toasted pita bread
olive oil
chickpea hummous w/ garlic & lemon
fat olives
parsley w/ lemon
feta cheese cubes

I just finished a granny smith apple from the grocery. It's origin was Washington State. The taste was extremely tart but not too unpleasant. Its skin was thick. The flesh was dry and extremely crisp; almost tough. It was a difficult eat.

The local apples I normally eat are thin skinned with soft textured flesh. Sweet juiced. Some tartness.

The difference was startling.

The above is simply a note to the local eating phenomenon.

note to self: when throwing a handful of nuts onto your breakfast oatmeal, check to make sure they are not wasabi coated snacks.

During a walk in the neighborhood, my neighbor who had the apple and pear trees I used to forage from stopped me for a chat. I had offered to prune the trees but he decided to cut down the pear and the apple trees. He left one apple tree in the far back corner (It's deep on his property so I didn't know it was there). He was wondering why it didn't fruit this year. I told him that apple trees need to cross pollinate and there weren't any other apples close so the remaining tree probably wouldn't bear fruit. He was disappointed. Oh well.

A poem from my childhood

When all the cows were sleeping
And the sun had gone to bed,
Up jumped the pumpkin,
And this is what he said:

I'm a dingle dangle pumpkin
With a flippy floppy hat.
I can shake my stem like this,
And shake my vine like that.

Okay. Just...creepy.
******

This pumpkin made three dishes: salty roasted seeds, pumpkin tort, and challah bread.

( Yummy pumpkin challah bread )
beautiful egg-washed loaf of pumpkin challah bread - subtly pumpkin with ginger & cloves

I refilled my meds today. The pharmacy did not have enough pills of my MTX and gave me six only - one dose for this week. They will have the full prescription by Friday. They did not charge me for the meds. I tried to go without tramadol today and felt nauseous, dizzy and achy. Since this thing started back in October, I haven't really felt "right." My training sessions gave me a boost and a distraction to the overwhelming fatigue. I could close my eyes at any time and nod off to an unrestful sleep. My left hand is now painful to go with my right. I am no longer assymetric. I guess I'll call the doctors again since I can barely move my hands in the morning after a painful night. I have no grip strength and can't twist things. I've been wearing my braces to no discernable benefit.

I spent the weekend cooking. Pumpkin challah bread. Pumpkin souffle. Italian ragout. Pasta.

( tomato & herb goodness )

I took DitL pictures of the bread making from pumpkin to loaf. I'll post later.

The front of my gas grill is on fire.

Edit: 20:15 pm
It seems the valves behind the knobs were loose (and leaking gas) and when the grill was on full heat the flames spread to the front of the grill. Scorched the finish. Tightened up now and working fine with only a bit of cosmetic damage. The steak survived.

The secret to a great soup is a good stock.

Edit: 3:00 pm
I buy a whole amish chicken for $6.00
Add onion, carrot, celery, potato, garlic, thyme, sage, salt, pepper
Yield:
6 10 generous servings of chicken & noodles
2 lunches of chicken salad
2 dinners with chicken breast meat
4 cups of "extra" chicken/vegetable stock

I arrive home from a nice trip. My home always "smells" after its been closed up for more than a few days. I turn on the AC to cool & reduce humidity. The heating/cooling guy arrives bright and early the next morning for my checkup of the new system. He says that the house smells of gas. Oops! Call Ameren-Cilco. The man with the electric sniffer arrives. Yep. Gas leak - slight, but noticeable. Apparently the leak is suspected around the dryer which I haven't run more than 3 times this summer. Did I mention the sniffer? I love technology. For your consideration, breathing the gas can cause health problems (!?). The heating/cooling guy is cutting a small hole in the finished wall behind the dryer to try to isolate the joint/leak in the wall. I've learned a lot about soft copper and black iron. Hopefully, the trauma to the basement will be minor. I hate my basement. More information later...

Edit 1:52 pm
About $150 in materials, $250 in labor.
Replacing all the copper from the main line (it's a spaghetti bowl) with "black iron" and flexible stainless steel. The flexible is needed so they won't have to tear out the finished walls and ceiling. They'll be able to get to it tomorrow while I'm still off from work.

I'm juice fasting today and tomorrow. Fresh green juice! Green tea from Taiwan. Water. Water. Water. I'm also harvesting the last of the beans and tomatoes. Collecting seeds. The kale and fall lettuce is up. Basil is flowering.

I'm glad to be home.

cooking for my "new" friends today.

salsa with 3 kinds of peppers & masa tortillas

spice rubbed pork loin
steamed green beans with thyme

caprese salad (tomato, mozarella, basil & balsamic vinegar) with baguette slices

fruit, granola & yogurt parfaits (blueberries, strawberries, peaches, apples, almonds)

peach pie

...how do you get cream cheese out of the keyboard?

nom...nom...nom...kashi...nom...nom...mountain berries...nom...nom...granola...nom...nom...nom...yogurt...nom...nom...honey...nom...nom...nom

and fresh brewed coffee.

so to recap:

nom.
nom.
nom.
kashi granola
fresh berries
blueberry honey
greek yogurt
nom nom nom

Michael Pollan had an interesting article in the NY Times. I think my nutritional health plan can be summed up by the end of the article:

Cook it yourself. That’s it. Eat anything you want — just as long as you’re willing to cook it yourself.

Whole wheat pasta, parmesan cheese, green beans, tomatoes, oregano, and basil:

Aside from herbs and greens that I've been harvesting since late spring, here are

green beans, late season kale, cherry tomatoes, cured onions, and a rogue zucchini from the cold pile.

Harvested:
( homegrown goodness )

Bonus basil:



There's also coriander and cilantro growing "wild" along the fence.

Sister K is here for a visit.

Homegrown!

Herb Mayonnaise: Mayo, thyme, basil & cracked pepper

Jerk spice: allspice, clove, cardamom, pepper

Local chicken grilled last night

Thinly sliced - radish, red onion, lettuce

Assembled on toasted organic ciabatta roll.

Voila!

In preparing the beds for new plants, I dug up some green carrot tops to discover my beautiful winter carrots below.


Tasty!!

I've semi-recovered from my sugar coma from Easter dinner at M&M's. Brother T & wife K were also present. Ham. Pineapple. Potatoes. Salad. Beans. Crescent rolls. Cheesecake, cherry pie, and strawberry cake. Diet pepsi. I was lethargic last night and had a splitting headache at bedtime. I drank 3 glasses of water and got up a couple times during the night. Detox today. Oatmeal. Green juice. Water. Water. Water. I'll take a steam at the 'plex this evening.

I have a craving for artificial cheese products (i.e. velveeta).
cheese steaks
cheese fries
rotillo dip
nachos
I am obsessed. I will not give in.

dark roast fair trade coffee with cream
sizzling pepper bacon
corn cakes using farm eggs and dripping butter & real maple syrup
fresh grapefruit juice
green tea from taiwan
gala apples & nutmeg

and a handful of pharmaceuticals.

I was going to make some hot & sour soup yesterday but ended up toasting tofu and making a kung pao sauce over brown rice. Easily digestible, brown rice is.