Domestic nerdiness

[biochemgirl]

Do you know what I'm doing today? Baking kolaches and maybe cranberry muffins along with the naan and curry for dinner tonight. Meanwhile I am working on a Christmas quilt and watching the food network Thanksgiving shows all day. And I am giddy because I get to do it.

Next week my mom and I are going to a food and wine expo and I have been looking forward to it for a month. Like counting down the days looking forward to it :blush:

I am such a nerd. Share your domestic nerdiness so I don't feel like so much of a loser.

[livius drusus]

Ever since I was mercilessly taunted in chat over my rubber broomgasm (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17128) and the biweekly produce delivery (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17599), I've been keeping my domestic nerdiness close to the chest. Children can be so cruel. :crying:

I can't resist sharing, though, that I recently discovered the secret to preserving pretty much any veggie, from leafy to tuber, for literally weeks without spoilage or even bruising/sliminess.

My mom told me many an age ago about putting a paper towel in with lettuce to absorb the moisture. It's a standard preservation tip. Well, it works fine for a week or so, but when you get a yuge pile of produce every other Thursday, you really need stuff to last.

So what I do now is wash everything, set it out to dry or use the spinner when possible, then, wrap the entire veggie in paper towels and pop them in a ziploc.

For example, say I get a head of romaine. I tear each leaf off the head but otherwise keep the leaf whole, soak them, dry them until they're dryish, but not devoid of moisture. (Some water droplets actually help keep it crisp, like how they mist the produce section in supermarkets. I never realized that until the produce box pressure forced me to try different approaches.)

Then I roll out three paper towels (still connected to each other), nest the romaine leaves on the middle one, snugly fold the other two towels over the lettuce, and pop the bundle into a large ziploc bag. I close the zip almost all the way, gently squeeze the air out, then close the last bit.

Replace the paper towel once a week and I swear to you, you can have perfectly happy salad greens 3 weeks later. The bits at the end where you tear them off the head get a little pink, but you can just snap them off and the leafy parts are good to go.

This works for everything: summer squash, zucchini, herbs, green beans, even potatoes. Also, it makes your crispers look insanely organized.

The only negative is you can't see what's in the bag, so you need to take a sharpie to the ziploc, or, you know, look inside.

[Petra]

Great tip, liv - thanks!


bcg - no offense, but that sounds like my idea of a day in hell. Well, almost anyway. Add some ironing to it, and we're in the ninth circle.

ETA: that said, I can be a domestic nerd when the mood strikes me. That mood usually strikes me when I have lots of ironing I'd like to avoid, which will cause me to scrub floors on my hands and knees, clean cupboard and shelves, wash the ceilings and walls, clean the corners of the skirting boards with an old toothbrush, and that kind of thing. I'll do this for days, until finally there's not much left to do and I have to face reality and do the fucking ironing.

[biochemgirl]

liv that is an awesome tip!

Petra - I actually cleaned the house from top to bottom yesterday. I don't really enjoy cleaning but I can't relax in a house that is messy so there you go. I'll say I don't like cleaning except the kitchen, that's like my sancutary. If I have a clean kitchen all is right with the world. As for ironing, Malloch actually likes to do that. They have the new no iron uniform and he misses ironing his old one.

[Petra]

...he misses ironing his old one...

Oh, god - I'd love a man like that. :smitten:


I don't mind mess so much, but I don't like unhygienic grime. So while things can get a bit untidy around here, it's always super clean in the kitchen and bathroom. :yup:

[Shelli]

Thanks for the tips, liv. :writing:


Do you know what I'm doing today? Baking kolaches and maybe cranberry muffins along with the naan and curry for dinner tonight. Meanwhile I am working on a Christmas quilt and watching the food network Thanksgiving shows all day. And I am giddy because I get to do it.Well, I don't think of that as nerdy really. :nope: It sounds a lot like my own homebodyishness to me. My interests are different than yours, but it's the same concept. :=)



Next week my mom and I are going to a food and wine expo and I have been looking forward to it for a month. Like counting down the days looking forward to it :blush:I'd go along if I could eat. :gluttony:

:giggle:

[Legs]

Do you know what I'm doing today? Baking kolaches and maybe cranberry muffins along with the naan and curry for dinner tonight. Meanwhile I am working on a Christmas quilt and watching the food network Thanksgiving shows all day. And I am giddy because I get to do it.

Next week my mom and I are going to a food and wine expo and I have been looking forward to it for a month. Like counting down the days looking forward to it :blush:

I am such a nerd. Share your domestic nerdiness so I don't feel like so much of a loser.


You're a dream wife :hearts:

liv's the perfect Farmer's daughter.

My day is all about shit. I have cat skid marks all over the place and I have to clean the litter box and bathrooms. :meh:

[livius drusus]

liv's the perfect Farmer's daughter.
:lol: I can't wait to tell my dad. It's funneh how life turns out.

[biochemgirl]

You're a dream wife :hearts:


Malloch appreciates it. When he would have drill on the weekend he would come home Sunday night to a clean house and a really nice dinner on the table. I keep telling him I'd make a hell of a stay at home wife if it weren't for the whole working thing :giggle:

Now that the kolaches are done I'm starting on the dough for the naan. :wriggle:

[Legs]

Is it chicken curry you are making? or :goat: ?

[biochemgirl]

:giggle: Chicken. Definitely chicken.

[Qingdai]

I am dreaming of going to the yarn store so I can knit some :glare: hats, maybe with mittens to go with it.
The geek part is that I know there is an on line knitting pattern template maker, and I'm going to try it out.

[trientalis]

Young Mr. Wonderful decided that he wanted "Moose A. Moose" cookies. Those of you with toddlers who watch Noggin will know what I mean. Now, the odds of there being a Moose A. Moose-shaped cookie cutter are nil but Mr. Trientalis noticed there was a Noggin pumpkin pie recipe with a Moose A. Moose-shaped topper. Perfect! We printed out the template, traced over it on wax paper, cut that out and presto! one instant if flimsy Moose A. Moose cookie template. We managed to get four Moose cookies cut out and used some regular cutters to use up most of the remaining sugar cookie dough. The remainder we stuck in the freezer. Six to eight minutes of baking at 400 degrees and we have our cookies. Young Mr. Wonderful helped a bit during the making of the dough but what we really wants to do is decorate. That he can do tomorrow.

[livius drusus]

I am dreaming of going to the yarn store so I can knit some :glare: hats, maybe with mittens to go with it.
The geek part is that I know there is an on line knitting pattern template maker, and I'm going to try it out.
Sweet! I have a large format glare graphic, if you need it.

[fragment]

The only negative is you can't see what's in the bag, so you need to take a sharpie to the ziploc, or, you know, look inside.
Labels are your friend. Print up little cards with smilie-style pixellated produce graphics and slip them inside the bags.

[Qingdai]

I am dreaming of going to the yarn store so I can knit some :glare: hats, maybe with mittens to go with it.
The geek part is that I know there is an on line knitting pattern template maker, and I'm going to try it out.
Sweet! I have a large format glare graphic, if you need it.

I noticed! :shakeeyes:

[The Lone Ranger]

Wonderful story, trientalis!


***

For true "domestic nerdiness," though, I don't think anyone else can hold a candle to the guy who turned his apartment into a replica of the Starship Enterprise.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U67CJqLUjA0


Cheers,

Michael

[Sock Puppet]

It's absolutely shocking to me that such a devoted Star Trek fan doesn't consider a bedroom to be important. :faint:

[lisarea]

OK, you nerds. I have a question I don't know the answer to because I am too cool.

I am out of tahini, and when I went to get sesame seeds today, they didn't have the kind I usually buy, but they had black ones really cheap. I looked, and black tahini exists, but it looks like it's mostly a hippy thing.

Why? Is it gross or something?

[Crumb]

WTF is tahini?

[Watser?]

Arab sesame seed paste.

Used in hummus, baba ghanoush and other stuffs.

[livius drusus]

I think it's just a cultural thing. Black sesame seeds are used in Asian food while tahini is a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine, so the twain don't meet much outside of raw food circles.

[lisarea]

Yeah, it'd make for some fugly looking hummus, though, so I just went to the Asian market and got some regular white ones. I'll use the black ones for something else.

And although I feel like an imposter in a thread about domestic anything because of me being a disgusting filthy slob, we have one of those "farmer's market" stores here now, with good, cheap produce and a really nice bulk section, and I'm pretty stupidly happy about that. I don't have to buy jars and inappropriate quantities of grains and stuff, PLUS I can make granola out of whatever dried fruit and nuts are on sale.

This week: Brazil nut and apricot.

[livius drusus]

I have a great recipe for black bean hummus. It comes out a sort of purple color. I bet the black tahini would blend right in.

Black Bean Hummus

2 cups cooked black beans
1 cup cooked chickpeas
2 Tblsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin (toast the seeds and grind them in a small mortar & pestle for dreamy delicious results)
2 Tblsp tahini
1 Tbslp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

I serve this with homemade parmesan pita chips. Cut the pitas in half horizontally and turn the rounds inside up. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, grated parmesan and pop in a 350 oven until golden crisp (ca 5 min).

[Watser?]

Sounds good liv :hungry:

They sell cans of fava beans (aka fuul) with chickpeas here in some of the Arab shops. So I sometimes make my fuul with chickpeas too. Fuul normally is just fava beans with lemon juice and garlic to taste, really.

[livius drusus]

I put a tomato in with the fave, too. I love fuul deeply. It's my favorite breakfast. :yup:

[Watser?]

Yeah, mine too, it is very yummy. I sometimes eat a boiled egg with it on the side.

And I prefer the pancake-flat bread with it that they sell in some of the Arab shops, but pita is a good alternative.

[biochemgirl]

Today I made up a package to send my cousin's deployed hubby. Tommorrow I am putting up all the Christmas lights outside as well as the inside decorations and baking mini loaves of pumpkin bread for the guys at work to take home. I will also be going through my recipes and deciding which Christmas cookies and candies to bake to fill packages I'll give to some of my family. Oh and next week I will be making all sorts of desserts for a holiday party on Saturday.

I guess I'm a Christmas spirit vomiting domestic nerd. :giggle: I can't help it. I'm so excited Malloch will be home for Christmas that I just can't stop myself. :hyper:

[Smilin]

Yeah, mine too, it is very yummy. I sometimes eat a boiled egg with it on the side.

And I prefer the pancake-flat bread with it that they sell in some of the Arab shops, but pita is a good alternative.

Grilled lamb pita's are the fuh-schnizzle! :grin:

[Qingdai]

OK, you nerds. I have a question I don't know the answer to because I am too cool.

I am out of tahini, and when I went to get sesame seeds today, they didn't have the kind I usually buy, but they had black ones really cheap. I looked, and black tahini exists, but it looks like it's mostly a hippy thing.

Why? Is it gross or something?

Black sesame seeds taste just like the other kind, I think they are a bit smaller.

Toast them and put them in a briyani style Indian rice dish. They add some color.

Saute an onion and then add spices to taste (tumeric, ginger, curry powder that sort of thing ), add frozen or fresh cut beans, peas, cut carrots, put in about two cups of cooked rice (I like basmati), toss with rice vinegar and your black sesame seeds. You can also add some honey to make it sweeter if you like.

Black sesame seeds are used in Chinese herbal medicine too. Usually as food therapy.

[Doctor X]

. . . explains the increase in death rate. . . .

--J.D.