Fig Tart and Garden News

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Frog

Our fig bush is producing right now and we’ve had this idea to create a savory tart out of figs and a puff pastry sheet that’s been languishing in the freezer.

Today we took some garlic and rosemary and heated them in olive oil and added about a dozen sliced figs. We stirred that around until it turned into what looked like pie filling, adding a bit of water to help things out.

Then we spooned that mixture over half of the rolled out puff pastry and then I added a bunch of goat cheese. We folded over the other edge of the pastry and sealed it.

We baked it for about 20 minutes and let it cool a bit before we sliced two pieces. The better-half decided that some drizzled honey should be added to help with the sweetness factor. He’s the one with the sweet tooth in the family. The honey was a good addition and I added it to the recipe when I jotted it down (well, I typed it, but you know what I mean).

In other fresh vegetable news, we pulled up all but the roma tomato plant this morning. The hurricane last weekend didn’t do any favors to the already pathetic garden and the tomatoes had pretty well stopped producing anyway. We still have the pepper plants and I am once again impressed with how well the serrano peppers do here. Tomorrow, I’m making pesto to freeze.

I’m thinking of pulling at least some of the annuals out of the pots around the pool and starting lettuce seed. The plants are about done anyway and lettuce does so well in pots. I’m going to have to cage the pots, though, to keep the stray cats out of them. God knows that’s not the kind of fertilizer we want.

Posted in Eating, Gardening | 2 Comments

because now I see the destructive power of a lie

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Frog

My freaky co-worker was offered a job with our client who is taking over our operations. My supervisor did not. Yeah, a little touchy.

Among other things that make her freaky, my co-worker is also a consistent liar. I guess she thinks we’re not actually listening, but we catch her in logic traps and lies frequently. Yesterday she just didn’t show up for work. Because she didn’t have power in the morning and then had to run some errands in the afternoon. Seriously. Also said she had no way to communicate. Funny how her damn iPhone hasn’t shut up today. I suppose it is possible she didn’t charge it in the car she drove around to run those errands. But, I think she’s just being a lying dick.

We’re at day five of no power and it will be surprising if it’s on when the better-half gets home tonight. The power company is working hard on restoring lines and clearing downed trees, but it’s just a bad scene out near us. There’s only so much they can do quickly.

I’m headed to college town where they had no ill effects of the storm. It will be nice to sleep without hearing the drone of generators.

Posted in General Spleen Venting, Generic Thoughts | Comments Off

The Generator has a new friend

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Frog

Well, that title is a bit wrong. I have a new friend. A WiFi hot spot. Yeah, the internet withdrawals have been fierce. And, with all the trees, broken lines and snapped poles who knows when in the heck we’ll get power or internet back. Guess what? In spite of what NPR is telling you, there was a storm in Virginia too. Not just in NY and Vermont. I know, who knew!

I drove into the office this morning. Luckily the tree that was wedged over the road yesterday:

has been cut so now it is only blocking one lane.

I got to the office to discover we had no power and the landlord didn’t want anyone in the building. Perhaps they should have put up signs because after I was told to leave, I looped the building and saw someone unlocking the other door. It was tempting to go in behind that person to see if the reason for closing was only about the power and not that the bathrooms didn’t explode all over that sh*thole. A girl can dream.

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When Irene came to town

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Frog

image

So the wind started around 7am and we lost power around 2:30. Basically, if we didn’t have cells and a generator we’d be alone and drunk in the dark. I kid. Sort of.

We made dinner thanks to generator and the propane cooktop.

Sorry for the large picture. I’m using the cell to post and there’s only so much control I have in posting.

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Corn Dogs Reign Supreme!

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Frog

Last night we made corn dogs mostly from scratch. We doctored up a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix, jammed some sticks into slightly sauteed hot dogs and then fried them in our garage. Because that’s where the fryer is, naturally.

Cute little dogs all in a row:

The dogs were coated in flour to help the batter stick:

We used an old beer glass for the batter dip, but we think we need something as long but not tapered in the future. Perhaps a cheap flower vase would work:

Here they are getting GBD (golden, brown and delicious):

The look pretty good on the plate next to a three-cheese spinach casserole and grapes with feta:

We decided this one looked like a cactus, but now it’s kinda like “whoa, children cover your eyes”:

Posted in Eating | 3 Comments

Shrimp Curry

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Frog

Last night I made my version of shrimp curry. I can’t say that my version is all that different than every recipe you’ve probably seen for shrimp curry. Last night was the first time I’ve ever made the dish and I think a few tweaks might be in order. It was tasty, but there were two complaints at the table, which could be easily remedied. I served it over Texmati rice. I suppose jasmine rice would have been nice, but we had the Texmati.

I used a can of light coconut milk, some red curry paste, brown sugar, fish sauce, shrimp, green beans, red bell pepper and topped the curry with thinly sliced lemongrass and serrano pepper. I was too lazy to walk out to the garden to pick some basil leaves and I really should have gotten my butt in gear. I missed the taste of basil.

The better-half didn’t like the rawness of the green beans–they only cooked for 5 minutes. So I think next time I’ll blanch those for a few minutes and then throw them into the pan with everything else.

To recap: go get the basil and cook those green beans a little longer.

Shrimp Curry

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Figs!

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Frog

For dessert tonight with some others tucked away for tomorrow:
home figs

The flower fell off our Streptocarpus. It looked pretty and so joined the figs.

Posted in Eating, Gardening | 2 Comments

At least that’s taken care of

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Frog

We bought a car at the end of last week. It’s fancier than we originally thought but it’s not wacky-doodle fancy. We did well on the trade-in and had a good experience at the dealership. I like the car and it won’t (knock wood) leave me on the side of a major highway in the coming weeks.

I read a book at my desk last week and I brought in another one to read for the next few days. I’m taking leave every week now and I suspect my leave taking will ramp up in September. I have a ridiculous amount of leave. More than I can use.

I have an interview on Wednesday but I’m really not feeling it. So much depends on whether or not an organization will be relaxed with me finishing my school work. It’s been so nice working for a university because it’s all about education. I’m not sure that will translate to other organizations. And, the Wednesday interview spot has already told me they’ve decided to cap the salary so the job may not even pay more than what I earn now. I know I’m lucky to be employed, but I haven’t had a raise in years. I don’t know that I want to even consider a job that starts off screwing me on salary.

The co-worker and the supervisor are still playing the weirdo game. I honestly don’t understand the beef my co-worker has with our supervisor, but it’s seriously awkward. 33 working days and counting.

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Zip, Nada, Nuthin’

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Frog

Work: nothing going on. Seriously, I cruise the internet all day and I’m nearly done with a book that I started over a year ago. Tax dollars at work. But, hey, our client can’t get its act together so I’m taking up space and that’s it. Only 38 working days to go.

Car: dying a slow death by crappy transmission. I thought Hondas were supposed to go, go, go until they spontaneously combust at age 4,000. Yeah, not Accords from 2003 with over 140K on them. I know. It has a ton of miles on it and it should be tired by now.

Garden: finally figured out it was the crows eating all the tomatoes. The netting has completely stopped that and I harvested 6 tomatoes last night.

Education: am so tired of correcting people about the degree (DEGREE–a freaking degree program that’s 60 credit hours, for the love of God) that I’m working on. It is not a PhD and it is not a certificate. I’ve just stopped correcting people. Because most everyone who is confused are at work and I’ve explained it 50 bazillion times. And, like I said there are 38 working days left.

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Chunky Salsa Win!

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Frog

I had this idea that I’d make a rustic, chunky salsa to go with the grass-fed NY Strip last night. The tomatoes, garlic, herbs and the banana and serrano peppers are from our garden. I added some olive oil, salt and pepper. Haven’t quite figured out how to grow/manufacture those.

The salsa turned out very nice but the steak was mediocre. It’s the second one we’ve had and either we just don’t like grass-fed beef or that was one ancient cow because those steaks were tough and completely not worth whatever we paid. But, hey, that salsa!

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