He's too much. Ba dum pum pum.

BONUS Recipe: Brown Rice Tabbuleh

2 cups of brown rice, cooled, mixed with 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, fresh diced mint (about a tsp) minced garlic (tsp+), salt & fresh ground black pepper.

Cover it and let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours, then add diced tomatoes, cucmbers, black olives and about a cup of fresh diced parsley.

It's pretty amazing!

Happy 4th of July!

Jakob Philipp Hackert,
Fireworks over Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome (1775)

#80: Breakfast at King's Landing

This is the first time I made steel cut oats.  

There's really no comparison between these and instant oatmeal.

Steel cut oats are FAR superior.

Bonus Recipe: Kale Salad

From the "what the heck am I going to do with all this stuff from the garden" files.

I had Kale, Chard and some other savory greens.  After rinsing the greens thoroughly, I removed the stems and stalks from each leaf, and then diced everything.  I added some red cabbage, also diced, for color and texture. 

What I have now is the base for kale salad.  Right before serving, I will add a mix of fruits, nuts, seeds, plus decide on dressing.  I suggest citrus based (mandarin orage?), or poppy seed, or a fruit vinaigrette for kale salad. Making the base and having it on hand makes it so much easier to grab it and go!

#79 Traditional Fingerfish

It's like Fish -AND- Chips in One!

I used smelt for this recipe. They are tiny and inexpensive, and a pound will go a long way for several meals. (A breakfast, a lunch/dinner, and a snack)

These are pretty good, if you are not bothered by eating a whole fish.  

House Cocktail: Salmon Vodka Bloody Mary

There are some spirits you keep in the house because you savor their flavors.

There are others you have so you can dare people to try it.  Smoked salmon vodka served the latter purposed for me in the year since I first picked it up.

Straight, on the rocks, or in a martini.. it's a little much.

In a bloody mary?  PERFECT!

1 shot vodka (Salmon or otherwise)

3 olives

celery stalk

Tbsp of Sriracha.  (Keep your sissy tabasco)

Salt & Pepper

Squeeze a lemon wedge into it

Top off with tomato juice.

Serve straight up or on the rocks.

Shallots!

Speaking of bountiful gardens,

What the heck am I going to do with all these shallots?

I've got three bundles of a few dozen shallots each.  

Shallot pie?  Hmmm too hot in summer to bake...

I will think of something...

#78 Medieval Honey Biscuits

I used my cookie cutters for these.  Was not disappointed! 

Bonus Recipe: Green Beans and Garlic

I'm a fan of the fresh green bean... and so I am inspired to put forth another entry into my 

upcoming best selling cookbook*

Wilt that bitch!

Today, I have a few garlic bulbs from a friend's garden, so I minced about 5 cloves and sauteed lightly in olive oil.  Yes, 5 cloves. That's not a typo.

Then I cut off the ends of the green beans and put them in the plan on top of the garlic.

Let it cool, stir to coat beans in olive oil. Let the garlic toast nicely but keep the heat moderate so as not to blacken it.

VOILA!

* No. Not really.

#71 (Revisited) Medieval Cold Fruit Soup

So I tried this again, and avoiding crossing the streams with any other recipe.  Still, I'm not too impressed with this one. I guess at some level I have expectations that this will be like applesauce, but it isn't.  I think I need to go find an applesauce recipe.

It's not bad. It's not something I am inclined to make again though.

Greenery

Sometimes, you just need to dump the crisper drawers out and see what your raw materials are...

Good night, Armageddon

Last night I had the privilege to help a sweet companion and friend of 23 years transition out of this life and onto whatever it is the energy of the spirit transitions to when we die.

My favorite picture of Armageddon, circa 1996

I journeyed 23 years with this little girl, and I am grieving her passing, mourning my loss, and celebrating that I got to help create a good life for another creature.  It's all we can do, really.

Namaste.

Painting: 'Sup

Acrylic on 8x10 Canvas Board.

A gift for Brian Rassmussen, who rehabilitates wild owls and raptors.

#77 Medieval Pease Porridge

I sought far and wide, high and low for yellow split peas,

but they were nowhere to be found.  If I ever do find some, I will remake this...

But as it turns out, this is really tasty with green split peas.

I never imagined I would be such a fan of pease porridge.  And yes, it is good hot or cold!

Hollyhocks

My dear and departed friend Albert once took it upon himself to strew hollyhock seeds far and wide in the barren yard of my first house. He knew I like low maintenance flora, and hollyhocks grow well in the high desert without much assistance.  I collected the seeds from those plants before I sold that house... and held onto them before settling in this place.

As I start to think about my next transition, which will likely be out of NM, one of the things on my to-do list is to harvest seeds from these plants, to keep a living memory of Albert close at hand and at heart. 

Namaste.

#76 Honey Sweetened Wine

This was a very pleasing beverage!

Show me bad wine and I'll show you a good mixer.

Happy Father's Day!

The sculptors of Mathura developed ideals of beauty that influenced all later Indian sculptors. Texts describe the perfect man, who is beautifully proportioned. The parts of his body are like forms found in nature, and his eyes are like lotus flowers. Sculptors conceived of the body of the perfect man as being smoothly rounded; even images of gods who perform miraculous feats of strength have no visible muscles. In Buddhist art of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, the Buddha, the enlightened prince who had imparted the truths he had discovered to a group of disciples several centuries earlier, was not depicted. Sculptors suggested his presence by devices such as footprints. Buddhist monks or lay people had to imagine him. From the 1st through the 5th century AD, sculptors at Mathura were laying the foundations for much Indian religious art, using the easily identified mottled red sandstone as a medium. They made images not only for Buddhists, but also for Hindus and Jains. Although no trait remains that can prove the identification, this head could have come from a stele depicting the seated Buddha with right hand raised in a gesture of salutation (what was later called the "fear not" gesture), and may have lost its topknot and the reserve of stone attaching it to a backslab.

Walters Art Museum
 via Wikimedia Commons

#75 Modern Lemonsweet with Vanilla

 We've had this discussion before, haven't we?  Don't skimp on your vanilla beans.  Just don't.

I used about 7 lemons for this recipe.  In hindsight, it could have used a touch more sweet. The vanilla added a nice accent, though!  I can neither confirm nor deny that this also makes a fine mixer for vodka*.

* Ok, fine, I can confirm it. Mix with vodka and serve in a martini glass. You may also wish to use your shaker to chill it thoroughly!

BONUS Recipe: Sweet Potato Plantain Hash Brown Mole!

I love making this.  

1 sweet potato

1 plantain

1 tbsp of cocoa

2 tsp red chile powder

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp garlic powder

salt and pepper

butter

olive oil

So here's what you do:  shred that peeled sweet potato.  And ... this is key... SQUEEZE it in handfuls to remove the juice as best you can.  One handful at a time until you've SQUEEZED it all out.  Or, you can leave it out overnight to dry.  I never do that though.

Oil in your cast iron fry pan - enough to cover the bottom, then add your sweet potato, chile powder, garlic, salt and pepper.  Let it cook until browned, stir it up so the uncooked parts can brown.. continue until cooked.  About 15 minutes or more...

Then add your diced or shredded plantain, more oil (the potato just soaks it up), and the cocoa.  mix well and let it all cook together.

It's amazingly good.

Serve with bacon.

Hummingbird

(yam)

#74 Modern Cold Fruit Soup

As with all fruit recipes, this requires fruit at the peak of ripeness.  It's kinda neat, like a cantaloupe smoothie with a hint of basil and lemon.

Bonus Recipe: Pork Chops

Pork chops are quick and easy!  

Get two pie pans.  In one, scramble an egg.  

In the other, mix 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs with 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.

Coat each chop in egg then cover with the breadcrumb mixture.

Fry it up!!

Don't flip them over until you see blood start to rise to the top through the breadcrumb mixture.

Laundry Detergent

I couldn't find Arm & Hammer on this last grocery run, but Biz
detergent booster works just as well.

I make my own laundry soap.  I have for years.  It's one of the many wonderful things I can do with Mah Bucket!  I've been doing this for a few years now, and I wouldn't dream of going back to store bought.

You will need: A 5 gallon bucket (with lid to keep critters & kiddos out) Borax 1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda 1 cup A bar of soap, grated 3 gallons of water.


I've been "splurging" and buying distilled water for this, but even so, I get laundry detergent at about 1.50 per gallon. My last batch I used soaps from a recent hotel stay.

 Shred the soap - I have a dedicated cheese grater for this. Dissolve it in about a quart of the water. You'll need to heat it on the stove but keep heat low - do not let it boil.

    Mix borax and washing soda powder. Crush out any clumps with a fork. Add a little water to it so moisten the mix. Let it sit a minute.

    Put all the water you have not used in steps 1 and 2 into the bucket.

    Add the wet borax/washing soda mix. Stir.

    Add the dissolved bar soap mix. Stir.

Cover and let set overnight. The next day, you will have a wonderful, goopy, slimy mess. I like to use a funnel to put the soap into the gallon containers from the water I used. I get my 4 year old to help me with this part because he loves it. You can also leave it in the bucket and use it straight from there (messy but no reason not to) or pick up dedicated Tupperware pitchers from a thrift store.

Put about 1/8 cup into each load of laundry, and Voila!

Please Stand By

I've been experiencing a small amount of difficulty getting my computer(s) to recognize my phone as a USB device in the last few days, but today I found a workaround.  So yay!

I need to get caught up on some posts.  In the meantime, enjoy the confirmation that

Roman peaches in honey-cumin sauce does, indeed, complement pork chops as well as I'd hoped.

#73 Modern Buttered Carrots

This recipe called for chives or scallions.  I didn't have either of those so I went for leeks.

I sure do seem to modify these recipes a bit, but hey - you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

This dish is a keeper!  YUM!

House Cocktail: Pink Martini

This is a Vodka Martini, but some people prefer gin.  Whichever you prefer, make it a high quality label!

Ingredients:

2 shots of vodka
Splash of dry vermouth
Ice Cubes
Ripe cherries*

Olive juice (from jar)

1 drop of red food coloring

Preparation:

Chill martini glasses by placing ice cubes in the glass

Pour vermouth into the glass and switch it around, coating the inside of the glass with the now-cold vermouth.  Let the glass sit.  (Ice still in it)

Add vodka and food coloring to a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. 

Shake it baby.  Shake it hard. Shake it for at least 30 seconds.

Strain into your chilled martini glass. Serve straight up (no ice in the glass).

Garnish with cherry - pierce the skin to let the flavors mingle! 

I also garnished with olives here, because I loves me some olives!

* for a Classic martini, use stuffed green olives. Large ones are best, and I prefer to use garlic or blue cheese stuffed olives.  Your mileage may vary!

#72 Quails Drowned in Butter

This is a pretty easy recipe, but I maintain that quail are really too small to serve as a meal.

But still, these were tasty, and relatively easy.

It's worth noting that the cook time suggested in the book (10 minutes)  turned out to be less than half the cook time these birds required (25 minutes)