Where Have I Been All Your Life?

Oh sweet babies. I am right here.

I have been very busy being very grumpy and getting rained on and breaking my grandparents car and mostly just being rather miserable and feeling quite sorry for myself. I think I'm over it now.

I took today off from work. I was already feeling like I really needed a day to just mellow out a bit- but then I woke up feeling very queasy/nauseous/weak and decided to call in after I attempted to take a shower and felt like I was going to pass out. Most of my day has been spent in bed watching CSI re-runs online (don't tell anyone), making weird noises at Matao, and eating toast and yogurt. Matao finally dragged me out of the apartment to get tea at Pete's and then I finally (!!!) made my compost bin and started playing with rotten food and worms! YUM! And on that note... here's a super kick ass recipe that I made up a few weeks ago. Then we can talk more about compost.





Whole Wheat Linguine w/ Red Pepper Goat Cheese Sauce, Fiddleheads, Chantrelles, and Fresh Basil

6-8 oz fresh whole wheat linguine noodles (would also be GREAT with gnocchi)
6 oz goats milk yogurt (cows milk yogurt is fine too- just make sure that it is PLAIN and UNSWEETENED)
6-8 oz goat cheese
2-3 pieces of jarred roasted red pepper (or just make your own- I used half of a fresh red pepper)
1/3 to 1/2 lb fresh wild fiddleheads (check farmers markets- can also sub asparagus)
1 oz dried chantrelle’s (fresh are great if you can get them!)
1 container fresh basil (I think these are around 1 oz? found in the produce section)
Olive oil
Sea salt

Begin by soaking your dried mushrooms in hot water for half an hour (skip this step if using fresh). Prep fiddleheads by trimming off the brown ends where they were picked, and rinsing in cold water. Boil 3 cups of water, and add fiddleheads. Reduce heat to a simmer, and let cook for about 15 minutes- until soft but not mushy. Strain mushrooms and fiddleheads, reserving liquid from both. Using a cast iron or other heavy skillet- heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over med-hi heat, then add mushrooms and fiddleheads with a healthy pinch of salt. Sauté until just browned, then set aside.

Boil water for pasta. Cook according to package directions.

Combine yogurt and roasted red pepper in a food processor or blender until smooth. Using the same skillet (from mush’s and fiddle’s earler)- Add red pepper/yogurt mixture, 1/4 cup of reserved liquid, and crumbled goat cheese. Whisk over medium heat until cheese is melted.

Add cooked pasta, fiddleheads, mushrooms, and chopped fresh basil to your skillet. Toss until all ingredients are evenly coated with sauce. Serve with a sprinkle of coarse sea salt, and freshly grated asiago, if you have it.

This recipe can also easily be made vegan- just simply sub the yogurt for non-dairy milk, and the goat cheese for Toffuti cream cheese! Hooray!



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DIRTY THINGS!!!

So I made my own compost bin today by punching holes in a cheap-ish garbage can with a pocket knife. Probably kind of dangerous and dumb, but I managed not to chop any fingers or eyeballs off... and I still have all of my teeth. I've been saving leftover food/produce/scraps/bits and pieces for the past couple of weeks so I had a good amount of "wet" to add. I raided the pots in our little side "yard" for dirt (which was full of worms, yesssss!) and threw all of that in there with some shredded newspaper and leaves for my "dry". So pretty.



And here's our ridiculous looking little side yard and patio that I'm hoping to whip into shape this spring. We'll see how that goes. I'm afraid of bugs.



Oh, and here's me. Looking 15. Just in case you forgot what I look like because I've been hiding out for 80 years.




I think that's all I've got!