summer dinner in February

by Jackie Patti

No recipes or anything, just a picture I found lovely.

It was mid-February and there was a ridiculously wrm day that started me thinking of summer. So I thought of having a "summer" dinner.

I had some leftover red cabbage cole slaw in the fridge.

I mixed up some tuna salad.

Then, diced a tomato.

Then opened a jar of bread and butter pickles I'd put up a couple years ago (I had a LOT of cukes that year!)

And soon it will be summer for real and I'll be eating like this all the time.

Image credit: summer dinner in February by Jackie Patti

not quite a recipe post - eggplant experiment

by Jackie Patti

I grew 3 types of eggplants last year.

I grew the Casper variety, which is supposed to be early. I don't know as I was in Texas when they would've been being early. They are white and I got my seed from Seed Savers Exchange.

I grew Rosa Bianca cause they are pretty. No other reason really. I got that seed from Fedco.

Also from Fedco, I grew Diamond eggplant, an open-pollinated black eggplant. Basically, I was unsure I'd like the white or rose colored stuff; always get black at the store. So this was my backup eggplant.

Here's what they looked like...

Dead Cheap Meals

by Jackie Patti

Today, I am a magician. I shall take a single pound of ham, bacon or sausage and feed a hungry truck driver and a disabled chick two big dinners with loads of leftovers for lunch. ABRACADABRA!

I do this almost every week. Basically... eggs and beans are the answer! >>TADA<<

The Controversial Microwave

by Jackie Patti

Within the "traditional foods movement", microwaves are often eschewed. I have come down on this issue in a different place than most and am going to discuss in this post why I do not think microwaves are evil.

microwaves & language issues

Much of the anti-microwave sentiment expressed is badly-worded language designed to make people without much of a science background feel nervous.

For example, it is said that microwaves heat food by using RADIANT ENERGY. But all light is radiant energy, from the sunlight allowing your skin to make vitamin D to the most basic cooking of all, over a campfire like our ancestors did all their cooking. The entire light spectrum is radiant energy! However, by saying it as if it's a scary word, there is the hope you will vaguely misunderstand and think that microwave ovens are radioactive, which is not the case.

cooking under pressure

(with accompaniment by the Piano Man)

by Jackie Patti

Within the real food movement, pressure cookers are not as controversial as microwaves, but not nearly as beloved as crockpots.

Health-wise, what we know is that pressure cooking destroys lectins, a class of anti-nutrients, found in grains and beans. reference

Personally, I find a pressure cooker just ROCKS my kitchen.

how to get a bunch of meals from a half ham

by Jackie Patti

There are a bazillion sites out there that tell you how to get 3 or 4 meals out of a whole chicken. I am going to tell you how to get 10-15 meals out of a half ham.

A ham is basically the butt and top bit of the leg off a pig, from the hip to the knee. This big piece is then cured and smoked to produce ham. Whether you get pastured pork, "uncured" ham without nitrates, or regular grocery-store stuff, you can usually get the best deal buying a half ham.

why bother cooking at all?

by Jackie Patti

There is something inside me that finds sourcing good ingredients, preparing and cooking them, and providing my handiwork to an appreciative audience profoundly satisfying.

That is why I cook, I enjoy it and it feels good to me. I can justify it in all sorts of ways, but really, it feels good.

I have a hard time explaining to someone who doesn't have the same feelings about it why they should do it, but I'll give it a shot.

braised green beans

by Jackie Patti

Personally, I like green beans just fine simply steamed and dressed with loads of butter. I also like them dressed with olive oil and garlic. I don't think cooking green beans needs to be complicated.

Garlic is a theme for me with green beans. If I am more ambitious than just steaming, I like them roasted with garlic. Or another favorite green bean recipe is to stir-fry them with garlic. However, no matter how I make them, hubby just didn't like them until this recipe, now he eats them!

It's not particularly difficult, but must simmer for a half hour, so it fits into my repertoire best when I have just put something into the oven that will take an hour or so, like a meatloaf.

It works well with ordinary whole green beans or with Romano-type green beans. Frozen beans work well too, but you really want them to be whole, not cut.