indoor/outdoor garden update/notes

no new recipes to post at this time so spending some time gardening

picture sheet from 04/12/2012, planted approximately 04/01/2012

05/05/2012

thinned multiples to separate containers

some planted in the garden 05/14/2012

flats outside in the warm weather (mid 60’s-70’s) during the day, some days in at night, rain fall, full sunshine, better growth.

 

NOTES

• original plantings, tomato, muskmelon, peppers, cauliflower, brussels sprouts.
• planted muskmelons outdoors too early before soil was warm (start again)
• sprouted over the stove, under counter fluorescent light and natural sunlight kitchen window sill
• using fish emulsion (2-3-1) $12.85/pint and root developer (4-10-3) $7.85/pint sparingly , rainwater when possible, just a bit of 10-10-10, 4lbs@$9.95 granular in some (Miller Nurseries)
• jiffy 7 peat pots for starter, moistened in enclosed container, no water.

  Burgess 8306     Jiffy-7 Quantity 24          $3.79

• transplant mix , garden soil unsterilized, compost, sand, perlite
• approximately 21 seedlings planted 05/14/2012, tomato, brussel  sprouts, cauliflower, two days light rain followed.
• some failures  getting some onions and chives started

 

OUTDOOR GARDEN

Cilantro, Sage,  Parsley (2), Dill, Oregano(2)

• Oregano and  Parsley was split
• Dill and Cilantro new this season

 

 

Raspberries in full force growth

Dwarf Flowering Cherry (Prunus besseyi)

yet to be transplanted

The valuation of electrons

Unless you’ve had your head buried in the sand about financial news, Facebook will be offered to investors as an issuance of stock. Since this is the first issue of stock to the general public, know as an IPO, there has been some speculation as how much the stock will be offered and at what price each share will be. Estimates would value Facebook at $95 Billion. !!!

What exactly is Facebook ? Oh, it’s a social network  (internet) site that just about anyone on the internet knows about.  But what IS Facebook, is their headquarters worth billions? You can’t touch Facebook unless you want fingerprints all over your display, monitor screen or smart phone.

What you getting for your share of stock is a bunch of electrons. These electrons of course are arranged by the knowledge workers at Facebook. It’s the softwear or instructions that allow users to interact or more importantly format information into a readable and interact able design (website). It’s customizable  within formats to allow the user(s) to have their contacts, friends, relatives, likes and dislikes organized for easy viewing and feedback. Facebook doesn’t build hardware like computers and smartphones. Facebook just arranges electrons in a way that’s popular to the general public.

This isn’t a new concept,  software isn’t a new concept. If a product can be digitized , it can be bought or sold with out it physically existing.  Did your ever open a video game cartridge to actually see what was in it. Basically circuits to order the electrons of your game console. A floppy disk, just a collection of magnetic pulses, optical disks? the same, just a collection of miniature reflections from a rotating surface to order the electrons by instructions and information read by a light (laser) beam.

Enter the internet, we even don’t need the media anymore, the electrons are passed back and forth by computers now globally connected. Over a period of time, by digitizing,  media formats were laid to rest, photography went digital, now publishing actual print is dying. Music, download is the key word. Even financial,  a swipe or pass of the RFID plastic is all it takes, the obsolete media is paper money and checks. 

  What the winning element is is that the software is a generally accepted user interface.  If a software company can get it right and accepted by the masses, grow and improve the interface, it wins. Popularity makes up a good portion of the value. So does it’s ability to be a place for  advertisements and ripe for data mining of it’s customers.

How much are we willing to pay for the orderly arrangement of electrons? Time will tell, maybe the next consideration won’t be what OS (Operating System)  you’ll have on your digital device but what AI system you’ll have.

roasted vegetables

one of the best ways too cook vegetables you have on hand it to roast them. Easy preparation.

On a stoneware sheet pan diced and bake what have you in a medium oven till tender about an hour or so.

 

 

Here we have white onion, mushrooms, tomato, red pepper, and garlic. Season to your taste

with salt, pepper, and herbs. When completed, spoon on a bun, top with grated cheese.

Delicious !

 

Store the remainder for many uses, over pasta or when you need a side of vegetables with your meals, or a filling.

pizza

 tonight’s deep dish pizza

mushrooms, hot Italian sausage, beef, garlic onion, American cheese, parmesan, Romano.

pizza

 tonight’s deep dish pizza

mushrooms, hot Italian sausage, beef, garlic onion, American cheese, parmesan, Romano.

meatloaf pepper poppers

  Stuffed mini peppers.

There is many directions this recipe could have gone. With the mini peppers, instead of large green peppers, some kind small bite meal was in order.

Since I had some ground beef, sort of a meatloaf stuffing came to mind.

About 1/2 an onion finely chopped, hmmm.. a bit of fat, a slice of bacon would be good for juicy flavor as the pepper would encase the beef while cooking… bread crumbs… no.. due to the size of the peppers, finely  chop the bacon onion and a bit of garlic, processed in the mini chopper.

 

Ok …now I should season the meat due to the small size that each meatloaf inside the pepper would be.

Also cheese come to mind specifically some American cheese that I have , perhaps not though, I didn’t want them too gooey… now I’m thinking of sort of a chilies rellenos  style.. I could blister, skin and stuff the peppers with cheese and meat mixture and coat and fry them… maybe another day. I want to stick with the mini meatloaf theme.

Back to the seasonings, a shard of cinnamon, whole allspice, peppercorns, clove,(grind or smash them to powder) hot red pepper flakes,

celery cumin, and caraway seed.

add to the beef with the onion mixture and refrigerate while processing the peppers.

With a sharp small paring knife slice off the top and gently cut out the ribs and seeds.

 

 

(looks like the planet killer from star trek… maybe not)

Now I have to have a oven proof container to hold the minis… Details…details…

The rectangular blue corning ware one will do…

In goes the meat mix, I used the stem end of a spoon as a shovel to fit into the pepper to avoid air pockets when filling with the meat. I thought of a bread crumb topping…

 

 

 

about 350 – 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

I let them cool to room temp for tasting.

Not bad, the amount of spices need to be increased.

The peppers are still crunchy and held the juices of the meat within.

Even better after refrigerated as in a regular meat loaf…

BUT WAIT…

a sauce ? Over the top of them?  could they be possibly be cooked in a tomato based sauce ? Would they hold together?

for now not!

Bacon, potato and greens

A quick skillet meal.

Render some bacon slightly

 

Grab a spud,clean skin, small dice with skin

sauté with the bacon, season 

throw in some garlic

 

add some Brussels sprout greens to the pan, cover, let them wilt

Done

 

  

sproutations, indoor garden update

some of the seedlings’ that have sprouted

We have an abundance of containers so I made mini green houses.    I probably could have just used the covers, but I cut out the centers of the covers with scissors, covered the containers with clear plastic wrap, and replaced the cover, now just a rim, and placed them in a warm place. I didn’t need to even water the moist jiffy peat pots. Once the compressed peat pot are reconstituted, just squeeze out the excess water so they are just fully saturated, then seed each one. (The first batch I overwatered) you’ll notice water droplets due to the humid environment of the mini greenhouse.

Over the top console of the stove maintains about 75 degrees or better if your cooking or baking due to the oven vent below the console and the stove uses standing pilots (natural gas stove). Light is provided by the hood light. Poof ! germination  When the seeding height hits the top of the clear wrap, uncover. So far so good ! mostly everything has germinated some slower that others.

Really crusty bread

I read a post about Daring Bakers: Dutch Crunch Rolls and wondered how it would be a full loaf of bread vs. the rolls. The recipe is here http://korenainthekitchen.com/2012/03/27/daring-bakers-dutch-crunch-rolls/ for rolls the bread recipe is http://baking-jds.blogspot.ca/

none the less here is my results on two white with wheat loaves.

 

 

If you ever wanted a really crusty finish to to your loaves and tried different methods of coating the crust, milk, water etc., then this is the way to go! Soft crumb interior and crunchy almost cracker like crust, reminiscent of a crusty Italian bread. The only thought I had was if there was an alternate method of getting the crust, as the recipe for the slurry like frosting that’s applied to the bread just before baking calls for yeast, a tablespoon. I used 1/2 the topping recipe and substituted potato starch instead of the required rice flour (it’s supposed to be  a non glutinous flour). To me that’s  a lot of yeast for just the small amount of topping and would try in the future different combinations. Why the yeast if it doesn’t really rise at all?

Aside from that, an awesome impressive crusty loaf …..

Quichza

sort of a cross between a quiche and a pizza. since it’s been awhile since I baked pizza, I wanted something simple and different.

obtain or make your favorite pizza dough and form it into a deep cast iron skillet. Push it up the sides.

 

Let it rise….

Sauté some white and sweet onions in butter, slowly not to brown…

add some greens, in this case from the Brussels sprout plant in the garden, some leafy greens from the stalk.

clean , dice add to the onions… a bit of salt and pepper to taste… That’s all …

cook the onions and greens over low heat to wilt and soften them, the dough should rise… a thick crust and billowy sides to hold the mixture..  just a touch of smoked hot red pepper flakes….added to the onions and greens for background…..

3 eggs and some milk…whisk together…..

spoon the  sautéed onion and Brussels greens in to the crust, pour in the egg mixture ……

  

That’s it ! Keeping it simply for this recipe….

500 degrees for about 13 minutes…

 

Tick …Tock… Tick ….Tock……. Tick…..Tock    Tick…. Tock   DING !….

DONE !

What a meal !!!

how about a dollop of sour cream for garnish !!!!!!

Ok, so I could have added things like cheese, sausage, some other type of meat and herbs, that’s right, there was no garlic in this recipe!!! BUT , this was sort of a test recipe to keep the flavors basic. It was a success. Yes, maybe the next time around I’ll add the garlic, cheese and meat, but for now the greens and onions were excellent to taste. And the crust bountiful, to hold it all together.