Saturday, April 13, 2024

Spice bush, cabbarole, wire art

Saturday was icy winds blowing all over, so walking didn't happen. Things like recycling did, which includes walking to the end of the block, the wind blowing me and my flattened cardboard around like helpless prawns, I expect that's some kind of resistance exercise. 

And weight training came in handy when I found some **** person had slung a huge pile of cardboard on top of, not in,  one container so that it also weighed down the lid of the next container, the one I needed to get into. Entailing forcing up the lid, plus the many pounds of cardboard resting on it, holding it with one hand while wrangling my recycle bucket with the other.  Yes, that, and the breathing exercise from cursing throughout,  was some strenuous time.

However, the patio gave me two nice things: the spice bush blooming away and scenting the wind, great experience, here's a professional view, top left, viburnum carlesii aka Korean spice bush


And the honesty, which declined to grow again where it had done well, in the strawberry pot or in the ground, where I'd next flung seeds defiantly, decided it would do this instead



As you see, happily growing in the sage pot. Well, if it's happy who am I to argue? This means I'll get at least a few more silver disk seedpods to add to my collection.

Indoors I did a bit more on the wire and yarn work



I'm going to leave it alone for a day or two then see what should happen next. Add? Subtract? Rearrange? We'll see. Meanwhile I wove a couple more plain yarn squares just to get skillz.

But the main event was the cabbage casserole, heretofore to be known as a cabbarole, which sounds like an antique carriage but never mind.

What it amounts to is salted chopped cabbage, with an egg and yogurt sauce with flour, I used chickpea, baking powder and cornstarch, big pinch of pepper. Then grated cheese on top.  Baked 50 minutes at 350°f.






Here's a serving with fresh picked chives, very oniony because the first picking of the year.  It was good and I now have a reason to buy cabbage. 

Next time I make it, which I can, with the other half-cabbage chopped and frozen, I'll use a smaller baking dish so there's more interior and less exposed top. 

I used this one because I could mix in it and put it straight in the oven, saving dishes. And I think a pinch of nutmeg would be good.  Overall though, it was worth doing, nice texture, bit of crunch on top, nicely blended inside. 

So there's several lunches. This would go nicely with sausage or chicken or something like that, too, but it worked as a main for me today. Also welcome on a drafty cold day.


Yes, this doesn't refer to the kind I cooked, but it's all good.

And creatively speaking, this is possibly me in a previous existence


Happy day everyone, make stuff and decide its fate! 


And let's hope for the best for Ukraine's fate.





47 comments:

  1. I love cabbage. I cook it with onions and cook it down until it’s all slightly brown and caramelised. We eat it as an side with steak or roast chicken and best of all it freezes well so all I have to do is defrost, heat and serve

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  2. Oh, that’s so aggravating at the recycle bins. People...

    Off The Mark is right on the money. Wonderful.

    The poor people of Ukraine.

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    1. Yeah, people! Probably a tall guy.. Isn't that cartoon great? Very astute.

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  3. Are prawns helpless? And how do they get blown around?
    Steve (https://shadowsteve.blogspot.com/) mentioned honesty recently and I wondered if it was I remembered from my childhood and you have confirmed it. Those glorious papery pods that seemed to appear like magic. I wonder if it grows here. You have triggered another search!

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    1. It's lovely, like a plant with two lives. The seedpods are like a different plant. The only thing here is when I tried to grow it in the ground, chipmunks would chew it down. So the pot is better, out of their reach.

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  4. Cabbarole sounds just right. It's good to invent new words.

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  5. We make cabbage casserole once in a while. Similar to cabbage rolls and less work.

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    1. I think anything involving rolling leaves around stuff is more work than I want to do regularly. I've made cabbage rolls and dolmades once each.

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  6. Very inconsiderate cardboard recycler. Love the pottery cat!

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    1. Probably a tall guy who never thought. To do him credit, he had flattened and tied the cardboard in approved fashion. Before blocking both bins with it!
      Isn't that cartoon both cat and artist summed up?

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  7. Excellent looking cabbarole.
    Why are people so thoughtless when it comes to things like putting their recycle in the proper bins in the proper way? I have a strong feeling it's the attitude that someone else will take care of it.
    Excellent cartoon. Yes. It is often the doing, rather than the having which is the joy of a thing.

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    1. The recycle issue provided some strength training for me anyway! Yes, making just the right thing for its purpose, very catly.

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  8. Yummy sounding. I sometimes use it as stir fry, which some restaurants do too, with other veggies. Cabbage that is. Love cat's creative cartoon. Each creation is sacred, and each creation is junk! I've definitely had the recycle bin experience...pant pant on unexpected exercise!

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    1. Some good ideas about cabbage, here's another, thank you.

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  9. I finally cut into the very last cabbage I grew this winter. used half in the fried rice I was making. I have a different cabbage casserole in the freezer from another of the cabbages I grew.

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    1. That sounds like yet another good idea, thank you.

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  10. I love the cartoon! Cabbarole, perfect. I think you are onto something with the wire weaving.

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    1. Thank you for all these observations. Especially the wire weaving.

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  11. Sweet-and-sour cabbage is another nice preparation. And recently, I tried cabbage that was seared in a frying pan and dressed with miso butter. So many good ways to use this under-appreciated veg! Just don’t overcook it.

    best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Yes, as with all green vegetables, the magic goes away if you overcook it.

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  12. I've found that honesty does best when it seeds itself. It knows where it wants to grow, and we (apparently) do not! The seedlings I planted in our garden have all died, but the plants that sprouted on their own are huge.

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    1. I think honesty is gardener-proof. As we've both found.

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  13. I'm all for cabbage! Also love me some garbanzo bean flour. Fun ingredient!

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    1. I've been pleased with all my chickpea flour experiments. I've learned a bit about how to handle it, too.

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    2. Wonderful!!!! Glad you're learning and sounds like, having a good time.

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  14. Perhaps those spring winds will soon decide to leave us in peace. It's kind of miserable here today too.

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    1. It's deceptive you look out at sunshine, step out and pow! Not so fast.

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  15. Several wet and windy squalls have blown through here today! Very refreshing. Your readers have left some really ideas for cabbage. I think I will try the stir fry next. Good work with the cabbarole!

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    1. Yes, I often say the comments are the best part of this blog.

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  16. I am not sure I' convinced about that cabbarole. Though I love the name.

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    1. Good thing I wasn't counting on convincing anyone! Okay to pass on it.

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  17. The wind can be an insidious adversary. Glad I stopped by to visit your beautiful blog. Aloha!

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  18. That's a good name for your cabbage casserole, Boud. In this household only one of us favors cabbage, except on St Patrick's Day so I would definitely have to reduce the recipe to serve for 1 with leftovers too.

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    1. This recipe makes about three main course servings, so you could try it, if you're interested. I haven't eaten cabbage in ages, partly because a small head is a lot of cabbage. But I think this recipe is a good option.

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  19. Quite the adventure with the cardboard. And cardboard sounds so simple to handle!

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    1. Things would be much simpler if it weren't for the people!

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    2. And the wind! Helpless prawns, indeed...;-)

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  20. My last porcelain mug did not survive it's fall to the floor. Damn.

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    1. I doubt if it was designed for the purpose?

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  21. It is so fascinating to see weavings become 3D. And so fun to see you experiment with all this.

    We love cabbage, though we mostly chop it up and add it to salads. One of our favorites is grated carrot, chopped cabbage and chopped apple, dressed with yogurt (and sometimes orange juice, if we have any on hand) with a dash of anise or fennel.

    Trying to maintain hope that the sane representatives in the US House will overpower the jerks and approve more aid for Ukraine. Unfortunately Idaho representatives are a spineless bunch. My calls and emails have not stiffened their spines...but one can only try.

    Chris from Boise

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    1. Good for you for trying with your MOCs. They need to know you're out there.
      The weaving is just sitting for the moment. I need to mull.

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    2. anise or fennel are wonderful when paired with thin sliced cabbage. I'll have to try the yogurt and orange juice dressing - great idea!

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  22. Maybe you've intented a whole new exercise fad...cardboard wrestling. Our cardboard recycling area is always a mess. Last spring they erected a gated 'fence' around it with the plan that they would lock it up at night and unlock it in the morning to stop non-residents from just dropping their mess. We could have told them it wouldn't work because people just simply threw it over the top. Never ceases to astound me how people can be so ignorant (and lazy!)

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    1. My son's condo development installed new recycling bins where you have to insert one item at a time, to stop people tossing bags of garbage in. So people just toss their garbage onto the parking lot. Not a solution, really.

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