for shredding cheese. "Odd!" I thought to myself, "I did not think I had one of these anymore, and have been grating my cheese on a tiny micro-plane! This may come in handy later."

Today, I would like to grate some cheese. Can I find this mystical box grater? Of course not. Did I imagine having it in the first place? Possibly. Did I spend 15 minutes looking for it anyway? Yes.

In other, more productive news, I am one row away from finishing my first cowl - I am hoping to get it blocking and take some photographs today. Then I have to come up with another project to take with me to jury duty for the next couple of weeks.

Garden Progress Report

New pictures are up of the garden - I actually took these right when I got back from the conference, but it took a while to get them uploaded. Here's a quick preview:


Something is eating the bejezus out of the kale, most likely earwigs. So far I am resisting Dad's offer to put out poison. I'd love for this to be a completely organic process. Besides, kale is pretty robust, and if this keeps them away from the other veggies, it's probably a worthy sacrifice. The peas are going like crazy, we already need to tie up new string. And the lavender bush outside my back door is covered in flowers.

Tea Time

Did some Xmas shopping at the Republic of Tea, and rounded out the order with a few refill packages for myself. I feel oddly proud that I found the original tins for all three teas (Cranberry Blood Orange, Apricot Decaf, Cardamon Cinnamon), so I don't even have to do any creative labeling.

Making myself a nice cup of CC (caffeine free) right now. I haven't had any in the house for ages.

Pumpkin Soup Experiment

I am conducting a rash culinary experiment. Partly because I am lazy, partly because I love my crock pot, and partly because I found no recipes that appealed to me or reflected the contents of my cupboard. I wanted a non-dairy soup that could be made in the aforementioned crock pot and would give me an opportunity to exercise my stick blender. (Note to self: perhaps checking to make sure the stick blender isn't in storage is something I should have done before starting this process.)

I should first mention that I am living in a cottage with no real kitchen. I have an electric skillet, an electric teakettle, a microwave, and a crock pot, and with these I make do. I will save my raptures about the teakettle for another time, as it will not be used for this project. Neither will the microwave.

I roasted the pumpkin the other night and failed to eat it, partly because I didn't start the process until I was very hungry and therefore ended up eating dinner before the squash was finished. Also a factor was the sad reality that the edges were close to burning before the lower sides felt quite as done as I wanted them. If I get to roasting the other half, I shall cut it into quarters and try that.

1/2 pumpkin, roasted
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
half a box of organic chicken broth
some amount of ground ginger, yet to be determined*
pepper & salt if needed, but I suspect the broth will cover my salting needs

Scoop out pumpkin flesh, or peel off skin, getting hands kind of squishy in the process, and put flesh into the crock pot. Sauté onion and carrots in olive oil until slightly brown around the edges. Dump into crock pot. Deglaze the skillet with the chicken stock (never let it be said I have learned nothing from dating E) and dump into crock pot. Put on the lid, and turn on high.

That's as far as I am for the moment - I suspect 4 hours will be about the right amount of time for the veggies to become blendable and the flavors to meld.

***

I ended up turning the heat down to low after about 3 hours, since I had stuff to do this afternoon which I'd forgotten about. Three hours after that, and I checked to find things well and truly ready to blend. Since the stick blender appears to be in storage, I used a regular blender. (Why the stickblender that I use is in storage while the crappy standard blender isn't, I can't really explain.) The good news is, this was a very small quantity of soup and fit in all at one go, and it was quick to blend up.

Then I added ginger and pepper - how much I can't say, as I seem to have misplaced my measuring spoons. And it turned out great! It was a bit bland before seasoning, so I overdid the pepper a bit. The ginger added a lot to the party and kicked bland to the curb.

Now, I am eating a tasty, seasonal, and pretty darn healthy dinner!



* I like the flavor of ginger and therefore people tend to give me ginger things as presents. I currently posses more powdered ginger than I am likely to use in the rest of my natural life.

Breakfast Adventure

Proof, if I needed it, that the "bar fridge" I'm using is not as good as a regular refrigerator. I poured myself some cereal. I took out the milk, and looked at the date. September 7th, plenty of time. Not even necessary to smell it. I poured... and it came out gloppy. There was much frantic "ew ew ew"ing as I scurried to get the contents of the bowl (and the carton) into the trash.

This is not how one wants to start the morning, and proves quite a contrast to delectable eats of last weekend's Slow Food festival.

Now I'm making toast.

Kindred Spirit

The cashier did not even blink when I came to the register with a beer, a small container of olives from the salad bar, and nothing else. She just smiled and complimented me on the color of my nail polish.

It's awfully pink. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Half Moon Holiday

Bucket and I managed to take advantage of Presidents' Day to break away from everything for a bit. We headed south to Half Moon Bay, driving around for a bit until we landed at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company for lunch and some truly outstanding imperial stout. We happened to end up at the bar next to the brewer himself, Alec Moss. We chatted about his beer, Magnolia's Strong Beer Month, and the British Beer Festival (happening in the first week in August), which he highly recommended we check out - budget notwithstanding, it sounds like something worth crossing the pond for.

On the way back out on highway 92, we stopped at the Half Moon Bay Nursery, which is really an incredible spot. We came home with geraniums, lettuce, vegetable seeds, and a flower for my bathroom window.

It was really nice to have an actual mini-vacation day, without worrying about work and school and everything else, especially considering that he's leaving soon for a work trip, and will be gone for a week and a half. And it took less time than our original wine tasting plans, so we could get back here and back to work by late afternoon.

I am thankful for beer.

I am thinking I really need to start a gratitude journal. I need to find some way to focus on the positive things, and remind myself how good I do have it, since so much of the time I am feeling ground down by all the things that aren't going well.

Today, though, I'm mostly just thankful for beer.

And for my Bucket, who has taken time and energy out of his own drama to be supportive, which is pretty awesome. I would miss mah bucket if someone were to steal him.

Crockpot Deliciousness

I actually just posted this in Crazy Aunt Purl's comments, but I figured I'd pop it up here too. I'm about to have some of this for lunch as we speak, since I made it yesterday. Thank goodness I can run a crockpot and still do other things like heat water and use the computer, on my little 15 amps of power. Woot!

This Beef Chili has no beans - I like beans but not everyone does. It's nice to have options, and this stuff is TASTY. I halve the recipe that I was given, because apparently it was designed for a Crockpot of Enormousness, and I only have a modest little slowcooker. So here's what I do.

2 - 2.5 lbs stew meat
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup beer (I usually do a bit more than that)
1 can chopped chili peppers (hot, mild, whatev)
3 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt

Brown the meat (This step is skippable, but the texture is better if you brown), put in crockpot. Saute onions and bell peppers, put in crockpot. Dump all other ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Makes 6-8 servings.

Eat, and sigh with happiness over how tasty it is.

Cat Food

Deborah Duchon's Modest Proposal: The Best Cat Food

As a cat lover/owner, I'm obsessing over the cat food scandal. Luckily, I don't use any of the implicated brands or flavors - although I have tried them in the past. The source of the poison cat food is in wheat gluten from China. The amazing thing, to me is, why are pet cats eating so much wheat gluten? Have you ever seen a cat beg for a piece of bread? I have, but only stray, starving cats who will eat anything. Cats are carnivores. They don't need wheat or corn or "garden vegetables". My cat's favorite veggie is catnip, which he eats until he passes out in a happy stupor...

After ruminating about it for a few days, it finally hit me. The best meal for a cat is a mouse. After all, that's why they were first domesticated about 5,000 years ago. It wasn't because they make great lap warmers, or for their quirky personalities. It was because they were hunters - and rodents were their preferred prey. By that time, humans had made the dietary shift to a grain-based diet, and huge stores of wheat and barley were endangered by ravenous, multiplying hordes of rats and mice. The rodents attracted cats and the cats saved the day. People started leaving scraps of food out for the wild cats and eventually cats became part of the fabric of society ... One of the good things about those early domesticated cats was that they did not compete with humans for their grain...

I have to admit that I've thought about this before the cat food scare, but it was more abstract. Why, I wondered, are we feeding cats the meat from animals that they wouldn't eat in the wild - beef and chicken, especially? There is a rat problem in this country - why not trap the rats and make them into cat food?

Something Must Be Wrong

I walked by the kitchen this morning, and someone was cutting up a banana... and it smelled GOOD.

I usually loathe bananas, so now I'm wondering what's wrong. A potassium deficiency, or something? (I don't know, what else is in bananas besides fructose?)

In other news - praise all the heavens, they've fixed that slamming door. God bless Facilities.

Dreaming of Cake

Apparently May has moved to mid-summer. I had no idea. Everyone keeps saying the heatwave is due to be over any day, yet it keeps on roastin'.

Not that I'm really complaining. I'm rather enjoying it, really. Nice change of pace. And as long as I'm remembering to water, my plants don't seem to mind overmuch.

Soon I will go home, and tonight (along with the work) there will be Indian food and cake! Can't go wrong with cake.

Especially chocolate.

May Day

Oh, and belated happy May day! It kind of got missed at Chez Jessa this year, with my not having planned ahead and therefore having no strawberries in the house. A May Day with no strawberries! Unheard of in my family.

But I picked some up last night, and if y'all will excuse me, I'm going to have some for breakfast right now.