This…n that
Thursday, 20 June 2013
Calf-cramp awakened me this morning. Not pleasant.
Things turned around when this came direct from Shanghai. The Guru says it’s fast and he loves the light-up keys.
Musings
Lotsa dirty pots
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
A little crunchy, but we got the tortillas to lunch today (subverting the fuzzy phase), and had them as quesadillas—with green, as K’s kids would have said. We like the green; they didn’t. It’s the unfamiliar epazote, Dysphania ambrosioides, once Chenopodium ambrosioides.
I also used a few leaves of the epazote in the herb/plant mix I used in the rice. It wasn’t “Spanish” rice, and it wasn’t green rice; it was both! I pureed green onions, cilantro, poblano pepper, a meaty tomato, and two big epazote leaves, and added the green mix to the rice when it was half cooked. Came out great!
Perfect with the chicken with tomatillo sauce, and a simple sautéed chard.
Going for an assortment of plant foods, along with strong-colored or strong-flavored plants.
Not witches brew
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
I love black beans cooked like this, with epazote, onion, garlic, and cilantro added to the stew. I really only use epazote in two dishes, the black beans and in quesadillas, so I usually can’t use the whole bunch before it goes bad. Sadly.
Epazote doesn’t sound very tasty in the WikiPee description, but I love what it does to the beans and cheese….
Mystery coats
Monday, 17 June 2013
There’s a story here, but I’m not sure what it is. Spotted this in the parking lot of a busy oversized grocery store just north of the perimeter.
Two coats (suit jackets?) and another garment hanging in a tree. There was a fellow in the middle vehicle. No vehicles around the trio/tree/garments.
So, was he hoping they’d dry?
Was he advertising tailoring services?
Were they for sale?
Or…?
Crunchy peas?
Sunday, 16 June 2013
TJs offers assorted products that I’d call almost veggies and almost fruit. We opted for the mini-zucchinis (skillet roasted in a bit of olive oil, salted) and a tossed salad. Real veggies, no grinding, reconstituting, or bathing in sugar.
Note that someone I was around recently loved to reheat a can of peas and eat them as a snack, spoonful after spoonful.
Graphique fun
Saturday, 15 June 2013
Improved version of Fig. 1 from Baggaley et al by Boy and Baggaley elsewhere on the interwebs.
Sooo cool. I’ve been thinking about making a version of this figure myself, just to see the pattern. Quite excited to find that someone else has already done so.
Shows a persistent impetus to move along. Note that as time goes along there are more dots for each color…which I interpret as more people, so more cultural deposits left to be dated….
Fern glade
Friday, 14 June 2013
I stayed with the catch-up/indoorsy theme today, so I’m grabbing this from yesterday. So mellow I felt looking at this fern glade.
Sigh.
Pleasure expedition
Thursday, 13 June 2013
A different falls on a different mountain river.
The lovely D suggested a lady-expedition today, and a cozy foursome set out for a mountain winery luncheon and a walk in the woods to a lovely waterfall.
We found the winery dining room quiet and stately until a large party emerged from the tasting room to be seated around the corner from us. Think: boisterous. Still, we had a grand time. Tried the dry rosé; nice. Also enjoyed a quick visit to the barrel room; great visuals.
Later, humid walking made us appreciate the cool mountain streamwater. N and I waded; D swam; P said laughing, “looks cold!” Found a few wildflowers and iridescent blue damselflies. No ticks. No snakes. The best!
Unfortunately, this was in the Chattahoochee National Forest, and we discovered loggers taking out the larger trees (selective cutting) on the ridges above our river to make better habitat for Peruvian…um…finches(?), a migratory species. Not the ambiance D was expecting.
Thanks, D, for the invite.
Orange sky
Wednesday, 12 June 2013
I especially like the crane just to the right of the sun-ball.
Enough of that bucolic life, we are in the CITY.
Arcoiris
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
This was actually last evening’s (ever-so-slightly double) rainbow, but still a fitting visual for my last day here in Virginia.