Friday, February 21, 2014

GETTING PICKLED

Thanks to long-time reader Musing Egret, I now have some recipes to go with my mega-radish score. The first one I tried was for Overnight Daikon Pickles and came from Barefoot in the Kitchen.

The daikon radish is the one that looks like a big gnarly white carrot (not to be confused with a parsnip, which looks like a gnarly tan carrot).

Not So Gnarly When Peeled

Overnight Daikon Pickles

2 cups peeled and sliced (about 1/4" thick) daikon
1/2 T. kosher salt
1 1/2 T. rice vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. sesame oil


In a small bowl, sprinkle salt over radish slices and toss to combine. Let rest in fridge at least one hour.


Drain and rinse the radish slices, then pat dry with a towel and return to the bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least eight hours. Easy-Peasy!


I threw these together yesterday afternoon, left them in the fridge all night, and just now tried my first one. Official opinion? Scrumptious! But then, I'm pretty much a sucker for anything involving rice vinegar and sesame oil.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

RADISHPALOOZA!

I ordered some radishes from The Bountiful Sprout this week. They said it was a radish "assortment", so I'm thinking a few little red salad-slicers, some of those cute little watermelon radishes, and if I'm lucky, maybe even a few of those French Breakfast radishes, to dip in butter and sea salt. Right?

Well, here's what I actually got.


That one little bright red fellow is standard-sized. The rest are behemoths! So what the heck am I to do with all of these? I'm guessing they must be Asian radishes, and my veggie bible, Serving Up The Harvest, says those are quite good pickled, but doesn't give any recipes for them.

Somebody help me, puh-lease!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

THE CIRCLE IS CLOSING!

Well, my 10th Wild Girls Circle Journal showed up in my mailbox yesterday. Only four more to go after this one, before my own journal makes it's way back home. You wouldn't believe some of the beautiful work I've seen in these journals, which is why I simply can't wait to see what has been added to my own since it left home!


This one, another altered book journal, came to me all the way from New Jersey...



though I suspect its owner may have traveled even farther still.


These are sign in tags from each of the ladies who have contributed art to this journal so far. Wish I could show some of their work to you, but I daren't spoil the surprise for it's owner! You can bet your booty, however, that once my own journal finally comes home to me? I will be sharing everything that's in it!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

SHOW & TELL

You'll never guess what Fiber Woman brought with her to coffee this morning, for Show & Tell!  What do you think it is?





Here's a hint: think animal, not plant!


Yep, you guessed it -- it's a weird clump of porcupine quills! She just found it lying in her yard, and was ever so grateful to have found it on the ground, rather than embedded in the snoot of one of her puppy dogs -- a very common occurrence around here. In fact, I don't know a single dog in Wimberley who hasn't had a run-in with a porcupine, a skunk, or both! Unless, of course, they never go outside.

Anyhoo, I thought this was pretty cool. It's got me to wondering, though. Does a porcupine regrow all the quills it fires? How long does it take for them to grow back? Is some poor porcupine walking around with a nekkid butt right now?

Monday, February 17, 2014

ONLY IN TEXAS

  Need a new barbecue grill? I know where you can get a fairly AWESOME one...



You'd surely be the envy of all your friends!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

CARE TO GET A BIT FIT?

My husband simply cannot be trusted. Time and time again we have agreed that we have way too much stuff already, and we really don't need to exacerbate the problem by buying anymore geegaws for one another. So, we'll make a pact at Christmas to only fill stockings for each other, and not bother with actual presents. I stick to the plan and do a normal stocking for him, merely to find that he has filled, not only a huge stocking, but also an entire wing back chair, for me. "Hey, if it's in the chair and not under the tree, it counts as stocking!"

This year for Valentine's we agreed that, after a lovely dinner out, a card and a little something sweet on Valentine's morning would be more than enough. But then I wake up to this.


No, it's not a new watch or bracelet, it's a Fitbit! It's kinda like a pedometer on steroids, only one that I can't lose quite so easily, or drop in the toilet, or any of the things that I have done to countless other pedometers. My friend Julie showed up with one a while back, but when she started talking about computer tracking and all the different things it could monitor, I immediately thought "Whoa! Sounds way too complicated for me!"

But then, right before Valentines, we had lunch with Squeedunk Jr., and he showed us his new fitbit. He explained that anytime I stood within a few feet of my computer, it would automatically update how many steps I'd taken and how many calories I'd burned since the last update, and add them to my log. And, if I'd sit down for a minute or two after each meal and log in what I'd had to eat, it would keep track of calories-in and calories-out for me. Then, let's say you were thinking you might like to lose, oh, about 15 lbs. before a certain someone's wedding in November, it could make a Food Plan for you, telling you how many more calories you must burn than you take in each day, in order to reach that goal. The best part is that they already have thousands of foods and their nutritional values programmed in. For example, start typing "peanut butter" or "frozen waffle", and before you are halfway done, at least half a dozen brands will pop up. Then all you do is type in how much you had. They even have restaurant info. too! For instance, we had met up with sonny boy at Mama Fu's that day, and he already knew that he wanted to order the orange chicken, since he had checked it out on the Fitbit site first.

Anyhoo, I had been thinking about starting back to Weight Watchers again, even though I'd have to drive to another town for meetings, since the one in Wimberley closed a few years back. But once I found out how simple the fitbit was, I started to have second thoughts. Hubby must have seen the light in my eye, and that, combined with the opportunity to play with a new gizmo? Well, it was just too much for the boy! So, not only did I get the fitbit, I also got all these different colored rubberized bracelets that you just pop the gizmo in and out of!


I'm proud to report that even an infamous technophobe such as myself can handle one of these, and I must admit, there's something a bit addictive about the instant gratification of seeing your steps and burned calories ka-chinging their way up your computer screen. Why, not only did I do my usual workout at Curves yesterday, I hiked up and down my Mt. Everest of a driveway not once, but twice --for the sheer joy of running to check my chart afterwards! Well, and to look for mail that never came. Alas, all poor Hubby got was this card and his favorite thumbprint cookies.

Inside it says "We go together perfectly!"
I thought it was the best card ever when I found it, but now I'm not so sure. Yesterday I caught a whiff of something raunchy, and squealed "JO-OHN!" Did he have the decency to look sheepish? Not in the least! He merely grinned, saying "Hey, just trying to live up to my reputation!"

That boy. Gotta love 'im!