Garlic-Scape Pesto

Garlic scapes are beautiful, they're delicious, and I don't think I'd ever tasted them before yesterday.

While searching for ways to use them, I found this recipe. I followed it almost to the letter, but I'll post what I did anyway.

Ingredients:
Garlic scapes (10), thinly sliced
Grated Parmesan (about 1/2 c.)
Slivered almonds (1/3 c.)
Olive oil (about 2/3 c.)
Salt

Using a food processor, traditional blender, Magic Bullet-type appliance, or immersible blender, blend the garlic scapes with the almonds, olive oil, and Parmesan. Add salt to taste.

Hint: Once everything is in the bowl of the processor/blender thingie, mix it up with a spoon before closing it up and blending it. I did this the third time I made the pesto, and it helped everything get blended up more quickly.

Comments:
This sounded so good that I made it three hours earlier than I intended to, just because I couldn't wait. And it is good--really, really good. It probably would be delicious on pasta, but I liked it just spread on hunks of ciabatta. I would've loved to keep it all to myself, but in the interest of preserving marital and filial harmony, I will share.

As Dorie suggested, I put some of the pesto in a mason jar and put it in our deep-freeze to save for when tomatoes are at their peak. If you do this and your jar isn't full to the brim, push plastic wrap against the surface of the pesto to keep the air off of it before you screw on the jar lid.

I covered the remaining portion closely with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to share with Steve and the kids later. If that's not love, what is?

The first time I made this, I used an immersible blender. It got really bogged down in the thick pesto. I was able to make it work, but it definitely was work. That also might've had to do with the narrow, cylindrical blending container I used. The second time I made it, I used a Magic Bullet. That worked much better than the immersible blender, but I still had to stop several times to vigorously shake the blending container so that everything would get chopped up. I think a food processor would be ideal, but alas--we have none.

I'm really hoping (though it's unlikely) that we'll get more garlic scapes in next week's CSA, because I'd love to make another batch of this to freeze.

Three-hour-later update: Steve agreed with me that this was delicious. He also said it was a good thing I had already put away the other two-thirds, or else we would've eaten all of it. Liam and Annika took one bite each and weren't interested. (Oh, bummer--Steve and I had to eat more!)

Months-later update: We loved this on open-faced ciabatta-roll sandwiches with fresh tomatoes and basil, like this:

Not the best lighting for this photo, I know.

Forgive me--I took it in a moving car with the plate sitting on my lap.

We were in the car on the way to go camping,

but that didn't stop us from enjoying a gourmet-restaurant-worthy lunch.

We've also opened up a couple containers of the frozen pesto now that the colder months are upon us. We've enjoyed the pesto on bread and also on grilled carrots, as with the carrot-green pesto.

Garlic Scapes in Tuna Melts and Salad

Today we decided to use some of our generous lettuce portion--as well as a sliced garlic scape, some chive blossoms from our own garden, and leftover blue cheese--in a salad.

Steve also added another sliced garlic scape to the tuna and mayonnaise he mixed up for our tuna melts. Then he sprinkled some dill on top of the cheese before broiling the melts. (Side note: I think the key to a good tuna melt is toasting the bread beforehand.)

The tuna melt on the top right is Liam's; he requested no dill.

The week-and-a-half-old dill is really doing well in the plastic-bag-covered glass of water! I wonder if changing the water every day is the trick.

Grilled Coconut Kale

I found many online versions of kale with coconut milk, but I was particularly intrigued by the ones that called for grilling the kale. So I was thrilled that we got to choose kale as part of our CSA share this week. (I bought coconut milk ahead of time just in case.) Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
Kale (one bunch)
Coconut milk (one 13.66-ounce can or thereabouts; please skip the lower-fat light coconut milk!!)
Lemon juice (a couple tablespoons)
Coarse salt (1/2 tablespoon or so)
Ground cayenne pepper (1/2 teaspoon or so)
Sweet paprika (1/2 teaspoon or so)

What I did: Remove the center stalk of each kale leaf and compost it. Tear the remaining greens into pieces, but try to keep the pieces pretty large. (After all, you're grilling them; you don't want them to fall through the slats.)

What you should do: Follow my advice in the comments section and grill the kale leaves whole.

In a small pot, heat the coconut milk over low until just slightly warm, stirring until it's smooth. Put into a glass dish or bowl. Add the lemon juice, salt, cayenne, and paprika. I whisked everything together to break up the paprika and cayenne. Stir in the kale until it's thoroughly coated with the marinade.

(Steve took this photo after I'd already started grilling; there was a lot more kale in the dish before.)

Cover the dish and put it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

At mealtime, place marinated kale pieces on the grill over high heat. Grill for about a minute (or slightly under), then flip the pieces and grill for another minute or so before removing.

Comments:
This was delicious. It is easily the tastiest kale I've ever eaten. We all ate every bit of our kale, and we definitely will be repeating this recipe. Steve said that he used to be an anti-kale person, but this recipe has converted him.

Next time, we'll marinate and grill the kale leaves whole, rather than tearing them into pieces; we can always cut out the stalks after grilling if need be. It was quite the process to lay out all those little kale pieces on the grill, then turn them (all the while trying to keep them from falling through), then take them off the grill, then add more kale pieces to the grill . . . It would be so much easier to just lay out a few whole leaves.

We had extra marinade after putting the kale on the grill, and it seemed too much of a waste to just throw it away. Next time, I think we could probably make 1 1/2 times as much kale with this amount of marinade. Or we could double the marinade recipe and use three bunches of kale. I'm sure we'd still eat all of it. In the meantime, we've saved the surplus and are planning to use it when we sauté the spinach we got in this week's share.

Thanks, Steve, for thinking to take photos during the grilling process!

Roasted Radishes and Radish Greens

I really like radishes, so I was happy to have them in our share this week. In the past, I've always just composted the greens and then used the radishes sliced in a salad. I thought we should try something different this time.

Ingredients:
Radishes (from 1 bunch)
Radish greens (from the same bunch)
Olive oil (a couple tablespoons)
Lemon juice (a couple tablespoons)
Coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. That's right--500. Remove stem remnants and roots from radishes and compost remnants and roots. Halve radishes. Remove stems from radish greens and compost stems. Chop greens. Put radishes and greens in a small oven-safe dish. Toss with the oil and lemon juice, and add salt and pepper to taste. Put in oven and roast for about 20 minutes, until radishes are fairly tender.

Comments:
From what I'd read about radish greens being peppery, I think I expected more spice from them. Even raw, I didn't get the peppery kick I had read about. As expected, the greens reduced in size dramatically after being cooked. I was interested in how the heat from the oven (perhaps combined with the lemon juice?) caused a good deal of the pink/purple color to leach out of the radishes.

I thought this was a decent dish, tastewise. The greens adopted the lemony flavor nicely. The radishes were less flavorful, and they didn't have any radishy bite after cooking. In this household, we typically don't repeat recipes that are just okay, and I suggested to Steve that perhaps this wasn't repeatable. He disagreed, saying he thought it was good. Liam gladly ate the greens and asked for more, so again, I handed over some of my tiny portion. I didn't want to give them up, but I'm thrilled that Liam is liking greens. He ate all his radishes only because that was required of him before he got seconds on the rest of the meal. Annika spit out the single bite of radish she attempted. She ate one bite of the greens.

If I make this recipe again, I might cut the radishes into quarters rather than halves and decrease the cooking time accordingly. I think that would allow the greens to hold up a little better, and it might help preserve more nutrients and color.

I have more radish recipes lined up for next time!

CSA, Week 2

We remembered to bring bread to feed the animals today at Pigman's. We fed the chickens--including the unintentional rooster (he was technically supposed to be a hen), the turkeys, the three sheep, and even the goose, whom we've dubbed El Diablo. He literally bites the hands that feed him, and at feeding time, he also bites the sheep who share a pen with him--and whom, at other times (according to Dean Pigman), he snuggles with quite contentedly. Liam wisely chose to toss pieces of bread to El Diablo. I actually hand-fed the terror (E.D., not Liam) and, because I didn't want to be outdone by Dean when he demonstrated this, I even let El Diablo attack my breadless hand a bit just to see what it was like. Answer? Impressively firm bite, but not sharp.

Sadly, there were no fresh eggs left by the time we showed up. Grrr. We'll have to get there sooner next time.

Here's what we got in our CSA share this week:

Asparagus
Garlic Scapes
Lettuce
Radishes
Rhubarb
Spinach
Sugar Snap Peas
Choice of Kale or Bok Choy (we chose kale, due to the intriguing grilled-kale recipe I found this week)

I've updated the vegetable-storage page to include these new veggies.

No new recipe yet today, because Steve is currently literally snoring on our kitchen floor waiting for me to be finished with this, and because we spent the evening with good friends who shared their own CSA bounty with us, leaving our own share untouched until tomorrow.

Raw Kohlrabi in Dijon Vinaigrette

I don't think I'd ever tasted kohlrabi before today.

I like kohlrabi.

I found some steamed/sautéed kohlrabi recipes that we'll probably try down the road, but I thought we'd try a no-cook method this time.

Ingredients:
Kohlrabi (I used one large-ish bulb)
Red wine vinegar (a couple tablespoons)
Dijon mustard (a tablespoon or so)
Olive oil (about twice as much oil as vinegar)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Dill or another herb (optional)

In a small glass bowl (I actually used a drinking glass), mix together the vinegar and dijon. Slowly fork-whisk in the oil until everything is well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the greens from the kohlrabi bulb and save them for another recipe. I would've done this if I had known it was an option, but I naïvely composted them instead. I'll know better next time.

Peel the kohlrabi bulb, removing the peel and the pithy outer flesh. I would highly recommend skipping the vegetable peeler; it leaves much to be desired. I ended up ditching it (after several unproductive little kohlrabi-peel shavings) in favor of a paring knife. Ahhh--much better. Compost the peelings.

Julienne the kohlrabi.

Toss with the vinaigrette, sprinkle with dill or another herb if desired, and serve.

Comments:
I am kicking myself. I keep forgetting to use the dill! We had some on our beets and beet greens, some on steak (a rare [ha!] treat in our house), and on poached eggs, but we still have a ton left. I totally could've been using it in all these recipes.

Anyway, about the kohlrabi: Steve, Liam, and I all liked it and think it was repeatable (Liam reneged on that later, but he's 4 1/2, so that's to be expected, right?). I appreciated the crunch and the slightly sweet, yet ever-so-slightly sharp flavor of the kohlrabi. And almost anything in vinegar and dijon mustard is good in my book. Annika was not so sure about the whole thing. I think she has texture issues at the moment.

Sautéed Spinach with Garlic

I went grocery shopping tonight. While I was gone, Steve fed Liam and Annika raw spinach, in addition to their other dinner fare. Liam ate his spinach; Annika wasn't so enthused. Anyway, Steve typically waits to eat his dinner until I get home; he likes it when we can eat together (very sweet). So when I got home, he had a spinach recipe and the needed components all prepared. Here's what he did:

Ingredients:
Spinach
Olive oil
Fresh-pressed garlic (couple cloves)
Coarse salt
Dill or another herb (optional)

Remove and compost the large, tough spinach stems. Put some olive oil in a skillet, and add the garlic while the skillet is still cold. Cook over medium heat until garlic is slightly brown. Add spinach and stir to coat with olive oil. Cook for about 1 minute, just until spinach is wilted. Remove spinach from hot pan immediately. Add salt to taste, and sprinkle with dill or another herb if you like (I forgot).

Comments:
This was simple and tasty.

Roasted Beets with Red Wine Vinegar

I've had beets before, but I've never cooked them before today.

I actually thought to take a picture this time!

But not until we only had a tiny bit left.


Ingredients:
Beets
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Dill or another herb (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. I didn't peel the beets, and you don't have to either. Just scrub them really well. Remove any stem remnants from the tops of your beets and compost stem remnants. You can compost the roots, too, if you like. If you're using baby beets, you can just use them whole. If you've got larger beets, you'll need to cut them into chunks. Put them in a small, oven-proof dish and coat with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Cover the dish and bake for 50 minutes or so. To test for doneness, pierce the largest beet with a knife. If the knife goes in easily, they're done. Slice them and toss with a little red wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with dill or another herb if you like.

Comments:
Annika and I really liked these. Steve thought they were pretty good. Liam said he didn't like them, but he ate every bit. Hmmmm . . . I might try using butter instead of red wine vinegar next time and see how that goes over.

Next day: I'm glad I'd already heard about the colorful digestive results of eating beets. Otherwise, I think we all would have been a bit alarmed.

Sautéed Beet Greens with Garlic and Onion

I didn't even know you could eat beet greens.

Ingredients:
Beet greens
Olive oil
Finely chopped onion (a couple tablespoons; I used dried because that's what we had on hand)
Fresh-pressed garlic (a couple cloves)
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Dill or another herb (optional)

Remove the big stems from the leaves and compost the stems. Tear the leaves into 3-inch (or so) pieces. Put a little olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion and garlic while the skillet is still cold, and cook over mediumish heat until garlic is a little brown. Add the greens and stir until they wilt and get tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with dill or another herb if you like.

Comments:
These were good. We all ate every bit on our plates, and Liam asked for seconds. I'd probably go easier on the salt next time; they were a bit on the salty side. But still yummy.

Sautéed Chard with Garlic

Darn. I still forgot to take photos. Maybe next time?

I’d never tried chard before. I was a bit nervous, because I’ve heard a lot of people say they don’t like chard. But I was still excited to give it a try, because my friend Missy and her kids really like it.

Here’s what Steve did:

Ingredients:
Chard
Olive oil
Fresh-pressed garlic (a clove or more)
Cayenne pepper
Coarse salt
Dill or another herb (optional)

Trim about an inch off of the stems and compost the ends. Separate the stems from the greens. Slice the stems thinly. Tear or chop the greens coarsely. Put a little olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic while skillet is still cold, and sauté over medium heat until slightly brown. Add cayenne and sliced chard stems and cook for 1 minute. Stir in chard greens and cook for another couple minutes until tender. Sprinkle with salt and dill or another herb if desired (I didn't remember to do so).

Comments:
This was quite good. The stems added some nice crunch, and the garlic was a tasty addition. We liked it very well; all four of us cleaned our plates. Liam asked for more, so in the interest of encouraging that sort of behavior, Steve and I relinquished some of our portions.

Mustard Greens with Bacon

Incidentally, the day of mustard greens was also the day of the U2 360 concert in Seattle, but that didn’t stop me from whipping up a batch at lunchtime before Steve and I headed north for an awesome dinner at Wasabi in Belltown (thanks for the recommendation, Justin!) and the amazing concert at Qwest Field.

I’d never tried mustard greens before, but I was intrigued by the name. I really liked the spicy flavor of the greens when they were raw. Because I have (distant) Southern roots, and because I ascribe to the well-known maxim that bacon makes anything better, I decided to do this:

Ingredients:
5 c. mustard greens
5 slices bacon (I used uncured, thick-cut), diced
2 ½ T. beef broth*
Dill or another herb (optional)

Remove and compost the thick stems. Tear greens into pieces. Cook the bacon in a large skillet until brown. At this point, you can drain off some of the grease if you have a lot, but I had almost none. Add greens and broth; stir. Cover and cook on medium for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with dill or another herb if desired (I didn't think to do this).

Comments:These were good, but I was disappointed. I missed the spicy flavor after the greens were cooked; it entirely cooked out. I’m also concerned that the long cooking time means I cooked out a lot of the nutrients. Next time, we may just sauté (covered) in a few tablespoons of broth for 5 minutes or so, then add some lemon juice, fresh-pressed garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I know my long-gone Southern forebears may not approve, but this seems a healthier option (sorry, bacon! You know I still love you), and I hope the decreased cooking time will preserve the spiciness somewhat. I may also try adding some mustard greens to salad to give it a taste boost.

*Making beef broth is super easy and cost effective with Better than Bouillon Organic Beef Base. You can make as much or as little broth as you want with almost no effort. I don’t know why I spent so many years buying comparatively pricey one-quart Tetra-Paks of broth when I could’ve saved money and packaging with these little jars that cost about $5 and yield 9.5 quarts of broth.

Grilled Asparagus

I was excited to see asparagus in our bag this week. Bathroom odors aside, it’s yummy, and Liam really likes it. Here’s what Steve did with it this time:

Ingredients:
Asparagus
Olive oil
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Dill or another herb (optional)

Trim stems and compost the ends. Put asparagus in a veggie grill pan and place on heated grill. Carefully (!) pour olive oil over asparagus, moving pan to another part of the grill during flare-ups. Grill “until it seems right” (Steve’s words; I realize they’re not very helpful). Remove from grill and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add sprigs of dill or another herb if desired.

Comments:
I trimmed an inch or two off the stalks, but these were thick asparagus, and in retrospect, perhaps I should’ve trimmed more. Or maybe we should’ve cut each stalk in half and taken the tops off the grill first, letting the thicker stalks cook longer. The lower ends of the stems were really woody. Liam struggled with them, and even I had to spit out the very ends. Helpful hints, anyone?

CSA, Week 1

Our first CSA share was like the most awesome grab-bag gift. I was so excited when we were on our way to pick up our share that I totally forgot to bring bread so Liam and Annika could feed the animals.

Due to the cold, wet spring we’ve had, this was apparently a “light” week by Pigman’s standards. That alarmed me a bit, because this supposedly light week filled our crisper to overflowing.

I got a little giddy reading the list taped to the front of the bag and peeking in. Here’s what we got:

Asparagus
Beets
Chard
Kohlrabi
Mustard greens
Spinach
Herb choice

For the herb choice, there was a separate box of herbs from which we could choose one. Our options were catnip, chamomile, cilantro, dill, oregano, parsley, or peppermint. We already have cilantro, oregano, parsley, and mint (mojito mint, but still) planted in our garden or growing in pots, and I don’t know what I’d do with catnip but no cat (ideas?). I was torn between chamomile and dill, but Steve really likes dill, so that’s what we chose. Maybe we’ll get chamomile next time, for tea?

I’m hoping we get kale soon, because I found a kale recipe that sounds amazing.

CSA, Season 1

For a few years now, I’ve been fascinated by the CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) concept. The basic premise is that people in a community contribute money (and sometimes labor) to a local farm in exchange for a portion of the harvest. If you want to get businessy, you’re essentially buying a share of the farm’s yield, which typically comes in a weekly box/bag of produce (and sometimes dairy or meat). The whole concept just had a deep, earthy appeal to me. Not to get to weird on you, but it’s like I was hungering (ha!) for more of a connection to what I ate and its origins.

Once we had undergone our northwestward migration and started settling in to the culture here, I grew even more interested in CSAs. I liked the idea of supporting local business, getting food that was amazingly fresh (as in picked within a few hours of being on our table), connecting more with our community (this idea goes deeper, but I’ll save that for another post), encouraging the idea of food production devoid of harmful pesticides and herbicides, and at least diminishing the fossil-fuel usage entailed in cross-continent/cross-ocean shipping of food. I also wanted us to up our veggie intake. We’re pretty careful and intentional about what we eat, but veggies aren’t our forte. They just seem to get lost in the shuffle a lot of the time.

Despite my growing interest in CSAs, for a long time I was unwilling to give up the control I had when picking out the specific veggies and fruit I wanted at the Co-op, where the produce was largely local anyway. I am the primary cook in our household right now, and I’m a meal-planner. If I let someone else decide for us what produce we’d have each week, how would we know what we’d be eating on a given day? But gradually my discomfort with this idea turned to intrigue, and from there to excitement at the mystery of it all. And I was also increasingly enthusiastic about the idea of eating produce that was in season and very locally grown, rather than flown in from the Southern Hemisphere because, irksome as it may be, pears just aren’t in season in the spring. This isn’t to say that we’re ready to give up our off-season Argentinian pears, but we’re moving in the right direction.

Hmmmm. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to give up those pears.

Once we’d decided to participate in a CSA, I started asking friends about our options. We are so fortunate to live in an area where there are many amazing local organic farms with CSAs. We got glowing recommendations for several different farms. But we finally decided on Pigman’s Organic Produce Patch, a tiny (6-acre) local farm. Like many of the farms we were considering, Pigman’s adds beneficial microbes and trace minerals to the soil to increase its health and consequently to increase the nutritional value and taste of the food it produces. Pigman’s is the most local option we have, and that means less fuel usage when we drive to the farm to pick up our weekly share. It also means being more deeply rooted (!) in our community (there’s that idea again). It doesn’t hurt that we have already grown fond of Jan and Dean Pigman, that we’re free to walk around the farm when we visit, that they have chickens who are providing us with multicolored eggs each week, and that we’re encouraged to bring scraps of bread so Liam and Annika can feed the chickens, lambs, and maybe the rather frightening resident goose. The Pigmans also have cows and cats that like to jump in your car (the cats, not the cows). I’d add a link to the Pigman’s website here, but there isn’t one. As they put it, “We are not E-mail people,” so a website is pretty much out of the question, at least for now.

I’ve set out a couple rules for us as we start on this CSA adventure:

1. Make use of as much as possible. I don’t want us to let our produce go bad before we can use it, and I don’t want to compost parts of the plants that we could be eating instead. This means a bit of research to find out what is edible (did you know you can eat beet greens?).

2. Stick to preparation methods that use staple ingredients. We aren’t a family that keeps a lot of food on hand; aside from standard pantry items, we basically have in our house the food we’ll eat for that week. We pick up our CSA share every Friday. I’m the primary grocery shopper in our household at this point, and I don’t do a grocery run until Tuesday. So if we chose recipes that called for items we didn’t have on hand, we’d have to wait four days before we could start eating our veggies. Meanwhile, their nutrient content would be diminishing. I’m sure sometimes I’ll just incorporate what we get into a recipe I already have planned. And maybe—just maybe—once in a while I’ll come across an unusual recipe that sounds too good to pass up, and I’ll make a special grocery run.

As I was talking with my mom about how we’ve embarked on this new journey, she suggested that I blog about it. Good idea, Mom! At the very least, blogging about this will get me writing on a more regular basis again, and it’ll give me a place to record recipes in case any of them prove repeatable. And who knows? Maybe the posts will be helpful to some of you, and maybe you’ll be kind enough to suggest other ways we can enjoy the bounty Pigman’s will provide these next months.

Every week, I’ll post a list of the items we received in our CSA bag that week. And then as we eat each item, I’ll add an entry detailing how we prepared it and how it tasted. I may even post photos if I think of it.

I’ve been researching how to store all these veggies, so I’m including a page that has an alphabetical list of veggies and how they should be stored (look up at the top of the page, beneath WendyKate). I’ll add to it as the weeks go by.

We also plan to buy a share of a cow this year, but I’ll say more about that in another post, once we’ve actually put our money where our mouth is. :)

"Vacations are when you stop being in a hurry to go to work and start being in a hurry to go someplace else."

- Perry L. Crandall, in Lottery, by Patricia Wood

Steve: "My memory is awesome for things I happen to remember."

License-plate frame: "I work to support my horse's lifestyle."

Wendy (to Steve): "You really like to learn, but you don't like to do research like I do."

Steve: "Research is dumb. It's for people who don't know. I just know."

. . . in bed.

Steve, Liam, and I (and the baby, obviously) went to an Asian restaurant the other night. If you're familiar with the "in bed" fortune-cookie game, you'll appreciate these:

"Soon, you will receive pleasant news."

"The most direct approach isn't always the best. Use diplomacy."

And now, for the absolute best one I've ever seen:

"Travelling to the south will bring you unexpected happiness."

Right now, as I prepare breakfast, I have come to the realization that I am indeed barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.

Lost?

I'm thinking of developing a new Web site, maps.steve.com. It will be an extremely accurate site for finding directions from wherever you are to anywhere else in the world, including Kathmandu.

Unlike the well known Google Maps, Stevegle Maps will not provide satellite imagery, because it will not be based on actual photos or mathematical surveying of areas.

Instead, Stevegle Maps will be based entirely on Steve's uncanny ability to find his way to specific locations (including picnic benches) in cities where he's never been before.

Looking for a Singaporean restaurant in suburban Knoxville, TN? No problem! Consult Stevegle Maps! Steve will just "have this feeling" that the restaurant is 5.43 miles northeast of your current location (which he will divine without you having to tell him). And he'll just "get the impression" that to get there, you should turn right at the next street, and two blocks down there "should" be a road running diagonally across said street. This road will lead you over train tracks (which he "just knows" are there). You could keep going on this road, but Steve is "pretty sure" that there will be construction and potholes and roadkill to avoid. So he'll direct you to park your car next to the train tracks and follow a wild-boar path through the woods. This path will lead right to the front door of your destination. Steve may even be able to tell you what specials the restaurant is offering that night. Wild boar, perhaps.

I sense that perhaps a Faustian deal was struck in order for him to receive this supernatural gift.

Dentists

I've always wondered why it seems like there are so few female dentists. I have speculated that perhaps it's one of those professions that is still dominated by men due to stereotypes (the whole men-are-dentists-and-women-are-hygienists thing). Of course, this possibility has always rather ticked me off.

But yesterday, as my [male] dentist was leaning way over my face to apply sealant to two of my back molars, I realized the true reason DDS is primarily a male title. And that reason is breasts. In the dental world, they're an occupational hazard. Seriously. If my dentist had been a woman, her breasts would've been resting against my face--even if they were moderate-sized breasts. Perhaps there's some sort of chest-size limitation placed on dental-school applicants, and most women are over the limit.

I know what you're thinking: But hygienists work on your teeth too, and they're almost always women. And some of the hygienists who've cleaned my teeth in the past could perhaps even be described as buxom.

Yes, this may be the case. But hygienists, even when cleaning your back teeth, do not have to contort their bodies in the same ways--or insert as many instruments into your mouth at once--as dentists do. And the task of cleaning someone's teeth, while requiring delicacy, precision, and thoroughness (and sometimes involving sharp implements), does not carry the same mandate of perfection--and the same potential for causing significant pain and blood loss--as the task of drilling into someone's root canal or injecting copious amounts of Novocain into someone's jaw does.

While many female hygienists have had to hunch over me in the past, their bodies within millimeters of my shoulder, not one of them has ever bumped me in the face with her chest. And that's exactly what my dentist (did I mention that he's male? and breastless?) did to me yesterday.

In talking to a few women the other night, it occurred to me that I don't think I've seen/heard a single thunderstorm since we moved to Olympia. We've been here almost a year, and I haven't seen a single flash of lightning. Apparently, thunderstorms just don't happen here. Strange.

Why I love living in Washington

Bitter cold to grip NW for several days
10:59 AM PST on Sunday, December 14, 2008
By KING5.com Staff and Associated Press

(excerpts)

SEATTLE - A blanket of snow and ice covering much of Western Washington is making getting around a challenge - and it could last for several days before the region warms up again.

The National Weather Service says it will likely be the most prolonged streak of sub-freezing weather since December of 1990.

"Expect that when you walk outside it's going to be freezing," KING 5 Meteorologist Chris Warren said "What might end up making this unusual is that we don’t pull out of it very quickly."

The cold air mass is expected to sit over the region for the rest of the week with most all of Western Washington remaining near or below freezing even during the daytime.
The cold stretch could exceed a six-day span of cold that occurred at SeaTac in December of 1990.

*Gasp*

Subfreezing temperatures for six whole days?! What will we do in the "bitter" cold?

If only I were back in the toasty Midwest.

Wait . . .

So, I've really gotten back into for-real cooking recently. Why? I guess realized that I have the time now that Liam is a bit older and napping more predictably, and I really do enjoy the process--and the product, of course. Still, it is nice not to have to be putting dinner together just when Liam is waking up from his nap. So I was stoked to come across this awesome blog:

A Year of CrockPotting
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

The woman who created the blog made a New Year's resolution at the start of 2008 to use her Crock-Pot every day of this year. And she has posted all of her recipes on the blog, along with her notes and witty side comments. I especially like that her recipes aren't all of the beef-stew variety. Sure, I love beef stew, but it's nice to see that you can get a lot of variety out of a slow cooker!

Well, I'm a convert: I now love Fall. I hated it in Illinois (please don't send death threats), but it's beautiful here in the Northwest! What got to me in Illinois was the knowledge that despite the beautiful colors, Fall meant all the trees would be bare for the next seven months. (Remember, I didn't grow up with deciduous trees, so this was a terrible shock to me.) But here in Washington, the October hillsides are an amazing tapestry of yellows, oranges, reds, and--get this--deep greens. The hearty helping of evergreens will help get me through the colder (and, in the case of Olympia, rainier) months to come. Huh. I just thought about how fitting the name Mount Rainier is for a place like this (if you discount the gorgeous summer months). Coincidental, though--the volcano was actually named for Admiral Something-or-Other Rainier.

This autumn I have discovered another interesting fact about Washington: apple trees are everywhere. I don't mean that this is the U.S. capital of apple production (which it is); I mean apple trees are common yard decoration. It seems like every third house has at the very least one tree heavily laden with fruit.

Speaking of fruit, we have a cherry tree in the backyard, but we didn't get to sample any cherries this summer--the raccoons got to them first. (They did the same with the grapevines on the deck.)

Summer also brought me a revelation about blackberry bushes: they're actually a nuisance plant here. They billow over everything, drowning all plants in their path. I think blackberry thorns were responsible for flattening one of the tires on Liam's stroller. But the berries were sure tasty! Our long walks may have yielded a flat tire, but they also yielded some yummy on-the-move snacks.

It seems like apple trees and blackberry bushes grow in Washington yards the way mango trees grow in Hawaii yards, or the way . . . uh . . . the way . . . um . . . never mind. I can't think of anything in Illinois that is a good comparison. Suburbs, maybe? I guess that's fairly accurate; suburbs grow in everyone's backyard there--in Chicagoland, at least.

Okay, either Spanish speakers are, in general, smarter and way more intuitive than English speakers, or Kidde has a callous--and racist--disregard for their well-being.

So, a long time ago we bought a one-hand squeezy pepper mill:

The great thing about it is that you can use it with one hand. But the terrible thing about it is that you can use it with one hand:

So, we drove out to the ocean last weekend. Being the anal people we are (each in our own way, of course), we looked at maps online the night before. And we noticed something interesting:


No, I'm not referring to New London, nor am I referring to what must be the 300th Ocean City in the nation. I'm not even referring to the town of Aloha. Let's take a closer look:

Yes, folks, it's Humptulips. In the words of Steve, "Humptulips--it's where tulips come to mate."

Out with the old . . .




. . . in with the new

So, I've discovered something I really hate about Washington state. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's pretty bad--the flag. It's so boring. Have a look:

I mean, honestly. George Washington never even came here. The very least they could do is add some evergreens along the sides. The Illinois flag is looking pretty good to me now:

Apart from that, I'm not really experiencing much of the negative culture shock that's typical when you move somewhere new. The only other bad thing I can think of is the coffee shops and huts in which all of the baristas wear bikinis. But that's really more ridiculous than annoying, and there aren't many of them.

We saw this in a parade in Winlock, WA. Have they not seen Wayne's World?!

almost home

These are the last few photos from our Illinois-to-Washington trip. Sorry it's taken me so long to post them.


Ellensburg:


Our bed and breakfast in the Olympia area. The moving truck wasn't going to arrive for another day, so we needed a bed to sleep in. Bummer that it was such a bad location. :)

Jackson is so patient with Liam (though you can tell he's not thrilled that Liam is sitting on him).

Welcome to Washington

I was waiting for this sign, but it almost slipped by before I could snap a photo.

Our hotel "room" (more like townhouse) in Spokane was amazing, and it was incredibly cheap.

I think the absolute hole we stayed in the previous night might have been more expensive than this place. What a nice pick-me-up after that disastrous night in Butte. Then again, we didn't know the disaster that awaited us later in the evening. . . .

We went out for a delicious dinner with my childhood friend (and bridesmaid) Kathleen. I think we hadn't seen her since 2000 or 2001! It was wonderful to spend time with her. I'm bummed that we didn't get any photos, but hopefully we'll see her more often now that we live a lot closer.

We left Jackson in the hotel room while we went out, because he hates being left in the car, and we'd had to do that every time we ate at a restaurant for the whole trip. (Most hotels don't allow you to leave your dog in the room unattended, but this one did. Little did they--and we--know . . .)

Apparently, Jackson was frantic when we left. He hates it when we leave him anywhere (except home--and he doesn't even really like it when we do that). He goes nuts and does whatever he can to follow us. I suppose we should've known this would happen. If only we had put up the blinds! I can't imagine all the howling that the other hotel guests had to deal with. Bottom line: $400 worth of damage. No, I'm not kidding. I wish I were. (Yes, I know it's ridiculous--two sets of blinds for $400?!)

a few more Yellowstone videos

Fountain Paint Pot

This is a bison calf on the walkway at Fountain Paint Pot. I did not zoom in; (s)he really was that close to us. Before you write a comment chastising us for putting Liam (and the bison) in danger, let me say that we had absolutely no choice. The bison were surrounding us, and they kept getting closer. There was nowhere to go. (That didn't stop a woman who saw this happen from giving us a good talking-to. I guess she thought we should've used our jet packs to blast up and away.)

This is Old Faithful right at the end of an eruption:

I couldn't help taking this video of the Firehole River. The scenery and the sounds were too beautiful.

yet more Yellowstone stuff

This coyote was munching on some sort of carcass:

Video of the coyote. You can hear Jackson whining in the background. I'm narrating the video, but you probably can't hear me, because I had about 1% of my voice left by this point.

I'm pretty sure this is the island in the Firehole River on which my family had lunch back in 1987 or so:

geothermal feature by Fountain Paint Pot:

While we were at Fountain Paint Pot, this herd of bison came strolling up. There was nowhere we could go; they were surrounding us (I'll also post a crazy video).

Saying goodbye to Yellowstone (north entrance):

These are a couple of awesome photos our friend Scott took in Billings.

Jackson enjoyed having his own bed at our hotel in West Yellowstone.

more Yellowstone photos

There were quite a few animal remains in this area. We think perhaps this is an area where predators (wolves?) hunt and/or eat.

A couple geothermal features we saw along the road

Okay, I have three minutes until the planned Blogger outage. Enough for a few words: We now have Web access in our home, which is excellent. Check for updates to this blog in the next few days, including a bunch more photos of Yellowstone.