25 August 2010

Blueberries. Just because.





Blueberry season ended back in mid-July and lasted only about 2 weeks. I took a picture of these beauties that came in all sorts of shapes and sizes and levels of tartness and sweetness. I wasn't sure what to do with the picture, so I decided to put it here. A picture will have to do until they come back in season just 11 months from now!

23 August 2010

On storks and salami-corn

Did you know that storks build huuuuuuuuuge nests on top of telephone poles? No really. I'm serious. I didn't believe it either until we saw these two teenager storks flying around and then landing in their nest. This picture was taken about 30 km outside of Zagreb. There were stork nests all over the place. And these huge young storks flying around learning to get the hang of their wings. I of course made sure NOT to stand underneath the flying storks or under that nest.



It is harvest season around here, and I've been busy getting food from the farm and freezing it all. I've got one of those vacuum machines that sucks all the air out of freezer bags so that the food doesn't get freezer burn. I ran out of big bags, and so was left with a bunch of long skinny bags that are normally used to store things like salami and sausages. So I decided to freeze my corn in the salami bags.

I just took the fresh corn. Peeled off all the outer leaves and corn silk. And just stuck them in the salami bags and then vacuum packed and froze them. In the winter months, I just have to take the corn out of the bags, and stick the entire frozen cob into a pot of boiling water for about 15 minutes for farm-fresh corn-on-the-cob in winter!!!



It worked so well, that I packed my tomatoes the same way! Here are my salami-tomatoes:



Okay, gotta wash, chop and bake about 100 eggplant. Haven't figured out what sort of freezing bags I'll use yet.

19 August 2010

Summertime...and the living is restless....

Sometimes my limited diet makes me a little bit crazy. And sometimes it makes me really crazy. I'm usually okay with this life of eating like a tree squirrel. But sometimes it gets to me, and today was one of those days. A perfect summer day. Lots of folks coming back to the city after their holidays. Everyone out in their white pants and yellow shirts to show off golden tans. And everyone eating ice cream cones, slices of pizza, french fries with ketchup, drinking frothy cappuccinos, eating tall pieces of chocolate torte, or lazily stirring a cocktail. They all look so free, and easy-going.

Nobody is having a conniption fit because someone touched their ice-cream with the scoop that touched the cone (and thus got gluten all over everything). Nobody is sitting there licking strawberry sauce off their fingers and wondering if the strawberries were grown locally and organically as promised or if they were actually trucked in from unknown parts, sprayed with all sorts of anti-fungals and antibacterials and rodentcides and pesticides to make them look fresh and thus making a trip to the ER a real possibility sometime in the night. No one gets alarmed when the guy making the espresso is also eating a sandwich (crumbs in the cup). No one slurps froth from their powdered-mix-made cappuccino while nervously reading the teeny-weeny-font of the ingredient list from the packaging to scan for additives, colorings, and preservatives that will require some sort of antihistamine concoction to prevent hives within 15 minutes.

Summertime and I think Christmastime are the times when my food restrictions cause me a wee bit of grief. Convenient food is such a huge part of these times of the year, that it really can make a person who is unable to eat those foods really feel like they are not a part of it all. Like someone on the outside looking in.

I know this feeling is silly because there are so many other problems out there so much bigger than this. But I'm just being honest. I know global warming and economic crises and wars and injustices and all sorts of bad stuff is going on. But today, I got to feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't have a regular ice-cream cone from the regular ice-cream place with all the regular people. Boo-hoo-hoo.

I think I'll treat myself to a nice ice-cold bottle of Italian mineral water that I left chilling in the fridge. What's this? Hey, who left the cap slightly unscrewed and let all the bubbles out?!!!!!!!

16 August 2010

Eating figs instead of blogging

I haven't been writing many blog posts lately because it is summer, it is nice outside, and because the figs are in season. Fresh figs are really sticky and juicy and there is no neat way to eat them. It is necessary to get fig juice all over your hands and then have it drip down your arms and drip off your elbows. That's just the way it is. Which makes it really hard to type on a keyboard and get a blog post written. So, I just want to say that I'm not blogging right now...but it is not because something untoward has happened. Quite the opposite actually. There are figs to be eaten, and that's what I'm doing with my time. Bliss!

I hope y'all are doing something equally or even more delicious with your time!