Progress, sprouts, testimonial

[mrissa]

Chapters yet to draft: 12, 14

Number of fiddly bits to retrofit: 3

This is what we call progress, people.

Also, Soldrun's voice was not, in fact, growing horse, no matter what I typed.

Tonight I am going to attempt to braise myself some brussels sprouts, as I will be the only one eating dinner with me and no one else can complain either that I am eating such a dreadful thing or that I have prepared such a wonderful thing incompetently. The problem is that very few recipes call for five brussels sprouts, which is how many I am making because it is how many I want to eat. Mostly they call for brussels sprouts in quantities approaching a pound or more. I will figure it out. I am Resourceful And So On. I think the key is a smaller pan, probably.

Also cold. I am cold. I think these SmartWool socks are getting dumber with each washing. I think we may have to return to REI soon.

I also want to put a testimonial in here for Naphcon-A eyedrops. My newfound tree allergies had me ready to claw my eyes out. My aunt recommended these, and I put them in at night before I go to bed (they can't go in with contacts). And I no longer want to self-Oedipize! It's lovely. Much relief. Thought someone else might benefit from the knowledge.

Comments

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

If your SmartWool socks are too dumb for your current needs, you might like the Dahlgren Alpaca Expedition socks. They can't spell (neither Dhalgren nor Expotition), but I've had mine for years and they're plenty smart enough for socks. Even if one not planning to put one's feet in one's mouth.

[one-undone.livejournal.com]

Anemia makes you cold. Your iron counts have probably dropped a bit more than your socks have gotten dumb. This chilly snap isn't helping, I'd wager.

I'm the only one I know (well, I was until now) who likes brussels sprouts. I'm far from being a "foodie" and am quite content to get the frozen kind and just break off as many as I feel like eating and heat them up when I get the urge. They were fresh when they were frozen, and they retain remarkably similar nutrients to fresh. I don't bother to fix them into any kind of actual recipe, but simply slather the poor things with enough butter to render them unrecognizable, because that's how I think they're yummiest, and I'm something of a food purist (or, I'm boring, according to my friend Paula). Either way, it works, and I'm glad I found someone else who likes brussels sprouts. You and I are kindred spirits over tiny smelly veggies now. Scary. ;oD

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Well, the socks are wearing thin, but yes, I'm trying to keep an eye on dietary iron intake, because you're absolutely right about the anemia.

I will eat them frozen-and-thawed, with or without butter, but I wish you'd had a chance to get taken to the Loring Grill for their brussels sprouts before they went out of business. For someone who likes brussels sprouts, they were manna from heaven. The flavor of the sprout shone right through.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Well, these are wearing thin. My newer SmartWool are sufficiently smart, I think. But expedition/expotition socks are a thing of beauty, to be sure.

sprouts

[(Anonymous)]

If you clean the sprouts and cut them in half lengthwise, you can melt a little butter in a saute pan, and add the sprouts. After a minute or two, when they're starting to brown, add about a cup of water, and put it back on high heat. Let the water boil off, and add a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. If they're not tender enough, add a little more water and cook it off.
-Anonymous chef-reader-fan

[one-undone.livejournal.com]

Given how many other stinky foods get the OK, I'm downright mystified at the snubbing of the honorable and tasty brussels sprout in America. Yeah, the house smells kind of musky after you cook them, but it smells that way after cooking cabbage too, and LOTS of people eat cabbage, some of them quite regularly - and I find brussels sprouts more delicate and fun to eat. They're great for imaginative play if you're someone who daydreams while eating (as I happen to be prone to) and they taste different depending on whether you peel them leaf by leaf or cut them in fours and eat them a chunk at a time. They just seem so versatile to me, with such variation even among the sprouts themselves, from bitter to downright sweet, that when someone says they don't like them, I wonder how many they could have possibly actually tasted.

To know that a restaurant even HAD brussels sprouts is quite something. I can't recall ever seeing them on a menu. I'm sure some places do have them, but it must be rare.

[carbonel]

I like brussels sprouts, and I never think to make them for myself. I still can't figure out, though, why they seem to be traditional Christmas fare in England.

(I discovered recently that I like cooked cabbage when Lois WINOLJ made a traditional New England boiled dinner. Or at least think it's a perfectly reasonable thing to eat, which I wouldn't have assumed, given how not-fond I am of stuffed cabbage. But if you cook the cabbage until it's just-done instead of seriously overdone, it tastes quite nice. Still have no use for sauerkraut, though.)

Re: sprouts

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Thanks, anonymous chef! I tried it this way and didn't cook quite enough water off to make them tender. Next time, though: they were good this way!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Sadly, some of the ways of ruining brussels sprouts leave them tasting pretty uniformly awful.

Ista did not want any of mine tonight. I tried to feed her a leaf, but she was having none of it. Silly dog. I heated leftover chicken in Stilton sauce for an all-around stinky dinner!

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

"Also, Soldrun's voice was not, in fact, growing horse, no matter what I typed." Neigh -- think about leaving that as it is, and developing a subplot from it.

Tree pollen -- I have a decongestant which my allergist told me to use half a tablet of when needed. I'm using two full tablets per day. Otherwise: toothaches, or a good imitation.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Cabbage and I have a very weird and patchy relationship. I love stuffed cabbage, but only when it's done well.

I don't know why brussels sprouts would be Christmas food, either. I just found out that chestnuts only keep about that long, so maybe it's something related to that? Hard to say. My family thinks pickled herring is Thanksgiving-to-New-Year's food, which is pretty random, so.

[one-undone.livejournal.com]

>chicken in Stilton sauce for an all-around stinky dinner!

Okay, now you've gone too far.

I'm not food adventurous. I prefer mild-mannered (boring) cheeses like gouda, mozzarella, cheddar, or the occasional provolone. My grandpa and Jason once conspired against me and told me to try this supposedly delightful snack of "just a bit of cheese and crackers" that they were "sure" I'd love. Instead, Pop handed Jason a cracker stacked with mint jelly and slabs of stinky Stilton, and Jason popped it in my mouth as he smiled and told me to chew. I chewed, stopped abruptly, made horrible faces as I gagged, and then I think I spit it at him. I no longer trust Jason to make food choices for me. Some stinky things truly ARE trying to say "stay away!"