crisis food

You know how when things get really tough and then something breaks and you have the whole world tumbling down around you, all you want to do is eat? Well, I do. I'm totally a stress-eater, which is even worse of an idea than otherwise, because I pretty much lose my appetite and forget to eat when I'm lingering around hospitals and propping up others' wellbeing and not sleeping.

But last night, we had a lovely, hearty and sleep-inducing meal of rotisserie chicken, potato salad and mac and cheese, provided by the lovely E and her generous trip to the Publix Deli-- because she didn't have time to bake a casserole, and food is what you bring to a house with Bad Things Happening. And before that, it was midnight Steak-and-Shake with lots of fries and extra fat and salt. Does stress use up your electrolytes the way being sick does? Salt was the main reason for eating that night.

When I was living at home with my sister and my mom, crisis food was crepes with Nutella and strawberries. I've been craving it since we came home that day when Bad Things Started, and if I ever have free time again (or if I just can't handle trying to get the editing or the writing done between my two jobs), I think I'm going to plunder the fridge for some eggs and see what we can do... Strawberries aren't seasonal, but neither is crisis, and it's better to break an eating habit than to die because I forgot to eat or couldn't have the only thing I wanted.

seasonality for wk 42: second week of october

Hello my lovelies! It's been ages, I know, but I've got a series of posts about the Epcot Food and Wine Fest that we went to last weekend that should make up for it. But now, Seasonality:

It's definitely getting Fall-ish here on the List. Citruses are slipping, and berries are all but gone, except for Rowan, Juniper and Elder, which are coming on. Persimmons, Pomegranates, Figs and Dates are all in season, so it's starting to feel pretty exotic around the produce aisles. Stone fruits are still around, but they're not so common on the lists, and will probably be gone soon, so make your peach jam while you can; I'm seeing if I can manage it in the super-tight budget. Squash and Zucchini are still around, but they're more likely to be the huge monsters that happen when you can't eat them as fast as they grow, and Winter Squash is moving in-- I think I'm going to try to make pumpkin butter this year, and when we carve the halloween pumpkins, I'm making more of the pumpkin broth we made from the scraps last year, because it was awesome with sage and thyme as a soup base.

What else? Herbs are still going strong, but the tenderer ones are giving way to the hardier ones like Sage and Rosemary. Nuts are coming in, and I couldn't be happier; alot of my protein comes from them anyway. I'm keeping an eye out for Chestnuts, and I wish I had the ability to grow the seeds here, so that I could have them all the time (in fall) for free. Meats are almost all in season now, and the hunting seasons are all on; I should see if there's somewhere around here where I can get rabbit or venison or something exotic to the city like that. Tomatoes are moving down the list, but will likely stay available here in Florida until, like, Christmas. Yay mild winters! Boo continued oppressive heat!

seasonality for wk36: first week of september

New:Cranberries!, Pears for sure now, Partridge, Turkey, Celeriac is back, Pumpkins and Quince are coming in, Rutabegas, Elderberries, Juniper Berries, Durians, Endive, Acorn Squash, Diakon, Ginger, Huckelberries are on more than just the one list now, Kumquats (even though I think they've been in people's yards here for a few weeks), Persimmons, Pomegranates!, Jujubes, Guajes (the pods of a leguminous tree), Soybeans and Edamame, Lemongrass, Spiny Lobster, Broccoli Raab, Escarole

Out:

Nectarines are sliding off a few of the lists, Sharlyn Melons, Chioggia Beets, Shallots, Samphire, Watermelon except here in the far south, Dab, Longans, Key Lime (and I didn't even make one pie), Ackee, Cherries, Whitecurrants, Elderflowers

All and all, it's starting to look like fall, but the list is still growing more than it's losing.

My 100th Post!

And what am I going to do to commemorate it? I'm going to tell you about our Ethnic Market haul.

At the Indian Market:

- Rose water

- Ribena

- Rose petal spread

- Smarties

- Bueno Bar

Total: 14.50

At the Asian Market:

- Six different Mi Goreng meals

- A box of oolong

- Soba noodles

- A bakery-fresh bean bun

- A bakery-fresh pork bun

- A bakery-fresh purple yam bun

- Two different kinds of aloe drink

- Young coconut juice

- Roasted coconut juice

- A huge tub of miso

Total: 20$

Excellent.

And we ate at India's Restaurant, and tonight we're eating home-made beuff bourgignon, and I'll have posts of those excellent meals later. Now, I'm exhausted and I need a nap.

Happy 100th Post!

loaded yellow rice

Start by boiling a whole chicken, then use that broth to cook the rice-- adding chopped tomatoes, onion, peppers, garlic, a can of drained corn and a can of drained black beans. When it's ready, sred up the chicken you made and mix that in with about a cup of shredded cheddar and pepper to taste.

Delicious!

tandoori chicken

We had these packs of tandoori sauce mix that H had picked up at the Indian market, and we were low on foods, so he decided to make them. I slivered the chicken-- a few boneless breasts-- and he marinated them in the mix, lemon and lime juice and some cider vinegar (because we didn't have as much juice as the recipe called for), and sour cream (because we didn't have the plain yogurt the recipe called for). An hour or so later, he made little tandoors out of tin foil, and baked the chicken in the packets. Then he steamed edamame, and made rice with a bullion cube, black pepper and cilantro, and we ate it all together.

It was delicious. Spicy, but not too hot to eat, filling in small amounts, and good for us.

experiments: home-made rose tea

I've randomly found a good spot that my rose plant likes, and it's been putting out one or two roses all summer. Not quite the profusion our friends E and D around the corner have with their roses, but enough for me, who wants them, but has never been able to grow them. So this most recent round, I let them bloom, then when they started looking too-open, I clipped the rose, pulled off the petals, and layered them in a jar with China Black tea that I'd bought in bulk a while ago.

The first infusion seems to have been a success; when I added the second-rose's worth of petals, i dumped the whole thing into a bowl and all teh petals were dried and curled, not gross, which I'd almost feared they would be. I treated the old flowers like tea leaves and re-layed the tea in the jar. I figured I'll do this a few more times, let it mellow a bit, and then see how well it worked.

I'll keep you updated!

spagetti and meatballs!

Classic, all the way.

H made the sauce, and I made the meatballs, and then we had a lovely get-together. The sauce was a crock-pot deal: the night before, H sauteed onions, garlic, minced celery and carrots, and minced mushrooms, and then food-processored them for ultra-fineness and dropped them in the crockpot. Then it was a few cans of dixed tomatoes, at least one of which was fire-roasted, some more garlic, a little red pepper, salt, pepper, and the dry herbs-- basil, oregano and chili powder. Then it was hours of taunting me because the kitchen is next to my room. The next day, sometime before dinner, he got fresh basil and rosemary from the yard and threw them in, and adjusted the seasoning.

Meanwhile, about three hours before dinner, I made the meatballs, much the way I make them for Swedish Meatballs, like so: The meat, about two pounds, went into the bowl, while a cup of Italian breadcrumbs soaked in about as much milk, and I sauteed minced onions and garlic-- then both go in with the milk, an egg, salt, pepper, basil and oregano, and get all mushed together by hand until they're blended evenly. I made the meatballs pretty big and out them on a cookie sheet and left them in the fridge to firm up ( I think the milky breadcrumbs AND the egg were too moist, but they turned out fine after I let them sit ). Preheated the oven to 350, then baked the meatballs until they were done through, and dropped them into the sauce to mingle while the noodles and garlic bread cooked.

Then there was much nomming. Om nom nom all over the place.

The meatballs were done that day, but the sauce lasted for three days as leftovers, and was great as a dipping sauce for the leftover bread. Plus, we jarred some to use later. Brilliant!

Taco Night!

We are big fans of Taco Night. Every few months, we get that urge to get together a bunch of people and a bunch of food, and make ourselves fat with much noshing. This time, we had the following: picadillo-seasoned beef, refried beans, yellow rice, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, lime wedges, sour cream, guacamole, freah home-made salsa, taco sauce, Tobasco chipotle sauce, cheese, onions, green olives, soft flour tortillas, hard corn tortillas, and nacho cheese sauce. Lookit this spread.

This was taco #1 and 2: beef, rice, sour cream, guac, cheese, salsa and olives. After that, it became sort of a blur of refilling my plate. I think I had another soft taco, and then abandoned the shells and just ate piles of filling with a fork like a delicious salad.

Toward the end of the feeding frenzy, H started making Tiny Taco Salads, which I love and wanted to make, too, but I'd burned the roof of my mouth earlier that day, and it made it hard to eat crunchy things, so I just took pictures of his, instead. Mmmmm, taco variations.

Most of the stuff was store-bought, which is fine for Taco Night, because you're building your own food from the pieces provided. We cooked the meat at home, of course, and A thinned the sour cream with some milk so that it was easier to glop onto a taco and closer to how it is at Chipotle's. We'll probably thin it more next time. I'd like to add chicken to the meat selection, and H wants to make carnitas for next time. We talked about having thinly sliced cabbage instead of lettuce, and going for more of a baja feel next time, which I'm all for.

seasonality list for wk33, aug 9 to 15

The lists are starting to drift into Fall produce. New Potatoes are out on all lists except one. Lots of tropical fruits are ready for eating-- and alot of them are ones I've never seen in person, but I'm totally going to keep an eye out for at the farmer's market!

New: Brill, Pilchard, Goose, Longan, Summer Savory, Tamarillo, Daikon, Choko, Fairy Ring Champignon Mushroom, Soybeans, Mustard Greens, Local Honey, Buddha's Hand Citrus, Burdock Root, Cactus Pads (which have probably been in for a while, but are new to the list), Cardoon, Key Lime, Lavendar, Ackee, Guinep, Breadfruit, June Plum, Soursop.

It's starting to get really loooonnnng. And I've found so many new lists to consult for the Master List that I need to go back and fill in the old weeklies to show what new info I've found before I finalize the lists for the book. It's getting pretty awesome.

Choko = Chayote

Fairy Ring Champignon =

Buddha's Hand Citrus =

Burdock Root =

Cardoon =

Ackee =

Guinep =

Breadfruit =

June Plum =

Soursop =