28 July 2008
I really like the bike path I take to the library. It's shady, it's beautiful, it's protected from the wind, and it's full of fruit:
Okay, 'full of fruit' might be a slight exaggeration. I picked a third of a cup of ripe black raspberries last week, and that took quite a bit of hunting (don't worry, there are still lots of berries left on the bushes that have yet to ripen). As I biked by the entrance of the library, I caught a whiff of berry-flavoured Kool-Aid or similar, and I thought to myself how strange it is that what a lot of people think of as 'strawberry' or 'grape' has nothing to do with fruit and everything to do with chemical combinations. Weird.
I went back home, washed off my black raspberries, and tasted a few. They didn't taste like the berries you buy in the store; they didn't even taste like the berries we used to grow in our yard. What was it? Yes! They tasted just like blue-raspberry slushies and candy! Isn't that bizarre? That I had never even had the real fruit that the artificial flavour is based on. I had sort of thought they just made up blue-raspberry to correspond with neon blue food. So there you go.
I'm so into kale right now. I'm pretty sure the variety in my garden is called 'Dwarf Blue Curled' (ah ha, see here), and I strongly recommend it. I cook it in a pan with a lid on for a few minutes, and it's substantial without being chewy, and it's not at all bitter. I plan to keep sowing it as far into the autumn as I can, particularly if I get around to building a cold frame.
I've been sauteing it with onion and jalapeno from the garden and eating it with brown rice. You know, before having some homemade yogurt with jam I made from wild-growing mulberries. For the record, I sometimes braid my hair, but I have yet to wear any long, gauzy skirts. The tofu in that photo was really good, by the way. It boggles my mind that there are people in the world who don't like tofu.
I picked two cucumbers today, so I'm planning on making a small batch of refrigerator pickles tomorrow, using my own dill and onions. And I've got a craving for coleslaw, so cabbage is on the to-buy list. I might also get fresh mozzarella, which I will slice and arrange attractively on a plate with leaves of basil. Then I will hold the plate underneath my ripening Cherokee Purple tomato and will it to be ready to eat.
Yeah, I'm one of the tofu haters. I know, I know! I try it every chance I get, just hoping that maybe one day I'll like it, but I always feel like gagging when I eat it. Doesn't matter what kind (level of firmness) or how it's prepared, I can't make myself enjoy it. Plus no matter how much of it I eat, I feel like I need to eat some meat to make my body feel full. Or beans, I could live off beans...
posted by Taryn at July 29, 2008 02:53 AM
I'll forgive you, Taryn, but only because I like you. But I do feel the urge to fly out to CA and make tofu in a hundred different ways until you find one you like.
posted by Anna at July 29, 2008 07:57 AM
That kale dish looks so good and simple and delish! I am a big fan of putting garlic in sauteed greens, but hadn't thought about jalapenos.
And who'd have thunk it about the blue raspberry?
posted by yoel at July 29, 2008 08:15 AM
I admit, I've never actually had tofu. I bought some once but then couldn't bring myself to use it. I really should just give it a try. After all, I recently discovered that I like split pea soup (with balsamic vinegar) and sweet potatoes (with seasoned salt), two of my more hated foods from childhood. But don't even try to make me eat liver.
posted by Sandi at July 29, 2008 07:13 PM
In general I very much like your website, Anna, but annoyingly no matter how much I click on things, I don't seem to be able to place an order for any of this food. Please fix this, as I am now feeling hungry. (Plus I don't seem to be able to order any of your cats either.)
posted by Rob at July 31, 2008 05:10 AM