Thursday, 31 October 2013
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Agave leaves
Remember the agave leaves I saw in the supermarket?I've been doing a bit of googling...
Agave Leaves
1. The agave leaves are harvested in the winter or spring when the sap content is the highest. The leaves are cut into large chunks and roasted or baked. The roasted leaves have a rich caramel flavor but are highly fibrous so the leaves are chewed and the left-over fibers are thrown out.
2. After the leaves were cut off, the heart of the plant (imaging a giant artichoke) was roasted yielding a sweet nutritious food that is slightly slimy and tastes like molasses. This food could be wrapped in the skin of the leaves and stored. Cooking is essential because otherwise the heart of the agave is very poisonous. Flower stalks were also eaten but could not be stored.
3. The leaves contain saponins and are rich in sap in the winter and spring. They can be roasted. You chew them then spit out the fiber. The leaves can also be boiled and the juice used as a soup but test a little first. The leaves and juice can be too bitter to eat. There are over 200 agave species so make sure you have an edible one. Spine arrangement, length and shape help tell the species apart. The leaves of most make good cordage.
Mm. Not sure I'll bother! There's a lot that can go wrong and the spitting out bit could be messy!
Flu shot
Had my flu shot yesterday (injection to the rest of you!), extra strength dose on account of my advanced age! I was very brave and got a Bugs Bunny plaster!It's lying on the table, not on my arm. Just in case you thought I was overdoing the tanning! Ha!
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
I want my money back!
Well...a glass of wine is going someway to restore my calm...but not far enough.
We have just got back from a concert at the university which was billed as an 'intimate gathering' and for which we paid $42 each for our tickets. When we booked, five months ago, the advertising just billed the artists as 2 Cellists, no other clue about the sort of music they played. We were expecting standard cello repertoire...and what we got was a huge auditorium, lights, smoke, electric cellos, showmanship, crowd pleasing heavy metal. Ouch! It was dreadful. Discordant, noisy and thoroughly unpleasant. And their credentials as classical musicians are great.
I lasted an hour and left and Peter followed soon after. We were not alone in leaving early and the people we spoke to outside were similarly surprised. I suspect they didn't know what to expect when they booked them but obviously they have become popular. The programme is peppered with Elton John and the names of other pop musicians and the shift to a much larger venue hints at a change of gear! That sort of information would certainly have jumped out at us and the moody photographs would also have been a give-away! Here's a taste...though there is a moment in this video where they actually play a tune!
Of course I have just penned an email to the managing director of the music programme and wait with interest to see what she says. Yes, I know we are being old fogeys, but we likes what we likes!
In sharp contrast the FREE concert on Monday night was delightful.
We have just got back from a concert at the university which was billed as an 'intimate gathering' and for which we paid $42 each for our tickets. When we booked, five months ago, the advertising just billed the artists as 2 Cellists, no other clue about the sort of music they played. We were expecting standard cello repertoire...and what we got was a huge auditorium, lights, smoke, electric cellos, showmanship, crowd pleasing heavy metal. Ouch! It was dreadful. Discordant, noisy and thoroughly unpleasant. And their credentials as classical musicians are great.
I lasted an hour and left and Peter followed soon after. We were not alone in leaving early and the people we spoke to outside were similarly surprised. I suspect they didn't know what to expect when they booked them but obviously they have become popular. The programme is peppered with Elton John and the names of other pop musicians and the shift to a much larger venue hints at a change of gear! That sort of information would certainly have jumped out at us and the moody photographs would also have been a give-away! Here's a taste...though there is a moment in this video where they actually play a tune!
Of course I have just penned an email to the managing director of the music programme and wait with interest to see what she says. Yes, I know we are being old fogeys, but we likes what we likes!
In sharp contrast the FREE concert on Monday night was delightful.
Sunday, 27 October 2013
Peter's birthday part 2
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| Happy campers! Well, walkers... |
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| A bit worrying to read about the alligators... |
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| Lunch stop by the lake |
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| Alligators? |
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| Colours of moss |
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| Swamp viewed from boardwalk |
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| Various bits of fungus |
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| No idea! |
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| A bit of autumn colour |
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| View over the lake |
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| Chef Peter |
Peter's birthday
Very nice pre-birthday lunch with Bob and Mary at Maddens in Bryan on Friday.
Today we are setting off for a 7 mile walk on the Chinquapin Trail in Huntsville State Park. The weather looks perfect. 74F and a bit of cloud to shade us now and then. The picnic is packed...now to get the birthday boy moving!
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| From Bob and Mary - Peter will be wearing his apron tonight when he cooks the steaks! |
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| From Bob and Mary. Tastes good! |
Today we are setting off for a 7 mile walk on the Chinquapin Trail in Huntsville State Park. The weather looks perfect. 74F and a bit of cloud to shade us now and then. The picnic is packed...now to get the birthday boy moving!
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Lunch at Leona
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| Pecan Grove Café, Leona TX Scarecrow to scare off customers? On the right! |
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| Homely interior - design feature, white painted corrugated iron |
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| A corner of the restaurant |
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| Filling up |
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| Dropped into the grocery store on my way home. These are agave leaves. Don't know what to do with them yet... |
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