Musings

Not-breakfast

Bacon frying

Tonight was breakfast-for-dinner night….

A bit of discussion recently with KW about bacon; had to put bacon on the menu (with scrambled eggs and pancakes)….

Pies? Kittens?

Window cat almost

We celebrated Pie Night (just made it up!) over at the loft, witnessed by The Kittens.

Pie Course #1 was pizzas. Take out. Brought in. Three varieties.

Pie Course #2 was key lime. Tried high-end organic pre-squeezed juice, and there was just the shade of a difference, too minor not to try it again. Still used the zest of two limes, and the juice of one that didn’t come from the bottle. Otherwise, this recipe….

Please note that the Pies were all for the people, and the Kittens’ role was entertainment alternated with napping. They were very good at both.

Succulent

Three lanterns suspended

Tonight’s Mexican fare was a chicken vegetable soup. With poblanos and potatoes. And chunks of a zucchini-like squash, but lighter green. Thought about adding tomatillos, but didn’t.

With a squeeze of lime at the table.

Yum (Mexicanized version)

Salsa makings plus

As has been explored already elsewhere on social media, we voyaged to the super-market (called a farmer’s market, but no farmers there unless they’re shopping, but it is very large, hence: super-market), and bought…Mexican ingredients.

I put the avocado into the lime juice (white bowl), then combined it into the salsa (left bowl). I made the radishes into a separate (simple) salad, sliced with salt and lime juice.

Made quesadillas with epazote and Oaxacan string cheese…served with a side of black beans.

The beans were yum-ized with epazote, garlic, onion, jalapeño, and poblano, then simmered for several hours.

Traditional southern fare

Oregon grape bud

Some days I face this page and draw a blank. It’s not that I can’t remember what I did, it’s that it seems too mundane.

We DID dine at the Colonnade*, though. Guess that was pretty darned special. My first time.

Many people describe the Colonnade as a restaurant “that time forgot”—what I was first introduced to as a “meat and three” place—that is, three sides—with rolls and butter delivered right away. Now, they’re mostly like the Colonnade, and they’re “meat and two” places (in rural areas, the coffee/iced tea is usually included). Anyway, not sure if they’re checking to see if anyone is actually reading their website when they note: “The chef adds nighlty specials which may feature kangaroo, fresh fish, or a special twist on our southern features.” (Yes, that’s the spelling.)

That’s more southern than I usually think of as “southern fare”….

* Cash or check only; no credit cards. Soooo traditional.

Summer harvest salad

Mater avocado

Found a perfect ready-to-eat avocado today. Chopped up ’maters with the avocado chunks. Added lime juice and salt. Yum!

It worked!

Rhubarb cluster early spring

Dad aka The Botanist had transplanted five rhubarb crowns up here, the deep red specimens he loved, commenting every time he picked them, “See how dark the stalks are!”

By last summer, however, the plants were looking peaked. Consultations with several people reached the same conclusion: they needed more light, fewer weeds to compete with, and a shot of nutrition.

Last fall, The Guru and I attacked all these problems. We cut down overhanging branches—more light. We removed the surrounding sod and covered the raw soil with newspapers*, weighted with rocks so they wouldn’t blow away—competition reduced (at least temporarily). And, courtesy of our friends at Spinner’s End Farm, added small shovelfuls of llama/sheep poo, designed by nature to take some years to break down—nutrition added!

So far, it looks like we’re on track for a full recovery of the rhubarb plants!

* A long-time practice of The Botanist.

Yeesh

Prezels cooling

The Buckhead Whole Foods is far more upscale than “ours.” Look, they even have a pretzel-dipping station.

Didn’t buy Heaven

Heaven pastry

If you were going to eat pastries flown in from seven* states away, wouldn’t you want them to be named Heaven?

Curiously, on their website the bakery categorizes these as “cookies” not as “pastries.” First ingredient: puff pastry!

* Estimated.

Cracker (not the ATL kind)

Holyland matzo wrapper

Ritual food behavior, judging from comparative studies, runs the gamut. As far as unleavened bread, around here, we just go with water crackers. No matzos. No hosts. Sometimes Triscuits (or Triscuit-like specimens).

Our crackers…are more sentimental than sacramental.