CSA, an investigation

Excited I was to join a CSA (wtf, why am I talking like yoda?) but when the box of goodies arrived I was a little flummoxed, and somewhat embarrassed - and will only admit this on my blog which allows access to everyone in the world for eternity (this is really an overall poorly thought out stream of consciousness) to realize I had no idea what veggies this farm had given me.

I trampled over to Stop and Shop (distance, approx 200 yards) and walked the produce aisle to try to find something resembling the green and other bits of farm freshness.  I am happy to report that after scrutiny (and yes, some questions to produce people) I discovered I had in my possession bok choy and chicory.  Two things I've never cooked, and possibly never eaten, in my life.

As an ode to the first CSA drop off I thought it best to try to find multiple recipes due to the fact that it was most likely I'd get another batch next wednesday.  So here is my bok choy recipe I made tonight which was surprisingly scrumptious.  I am going to make the sauce as a veggie stirfry tomorrow with rice, but plain with bok choy was yummy.

Spicy Bok Choy in Garlic Sauce
from Allrecipes.com

• 1 pound bok choy
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. Trim off the ends of the bok choy and chop, keeping the white parts separate from the green as they will need to cook longer. Rinse and spin or pat dry. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl or cup, stir together the vegetable oil and sesame oil. In a separate larger bowl, stir together the water, ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and red pepper flakes. Set this aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the bok choy stems first; stir fry for a few minutes or until the pieces start to turn a pale green. When stems are almost cooked, add the leaves; cook and stir until leaves are wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the bok choy to a serving dish. Pour the sauce into the skillet or wok, and set over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Pour over the bok choy and toss lightly to coat.

Thank you Amazon!

There are 2 annoying things about the kindle:

1. When you are on a plane it counts as an electronic device.  Therefore you have to have it turned off through some of the most boring parts of your travel time
2. It's an electronic device.  Usually when electronics break I go to a book.  When my kindle breaks, I'm royally screwed.  Like now, 10% from the end of this book that I'm dying to know how it ends.

So I write to amazon, prepared to deal wtih a large argument.  To my surprise, they quickly take my info and tell me I'll be getting a new one in 2 days.  Now that's what I call customer service.  I guess my kindle is over warranty so I asked them why they were so willing to send me a free one.  The guys said, "we are looking at your account activity and we feel that this is the right thing to do."  And I said, "so what you mean is I spend a lot of money on my kindle and you don't want to lose my business."  and he said, "yes, basically."

That made me smile.  But new kindle on the way, exciting!!

What I really remember about Sandman was not only the fantastic stories and images I so lovingly read and stared at for hours, but the world I was currently in while reading them.

These were nights of hot cozy dorm rooms, a mix of smoke swirling around our collective heads, coffee, dim christmas lights, pizza boxes, and coca-cola splayed out on the floor, and of course, Portishead playing in the background.

I am not sure which came first - the Sandman trades or the Portishead album - but the two merged with my memories to create the perfect marriage.  Sad, slow, electornic notes flowed together with a crooning melodic female voice to images of dark, drastic, edgy colors and dialogue straight from the masterstorytelling abilities of Gaiman.  The images of his characters in NYC, living the 20 something squallid life, resonated with me so deeply and romantically that I have always found myself drawn to the yearings of it.  While my early years in boston represented a portion of this lifestyle I found it unappealing.  ON the page, it was magic.


 I write this because I found myself listening to Portishead again (Dummy is by far the best album imo) and it similarly reminds me of my youth and my freshness with everything around me, but also of my love of Sandman and comics.  I am curiously reminded of them equally.  And I find that it still remains a perfect partnership.

wine + introspection

I am drinking wine on my porch and reading a book of short stories by Banana Yoshimoto.

I look at the cover and think for the 20th time what a stupid name Banana is, even if it is Japanese.

I think about how I could write better short stories, ones that capture the essence of the time and the feeling of the author, not this weird psuedo fake mystical bullshit I am reading.

I remind myself that I am not only unpublished but I am also empty  of a portfolio consisting of anything that would be consiered a story, short or otherwise.\

But I have a lot of great ideas.

Really, I do.  I can't necessarily put them into a book, I can't concentrate long enough to focus on the type of words and construction that would make a story work or be somewhat readable or interesting.  i do however have a lot of desire to sit around a beach house, drink wine, and pontificate.  That should count for something.

You know what stephen king?  fuck you.

Summer Reading

I hate typing the title of this post as it means the end of summer is imminent.

Here are my favs from the past few months:


Strangely loveable book with the main characters voice one of the more interesting I've read in awhile.  Very easy beach read but it still makes you think.  A very pleasant summer surprise.

Dark, violent, graphic but oh so relevant.  This won the Hugo this year and it's very easy to see why.  Pablo writes like a journalist (or rather writes like journalists SHOULD write) which gives you the reader a lot of room to think. 

I love this book.  I really do like everything about it.  Perfect mix of young adult angst, sci fi, and human emotion.   As my friend Jane pointed out, it's a shame that Orson Scott Card is such a jackass. 

Any fav books this summer that you read?  Tell me about them!

Restaurant Week! (which in August is actually 2 week so it’s a bit of a misnomer)

This time, unlike most other restaurant weeks where I feel accomplished if I hit up one establishment, I managed to make it to 4 different restaurants - 5 if you count a wine/cheese stop last Friday.  I will never do that again.  Not only am I just generally exhausted I feel like I do not need to eat for another month and my tummy now hangs out over my pants.  THE HORROR!

However, I feel required to document my fabulous excursions.

Wednesday, L’Andana

L’Andana is very yummy but too overpriced so the 3 course 33 buck deal was worth it.  I went there with Rums and the place is very romantic which made the two of us feel awkward.  Or just me maybe, I didn’t actually ask him.  I downed a few glasses of wine and managed to make it home before 9pm.

Friday, Papa Razzi

I stopped here before going to a cocktail party for some pre cocktail cocktails.  I ate some food too.  I think it was fried cheese.  We sat on the deck and it was nice. 

Sunday, Capitol Grill

Haha, the pescatarian goes to the steak house, sounds like a sitcom.  I had the salmon.  And a $120 bottle of wine for 60 bucks.  People said they marked it up from 60 to 120 just so the place could say they “gave you a deal” but what the f ever, I’ve never had a 60 or 120 dollar bottle of wine (or let’s be truthful, anything over 20 bucks) so it was worth the adventure to me.  I went with a bunch of my gamer friends which was fun.  Then they claimed that I was weird b/c I admitted to treating people differently if I knew what they made for a living.  I was subsequently vindicated of “being weird” as every other human I’ve asked agrees with me. 

Tuesday, Rialto

Ah, great company (Kristen and Justin!) and great food.  The 3 of us have managed to successfully traverse restaurant week for 3+ times and I look forward to continuing the tradition. Even though it was butt ugly outside with cold sheets of rain and I looked like a wet dog I still really really enjoyed this place.  I’m still thinking about the tomato risotto appetizer. 

Thursday, Gaslight

I went with Eric.  We both got the Gnocchi and I loved mine.  Eric didn’t like his.  I’ve never had it like that before, it was soft and squishy potato bits in a flavorful broth with roasted tomoatoes, roasated peppers, olives, and goat cheese all swimming in the lovely soup.  YUM.  Banana and caramel crepes for dessert, also delicious.  Scene was trendy and hip and I want to live on Harrison Ave.

Results:

Fav Spot:  Gaslight

Fav Food:  Rialto

Fav Wine:  Capitol Grille

Fav Overall:  Gaslight (but I think that was mostly b/c of my bf being there with me)

Butter Beans?

Butter beans are nutritional goodness.  They are like green lima beans but white and buttery.  And I always love their consistency and starchy like flavor (hiding tons of protein) but could never really cook them very well.   Luckily I have eradicated that problem and now pass on the perfect coupling.

• Rinse can of beans
• Chop up 1 small shallot.  
• Warm butter (2-3 tbs) in pan, add shallots.  Let cook for a few minutes.  
• Add beans, stir.  Add salt.
• Let stand on low for about 3 mins to allow the beans to soak up some of the butter
• Add fresh chopped sage (I haven't perfected this measurement but start out with 1.5 tsp of fresh)

Serve with glee.