magid

Monday night I got to attend a performance by S. Bear Bergman of his one-man show, a monologue about the true story of an early 1700s trans French Jew who emigrated to Canada along with reflections/comparison with his own experience. There are nine known facts about Jacques' life, including the governor in Montreal writing multiple times to Louis XV about a person he didn't want to admit to the country (Jacques spent two years waiting for the decision, housed for most of that time in a convent).

It's an enjoyable show, with some emotional moments. Bear notes how having role models can make a huge difference, as does language to describe things (read: "trans" wasn't an available word in the early 1700s). And his knowledge of how hard it can be to live as one's authentic self brings Jacques' story alive.

This is the second time I've seen it, and I think there was an addition this time about how had the governor thought to consult with local Native tribes (he named them specifically), he would have learned that all of them have understanding that folks can be outside the known binary, but as a colonizer he never would have done that.

And there's one nit I'd pick: it's not true that Jews never name after living folks; Ashkenazim don't, but Sefaradim do/can. That's a tiny piece, though; if you get a chance to see it, well worth going.

2 pounds of carrots
2 pounds of beets
2 pounds of gorgeous Purple Viking potatoes
4 pounds of sweet potatoes (grown by Next Barn Over in Hadley MA)
2 small stalks of broccoli
2 very small heads of cauliflower
4 heads of garlic
12 slender leeks
2 big bunches of green curly kale
1.5 pounds of spinach
1 pound of mixed spicy salad greens
take-what-you-want hot peppers and herbs (I took some sprigs of thyme, oregano, sage, parsley, and shiso)

First thoughts: mixed-herb salt. Roasted brassicas. Sauted kale, leeks, and sweet potatoes with Impossible sausages. Gifting half the salad greens, the beets, and spinach (once sauted).

I read A Little More Social (Nicholas Epley), subtitled "How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection", which is about how choosing to interact with other humans directly, especially in person, tends to make people happier (which seems like it could be obvious, but (a) he brings in research to prove his points, and (b) takes the time to unravel various brain weasels that keep us from doing the thing). I found it readable and a helpful nudge towards making better choices. One bit in particular resonated in ways I can't quite articulate, and I wanted to make sure I didn't lose it (p. 40):

Personality doesn't describe the kind of person you are; it describes the kinds of choices you tend to make, and therefore the kinds of experiences you tend to have and the habits you tend to form.

2 pounds of carrots
2 pounds of beets
2 pounds of potatoes
4 heads of garlic
2 bunches of collards
1 pound of spinach
1 pound of 'spicy' salad mix
8 small eggplants
8 green peppers (I swapped them for 4 more eggplant and 2 more garlic, not being a fan of green peppers)
2 bunches of red radishes with greens
take-what-you-want herbs and hot peppers (I took 4 jalapenos)

First thoughts: saute the radish greens and spinach with garlic. Bubble-and-squeak with collards (/kale/cabbage from previous weeks). Roasted eggplant and potato (I don't know why that combo always makes me happy, but it does).

O Autumn, Autumn, by Effie Lee Newsome (1885-1979)

O Autumn, Autumn! O pensive light
    and wistful sound!
Gold-haunted sky, green-haunted ground!

When, wan, the dead leaves flutter by
    Deserted realms of butterfly!
When robins band themselves together

    To seek the sound of sun-steeped weather;
And all of summer’s largesse goes
    For lands of olive and the rose!

Today I focused on getting through as much of the farm share backlog as possible.

sauce with onion*, bell peppers*, tomatoes*, garlic*, and pureed basil*
started two half-gallon jars of fire cider vinegar with onion*, garlic*, lemon, a couple of kinds of hot peppers*, horseradish*, and ginger* (there wasn't any turmeric at either farmers' market)
pureed the rest of the ginger* with sugar so I'll be able to make a ginger oil cake from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat more quickly
radishes* added to a mixed batch of fridge pickles
started fermenting hot peppers* for hot sauce
sauteed spinach* and radish greens* with onion*
dilly* cucumber* salad
a tray of roasted eggplant*
mashed potatoes with massaged kale* and horseradish leaves*
purple slaw: purple cabbage* and purple-skinned carrots* with Asian-inspired dressing (soy sauce, lime juice, toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, cashews)
chicken wings baked with onions*, fresh sage*, and branches of rosemary*

* sourced locally

2 pounds of potatoes
2 pounds of purple-skinned carrots
2 medium heads of green cabbage
4 small heads of cauliflower
2 bunches of red radishes with greens (I swapped one for two more cauliflower)
2 big bunches of kale
8 medium-to-small tomatoes (I chose 2 smaller red ones, and 6 larger yellow ones)
1 pound of spinach
1 pound of 'spicy' mixed salad greens
10 sweet peppers (I chose smaller ones because they'd ripened past green to red, or purple, or one yellow)
8 hot peppers (there were jalapeno, Hungarian wax, what I think were cayenne, habanero, and ones that looked like habaneros except red; I chose a mix of all except the jalapeno (I still have some of those from last week))
six little Italian eggplant
take-what-you-want herbs (I chose none)

First thoughts: I'd assumed I'd get onions this week; need to go get some. Time to make some fermented hot sauce, and maybe start a batch of fire cider vinegar. I'm drawn to the thought of sauteing all the spinach and radish greens with onions and garlic, then mixing with ricotta, and layering with slices of roasted eggplant and stewed tomatoes-and-peppers, possibly with some melty cheese and some type of pasta. Massaged kale with mashed potatoes. Roasted cauliflower. Some kind of cabbage-carrot slaw.

I was reading today's Ask A Manager post about work habits transferring to the rest of life, a round-up of her favorite answers to the question some weeks before. There are some excellent ones, but one in particular stood out, due to a comment it generated.

The answer:

Back in the 90s, I volunteered at a zoo and I still scramble eggs the way the raven preferred them.

Many, many people want more detail about how the raven preferred its eggs scrambled, and one with username Hermit Crab was inspired to poetry:

Once into a wide bowl merry
I cracked the eggs and added dairy
Whipping into a froth, this cheerful chore
While I stirred the eggs for eating, a fry pan thence was gently heating
The bird gave greeting, seated at the kitchen door.
“’Tis not ready” I muttered, “eggs need beating more and more”.
Quoth raven “Now you pour”.

ratatouille (roasted eggplant*, zucchini*, and bell peppers* added to sauted onions*, garlic*, and tomatoes*)
cod cheeks sauted with onions*, eggplant*, and garlic*
a tray of roasted beets* and purple carrots*
a tray of roasted potatoes with rosemary*
potato* salad with dill*, sage*, pickled kale stems*, 'spicy' salad mix* (includes arugula), with mustard vinaigrette dressing
beef tongue boiled with hot pepper*, onion, garlic* and peppercorns
tsimess-like dish with onions*, leeks*, carrots*, sweet potatoes*, diced lemon, Italian plums*, shin meat, and knaidlach

I'd thought about making a few other things, but I think I'm done for now.

Happy Rosh Hashanah to those who are celebrating; may the coming year be one of peace, health, and joy for us all.

* locally sourced

2 pounds of purple-skinned carrots
2 pounds of beets
2 pounds of small yellow potatoes
4 heads of garlic
6 small yellow onions
4 pickling cucumbers (I chose small ones)
4 small Italian eggplants
8 bell peppers (I chose 4 smaller ones that had started ripening, and swapped 4 larger green ones for 3 more yellow onions)
4 small heads of cauliflower
24 small red tomatoes
8 medium yellow tomatoes
1 pound of mixed salad greens (spicy mix)
2 large bunches of rosemary
take-what-you-want herbs (I took some sage and oregano; there was also holy basil, red shiso, parsley, and thyme, plus maybe something else I'm forgetting)

First thoughts: yay, cauliflower! yay, potatoes! Roasted eggplant and potatoes. Roasted cauliflower. Tomato sauce to freeze. Green salad with cucumber and tomatoes. Roasted potatoes with rosemary. Some kind of tsimmes. Maybe pureed mixed herbs (in oil?).

Any ideas for far-too-much rosemary?

Last night I Zoomed into the shul book club for the first time: I'd managed to read this month's choice, We Would Never, by Tova Mirvis, and was interested to hear what other people thought. (Downside: it was at the same time as the weekly family Zoom, so I popped in briefly at the beginning, then went to the other, which turned out to have technical difficulties for a bit, which was extra annoying given my opportunity cost.)

It was interesting to hear people's reactions; some really hated it, others liked it a lot. I was towards the latter end of that spectrum, appreciating how the story was told from multiple viewpoints and not in chronological order. There were some things that I thought clumsy, that the author had this or that character so far in their own limited way of seeing things that alternative approaches were never considered, even when it seemed obvious to me that there were many more choices that could have been considered. Plus it also felt like there was a character who came late to the story, even though he was part of the family all along, was used as a kind of deus ex machina opportunity. Over the course of the book, I found the characters a bit more sympathetic (ok, except for the mother/grandmother, who started out sounding sane, but she was clearly overbearing, and relying on assertions of "we are a close family" to define reality even when she had an estranged son.....) even though I also was astonished at how quickly things escalated to murder.

What I hadn't done was check out the Florida murder-for-hire case that the novel was based on, until last night's discussion, which had me seeing the novel differently. The mother didn't have one daughter, but two sons. The couple both lived in Florida, not one in upstate New York, the other in Florida (being in the same state could make a difference in child custody decisions). It became clear that the novel was really fiction, albeit inspired by this particular horrible story.

Yesterday afternoon I went to see the Elephant Migration installation on the Comm Ave greenway with

fishonfridays. There are about 100 elephants, ranging from babies to full-grown adults, hand-carved out of (invasive) lantana roots by Indigenous artists. The installation is impressive - it's impossible to see them all at once given the trees along the greenway, and most of them are shown in the process of walking (so feet are not all flat to the ground; the installation staff had a lot to do!), each one different, based on a particular elephant (names are posted by each; while most are Indian names, some are not: Mayflower was the one reddish elephant, Matt was a lively adult, and Flowerpecker (!) was a mischievous youngling). So many differences; it was fun seeing all the variations of size, shape (especially ear size and tusk length), trunk position, and expression. The tails did seem longer than those of actual elephants, however.

FishonFridays mentioned that in Thailand, elephants have red lights tied to their tails (rather like bike lights) so they're visible even in gray weather, which I hadn't known before.

Locals: they're there until Sept 13.

Not-a-spoiler for today's NYTimes Connections game: the term is "free rein", as in letting a horse have its head, *not* the "free reign" included in today's puzzle, which is Not a Thing except as a homonym error.

Color me incredibly unimpressed. This should have been caught before going to 'print'.

update, 10:52a ... and now they've apparently fixed it. Yay?

2 pounds of carrots
8 heads of garlic
8 smallish yellow onions
2 small heads of red cabbage
2 large zucchini
8 sweet peppers (I chose long red ones)
2 hot peppers (I chose long red ones that might be cayenne; I didn't want more jalapenos or habaneros)
2 heads of lettuce (I chose a red-leaf variety, and swapped the other for more sweet peppers)
26 very small tomatoes
1 pound of beautiful mixed lettuce leaves
take-what-you-want herbs (I chose dill; there was also parsley, red shiso, holy basil, mint, sage, and possibly something else)

First thoughts: some excellent green salad. Another batch of ajvar. Roasted carrots. Asian-ish slaw. Dilly pickles. Salsa.

This morning was one of the ones where everything was just a bit late and/or annoying. Part of it was my own fault: I headed out to vote later than I'd planned. This was the first time my wad/precinct was using a tablet to look folks up, rather than big sheets of paper taped to the table. This worked fine, happily. I believe I had ballot 78 at around 8:35 am (not as useful a datum as previously, now that so many people vote early). (civic duty: completed!)( Read more... )

2 pounds of carrots
2 pounds of beets
2 heads of green cabbage (I chose smaller ones)
8 medium yellow onions
8 heads of garlic
6 medium-small Italian eggplants
6 pickling cucumbers (I chose smaller ones)
4 bell peppers (I chose a mix of red and yellow)
4 jalapenos
2 bunches of small red radishes with greens
2 bunches of cilantro (swapped for 4 more onions and 4 more garlic)
1 pound of salad mix (half swapped for 2 more onions and 2 more garlic)
14 tomatoes (I chose a mix of plain red, heirloom yellow, and variegated paste ones)
choose what you want herbs: red shiso, sage, parsley, holy basil, mint (I chose none)

First thoughts: sauted radish greens with onions. Baba ganoush. Salsa. Pickles. Slaws. Ratatouille and/or tomato sauce.

I’m finding myself much sadder than I would have expected to hear about Dolly Parton’s death. She was an incredibly talented musician and performer, as well as an excellent person (see: making sure kids have books to read).

May her memory be for a blessing, and an inspiration to others.

I found a poem quoted in a murder mystery (a series set in 1920s India and Britain) that I very much like.

The World’s Need (Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

O many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
Is all the sad world needs.

2 pounds of carrots
2 pounds of beets
8 heads of garlic
10 smallish yellow onions
12 pickling cucumbers (I chose small ones as much as possible
4 zucchini
6 eggplants
6 jalapenos
6 sweet peppers (I chose a mix of colors and shapes (bell/long)
2 large bunches of kale
20 tomatoes
1 pound basil (half given to a friend (who gave me a ride home from the pickup site), half swapped for more eggplant (since I didn’t want more kale, and thought 20 was enough tomatoes)
take-what-you-want herbs (I chose none, given my friend was waiting for me, and I have to get through a lot of veg already)

First thoughts: canning salsa, carrot pickles, and possibly some kind of relish. Roasted ratatouille. Roasted eggplant. Baba ganoush. Massaged kale salad with lemon-tahini dressing. Quick-pickled cucumbers, perhaps with some onion. Start another batch of torshi seer.

8 pints of low-sugar beet* pickles
6 pints of non-spicy fennel*-zucchini* relish with onion* and lemon
started another batch of fridge pickles using the leftover brine from the beet pickles, with kale* stems and Hakurei turnips*
mashed potatoes with massaged kale*
a tray of roasted zucchini* and tomato*
scarpaccia with zucchini* and onion*, replacing the cornstarch with tapioca starch, and making it vegan by using umami seasoning and nutritional yeast in lieu of Parmesan
sauted onion*, potatoes, salted cabbage*, and a tube of vegan sausage meat with mustard and sage*

* locally sourced

I’d thought to do more, but I think I’m done for now after all.

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magid

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The First Jew in Canada: a Trans Tale

Farm share, week 17

Quote: personality

Farm share, week 16

A poem for the first (full day) of autumn

Today in food prep

Farm share, week 15

[AAM] Ravens...

Today's bout of cooking

Farm share, week 14

We Would Never

Elephants!

Copyeditors don't get no respect

Farm share, week 13

One of those mornings

Farm share, week 12

Dolly Parton, RIP

The world could definitely use this

Farm share, week 11

This week’s bout of food prep