found_drama

This is the recipe for vegephobes, for the folks (like me?) that do not otherwise care for Brussels sprouts.

We are participating in the Food Basket CSA this winter and this was in our first basket.  I’m not a fan of Brussels sprouts but I’d also never had them fresh before.  So we decided to try this.

Get the following together:

• Brussels sprouts, approx. 1 quart (must be fresh)
• 2 strips of streaky bacon (hickory smoked if you got it, add more if you want it)
• 1 cooking apple, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• nutmeg to taste

Cut the bacon up into bite-sized slices and throw it into a big pan and start the sizzling on moderate heat.  When the bacon has released its fat, toss in the butter and the sprouts (make sure to have de-stemmed the sprouts).  Cook the sprouts down for about 5-10 minutes; they should be a little bit browned.  Then add the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Give it a good stirring and reduce the heat down to low; simmer for another 5-10 minutes.  Add the apple bits and simmer for about another five minutes.  Serve hot.

So good your one-year-old will be signing for more.

Full disclosure:  this recipe is based on one from The Bacon Cookbook; I’ve changed mine up a bit to add the apples later (otherwise they’ll get a bit too mushy).

Image credit: Brussels Sprouts by Barbara L. Hanson (on Flickr); sadly, we ate our Brussels sprouts too quickly to photograph the meal.

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  …and here sit the 28 percent of the American people who still thought Mr. Bush was doing a heckuva job at the end, gnashing their teeth, hoping and praying for something horrible to happen such as an infestation of locusts or the disappearance of the sun, something to make the president look bad, which is not a good place for a political party to be, hoping for the country to slide into chaos. When you bet against America, you are choosing long odds.

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Dear CostCo folks—

My shopping experience with you has been pretty satisfactory so far.

First off, I’m not in it for the aesthetics—the warehouse space is clean but can be a bit overwhelming and crowded and maybe even bewildering.  And that’s OK—it’s become something of a joke¹ which eases the tension enough for us to deal.

Second, we’ve figured out the pricing scheme well-enough to not get totally screwed.  We figured out which of the perishable items we can eat fast enough.  We’ve figured out where we’re saving 5-15%, where we’re saving that awesome 20+%, and where we’re paying basically the same².  So we’re on good footing there.

What’s bugging me though…  Why so lax on the quality of certain food items?  In particular, let’s focus on the foodstuffs targeted at and/or intended for kids.  Example: tonight we decided against purchasing a metric ton of apple sauce because it contained high fructose corn syrup.  Seriously, what adult is eating apple sauce out of a little three ounce container?  That there is for kids.  Ditch Mott’s and give us some organic Kirkland apple sauce³.  Example: we don’t buy our frozen orange juice there because it isn’t calcium fortified.  Granted this one cuts across both children and adults⁴, but all the more reason to calcium-fortify that OJ.  The war for healthy bones starts early!  Example: WHERE IS THE FREAKIN’ 100-COUNT RICE CAKES PACKAGE?? I would seriously stock up on rice cakes if you carried them.

That is all.  For now.

Thank you for listening,

—me

1. Ever see that Simpsons episode where Apu gets fired from the Kwik-E-Mart? when he and Marge go to the Monstromart? yeah that was frickin’ funny. [↩]
2. And for the rest, there’s Amazon Mobile. [↩]
3. Don’t tell me that there’s no such thing as “organic Kirkland”.  I’ve seen those tortilla chips. [↩]
4. And maybe more so for the adults, what with how we’re not really supposed to drink as much milk. [↩]

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