The Locavore’s Dilemma. One woman’s struggle to use up the abundance of vegetables in her CSA that she doesn’t particularly like. I’ll be interested to see what sort of stuff we get in the winter. So far there have only been a few things that have been problematic for us: curly endive, silverbeet, celery, and oranges. (Yes, oranges. They really pile up if you don’t eat them regularly, and juicing by hand is a pain.) Some people get really freaked out when I tell them about our veggie box and that we don’t usually get to choose what’s in it. I guess we tend to think of it as a fun challenge, and it’s a good excuse to try out recipes you might not have otherwise. (Link courtesy of Mary-Helen.)
Month: April 2009 (page 7 of 9)
Fun discovery! One of Michael Stipe’s friends is a knitter, and he regularly models her stuff for her Ravelry notebook.
I think I just saw God in a Snuggie.
Argh! What was I thinking, baking cookies? I should’ve made Yoko’s Cool and Sweet Dessert. There aren’t many recipes that include the line: “Make sure to chant an affirmation that this sweet desert will bring peace and love to the lives of all who eat it.”
Autumn Yumminess
Man, there has been a distinct chill in the air these last couple evenings! Tonight as I was heading out of work in the dark – we finally had Daylight Savings – I found myself thinking of warm, sustaining comfort food. We still had loads of veg from the box on the weekend. I got home and set to work making pumpkin, potato, and leek soup. While that was simmering on the stove, I decided that we needed some sort of treat to go along with it. A quick check of the pantry revealed several partial containers of honey that needed to be used up. Honey nut cookies!
The cookies turned out great. I subbed in walnuts for the cashews since that’s what I had to hand. I was worried at the shininess and wetness of the dough, but they didn’t spread too much in the oven. The soup was hearty and filling, if not exactly complicated in terms of flavour. (It’s basically onion, potato, and pumpkin simmered in milk for 45 minutes, then blended before adding fried leek and boiled white rice.) It’s very cheap though, and we’ve got plenty left over for lunch.
The second photo there is of the Chocolate and Beetroot Cake that the Snook made on Saturday. As Rachel guessed, it was pretty earthy. However, it was still really good. I’m not the hugest fan of beetroot – I tend to think it tastes like dirt – but it was very well masked by the cocoa in the cake. It turned out dense and moist, and if you didn’t know that it had beets in it I doubt you’d guess. Parents – this is a good one to trick your kids into eating vegetables!
Some nice discussion in defense of musicals over at AskMetafilter. I always have to bookmark these things because every few years the Snook declares he hates all musicals, and I have to point out that that’s a silly thing to say.
Happy birthday to my gorgeous niece Indie, who turned 1-year-old over the weekend. My sister has just posted photos of the party. She made an amazing three-tiered birthday cake complete with a fondant Indie and a marzipan Buster.
Impossible dilemma. Which movie is “most 90’s-est”: Clerks or Clueless? As the Snook pointed out this morning, Clerks is more representative of MOVIES from the 90’s, but Clueless is more representative of the CULTURE. I really can’t decide. (It’s a shame that this isn’t the Final match-up, because both of these films are way more 90’s than stupid Wayne’s World or Scream.)
or TrainingBlog? …because it’s not so much just about running anymore, is it? I had a really interesting week. Monday was the power outage, which kinda killed my plans to go to Spudds. Instead I told myself that I’d go Tuesday. But Tuesday came and I felt crappy, and I whined to the Snook that between the rainy weather and my headache, I just wanted to go home. He wouldn’t let me. He told me over and over again that I’d feel better after some exercise. Reluctantly I went. It wasn’t a great session; my only goal was just to grit it out. Afterwards I felt emotionally wrung out and exhausted. I think it did do me good though, because the very next day I headed in for our lunchtime session full of excitement and pep. Venks and Omid came along for the first time, and I think having newbies there forced me to realise how far I’ve come. I’m so much fitter than I was three months ago! I can keep up with the workout without feeling like I’m going to pass out. I actually managed to hold the plank position for a full minute, which is unheard of for me. (My core is obviously getting a lot stronger.) Spudds also challenged me to get 100m in 20s on the rowing machine, which he said was a challenging target for a girl. And I did it! I was really proud of that. And then Friday I went for a short run around the Domain at lunchtime. I’m really starting to notice how much an effect these workouts have on my sleeping patterns and mood. Fit Kris is strong and happy Kris.
Veggies for Victory
“The Obamas’ vegie patch…is alarming conservatives.” See? That’s why I want to keep my veggie patch, despite the Snook’s protests. (To be fair, my total yield this year was next to nothing.) Still, I feel trying to grow my own food is at least a little bit subversive and political. In related news, we’ve started up the weekly veggie box again after a bit of a break. They’ve moved pickup to Saturday mornings at the Farmer’s Market at the Chippo Peace Park, which works out fantastic for us. It gives us a bit more time to work out what we’re doing with it, and a chance to go to the shops to get any necessary ingredients. Plus the new organiser, Daria, lets us pick out just what we want! Today we got LOADS, well worth the $25 we spent! (Pumpkin, zucchini, beetroot, leeks, capsicum, beans, potatoes, onion, and fennel.) We’ve already had beetroot risotto, and a chocolate and beetroot cake is cooling in the kitchen as we speak…