Dreams

Last night I had two dreams, one where I was in a mall full o' zombies that chased Joe, Una, and I up a twisty slide to nowhere...then we had to run back down, Una got free and the zombies ate her. Second, a dream about Joe and I moving in with Jim and Pam from the Office. Wierd.

I know this doesn't count as a post

But I wanted to share this with people:

Talking Animals

Help a sister out...

My sister has a project that she is undertaking for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. She has to test a concept for an art project and she needs our help.

All you have to do is go to her web site and follow the directions. Come on, help a sister out!

Guest Post by Sir Walter

My first thought when I saw the brussel sprouts in their container was "wait- that's totally not what I thought they were". My second thought was "Wow! They're little cabbages!" I enjoy minature food, as most americans do. Mini burgers, mini pizzas, mini muffins, and broccoli (mini trees) to name only a few. I think it makes me feel bigger then I actually am, like some sort of hungry giant. Side note: Why are mini burgers frequently called "sliders"? It sounds like a colon crisis. Was "mini burgers" not satisfactory? I digress.

Anyway I really enjoyed the brussel sprouts even though Casie and Joe gave them only a "meh". However, my positive response may have had a lot to do with the accompanying nuts and craisins. Anyways, I would eat them again, preferably as part of a mini feast featuring as many mini foods as possible- followed by destroying a pre-arranged lego village. Also all the lego villagers would have their heads replaced with marshmallows and milk duds that I would eat while laughing with a deep voice. And I've gone too far with that. Good night.

-Walt

So, beets...

I know I said was going to keep this blog updated with all the exciting and up to date veggie trial news but the beets weren't too interesting. I made a raw beet, feta, and pear salad that required a great deal of julienne-ing on my part, so it felt very labor intensive for a cold salad. Also the whole thing ended up pink probably due to over vigorous stirring on my part. In the end, it was pretty tasty and once I get a mandolin (or I am in the mood to cut a bitch) I will make it again.

As an aside, plain stand-alone raw beets have a faint hint of vomit in there flavor and I would not recommend them. It seems that the preferred method for beet consumption is roasted so at some point this week I will probably roast the two left over beets I have hanging out in the fridge.

This week I just realized I have brought home two new veggies. Brussel sprouts which I have eaten one previous time in my life when I was maybe 7 and fennel which I have personally never worked with but I am pretty sure I have tasted at some point. I am actually going to subject Walter to the brussel sprouts the first night of his visit so maybe we we'll have a guest vegetable post. Well, hope everyone has a good week, I am off to clean the bathrooms.

VegExperiment '09

I grew up eating carrots, celery, corn, and peas. That pretty much sums up my childhood vegetable exposure.

As I have grown up and my palette has matured slightly I have begun venturing into farther reaches of the vegetable spectrum. At restaurants, I will order dishes with more outlandish vegetable mixes, and at home I have become slightly more adventurous, adding spinach, edamame, broccoli, asparagus, and zucchini as recurring characters in my cooking life. I have not however, by any means become a veggie expert. And this is what I intend to do. Thus begins the VegExperiment of 2009.

Each week when Joe and I do the shopping I am going to pick a vegetable from the produce section that I have never cooked with and fix something with it. I decided that produce products I had previously eaten but never cooked would still qualify although I think I am going to start with those that I have never even tasted.

This all started last week when Joe and I did our weekly grocery shopping at 1:30 in the morning and the produce section was looking pretty picked over. So, I bought some kale since it looked the freshest. Then I had to figure out what to do with it.

Many patients who I told the kale purchasing story to tryed to scare me away from the leafy green, but I stood my ground and Joe and I ended up having a very delightful pasta dish made with kale, chickpeas, and pinenuts, which we both agreed we would eat again. Was pretty tasty, the kale wasn't difficult to use, and I was inspired. So this week I am trying beets. We'll see how that goes.