Foraging

[mrissa]

I have a new computer. I was supposed to get a new computer after alecaustin went home. That was in...um...September. But he's not back yet since the last time he went home! (Which was not in September.) So this officially qualifies as After alecaustin Went Home, and I am totally virtuous for getting myself the new computer I needed. Except that I broke down and asked markgritter to do it for me, because I hate spending money. But other than that, totally virtuous.

The old computer was not playing nicely with the new monitor, and as a result I've spent the last several months with the aspect ratio slightly off. This means everybody looked shorter and thicker than they actually were. Now you all look normal, and if I had a habit of looking at supermodels...well, I don't have a habit of looking at supermodels. So you all look normal in your lj icons. Even those of you who are birds, or play birds on the internet.

My mother made us chocolate-dipped apricots and cashews (consecutive, not concurrent, to get all Tom Stoppard on you) for Valentine's Day. Then timprov and I ran to Pumphouse and got lo these many ice creams, and next door at Turtle Bread they were selling pulla. Pulla! I am excited about my pulla. (Braided cardamom almond bread.) Unfortunately, the freezer is now overflowing, and some things I really ought to keep where I will remember we have them have been moved to the chest freezer downstairs. And I know what's for dinner the next two nights (mango quesadillas tonight, lasagna cupcake experiment tomorrow night), and it in no way empties the freezer any further than it is currently emptied. I am Concerned.

I also foraged for titles this week when markgritter and I went to the Kurt Elling concert at the Dakota Jazz Club. I like the Dakota Jazz Club, and I have been busy enough doing other things that I haven't yet put the titles anywhere useful. Do you know what the Dakota Jazz Club has? It has the nicest tisane I've had out anywhere that wasn't a tea shop. I looked at the teabag. The brand of this lovely tisane is Leaves. Leaves! What a horrible name for a tea company in the internet age! In the pre-internet age, it would speak of elegant simplicity. In the internet age, it speaks of never being able to find the stuff again. So if you know where to find Leaves brand tea, by all means speak up; I will be immensely grateful. (Because, y'know. What we need is more tea.)

Comments

[markgritter.livejournal.com]

Is this it?

http://www.sphinxdateranch.com/Leaves-Tea-Organic-Simply-Mint-Tea-Bags-25-Count/productinfo/TLOM/

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Alas, that is mint.

[reveritas.livejournal.com]

What flavory thing was the tisane?

Also, I worried just a little when I saw lasagna cupcakes. I thought, Oh no. She's going native on us. This is going to involve green jello, isn't it.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Citrus chamomile.

I've been kind of off chamomiles, but this was good.

Going native, hah. I am the nativest thing you have ever seen. I am so native, in fact, that I don't have to make green jello to prove it.

[reveritas.livejournal.com]

I am SINCERELY glad there won't be any lasagna/jello/marshmallow/creamo experiments going on in the House of Mris.

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_so_17?rh=n%3A16310101%2Ck%3Aleaves+pure+teas%2Cp_4%3ALeaves+Pure+Teas&bbn=16310101&keywords=leaves+pure+teas&ie=UTF8&qid=1297652711

That should be all the kinds they carry at Amazon. There are more than a few but I have no idea which type you were looking for.:)

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

You might want to ask at the Dakota...they might repackage it. Or they might have it blended for them.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh doom! That latter had not occurred to me.

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

Jack Riebel is the chef there and a very nice guy. I worked w/him at Goodfellows & admire his talent.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Lasagna cupcake experiment?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

So I read this article that talked about these things, and I thought, "Self! We can totally do that!"

The idea is that you take cooked lasagna noodles (whole wheat in my case, because that's the kind I like), and you lay them crosswise in your muffin tin. And then you put a dollop of whatever you're putting in your lasagna in the middle, and you fold the noodles over, and then another and fold and so on until you're done and throw some cheese on the top and bake them. And in theory you can eat these with your hands. I am extremely suspicious of this theory, but I am fond of the crunchy end bits of lasagna, and this seems like it might maximize them, so I am going to try it. Some will have mushroom sauce and p_roqueforti's cheese, and some will have roasted squash and...um...stuff. (Probably sage and dried cherries and some kind of nuts that seems good to me at the time.)

I figure the worst case scenario involves them being a tasty mess, and the better cases still don't require us to forage for leftovers in the fridge in order to be nourished.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I have done this, and the tin was very hard to clean afterwards, so I haven't done it again, though it did work. If you had pyrex ramekins you could try that. Pyrex ramekins are much easier to clean than muffin tins.

If you have fresh lasagna noodles from the market or the acceptable kind O Sole Mio sells in supermarkets (in Britain and Canada, but probably to you also?), you don't need to pre-boil them, which makes this a million times easier because then they're not slimy.

The time I did this it was vegetarian. It was also for a picnic.

You know what? I should make those pierogies with mushrooms and mashed hard boiled eggs and cream cheese. I haven't made those for a long time.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

O useful Jo, I have indeed pyrex ramekins.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

They were a bubblegum pop band in the '70s.

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

Oh! Or I could find the company website.:)
http://shop.chinamist.com/categories/Hot-Teas/

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

My grandfather would say, "You're a gentleman and a scholar, ma'am."

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

Glad to be of service. I like finding people things.:)

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I really really want a chest freezer downstairs. Though I would happily settle for a chest freezer upstairs.

(This is where I should shut up and count my blessings, because at least I do *have* a freezer now, as opposed to in the flat 100 meters away that we had in 2006-7, which was entirely devoid of freezer.)