Using Up Crudites

We hosted a graduation party over the weekend, and I ended up with a gallon bag full of cut up broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and celery. I'm not a real big raw veggie eater, but I also didn't want them to go to waste.

What I've done in the past, is cook them up in a big pot of broth, then mash the veggies real good. I'd portion that in maybe 6 cup sizes and freeze it. That would be a base for future cream soups. To serve, heat it on the stove, then add cream and cheese at the very end. You can also add a little cornstarch mixed with water (before adding the cream). Heat until thickened, then add the cream and cheese.

Anyway, this time I didn't feel like doing the big soup thing. For supper last night, I cut up a bunch of the carrots and celery (I shouldn have added an onion, but didn't feel like it) and cooked them in coconut oil. Then, I added not quite a cup of chicken broth, about a teaspoon of cajun seasoning and a teaspoon of oregano. I let that cook covered until the veggies were soft, then I added some cut up turkey and ham, also leftover from the weekend. I served it in bowls over rice. It was pretty good, but maybe a little too salty from the ham. I think that overpowered the other spices. Next time I wouldn't add as much ham.

I cut up the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots into smaller pieces and put them in a quart jar. I added a little brine from a jar of cortido. I made some more brine using about 2 cups of water and enough salt so that it's too salty to be pleasant, but not so salty that it's disgusting. I'm going to let that sit on the counter for a few days to and see how it ferments.

I still have some carrots and celery left in the refrigerator. I plan on cutting them up, along with an onion, and cooking them in coconut oil. I'll freeze them in a couple portions (or possibly in ice cube trays) to add to future soups.

A Couple More Brett Things

Shortly after my last post, Grace decided that she wanted to wear her Favre jersey. Madeline told her that he was going to play with the purple team. So, Grace started shaking her head and saying, "This is not good. This is not good." Then, she put on her green #4 shirt and a pair of purple pants.

Last night, I saw on the news a poll that said only 28% of Vikings fans wanted them to sign Favre. I guess they're getting as tired of him as I am (I still love Deanna, though).

Brett, Brett, Brett

You have to understand that I love the Packers. I have no memory of the good years in the 60's, and there were many, many lean years during my impressionable youth. But I watched them. If there was one place where I fit in with the rest of my family, it was as a Packer fan. There were even a few years where my career goal was to be a statistician for the Packers, so I could be on the sidelines. Yes, I'm a dork.

When the Packers got Reggie White and Brett Favre and actually started winning some games, it was huge. And fun. Watching Brett Favre was like watching a little kid who was really, really good (but when he was bad, he was horrid). And he was ours!

And then there was the debacle with his unretirement last year. I struggled, but I decided that the reason he was being such a jerk was because he wanted the fans to support Aaron Rodgers. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it) It would be so much easier for the fans to forget about Brett if he was being a nincompoop. (Sorry, schmuck or stinker were my next best thesaurus choices) And it worked. Fans and TV announcers were bending over backwards to champion Rodgers.

But, alas, my erstwhile sports hero must have decided that there were a few remaining fans he needed to alienate. He wants to be a Viking. Yeah, that should turn any remaining Favre fans into Rodgers fans.

I just read a column that postulated that Favre is mainly looking forward to the Vikings/Packers game at Lambeau and the great reception he'll receive from his fans. Well, I guess that's a possibility, too.

Good luck with that one, Brett.

A Mean Green Bean Making Machine

Actually, I didn't make green beans. I made great northern beans, pinto beans and black beans. I think I have my bean making system down.

Usually in the late afternoon (probably after I get home from purchasing the beans), I'll start soaking my beans. I rinse and sort them, and then put them in my nice bowl with a handle and a spout. I use the hottest water I can get. In an hour or two, they've usually used up most of their water, so I drain and rinse them and fill with more hot water. Probably before bed I'll rinse and refill one more time. In the morning, I'll rinse and refill, and do that a couple more times during the day.

When I'm done with cleaning up after supper, I'll put them in the crockpot overnight. I rinse out the bowl and start with soaking a new batch of beans. Then I repeat the process.

I ended up with 10 cups of each type of bean, stored in 2 cup portions in the freezer. These should last me a few months.

For the few days that I'm in the middle of the process, I keep my metal colander upside down on top of the bowl. It just fits. It kind of make it looks like the bowl is an alien.

I base my bean cooking method on these recommendations.

Two Things I Googled

At lunch today, we were discussing how olives are pitted. Madeline was telling Henry that they go through a machine, and she said that Mr. Rogers probably made a video about it once. That made me a little nostalgic for Mr. Rogers' factory tours. "How People Make _______" I checked to see if there are any DVD's out there with just the factory stuff. I'd love something like that. I only scanned a couple pages of hits, and I didn't see any factory DVD compilation. This PBS site does have a few of them, though.

Last night, Dave & I were having a discussion about how to get Madeline interested in reading better books. He suggested that she might like some of the books that are referenced in A Series of Unfortunate Events. So, Madeline, here's your summer reading list. :) Actually, I probably better okay your choices from that list. I only briefly scanned it, but it has a ton of information on the literary and historical allusions in the series.

Gardening

I really want to be a gardener. Or, I want to think of myself as a gardener. I'm usually enthusiastic in May and June, but by July and August I really don't have the energy or temperament to tend to my garden very much. It's over in the back yard, watering is a pain, who feels like weeding when it's so hot, etc.

Dave had an idea yesterday that I'm pretty excited about. We have a spruce tree in front of our kitchen window on the west side of the house. We really should cut it down because a power line runs through it's branches. We've held off on that, because the shade is nice in summer. For the last few weeks, however, we're finding ourselves more and more annoyed with that tree. It's so messy, it obstructs the view of our sunsets, etc. So, I really think we'll cut it down this year. We'll probably wait until fall, though, because there are a ton of bird nests in that tree.

We'd been talking about having a covered swing in that area, or a gazebo. Yesterday, Dave suggested a garden. For my self-diagnosed ADD, that would be perfect. It would make a huge difference in my mindset if I was able to just go right outside to to the gardening work. And the water would be right there, too. I hope we'll be able to get the stump removed, and the soil will be okay.

We've been reorganizing for fresh starts in most of our rooms in the house. I really like the idea of a fresh start in the garden, too.

Strange 80's TV

Last night after the kids went to bed, we were flipping through channels. We don't have cable, so there isn't much to choose from. It was also windy last night, so we weren't getting reception from many stations. Since we switched to digital, we have been getting a retro station that our local ABC station sponsors. That was coming in clearly.

The A-Team was on, which I've never watched. Here's the thing, when we turned it on there were about 20 minutes left of the show. The setting was a cowboy bar and Boy George and Culture Club were singing. I couldn't tear myself away. It was like being at the scene of an accident, or something. Then, Boy George was helping the team catch the bad guys. He had to help one of the members pick out a dress to wear to disguise himself as a pregnant woman to help get the other team members get out of jail. Then, there was this memorable line, "Hurry, we have to go help Boy George at the sheriff's office." The show ended with the band singing Karma Chameleon to the cowboys and the A-Team. They were all, including Mr. T, grooving to it.

That has to be one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen on TV.