@jakkalbessie Good idea - I have a few inexpensive plastic tool caddies that 4" pots would fit. I could start them now, set out on warm days and easy to bring in when its going to freeze. Easier than growing trays.

Do a lot of stove top one of a kind frittatas. The youtube videos I videos viewed made them seem so complicated.

Good morning all!

I love to make my version of stove top frittatas. They usually include whatever leftover bits and pieces of veggies from the week so it could be a few peas, Brussels sprouts, carrots, bell peppers and on and on. The beauty is it can be a very filling meal using only one egg to pull it all together if just for me.

Days are getting warmer here and brother in law is beginning to get his beds ready for planting. Went to a nursery this past weekend and of course was very tempted to get a few herbs to make a small herb garden I could transport from place to place in my moving about. May still do this.

Got some mending of broken pipes in my place up in the hill country. May get one of my other brother in laws to help with this since will have to move some furniture around to reach one of the pipes. Does not look bad considering how severe the freeze was.

Hope all have a good weekend. Planning a nice bike ride later today.

@randtntx I have a variety which handles the cold weather well. Have not been tempted to try and get past the heavy covering of spines to harvest. Now I am thinking about coming up with a method.

for the 'De Mi Rancho A Tu Cocina series.
I am seriously jealous of the oven and her kitchen set-up. A semi-outdoor kitchen makes so much sense when you live in a hot climate.

We do a good deal of cooking outside to keep the cooking heat out of the house during the summer. It's also way more fun to be in the open air.

I love her nopalito recipe. For those who eschew flour, you could try mesquite flour to dredge the nopalitos.

Our prickly pear cactus took a beating this winter. We had so many and I have never gone to the trouble to take the spines off to make nopalitos. I made cactus-pear juice once. Now I'm wondering if I will get the opportunity to try it again. I'll just have to wait another 8 weeks to see if some cactus made it through the freeze.

Nutritional value of nopales:
https://www.nutritionvalue.org/Nopales,_raw_nutritional_value.html

From the Mayo Clinic site, some health benefits of nopales:

Some preliminary evidence shows that prickly pear cactus can decrease blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Some research also suggests that prickly pear cactus extract may lessen the unpleasant effects of a hangover, possibly due to its anti-inflammatory effects.

It might be too early to call prickly pear cactus a superfood, but it can be part of a healthy diet. It's high in fiber, antioxidants and carotenoids. Indeed, prickly pear cactus is popular in many areas of the world, particularly Latin America, where it is a native plant.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/expert-answ...

@eyo I have a packet of seed and a small spot that needs cleared for planting. If all goes well it will become a self seeding patch. I am glad you now have the opportunity to get your hands into soil outside.
I was inspired by your growing oak leaf lettuce indoors. The last 2 winters have kept a small pot of greens to nibble on.

I hope el and magi, and whoever is in Northern California that caught a whiff of it will comment too. It really dumped up here in wine cave country. Browsing the weather history for instant gratification, I see a whole fifth of one inch fell, almost one quarter. Woo hoo.

And that one wildflower in the dirt patch squeezed out two more hats, I thought for sure it would be without petals this morning but nope. Fully intact and ready to bloom.

https://www.gaiaherbs.com/blogs/herbs/california-poppy

The US Formulary of 1918 says of this botanical: “Attention has been brought to this California member of the Papaveraceae, as a powerful herb for calming and supporting sleep." Native American tribes from different parts of California used this plant for many traditional purposes- especially as a calming agent. The Pomo tribes from areas north of what is now Sacramento reportedly used the crushed seeds as a topical application, while the Mendocino used a root preparation as an external cleansing agent and internally. It was used by the Costanoan tribes from what is now Monterey to promote healthy sleep (Soporific). It has a long tradition of use in Western Botanical medicine as a Nervine and Trophorestorative (promotes nutrition uptake at the cellular level).

Huh. Now I have to go down some Nervine rabbit hole, thanks gaiaherbs. LOL

Peace and Love

@enhydra lutris sounds very good. Often the same three ingredients to make fried potatoes with onion in a caste iron pan and when almost done fry a couple of eggs over medium to serve beside or on top and let the egg yolk spread across the top.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JceGMNG7rpU]

often, but my wife requires added ingredients/elements, because, to her eggs in and of themselves have no taste. Since I love the taste of the yolk, I disagree, but who cares. An exception is egg salad sandwiches, which she loves

We, accordingly, make a lot of scrambles which are omelettes made easy, saute a bunch of leftover veggies or a few fresh ones and some chopped up leftover baked/boiled spuds, add some (2) beaten eggs and scramble it all up together. We mostly eat separate breakfasts, and I do a lot of egg concoctions for myself.

2 minute "poached egg" comes in handy for me, make and put on or overe or with anything. Put 1 cup of water in a microwave safe cup, crack in one egg, nuke for one minute and carefully decant. That's it, so start the toast first. I also love hard boiled eggs done so the yolk is just barely set aliced lengthwise with a thin pat of butter and pepper.

We do do a fritatta, but it lasts for days, and I have a souffle that lasts forever (it fills a bundt pan).

One thing we rarely do, but have done, is Tortilla de España, known to english speakers as spanish omelet. If you've been to Spain you've certainly had it. It is served hot or cold, any time of day, often as a tapa, Layers of thin sliced spuds and onion are softened in lots of olive oil, then drain and save the oil for something else. Gently mix the spuds and onion with beaten eggs, trying not to break up the potatoes, reheat a bit of the oil in the pan dump in the mixture and cook until barely set, then turn it over, some flip, but most invert pan and contents over a plate and then slide it back off, now inverted, back into the pan. Cook til set. Remove from pan, let cool, slice into wedges and serve. A lot of hassle, but really good.

Now I'm hungry. I once broke down and got a sistema egg thingie that makes sort of an egg patty in the nuker, which permits the creation of a quickie non-fried fried egg sandwich, so I do beliee I will go make one.

Still no effects from second moderna jab beyond sore deltoid muscle.

be well and have a good one

@randtntx and try to write up by the end of March. My house pet have been on homemade food for several years now with no apparent problem.

Saturday, and the variations on the egg theme.

Now I'm curious about your dog food recipe. I've always been wary of homemade dog food for fear of not being nutritionally complete. I would though, make my own if deemed OK.

@magiamma or the other plans in the Sonoma-Mendocino Bull Kelp Recovery Plan.

Urchin Ranching and a Glimmer of Hope

In what could be a glimmer of hope for bull kelp forests, UC Davis researchers are working with Bay Area shellfish company Urchinomics to explore the possibility of removing purple urchins from their sea floor barrens and fattening them up for market -- in short, urchin ranching.

If the resulting product gives kelp beds a chance to recover, dining on purple urchin could go beyond "sustainable seafood" to become restorative. Rogers-Bennett and UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory Director Gary Cherr will begin trials this fall to see if urchin ranching could be a viable strategy.

Other strategies are outlined in the Sonoma-Mendocino Bull Kelp Recovery Plan, released last June by the Greater Farallones Association and CDFW. It includes measures such as creating a kelp oasis to preserve seed stock and repopulate bull kelp when conditions are conducive to restoration.

The collapse of Northern California kelp forests will be hard to reverse

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210305080126.htm

Satellite imagery shows that the area covered by kelp forests off the coast of Northern California has dropped by more than 95 percent, with just a few small, isolated patches of bull kelp remaining. Species-rich kelp forests have been replaced by 'urchin barrens,' where purple sea urchins cover a seafloor devoid of kelp and other algae. A new study documents this dramatic shift in the coastal ecosystem and analyzes the events that caused it.