a good time

You know what's a good time? When it feels like the week just started, but it's already Wednesday afternoon. Hump day, folks. You know what else is a good time? It's CSA day. You know what else is a good time? I will have a new QAF disc when I get home, and two more tomorrow.

(p.s. I just updated yesterday's posts with photos. pps. yes, Nowlze, MamMaw Gini and Aunt Boots. wanna make something of it? i didn't think so.)

Last evening I started to get hungry and also whiny about what I was going to make. So, I just started grabbing veggies from the fridge and countertops, and adding them into a dish I'm calling "Garden Glop". It was sooooo good! I just had the leftovers for lunch. Yum.

Garden Glop
(vegan, if you leave off the goat cheese; serves two giant servings or four side-ish servings)

3 medium-sized red potatoes, sliced in super-thin rounds
1 small sweet onion, small dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 roma and 1 green zebra tomatoes, cut into large chunks (you can use any kind of tomato; that's just what I had on hand)
1 roasted red pepper, cut into medium-sized dice (here's how to roast your peppers. easy, peasy!)
1 c. shittakes, chopped
1 heaping T. dried parsley
1 heaping T chili-garlic paste (find it in asian groceries)
1 handful of fresh basil, chopped
handful of green beans, steamed and cut into small dice on a sharp diagonal
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
some goat cheese, for crumbling on top

So, I sliced the potatoes, and put them in a large skillet with a little evoo and some salt and pepper. I cooked them over med-high heat until they're halfway done, then add in the onion and garlic and lower the heat and cover them loosely (I use a loose piece of foil). Let them cook for about five minutes while you steam your green beans, then shock them in ice water, slice them into small diagonals, and set them aside.

Add the roasted red peppers, chili-garlic paste, tomatoes, mushrooms and parsley to the pan, and cook another five minutes or so. Then add in the basil and green beans, salt and pepper to taste. Dish out, then crumble some goat cheese on top--it'll get all melty and help balance the hot-hot-heat of the chili-garlic paste.

Here's what it looked like mid-way through (isn't it gorgeous?):


And, here it is all ready to be eaten:


Kramer and I had a really fantastic walk this morning. I mean, we walked it out and stuff, but it was amazing how many deer (and deer babies! and, even one young buck) were out. Like, literally, gajillions. Literally. Okay, maybe, like, forty or something. Or, thirty. I don't know. A lot. Especially for being right smack-dab in the middle of the city. And, they're so tame! We brought apples and carrots with us today, and they munched several of Kramer's apples (from our CSA last week)--with a long and wily-looking tongue, and came within about five feet of us. Tomorrow Kramer has to be at work at the ass-crack of dawn, so we have to walk even earlier. I think the only way I'll make it out of bed is to picture adorable deer faces.

And, speaking of Kramer, we had the first weigh-in of the Weight-Off-Off this morning. I lost two pounds! Kramer stayed level (she doesn't want to talk about it), but I think we're both going to do really well. Plus, I actually gained a few extra before we started, so my goal is 22, hers is 18. By December 31st. We are winners*!

[*I'll actually be the winner, but still. She can feel like a winner.]


Have you been hearing all about everyone's CSA subscriptions, but are worried you waited too late? Never fear! I just got this info about a fall share that's just getting started. Check it out:

Greetings!

How does this work? You pay for a weekly delivery of fresh produce, including vegetables and fruit. Your weekly delivery contains whatever is harvested that week. We are working with 2 local farms. There are 6 drop sites including, Mt. Lebanon, McKnight Road, Fox Chapel, East Liberty, Moon Township and Bethel Park. Farm to Table.

Your drop site choice will determine your start date. After you sign up for a 10 week subscription, you will receive a confirmation in 24 hours to notify you of your start date.

Last week's organic share contained Wheat berry bread, Large zucchini, Kale, Green pepper, Cheese, Paddy pan squash, Cherry tomatoes, Potatoes, Watermelon.

The non organic share contained Watermelon, Tomatoes, Green pepper, Apples, Nectarines, Cukes, Eggplant.

Farm subscriptions are available for this fall, starting now! The subscriptions last for 10 weeks. Subscriptions start at $200 and large and small shares are available. You can make 2 payments if you would like.

To get the subscription form, or for questions, contact Erin Hagan:
Please let me know if you have any questions.
I can be reached at (412)563-7807 or
ehagan@american-healthcare.net.

long weekend, why you gotta be so short?

First, just wanted to pass this along:

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh presents a talk by SFP’s Marlene Parrish

What: Hear about Slow Food Pittsburgh and the challenges of Eating Local!
When: Wednesday, September 12
Time: 6-8 pm
Where: 4400 Forbes Avenue, Oakland, Main, First Floor Quiet Reading Room
Charge: Open to the public

Speaker: Marlene Parrish, co-leader of SFP and food writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

More info: 412-622-3151, or visit www.carnegielibrary.org

Come and learn about why buying fresh, local and seasonal food matters. If you love to eat and love to shop at farmers’ markets and if you care about the environment and supporting the local economy, you’ll want to hear about Slow Food Pittsburgh in this informal talk.

Plenty of time for questions, and we’ll be giving away some cookbooks, too.
The First Floor Quiet Reading Room won’t be quiet for long.....

I hope everyone had a super long weekend! I definitely did. It was action-packed! In fact, I'm kind of surprised that it all happened in one weekend. That's weird. And, I forgot my dang camera to upload the pics I wanted to include today. Hopefully I'll have it back tomorrow (I think I left it at Maggie's), and can update this post then.

On Friday, E-dawg and I met up at the Greek Festival in our 'hood (North Side represent!) for some delicious treats, some interesting music and some great people-watching. We each got a slice of spanikopita and tiropita (which I'd never had before, and was like the spanikopita without spinach and a fluffier cheese filling). And, I got a box of pastries to take to my mom and stepdad (my mom's favorite dessert is baklava)--a bunch of baklava, some little kourambiethes, a ghalatobouriko and an apricot and a cherry roll. It was a gorgeous assortment, and they were thrilled.

On Saturday morning I drove down to southern WV.

I got there around 2pm, and the cowgirl party was at 3:00. So, we headed up there, and as soon as we pulled up I could hear Savanah yelling "Ehrrin! Ehrrin! EhrrinEhrrinEhrrinEhrrin Ehrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!"



That is the most excited anyone has ever been to see me. I liked it. The party was cute, and the kids had fun. Then I went over to my brother's house for more playing and a ride on his new motorcycle.


Then, went out for Mexican food with my parents (there are three awesome Mexican restaurants in their tiny town, and we went to one I hadn't been to before; this was the best--Acapulco). So good. And, then I made them Huevos Rancheros for breakfast the next morning, to continue on with the theme.

Sunday morning my parents split for Ohio (for my nephew's birthday), and I met up with my brother and Savanah again, and we visited my MamMaw Gini and then my Aunt Boots (where, when we pulled up and got out of the car, Savanah said, "Now, where's them chickens?" 'cause they have some chickens that roost in one of the trees behind their house).

with MamMaw Gini:

with Aunt Boots:


After that I hit it back to the 'Burgh, and made it back just in time to get my stuff from the car to the house so that E-dawg could pick me up for the Ditty Bops show at Mr. Small's. They're so cute! And, this tour is the Farm Tour (they say: In addition to playing traditional shows, we will perform benefit concerts on farms to raise money for local farm organizations, "The Growing Connection" and "FARM AID" - Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews and John Mellencamp's nonprofit.)

On Sunday night I sent Kramer a message to say that I was going to oversleep the next day, so we didn't walk yesterday morning. what? it was labor day! the day of rest!--and, she actually called me a chump.

So, I didn't really sleep in yesterday, but I did a lot of chillaxin', nonetheless. I watched five (five!) episodes of QAF, then napped, then read, then went over to Maggie's to do more chillaxin' with she and Kramer. And, we ate some delicious and nutritious quinoa/black bean/veggie bowls. And, I left my camera. Boo. Hoo.

It was back on track this morning with the walk with Kramer. We did about two miles this morning, and, and, and! there were tons of deer. Lots of mamas and babies-still-with-spots. And, they were completely unafraid of us. A couple of them came so close we could almost pet them. It was amazing. (Kramer said "creepy"). Tomorrow we're going to take some deer snacks and hope we run into them again. So cool.

And, tomorrow is our first official weigh-in for the Weight Off-Off! I already can feel that I'm going to kick her ass!

Also, in other news, I signed up for a "Knife Skills" class at Chop, Wok & Talk (through CCAC). yay!