The Wool Food Mama

Baby ducks' first swim.

This was last week, but I'm behind a bit.  It's still worth posting because it's SO stinking cute.

Vegetable

veg-e-ta-ble

-noun

1.	any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, as the tomato, bean, beet, potato, onion, asparagus, spinach, or cauliflower

I've never been a big vegetable fan.  Just haven't.  I don't know why.

Truthfully, I couldn't stand tomatoes, onions, peppers, squash...the idea of any of those in the raw or cooked kind of squicked me out.  Don't think I've missed the hypocrisy of making wool produce for 5 or 6 years. 

Anyway...

When I decided to go all out on a garden this year, I figured I should first, find out why I wanted to grow such a big garden and next,  determine what I'd do with so much produce if I wasn't going to use it.

Well, after careful consideration...I started clicking through favorite meals when we dine out; 
Guac and chips at chipotle. 
Bruschetta from anywhere.
noodles tossed with tomatoes at Olive Garden. 

Hrmmm.  Maybe I do like vegetables. 

Ok then, why don't I like MY vegetables?  I figured this out too!! lmbo.

I wasn't a careful cook.  Eh, get a meal on the table, micro some veggies or put some baby carrots on a plate. Dinner time!!! lets eat!!

So this week, I decided to become a careful cook with Gordon Ramsay as my guide.  Taking what I'd watched on Brian's favorite show, The f word (f is for food), I went about my way through the kitchen with the same simplicity that he uses in his home kitchen, right down to using single words too.  tomato. dice.oil.season. eat. 

This is some of what we dined on this week....

Guac and chips
 
avocado
tomato; seeds removed
red onion
pepper
blitz (that means blend)
lime; squeeze

Roasted Vegetables

mushrooms; chop
zucchini; chop
turnip; chop
summer squash; chop
sweet potato; chop
potato; chop
carrots; chop
shallot; chop
oil
toss
salt
pepper
roast

I know Gordon is rough and foul around the edges.  But his F word show is different.  It's a portrayal of his complete life, which is surprisingly simple and uncomplicated; raising his own meats in the back yard, taking the mystery out of good food and letting the food be itself, a restaurant where the customer's decide if they like the meal. 

He made me a vegetable believer...I may have to move him to miracle worker status. ha. 

Duckling

duck-ling

–noun

1.  a young duck

Ok, this totally trumps the arrival of  Mother Earth News 'zine. In a huge way. 

My sweet Mr. Postman called at 7:30 am and didn't leave voice mail.  Dh brought me the phone and said "I think there's something waiting for you." lol.  I guess so!!  I was out of bed in a shot (remember I don't do mornings) ran a brush over my hair, teeth too and jumped around trying to get my jeans on...

then the phone rang again.  Where the hell did I leave it?  I could hear it, dang cordless phones.  I love to blame their absence from the chargers on my children but I'm officially busted as the worst offender. 

Madison rounded the corner, blinking off sleepy eyes, talking to Little Mr. Postman on another phone.  whew.  Love love love that daughter.  We'll be right down I said, trying not to squeal. 

And we were off...to TSC because I forgot bedding.  and baby crumble. 

THEN we were off to the post office.  It was surprisingly quiet in post office that early so we had lots of help and when warehouse girl stepped in  with our peeping box, we had lots of attention.  Nevermind the other customer trying to buy one of my ducks right there at the counter. wha?  no.  <In my head thinking;  sorry, I don't sell baby ducks a week before Easter unless they're made out of wool... >

oh, back to the babies.  There were 4 of us hovering around the box now and asked if they'd mind if I opened it there.  The answer was a resounding yes and counter lady had scissors all ready. 

Ok, everyone say a quick prayer that they're all alive, I don't do dead very well. All four of us bowed for a split second then popped the cover.    1..2...3......6.....10!!!  All alive, happy and quite vocal thank-you-very-much.   whew.

Gusty has already added duck wrangler to her resume...today she caught one all by herself.  Not a small feat for a 5 year old.  Those little girls can move. 

So, why ducks?  Well, apparently they're the bomb for garden maintenance.  They're kinder on your plants than chickens and are amazingly proficient at consuming large volumes of slugs.  Or so Mr. Eliot Coleman professes in his Four Season Harvest. 

What can I say, I'm all  about extra gardeners in the yard...especially the winged variety.