Couch 65...Where all the fun is!

I find rutabaga tastes more turnippy and parsnips are sweet.

I would like tastes of strange fruit. I really want to know what breadfruit tastes like. Vegetables I am more comfortable with except whole artichokes and jerusalem artichokes. Both of those confuse me and I don't know why people bother with whole artichokes.
Right now I have a celeriac root that I need to use up.

I think whole artichokes make for a different, more companionable meal. Italians stuff them with eggs and old salami and breadcrumbs, so they are quite savory and filling.

Eta - maybe I will try a julie and julia thing for 2014 - like make a goal to actually cook every day. No more tuna sandwiches. A fallback shouldn't be my regular thing.

I shall have to reconsider the artichoke and look up some videos on how to prepare. I always found the whole artichoke leaf dipping in butter thing to simply be too much work for too little reward. I do like artichoke hearts. Back when the cooking channel was actually about cooking rather than celebrity chefs (yes I am snarky about that) I learned to cook all sorts of interesting things. I made my own gravlax after watching one obscure show. I hate cured salmon - but it looked so interesting to try and my partner loved it.

Was that the one where they made a salt shell then broke it open with a hammer? That was cool!!

I tend to cook a couple of things and then eat them throughout the week. Like a pot of soup and a roast chicken or something. Usually one vegetarian sort and one meat sort of dish. I used to live on pots of beans and rice, but my partner demands more variety on a daily basis.

I loooove artichoke hearts!!!!

also love...

roasted asparagus spears lightly drizzled w/sesame oil and sprinkled w/sesame seeds.
Broil it till it's crispy

house is clean, fish tank clean, patio clean.... now for the rest of my life

I love beans, think Ill put some in the crock pot tomorrow night!

This happens to me, too. My theory is that when your body thinks you are fighting for your life, it concentrates on external threats and lets infections run riot. When the external pressure comes off, your body fights the bugs and that's when you get inflammations and fevers.

"Some people put the art into artichoke eating, and some put the choke into it."

Wow, stopdog, you made gravlax? I'd love to know how. (You know that's a Swedish dish? "Lax" is Swedish for "salmon". On a really traditional Swedish Christmas smörgåsbord there's gravlax and rökt lax (smoked salmon) and kokt lax (boiled salmon).)

Do any of these sound authentic?
Gravlax Recipe (Swedish cured salmon) | Sweden | Whats4Eats

The Best Gravlax Recipe On The Internet: Now In English And Metric Units! - GNOLLS.ORG

or Martha Stewart sort of different spices from the recipe I used
Gravlax Recipe | Cooking | How To | Martha Stewart Recipes

The first one, minus the vodka. Never heard of vodka/aquavit in a gravlax recipe before. In my head, it's basically just salt, sugar (equal proportions or slightly more sugar than salt - some people use up to twice as much sugar), white peppercorns, and fresh dill. No fennel, lime, or caraway. Black pepper can be added, but not substituted for the white.

And it's essential to have a mustard-and-vinegar sauce with it. H makes a wonderful gravlax sauce.

I'm hungry now...

Hello everyone. Its windy and cold (i think) here this morning and its heading to be even colder. Under a lot of stress about money right now... The 15th seems so far away. I returned a gift to the store so I could buy gas last night... Its my own fault.... Reaping what I've sown...

((Ready)).

I hear ya on the money front. I live paycheck to paycheck and it sucks royally . H and I don't have a dime put away incase of emergency. It's good that you returned the gift though-that can wait. I've return things before to get myself some money.

Hey RTS and Jersey. It sucks that your money is so tight at the moment. Especially when you can't afford T.

I was suppose to have T at 1pm today. So from 1 to 2... I really need to distract. It will get easier starting tomorrow.

morning all

Morning Chickie...
Morning Jerz...
Morning Ready...
Hi Mast...

Hello everyone else..
Hope you all have a good day planned ahead.
I am on Day 12 of my juice fast, and I have successfully dropped 5mg of Prednisone. Dropping another 5 today. No idea about the scale yet, but I feel lighter and more energetic. I don't miss coffee or food. Just vodka...lol...

Bringing my D to school, then hitting the gym...
Catch ya all later...

BTW: just thinking of cured salmon with mustard and vinegar makes me glad I have my juice...lol. Blech. Poor little (big) fishies.

My H's family is Jewish. His father's girlfriend gave me a gravlax recipe that is almost identical to yours, but the proportion of salt and sugar was way different. About half as much sugar as salt. I don't like sweet meats or fish, so I cut that in half again. Salt, sugar, white pepper and dill. We have it with fresh veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and lettuce), and cream cheese.

They also gave me a matzo ball soup recipe that I changed drastically. The matzo balls seemed like they would come out as hard little dough balls, so I separated the eggs, beat the egg whites stiff, and added them into the dough at the last minute. I also made a homemade veggie soup instead of using the canned chicken stuff. At Passover everyone agreed that they are really glad I have no respect for traditional recipes. LOL.

the gift I returned was not a christmas present I bought for someone else cause I havent started doing that...

I returned a "for no reason" gift my H bought me... I dont think he will notice... Oh well the gas is a neccessity.

Good morning! Hanging out with the high school kids again today.. This time in science.. Eek! Emailed T yesterday evening about the appointment he offered, but haven't heard back..

We woke up to an inch is snow, kids were excited, I just said here we go again! Winter has lost it's beauty for me.. Now I just dread getting kids bundled up, brushing snow off my car, and lake effect snow storms!!

guess im off for the day I hope all is well with everyone .

I don't remember the exact gravlax recipe I used. I only made it once. I remember mostly the dill, sugar and salt. I do the same sort of thing for smoking the salmon and I have made that several times (no fresh dill).
Wikid - whether my partner or a bear - it is all the same for the salmon.