Author: greenwordchef

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Garden Options

 

As we creep ever closer to spring, it’s stimulating to think of all the options for the garden.  I would plant much more if I could, but we have limited space.  Cooking and gardening work so well together; nothing’s easier than using freshly-picked ingredients that were, moments ago, growing out back.  I’ll start off a spring “series” of posts offering tantalizing options for that perfect epicurian/cultivation mix.

Mole peppers did fairly well in our northern garden.  I only wish I had room to grow more!  Mole is one of those ultra-complex sauces that is never the same wherever you have it.  I like a sauce that’s so complex, you’re hard-pressed to name all of the ingredients.  I have tried making it, but the mole-making disaster of ’10 necessitates that I try again this year.  This pepper will always have a home in my garden and the sauce will hopefully be a “win” this year on the plate.

Mole Peppers

http://gardening.about.com/od/plantprofiles/ig/2007-AAS-Winners/Pepper–Holy-Mol–.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_%28sauce%29

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The Heart Attack Grill

The Heart Attack Grill (Yes, that’s the name….)

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/the-heart-attack-grill-24471051

http://heartattackgrill.com/Heart_Attack_Grill_Diet_Center/Nightline.html

Check out this video detailing the story behind the Heart Attack Grill.  The approach is nearly certain to create conjecture.  The hospital-themed premise, aside from making money, is to create awareness of the weight/health problem in the United States.  I agree with many aspects of the argument, in fact, and I can’t deny that I enjoy a burger and fries every now and then.

The experience of visiting the restaurant and donning a hospital gown certainly would make one think, but is it effective long-term?  What about those who peruse the menu frequently?  Is there blame to be had here for the health of the spokesperson?  It seems the answer may lie somewhere within the opposing arguments.  This technique could be applied in similar contexts (alcohol, smoking, etc).  Is excess an effective countering force for some and a push to obsession for others?  It certainly succeeds in creating attention.  Without the name and theme, it becomes another generic eatery, minus the media focus.

Menu: http://heartattackgrill.com/Heart_Attack_Grill_Diet_Center/MENU.html

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Souper Soup- The Joy of Soup

The Joy of Soup

http://suzette.typepad.com/the_joy_of_soup/

This Joy of Soup blog, I fear, has progressed into the blog netherworld, with no further updates to be had…  The last post was in 2007.  While the updates have potentially ceased, the site remains a solid resource for soup recipes and other resources.

Soup is the food category I feel the most at home in making.  It’s simple and comforting; a steaming bowl of soup is hard to beat on a cold day.  Soup is adaptable to ingredients on hand and difficult to wreck.  Here’s to soup!!

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Perennial Vegetables

Snow

Snow

Winter’s arguably about half over, and I’m already missing gardening outside.  Being in a colder climate, it can be difficult to make it through winter when the warmer days are calling nearly half a year away.  My gardening habit is driven indoors to my potted plants, and my cooking must use some not-necessarily-fresh-or-local produce.  This is the price we pay for some snow in winter.

Fortunately, perennial crops can come back without much extra effort.  (We’ve got some rhubarb, bunching onions, and garlic.  Rhubarb can grow well in a corner of a yard, and onions and garlic only need a small area of soil. I’ve tried to start an asparagus patch, but the jury’s out on that one until spring.)

8 Perennial Vegetables

 

 

Photo from Wikipedia:

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Guinness and Statistics

“The t-statistic was introduced in 1908 by William Sealy Gosset, a chemist working for the Guinness brewery in Dublin, Ireland (“Student” was his pen name).[1][2][3] Gosset had been hired due to Claude Guinness’s innovative policy of recruiting the best graduates from Oxford and Cambridge to apply biochemistry and statistics to Guinness’ industrial processes.[2] Gosset devised the t-test as a way to cheaply monitor the quality of stout. He published the test in Biometrika in 1908, but was forced to use a pen name by his employer, who regarded the fact that they were using statistics as a trade secret. In fact, Gosset’s identity was unknown to fellow statisticians.[4]”

-From Wikipedia, “Student’s t-test” entry, citations on page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student%27s_t-test

http://www.guinness.com/en-us/

I had to include this, as I’m working with statistics.  Another innovation brought forth by beer!