Median Flowers

 
On Southern California afternoons, the freeway onramps and median strips take on a tiny marketplace atmosphere, with men and women selling whole bags of fruit or nuts, balloons, and other little things.  On Fridays, they really focus on the flowers.  The flowers are basic, and are set out in big black buckets on the side of the road.  Basic, but they look like the tiny premade bouquets you might get at the grocery store checkout line while you're picking up the steak for tonight's dinner.

At the intersections, cars slow and stop, windows go down and up as flowers and bills are traded.  The stop lights turn to green again and the line of cars moves on.  Sometimes a car pulls slightly to the side to buy something, blocking traffic a little bit.  No one honks; that seems a good sign.  Maybe people forgive the little inconvenience when they think it's for a good cause?

Every Friday I drive by, wondering if the man with the bucket will still be there.  I also hope he will be there in six weeks, or in three months, next year, and forever after.  Whenever I need him...

He's there this week, and wishful thinking makes me look at the bucket again, like every time.  I usually slow but keep moving.  This week, next to the bucket is a stack of oranges, bagged and ready.  It's a lot of oranges for one guy who doesn't really eat fruit, but I slow and stop anyway, put the window down, and I trade five dollars for the huge bag of navel oranges.  Before I pull away, I stop and point to the flowers, too.  Usually, they are red roses, but this week they are gerbera daisies.  More dollars are exchanged, and I have a little bouquet in hand and head on home.  ...to eat the oranges I didn't really want and water the daisies I don't really need.  ...yet.

Why did I buy these?  Practice makes perfect?  Build it and they will come?  ...stick any other trite little saying you can think of there.  Either way, I hope I'm at least doing my part to keep the guy in business until I do need him.

In a mellow mood...

No hidden messages, the Embed strings just happened to be in my clipboard.

Waiting For You




Forever




Woman In You

Synchronicity and Life's Little Unappreciated Material Things

It starts with something small. The modern day equivalent of a cool Cracker Jack prize.  ...and for you youngers out there, Cracker Jacks used to have actual toys in them.  Small, yes, but dice, a plastic ring, a little game, etc.  Not just the stupid sticker or temp tattoo like you find now.  I think I might have had the very last little plastic ring EVER to come from a Cracker Jack box, but who knows?  Anyhow, I gave it to this girl in 2nd grade.  She was waaay cute, with dark hair and cute hypnotizing lips and sat next to me in the 70's equivilent of GATE class.  Friday's Cracker Jack romance, Monday's heartbreak, since over that very weekend, my Mom basically picked up the household and we moved down the street, but to a totally different city, unbeknownst to me.  Who saw that coming?.  Fuck!  Cracker Jacks used to have more peanuts, too.  Jerks!  I hate Cracker Jacks.

Ok, back on track.

Anyhow (and that's a word that's a sure sign that you don't know how to properly structure your writing; a an overused tool to jump subjects where you really shouldn't have jumped (but I digress).).*

So, back to that something small that so exciting**...  it's hard to explain what I mean, so I'll illustrate.

My friend Tony once said he was going to have a good day because there was an extra drumstick toe in his drumstick bag.

If you don't know (I didn't), the toe is the pointy part of the cone, deliciously filled with a nugget of chocolate.

The toe from another Drumstick had broken off and made it's way into his Drumstick bag.  What are the odds of that?  That means somewhere someone else got shafted.  Anyhow, it's one of the best parts -- delicious AND keeps the melting ice cream contained -- although I'd never heard it named before.

By the way, the Drumstick toe is a new thing.  When I was a kid, the cone tip was just an empty tip which collected melted ice cream until it eventually sogged out enough to start dripping through onto your pants.  I love Nestle!  I hope they take over Cracker Jack and bring more joy back to my life.

Here's a short list of things that bring unexpected little joys to my life.

• Slightly popped popcorn kernels -- after the wholly popped ones are gone, these are the ones you eat before you throw out the ones that did nothing.  Crunchy and tasty little treats.  Trader Joe's actually makes whole bags of these things.  Never tried them...  It's just not the same.  However...  
• Change in the newspaper coin return
• Change in the payphone coin return
• An extra treat falls from the vending machine spirals
• Two bottles of Diet Pepsi come out of the machine! OMG!
• Starbucks runs out of drip coffee right as you order, so you have to wait five minutes, but it's free OR they offer up an Americano! 
• As they pick up the cookie, it breaks, so they toss it and a WHOLE one in the bag!  Road to fatness, but come on!.  If it's meant to be, it's meant to be!
  

I'm sure I'm missing a ton of obvious ones, but that's off the top of my head.

There's a weak moral to this blog, as illustrated by the Drumstick toe.  One person's loss is another one's gain.  Don't let that go to waste, and always check your bag, lest the universe go spinning out of control as one person's loss turns into no one's gain...

Oh, and also...   One person's loss is another one's gain.  I said that already?  Can't be said enough.  Next time you're saddened because you get home and realize that you forgot your change in the coin return, think of the guy who finds it later.  When a quarter rolls under your car and you're not dressed to crawl under there, think of the kid who'll find it and do more with it than you ever would have.  When the bag of trail mix gets stuck hanging in the vending machine, remember that trail mix only sounds healthy, it's not -- some skinny kid who actually needs the calories will now get two.  Synchronicity.

If you think of something good to add, post a comment.

Here's the astrisked things, in case you forgot. 

*  I gave up on the sentence.  It's my blog, I do my own thing.  Bet you didn't even notice that the whole sentence was "Anyhow."

**  girlfriend excepted, as that's another blog post entirely

Escabeche (Mexican Pickled Stuff)

$6 for a jar of pickled veggies doesn't sound all that bad until I tell you that I'm going to eat it in one sitting.

I love pickles, and Mexican reigns #1 with escabeche.  Italian is a close 2nd with giardiniera.  Either one is a good side dish or snack, but that bottle's pretty much one serving, despite the label's claim of 14.

It Mexican places, I always hope for some good stuff besides salsa at the salsa bars, but it's usually just carrots, onions, and jalapenos..   At Rubio's it's just jalapenos.  Oh yeah, with a sliver of carrot per hundred jalapeno rings.  Why do they even bother with the carrots?

Enter Taco Mesa!  Last week at Taco Mesa, I had some amazing stuff.  Cauliflower, carrots, onions, garlic, chilies, spices, oil, vinegar.  Faced with a delicious bowl full of raw ingredients, merely mixed together into a heavenly pickly treat, I was forced to admit that there's really no way that it could be hard to make.  So, I decided to make my own.

Here's take one.

This tastes less blurry than it looks

Escabeche #1

Makes 1 or 14 servings

12 oz cauliflower
10 baby carrots
1 pasilla chili
8 bay leaves
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
lots of ground pepper
1 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil

Get a saucepan that's big enough to hold all of the cauliflower and carrots, plus water.  Fill the pan with water about 3/4 of the way and bring it to a boil.

Cut the cauliflower into bite size florets.  Cut the carrots into strips or disks.  Add the cauliflower and carrots to the boiling water and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Drain.

Put the cooked veggies and all the rest of the stuff in a zip lock bag.  Squeeze the air out and seal the bag.  Refrigerate overnight or for a few days.  Eat in one or fourteen sittings.

Nutrition for one serving:  400 calories, 31g Fat, 25g Carbs, 5g Fiber, 2g Protein.

or

Nutrition for one serving:  29 calories, 2.5g Fat, 2g Carbs, 0g Fiber, 0g Protein.

Caramelized Banana Pancakes

You can make these with any pancake batter, but I take my Oat Bran Pancakes and banana them up a little further.

Again, mmm... banana pancakes...


Caramelized Banana Pancakes

Makes 4 servings

3/4 cup oat bran
1 tsp baking powder
104g of protein worth of vanilla protein powder (yes, that's 4 scoops of Body Fortress Vanilla)
4 omega-3 eggs
water
2 tbsp chopped walnuts or pecans

1 large ripe banana
2 tsp butter

2 tbsp butter, divided
1 cup sugar free syrup, divided

In a bowl, mix the oat bran through protein powder together.  Add the egg and stir until combined.  Slowly add water until you have it the consistency of pancake mix.  Stir in the chopped nuts.

Slice the banana into rings or cut it into 2-3 inch sections and then lengthwise into thin slices.  Your choice. Rings are easier, but you get a more raw (the word "rustic" is in my mind, but I don't think it works for food...) look with the slices.  Anyhow, I like the less than perfect look of the slices better.  Again, your choice.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  If it's big enough, add all the bananas and the 2 tsp butter.  If the pan is small, do it in batches.  Cook the bananas until they are browned and darkening on one side, then flip them and continue cooking.  Remove the finished bananas to a plate.

If using the same skillet, clean it enough so the surface is smooth again and heat it over medium heat. It's ready when a drop of water dances on the surface of the pan.   If desired, spray the pan with cooking spray between batches of pancakes.  Even the smallest bit of fat seriously effects the look of the pancakes.  They look so much better with a spritz of spray, but assuming your pan is actually non-stick, the pancakes flip and cook the same.  Try it both ways and see.

Pour pancakes to desired size -- I made two for each serving.  After pouring, nestle a few bananas down into the pancake.  It doesn't have to be perfectly flat, and the bananas are supposed to show.

As bubbles start to form, check the bottom by gently lifting the edge with a spatula.  Flip when lightly brown.  The second side cooks faster, so check regularly!

Nutrition:  289 Calories, 12g Fat, 23g Carbs, 4g Fiber, 37g Protein 


Spread with butter and topped with sugar free syrup...  Here it is.  Eat up!

Nutrition:  378 Calories, 19g Fat, 31g Carbs, 4g Fiber, 37g Protein

Oat Bran Pancakes

Oat Bran Pancakes

No wheat, no flour, still "fluffy."

These things are surprisingly filling.  Kids probably won't like them unless you take the flax out.  Do what you will... 

Makes 4 servings

3/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup flax meal
1 tsp baking powder
104g of protein worth of vanilla protein powder (yes, that's 4 scoops of Body Fortress Vanilla)
4 omega-3 eggs
water

2 tbsp butter, divided
1 cup sugar free syrup, divided

In a bowl, mix the oat bran through protein powder together.  Add the egg and stir until combined.  Slowly add water until you have it the consistency of pancake mix.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  It's ready when a drop of water dances on the surface of the pan.   Pour pancakes to desired size -- I made two big ones per serving, but you can do silver dollar size, too..  As bubbles start to form, check the bottom by gently lifting the edge with a spatula.  Flip when lightly brown.  The second side cooks faster, so check regularly!

Nutrition:  274 Calories, 12g Fat, 17g Carbs, 7g Fiber, 37g Protein 


When spread with butter and topped with syrup.  Eat up.

Nutrition:  324 Calories, 17g Fat, 25g Carbs, 7g Fiber, 37g Protein




Banana Oat Bran Pancakes

Mmmm... banana pancakes...

Makes 4 servings

3/4 cup oat bran
1 tsp baking powder
104g of protein worth of vanilla protein powder (yes, that's 4 scoops of Body Fortress Vanilla)
4 omega-3 eggs
1 ripe banana, very ripe
water
2 tbsp chopped walnuts or pecans

2 tbsp butter, divided
1 cup sugar free syrup, divided

In a bowl, mix the oat bran through protein powder together.  Add the egg and stir until combined.  Mash the banana very well, then mix it into the batter.  Slowly add water until you have it the consistency of pancake mix.  Stir in the chopped nuts.

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  It's ready when a drop of water dances on the surface of the pan.   Pour pancakes to desired size -- I made two big ones per serving.  As bubbles start to form, check the bottom by gently lifting the edge with a spatula.  Flip when lightly brown.  The second side cooks faster, so check regularly!

Nutrition:  287 Calories, 12g Fat, 23g Carbs, 4g Fiber, 37g Protein 


When spread with butter and topped with syrup.  Eat up.

Nutrition:  362 Calories, 17g Fat, 31g Carbs, 4g Fiber, 37g Protein

Stout Braised Beef

In the end, you're going to eat this as sort of a stew, but what you have with it is up to you. Bread, potatoes, noodles, or even oats are options. If you're not one with the carbs, you're covered, too.

For the meat, choose a flat cut roast that's about two inches thick. If you can't find one, buy a roundish roast and plan to cut it into large, two inch thick portions for braising.

This is a great crock pot or slow cooker dish.  Use one if you can.

Stout Braised Beef

2-3 lb flat cut bottom round or chuck roast (boneless optional)
2 onions, any color you like
3 cloves garlic (6 if you're using a crock pot or slow cooker)
1 bottle of stout (Guinness, Black Hart, Murphy's, etc. If it's a black beer, you're good)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dry thyme or 1 big sprig of fresh thyme
1 tsp salt
lots of fresh ground pepper (I cranked it about 10 times, but whatever)

If you're doing this on the stove, you'll need a large pot or deep skillet with a lid.  The bottom of the pan needs to be able to fit the beef without stacking, piling, or cramming.  It needs to be deep enough for the beef, onions, and enough liquid to almost cover it all.  Got one?  Good.

If you're using a crock pot (crockery base), you'll need a skillet for browning.  Slow cooker with a removeable metal pan that can also go on the stove?  Just that.  What a smart purchase!

Ready?  Let's go.

Heat your chosen pan on the stove over medium high heat.  Add the beef, browning very well on both sides. 

While the meat is browning, peel and cut the ends from each of the onions, and cut each into four wedges.

Mince or press the garlic.  If you're using a slow cooker, you really can use a lot of garlic.  The extremely long cooking really breaks down the garlic afterstench.  Try it.

When both sides of the beef are good and browned, remove to a big bowl or platter (the smartest of you, with the metal based slow cookers, can probably just put the beef in the cool glass lid!).

Add the onions to the pan and cook until slightly browned and translucent.  Crack open the beer, but don't put it in the pot yet.  Just be ready!  Add the garlic, stiring  constantly for about 30 second.  It's important that it not burn.  Now!  Pour in the beer to stop the cooking!

Return the beef to the pot, adding enough water to almost cover the beef.  Add the thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.  Cover and simmer on very low heat for about two hours.  Crock Pots on low all day or overnight.  Slow Cookers on medium low all day or overnight (mine goes from 1-5, and I used 2 for 8 hours.  It would have been fine even longer.)

When it's done, salt the broth to taste and serve with bread, mashed potatoes, noodles, steel cut oats, barley, etc.  Add a salad or some steamed vegetables and you're good to go.  If you like turnips, parsnips, or rutabaga, but never know when to use them, this is the time.  These root veggies are almost born for beef and beer.

Low carb options would be mashed or steamed cauliflower and maybe some asparagus.  All go good with this dish.  Steamed cabbage wedges would be good, too.

I made some thick steel cut oats and chopped steamed asparagus  and ladled some broth and onions over it, cut a big slab of beef and laid it right on top.  Knife, fork, and spoon.  Full belly.

No pictures because it's just a big slab of stewed beef.