Agave/bees

An agave that has been outside of my place ever since I moved in is finally flowering and attracting some bees. Still trying to figure out how to shoot it, these are the most interesting so far. I think I like the sharp flower and moving bees look. I also like the shallow depth of field one. The quicker shutter is interesting, but I like the blur sometimes too. So many choices. D600, 85mm macro tilt shift, tripod.

Millet Fried "Rice"

I've finally started being social again after Sara moved to Santa Cruz for her postdoc. Had Steph and Erik over for vietnamese crepes last weekend, and Erin over for this this week. I was looking through recent cookbook acquisitions for an interesting vegetarian dish, Fried Millet, hmmm. I have alot of millet as it goes on sale pretty cheap. I throw it into soupy/stewy things in small amounts. But millet is weird, it always seems really dry. Anyway, Erin was game to try it. This is what I did

Inspired by Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson
Millet Fried "Rice"

1 c millet
3 c water
salt

a couple of good sized shallots (or 1 medium onion)
2 gloves garlic, sliced
3/4" piece of ginger, minced
1 carrot
couple stalks celery
couple peppers

couple handfulls of greens - collard, chard, arugula
2 small sweet potatoes
lb tofu

2T butter
2T toasted sesame oil
1T soy sauce

Bring water to boil with a little salt, add millet, cook covered 25 min.
Cut up sweet potatoes into half moon slices, put in a pot with a little water and cook 10 min covered so they steam.
1T butter, oil in a non stick, add diced tofu, cook 5 min or so. When done add to sweet potatoes, add some soy sauce, toss.
Put greens in same skillet, dry, cook covered 5 min or so, stir into sweet potatoes.
1T butter, oil in same skillet, onion/garlic/ginger, then carrot, then celery/peppers, cook 10 min or so. Stir in millet, add some soy sauce.

 The pic is of a leftovers dinner, with everything mixed together. When we ate it fresh we had a bed of millet with the tofu/sweet potatoes/ greens on top. Either way is good.

Nice radio story about kids gardening

this brightened my day

Garden, 9 Jan 2016

 asian pear

the power of a garden hose

podcast with my dad

My dad did a really great podcast about the pacific off of Newport, Or, and how this summer they saw all sorts of unusual things. That said the pic of the copepod below was taken a couple of years ago. It's beautiful, and they aren't sure what species it is.

rain

1.5" yesterday, different storm today 1" of rain from around 5 to 9, then this came through, .5" in 15 min:

this is incoming, as of 1:23 pm

brisket a la mexicana, canned salmon fish tacos, NPR Christmas

two good meals. no pics. probably better that way anyway.

had a 1.5 lb brisket in the freezer for a while, also some roasted hatch chilies. took my cue from 'Mexico One plate at a Time' by Rick Bayless. Brown brisket 5 min on each side. You're supposed to take it out, don't remember if I did. Add an onion and 6 cloves garlic. Cook. Add ~2lb roasted chilies. Add ~2c tomato puree. Salt, pepper, oregano, meat back in. Bottle of beer. 325 3 hours. I ended up adding a second bottle of beer half way through. Let it cool and refrigerate a couple of days before you eat it. Shred meat, warm it. Eat with good bread or brown rice.

i gave Lizzy the cat some canned salmon today but there was no way she could eat the whole thing, so brought home the rest. wanted to cook it in some way so that the small bones would be disguised. they freak me out even though they are totally edible and good for you. warmed up some refried beans, threw in some salmon and some cheese. italians don't mix fish and cheese in recipes, but cal-mex food definitely does. chileans do, too, in seafood empanadas, for instance. anyway. delicious with little organic corn slider tortillas and some emeril salsa.

the NPR Tinsel Tales (1, 2 & 3) are so good; santaland diaries of course, there's a cool wolf one in #2 . the pink martini christmas show was great, too.

Osprey, Camino Pescadero beach

about a month ago i was out surfing my spot and an osprey caught a little fish and flew away. i thought that was pretty cool. this morning i biked down to the end of the street to check the surf and watched an osprey fly up with a fish in its talons. very cool. watched it eat for awhile and decided to bike home for a camera. got it and set up and no card in the f'ing camera! biked home again, came back again, osprey still there! was able to get 300 images. here are the best ones, in chronological order. nikon v1, ft1, 300mm f4. few more pics here.

 talons were huge!

 funny dopey look, like it just realized it was eating raw fish

 these last 2 are money

Osprey, outtakes

as i was going through the photos i noticed a repeated pose. there are actually 2 versions of it in the main post. body in profile, head toward camera feathers on head standing up a tad, like a cartoon kid who stuck his finger in an electrical socket. the first is from 8:01, the last 8:18, you can see the fish getting smaller and smaller.

my uncle

Garden, 20 Dec 2015

 fuyu persimmon

 bird/kale tree

 fig tree

 kale tree

plum tree w/ fruit. 'tis not the season......

Garden, 27 Nov 2015

 drought is really messing with the trees

two from the garden

RIP Paul Prudhomme

I'm sure I've mentioned him before on the blog. Dude was a massive influence on the way I cook - he was a big proponent of high heat / letting things stick / deglazing. My folks had 'Seasoned America" on their cookbook shelf and it, along with Moosewood/Enchanted Broccoli Forest and Sonia Uvezian's the Cuisine of Armenia were my faves. Blackened anything......

Recent Food Pics

 fried green tomatoes and wild sockeye

 typical crappy photo. california mexican - catfish dredged in cornmeal and sauteed. leftovers warmed back up with salsa and cheese.

friend Steph makes kimchi. yum

Cascadia Earthquake, or NWC art + science!

Cool article about earthquakes in the pacific NW and indigenous peoples. Tim Paul, who did the second print in the article, did another one about earthquakes that I own. It's also sweet.