Lucy Littlestar, skittish airedale rescue, has discovered she likes green beans. And to top it all off, she loves raw carrots as much. It’s pretty cute, and for an a girl who came to us weighing 92 lbs. and is now slimming down to 67 lbs, she’s got a little more bounce in her step—so new edible rewards seem to align nicely with her changes. I could give her carrots all day as they are better food, are fiber and are not the mountains of cheap, wheat flour food she grew up on. So, hello, CSA and the juicy carrots—Lucy is interested in those roots as are we.
I have been grating carrots and making a nice salad with a dijon/lemon vinaigrette (add a bit of chopped cilantro—or sauteing them in a bit of olive oil, garlic and some “bloomed” coriander/cumin/garam masala. All good. I bought 2 8 lb bags of carrots and we are depleting the reserve. I also am fermenting and am on my 3rd round of garlic/dill pickled carrots. I am reusing the brine when the carrots are ready to put new carrots in. That live bacteria goes CRAZY—bubbling and popping within minutes of the new sweet veg. hitting that solution. Its good amusement to see how we can keep this going. I also did a big batch of pickled beets . I boiled the beets and peeled them prior to the pickllng which made the brine become almost syrupy—lending more dimension to these vegetables. Next time I do beets it will be a smaller batch, and I may just peel and cut the beet vs. the boiling and see if they become a bit more sour and picklie.
Yesterday at noon, I started a loaf of the NYTimes No Knead Bread. There was a time I was really pushing on Sourdough starter and bread—and I had an audience of hungry teenagers to eat even the mistakes. Since then, I have been a non-baker, but with the need to be home, hungry mouths and limited bread in the stores (seriously, I ordered 2 loaves from Wegmans and got a half of a tiny loaf…which was consumed in seconds upon arriving here)—has prompted me to rethink bread. My friend, Teresa from the Honeybee Embassy made this Jim Lahey recipe and sent me pix. The pix clinched the deal…I was going to try this. So, 3 ingredients stirred together, placed in a bowl and put in a warm-ish place (I know where those are in my cool kitchen). A day later, I had a loose dough that had bubbles. I am now in the last rise and we will see if my hopes are realized. Good thing though, there are eaters who would love to eat some hot bread regardless. And in the world of Pandemic land, we are not dependent on other bakers and fermenters—we can do it ourselves.
Kitty is busy making masks in her spare time. She made them for friends and family but also making for the local restaurants and retailers that are open for sale. I am proud that she is engaging in helping on a grassroots level. Feels right to give back—and/or pay it forward.
I am tired. Not sleeping well at all. Last night I credited the full moon with this jumpiness but candidly, I think its okay to just acknowledge the horror of the times and try to focus on small projects like the bread and carrots on a local level. I cannot change Washington, but I can evince change here at the local level.
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This article in The Atlantic. The Revolution is Under Way Already by Rebecca L. Sprang (April 5, 2020) speaks to conversations we have been having under this roof. Give it a read, your thoughts?
Oh my God. I had to look. I knew that this week was going to be one for the record books. And the President and his lick-spittle cabinet is publicly shutting down and trying to silence Dr. Fauci, the only voice of reason representing science and medicine with 45 prescribing untested medicine and protols that he has absolutely no place doing. This is just plain head-spinning. At least we know that there is no bottom to this evil.
