#i have 2 pounds of candy corn because no one ever wants it

[candy-floss-crazy]

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[mss4msu]

Call Me Doctor. (Chapter 15)

Summary: Fresh out of graduate school, you had somehow landed a spot in the faculty of a prestigious university. The small anthropology department has too many faculty and too few offices; sharing an office does not go as you expected.

Pairing: Professor!Steve x Professor!Reader

Words: 3166

Warnings: Feelings

A/N: I have a lot of feelings from seeing Endgame, so there’s a lot of goofiness in this chapter and some ties to the Avengers because I need that. The chapter is real long because I have a lot of feelings and it’s been awhile. This chapter was supposed to happen in October, but then life happened. I started drafting it at Christmas and then wrote more on Mardi Gras, and then planned to release it before Easter, but here we are. Happy almost Free Comic Book Day and May the Fourth. (Please just pretend it’s Halloween bbs)

Catch Up On the Story Here

You spent the rest of the afternoon in a daze. Every time you tried to concentrate on something work-related, your mind went to Steve; the sweetness of his smile, the warmth of his hands, the passion in his kisses. You shook your head, trying to get Steve out of it.

“Order and organization, that’s what I need,” You said to yourself, pulling out your planner and a pen.

You hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out what to put. You thought of writing “Brunch with Steve,” but that didn’t seem to capture the emotions you were sure both of you had felt.

First Date with Steve - you wrote. You wanted to dot the “i” with a heart, but talked yourself out of it in fear of anyone ever finding and reading your planner.

You looked back through the previous weeks. It had been almost 2 months since you had been at the university. Almost 2 months since you had met Steve. It felt like much longer, which you attributed to the academic bubble; regardless of how much time passed in the “real world” the stress of academia always made it feel 10x longer. Of course Steve’s mood changes had also made time drag on. You flipped to the week to come and your heart began to beat rapidly.

“Oh shit!” you yelled to yourself.

Saturday, October 31st - It was written in black and orange on the page and you had even doodled a witch’s hat and ghost next to it.

“How could I forget my favorite holiday???” you scolded yourself.

You frantically got up and rushed to the closet in your hallway. You found your tub of decorations and carried it into the living room. You pulled out cobwebs and witches’ hats and little skeletons. You unwrapped jack-o-lantern lights and laid them on the floor next to the tub. You went back to the closet and moved all the coats around until you found it; the piece de resistancé, a Mummy scarecrow. You frantically ran around your apartment hanging everything up, taking it down, and hanging it again in a different spot because it looked better. It took two hours for you to finally accept the placement of everything. You sat on the couch and admired your decorations. Although the apartment had already begun to feel like home, having all of your decorations up solidified the feeling.

You pulled your computer out of your bag and opened your email. You typed all of your colleagues names into the “To:” section and made the subject for the email “Sorry for the Late Notice: Halloween Party!”

Dear All,

Sorry for the late notice, I’ve been so focused on the museum project that it completely slipped my mind that Halloween is a week from today. You are all welcome to my humble abode on Saturday to celebrate all things spooky. Haunted happenings will begin at 7:00pm. Costumes are encouraged! Plus ones are of course welcome too!

See you Monday,

(Y/N)

Your finger was still pushed down from clicking send when your computer dinged with a new email notification. Your heart pounded as you looked at the sender and opened the response.

I look forward to attending.

--Steve

You reread his email a few times, your heart sinking slightly, as you figured Steve would show more emotion after your date, at least what you thought had been a date. But looking at the time stamp of his email bolstered you back up. Steve was notorious for never responding to emails, so to have a response immediately after sending you knew was special.  

You spent the rest of the weekend going through your cookbooks to find the perfect spooky snacks, perfecting your Halloween playlist, and going through your tub of costumes to find the perfect choice for the weekend. You put on a few scary movies as you worked to set the mood.

Monday morning, you were in a fantastic mood. You had in your candy corn earrings and were wearing your pumpkin socks under your dress pants. You got to your office to find it unlocked. You walked in to see Steve and James intently staring at Steve’s computer screen.

“What are you two up to?” you asked as you sat down at your desk and pulled your computer from your bag to review your powerpoint before class.

“Nothing,” Steve grunted, his cheeks turning red.

“Just prepping for this weekend,” James smiled slyly at you.

You grinned, “Doing some costume shopping?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” James winked at you, “Alright, place the order Stevie, I’ve got to go to class. I’ll leave you two to have some alone time.” He raised his eyebrows at you as he stood to leave the room. “Oh, and I almost forgot!” He put his hand in his bag and pulled out a picture frame, “I got you both a new office decoration!” He turned the frame around and you saw the zoomed in photo he had taken of you and Steve in the coffee shop.

“Buck,” Steve growled, getting up and going towards his friend.

“See you later!” James put the frame on the table and quickly ran out of the office.

Steve went to the table and picked up the picture frame, “It’s actually not a bad picture,” he said, his voice softening now that you two were alone.

“May I see it?” you asked, walking over to him.

He handed it to you, and you felt a shiver as your hands brushed each other. It actually was a cute picture, the two of you cuddled up on the couch together.

“Do you want it?” Steve asked you.

“Oh, um, I mean…” you were caught off guard, unsure of what the right answer was. “Yes?”

“Was that a question?”

“I mean, of course I want it! But I only want it if you don’t. James is your friend first, so if you want it you should have it, but of course I would love to take it if you don’t.”

“You should take it, (Y/N). I can just have him print me another.”

You smiled up at Steve, “Thanks.”

The rest of the week seemed to drag on, which you knew was because you were so looking forward to the weekend to celebrate the most glorious of all holidays. Friday night came and you began to prep food for the party. You peeled grapes and put them in the freezer to serve as eyeballs in the witches’ brew punch. You made little witch hats out of Oreos and Hershey’s Kisses that you then encircled with little bands of colorful frosting. Saturday morning you got up and began to bake. You dyed breadstick dough green and shaped it into fingers, placing an almond in as a fingernail. You then got out hot dogs and crescent roll dough and cut arms and legs into the hot dogs before wrapping them in strips of dough to make mummies. Once the baking was complete, you did all the dishes so the counters wouldn’t be cluttered.

You looked at the clock and realized you only had 3 hours before everyone was set to arrive and you were a mess of dough and dishwater. You hopped in the shower, got out, and dried your hair. You did your makeup and curled your hair into big waves. You decided you’d wait until right when people arrived to put your costume on, as you didn’t want to be sitting around in it for longer than you had to. It was a great looking costume, but it wasn’t the most comfortable.

You saw that there was just an hour left until everyone arrived, so you went back into the kitchen to begin setting everything out. You set the table with all of the food and were impressed with yourself with how it had all turned out. With just a half hour until people arrived, you decided to mix up the witches’ brew. You put lime sherbert, sprite, lime-flavored vodka, and some sparkling grape juice into a large plastic cauldron on your table. You then added in the frozen grapes and some gummy worms.

With just 10 minutes to go until 7pm, you decided it was time to get into costume. You made sure the corset was laced properly and used the side-zipper to get your top on. You were hesitant about the hot-pants of your costume, but figured you could just have a blanket around you if you felt embarrassed. You put on your bracelets and secured the crown onto your head. Just as you were putting on your boots, you heard the buzz of the intercom.

“Hello?”

“Hi, (Y/N). It’s getting very crowded down here!” you heard Natasha’s voice and the clamoring of other voices around her.

“Then you all better come in,” you laughed, buzzing them in.

Moments later, there was a knock on the door. You swung it open and saw a very full hallway filled with your costumed coworkers.

“Welcome!”

“Thanks, (Y/N)! Ooh, James is going to be pissed,” she laughed as she looked at your costume, but she quickly changed the subject before you could ask why, “I brought some wine that had a spooky looking label, where would you like it?” Natasha asked as she walked in. She was dressed as Indiana Jones and you saw Bruce behind her, dressed as Lara Croft.

“Hi, (Y/N),” Bruce said without making eye contact as he followed Natasha into the apartment. He looked slightly embarrassed of his costume, as he kept tugging the shorts down, so you knew Natasha had convinced him to wear it.

“Ahhh, (Y/N), you look hot af,” Wanda said hugging you, “I’m so happy to have another person with such an affinity for the supernatural.”

“Did you just finish The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina?” you asked her, seeing her platinum curled wig and the black dress with a white collar.

“Yes and it was amazing!”

“Yes, Sabrina was absolutely fantastic,” Vis said sarcastically, stepping forward from behind her. He was dressed as a black cat, complete with a little tail.

“Salem?” you asked with a laugh.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Vis replied.

“Oh, shut up!” Wanda pushed him into the apartment. “Also, I brought some ghost-shaped cookies!” she yelled as she walked away.

“I have come stag!” Thor proclaimed as he walked through the doorway.

“And dressed as the god of thunder!” you proclaimed right back. You were relieved he hadn’t brought Loki, as you hadn’t spoken to his brother since your date with Steve.

“I’ve had this costume for years. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Thor grinned as he went to the living room.

“Pepper! Long time no see!” you said as Tony and Pepper entered the apartment.

“Which one of us are you talking to?” Tony asked. He and Pepper were dressed in salt and pepper suits, and Tony was dressed as pepper.

“Tony thought it would be funny to be me for Halloween,” Pepper said, rolling her eyes.

“It’s amazing,” you laughed.

“Thank you,” Tony grinned.

“Please, don’t validate him,” Pepper sighed as she and Tony went to the living room.

“(Y/N), hi,” Clint said as he walked in, “This is my wife, Laura.”

“Hi, Laura, so nice to meet you! I hope everything is going well with the new baby.”

“It is a lot,” Laura smiled, “So thank you for this opportunity to get out of the house.”

“I see you’re both dressed in the appropriate costumes for it though!” you replied, seeing they were dressed as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl.

“We decided this year’s family costume would be Incredibles themed since there are five of us now,” Clint grinned.

“That is truly amazing. Please, come on in.”

You looked out into the hallway, but saw that it was empty. Your heart started to race in anticipation, but given that they were so late last time you hosted a party, you tried to calm yourself down. As you closed the door, the intercom buzzed.

“Hello?” you thought your heart was going to pound out of your chest.

“Hi, (Y/N),” Steve’s voice came through the intercom.

You buzzed them in before he could say anything else and what felt like an eternity later you heard a knock on your door.

You yanked the door open and saw Steve and James standing in the hallway. Steve was dressed as Superman, his blonde hair slicked back except for a small curl on his forehead. James stood next to him, dressed as Batman.

“What the hell (Y/N)!” James exclaimed, looking you up and down, “We were trying to do a couple’s costume and you made it weird by having us look like a throuple now!”

You smoothed the Wonder Woman corset over your stomach and anxiously adjusted your crown, “I’m so sorry, I had no idea you were planning to do a couple’s costume together.”

“It’s FINE,” James huffed as he stormed past you.

“We do a couple’s costume every year,” Steve shrugged his shoulders. He looked you up and down, “You look amazing, (Y/N).”

You blushed, “Thanks, Steve. So do you.”

Steve walked into your apartment and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek before going into the living room.

You waited a second for your heart rate to decrease before joining the group. You could hear James grumbling about his ruined costume plans.

“(Y/N), this food is fantastic!” Thor rumbled from the couch.

“And this punch is disgusting and I love it!” Wanda beamed.

“The decorations are amazing,” Natasha said, looking around. “This apartment isn’t that big, where did you store them?”

“I prioritize holiday decorations over all else. I think I own more costumes than I do regular clothes.”

“Then why don’t you go change,” you heard James grumble under his breath.

Steve came and sat next to you with a full plate of food, “Just ignore him,” he whispered to you.

You gave Steve a half smile in reply.

The night continued to be eventful. Wanda shared spooky stories she had encountered in her research. Steve educated everyone about the history of using superhero outfits as costumes for Halloween. Thor choked on a grape. And when “Thriller” came on the playlist, everyone tried their best to do the original dance. James eventually forgave you and decided documentation of you, Steve, and himself in your superhero costumes was necessary and subsequently forced everyone into a photoshoot. Bruce and Vis were not happy with him.

“Well, I think it’s time for us to relieve the sitter,” Clint said, taking a final drink of punch as Laura yawned and stood up.

“Mind if we hitch a ride back home with you?” Natasha asked, pulling Bruce up off the couch.

“We drove you here, it’s not like we would just leave you,” Clint replied, groaning as he stood.

“Didn’t stop you from leaving me that time in Budapest,” Natasha snarked back.

“You and I remember Budapest very differently,” Clint laughed.

“Pepper, are you ready to go home?” Pepper asked Tony.

“Yes, dear. And thank you for FINALLY accepting the costume,” Tony grinned.

“We should probably go as well,” Wanda said, “I have some...things...to attend to at home.”

“Wait, she isn’t actually a witch is she?” you couldn’t help but ask Vis.

“I don’t feel comfortable answering that question,” Vis sighed.

“Well, Steve, should we go too?” James asked.

“Um...yes...I guess we should? Unless (Y/N) needs help cleaning up?” Steve directed the questions at you.

“I think I can manage it,” you replied, your heart fluttering.

“Are you sure?” Steve asked, looking deep into your eyes.

James realized what was happening, “Steve, you know what, maybe you should stay behind and help (Y/N) clean up. I’ll see you tomorrow buddy.”

You said goodbye to everyone and shut the door with a sigh.

“What can I help you with?” Steve asked from behind you, startling you, as you had forgotten he was still there.

“Um, I really just have to put the leftover food in tupperwares and then clean out the punch cauldron. You really don’t have to stay if you have other things to do.”

“You want to break apart the two strongest members of the Justice League?” Steve asked, stepping closer to you.

“I mean, Wonder Woman is definitely the strongest, but I think Batman is actually….”

Steve stopped your words with a kiss, pushing you against the front door. You tried to put your arms around him, but your hands got tangled in his cape and you couldn’t help but start laughing.

“Let’s clean up first, Superman,” you walked into the kitchen, grabbed tupperware containers, and filled them before putting the leftovers in the fridge. Steve poured out the dregs of the cauldron and began to wash it. You filled the dishwasher with plates and cups and straightened up the pillows on the couch.

Steve dried his hands off on a towel and joined you in the living room, “You know, last time I was here you said I could take a look around. Is it possible to get a personal tour?”

“I’d be happy to,” you smiled, “Let’s start at the front door?” You took his hand and led him to the door. “So this is the hallway, it leads everywhere. To the right is the kitchen, straight ahead is the living room/dining room combo, and up there to the left are the bathroom and bedroom.”

“How practical.”

You pulled him to the right, “Here is the kitchen, I believe you’ve been in here before. And if we walk forward we have the dining room and the living room, which are actually just one big room.”

“What a lovely set-up you have here. Brilliantly decorated.”

You blushed, “Then if we go around this way,” you walked him to the hallway again, “We go down a smaller hallway and we have the bathroom on the left,” you opened the bathroom door and flicked on the light, “complete with a Halloween pumpkin soap and all your regular bathroom furnishings. And on the right,” your breath hitched, “Is the bedroom.”

You hesitated for a second before opening the door to the bedroom. You took a deep breath, opened the door, and turned on the light.

“Here in the bedroom, we have the closet, and a dresser, and the,” you gulped, “bed.”

You watched Steve’s eyes roam around the room, and you were thankful you had thought to clean it this morning while the mummies were baking. Steve cleared his throat and you saw he was staring at the picture frame on your nightstand.

“Oh, um, I can explain that,” your heart was racing and you had no idea how you were actually going to explain it.

Steve’s hand tightened around yours and he gently pulled you onto the bed with him, “You don’t have to,” he whispered in your ear before kissing you passionately.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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[pennywisesbitch]

The first time I noticed I had a weight problem, I was about 6 years old. When I went to my cousins doctors appointment with her and the doctor told her she was overweight but that I was too. The doctor poked at my belly and told me I shouldn't eat so much. My cousin laughed at me because we were the same weight but she is two years older than me. Her doctor told me my mother should tell me not to eat so much.

The first time I realized I had an eating issue was about a year after that. When my aunt was cutting up a mango. I was seven. I asked for a few pieces of mango. My aunt went onto explain that it was HER food. She told me I didn't need to eat every time I saw food. She told me that it was rude. And again, with my aunt and my cousins. They took me to a family friends house. They had laid out fruit, chips, candy, drinks. Everything a young kid would love to eat. So, I ate. When we went back to their house I was scolded.

They told me they had never been so embarrassed. Never to eat when someone offers food at their own home. Especially as much as I had. An eight year old...eating food that someone had put out for them…. Outrageous. When my mom picked me up, I was crying. She asked what happened and I told her. I didn't see my cousins for almost a year after.

I started obsessing over food when I was 9. My sister would skip a meal so I would eat it. My dad would have some ice cream so I would have some ice cream. I snuck food into my pocket and ran to my bedroom so no one would see how much I ate in a day. When my dad would ask at the end of the day what I ate I would leave so much out.

I learned my lesson when I was 12. I was diagnosed with diabetes. 200 pounds at 12 years old. I had to change everything. I had to change what I ate and how much. I couldn't eat everything my brother and sister could. It killed me on the inside. And all though I would lose weight, I never failed to find it again.

I gave up after a while. I stopped taking my insulin. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted. I didn't care. I thought nothing bad would happen to me. I never checked my blood sugar because I didn't care. I wanted to eat and nothing could stop me from eating whatever I wanted. I ate half cheesecakes in single sittings. Boxes of candy amd bars of nutella at a time. Cake slices as thick as my thigh. I was putting myself right on deaths door.

Most people had heroin, weed or alcohol. Most had vices like self harm or smoking. Some shop, some gamble. And after a while, my overindulgence, became my vice. If I was happy, I would eat. If I was sad, I would eat. Excited, underwhelmed, stressed, it didn't matter. All I wanted was food in abundance.

But, there came a time, when I looked in the mirror, lifted my shirt and cried. I hated the way my stomach hang over my groin. They way my thighs clung to each other as best friends. My arms waved as I raised them and my chin was in multiples. After I saw this disgusting thing I let myself become, I didn't want food Anymore. After I had moved on my own, I hardly ate. Partly to do with being broke. Regardless, the feeling of hunger became an obsession. The way it felt when I drank water and it fell into my empty stomach was almost mesmerising. I felt so pretty when I was hungry. And when I ate, I would eat the way I did as a child, a lot and all at once. And I still wasn't taking my insulin.

I moved in with my dad. And despite having an amazing boyfriend and a family that loved me, being there made me far more depressed than I ever had been. It was then that I realized how much I still weighed. So, I drank a gallon of water a day to keep me from feeling hungry. I ate the smallest portions I could manage. I started taking my insulin and checking my blood sugar frequently. I was obsessed with weighing myself. Every day I would check and every day it wasn't enough lost. My dads wife noticed I didn't come out of my room for food anymore. One day my dad came home and let himself into my room. And he asked me what I ate today. I told him I don't know. And he said I need to eat. He said my face was pale and my hand is shaking. He said he wants to watch me eat every night. And he did. Every night either after I came home from work or he did. He made sure I ate, at least that one time a day. I was finally losing weight, but not the right way. I'm so thankful now that he made me eat.

Today, I am moved back home. I got my job at the old candy store back. And that's where everything for fucked. I started eating at work. Fudge and caramel corn. I would eat several servings of ice cream. Every day for lunch I would go to subway and get a 6 inch sandwich and four cookies. I would eat 2 with lunch and 2 before I closed the shop. At home it was pizza almost every night. I would get a 24 pack of diet Pepsi every two weeks. I gained weight again. I noticed right away. I ran into one of my moms old work friends and she pointed out how much weight I've gained. And now I'm back where I began. 191 pounds. 19 years old. 5 feet 3 inches tall. I don't want to be like this again. And I won't let it get this far anymore.

[recipereruns]

#TBT Recipe - 'Conversation Hearts - Just Like the Ones From Grade School You Would Analyze on Valentine's Day'

Nothing like the anticipation of a grade school Valentines Day. Classrooms decorated with hearts and dead presidents all month long. Making decorated ‘mailboxes’ for our Valentines. Valentines eve spent hemming and hawing over who was going to get which Valentine? Then carefully choosing the right conversation heart to scotch tape to the envelope. There was a science to choosing which heart to give and there was much analysis over which heart you received.

It was too much pressure for some, so they just chose to give the whole fucking box of hearts. ‘You figure out how I feel about you.’ Now, as an adult, if one were to give me a conversation heart I would just assume they thought I liked candy that tastes like antacid and never trust them again.

To be sure, no sane person ate these because they were good. They are chalky and unpleasant. Calling conversation hearts candy is like calling Carl Buddig Deli Slices ‘meat’. The white ones were tolerable as you could recognize a mint-like flavor. Pink started out okay and took a nosedive on the back end as you picked up the notes of Red No. 5. Brown, yellow, orange and green are all so equally awful it’s like putting Tomi Lahren, Kellyanne Conway, Ann Coulter and Sarah Huckabee Sanders in a line up and asking, ‘Who’s the worst?” Spoiler: ALL OF THEM.

Flavor aside, it was the sentiment that mattered. Waiting to see which one your crush would give you. ‘Be mine’ ‘Love You’ or ‘Marry Me’. For years I waited in vain for an affectionate sentiment while I racked up the ‘Cool Dude’, ‘Rad Pal’ and ‘Great to Copy Off’ hearts. What would have been helpful was if someone would have given me this one:

“You are nice and smart and funny and you look up words in the dictionary faster than anyone. But you are not as cute as (insert blond girl) so I do not like LIKE you. Just wait a few years until your hair grows out and we will all chase you around high school causing you massive confusion and anxiety because you haven’t changed as a person on the inside and because all we ever wanted before was to crack jokes and copy off your tests.”

I present you with a challenge to change the conversation (and FLAVOR) of these hearts with your own creations. Love isn’t something that you need to wait for like a stamp of approval. We all got love already. We don’t need a ‘Be Mine’ from Davey Fee. We just need him to keep laughing at our jokes.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4-ounce packet of unflavored gelatin powder

1 Tbsp of light corn syrup

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

1/8 tsp of salt

2 1-pound boxes of confectioners' sugar, plus more for kneading

Assorted food coloring

Assorted extracts for flavoring

Cooking spray

Edible pen for pouring your heart out

Mini-heart cookie cutter or be skilled with an exact-o

DIRECTIONS:

Whisk the gelatin, corn syrup, vanilla, sald and 1/2 cup of boiling water in a stand mixer bowl until the gelatin dissolves.

Using the paddle attachment, beat in the confectioners' sugar on med-low, 1 cup at a time, to make a stiff, sticky dough.

Transfer the dough to a clean surface and knead, adding more confectioners' sugar as need (up to a 1 cup), until the dough is smooth, about 5 minutes.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Flatten one piece into a disk and cover the rest with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out. Add a FEW drops of food coloring and extract to the center of the dough, fold in the sides and pinch closed, then knead until the color and mystery flavor are distributed.

Coat a large piece of parchment with cooking spray. Roll out the colored dough on the parchment until 1/4  inch thick. Cut into hearts using the cookie cutters or your deft hand. Repeat with remaining dough using different colors and flavors.

Let hearts sit at room temperature, uncovered, until  dry and hard, about 24 hours, flipping half way through.

Write pithy messages on them with edible ink pens.

Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

[rogue-snorunt]

Can I still be nosy? 7, 8, 16, 18, 19, 31, 43, 44

i’m shook because someone actually wanting to get to know my doofy ass ; u ;7. Do you have tattos?Yep! got 3 tho tech one is a two-parter: +The Great Chain from Bioshock with “A man chooses, a slave obeys” quote on left wrist.+ Assassins Creed feathered insignia from the second game on right wrist.+ White ink skeletal angler fish on right side of left calf with its angler wrapping around to left side turning into a branch in which a cute ass fluffy owl sits as its lure.8. Want tattoos?Yep, and I want to get more : Gene’s star tattoo from Outlaw Star; Cardinal and some Daisies ( nana and great nana’s spirit bird and favorite flower) and a crow (my favorite birb) done in a mixed style of abstract and geometric shapes. The Marker from Dead Space with possible “Altmen be Praised” But both a phobia of needles (ironic i know but the tattoos i have already I did as a sort of self forced exposure therapy) and money currently prevent them,16. I’ll love you if…You treat me like a decent human should treat others; give me food, are patient, I am able to relate to you due to similar likes and interests. 18, Most traumatic experience:strap in- this is gonna be long  and I apologize: 

three years old- dad chasing and holding me down and forcing piercing my ears with a needle and an ice cube.six years old - the cat I’ve had an lived since birth and was my only friend: scratching me in the face , it was my fault as I pulled his tail like dumbass kids tend to do, resulting in the cat running outside and getting ran over by my day. i lost my best friend and my right eye that day.16 years old - accidentally getting left behind at a gas station in new jersey because I had to pee and left my phone in the car.

17 years old - Let my fathers dog - Milkshake out before taking a quick shower only to get a knock on the door a few minutes later by a random dude who informed me he had hit Milkshake. there was nothing anyone could do and no place was open so on christmas day I laid in the snowy road with Milkshake while she choked on blood for a couple of minutes and than died.  19 years old - 3 months into driving, a deer running out infront of me and I swerved to miss it resulting me to go off the road on a steep guard rail-less hill. my car got air and I popped all four tires; the frame got shifted 4 inches to the right, bent the control arm, it flipped on its side and my 50 pound toolbox getting thrown my backseat, missing my head by a few inches and smashing into my windshield. my car landed a few feet from a metal pole in a ditch. the only reason I was able to get out was because I happened to have the sun roof open that day and managed to fit through it.   Instead of  going to the hospital after, like the intelligent person I am,  I just went home and slept for 3 days.22 years old - getting rammed from behind doing 75 on the highway by a white truck while trying to pass a semi-truck while driving home for the weekend from college. fishtailing then doing a couple 360′s managing to not hit the semi truck besides me or the truck behind me and stopping inches from hitting the guardrail, facing the opposite direction. again, did not go to hospital; went to my friends restaurant where I worked at the time and just went to sleep on the dining room floor.22 years old - crossing the crosswalk on my way to my friends restaurant and assuming the suv coming down the hill would abide by the laws of this land but instead getting double-tapped by an old lady.  No hospital - went to restaurant and went to sleep in the hallway to the house above the restaurant.23 years old - the head gasket in my 88′ Ford Bronco exploding while driving back to college on a dark and very stormy night. I had to stand in a downpour next to a giant fireball for 2 hours waiting for the cops to come.25 years old - moved to Wisconsin for a bit and while riding the bus to work, a man apparently disapproved of how I was sitting and punched me.Few months later a finch flew into our apartment building and I tried my best but it died in my hands.26 to 27 years old -  Moved back to new york; where my step mom died and her appearance at the wake still fucks me up.Than I began working at a bakery and worked with an unstable man who would black out; scream, throw and break equipment and threatened to hurt/ kill me and lock everyone inside the bakery and burn it.and finally 27 years old: on january 31st - my friend was driving me home before a bad snowstorm hit and we hit black ice and slammed into a tree. the airbag broke my hand; face and glasses and fucked up my ribs, left lung and have a damaged nerve in my neck. The feeling of getting the air knocked out of you and not being to breath and the agony of trying to was the worst pain i’ve ever experienced  in my life and I was in and out of the hospital for 5 years with pancreatitis, kidney stones and infection, ulcers and organ shut downs all at the same time. last: having to put my dog with prostate cancer down after he wasn’t getting better. he died in my lap and it still haunts me.19: a fact about your personality take away the silly manner of speaking and vocab; puns and dumb jokes, pop culture references and goofy mannerisms : I’m just a dumb emotional asshole. 31. Last text message“I can’t help that I’m a slut for grade a memes and maple candy, stop shaming me”43. Sexiest person who comes to mind:tbh, i havent had a thought like this but now that I am @life-is-no-sugarlicking ‘s roy ; gage , dean winchester and ryan goslin come to mind.44. random fact:alot of food advertised as gluten free is naturally so already. Companies like advertising that and repackaging it to sell at a higher price just because they slapped “GLUTEN FREE!” on something they been selling already for years. and its a trap alot of people newly diagnosed with celiac’s are victim too.   Rice; Veggies, Meats, Potatoes, Corn starch, Corn Tortillas, Cheerios, Rice Chex, Fruits, marshmallows, chocolate and gummi worms/bears/etc, also oatmeals are naturally gluten free so you don’t need to buy that special overpriced junk.if it requires a rue (thickener like in gravies and chowder) / is a soup/ requires a binder such as meatballs and meat loaf/  needs to be baked or fried / beer or other alcohol like that  = 99% chance its gluten, don’t eat it! vodka; rum; tequila, i believe gin and apple ale are all gluten free.you can use corn starch in lieu of flour for making gravies and soups Advice? Read the labels for everything. Personally, as long as it doesnt actually contain wheat/wheat by products or gluten, I can have things with “MAY contain..” but everyone is different and more sensitive than others. just be careful and read everything. (soy sauce and corn pops are fucking traps because soy sauce is alot of the times made with soy AND WHEAT so check!!! and corn pops are shitheads because you think “oh! CORNpops! I must be able to have it! cause its CORN pops! FRIGGIN CORN-POPS! CORN!!” NO YOU CANT BECAUSE THOSE SNEAKY MUTHAFECKERS USE WHEAT AS LIKE THE 2ND INGREDIENT AND I AM REALLY SALTY ABOUT IT) 

[owlsshadows]

OiSuga Week Day 4 - aug 23rd: summer festival / team swap

Convince Me (part 4)

When Oikawa suddenly appears at Karasuno after school to ask Sugawara out, the latter has one condition: Oikawa has to convince him of the sincerity of his feelings.

Read on AO3 or down below  (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3)

“Buy me a candy apple,” Oikawa says.

He doesn’t use any sing-song in his voice, no fluttering eyelashes, not even a stupidly dashing smile.

He doesn’t need to.

His flat tone, accompanied by his bored look should be at least a little disheartening. Still, he looks so stunning in his yukata, with a festival mask on top of his head, like someone who’s freshly stepping out of a commercial or some drama – and Sugawara’s poor heart can barely take it. It’s hard enough, the life of a freshman med student, even without the burden that a beautiful boyfriend is. Sleep-deprived and dragged to a summer festival against his will, it takes everything within him not to take Oikawa by the hand and pull him back to the dormitory to the softness of his bed. He would even help Oikawa to wrap him out of his yukata. Gladly.

Yet, he suffers. Because there are certain moments that it’s just impossible to say no to Oikawa. Because, in fact, most moments are like this.

“Ugh,” Sugawara shrugs, looking at Oikawa with mild disgust on his face. “And then take you to the dentist if you break a tooth?”

“Don’t make it sound as if I were the weird one,” Oikawa pouts. “I’ve never met anyone who hated apples before.”

“Here I am,” Sugawara says. “They are sour. And the skin is too waxy. And the texture is just so weirdly crispy. It gives me the chills.”

“If you say so,” Oikawa nods. “You don’t have to eat it. Just buy me one.”

“You promise you won’t break a tooth?” Sugawara asks, honest worry in his tone.

“I’ve never had any issues with my teeth, Suga-chan. Not even cavity,” Oikawa laughs, pulling Sugawara in a half hug. “Anyway, you’re not studying to become a dentist, so you don’t need to worry too much for my teeth.”

“Sorry but I do worry,” Sugawara mumbles into Oikawa’s arm, pushing at it softly, wiggling himself into a more comfortable position while still maintaining contact. “It doesn’t matter if it’s your teeth or your heart or your knee.”

He feels Oikawa’s hold to go rigid at the mention of his knee – the knee that needs special attention, that comes back at the worst moments to remind Oikawa that he is, after all, a mere human. The knee that makes Sugawara consider specializing in orthopedics.

He squeezes his boyfriend’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Call it the eagerness of a med student, I can’t help it. It’s your health and I care,” he says.

A fresh blush blooms on Oikawa’s face. He says nothing, but his eyes widen, his nostrils flare up with the big breath he takes and he bites down on his lower lip. Sugawara has been dating Oikawa for enough time now – little more than half a year, if he counts it from the very beginning when Oikawa first asked him out – to know what this means.

Oikawa’s trying to suppress a squeal.

This level of cute should be illegal especially for someone Oikawa’s height, Sugawara thinks powerless.

“Okay. You get your apple,” he says before he could stop himself, common sense dying at the altar of Oikawa’s charm.

Sugawara shakes his head softly and reaching for Oikawa’s hand he starts to pull his boyfriend. The edges Oikawa’s lips curl up; his eyes relax back to a half-mast.

“Even if you worry for my health?” he teases but his voice is full of adoration and the look in his eyes, against all his efforts, looks more sappy than smoldering.

“You want it, no?” Sugawara says, eyes scanning their environment, searching intently for a stall selling the candy. In the cavalcade of people and colorful little booths standing in a slightly disorderly line, Sugawara relies on his sharper than average eyes to read the signs. He sees places selling cotton candy, corn, choco bananas, sweet little tarts, takoyaki, ramen… and then he spots it, towards the farthermost stalls, the sign that’s undoubtedly apple-shaped.

“This damn thing is getting more and more expensive every year,” he murmurs, mostly to himself. Still, Oikawa seems to have heard it, for he is pausing in his steps.

“You don’t have to, if you hate it so much.”

“You want it, no?” Sugawara repeats, this time staring straight back at his boyfriend.

Oikawa’s cheeks turn pink again. His eyes, warm and clear, reflect the colors of the small paper lanterns around them.

“I do.”

“If you feel bad, you can pay me back by buying takoyaki later,” Sugawara flashes a wide smile, bumping the yukata wearing idiot in the shoulder.

“I don’t feel bad,” Oikawa argues rubbing his shoulder as if he’s really hurt.

“Good. You’ll still buy takoyaki I hope?” Sugawara asks back, winking – and it’s weird because he knows that his winks are not the greatest, they are slightly crooked and sometimes he even winks with both eyes accidentally; but it has an effect on Oikawa that beats everything else.

The taller boy melts and whimpers as he leans into the side of Sugawara, burying his face in Sugawara’s hair. He twists their interlinked hands, entwining his fingers between Sugawara’s and pressing their palms flash against each other.

Despite their difference in height, their hands are almost the same size, fitting perfectly together. While Sugawara’s is warm and a little dry, Oikawa’s is sweaty. Sugawara found it strange at first – for the always impeccable Oikawa to have sweaty hands. Later, he found it just convenient. That little stickiness he had to his hand made holding them all the better.

And now, Sugawara can’t get enough of it.

Holding those hands that can send a ball flying with such velocity that leaves even the enemy team in awe, unable to touch his serve – and being held by them in such a soft, delicate way makes his heart pound loud in his chest.

For Oikawa to fall for him is a mystery he may never come to understand. But he can’t say thanks enough to his own past self, who, contrary to all his insecurities and doubts, still gave Oikawa a chance. That one past Sugawara who challenged Oikawa to convince him of the sincerity of his intentions may just have made the best decision in the entirety of Sugawara’s life.

“I will get you the best takoyaki in town,” Oikawa replies way belated, humming into Sugawara’s ear before pressing his lips to Sugawara’s temple. “I swear.”

“Good. I wouldn’t settle for any mediocre food.”

“I know just this place; they have a stall set up here as well.”

“I believe you,” Sugawara hums, tone teasing.

“Did I ever disappoint?” Oikawa asks back, playing hurt in his pride, raising his free hand to place it theatrically over his heart.

“Well, there was a time I was sure you were suave…”

“You’re implying I’m not.”

“Tooru, I hate to break it to you…”

“Suga-chan, you’re so mean! I thought you love me.”

“I do.”

“Hah! Who would believe you now?” Oikawa turns away, pulling his hand out of Sugawara’s hold with feigned anger.

Sugawara stops him mid-movement, grasping his hand hard and pulling it up to his lips to breathe a kiss on it.

“You?” he asks.

Oikawa’s reply is some indecipherable mumbling, out of which the only words Sugawara catches are “embarrassing” and “idiot”.

It makes Sugawara grin shortly, before he leans up to hook the festival mask off of Oikawa’s head. He uses it as a shield hiding them from the festival crowd as he raises to his tiptoes to press a kiss on the lips of Oikawa.

“Damn you,” Oikawa says. “You can’t even imagine how long I’ve been wanting to kiss you, and now you beat me to it.”

“At least something I win,” Sugawara replies. “Though you have to know it has been really hard on me too, resisting to drag you back to the flat as soon as I saw you all togged up.”

“Yeah,” Oikawa says, lids already half closed as he leans down for another kiss. “You certainly could have kissed me before, you know.”

“Now, you’re the one who’s complaining? I’ve been dragged out on my day off, to do what?”

“Get me a candy apple.”

“Apples are atrocious.”

“So is your social life since uni started,” Oikawa remarks, grabbing Sugawara by the hand and marching confidently over to the stall with the apple sign. “That’s why I decided to drag you out.”

“You can’t really call a date socializing,” Sugawara argues. “Especially if we could just hang out in the dorms. Watch a movie. Order some food.”

“It’s not a date,” Oikawa shakes his head, pulling Sugawara past the stall where candy apples are sold to arrive at a small, familiar sign standing before the next booth.

It’s of the restaurant Tanaka’s sister, Saeko works at.

“You can’t have…” Sugawara starts, before someone throws themselves against him at full speed.

“Suga-saaan!” comes an excited shriek from stomach level in a voice that’s undoubtedly Nishinoya’s.

From behind the stall, his fellow Karasuno members line out all in a bunch – Hinata jumps high in the air yelling his name, Daichi and Asahi comes at him with arms open for a hug. Kageyama and Tsukishima appear to be bickering over something, only stopping their argument for the sake of greeting him. Tanaka, Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita start singing. Yamaguchi and Yachi come out carrying a cake. Lastly, Kiyoko and Saeko appears pushing a small rolling table with knife, forks and plates on it.

Sugawara stands in awe under the pile of Karasuno kids, hugging and squeezing the air out of him. In the crushing hold of all five now third year players he can barely turn his head, but Oikawa still catches his glance, rose dusting his face in an instant.

His voice gets lost in the cacophony of Hinata, Noya and Tanaka speaking over each other, Kageyama shouting something at Tsukishima, Daichi’s attempt to pacify them, and the crackling of the first fireworks starting to bloom on the dusty gray sky.

He can still read the words from Oikawa’s lips, red and plump: “Happy birthday”.

[davidjjohnston3]

/ first love / things of first love / looking on my parents as my first love / who looked on me as her first love / (but) "My Greatest Love' / commitment to truth about love / minjung theology / "total christology" - / returning love to the first love and greatest love (john 3:16) / "The Roommate" - Westfield (NJ) Snow - the Kim brothers - Trader Joe's - Zegna shirtmaker(?) - Tracy Espiritu - "The Faces on the Heights" (2008) - from social media, my governor's school friends, Mona (Monna?) Yao I never met, who made Chingwen stop hating Shanghainese, ECE girl from RU GSE (Graduate School of Education not Governor's School of Environment) - very black eyes - She wanted to buy the Minnie Mouse dress from the Disney Store - Jessie Lee, he drinks a diet coke then goes running - "California" is a frisbee play I thought only I know - Jessie wanted to be my friend or so b/c my brother is excellent - "That play is called California [dumb----] - Always California is a Law School Discussion person whose essay I told her what she meant / where she was going with her past-future but nowadays Millennials etc. can actually form a face-intent without finding themselves first and go forward forever instead of "whatever shrapnel in my back pocket could afford" or people who try to base their plans on available resources instead of aiming then looking for resources / materials.  Jessie told Lydia Han "Take care of yourself" - She was playing DDR at Fusion Ti and not talking to me - I don't remember her last words to me - They were making noodles in Edison - / what did i ever do that was not writing about my friends / alden's vanilla bean ice cream (maria / change mind), 2 everything bagels davidovich, earlier a few ginger coconut candies from h-mart but made in china, coconut oil for brain, MiO energy thing Acai Berry and Ginseng, earlier 8th continent soy milk thing, almond silk, spanish mixed nuts, 7 almonds (obama?) - i had more - avocado butter - drinking canola oil - californian olive oil burns - i have a cold sore - i can't have canned tomatoes anymore - 183 pounds AHC "All His Children" / my password used to be for tassadaromega... canisexmachina... then I changed to impluveam impluveam11 impluveam11et - jaeyoung's son "fullness" - a glass of white wine at centraal the full measure of god's spirit (sauvignon) - mushroom soup i didn't touch - Why did I not follow through on what was demanded not to talk a word with him - the beginning of "Stepfather" - It is clean at the Food Court at Mayfair Mall  - I feel powerless and pure - I will read the paper with you and explain why you should not take "Parasite" as a Gospel message about what has to happen, or... but it is easy for me to promise 'strong benevolence' is better than immediate economic justice or - In my first dream of "Searching For Towards the Eastern Empire" "lily Sarah" moved with her baby wrapped swaddled in light dove gray right to left through the woods to the field / meadow, in a cool spring or so, now past a frozen lake through the colors of "Elizabeth's Nightgown" or the summer colors of 2012 2021 left to right, the whole procession, carrying lanterns too, a bit like Caspar David Friedrich colors and a bit like that frozen lake out in the suburbs of Madison where Nikki called me and the phone vibrated on my heart to tell me Chi Hye tried to call me on Valentine's Day night - I called her - I forget - someone's phone ran out of batteries - the next day we got (?) at (?) Japanese "I really want to eat rice" - and a bit like "Fantasia Night on Bald Mountain" - the procession of the Saints with the lanterns, "we all of us."  The rainy cliff, the Korean refugees(?).  The image from "The Admiral" where the civilians flag Yi Sunshin from the cliffside shore.  In my 645 rendition they are walking, the notes are like babies on their heads.  But the image of the peasants signalling to YSS in another vision are chained together and being gatling gunned which is why I say some people want to kill all Koreans.  Maybe it is because of that short from Apocalypse Now or maybe it is because of and why I named Segalchik "Danilov" from "Enemy at the Gates" the Commissar who wants to build a new world and man and whose dying words are "There will always be rich in love and poor in love," then allowed Koenig to shoot him in the head to draw him out for his "teacher only friend" because I guess enemies are enemies and friends are friends and Russians are loyal, even in failure, like how Nabokov synaesthete said "loyal is like a gold fork," and Putin doesn't forgive traitors.  Putin reminds me of Houellebecq's voice from the end of Particulaires "This book is dedicated to the human race who saw beyond themselves" - as and with the poem from the beginning, "Now that we dwell in the eternal afternoon we can revisit the end of the old world order" - and in the end "the medieval grace and sin" - "ontology of states not space" - I still remember the bruised skin on the cover, which would come from limited beatings or a certain kind of holding sex - My favorite Houellecq poem is "Liquid Birth" from "Art of Struggle" - "This world has never been written of" - It makes me cry like thinking about Kendi's beauty - "It's there, at least possible." - What's Macron up to - He married his teacher(?) - "My thoughts are too complicated" - Putin's too - Russian elementary piano teachers hold the student's hand and split the fingers for toward cantabile - I learned the Goldbergs and the only book I'll touch anymore is Kempff's organ transcriptions with his precise description of pedaling like a certain kind of chapel organ - "Kempff played better than he could (Liszt's Saint Francis preaching to the birds) - and when he played "Berceuse" in 1946 it's like saying to Germany "Dream for a while" defeated in WW2 - He lived to be 95 - father-like.  Wilhelm Kempff is "saenggi(?)" - "Oh [Dave]."  He doesn't try to give, or make.  He just "says."  Like "the wave said what the sea broken once laboriously spoken."  That's why I say he's the best; he's one of the best pianists ever.  "Sospiro" final fioritura - I wrote "sospira" where the piano-teacher is mandatorily retired and euthanised after his best student - Arrau said relax use your soul - I drove through Indiana corn fields listening to his "Emperor Concerto" 1st movement - "Beethoven America power" - but Kempff does'nt rely on his own soul, he "waits for the Spirit of God" or "waits on the Lord' - "asks the sky."  This is why I like Stritch University Francis statue with the birds as well and Francis PP.  St Francis of Assisi from whom Michelangeli claimed to be descended and I bought Michelangeli's op 111 DVD at Seoul Arts Center at the Liszt Society concert actually married his secretary in secret or something and "loaded" pieces whereas Kempff loaded nothing, ABM offered to teach Martha Argerich who is my favorite Andante Spianato like Josephine Park but I don't think she took him up on it, he smoked, he practiced at night, his head exploded(?), he died in Lugano.  A pianist is a pianist (not a brand, franchise, go into teaching).  Jenny / Jaein said I want to be a pianist.  My first "Lullaby" was Idil Biret, IDK if the clock motif left hand is 1 2 3 4 5 6 or 1 2 3 4 5 ().  A steady lake lapping, not a clock.  In "Being Kim Poor" Krystal Jung fell asleep in the rowboat on the lake in Switzerland after the wedding in the chateau and trying to eat / hang out with the caterers.  KP is an ex-soldier, her bodyguard, his friend is a Southerner like those Blackwater / Academi types who got rich quitting SF gov't to do contracting but Paul / Poor won't really.  I thought about Sunny something something cyber stalkers in Whitefish Bay walking up the hill where I also listened to Fifth Season SSWFL later and in the neighborhood of the Obergefell blackout.  "Free firewood" a chopped-up desk - am I an "afterburner" for having a desk and "free."  

The original love-truth-faith-promise.  The Minjung Theology book is "whiteness-words," holiness.  

I feel like I almost arrived all in one piece for a while.  I put on my white shirt.  I weighed 160(?).  The caseworker said she couldn't imagine me another weight.  Pop was writing letters to the caseworker.  I recommended "Whisper of the Heart" to for her son.  

Now I feel like Hananim / God will let 300 saints die young so one sinner can be saved.  "I was born in 1970" - I thought she meant "I became an angel in 1970" maybe.  

[food-advisor]

So Are Microgreens simply Teeny-Tiny greens or What?

Microgreens sound quite lovable and wholesome, right? Vegetables are super, and the whole thing is better whilst you make a tiny version of it. However, you may also surprise, what are microgreens, honestly?

So here’s what you want to realize about what microgreens are, precisely. Plus, why people like them, what they flavor like, their nutritional benefits, a way to use them, a way to develop them, and where to buy them.

What microgreens are

“Microgreens are a modern class of veggies harvested as tender immature greens,” Francesco Di Gioia, Ph. D., assistant professor of Vegetable Crop technological know-how at the Penn nation college of Agricultural Sciences, tells SELF. Those teeny-tiny greens are the seedlings produced with the aid of sprouting the seeds of flowers like veggies, herbs, and a few pseudo-grains (like amaranth and buckwheat), which include wild fit to be eaten species, Di Gioia says.

Somewhere between a sprout and an infant veggie, microgreens are essentially the same plant you’d buy at the grocery shop (like a veggie or herb), at a far in an advance degree of a boom, Tyler Matchett, cofounder of Splash of vegetables, a city microgreens farm in New Brunswick, Canada, tells SELF. “If left to grow, they would become a full-grown vegetable,” Matchett explains. But microgreens are normally harvested just one or two weeks after germination—and as much as four, Di Gioia says, depending at the species—when the plant is just one to 3 inches tall. You snip off the portion of the seedling above the root, which includes the cotyledon (the initial leaf that sprouts out of the seed embryo), the stem, and the first “authentic leaves” of the plant. Bam, you’ve were given a microgreen.

“Microgreens also are known as ‘vegetable confetti’ because they're tiny, stunning greens characterized by a selection of colors and shapes, in addition to through very one of a kind and excessive, from time to time sudden, flavors,” Di Gioia says. There are loads of various kinds of microgreens. Pea, sunflower, broccoli, and radish microgreens are a number of the maximum famous varieties amongst Matchett’s clients. Other sorts encompass beets, Swiss chard, cucumber, candy pea, endive, savoy, Brussels sprouts, mustards, cauliflower, tatsoi, spinach, kohlrabi, mint, basil, sorrel, cauliflower, arugula, collard, fenugreek, carrot, mizuna, corn, turnip, chervil, celery, scallions, and komatsuna.

Why human beings love microgreens

You might be questioning what’s so extremely good about these itty-bitty vegetables. Some things, surely.

1. They’re yummy.

First and most important, those little guys can make a contribution to a surprising quantity of taste and texture to a dish. “A handful of microgreens can enhance quite simple dishes, including coloration, extent, and flavor at the equal time,” Di Gioia says. “chefs love them, and had been the usage of them for years as a garnish or a unique way to feature flavor accents to a dish,” Matchett provides, noting they’re particularly prized for his or her delicate texture and wide array of flavor notes.

What they taste like, precisely, totally relies upon at the plant. “Microgreens can be mild, sweet, bitter, bitter, or can generate more complex flavors in our mouths [like] highly spiced, peppery, or licorice,” Di Gioia says.

“The taste can almost be described as a greater concentrated shape of the vegetable,” Matchett explains. “A highly spiced radish, as an instance, will commonly be spicier in its microgreen shape. And you will get a much wider taste profile, however, you’ll nevertheless recognize it's miles radish—it's just the tastiest radish you have ever eaten.”

2. They’re nutritious.

Microgreens also can upload a further dose of plant goodness to your meal. “Over the previous few years, numerous studies have suggested that microgreens are nutrient-dense, being an awesome source of essential minerals, nutrients, and antioxidants,” Di Gioia says. Whilst “there is a lot of variability among species and developing situations,” as Di Gioia points out, commonly talking microgreens frequently have a more concentration of those micronutrients than their complete-grown counterparts, pound for pound. Many microgreens are four to 6 instances higher in vitamins and antioxidants than the grown plant, consistent with the U.S. Countrywide Library of medicine.

In 2012 observe, USDA and college of Maryland researchers evaluated the diet and antioxidant content of 25 commonplace microgreens. They located that even though there was a variety of variations among the species, in popular microgreens had markedly better concentrations of nutrients and carotenoids (a kind of antioxidant) than complete-grown plant life. As an example, pink cabbage microgreens had greater than 40 times the vitamin E content and 28.6 instances the lutein-zeaxanthin concentration (two sorts of carotenoids) than absolutely grown crimson cabbage.

In 2016 have a look at published within the magazine of meals Composition and evaluation, researchers have done a controlled experiment by planting a hundred lettuce seeds, then randomly harvesting one kilogram of microgreens weeks after germination, and one kilogram of mature lettuce 10 weeks after germination. They determined that compared to the mature lettuce, the microgreens had been on average a drastically better source of the maximum of the minerals they measured—which include calcium ( times as an awful lot as mature lettuce), iron (1.Nine instances as lots), manganese (nine.3 times as a whole lot), zinc (1.6 times as much), and selenium (five times as much).

Three. They’re smooth and fun to grow.

While you can buy freshly harvested microgreens, a part of the appeal for a few folks is growing the little vegetation for themselves. “people love the opportunity to self-produce microgreens and devour their very own fresh vegetables,” Di Gioia says. Microgreens make the enjoyment of growing your very own meals more available to town dwellers and novices because they require little or no area and upkeep, Di Gioia explains. And you don’t want to have a green thumb or ton of patience to develop them successfully, seeing that they’re low-protection and equipped to reap inside days.

The grow-your-very own-meals aspect of microgreens has grown to be especially appealing and sensible this yr, with humans seeking to reduce down on trips to the grocery shop, Di Gioia says. “in the course of the pandemic, plenty of humans have changed their purchasing conduct, and lots of started to produce their very own veggies, together with microgreens, just to keep away from going to the supermarket every other day,” Di Gioia says. “now not everybody has a lawn, and microgreens provide the possibility to supply fresh greens even in a condominium or the basement of a small residence.”

The way to add more microgreens on your eating regimen Microgreens are flexible and experimentation-pleasant. You may use them as a fresh garnish on pretty much any savory dish—soup, pasta, grain bowls, stir-fries, avocado toast, eggs, baked potatoes, casseroles roasted greens, meat, or fish. Matchett’s clients love sprinkling microgreens on hot pizza, the use of a gaggle in a salad, throwing them in an inexperienced smoothie, or using them in the region of lettuce on a burger or sandwich. “some humans even cross as a long way as to lead them to into a delectable pesto,” Matchett says.

As for in which to get your microgreens? You can purchase seeds, trays, and growing mediums (generally soil mixes or fiber mats) for quite cheap from any local gardening center or online seed dealer, Matchett says. He recommends the true Leaf market for seeds and materials (also bought thru Amazon), in addition to Terrafibre emblem hemp grow mats ($16, Amazon). Many seed organizations additionally sell incredible-convenient (even though pricier) developing kits that include the whole thing you want to get began, Di Gioia says—seed mixes, trays, growing mediums, and commands. Di Gioia unearths Johnny decided on Seeds to be the all-around maximum dependable seller for satisfactory seeds and growing kits. “they have got a full catalog just for microgreens and provide statistics on seed quality (germinability, seed weight), days from sowing to reap, seeding density, and flavor of the precise microgreens,” he says. (in case you’re going the DIY direction with simply seeds rather than a growing package, check out Di Gioia’s step-by using-step growing manual right here.)

And if developing your microgreens appears like extra of a pain in the butt than a laugh interest, no worries. As a hobby in microgreens grows, they’re turning into greater extensively to be had to customers, Di Gioia says. You should buy fresh microgreens from neighborhood providers, like farmers' markets or city farms (strive to google “microgreens close to me”), as well as, increasingly, supermarkets.

“I would just like to inspire human beings to strive them out,” Matchett says. “Even in case you aren't partial to veggies often, pick up a percent from a nearby farmer if you may find them to your vicinity, and upload it in your favored meals. I do not suppose you'll be dissatisfied.”

All products featured on SELF are independently selected by using our editors. But, when you purchase something through our retail hyperlinks, we may also earn an associate commission.

[lionwall08-blog]

candy pork

What’s in a cooking repertoire? Is it basics, like how to make rice and a go-to method for roasting chicken? Is it your family’s classics, like a plum cake or the roast a cousin makes on Christmas Eve? Is it a collection of durable, flexible recipes that might be the last you ever need? I’ve been thinking about this since getting Jessica Battiliana’s first cookbook, Repertoire, this spring. I loved the concept immediately: the recipes she relies on most — not demanding but rewarding; not fancy, but special. There are recipes for parmesan chicken cutlets, meatballs, and a simplified eggplant parmesan; chicken tortilla soup, pretzel rolls, and corn fritters. There’s a recipe for the thing that most quickly went into my repertoire — a negroni (although I made it boulevardier-style) and potato chips (spoiler: they’re from a bag) — and birthday cakes too. But it was this candy pork that I couldn’t forget about, and I’m so glad I chose it, well, second.

[I wondered what my cooking repertoire would look like but realized with 1200 recipes in the archives and 105 in each of my cookbooks, it’s probably a little late for that, as I could never choose, although I did my best here.]

Battilana is a food columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle but also works on cookbooks, such as the incredible Vietnamese Home Cooking book (we made the pho here) from Charles Phan. From Phan, she learned about Vietnamese-style caramel sauces laced with Thai chilies, ginger, garlic, and shallots. At his restaurant, The Slanted Door, it’s applied to clay-pot chicken but in Repertoire it’s used to braise chunks of pork shoulder and it’s one of the best things I’ve made this year. [Her kids call it candy pork because kids know: nobody can resist candy.]

There are so many things I like about it: a more salty-than-sweet sauce that’s glossy and dark, the short ingredient list that’s still wildly complex with flavor, the fact that it cooks so much faster than a full pork shoulder, and you can use the braising time to have fun with sides, like rice, and vegetables, or, I don’t know, snack on a negroni and potato chips, right? It was kid-friendly and the leftovers were perfect, which means it’s real life friendly too. And with a name like candy pork, how could you not want to make on the rainy, cold pre-Halloween weekend we have ahead?

Some news! Speaking of kid-friendly… This month I start as columnist for Bon Appetít, with a focus on cooking for kids without descending into a steady diet of halved grapes and chicken nuggets (although I, in fact, adore chicken nuggets). It’s called “Picky Eaters Club” and the first column is in the November issue, on newsstands now, and online right here. The recipe is for a hearty dinner strata with heaps of mushrooms, kale, and leeks bound with cubes of sourdough (I prefer whole wheat, if you can find it), eggs, and cheese, glorious cheese (which seals the deal) and I hope you love it as much as we do.

Previously

One year ago: Sausage and Potato Roast with Arugula and Bakery-Style Butter Cookies Two years ago: Russian Honey Cake and Pumpkin Bread Three years ago: Cannoli Pound Cake and The Broccoli Roast Four years ago: Better Chocolate Babka and Fall-Toush Salad Five years ago: Purple Plum Torte and Lazy Pizza Dough + Favorite Margherita Pizza Six years ago: (Quick) Chicken Noodle Soup and Pancetta, White Bean, and Swiss Chard Pot Pies Seven years ago: Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble Eight years ago: Roasted Eggplant Soup and Apple and Cheddar Scones Nine years ago: Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp and Jalapeno Cheddar Scones Ten years ago: Beef, Leek and Barley Soup and My Family’s Noodle Kugel Eleven years ago: Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette and Pumpkin Bread Pudding [New!] Twelve years ago: Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons

And for the other side of the world: Six Months Ago: Crispy Tofu Pad Thai 1.5 Years Ago: Granola Bark 2.5 Years Ago: Carrot Tahini Muffins 3.5 Years Ago: Carrot Graham Layer Cake, Wild Mushroom Pate, and Why You Should Always Toast Your Nuts 4.5 Years Ago: Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms

Candy Pork

Servings: 6 to 8

Time: 2hr 30mins

Source: Repertoire

Print

Don’t be intimidated by the word caramel — Battilana’s instructions are perfect, and it’s a cinch.

8 ounces palm sugar, finely chopped, or 1 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup fish sauce

3 tablespoons canola or another neutral oil

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch-by-3-inch chunks

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup thinly sliced shallots

1 (2-inch-by-1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and julienned

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 to 3 Thai chilies (or 1 serrano), stemmed and thinly sliced

3 cups coconut water

Put the palm or brown sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until the sugar melts, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently so the sugar doesn’t scorch. When the sugar is smooth and completely melted, remove the pan from the heat and slowly stir in the fish sauce. The mixture may seize; if it does, return it to low heat and continue stirring until smooth.

Heat your oven to 300°F.

In a large Dutch oven over high heat — I use this pot for this, and most braises, although it exists at many lower price points — heat the canola oil. Season the pork pieces on all sides with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, add some of the pieces of pork and sear until well browned on all sides, estimated at 8 minutes, but this part took me muh longer. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pork.

When all the pork has been browned, reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots. Cook, stirring, until the shallots are softened, about 2 minutes, then add the ginger, garlic, and chilies and cook 1 minute more.

Return the pork and any accumulated juices to the pot and add the caramel sauce and coconut water. The pieces of meat should poke up above the level of the liquid; if they’re completely submerged, transfer the meat and liquid to a different pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so the liquid is simmering. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven.

After 15 minutes of cooking, peek under the lid to check that the liquid is simmering gently. If it’s bubbling very vigorously, reduce the oven temperature to 275°F for the remaining cooking time. Cook the pork with the lid back on for 70 minutes—the meat should be tender but not falling apart. Uncover the pot and continue cooking for 30 minutes more, until the exposed bits of pork are caramelized and the meat is tender that a chunk can easily be pulled back with a fork, as you hope it will on your plate. Remove from the oven and serve with rice.

[We also had some yellow wax beans (trimmed, cooked for 2 minutes, plunged in ice water, then drained), carrots (I cut them with a julienne peeler and doused them with a a couple glugs of rice vinegar, an equal amount of water, plus sugar and salt to taste and let them sit in the fridge and lightly pickle until the pork was done and up to two days, then drizzled it with a little toasted sesame oil before eating) and I put extra sliced scallions and chiles on the side so the adults who like them could add them to their plates to taste.]

Source: https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/10/candy-pork/

[visiononion28-blog]

candy pork

What’s in a cooking repertoire? Is it basics, like how to make rice and a go-to method for roasting chicken? Is it your family’s classics, like a plum cake or the roast a cousin makes on Christmas Eve? Is it a collection of durable, flexible recipes that might be the last you ever need? I’ve been thinking about this since getting Jessica Battiliana’s first cookbook, Repertoire, this spring. I loved the concept immediately: the recipes she relies on most — not demanding but rewarding; not fancy, but special. There are recipes for parmesan chicken cutlets, meatballs, and a simplified eggplant parmesan; chicken tortilla soup, pretzel rolls, and corn fritters. There’s a recipe for the thing that most quickly went into my repertoire — a negroni (although I made it boulevardier-style) and potato chips (spoiler: they’re from a bag) — and birthday cakes too. But it was this candy pork that I couldn’t forget about, and I’m so glad I chose it, well, second.

[I wondered what my cooking repertoire would look like but realized with 1200 recipes in the archives and 105 in each of my cookbooks, it’s probably a little late for that, as I could never choose, although I did my best here.]

Battilana is a food columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle but also works on cookbooks, such as the incredible Vietnamese Home Cooking book (we made the pho here) from Charles Phan. From Phan, she learned about Vietnamese-style caramel sauces laced with Thai chilies, ginger, garlic, and shallots. At his restaurant, The Slanted Door, it’s applied to clay-pot chicken but in Repertoire it’s used to braise chunks of pork shoulder and it’s one of the best things I’ve made this year. [Her kids call it candy pork because kids know: nobody can resist candy.]

There are so many things I like about it: a more salty-than-sweet sauce that’s glossy and dark, the short ingredient list that’s still wildly complex with flavor, the fact that it cooks so much faster than a full pork shoulder, and you can use the braising time to have fun with sides, like rice, and vegetables, or, I don’t know, snack on a negroni and potato chips, right? It was kid-friendly and the leftovers were perfect, which means it’s real life friendly too. And with a name like candy pork, how could you not want to make on the rainy, cold pre-Halloween weekend we have ahead?

Some news! Speaking of kid-friendly… This month I start as columnist for Bon Appetít, with a focus on cooking for kids without descending into a steady diet of halved grapes and chicken nuggets (although I, in fact, adore chicken nuggets). It’s called “Picky Eaters Club” and the first column is in the November issue, on newsstands now, and online right here. The recipe is for a hearty dinner strata with heaps of mushrooms, kale, and leeks bound with cubes of sourdough (I prefer whole wheat, if you can find it), eggs, and cheese, glorious cheese (which seals the deal) and I hope you love it as much as we do.

Previously

One year ago: Sausage and Potato Roast with Arugula and Bakery-Style Butter Cookies Two years ago: Russian Honey Cake and Pumpkin Bread Three years ago: Cannoli Pound Cake and The Broccoli Roast Four years ago: Better Chocolate Babka and Fall-Toush Salad Five years ago: Purple Plum Torte and Lazy Pizza Dough + Favorite Margherita Pizza Six years ago: (Quick) Chicken Noodle Soup and Pancetta, White Bean, and Swiss Chard Pot Pies Seven years ago: Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble Eight years ago: Roasted Eggplant Soup and Apple and Cheddar Scones Nine years ago: Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp and Jalapeno Cheddar Scones Ten years ago: Beef, Leek and Barley Soup and My Family’s Noodle Kugel Eleven years ago: Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette and Pumpkin Bread Pudding [New!] Twelve years ago: Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons

And for the other side of the world: Six Months Ago: Crispy Tofu Pad Thai 1.5 Years Ago: Granola Bark 2.5 Years Ago: Carrot Tahini Muffins 3.5 Years Ago: Carrot Graham Layer Cake, Wild Mushroom Pate, and Why You Should Always Toast Your Nuts 4.5 Years Ago: Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms

Candy Pork

Servings: 6 to 8

Time: 2hr 30mins

Source: Repertoire

Print

Don’t be intimidated by the word caramel — Battilana’s instructions are perfect, and it’s a cinch.

8 ounces palm sugar, finely chopped, or 1 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup fish sauce

3 tablespoons canola or another neutral oil

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch-by-3-inch chunks

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup thinly sliced shallots

1 (2-inch-by-1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and julienned

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 to 3 Thai chilies (or 1 serrano), stemmed and thinly sliced

3 cups coconut water

Put the palm or brown sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until the sugar melts, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently so the sugar doesn’t scorch. When the sugar is smooth and completely melted, remove the pan from the heat and slowly stir in the fish sauce. The mixture may seize; if it does, return it to low heat and continue stirring until smooth.

Heat your oven to 300°F.

In a large Dutch oven over high heat — I use this pot for this, and most braises, although it exists at many lower price points — heat the canola oil. Season the pork pieces on all sides with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, add some of the pieces of pork and sear until well browned on all sides, estimated at 8 minutes, but this part took me muh longer. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pork.

When all the pork has been browned, reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots. Cook, stirring, until the shallots are softened, about 2 minutes, then add the ginger, garlic, and chilies and cook 1 minute more.

Return the pork and any accumulated juices to the pot and add the caramel sauce and coconut water. The pieces of meat should poke up above the level of the liquid; if they’re completely submerged, transfer the meat and liquid to a different pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so the liquid is simmering. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven.

After 15 minutes of cooking, peek under the lid to check that the liquid is simmering gently. If it’s bubbling very vigorously, reduce the oven temperature to 275°F for the remaining cooking time. Cook the pork with the lid back on for 70 minutes—the meat should be tender but not falling apart. Uncover the pot and continue cooking for 30 minutes more, until the exposed bits of pork are caramelized and the meat is tender that a chunk can easily be pulled back with a fork, as you hope it will on your plate. Remove from the oven and serve with rice.

[We also had some yellow wax beans (trimmed, cooked for 2 minutes, plunged in ice water, then drained), carrots (I cut them with a julienne peeler and doused them with a a couple glugs of rice vinegar, an equal amount of water, plus sugar and salt to taste and let them sit in the fridge and lightly pickle until the pork was done and up to two days, then drizzled it with a little toasted sesame oil before eating) and I put extra sliced scallions and chiles on the side so the adults who like them could add them to their plates to taste.]

Source: https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/10/candy-pork/

[rainhorn6-blog]

Quick Summer Squash & Tomato Sauté ♥

A simple-simple skillet sauté, an answer to the summer vegetables that pile up from the garden-grocery and appear in mounds in the corner-grocery. It's just barely cooked summer squash (for color, both green-skinned zucchini and sunny-colored yellow squash) with a pile of garlic and a little tomato. Low Carb. Very Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly.

Holding out on you? Not intentionally! Way back in 2013, I concluded that this quick, summery vegetable sauté was just "too simple" for A Veggie Venture. But I kept making it, one summer after another. And five years later? I t-h-r-i-v-e on simple recipes! Maybe readers do too?

Call me a recipe minimalist: a funny description for someone who's been collecting and sharing recipes since she was about 10 years old, an unlikely orientation for someone who's called herself a food writer / food blogger since 2002.

But I find myself wanting fewer, not more, recipes. I want them to fit a 3x5 recipe card or easily commit to memory. I want them to call for ingredients that are easy to find and nearly always on hand. I want them to ebb and flow from meal to meal. And because of – well, this – I want my now 92-year old father who abhors anything "mushy" to not turn up his nose at more vegetables. (For the record, he has no idea how many vegetables and healthy calories I sneak in, thank you Green Smoothies.)

Quick Summer Squash Sauté definitely qualifies on all measures. Since 2013, I've made one skilletful after another, some times as a simple side for dinner but more often as bed for breakfast eggs. Once, on a warm, late-summer evening? I nestled smoked chops in the vegetables: so pretty, so seasonal, so wonderful.

I suppose you could call it a barely-cooked, one-skillet Ratatouille, minus the eggplant. It's especially pretty when made with two different kinds of summer squash, I'm partial to green-skinned zucchini and yellow-skinned yellow squash and the tiny red and yellow tomatoes our garden spits out from now until early fall, so sweet, I call them garden candy. If you have just-harvested garlic, all the better.

This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a growing collection of easy summer recipes published all summer long ever since 2009 at Kitchen Parade, my food column. With a free Kitchen Parade e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!

RECIPE for QUICK SUMMER SQUASH & TOMATO SAUTÉ

Hands-on time: 10 minutes Time to table: 20 minutes Serves 4

Chop all the vegetables (except maybe the tomatoes) before beginning to cook, this will cook quick-quick!

1 tablespoon olive oil 5 cloves garlic, slivered 1/2 pound (225g) small- to medium-size zucchini, sliced in half moons 1/2 pound (225g) small- to medium-size yellow squash, sliced in half moons 1 cup cherry or grape or similar small tomatoes, halved or quartered Salt & pepper to taste but be generous Fresh herbs, chopped, think dill, basil, oregano & parsley

Heat the oil until shimmery on medium high in a large skillet, cast iron works, so does non-stick. Stir in the garlic and let cook, just barely for lots of garlic flavor, until golden for something warmer and more "cooked". Stir in the zucchini and yellow squash, coating with oil, and let cook, stirring occasionally just until barely cooked. Stir in the tomatoes, stir occasionally just until they begin to throw off their juices. Season generously with salt and pepper. Stir in fresh herbs, let cook just a minute or two, until the herbs are warm but not really "cooked".

Serve warm or at room temperature.

VARIATIONS: OH so MANY! PUT AN EGG ON TOP Fry some eggs (you can even use the same skillet, just move the veggies to a serving bowl or serving plate first) or poach some eggs (I use the Cook's Illustrated technique, How to Poach a Perfect Egg) or our recent favorite is soft-cooked eggs (recipe coming soon). Or! Use the back of a spoon to create shallow depressions in the vegetables and plop the eggs right in. Then bake in the oven at 350F/180C for 10 - 15 minutes. DRIZZLE SOMETHING MILKY ON TOP I've used several sauces, the Yogurt-Mint Sauce from Afghan Eggplant & Tomato Casserole (Borani Banjan) and the Buttermilk-Yogurt Sauce from Roasted Eggplant with Pomegranate and even this back-in-my-repertoire Buttermilk Garlic Salad Dressing, it's my "ranch" dressing and I make it over and over in one variation after another. VEGGIE HASH For something more akin to hash, cut the summer squash into small cubes. Small pieces are also the way to stretttttch vegetables among more people. HAPPY ADDITIONS & SUBSTITUTIONS Slivered onion or minced jalapeño or minced/cubed poblano (cook these by themselves, briefly, before adding the garlic). Okra and bell pepper (cut the same size as the summer squash, cook along with the summer squash). Olives (quartered, add near the end.) When summer tomatoes finally come in, cut up a whole tomato instead of the small tomatoes.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving: 61 Calories; 4g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 8mg Sodium; 7g Carb; 2g Fiber; 2g Sugar; 2g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS WW Old Points 1, WW PointsPlus 2, WW SmartPoints 2, WW Freestyle 1 CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 1=2/3 serving (3g protein).

Still Hungry?

NEVER MISS A RECIPE!

For "home delivery" of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be automatically delivered straight to your e-mail In Box.

MORE FAVORITE SIMPLE ZUCCHINI & YELLOW SQUASH RECIPES

~ Simple Zucchini Ribbon Salad ~ ~ Feta-Stuffed Zucchini ~ ~ Zucchini with Tomatoes & Cheddar ~

~ Yellow Squash Soup with Spinach: Early Autumn Leaves in Soup ~ ~ Israeli Couscous Salad with Yellow Squash & Sun-Dried Tomatoes ~ ~ Yellow Summer Squash Casserole ~

~ more summer squash recipes ~ from A Veggie Venture

~ Zucchini Spiral "Noodle" Salad ~ ~ Carrot & Zucchini Bread ~ ~ Mediterranean Eggplant ~ ~ more summer squash recipes ~ from Kitchen Parade, my food column

SEASONAL EATING: THIS SAME WEEK ACROSS THE YEARS

No-Cook Tabbouleh (a summer staple in my kitchen) Eggplant Sandwiches with Cilantro Hummus Summer Orzo with Radicchio Chipotle Chickpea Salad (reader favorite!) Avocado Salad with Hearts of Palm BLTs with Avocado King Hill Farms Simple & Sublime Beets (for beet lovers) Amaranth Greens More Matters: The New Fruits & Veggies Campaign Grilled Eggplant with Balsamic Honey Syrup Romano Beans in Butter-Braised Garlic (watch for romano beans at the farmers market) Seared Radicchio Weight Watchers Italian Zero Points Soup Tomato & Onion Salad Stacked Ratatouille (totally versatile!) Sautéed Cucumbers How to Cut Corn Off the Cob: Keeping All Ten Fingers, Capturing Every Delicious Kernel and Every Drop of Sweet Corn "Milk" Corn & Cucumber Salad with Fresh Blueberries Succotash Salad with Green Beans, Lima Beans, Corn & Tomatoes Raw Tomatillo Salad with Blueberries (lovin' this year's blueberries!) Pretty Ways to Serve Summer's Best Tomatoes Loaded Iceberg Steaks with Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2018

Source: http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/2018/07/quick-summer-squash-tomato-saute.html

[citypillow2-blog]

Quick Summer Squash & Tomato Sauté ♥

A simple-simple skillet sauté, an answer to the summer vegetables that pile up from the garden-grocery and appear in mounds in the corner-grocery. It's just barely cooked summer squash (for color, both green-skinned zucchini and sunny-colored yellow squash) with a pile of garlic and a little tomato. Low Carb. Very Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly.

Holding out on you? Not intentionally! Way back in 2013, I concluded that this quick, summery vegetable sauté was just "too simple" for A Veggie Venture. But I kept making it, one summer after another. And five years later? I t-h-r-i-v-e on simple recipes! Maybe readers do too?

Call me a recipe minimalist: a funny description for someone who's been collecting and sharing recipes since she was about 10 years old, an unlikely orientation for someone who's called herself a food writer / food blogger since 2002.

But I find myself wanting fewer, not more, recipes. I want them to fit a 3x5 recipe card or easily commit to memory. I want them to call for ingredients that are easy to find and nearly always on hand. I want them to ebb and flow from meal to meal. And because of – well, this – I want my now 92-year old father who abhors anything "mushy" to not turn up his nose at more vegetables. (For the record, he has no idea how many vegetables and healthy calories I sneak in, thank you Green Smoothies.)

Quick Summer Squash Sauté definitely qualifies on all measures. Since 2013, I've made one skilletful after another, some times as a simple side for dinner but more often as bed for breakfast eggs. Once, on a warm, late-summer evening? I nestled smoked chops in the vegetables: so pretty, so seasonal, so wonderful.

I suppose you could call it a barely-cooked, one-skillet Ratatouille, minus the eggplant. It's especially pretty when made with two different kinds of summer squash, I'm partial to green-skinned zucchini and yellow-skinned yellow squash and the tiny red and yellow tomatoes our garden spits out from now until early fall, so sweet, I call them garden candy. If you have just-harvested garlic, all the better.

This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a growing collection of easy summer recipes published all summer long ever since 2009 at Kitchen Parade, my food column. With a free Kitchen Parade e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!

RECIPE for QUICK SUMMER SQUASH & TOMATO SAUTÉ

Hands-on time: 10 minutes Time to table: 20 minutes Serves 4

Chop all the vegetables (except maybe the tomatoes) before beginning to cook, this will cook quick-quick!

1 tablespoon olive oil 5 cloves garlic, slivered 1/2 pound (225g) small- to medium-size zucchini, sliced in half moons 1/2 pound (225g) small- to medium-size yellow squash, sliced in half moons 1 cup cherry or grape or similar small tomatoes, halved or quartered Salt & pepper to taste but be generous Fresh herbs, chopped, think dill, basil, oregano & parsley

Heat the oil until shimmery on medium high in a large skillet, cast iron works, so does non-stick. Stir in the garlic and let cook, just barely for lots of garlic flavor, until golden for something warmer and more "cooked". Stir in the zucchini and yellow squash, coating with oil, and let cook, stirring occasionally just until barely cooked. Stir in the tomatoes, stir occasionally just until they begin to throw off their juices. Season generously with salt and pepper. Stir in fresh herbs, let cook just a minute or two, until the herbs are warm but not really "cooked".

Serve warm or at room temperature.

VARIATIONS: OH so MANY! PUT AN EGG ON TOP Fry some eggs (you can even use the same skillet, just move the veggies to a serving bowl or serving plate first) or poach some eggs (I use the Cook's Illustrated technique, How to Poach a Perfect Egg) or our recent favorite is soft-cooked eggs (recipe coming soon). Or! Use the back of a spoon to create shallow depressions in the vegetables and plop the eggs right in. Then bake in the oven at 350F/180C for 10 - 15 minutes. DRIZZLE SOMETHING MILKY ON TOP I've used several sauces, the Yogurt-Mint Sauce from Afghan Eggplant & Tomato Casserole (Borani Banjan) and the Buttermilk-Yogurt Sauce from Roasted Eggplant with Pomegranate and even this back-in-my-repertoire Buttermilk Garlic Salad Dressing, it's my "ranch" dressing and I make it over and over in one variation after another. VEGGIE HASH For something more akin to hash, cut the summer squash into small cubes. Small pieces are also the way to stretttttch vegetables among more people. HAPPY ADDITIONS & SUBSTITUTIONS Slivered onion or minced jalapeño or minced/cubed poblano (cook these by themselves, briefly, before adding the garlic). Okra and bell pepper (cut the same size as the summer squash, cook along with the summer squash). Olives (quartered, add near the end.) When summer tomatoes finally come in, cut up a whole tomato instead of the small tomatoes.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving: 61 Calories; 4g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 8mg Sodium; 7g Carb; 2g Fiber; 2g Sugar; 2g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS WW Old Points 1, WW PointsPlus 2, WW SmartPoints 2, WW Freestyle 1 CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 1=2/3 serving (3g protein).

Still Hungry?

NEVER MISS A RECIPE!

For "home delivery" of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be automatically delivered straight to your e-mail In Box.

MORE FAVORITE SIMPLE ZUCCHINI & YELLOW SQUASH RECIPES

~ Simple Zucchini Ribbon Salad ~ ~ Feta-Stuffed Zucchini ~ ~ Zucchini with Tomatoes & Cheddar ~

~ Yellow Squash Soup with Spinach: Early Autumn Leaves in Soup ~ ~ Israeli Couscous Salad with Yellow Squash & Sun-Dried Tomatoes ~ ~ Yellow Summer Squash Casserole ~

~ more summer squash recipes ~ from A Veggie Venture

~ Zucchini Spiral "Noodle" Salad ~ ~ Carrot & Zucchini Bread ~ ~ Mediterranean Eggplant ~ ~ more summer squash recipes ~ from Kitchen Parade, my food column

SEASONAL EATING: THIS SAME WEEK ACROSS THE YEARS

No-Cook Tabbouleh (a summer staple in my kitchen) Eggplant Sandwiches with Cilantro Hummus Summer Orzo with Radicchio Chipotle Chickpea Salad (reader favorite!) Avocado Salad with Hearts of Palm BLTs with Avocado King Hill Farms Simple & Sublime Beets (for beet lovers) Amaranth Greens More Matters: The New Fruits & Veggies Campaign Grilled Eggplant with Balsamic Honey Syrup Romano Beans in Butter-Braised Garlic (watch for romano beans at the farmers market) Seared Radicchio Weight Watchers Italian Zero Points Soup Tomato & Onion Salad Stacked Ratatouille (totally versatile!) Sautéed Cucumbers How to Cut Corn Off the Cob: Keeping All Ten Fingers, Capturing Every Delicious Kernel and Every Drop of Sweet Corn "Milk" Corn & Cucumber Salad with Fresh Blueberries Succotash Salad with Green Beans, Lima Beans, Corn & Tomatoes Raw Tomatillo Salad with Blueberries (lovin' this year's blueberries!) Pretty Ways to Serve Summer's Best Tomatoes Loaded Iceberg Steaks with Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2018

Source: http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/2018/07/quick-summer-squash-tomato-saute.html

[watchend76-blog]

candy pork

What’s in a cooking repertoire? Is it basics, like how to make rice and a go-to method for roasting chicken? Is it your family’s classics, like a plum cake or the roast a cousin makes on Christmas Eve? Is it a collection of durable, flexible recipes that might be the last you ever need? I’ve been thinking about this since getting Jessica Battiliana’s first cookbook, Repertoire, this spring. I loved the concept immediately: the recipes she relies on most — not demanding but rewarding; not fancy, but special. There are recipes for parmesan chicken cutlets, meatballs, and a simplified eggplant parmesan; chicken tortilla soup, pretzel rolls, and corn fritters. There’s a recipe for the thing that most quickly went into my repertoire — a negroni (although I made it boulevardier-style) and potato chips (spoiler: they’re from a bag) — and birthday cakes too. But it was this candy pork that I couldn’t forget about, and I’m so glad I chose it, well, second.

[I wondered what my cooking repertoire would look like but realized with 1200 recipes in the archives and 105 in each of my cookbooks, it’s probably a little late for that, as I could never choose, although I did my best here.]

Battilana is a food columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle but also works on cookbooks, such as the incredible Vietnamese Home Cooking book (we made the pho here) from Charles Phan. From Phan, she learned about Vietnamese-style caramel sauces laced with Thai chilies, ginger, garlic, and shallots. At his restaurant, The Slanted Door, it’s applied to clay-pot chicken but in Repertoire it’s used to braise chunks of pork shoulder and it’s one of the best things I’ve made this year. [Her kids call it candy pork because kids know: nobody can resist candy.]

There are so many things I like about it: a more salty-than-sweet sauce that’s glossy and dark, the short ingredient list that’s still wildly complex with flavor, the fact that it cooks so much faster than a full pork shoulder, and you can use the braising time to have fun with sides, like rice, and vegetables, or, I don’t know, snack on a negroni and potato chips, right? It was kid-friendly and the leftovers were perfect, which means it’s real life friendly too. And with a name like candy pork, how could you not want to make on the rainy, cold pre-Halloween weekend we have ahead?

Some news! Speaking of kid-friendly… This month I start as columnist for Bon Appetít, with a focus on cooking for kids without descending into a steady diet of halved grapes and chicken nuggets (although I, in fact, adore chicken nuggets). It’s called “Picky Eaters Club” and the first column is in the November issue, on newsstands now, and online right here. The recipe is for a hearty dinner strata with heaps of mushrooms, kale, and leeks bound with cubes of sourdough (I prefer whole wheat, if you can find it), eggs, and cheese, glorious cheese (which seals the deal) and I hope you love it as much as we do.

Previously

One year ago: Sausage and Potato Roast with Arugula and Bakery-Style Butter Cookies Two years ago: Russian Honey Cake and Pumpkin Bread Three years ago: Cannoli Pound Cake and The Broccoli Roast Four years ago: Better Chocolate Babka and Fall-Toush Salad Five years ago: Purple Plum Torte and Lazy Pizza Dough + Favorite Margherita Pizza Six years ago: (Quick) Chicken Noodle Soup and Pancetta, White Bean, and Swiss Chard Pot Pies Seven years ago: Pear, Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble Eight years ago: Roasted Eggplant Soup and Apple and Cheddar Scones Nine years ago: Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp and Jalapeno Cheddar Scones Ten years ago: Beef, Leek and Barley Soup and My Family’s Noodle Kugel Eleven years ago: Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette and Pumpkin Bread Pudding [New!] Twelve years ago: Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons

And for the other side of the world: Six Months Ago: Crispy Tofu Pad Thai 1.5 Years Ago: Granola Bark 2.5 Years Ago: Carrot Tahini Muffins 3.5 Years Ago: Carrot Graham Layer Cake, Wild Mushroom Pate, and Why You Should Always Toast Your Nuts 4.5 Years Ago: Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms

Candy Pork

Servings: 6 to 8

Time: 2hr 30mins

Source: Repertoire

Print

Don’t be intimidated by the word caramel — Battilana’s instructions are perfect, and it’s a cinch.

8 ounces palm sugar, finely chopped, or 1 cup dark brown sugar

3/4 cup fish sauce

3 tablespoons canola or another neutral oil

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch-by-3-inch chunks

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup thinly sliced shallots

1 (2-inch-by-1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and julienned

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 to 3 Thai chilies (or 1 serrano), stemmed and thinly sliced

3 cups coconut water

Put the palm or brown sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until the sugar melts, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently so the sugar doesn’t scorch. When the sugar is smooth and completely melted, remove the pan from the heat and slowly stir in the fish sauce. The mixture may seize; if it does, return it to low heat and continue stirring until smooth.

Heat your oven to 300°F.

In a large Dutch oven over high heat — I use this pot for this, and most braises, although it exists at many lower price points — heat the canola oil. Season the pork pieces on all sides with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, add some of the pieces of pork and sear until well browned on all sides, estimated at 8 minutes, but this part took me muh longer. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pork.

When all the pork has been browned, reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots. Cook, stirring, until the shallots are softened, about 2 minutes, then add the ginger, garlic, and chilies and cook 1 minute more.

Return the pork and any accumulated juices to the pot and add the caramel sauce and coconut water. The pieces of meat should poke up above the level of the liquid; if they’re completely submerged, transfer the meat and liquid to a different pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat so the liquid is simmering. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven.

After 15 minutes of cooking, peek under the lid to check that the liquid is simmering gently. If it’s bubbling very vigorously, reduce the oven temperature to 275°F for the remaining cooking time. Cook the pork with the lid back on for 70 minutes—the meat should be tender but not falling apart. Uncover the pot and continue cooking for 30 minutes more, until the exposed bits of pork are caramelized and the meat is tender that a chunk can easily be pulled back with a fork, as you hope it will on your plate. Remove from the oven and serve with rice.

[We also had some yellow wax beans (trimmed, cooked for 2 minutes, plunged in ice water, then drained), carrots (I cut them with a julienne peeler and doused them with a a couple glugs of rice vinegar, an equal amount of water, plus sugar and salt to taste and let them sit in the fridge and lightly pickle until the pork was done and up to two days, then drizzled it with a little toasted sesame oil before eating) and I put extra sliced scallions and chiles on the side so the adults who like them could add them to their plates to taste.]

Source: https://smittenkitchen.com/2018/10/candy-pork/

[singledigger35-blog]

Quick Summer Squash & Tomato Sauté ♥

A simple-simple skillet sauté, an answer to the summer vegetables that pile up from the garden-grocery and appear in mounds in the corner-grocery. It's just barely cooked summer squash (for color, both green-skinned zucchini and sunny-colored yellow squash) with a pile of garlic and a little tomato. Low Carb. Very Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly.

Holding out on you? Not intentionally! Way back in 2013, I concluded that this quick, summery vegetable sauté was just "too simple" for A Veggie Venture. But I kept making it, one summer after another. And five years later? I t-h-r-i-v-e on simple recipes! Maybe readers do too?

Call me a recipe minimalist: a funny description for someone who's been collecting and sharing recipes since she was about 10 years old, an unlikely orientation for someone who's called herself a food writer / food blogger since 2002.

But I find myself wanting fewer, not more, recipes. I want them to fit a 3x5 recipe card or easily commit to memory. I want them to call for ingredients that are easy to find and nearly always on hand. I want them to ebb and flow from meal to meal. And because of – well, this – I want my now 92-year old father who abhors anything "mushy" to not turn up his nose at more vegetables. (For the record, he has no idea how many vegetables and healthy calories I sneak in, thank you Green Smoothies.)

Quick Summer Squash Sauté definitely qualifies on all measures. Since 2013, I've made one skilletful after another, some times as a simple side for dinner but more often as bed for breakfast eggs. Once, on a warm, late-summer evening? I nestled smoked chops in the vegetables: so pretty, so seasonal, so wonderful.

I suppose you could call it a barely-cooked, one-skillet Ratatouille, minus the eggplant. It's especially pretty when made with two different kinds of summer squash, I'm partial to green-skinned zucchini and yellow-skinned yellow squash and the tiny red and yellow tomatoes our garden spits out from now until early fall, so sweet, I call them garden candy. If you have just-harvested garlic, all the better.

This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a growing collection of easy summer recipes published all summer long ever since 2009 at Kitchen Parade, my food column. With a free Kitchen Parade e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!

RECIPE for QUICK SUMMER SQUASH & TOMATO SAUTÉ

Hands-on time: 10 minutes Time to table: 20 minutes Serves 4

Chop all the vegetables (except maybe the tomatoes) before beginning to cook, this will cook quick-quick!

1 tablespoon olive oil 5 cloves garlic, slivered 1/2 pound (225g) small- to medium-size zucchini, sliced in half moons 1/2 pound (225g) small- to medium-size yellow squash, sliced in half moons 1 cup cherry or grape or similar small tomatoes, halved or quartered Salt & pepper to taste but be generous Fresh herbs, chopped, think dill, basil, oregano & parsley

Heat the oil until shimmery on medium high in a large skillet, cast iron works, so does non-stick. Stir in the garlic and let cook, just barely for lots of garlic flavor, until golden for something warmer and more "cooked". Stir in the zucchini and yellow squash, coating with oil, and let cook, stirring occasionally just until barely cooked. Stir in the tomatoes, stir occasionally just until they begin to throw off their juices. Season generously with salt and pepper. Stir in fresh herbs, let cook just a minute or two, until the herbs are warm but not really "cooked".

Serve warm or at room temperature.

VARIATIONS: OH so MANY! PUT AN EGG ON TOP Fry some eggs (you can even use the same skillet, just move the veggies to a serving bowl or serving plate first) or poach some eggs (I use the Cook's Illustrated technique, How to Poach a Perfect Egg) or our recent favorite is soft-cooked eggs (recipe coming soon). Or! Use the back of a spoon to create shallow depressions in the vegetables and plop the eggs right in. Then bake in the oven at 350F/180C for 10 - 15 minutes. DRIZZLE SOMETHING MILKY ON TOP I've used several sauces, the Yogurt-Mint Sauce from Afghan Eggplant & Tomato Casserole (Borani Banjan) and the Buttermilk-Yogurt Sauce from Roasted Eggplant with Pomegranate and even this back-in-my-repertoire Buttermilk Garlic Salad Dressing, it's my "ranch" dressing and I make it over and over in one variation after another. VEGGIE HASH For something more akin to hash, cut the summer squash into small cubes. Small pieces are also the way to stretttttch vegetables among more people. HAPPY ADDITIONS & SUBSTITUTIONS Slivered onion or minced jalapeño or minced/cubed poblano (cook these by themselves, briefly, before adding the garlic). Okra and bell pepper (cut the same size as the summer squash, cook along with the summer squash). Olives (quartered, add near the end.) When summer tomatoes finally come in, cut up a whole tomato instead of the small tomatoes.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving: 61 Calories; 4g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 8mg Sodium; 7g Carb; 2g Fiber; 2g Sugar; 2g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS WW Old Points 1, WW PointsPlus 2, WW SmartPoints 2, WW Freestyle 1 CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 1=2/3 serving (3g protein).

Still Hungry?

NEVER MISS A RECIPE!

For "home delivery" of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be automatically delivered straight to your e-mail In Box.

MORE FAVORITE SIMPLE ZUCCHINI & YELLOW SQUASH RECIPES

~ Simple Zucchini Ribbon Salad ~ ~ Feta-Stuffed Zucchini ~ ~ Zucchini with Tomatoes & Cheddar ~

~ Yellow Squash Soup with Spinach: Early Autumn Leaves in Soup ~ ~ Israeli Couscous Salad with Yellow Squash & Sun-Dried Tomatoes ~ ~ Yellow Summer Squash Casserole ~

~ more summer squash recipes ~ from A Veggie Venture

~ Zucchini Spiral "Noodle" Salad ~ ~ Carrot & Zucchini Bread ~ ~ Mediterranean Eggplant ~ ~ more summer squash recipes ~ from Kitchen Parade, my food column

SEASONAL EATING: THIS SAME WEEK ACROSS THE YEARS

No-Cook Tabbouleh (a summer staple in my kitchen) Eggplant Sandwiches with Cilantro Hummus Summer Orzo with Radicchio Chipotle Chickpea Salad (reader favorite!) Avocado Salad with Hearts of Palm BLTs with Avocado King Hill Farms Simple & Sublime Beets (for beet lovers) Amaranth Greens More Matters: The New Fruits & Veggies Campaign Grilled Eggplant with Balsamic Honey Syrup Romano Beans in Butter-Braised Garlic (watch for romano beans at the farmers market) Seared Radicchio Weight Watchers Italian Zero Points Soup Tomato & Onion Salad Stacked Ratatouille (totally versatile!) Sautéed Cucumbers How to Cut Corn Off the Cob: Keeping All Ten Fingers, Capturing Every Delicious Kernel and Every Drop of Sweet Corn "Milk" Corn & Cucumber Salad with Fresh Blueberries Succotash Salad with Green Beans, Lima Beans, Corn & Tomatoes Raw Tomatillo Salad with Blueberries (lovin' this year's blueberries!) Pretty Ways to Serve Summer's Best Tomatoes Loaded Iceberg Steaks with Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2018

Source: http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/2018/07/quick-summer-squash-tomato-saute.html

[edgewaterfarmcsa]

CSA WEEK 12

Pick List:

corn - plum tomatoes - cherry tomatoes - garlic - watermelon - candy stripe pepper -

eggplant - hot pepper - carrots - ZINNIAS!

 KITCHEN CSA:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Heading into Labor Day weekend with lots of laboring on our minds… so this week I’m drawing from Pooh Sprague’s latest blog post.  Also, for those that don’t know, Pooh you should get to know him. He and Anne started this farm back in 1974 and as a result, he is a wealth of knowledge.  Unfortunately he is hard to peg down- we’ve often thought about installing a gps tracking device in his arm as he is one to ride tractor all day, with his phone left behind on the kitchen table- it’s unclear if this move is actually an “oh whoops” moment or not.  Regardless, if you have farming on the brain or have questions about growing techniques or soil health- Talk to Pooh. For more insight on our farm from Pooh’s perspective check out the blog -Pooh's Corner- up on our website.

August 6th, 2018… he refers to lots of photos, see actual blog post for actual photos

Occasionally while racing around the farm I have to pull up and stop and stare at a vista. I refer to this phenomena as a “whoa” moment,  primarily because I get temporarily disoriented as to where I am chronologically in the seasons. This photo of the tomatoes is an example, because I took a picture of them last week and they were less than a foot high and we hadn’t staked them. “It seemed like only yesterday”, the old saying goes. But of course, it was not. Here we are in August, and we are now harvesting cherry tomatoes and the plums for canning are  ripening up.

The summer goes like that. This one seemingly more so. Alternately dragging on through the drought of the earlier part, we are faced with the struggle of balancing the harvest with the tail end of  a planting season that goes on into early September. Although the sun is back heading south in the sky, the work days are at their longest as we deal with picking fruit and vegetables and trying to find a home for them. This year we are shorthanded as 5 individuals who approached us for summer and fall employment and we hired, decided in the eleventh hour not to show up for the first day. That has put serious demands on the remaining crew and Ray’s ability to manage what takes place in the daily field activities. That said, we have a pretty good crew that seems to be working well and efficiently together, and they seem pretty happy. It would be nice to have the weeds under control and to be doing things in a timely fashion, but I will take a good working atmosphere any day.

Just want to take a minute  to recognize one of our long term employees. This relationship is so long because I first met him as a 5 year old in 1956. He had come to my Dad’s farm to work as a herdsman for the 40-50 cows that we were milking in Hillsboro. His name is George Cilley, he resides and in the house he grew up in in Bradford, NH. George commutes back and forth daily during the spring and summer and is our go-to guy for tractor and mowing work. He is one of those people for whom a good day of work and having something accomplished defines who he is. Although he is 87, he is patient, sharp, a self starter (if he breaks something, you don’t hear about it unless he can not fix it himself) and can still plow a cleaner, straighter furrow than Ray, myself or Mike. He can also fix old chairs, leaky faucets and happy to run to the Pioneer Valley for  plants or parts if need be. He has as much pride in the good works and efforts as Anne, Sarah, Jenny, Mike or Ray has he does in his own. We had another retiree much like him. Eugene “Pep “ Chabot showed up the day he retired from the Hanover road crew at 66. Put in another 26 years picking vegetables and berries for us, and it was a sad day when he said he had to quit because his eyesight was failing him. Where are these guys? What is the attraction about golf courses and the concept of formal retirement that they resist? Maybe we have just been ultra fortunate to have had the help and wisdom of these highly motivated oldsters.

In other news, The new storage and pack barn is so near completion that we are already occupying it. When the crew from Ag Structures showed up on March 1st, I had serious doubts that we would be in it by the first of July, especially when winter dragged on for extra innings.  But Jake and Jason made it happen and we are grateful. It has been a large project for us and at times a distraction from the demands of the seasonal work. When we first started on this farm in 1974, it was more about taking down collapsing sheds and buildings. It was strictly chainsaw carpentry:  a couple of guys with some old telephone poles, rough pine and no real carpentry skills When I see how much space we have occupied in the new expanse I am amazed how we were ever able to function in the other smaller barn. All this was driven by food safety mandates and the need to protect fall root crops and store them. But the efficiencies and improvement in ergonomics has definitely improved everyone's disposition. And even the little people are enjoying it as well …there are small Radio Flyers in there and you can refer to the lower photo of Admiral Hobbs, the U Boat commander, who seems to be enjoying his new ride. So far, all good….

So as we spin towards fall, we are just trying to stay in the groove. Hopefully the weather (which has been a rollercoaster of late) will not deal us any lethal blows and we can get the fall crops up and out of the field. There is some ancient machinery that needs to function to make that happen, and maybe with the help of a few extra bodies that may yet arrive, perhaps we can slide into Thanksgiving without getting spiked.  I am sure to awaken to a few more “Whoa” moments about the farm when I am caught off guard by the flight of time. At those times I often reminded of the words to a Talking Heads song……” same as it ever was, same as it ever was..”

 TIPS - TRICKS - RECIPES:

Serves: 4

Adapted slightly from Ottolenghi's Plenty(Chronicle Books, 2011)

Yall, i think i hook you up with this recipe year after year because i am continually shocked by the power of corn here.  It really and truly breaks down into a delicious polenta and on top of everything else, it’s just so damn easy to make and as a result, you feel like a super-hero for making an Ottolenghi dish.  

Eggplant Sauce

⅔ cup vegetable oil 1 medium eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch dice

2 teaspoons tomato paste ¼ cup dry white wine

1 cup chopped peeled tomatoes (fresh or canned) 6 1/2tablespoons water

¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon chopped oregano

 Heat up the oil in a large saucepan and fry the eggplant on medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until nicely brown. Drain off as much oil as you can and discard it -- the safest way to do this is to scoop out the eggplant to a plate using a slotted spoon, then pour off the oil into a bowl before adding the eggplant back in. You can save the oil to fry lamb chops or eggs in tomorrow.

Add the tomato paste to the pan and stir with the eggplant. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the wine and cook for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, water, salt, sugar and oregano and cook for a further 5 minutes to get a deep-flavored sauce. Set aside; warm it up when needed.

Polenta

6 ears of corn 2 ¼ cups water

3 tablespoons butter, diced 7 ounces feta, crumbled

¼ teaspoon salt 1 pinch Black pepper

 Remove the leaves and "silk" from each ear of corn, then chop off the pointed top and stalk. Use a sharp knife to shave off the kernels -- either stand each ear upright on its base and shave downward, or lay each ear on its side on a cutting board to slice off the kernels. You want to have 1 1/4 pounds kernels.

Place the kernels in a medium saucepan and barely cover them with the water. Cook for 12 minutes on a low simmer. Use a slotted spoon to lift the kernels from the water and into a food processor; reserve the cooking liquid.

Process them for quite a few minutes, to break as much of the kernel case as possible. Add some of the cooking liquid if the mixture becomes too dry to process.

Now return the corn paste to the pan with the cooking liquid and cook, while stirring, on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to mashed potato consistency. (Be aware that if you have a lot of liquid left in the pan, it can take a while to cook down the polenta, and it will sputter. Consider holding back some or all of the liquid. Alternately, if you like the consistency after processing, you can skip to step 5.)

Fold in the butter, the feta, salt and some pepper and optionally cook for a further 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed.

[kidsviral-blog]

You Eat These 15 Foods Every Holiday Season, But Do You Know Where They Came From?

New Post has been published on https://kidsviral.info/you-eat-these-15-foods-every-holiday-season-but-do-you-know-where-they-came-from/

You Eat These 15 Foods Every Holiday Season, But Do You Know Where They Came From?

We all have our favorite holiday dishes. Every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah, we indulge in tasty treats that send us on nostalgic trips back in time to when we were kids and didn’t have to decide between paying rent and giving awesome gifts every year.

But how much do you really know about pumpkin pies, candy canes, and latkes? Where did they come from, and why do we eat them during the holidays? Let’s find out.

1. Fruitcake

Flickr / Jeremy Keith

Nothing says “I can’t cook or bake, and I had no idea what else to bring to Christmas dinner” quite like a nice, heavy fruitcake. This cake, which is full of dried fruit, spices, and nuts, has become something of a Christmas mockery. Back in the Middle Ages, however, dried fruit and nuts were super expensive, so they saved the preparation of this little indulgence for holiday festivities.

2. Cranberry Sauce

Flickr / Didriks

This polarizing Thanksgiving treat came to be in 1912 when a guy named Marcus L. Urann wanted to extend the short shelf life of cranberries. Some prefer to make more elegant versions at home when Thanksgiving rolls around, but as for me, I want this delicious nonsense to be a sliceable, can-shaped, gelatinous blob.

3. Candy Canes

Flickr / liz west

Candy canes were developed about 350 years ago, but they looked nothing like the striped, hook-shaped sweets that we know and love today. They eventually took on their most familiar form when a choirmaster curved them to represent a shepherd’s staff, and the red stripes were added in the 19th century when there were more vibrant dyes available.

4. Eggnog

Flickr / Isaac Wedin

If you ever want me to avoid speaking to you until the end of time, offer me a glass of eggnog. While I find the stuff contemptible, plenty of people adore this holiday drink — and they have for centuries. Back in the day, members of the British aristocracy mixed warm milk, eggs, sweet spices, and various liquors to create the original version of this holiday staple. Because the ingredients were so expensive, it quickly became a symbol of wealth. It eventually fell out of fashion with the Brits, but Americans brought it back. We added our own spin by using rum instead of sherry.

5. Apple Cider

Flickr / Eliza Adam

This is one of few holiday beverages that sticks around throughout autumn and winter, which is probably because it’s awesome. Originally an exclusively alcoholic drink, cider was created by the Brits back in 55 B.C., and it has been well loved ever since. With the advent of refrigeration technology in the 20th century, people were able to start drinking unfiltered apple juice, which meant that alcohol was no longer necessary in the process. While Americans refer to non-alcoholic, unfiltered apple juice as cider, the rest of the English-speaking world still associates the term with the alcoholic version.

6. Latkes

Flickr / slgkgc

These Hanukkah favorites are absolutely amazing, and your opinion is invalid if you think otherwise. Latkes were originally just cheese pancakes (which are also too delicious for this Earth), but the addition of potatoes became popular in the 18th century. Because they pay homage to Judith — a Jewish heroine — latkes hold far more significance in the Jewish tradition. That being said, they’ve been known to show up on Christmas tables as well.

7. Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows

Flickr / Mr.TinDC

While this dish strikes fear into the hearts of many, tons of people love indulging in this sweet casserole. Cooking with marshmallows was trendy at the turn of the 20th century, and this particular recipe stuck after being featured in a popular cookbook by Angelus Marshmallow Company, which was printed in 1917.

8. Pumpkin Pie

Flickr / jeffreyw

Pumpkin pie is the perfect Thanksgiving dessert. Everyone knows that. It’s science. The beloved pumpkin has been linked to seeds that grew about 9,000 years ago in Mexico, and it was eventually adopted by Native Americans. Boiling pumpkin and mixing it with honey and spices was a great way to preserve it back then, and some even suspect that the Pilgrims made a dish similar to pumpkin pie. They just didn’t use a crust.

9. Pecan Pie

Flickr / cyclonebill

If you ask me, this amazing Southern staple beamed down from Heaven many years ago. If you ask people who actually know things about pecan pie, however, this dessert was first made in 19th-century Texas. Back then, the filling was a standard custard that was topped with pecans. The pecan pie that we know (and love way too much) today actually came to be in the 1930s when the wife of a Karo Syrup executive came up with a new way to use corn syrup…and we are all eternally grateful to that woman.

10. Gingerbread

Flickr / Michael Bentley

We might feel bad about decapitating these sweet, spicy cuties for a second, but once that epic flavor hits, all cookie carnage is forgotten. The recipe originated in Greece in 2400 B.C., and it eventually made its way to the U.K., where Queen Elizabeth I was credited with the tradition of decorating gingerbread cookies during the holidays.

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11. Corned Beef and Cabbage

Flickr / LearningLark

We have the Irish to thank for this one. This salt-cured dish was served on Christmas in Ireland for years, and it only makes sense that Americans eventually adopted the tradition. We do have a pretty serious amount of Irish-Americans floating around out there, after all.

12. Stuffing

Flickr / Maggie

People have been stuffing food into animal carcasses for their own enjoyment for centuries now. One Roman by the name of Apicius even dedicated a recipe book to the many methods of making stuffing. Today, we prefer stuffing of the non-meat variety, which explains why we love putting bread inside of our Thanksgiving turkeys and serving it as a side dish.

13. Green Bean Casserole

Campbell’s

I eat so much green bean casserole on Thanksgiving that I’m pretty sure it runs through my veins for weeks after the fact. Americans have been eating creamed vegetables since the 19th century, and the traditional white sauce used in doing so was eventually replaced by cream of mushroom soup. In its current form, green bean casserole was popularized by Campbell’s in an effort to advertise their cream of mushroom soup. The deliciousness really caught on, and it’s said that Campbell’s makes about $20 million off of that variety alone on Thanksgiving each year.

14. Peppermint Bark

Flickr / femme run

While no one knows exactly when people started sprinkling broken candy canes on chocolate, many agree that it was sometime between the ’60s and ’80s. Popular treat company Williams-Sonoma first sold peppermint bark in 1988, and they’ve been doing it ever since. They estimate that they’ve sold five million one-pound packages of the treat in the last decade alone.

15. Figgy Pudding

Flickr / Meal Makeover Moms

This originated in the U.K. in the 17th century. English Puritans banned the consumption of figgy pudding because of its high alcohol content, but those who knew how to get down loved it. Medieval lore dictated that this dessert could only be made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity Sunday. It originally included 13 ingredients, which represented Christ and the 12 Apostles. Today, figgy pudding isn’t seen on tables that often, but it remains popular in holiday songs.

(via mental_floss)

Knowing where these dishes come from probably won’t change your opinion on any of them, but it’s still cool to think about the fact that many before you have gorged on pumpkin pie until they were about to explode.

Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/holiday-food-origins/