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izmeinaIzzie is becoming a somewhat domesticated serpent. Decided that it might be a good idea to do something with the remnants of the cauliflower cooked on Monday evening. It had been sitting around nearly a whole week by then. Petunia is presently in possession of the kitchen blitz so soup was off the menu. While Monday’s effort was a bit of a cheat, a bottle of pasta sauce with the cooked cauliflower tossed in, tonight was a bit more adventurous.
Izzie has a bad bad habit of buying munchies with the intention of cooking up a storm and then putting it off on the long finger. So so often we end up with shrivelled up ginger, garlic that has turned to dust or cauliflowers with big black spots and fit for nothing but the compost heap.
Made so many new year’s resolutions to do things differently this time and it looks like we got lucky this time with all those good intentions.
There’s a stash of garlic sitting on a kitchen bench top waiting to be planted. Some was acquired recently at the annual garden fair and the rest was from the Hulbert Street festival - some seriously hot pink and purple stuff. The lady selling it lived on Hulbert Street and grew the stuff in her own garden. At only four silver sickles for a bunch it was a steal. There was a good seven bulbs per bunch and you could smell the stuff a mile away. Lucky to grab two bunches early because it sold out very quickly and had gone up to five silver sickles the following day. Still pretty cheap for such seriously spicy kosher critters
So grabbed a few cloves, grated them and tossed them on the pan along with some freshly grated ginger and then added the cauliflower from the fridge. Had the inspired idea to toss in some of the coriander seeds got today also for planting. Soon the whole Lair smelled of ginger and garlic. The final ingredient was a couple of free range eggs and freshly ground pepper. It was much tastier than expected especially washed down with a glass or two of chardonnay
But all those attempts at turning over a new leaf and not succeeding have taught the serpent that ‘should be’ and ‘wanna be’ are not good honey bees. Just acknowledge the reality and live on bread, cheese and peanut butter at the Lair and save the vegies and real food for elsewhere.
For a single solitary serpent it does not work out cheaper but is less wasteful. But did use the week or so annual leave as an opportunity to do a bit of home cooking.
The usual lurking grounds include Annalakshmi on the Swan which does home cooked Indian vegetarian food. It is a bit of a lucky dip. You never know what will be on the menu but there’s always a soup, one flavoured and one plain basmati rice, something with potatoes, cabbage salad and two curries. Dhal, mushroom or cauliflower curries are the Izzie favorites.
Govinda’s run by the Hari Krishnas is also cheap and cheerful but a bit more bland due to the lack of garlic and onions. Izzie always visits after 4pm when it is only $4 a meal. Otherwise would rather pay more and get something real and tasty at Analakshmi
Then there is Juicy Beetroot which does have Indian style stuff but could be best described as plain old fashioned whole foods. It is the only place where the serpent prefers salads. There are about 8 to choose from and all seriously delicious.
Then there are the vegetarian equivalents of McDonalds which are usually Malaysian or Taiwanese in origin. They often have soya bean or gluten based products dressed up to look like and taste like meat. Some of the sneakier ones only admit this in the small print and many a carnivore has been fooled. But charging meat prices for soya beans and wheat is a bit of a rip off.
On the subject of soya beans, can’t stand the critters especially as most of them are not kosher. Soya milk is the most disgusting muck. But the beans do wonders for the garden as green manure so paid a visit to a certain Greek grocery store to get some. It was actually alfalfa seeds and buckwheat that was on the agenda but seeing they had Australian rather than Chinese soya beans and supposedly kosher could not resist the opportunity. They made a point of proclaiming the non GM status so that is a good sign. Usually it is necessary to buy organic beans to be absolutely sure
Kukalis is way the cheapest place for sourcing seeds. Today’s stash along with the soya beans includes lupins, buckwheat and coriander. Could not find any alfalfa.
So along with the lupins they are presently soaking in a bowl waiting to be planted tomorrow. Petunia also brought over a banana ‘tree’ so that will be getting planted too. She has at least twenty and some of them still have bananas on them but at this time of year they will not be getting ripe in any great hurry.
Got to make the most of May and the next month or two for planting and drought proofing the garden. Been buying avocados for their seed and burying pecan and macadamia nuts in the ground hoping that some of them will sprout
Even been out with the tape measure plotting and planning. Sort of started several years ago but got sidetracked. Also dusted off the wonderful book “One Magic Square- grow your own food on one square metre”. Figured that this time it is best to start with small steps. Will still fart around out the back with bananas, green manures and assorted tree seeds but will concentrate energy and attention on proper food production to one square metre at a time.
Fourteen years of mucking around and producing little of lasting value has taught the serpent a lesson or two.
Izzie has set a deadline of three years to become self sufficient in fruit, herbs and vegetables and this time it is serious.
Izzie has a bad bad habit of buying munchies with the intention of cooking up a storm and then putting it off on the long finger. So so often we end up with shrivelled up ginger, garlic that has turned to dust or cauliflowers with big black spots and fit for nothing but the compost heap.
Made so many new year’s resolutions to do things differently this time and it looks like we got lucky this time with all those good intentions.
There’s a stash of garlic sitting on a kitchen bench top waiting to be planted. Some was acquired recently at the annual garden fair and the rest was from the Hulbert Street festival - some seriously hot pink and purple stuff. The lady selling it lived on Hulbert Street and grew the stuff in her own garden. At only four silver sickles for a bunch it was a steal. There was a good seven bulbs per bunch and you could smell the stuff a mile away. Lucky to grab two bunches early because it sold out very quickly and had gone up to five silver sickles the following day. Still pretty cheap for such seriously spicy kosher critters
So grabbed a few cloves, grated them and tossed them on the pan along with some freshly grated ginger and then added the cauliflower from the fridge. Had the inspired idea to toss in some of the coriander seeds got today also for planting. Soon the whole Lair smelled of ginger and garlic. The final ingredient was a couple of free range eggs and freshly ground pepper. It was much tastier than expected especially washed down with a glass or two of chardonnay
But all those attempts at turning over a new leaf and not succeeding have taught the serpent that ‘should be’ and ‘wanna be’ are not good honey bees. Just acknowledge the reality and live on bread, cheese and peanut butter at the Lair and save the vegies and real food for elsewhere.
For a single solitary serpent it does not work out cheaper but is less wasteful. But did use the week or so annual leave as an opportunity to do a bit of home cooking.
The usual lurking grounds include Annalakshmi on the Swan which does home cooked Indian vegetarian food. It is a bit of a lucky dip. You never know what will be on the menu but there’s always a soup, one flavoured and one plain basmati rice, something with potatoes, cabbage salad and two curries. Dhal, mushroom or cauliflower curries are the Izzie favorites.
Govinda’s run by the Hari Krishnas is also cheap and cheerful but a bit more bland due to the lack of garlic and onions. Izzie always visits after 4pm when it is only $4 a meal. Otherwise would rather pay more and get something real and tasty at Analakshmi
Then there is Juicy Beetroot which does have Indian style stuff but could be best described as plain old fashioned whole foods. It is the only place where the serpent prefers salads. There are about 8 to choose from and all seriously delicious.
Then there are the vegetarian equivalents of McDonalds which are usually Malaysian or Taiwanese in origin. They often have soya bean or gluten based products dressed up to look like and taste like meat. Some of the sneakier ones only admit this in the small print and many a carnivore has been fooled. But charging meat prices for soya beans and wheat is a bit of a rip off.
On the subject of soya beans, can’t stand the critters especially as most of them are not kosher. Soya milk is the most disgusting muck. But the beans do wonders for the garden as green manure so paid a visit to a certain Greek grocery store to get some. It was actually alfalfa seeds and buckwheat that was on the agenda but seeing they had Australian rather than Chinese soya beans and supposedly kosher could not resist the opportunity. They made a point of proclaiming the non GM status so that is a good sign. Usually it is necessary to buy organic beans to be absolutely sure
Kukalis is way the cheapest place for sourcing seeds. Today’s stash along with the soya beans includes lupins, buckwheat and coriander. Could not find any alfalfa.
So along with the lupins they are presently soaking in a bowl waiting to be planted tomorrow. Petunia also brought over a banana ‘tree’ so that will be getting planted too. She has at least twenty and some of them still have bananas on them but at this time of year they will not be getting ripe in any great hurry.
Got to make the most of May and the next month or two for planting and drought proofing the garden. Been buying avocados for their seed and burying pecan and macadamia nuts in the ground hoping that some of them will sprout
Even been out with the tape measure plotting and planning. Sort of started several years ago but got sidetracked. Also dusted off the wonderful book “One Magic Square- grow your own food on one square metre”. Figured that this time it is best to start with small steps. Will still fart around out the back with bananas, green manures and assorted tree seeds but will concentrate energy and attention on proper food production to one square metre at a time.
Fourteen years of mucking around and producing little of lasting value has taught the serpent a lesson or two.
Izzie has set a deadline of three years to become self sufficient in fruit, herbs and vegetables and this time it is serious.
