Mushroom!
Mushroom!
Tonight we enjoyed our very first harvest of oyster mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus, grown in used coffee grounds. I stir-fried them in canola oil with a dash of teriyaki sauce and they were divine.
For your soundtrack: http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/
Did you know that a pomegranate can transform two healthy, active children into bloodthirsty zombies?
It’s true!!!!
Later that afternoon, when we went bowling, I was informed that getting pomegranate juice in your eye makes you better at bowling.
This must be true, because the kids won the kids v. adults game!!
The moral of the story: pomegranates have EVIL magic powers!
Ok, the ex-cop in the previous post was pretty cool IMO.
But now he gets serious style points.
Check out these links for more information on what he is doing now.
I love stuff like this. I’m glad that there are still folks who have a pair.
His website is funny too.
Interesting videos below.
I don’t smoke, neither cigarettes nor marijuanna. Inhaling particulates causes cancer and emphyesma. I have had many family members die from smoking related deaths and have made a personal choice to not intentionally inhale smoke of any form.
However, I support your right to smoke, drink, or whatever. You may kill yourself. You own your body, not I. I don’t care what you do with your life. You may preserve it, or end it, at your choosing. It really doesn’t concern me in the least.
All that aside, this is entertaining. Entertaining and not really about hiding pot, or the legality. I think folks need to read between the lines a bit…
Notice how the FOX News’ talking heads support the state and not individual freedom? Notice the expert they dug up? Notice that they talk OVER the guest? Notice how they are antagonists? Notice the unrespondable final link between drugs and terror?
Funny stuff IMO. Kind of a smear job, but I think it failed.
Someone may ask me, you don’t want your kids smoking dope do you? Well, no. But I don’t want them smoking cigs either. I think a little education and self control go a long way. I’m not the poster boy for self control, but at least I think I can make an intelligent choice without some bozo in DC or a cop making it for me.
I find the Statisim that Fox presents to be the important portion of these videos. All media has this bias, not just Fox. It is just less disguised on that network.
Think for yourself. That would be a real change for America.
I think I will have my dog and cat in my car for a while…. Just to be annoying. 
Seven trillion bucks.
The media, bankers, and government toss the number around very casually. Let’s put it into scope, and look at what 7 trillion actually is.
7 trillion dollars would buy:
Fiscal responsibility? I think not.
You are being robbed!
Ok,
It has been a few days. Remember the 2 trillion dollar bailout? Last post they restated it to be a 4 trillion dollar bailout. Today, it is dubbed a 7 trillion dollar bailout.
Our money given away to folks who mismanaged their business. Not charity, not the needy, not building our nation, just to folks who couldn’t manage a Popsicle stand.
Anytime a government official tells you a cost of a program, multiply that value by 10. Then you get closer to the true cost. Don’t trust me? Watch the news. That bailout number will creep up over time. They tell the media one number and then slowly let it creep up. It is easier to sell to the sheeple that way.
On second thought, don’t watch the news. You need to get to work. You need to make up for that banker’s bad investment decisions.
He really deserves the money more than you do.
-Z
Here’s the kids posing in their Western wear outfits they wore for Rafflemania, the annual school fundraiser. This year’s theme was “Spaghetti Western”, they were supposed to go with an old West style but I opted for an easier, more modern look.
What started out as me taking a few photos turned into a full modelling session. Derek tried hard to not smile as he felt that best fit the rugged cowboy image he wanted to portray.
Bonus! Picture of Mommy:
This post is by Zane.
Why did the banks get bailed out, to a tune of 4.X Trillion dollars? Simple. The bailout bill was pushed through via fear, threats, and good old fashioned bribes.
Bribes
Martial Law Threat
Don’t think that the banks are reinvesting the money into the USA. How about your tax dollars from the bailout going to China?
Top this off with government involvement in the stock market. Personally, I think the DOW is not done dropping. We have a long way to go. I’m thinking sub 6000 by year end, and lower next year. I think the only reason it hasn’t dropped more is that the banks are using the 4 trillion bucks we gave them to prop the market up. It is the plunge protection team in action.
Every now and again, someone gets the information out to the masses. Here are two videos I like. Notice how the other TV fools try to label these guys as whackos.
Here is another CNBC goodie with lots of Plunge Protection Team references.
I like the last remark in the video. He summed it up just before they cut him off.
What about Ford and GM? I think they are done! I see them going to zero. I don’t see them getting bought out. I do think in the end that Congress will give them our hard earned money, but it will only postpone the inevitable. I predict failure of these American icons and then other companies will buy their assets as they are liquidated. Another automaker (like Toyota) would be stupid to purchase either of these companies and get stuck with their massive liabilities to both pensioners and creditors. Better for them to wait for commplete failure and purchase assets and avoid the liabilities all together. 
The garden in the back, the one with the fence around it, is still more a herb garden than anything else. But I keep trying with the vegetables, and am having a few small successes. So from now on I’ll call it the kitchen garden.
Last weekend I pulled down the tomato plants. I first planted them in the spring, from starters, and I was lazy and didn’t put up cages. They grew lovely, healthy vegetation, spreading out over a large swath of the garden. A few tomatoes came out and swelled to size, ready to ripen. Then came the crows. I hoped I could hold them off by giving them our leftovers in the compost pile, but the juicy tomatoes must be too tempting in a dry summer like this last one. The plants didn’t produce many more, so I only had a few sad, hard, green orbs with holes where the crows got to them, never reddening.
Checking my handy Texas Gardener I realized I should be able to get a fall crop out of the tomatoes, so I got cages and propped them up properly. Past the heat of the summer there was a fresh round of blooms and suddenly little green tomatoes everywhere! Best of all they were all behind a cage that would keep the crows away.
Too good to be true, in marched the spider mites:
Yet another bad run at the Ellzeys with tomatoes. I’ve had one in a pot that sunburned in the heat, another in the garden that simply did nothing - few blooms, few fruit, and what little it did have was harried by crows. Now, one harried by crows AND infested with spider mites.
It’s ok if I can’t do well with tomatoes. I did make a batch of fried green tomatoes that were delicious. Red ripe tomatoes would be nice, but I’ve accepted that the garden isn’t going to produce any fruits.
Instead, I’m growing things for vegetation, like the abundant herbs. As usual, the basil and mint are growing like gangbusters. I’m ready to harvest them back, I don’t want to get hit by an unexpected cold night and lose what I’ve got on there now. I’ve got plans for this weekend to make pestos, herb liquors, flavored sugars, and scented bath salts. I’ve got a good quantities of sweet basil, thai basil, cinnamon basil, and mint for this project. The chocolate mint died back too early, alas, it would have been useful for Thanksgiving dinner had I planned ahead and harvested some earlier. I intend to use some Mexican mint marigold, rosemary, a little lemon verbena, and a little sage in these mixtures as well.
Speaking of Mexican mint marigold, I have plans to move it out of my garden and into the new ornamental “bed” by the bowl. It’s not really a bed since I’m not sectioning it off and adding new soil, it is supposed to remain a naturalized area that just gets supplemental watering and an occasional dose of fertilizer. Currently occupying that area are a couple established red Turk’s cap that draw lots of hummingbirds. I just added three new pink Turk’s cap, which based on my blog searches is popping up in gardens all over the greater Austin area:
I won’t completely remove the Mexican mint marigold from the kitchen garden until it’s firmly established in the new area. It’s one of my favorite plants, it doesn’t seem to mind the heat or the shade, the foliage is reasonable to look at, it takes well to pruning, it smells lovely, it has beautiful flowers. But it doesn’t belong in the kitchen garden because you need so little of it as a seasoning, it’s like EXTREME tarragon. It’s a strong flavor, and it doesn’t go with everything. Thus it’d be much better suited as an ornamental hedge like the rosemary, snipping a bit here and there when needed.
The healthy Mexican mint marigold spreads to cover a sizable patch, and I need the space in the kitchen garden for the herbs that get used in abundance. Herbs with a lot of uses, or a delicate structure that requires you to add a lot to a dish. Herbs like the aforementioned basil and mint. Herbs like the parsley that I planted last fall, which made it through the summer by laying quiet, and perked up this last month enough to utilize.
Then there’s the cilantro, sprung up from seeds left behind from last fall’s crop. I carefully nurtured the seedlings and they too are getting snipped for cooking, although I’m still buying bunches at the grocery too:
My favorite little crop is the beautiful delicate dill that started from seed. I went through and thinned them today and used all the tiny fronds I harvested. Thinking of good uses for the dill inspired me to go through my Russian cookbook and make a mushroom caviar (recipe coming!):
I’ll try to be good with it. I like to use dill almost as a vegetable when it’s in season, but Zane isn’t fond of it used that way.
There’s also the garlic chives, moved from the ornamental bed in the front where it lay for three or so years, never blooming, looking boring. Currently it still looks boring, but this summer I got blooms! I could probably make do with just one, but I hate to kill either, they’ve been through so much. It’s growing by the west side of the garden, which is at the top of the slope and notoriously dry; if it can survive there I’m loath to remove it:
Last weekend I harvested a bouquet of herbs for a mushroom caviar, which I’m snacking on as I write this 
Mushroom Caviar
Heat the saute pan, and melt in the butter and oil. You want the pan to be good and hot when you start, but not too hot - at about medium. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly. At first, the mushrooms will absorb all the oil. After a little while, they’ll start getting soft and expressing the liquid. Stop cooking as soon as it hits this stage - you don’t want it to get watery. Add the cream cheese, mix well, then add in the minced herbs, salt and pepper. Let age a few days in the refrigerator to develop the flavors. Serve as a spread for crackers or toast, or a filling for crepes.
The flavor is good, but next time I’ll probably chop the mushrooms finer.
Moving on from the herbs, there are actually a few vegetables surviving in my garden right now, dare I say maybe even thriving? I’ve got some Chinese cabbage coming along nicely, I pick outer leaves now and then to use. There’s these more traditional cabbages that seem to be shaping up well:
There’s a few radishes that I started from seed. Several of them look like they’ll be ready to harvest soon, and I picked the greens from most of the remainder for dinner yesterday:
I have romaine and leaf lettuces started from seed that appear to be doing well, and also thinned them out recently, creating a baby lettuce blend we’ve been enjoying. The brocolli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts are plugging along. Finally, there’s the swiss chard, another summer survivor that lasted since last fall’s garden.
I trimmed the outer Swiss chard leaves yesterday and used it with the radish greens in what has become our standard chard dish. I’ve seen multiple forms of the dish on the internet so I know it’s traditional Italian, but I don’t follow an exact recipe and I’m not sure which elements are vital to the traditions, or how far I’ve strayed.
Swiss Chard and Sausage Pasta
Cook pasta. Penne is traditional but we like twisty shapes.
Heat a pan and crumble in the sausage. Last night I used bratwursts, I’ve used Italian sausage, I’ve even used leftover breakfast sausage. Cook the sausage, breaking up into little pieces as you do, until it’s browned slightly. Remove the sausage but leave the fat in the pan.
To the sausage grease, add the garlic and cook briefly. Add chopped chard stems and cook for a bit. Splash in some white wine and cook until the liquid is gone. Spoon in some of the hot pasta water and cook a little more. After the chards have softened a little but not all the way, add the chopped greens. Continue to add hot water a little at a time and cook until the chards are softened and the is pan mostly dry.
Add the sausage back into the pan and cook for a minute or two, until it is well mixed.
Drain the pasta but don’t shake off excess water. Turn into a bowl. Add the chard-sausage mixture and toss. Add in the pine nuts and cheese and toss again. Serve with black pepper.
As is probably evident from the length of this post, I am thrilled that the garden is starting to produce more, slowly but surely
For Lily’s 8th birthday party this year, we threw her a science party at the house. It was a smashing success. There were 5 “experiments”, all inspired from the website Steve Spangler Science, which has great videos to demonstrate a variety of science experiments.
First, the kids played with “super bubbles” - homemade bubble soap - seeing the how surface tension and rainbows work:
Then, we filled a baby pool with 30 lb of cornstarch and mixed in water to demonstrate how the non-Newtonion fluid produced acts like quicksand. First, the laborious task of mixing the cornstarch with water, adding a little at a time, until it had the consistency of honey:
Then the kids could dance, run or jump on the pool to “walk on water”, but if they stood still they would sink:
This was a huge hit, and some kids, especially Lily, got very messy!:
Janet Newlove ran the “Sharpie Pen Science” station. In this station kids dotted a handkerchief with different color sharpie pens and dripped rubbing alcohol on it, making beautiful designs while learning a bit about chromatography and solubility.
Lindsey especially enjoyed this activity:
The kids also got to make their own slime, learning a bit about polymers but mostly just having fun:
Lily enjoying her slime:
Derek enjoying his slime:
Finally, the party was thrilled by huge diet coke - Mentos geysers! Here I help Taylor set up her explosion:
One whole tube of Mentos, dropped into a 2L diet coke bottle all at once with a little help from a PVP pipe and my plastic insurance card = a whole lot of excitement!
I believe this one was the tallest:
We finished the party off with some non-science themed pizza and cake. I would have gone for something a bit more in theme, but Lily wanted pink roses so I let her describe her dream cake to the folks at the Richard Family Bakery:
A splendid, messy time was had by all!
Here’s the handouts I gave to the kids as they left with basic scientific explanations of each experiment, including recipes:
