Thursday Open Thread 5-25-2017
Time.
Measured by the movement of the hands on the clock in consistent and steady intervals.
Perceived by events as a variable measurement,
racing by faster and faster as we are absorbed in the tasks of life
slowing almost to a halt by abrupt jolts of joy or trauma.
This past week has almost been a blur. Everyday a major scandal. It is easy to become caught up in rush of events and off our individual courses of self reliance. It is our ability to separate ourselves from emotion or economics of an event, for a brief period of time, that allows us to act with deliberation instead of being pushed into a reactive action. Part of resilience is being able to make a deliberate choice to be part of the mob, stand against the mob or watch the mob go by.
Farm Report
The cherries did get damaged by the frost last week. All the cherries on the high branches were froze.
The crab apple tree finished blooming this week and the pollinators were out in force. The birds will have plenty of treats this fall.
Beginning of day. Unexpected visitors in the dog run.
End of day.
Food Tip for the Week
Microwave can be used to easily cook a number of whole grains that generally take significant time or skill.
Microwave Gourmet by Barbara Kafka taught me to use the microwave for more than defrosting and reheating leftovers.
Use these recipes instead of the tube of polenta found in the refrigerator section of the grocery store.
Polenta Firm
4 C water
1 1/4 C polenta (best) or cornmeal
4 T butter
salt (0 - 2 tsp) and pepper (0-1/8 tsp) to taste
Combine water, ground corn and salt in large, over sized, microwave safe bowel or 2 qt souffle dish. Cook on high for 6 minutes, stir once with a wire whip, cook on high for 6 minutes.
Stir in butter 3 T and pepper. Let stand 3 minutes.
Put in normal sized loaf pan (7x4x2) and cover with plastic wrap or brush on olive oil or butter on top and refrigerate until firm. Cut in 1/2 in slices brush with olive oil or butter and fry, grill or broil.
Use as a base for grilled vegetables, sauteed mushrooms or broiled cheese.
Polenta Soft
4 C water
3/4 C polenta (best) or cornmeal
3 T butter
salt (0 - 2 tsp) and pepper (0-1/8 tsp) to taste
1/4 c cheddar cheese, blue cheese, jack cheese or butter
Combine water, ground corn and salt in large, over sized, microwave safe bowel or 2 qt souffle dish. Cook on high for 6 minutes, stir once with a wire whip, cook on high for 6 minutes.
Stir in butter 3 T and pepper. Let stand 3 minutes. Serve hot or pour into a greased mold.
Use this recipe instead of mashed potatoes.
Enjoy your week.
Edited Firm Polenta 8:30 pst
Comments
OMG, studentofearth, THANK YOU for this brilliant essay.
I almost swooned when I read this paragraph:
In college, a purposeful friend taught me that "Pro-active is much more powerful than reactive." Seems I need to be taught again and again.
I appreciate the beautiful pics, too.
BTW, I cook pasta in the microwave using a deep bowl filled with water that I've already brought to a boil in the microwave. After draining, I return the pasta to the same bowl, finish the prep and serve in the same bowl (unless we have company). Saves dealing with a pasta pot. I've seen gadgets on TV that would make cooking pasta in the microwave even easier; but, apparently, I prefer torturing myself and doing things the more difficult way beats self-flaggelation (no pun intended, but I did smile).
https://www.ebay.com/b/As-Seen-On-TV-Pasta-Cooker-Microwave-Cooking-Gadg...
During the summer I work at not heating the house with
cooking. Pasta is a challenge - that big pot of boiling water. The pasta cooker for sale looks to be twice the size as the finished product. I have a bowel and a corning ware casserole dish that should work. I wonder if I need to use the trick of placing a chopstick in the dish to break up the bubbles and prevent it from overflowing? Well a few experiments will answer that question.
Thank you for your kind words about my writing today.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
I don't fill the bowl to the top. I don't think I've
had bubbling over, but the chopstick sounds interesting. Anyway, bubbling over is so much easier to clean up in the microwave than on the stove top. I peel potatoes, cut them into chunks and boil them in the microwave, too, sometimes adding string beans when they potatoes are almost cooked, so I get the starch and veg in one bowl. A little good quality extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper and that's 2/3 of the meal. You can use russets or red potatoes.
You can also add something like chopped broccoli to pasta, though I do not.
I must sound awfully lazy!
French, Belgians, etc. wrinkle their nose at Dutch cooking, but
the Dutch are a very practical people and under the heading “stamppot” have made an art of potato-based one-pot meals rich in vegetables.
Not sure if this is off-topic here.
Could I get some recommends for following the MT election via streaming, etc.? Many thanks and Rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Montanta Election Results
Seems as if the phrases wiki and pedia are used in a number of websites. This link a Ballotpedia is promising to post updates.
This AP site has a picture of people voting.
Neither took time to load a lot of video ads.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Wow! The pictures are stunning.
I always enjoy reading your weekly posts. I'm trying to figure out how the cattle got into the dog run. It is a shame about the cherries. I hope there will be some for you, and that you get them before the birds do.
I use my microwave to cook all my vegetables, fresh or frozen. I haven't used it for grains, but will give your recipe a try.
I too was stopped by the paragraph HW quoted. I think I've been watching the crowd rush by for past few months. I wonder if that is what a lot of formerly active posters here have been doing too.
As I close one way they escape, they find another.
They are currently walking up the ditch. Fast water, covered with ankle twisting rocks, it has worked as a barrier for several years. The dogs have been on the honor system of staying in their run. It is the cattle that will not listen and comply.
Half a cherry crop is actually a good sized crop for my climatic zone. I am happy, now I just need to get them before the birds.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
Thanks. I've always made polenta by hand,
on the stove top, and when it is soft, it is soft polenta and if I cook it a bit longer, fit for tamale pie or the crust off a leek or other fritata, and a bit more and then chill for hard polenta to fry some other day. Over the years I've gone from some corn meal in a bunch of water to 3 water to one corn meal. Works fine.
FWIW, I've also seen and used a recipe to make it in a crock pot.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Self imposed obstacles.
I thought polenta took a great deal of time and skill not to have lumps. Enjoyed it at the Italian restaurants when on the menu.
Been making Mexican food since I was a teenager including tamale pie topping on top of the stove. It was several years after enjoying polenta made by microwave method, the eureka moment came and I realized they were the same, just cooked to a different stage. Never tried a fritata with polenta - thanks for the suggestion.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
I crisp up some chopped bacon or pancetta
and stir it into the polenta, which I then form into a pie crust shape in a pie pan. Fill it with veggies, eggs & cheese and bake - really good, quick, easy, cheap.
I always had some trouble with mush/polenta until I discovered the wire whisk -poof trouble almost all gone.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --