Posted by wrdnrd on 27 June 2009
veggie pita pocket
Originally uploaded by wrdnrd.
Every spring in the CSA box from our farm we get garlic scapes — the curly tops of garlic plants, which are usually snipped off so that the plant puts its energy into creating big, delicious bulbs of garlic. In culinary use, garlic scapes can be used like spring onions and sprinkled onto salads or into soup, or like asparagus on the grill, or in pesto.
Every year, we usually wind up either giving our share of garlic scapes away or composting them if they’ve sat too long. I find them a little too hard to be enjoyed in salads and i’ve never gotten around to trying the other methods. If we get more garlic scapes in the box this tuesday i think i’ll try them on the grill, because today i finally got around to making garlic scape pesto.
I started with this recipe from What Geeks Eat. I quickly realized i’d have to improvise a little because we don’t have pine nuts in the kitchen and i didn’t have 1 pound of scapes.
Once all was said and done, i was very glad i didn’t have a pound. This is potent stuff! I think my little 8-ounce jam jar will be sufficient for awhile.
garlic scape pesto
Note: Requires food processor.
- 0.5 pound garlic scapes (chopped into ~1.5-inch pieces this was about 1 cup)
- 0.5 cup fresh grated romano/parmesan blend (either romano or parmesan is fine, we just happen to really like this blend)
- 0.25 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Cut the garlic scapes into pieces about 1.5-inches long. You can use as much of the garlic scapes are in good condition (the very tips of mine had started going soft, so i discarded them).
- Zip the scapes in a food processor until they’re chopped fine.
- Add the grated romano/parmesan and process until blended. Note that pesto will never lose all of its chunkiness and get truly smooth.
- While processing the scapes and cheese, slowly drizzle the olive oil thru’ the processor’s chute.
I can’t say yet how long this will last in the fridge, tho’ i have heard of people freezing their basil pesto so perhaps garlic scape pesto can be frozen as well. If i try it i’ll report back.
The 1st thing i did with this was spread it inside a pita pocket. Then i sliced up some cherry tomatoes and mixed them by hand with some feta and a dash of salt and pepper. I filled the pita pocket with the tomatoes/feta mix and called it lunch.
It was good.
Posted by wrdnrd on 25 June 2009
Sometimes my boisterous urban neighborhood gets very, very quiet. Rush hour is long past. The students have not yet begun the migration to/from the bars. Even the music on my stereo has finished.
Times like these i cock my head to the side and listen to the ringing in my ears.
Stupid legacy of working in a factory during summers off from college. When no one told me i was spending 10 hours a day around machinery that really was loud enough to cause long-term hearing damage.
No matter how far away from noise i go — to the country, to the mountains — no matter how quiet everything else around me becomes. It’s never truly quiet for me. There’s always this persistent high-pitched shrieking.
Always.
I spend a lot of time listening to music.
Posted by wrdnrd on 22 June 2009
I’ve been searching for games for my beloved cell phone1 because sometimes i want a way to pass the time that’s a little more brain-intensive than Solitaire but slightly less concentration-focused than writing a zine article. Ideally i’d like some sort of educational games2 — perhaps a math game, since my goal this summer is returning my math skills to a respectable level.
Do you know how hard it is to find educational games geared toward adult learners? Apparently i get chess or sudoku. All the educational games are for kids. Which is fine, and i don’t mind playing a kids game, except the math games i’ve been looking at so far sort of peak right below the level i need. Basic algebra? You get study guides. No educational games.
Which got me to wondering. At what point in our lives does learning go from being a game to being a chore? Or is learning always a chore that we need to turn into a game to trick the kids into doing by choice?
1) Yes, i really did write beloved “cell phone.” And, yeah, i do kinda mean it. It’s amazing how this little device has transformed my life. In the 1st place, my purse has gotten a lot smaller. I used to carry a calendar/journal/address book plus a digital camera plus a phone, in addition to all the usual crap one carries around every day (wallet, lip gloss, keys). When i started seriously thinking about getting an MP3 player, eventually i came around to thinking, “Bugger this ‘i don’t like all-in-one gadgets.’ Gimme an all-in-one gadget!!” It was the perfect decision.
2) It’s hopelessly geeky, i know, but i love educational games. It’s my mother’s fault for giving me hopeful, aspirational toys when i was a kid. To this day i figure if i’m sitting around waiting (at the airport, doctors’s offices), i might as well do something useful (read, play a brain game). If you catch me sitting around seemingly staring into space, chances are i’m either trying to compose a zine article in my head or i’m falling asleep.
Posted by wrdnrd on 19 June 2009
I just turned in my final assignment for the editing certificate.
I’m … done.
Whether or not i’ve fucked up this assignment (and i may have). Whether or not i ultimately pass this class, and thus the entire program (tho’, really, i think i will).
I. Am. DONE.
I can, ohhh, i dunno, use my brain for other things. ZOMG!
Posted by wrdnrd on
I realize that titling this post “friday fic & vids” sets up the expectation that i’m going to be doling out fic and vid recommendations every friday.
Do not be deceived! Heh. Actually, i don’t read much fic or watch many vids, but i occasionally enjoy them and on occasional fridays i suppose i’ll list the ones i’ve enjoyed recently.
Fic!
Theories About Nuclear Winter. Uh, yes, this is a “Calvin & Hobbes” fic. Calvin + Susie! Teenage romance!! No, really, it’s better than you think it’s going to be.
Vids!
shall we take the lift or fly? (by arefadedaway). ‘Star Trek’ reboot. Kirk/Spock + “Don’t Stop Believing.” Yes, really. It’s good!!
…on the dance floor (by Sloane). ‘Star Trek’ reboot. And it sums up my ST:Reboot woes so nicely — “Not enough ladies, too many mans.”
Posted by wrdnrd on 16 June 2009
Yes, i cooked and ate a fritatta at 10:45pm. No, i didn’t eat supper — it’s a thing that often happens when i’m really into either a project or some schoolwork. Tonight, yes, it’s schoolwork. Trying to wrap up my certificate program.
So! I realized we’d just gotten some fresh spinach from the farm AND that we still had some feta in the fridge. Thus:
- 2 eggs + a splash of soy milk, whisked together & tossed into a hot cast iron skillet
- spinach, chopped into strips (i like fairly small pieces) & tossed onto the eggs in the skillet
- feta, crumbled by hand onto the spinach in the skillet
- a few shakes of salt + granulated onion and garlic + a few twists of the pepper mill
It cooked on the stove until the edges easily pulled away from the pan, then it was into the oven to sit beneath the broiler for about 8-ish minutes. I managed to cook the fritatta beautifully this time instead of (a) burning it, or (b) cooking it to the bottom of the pan — must have had just enough butter in the skillet this time.
Thoughts:
- spinach — definitely needed more. This is the mistake i usually make with fritattas: i always under-ingredient because i forget how the eggs overpower all flavors.
- feta — might be getting old. Not only could i barely taste any feta flavor, the fritatta tasted vaguely of spoiled cow’s milk. Since i haven’t noticed soy milk at all resembling the flavor of spoiled cow’s milk, i suspect the feta.
- salt — too much. I should have either mixed it in with the egg/milk base, or i should have been more careful when sprinkling it on. Then again, it’s not unusual for me to over-salt things.
At any rate, it put something in my belly, wasn’t entirely unpleasant to eat, and Andy liked it well enough to finish the last few bites i couldn’t get thru’ after i got full.
