Friday, April 24, 2009

eating new stuff

Now that we are remaking ourselves into country people, we are having to learn to eat things we never ate before, things people grow in their gardens.  I’ve been trying to eat local and ‘in season’ for several years now.  I refuse, for instance, to buy produce from Chili, try not to buy food from California for that matter...too far away.  I will buy produce from Mexico as they are a near neighbor to me.  Eating local is harder than you might think.  If you live up north, eating local for much of the year means no fresh food, but down here you wouldn’t think it would be that hard, it shouldn’t be that hard to find produce grown in Texas.  I know there is lots of food grown in Texas so why don’t we get it, why do they ship it out and then we have to buy produce that is shipped in?  But I digress...


These are the new foods I have eaten in the last year:  kohlrabi, kale, swiss chard, long beans, loquats, different kinds of squash, and duck eggs.


The kohlrabi is a new favorite, cut off the thick skin, cube the (root, fruit?), saute.

I liked the kale also, sort of like spinach only more so.



I haven’t actually eaten the swiss chard yet, it’s waiting in the refrigerator.  It sure is pretty though.


The long beans are good lightly sautéed.


Loquats are OK, don’t dislike them but not crazy about them either.


Squash is squash.  This is cucuzza squash.


The duck eggs were interesting though (see my post 'bounty').  The whites were so thick they came out of the shell in one glob.  The yolks were so thick they were almost solid.  The house being devoid of food as usual, I made fried egg sandwiches for lunch with the two we had.  Trying to break the yolk was an exercise in futility.  Mostly I just chopped it up and spread it around a bit while the egg cooked.  They didn’t taste any different than chicken eggs though, at least not that I could tell, but three hours after eating my lunch my stomach started becoming uncomfortable.  Thirty minutes later, my body totally rejected everything that was left in my stomach.  Ugh.  Bad enough in the comfort of your own home but I was at the gym when the discomfort started.  I was squatting down in the parking lot waiting for my friend to go fetch my keys for me because, in my haste to leave, I left them hanging on the board, and I was wondering if she would get back before I puked in public, in the parking lot.  I had to pass by several restaurants boiling noxious odors into the air and of course caught every single red light on the way home.  I basically parked the car in the middle of the street and yelled at Marc on my way through the house that he needed to move it.  But I digress again...


Curiously enough, after my encounter with the toilet, my sense of smell became very heightened.  Marc, of the cast iron stomach, suffered no ill effects from the duck egg and was eating smoked oysters for dinner while I tried not to smell them.  I will never eat duck eggs again.  They go on the list right under oysters.  Or maybe, they go before.

11 comments:

  1. Isn't it weird how some people react to things and others don't. My husband has a steel stomach whereas I'm lucky I keep anything down. I do hate to puke.

    What is curious to me is that I seem to be one of the few who are so terribly conscious of time going by. I don't that it's something other people think about, and they definitely don't talk about it, but it runs through my head a couple times a day at least. I think I keep hoping that being conscious of it will slow it down, but it's not working.

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  2. Try the kohlrabi roasted in the oven. That's how i usually cook it, and i don't bother to peel it. although last night i was going to do it and found that i had let them sit too long in the fridge and the went soft on me. so instead of roasting them o cut them up and made a mixed vegetable and Israeli couscous soup. the soup is one of our new favourites.

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  3. Hi Ellen,
    I'm envious of your move to the country and all the fresh veggies at your disposal. Sorry to hear about your encounter with the duck egg...

    There's a book you might find interesting called "Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet" by Alisa Smith.

    Thanks for stopping by my place and leaving such a nice note. I always enjoy new visitors.

    BTW, I think your karmic debt is one that will be a lot of fun to pay back!

    Carolynn

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  4. Ellen - thanks for stopping by. I've never tried duck eggs, but I have severe problems now with prawns. Most unfortunate. Our favourite vegetable is celeriac, as it's great for adding to soup. It can be difficult to buy the home fruit and veg in season over here. My parents refuse to buy anything other than Scottish strawberries (living in Scotland) but have to wait patiently until August. The price of principle.

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  5. I can prepare but never quite bring myself to eat oysters - shudder. Coincidentally, the farm I spent Easter on kept ducks, yet the family NEVER ate the eggs. In the UK duck eggs are commonly sold alongside hen eggs. I think you were unfortunate and ate a "bad egg"? Poor you, not surprising if this has turned you off for life from trying any again!

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  6. Welcome to Muthering Heights, Carolynn, Madame DeFarge and Shrinky. Thanks for visiting and I hope you return and enjoy the continuing adventures.

    Thanks for the book suggestion Carolynn, I'll check it out. And I am looking forward to paying my debt.

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  7. I love love swiss chard. We grew it last year in our garden. But here in Michigan I've only seen green and red stalked swiss chard! All those beautiful colors, I'm drooling!

    Those long beans are l o n g *laugh* I don't know if I've seen those up here in the store. Hmmmm, I'll have to look.

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  8. Beautiful and inspiring post. I know it's way past the time you wrote this but I am wondering if the eggs were not so fresh. I seem to remember something Miss Martha (Stewart) said about eggs that are a little bad.... something about their yolks and whites being thick like glue. I notice that once in awhile a chicken egg comes out that way and I eye it suspiciously....

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  9. They were only about a week old. And all the ones so far eaten have been like that. I think maybe it was too rich for my system.

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  10. i have NO idea how i ended up on this post !!! lol :)) but i lOVE kohlrabi (though it's called something very different here). I never cook it; just eat it raw...delish :)

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