tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78263315534677749792024-03-14T01:38:47.122-05:00The Southern Fried VeganS. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-67270378252592211232009-05-11T21:12:00.004-05:002009-05-11T21:33:30.779-05:00When is a house more than a house?<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/venicesinking/house.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="text-decoration: underline;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 450px; " src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/venicesinking/house.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">This afternoon, while running errands, I happened to drive past this house. Back in 2007, I lived here. It so happens that this particular house is available to rent again, and seeing the sign in the front yard I immediately started trying to figure out how to work my situation to live there again. You see, I loved this house.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">It's tucked into a tree-lined street in the oldest neighborhood in the city, a street that's filled with families, winos, college students, </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Polyphonic_Spree"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">the odd over-rated band</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">, and yuppies like me. It had a fantastic, big kitchen with a 5 burner gas stove and a </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">tankless</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"> water heater. The bathroom still has the original basket-weave tile, with original, 78-year-old grout that will never come clean, no matter how many toothbrushes you </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">sacrifice</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"> to it. The house is literally sliding off the foundation and the English ivy in back is threatening to annex the whole thing. </span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">I loved that house.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">But the more I thought about it, the more I had to question whether that house is just a house, or rather a tomb. The moments in my life that I am least proud of happened there, and their ghosts will always haunt it. </span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">I spent hot summer nights there, getting porch drunk and watching the barflies hit cars, floating kegs with the neighbors and peeling peaches over the kitchen sink. I also watched a years long relationship begin to unravel and eventually end there, and it was awful. Insults and glassware hurled indiscriminately and nights spent on the couch. Ruined dinners and long days at work to avoid going home. Spiteful confrontations and, eventually, not speaking at all. </span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">I'd like to think that I'm a better person now. A more patient person. More compassionate and honest and capable of giving and receiving love without doubt. But, I also know that that house could never be a home for me again, much as I love its beautiful arches and weathered floors, and I think that maybe some ghosts should stay </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">buried</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">.</span></span></p><div><br /></div>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-73828352695705637572008-10-29T23:02:00.003-05:002008-10-29T23:25:50.548-05:00It's moving day...almost<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I know that I said I would post about Suitor No. 2 today, but I'm afraid that I just don't have it in me to think of much of anything remotely witty. You see, I'm about to make what will be Move No. 2.5 in less than 12 months. I cannot honestly tell you how much I hope this whole new house/roommate/etc. situation works out because I could not be more sick to death of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">moving.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There is something wholly terrifying in uprooting myself again. I'm not exactly what you would call a big fan of change. Though I'm doing much better these days, happier than I can remember at any point in the last ten years, my ability to weather the rough patches in my life still seems incredibly precarious. I know the next few weeks are going to take an incredible amount of emotional fortitude, something that it really shouldn't because honestly I'm just moving </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">across town</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, but it does. Seeing my life, the sum of my parts, every single thing I owned packed into bags and boxes and Uhauls is just...unsettling. But I'm sure I'll live.</span></span><br /></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-51467974950552704302008-08-27T10:53:00.007-05:002008-08-27T11:11:39.075-05:00I should really commit to updating this once in awhileUnfortunately, I'm terminally boring and don't have much to say, although I could go on and on about adventures in dating people from The Internets. That, though, is really more frightening than entertaining.<br /><br />I suppose it should be said already. I got dumped. I had my cold, black heart broken. My natural response was to completely recoil, to shut down and protect myself from potential pain. But then I drank copious amounts of Southern Comfort and cried on friends' couches until things made sense again. I decided that I didn't want to let the end of that relationship turn me into someone who is incapable of affection and trust, someone like him.<br /><br />Now, I do little to hide the fact that I am, in all reality, a serial monogomist. I suck at dating. The whole process just seems so incredibly tedious and gut-wrenching for all the insecurities and awkwardness it brings, but I'm giving it a shot.<br /><br />I had two very successful dates with a certain art director of a certain local company. At least, I thought they were successful. I just love when things click - when he's just like you, when you have so much in common you have to ask youself "IS THIS MAN A UNICORN?". But then, he stopped calling and I'm just left kicking myself for being so excited about something new in the first place and wondering what the hell I did wrong. I know that, more than likely, the answer is simply that he's a douchebag and I should leave it at that. Really, though, I am incapable of leaving anything alone. <br /><br />My friend Sarah has <a href="http://perilous-elevators.blogspot.com/">a new blog about elevator accidents</a>. You should go read it. And tell her to update more.S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-50628193666107466292008-06-30T11:17:00.007-05:002008-10-29T23:31:47.369-05:00The times they are a-changin'<span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have no excuses for my absence so I'm not even going to try to come up with some sort of explanation. Instead, here's the quick and dirty rundown on the last six months wherein I have accomplished an incredible amount-o-crap:<br /><br /></span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Conquered public transit</span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><strong></strong><br />In an effort of self-preservation from the strangling cost of gas, I started taking the commuter rail to work. It takes just a few minutes longer than driving, has to potential to save me hundreds of dollars a month, and I arrive at work considerably less pissed off.<br /><br />What's more, I managed to navigate Chicago solely by bus and train with </span></span><a href="http://greenbayvegan.blogspot.com/"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Green Bay Vegan</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> for four days and only feared for my life once. She's got her own quick recap of our Chicago (</span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">mis</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)adventures </span></span><a href="http://greenbayvegan.blogspot.com/2008/05/chicago.html"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">here</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.<br /><br />By the way, if you're vegan and you haven't visited Chicago recently, go get on a plane right now. The food choices are seriously amazing. I thought we had it pretty good here in Dallas, but Chicago is </span></span><a href="http://www.veggiediner.com/"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the only place that I've been able to get a </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">seitan</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">reuben</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> the size of my head</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. While you're at it, make a trip down to Soul Veg on East 75</span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">th</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Street. It's a hike from the train through a sort of questionable neighborhood, but the Southern </span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">barbecue</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> sandwich is worth the possible risk of being stabbed.<br /><br /></span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cut the crap out of my diet</span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><strong></strong><br />In March I cut all processed foods and most refined sugar out of my diet. I joined a gym and dropped more than 40 pounds since November. I won't elaborate much because honestly I think that's pretty goddamn boring, but I will say that I feel fantastic and it's become really clear to me how much what I eat affects how I feel physically and emotionally.<br /><br /></span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Met one </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">badass</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> bearded and tattooed soccer fanatic</span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><strong></strong><br />Thanks to the magic of The Internets, I've met a man that just amazes me. I don't know what much to say about the whole situation other than sweet baby </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jeebus</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> wow. I'm a fairly emotionally unavailable person in general, but this time I fell and, my god, I fell hard. I can't honestly ever remember being this crazy about someone, ever, and I can say that I'm actually content for the first time in years. You know, </span></span><a href="http://www.celticfc.net/home.aspx"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">soccer fanaticism aside</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. (Really, I </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">keed</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. I plan to use this enthusiasm to leverage for a trip to a baseball game at some point this summer. Fair is fair, right?)<br /><br />His living situation is pretty interesting at the moment, and personally I think it warrants the production of a reality show. It's like the </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Osbornes</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> over there, except with more alcohol and less fame. My plan is to film a pilot, pitch it to some cable network, and then we all become filthy, dirty, stinking rich. At the present time I'm working on Episode 1: </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Pissin</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Off The Neighbors. More on that to come.</span></span>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-2166828796260973552008-01-04T10:19:00.001-06:002008-10-29T23:32:27.454-05:00<span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so we ate at Suma Veggie last night, which is a vegan Chinese restaurant in Richardson, TX that's really heavy on the salt and even heavier on meat analogues.<br /><br />I'm not really sure how I feel about mock meats in general. I don't eat them much because they're typically processed beyond all recognition and loaded with sodium and I try to stick to a diet of mostly whole foods, meaning I don't buy outside of the produce aisle, aside from bulk spices, grains, and legumes. A part of me sees an ethical problem with eating something that even resembles meat, especially since I don't crave it or miss it at all, and I certainly don't want to give any omnivores that may be on the fence the impression that they're going to feel deprived if they just give the shit up already. Some vegans have said that they're a good transitional food, and I have to remind myself that, for a lot of people, going vegan isn't as simple as it is for others.<br /><br />I was at a house party sort of thing last weekend and met an omnivore who said that she would be vegan, except she's poor. What the hell is that? I'd really like to know what, exactly, she's eating, because when I cut out the crap my grocery bill dropped dramatically. As a friend of mine at a New Year's Eve cocktail party said, GET YOURSELF SOME BEANS AND RICE.<br /><br />I'm really bothered by some people's notion that going vegan is going to cost them more than an omnivorous diet, and I suppose it could, if you're eating crappy, processed food for which you're covering the cost of processing, packaging, and, most likely, refrigeration.<br /><br />I shop for my groceries once a week, buying food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two people, 90% or better of it organic, for $100 a week or less. That comes out to less than $5 per person per meal. In the summer, when I can buy most of my food at my local farmers market, the cost of a meal drops below $3, and I know that many vegans are able to cover their food bills with even less. </span></span><a href="http://veganfaq.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-do-i-live-cheaply-on-vegan-diet.html"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This post</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> over at </span></span><a href="http://veganfaq.blogspot.com/"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Vegan FAQ</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> even details a weekly grocery list that can cost less than $25 a week!<br /><br />So...no more whining!<br /><br />In other news, vegan superhero </span></span><a href="http://greenbayvegan.blogspot.com/"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jen</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> just made the </span></span><a href="http://www.foxcityzfoxz.com/"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fox City Foxz flat track roller derby league</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. Go show her some love. </span></span>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-86024981004352962152008-01-03T09:06:00.001-06:002008-10-29T23:33:07.062-05:00<span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So I'm a big fat liar and I forgot to take pictures of the ratatoulli and sesame glazed asparagus that we ate last night until after it had, well, been eaten. So, in lieu of that, go look at </span></span><a href="http://veganbecca.blogspot.com/"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Becca's</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> pictures of </span></span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/beccane/sets/72157603600480606/"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">what we did for New Year's Eve</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">!</span></span>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-44813218533947687782008-01-02T16:31:00.001-06:002008-10-29T23:34:17.071-05:00Bound and determined<span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I will cook tonight, a good, nutrient-dense meal, and I will put my heart into it because I, once again, have someone else to cook for. There's so much soul in cooking, but I can never bring myself to take the time to do it only for myself.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span></span><br /></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I will make a meal for someone else, and I will photograph it with my crapass camera phone (because I lost the decent camera in the breakup), and I will blog it. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span></span><br /></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I will reclaim my rightful spot in the kitchen.</span></span>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-80886206328819891632007-12-31T10:01:00.002-06:002009-05-12T00:15:58.273-05:00Back on the wagon, so to speak<span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I'm fairly certain that no one actually reads this, but I suppose that some sort of explanation for my 3 month absence is warranted. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span></span><br /></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Things have been crazy, between frequent travel (including a very awesome trip to Vegas with 14 other vegans) and a truly awful and prolonged breakup and the subsequent moving out of my belongings. The last few months have definitely been trying, to say the least, but I feel like I'm finally starting to get my feet back on solid ground, forcing myself to keep a routine even though I really would rather just hide in my bed.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span></span><br /></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The mess I've found myself in the last few months has weighed so heavily on me that I have, at times, considered checking myself in somewhere, and I probably would have had it not been for the help of my wonderful psychiatrist and truly amazing and supportive friends and family, always ready to rush in and save me from myself when I need them the most. My gratitude to these people is </span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">immeasurable</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> as I am fairly certain that I, quite literally, owe them my life many times over. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span></span><br /></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Getting more to the point, I haven't been able to make blogging much of a priority, and I really regret that and, in the </span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">coming</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> months, I fully intend to change that.</span></span>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-18832080711449200582007-10-19T12:55:00.003-05:002008-10-29T23:37:49.239-05:00Vegans in their natural habitat?<span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In just a few hours, Dallas vegans are going to descend upon the Texas hillcountry for what promises to be a most fantastic </span></span><a href="http://veganfreak.com/"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Vegan Freak</span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> camping trip.<br /><br />The car is packed, the food is prepped, and the bike is dis-assembled. By way of a quick trip to the liquor store, the Southern Fried Vegan will be embarking on a particularly fabulous weekend in T-4 hours.<br /><br />Wish you were here.</span></span>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-56508127223753687412007-10-09T10:56:00.001-05:002008-10-29T23:38:54.296-05:00Excuses, excuses<span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have so much to post!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span></span><br /></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But I can't. You see, here at the Southern Fried Vegan house, we had a massive computer meltdown a few weeks ago that we have yet to resolve, so in the meantime the camera is collecting dusts and my posts to all the blogs that I contribute to are few and far between since the only internet access I have right now is from my office.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span></span><br /></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We should be back up and running in the next week or so and I will have just loads of pictures to post.</span></span>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-34590034001738149992007-09-10T13:56:00.000-05:002007-09-10T14:30:14.563-05:00Busy...like a fox<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Things at the Southern Fried Vegan house have gotten a little frantic lately with very late nights and very early mornings, leaving little time for blogging. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Fall gets more than little busy around here, especially this year with both work and play. I'm in the process of organizing the first ever </span><a href="http://veganfreak.com/"><span style="font-size:85%;">Vegan Freak</span></a> <span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">bowling team and just finished putting together a vegan bake swap. Aside from that I'm trying to get the fruits and veggies from the farmers market that are going out of season prepared and frozen for the winter and attempting to cook our weekday meals ahead so that we have more time for other much neglected things, specifically biking and the ever-growing pile of laundry that's taking over our house. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">When things settle down a bit in the next few days I promise I'll have more to post.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">In the mean time, I encourage everyone to check out </span><a href="http://www.kitchensisters.org/hidden_kitchens/hktexas/hk_texas.htm">Hidden Kitchens Texas Stories</a>. Parts of the broadcast are pretty damn NOT VEGAN, but it's definitely worth a listen. It's narrated by Willie Nelson and really gets to the heart and soul of food and its significance at the Texas table.S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-33670286211609084932007-08-27T10:07:00.001-05:002008-12-10T03:21:28.594-06:00The Motherload<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">My favorite thing about the miserably hot summers here is our local farmers market. We actually have two here, the </span><a href="http://www.dallasfarmersmarket.org/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Dallas Farmers Market</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> and the </span><a href="http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/M5795"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Coppell Farmers Market</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">. </span><div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I think the Dallas Farmers Market is a gross misnomer. There is nothing local about it. Most of the food is South American and comes from distributors instead of the growers themselves. It's picked days if not weeks before it's ripe and pretty much every stall has the same out of season produce.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The latter, though, is truly a gem and worth the 20 minute drive from our East Dallas home. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The market opens at 8 every Saturday and closes when the growers sell out, which happens around 11. There's only 4 farms that sell there, including an organic farmer from Grand Saline (where the Morton salt comes from), which is about 70 miles out of Dallas. Right now they only have okra and hot peppers, but I buy pounds and pounds of the ever versatile okra that will soon be unavailable as summer begins to wane.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Other farmers have all that you could ask for -- summer squash, both crookneck and zucchini, yellow Texas peaches, several varities of eggplant, onions, potatoes, green beans, the sweetest, reddest tomatoes I think I've ever seen, melons, strawberries...and the list goes on. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">There's something really gratifying about meeting the people that grow your food and supporting small farms. I can't think of a better reason to get up early on a Saturday than to spend a fraction of grocery store costs on the ripest, seasonal produce for our weekly meals.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">And I must comment especially on how RIPE the food is. Most large, conventional farms harvest their produce before its peak so that it can withstand their long shipping processes. Our local farmers harvest only when their produce is at its peak, which accounts for the amazing tomatoes, especially. While some fruit will ripen after it is picked, tomatoes don't. The skin will eventually blush and then turn red, but the flesh stays white or pale pink, which accounts for the soggy, mealy texture of grocery store tomatoes. Because everything is so perfectly ripe, it starts to spoil in a few days, so we can only buy what we can eat in a week.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">This really isn't a problem, though. We get more variety in our diet than we do in the winter when local, organic vegetables are in short supply, and we've drastically reduced our grocery bill to the point that the only things we really have to buy are bulk staples that we've run out of and lettuce, since it's not in season yet.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Behold, this week's $23 bounty.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103543905467397138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-J8lZ7awWVI/RtNuJGz-dBI/AAAAAAAAABA/FRpmx7n6pnQ/s320/motherload_small.jpg" border="0" />Nine beefsteak tomatoes, five Bartlett pears, four pounds (!!) of okra, two pints of strawberries, 3 zucchini squash, and four white Italian eggplants.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The okra and four tomatoes were turned into a bastardized version of Bhindi Subji, or, okra and tomatoes, onions, olive oil, okra, tomatoes, fenegreek, cumin, corriander, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika. It's Indian comfort food that I used to eat at a particularly charming Indian bistro in our old neighboorhood. Stewed okra and tomatoes is so quintessentially Southern, but, honestly, Bhindi Subji has so much more personality. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103544111625827362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-J8lZ7awWVI/RtNuVGz-dCI/AAAAAAAAABI/vkKQEJiCX4A/s320/okra-and-tomatoes_small.jpg" border="0" /> I slow-cooked more of the tomatoes, some leftover mushrooms from last week, and the zucchini into a hearty marinara to go over butternut squash ravioli, served with poached pears and beer-battered Italian eggplant. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5103544373618832434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-J8lZ7awWVI/RtNukWz-dDI/AAAAAAAAABQ/uC2xP6VSVpY/s320/dinner_small.jpg" border="0" />The end of the growing season is fast approaching and in a few weeks we'll have pumpkins and winter squash, lettuce, turnips, and beets, and then the world starts to go to sleep until the spring. </span></div>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826331553467774979.post-69060090984333854452007-08-20T14:36:00.001-05:002008-12-10T03:21:29.098-06:00The Big Howdy<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;">I don't know where to start with this, as much as I don't know where this will go, if anywhere at all.<br />I suppose this is as good a place to start as any.<br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">To me, Southern-fried food is comfort food, regardless of whether it's actually fried. Fried green tomatoes, however, are the sort of comfort food akin to peach cobbler and skillet-baked cornbread. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">My partner, J, fell in love with them on a business trip to Memphis, and I learned to make them at the hip of my grandmother, the Southern Food Maven. </span><br /></span><br /><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100977301730784242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-J8lZ7awWVI/RspP1Gz-c_I/AAAAAAAAAAw/6D6ml0PZCxM/s320/Green+maters_small.jpg" border="0" /><br />In Texas, green tomatoes are available at farmer's markets and roadside fruit stands from March ,for imported, South American fruit, through mid-September. Local fruit is available from June through early September. I've seen green varieties in specialty grocery stores, but this is not the type of tomato that I'm talking about. Choice tomatoes for frying are firm, unripened plum tomatoes, pale celandine and barely blushing. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><strong>Fried Greed Tomatoes</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">1 pound green tomatoes</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">1 1/2 cups coarse corn meal</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">1/4 cup all purpose flour (or whole wheat, if you prefer)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">2 tbsp nutritional yeast</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">paprika to taste</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">salt and pepper to taste</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">1/2 cup + enough to cover pan neutral-tasting oil (like canola or safflower)</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Mix dry ingredients in a shallow pan. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Heat oil in a deep pan (I use a stock pot) until it starts to smoke. Reduce heat to medium high.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Slice tomatoes roughly 1/2" thick. Dredge in oil, then cornmeal mixture and repeat until evenly coated.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Fry in the oil until golden on both sides, about three minutes on each side, and drain on paper towels. Eat them warm and right away.</span> </p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100980638920373250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-J8lZ7awWVI/RspS3Wz-dAI/AAAAAAAAAA4/k-MOr1cJ5qg/s320/fried+green+maters_small.jpg" border="0" /> </p><p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">What's your comfort food?</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span></span></p>S. C. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03603465387526054070noreply@blogger.com2