Gobsmacked

I've been given an award.




The details can be found here


It's a meme, of sorts.

This makes the second time Writing Wrongs has had this sort of affect on me. The first was after I made a comment about food on her blog. She thinks me a better cook than I am (though she's free to let me know she's stopping by for dinner, if she want's to test this theory), and she said so, in head-swelling terms.

Which was nice, but sort of surprising (she was amazed I was reading her blog, it's a nice blog, mostly about writing, I commend it, and have reccomended it to those who are looking at writing).

But books, nor even food, are not how I came to find her. It was riding my hobbyhorse. I was googling for something, and a link came up. I followed it to this post We have a point of common experience, and that was, in a dark time, a ray of hope.

I could have chosen a golden version of the logo. I didn't think I deserved it. Not out of some sense of false modesty. I write for three reasons.

1: To share things, and to keep in touch with my friends.
2: To inform, or teach something (food porn is like that)
3: To make people think.

Since I am trying to do that, I succeeded. Medals, to make an analogy, ought not be inflated. If one does something ordinary, awards aren't in order. If one does it well, then some recognition is merited (even desirable). But a Legion of Merit for seeing to it the REDTRAIN missions are all filled, for three years running, is a bit beyond the pale, and AAM will do just fine.

So, now it's time for me to name my five nominees (they don't have to accept), blogs which make me think. I could post some of the bigger blogs I read every day (some of which spark comment here), but I'm going to aim for less well known members of the blogging world.

In no order of merit.

Steve Barnes

Feminism Wihout Clothes(NWS)

Habeas Brulee

The Slacktivist

News for Curious Cooks

Home again

It was a good trip. The school was interesting, and no harder than I expected.

I saw old friends, made some new ones, enjoyed late spring in the desert.

But home is nice to come to. Nothing died in the yard while I was gone, no, that's not true. The evil patch of St. Augustine, invading the SW corner of the yard, creeping in from the neighbors (they who let Token out to the street) has been slaughtered.

But the plants of desire, are all alive. The plum I grafted last spring bloomed while I was gone. There are a few blossoms left (and a couple opened in the days just before I left). Fruit has set.

The non-jonquils (the package claimed they were, but the habit, and the flowers, are wrong) have trived. I bought a package of four, two years back. Three survived the first summer/winter. Now I have seven, perhaps eight.

The serial planting of freesia is galloping along, and we will have color until at least the beginning of May. The basil seeds have sprouted. This year there will be enough for pestos, and pizzas, and cheese sandwiches. I will flavor soups, manufacture insalate caprese toss it into pastas, whole, and use it to finsish tomato sauces, and brighten salsa cruda.

The crab apple I potted up (it's a bonsai in training) is running riot, and the wisteria has leaves now.

And the grapes. All four had bud-break before I left. Right now the not-chardonnay has ten small bunches of grapes, the cutting-grape has four bunches, of good size. The tokaji, and the birdshit grape don't appear to be setting forth any buds. I don't know how old the tokaji is, but the birdshit is about six, and has had some hard years. Twice I thought it had died off on me, but grapes are tough, and it came back.

The anaheims are putting forth blossoms, and with some fertilizing (orchid food, well diluted, and spread with a hose-sprayer) they should provide peppers for chiles rellenos and let to ripen I'll have lots of dried california peppers for seasoning mixes, marinades and spicing pickles/kimchee.

I have carrots, for seed, garlic almost ripe, and just dug the leek trough.

Crawling among the lettuces I saw a ladybug nymph, and one of the mantids. I no longer see any aphids.

It's good to be home.

A bit of food

Today I did a little cooking.

While I was in Sierra Vista, I stopped at the Habitat for Humanity thrift shop.

It had a book I was looking for, and have been for ages.

The Nero Wolfe Cookbook.

Someday, just to say I did, I will make Capon Souvaroff. It calls for 1 1/2 pounds of pate de foie gras and 8 black truffles.

Truffles are amazing. Forget the comments people make of them being like mushrooms. They are to mushrooms what a modern car is to a horse-drawn carriage; related, but radically different.

A truffle is smokey, earthy and musky. It's dense, and in chunks has a fleshly solidity, it doesn't squish.

TJ's has a truffled cheese, but (for reasons of cost) have enough truffle in it.

But heat will make things more noticable. So I used it to make grilled cheese sandwiches, with buttermilk bread, the sweetness as counterpoint. To go with it I made modified some tomato soup. Some fresh oregano, and a dash of cumin.

It was very good, a pleasant, related, counterpoint to the sandwich. Some white wine would have gone well, but the Red Tail Ale I had was nice, as an afterwards.