Score!

Oh, Gentle Reader, it's funny how life presents you with little gifts when you least expect them.

Earlier this summer, I slightly rearranged the kitchen to make room for the second refrigerator we received. (We hadn't originally intended to have two working refrigerators and had actually intended the new arrival to replace the aging-but-still-functional one that had conveyed with our house. But I was slow to clean out the old one in order to put it up for sale on Craigslist, and we soon realized how damn convenient having two functional refrigerators is.) The long buffet of a design reminiscent of Japanese temple gates went into the yoga room to make room for refrigerator #2, which meant I had to find a new way to hide the three remaining bread machines I'd collected. Which meant I had to finally unpack a big box of kitchen crap I'd tucked into the pantry after we moved to Chez Boeckman-Walker in late 2001, and doing so gave me a place for those bread machines. I was happy.

And then the husband and I went Goodwill hunting today. It's Halloween time, and Goodwill is the best damn place to shop for Halloween stuff and other things because Goodwill saves the best stuff for Halloween time. On a larf, we strolled down the household appliance aisle and, lo and behold, my eyes fell upon the Holy Grail of bread machines.

Yes, Gentle Reader, it was the Zo.

If you're not in the know (and how could you not be, Gentle Reader!) about bread machines, the Zo is the Zojirushi BBCC-X20 (or the BB-CEC20 or the BB-HAC10) bread machine. As well all know, Japan totally rocks at making life-changing household appliances and bathroom fixtures, and Zojirushi means top of the line stuff, even in Japan. Back in the day, I coveted a Zojirushi rice maker because they were slick, sleek and...Japanese. Zojirushi bread makers were raved about in the numerous online posts and product reviews when I first started investigating these kitchen wonders, and I believe that my inspiration for making bread on my own--Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle featured a Zo.

Of course, the $240 price tag was a wee bit prohibitive, and I quickly learned to love my Welbilts and my Breadmen that I'd acquired from Goodwill for a mere pittance.

But then today, miracle of miracles, I stumbled upon a Zo just waiting for me at Goodwill. I hastily rushed to its side, removed the tape sealing the oven door, peeked inside and almost squealed in delight. Not only were the paddles present (a rarity for many of these donated bread machines), but it also had its original, well-preserved, four-color instruction/recipe booklet and a measuring cup. The bread pan was in great shape, and the unit itself hadn't a scratch or a ding on it.

I held that Zo to me like it were my own child as the husband and I finished our rooting and rummaging at the store. I even politely but firmly refused one of the employee's offers to get me a cart for the thing. No way in hell was I letting my Zo go!

I haven't had a chance yet to clean Zo up, for it was indeed used by the previous owner. Given the fantastic shape it's in, my Zo's previous owner cared for it as much as I will care for it. Now all we have to do is decide what recipe we want to use with it for its participation in the ongoing (never-ending?) Battle of the Bread Machines. Stay tuned, Gentle Reader!

Oh, Cap'n, Why'd Ya Make This Happen?

So it's the wonderful time of the year at last when the Halloween stuff comes out. Once school starts, Gentle Reader, I start counting down the days until I see my first bag of Brachs mallowcreme pumpkins. When that day comes, oh joy!

This year not only did I see mallowcreme pumpkins, my eyes spied a special Halloween item at the end of the cereal aisle at Wally World: Cap'n Crunch's Halloween Crunch. Normally I don't give a rat's patoot about Cap'n Crunch, for it's not a Kellogg's cereal and therefore I have no special attachment to the Cap'n. However, the husband does have a thing for the Cap'n, and since I try to keep the Crappin' Cap'n out of my pantry, the boy naturally has a thing for this sugary cereal-peddling icon.

Yes, Gentle Reader, I bought a box of the stuff. Hey, it promises to turn milk green. What more could you want?

And yes, Gentle Reader, I bought milk to see if the cereal actually turns milk green. In for a penny....

Let the great Saturday morning experiment begin!

For the integrity of the project, we should have had a control serving, but...really? The scientific method goes out the window when two males are hungry and have been presented with the prospect of color-changing sustenance.

After adding a bit of milk (the husband was pouring, so I can't tell you how much was added--again, so much for sound scientific method principles) and allowing the constituents to sit for a few moments (not sure how long), here's what we got:
Yes, Gentle Reader, that's right. We got green milk.

It's not ectoplasm green milk, but it's a seafoam green shade, which still counts.

Of course, the next question is this: Is it safe to drink this crap once it's green? Well, let me say this about this secondary experiment: We broadened our sampling population to answer this question. In addition to the husband, who drank the milk in his bowl, and the boy, who drank some of the milk in his bowl but then rejected it for reasons he kept to himself, we tried it out on what we thought would be a sure-fire audience: Nickelbucket. Good 'ol Bucket loves him some milk, especially "forbidden" milk in a human's bowl, cup or spoon.

Here's the record of Bucket's participation for your viewing pleasure, Gentle Reader.

What's interesting in this experiment is that N to the B will usually gobble up milk once he's identified it. From the pictures above, you'd expect that, wouldn't you, Gentle Reader?

Well, you're wrong. And the fact that he didn't even touched the spilled milk is telling. He usually goes for that before whatever's in the container.

Since Bucket wasn't an entirely conclusive participant, we sought one more participant and found one in Keeko Jr. Dear Keeko Jr. is much like Parmer Dude--very food-motivated. He's the first one to make it to the food bowls when one of us goes out to feed our brood of moochers, even if he was still lingering by the shed in the far corner of the backyard when the person avec food arrived on the porch. And Keeko Jr. is very much like the human males at Chez Boeckman-Walker: He'll eat just about anything.

So we put the bowl before Keeko Jr. and waited inside with baited breath (and some of us with green-tinted tongues).

Keeko Jr. obliged by ducking his head into the bowl and seeming to go for the bait.

But then...well, this happened:
That's one disgruntled, disgusted, disappointed pussy cat. Keeko and the Cap'n ain't makin' it happen.

Sudden Obsession with Morocco

Well, the title of this post says it all. For some reason I can't fully explain, I've been fascinated with dishes alleged to be Moroccan in origin. I blame my love affair with couscous. I suppose, Gentle Reader, you could dub couscous the gateway dish that leads you down an arduous but damned delicious path.

Of course, these recipes I've cooked up may have "Morocco" or "Moroccan" in their titles only by some whim of the persons submitting them just to make the dishes seem exotic. Hey, for folks like me who grew up on chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans out of a can and a slice of white sandwich bread, spices that aren't salt and pepper are exotic. Authenticity should, I'm sure, be one of my goals, but it isn't. I'm just looking for tasty spice combinations.

Moroccan Lentil Soup2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t grated fresh ginger
6 C water
1 C red lentils
1 15-oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
1 19-oz. can cannellini beans
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 C diced carrots
1/2 C chopped celery
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 t ground cardamom
1/2 t ground cayenne pepper
1/2 t ground cumin
1 t garam masala

1. In large pot saute the onions, garlic and ginger in a little olive oil for about 5 min.
   
2. Add the water, lentils, chickpeas, white kidney beans, diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, garam masala, cardamom, cayenne pepper and cumin.
   
3. Bring the mixture to a boil for a few min. then simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours or longer, until the lentils are soft.
   
4. Puree half the soup in a food processor or blender, and then return the pureed soup to the pot, stir and enjoy.

Yield: 6 servings of unknown size

Nutritional Info
Calories: 273
Fat: 3.1 g
Protein: 16 g
Carbs: 46 g
Fiber: 15.9 g
Na: 185 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
I studied this recipe off and on for about a week before deciding to make it. I read its comments, some of which are not terribly kind, some of which are...revealing of a certain lack of experience with some ethnic cooking techniques and flavor profiles and some are utterly useless in their glowing praise. Noting the number of folks disappointed with the final flavor given what spices go into its preparation, I drew on my own experience with these spices and with certain Indian preparation techniques gleaned from Madhur Jaffrey and others and got to work.

• After heating about 1.5 t of olive oil in my nonstick Dutchie over medium-low heat, I tossed in the onions to saute. Once they began to soften, I added the garlic and ginger and stirred fairly frequently lest these more delicate "foundation" flavors burn.
  
• Once the garlic and ginger became fragrant, I tossed in the celery and onion to become tender, trusting my nose largely to know when they were ready to be spiced.
  
• Garam masala is not a spice you throw in during the initial cooking stages. I can't remember where I read that (probably a nugget of wisdom from Ms. Jaffrey), but it's meant to be added at the end of cooking. If you throw it in too soon, the flavors vanish. For that reason, I added only the cayenne, cumin and cardamom and let them grow fragrant. I'm still not entirely sure the cardamom should go in at this point, if it can be destroyed by prolonged cooking time, but I put it in here rather than at the end since it makes up the bulk of the flavor profile.
  
• As my nostrils filled with heady smells emanating from the Dutchie, I tossed in the lentils (forgetting completely to pick through them) then added the diced tomatoes, juice and all, and then added 4 cups of low-sodium chicken brother plus 2 cups of water, on the advice on some of the comments. I was afraid water alone would wash out the flavors I'd been carefully building.
  
• I almost forgot to toss in the chickpeas, which I'd prepared myself. As always, I prepared too many chickpeas and wound up with a very, very full Dutchie. So full was my Dutchie that I realistically had no room for the can of Great Northern beans I'd planned to throw in. I'd already been a tad reluctant to throw them in, fearful they'd disintegrate during the simmer time needed for the lentil to grow tender, so the overabundance of chickpeas was just the excuse I needed to skip the white beans.
  
• The stew simmered uncovered for just over an hour, I believe. I can't say for sure since I failed to pay close attention to the time. I thought I'd turn the burner down low enough, but I hadn't and counted myself lucky the tad-too-high heat and the potentially-too-long cooking time hadn't rendered my red lentils into mush.
  
• After turning off the heat, I added the garam masala, stirred two or three times very gently and declared the stew done.

Because I'd let the stew simmer a bit too long over heat that was probably a bit too high with too many chickpeas for the liquid content, I wound up with a stew that wasn't terribly juicy. Lacking a lot of juice and being lazy, I skipped the puree step, put some cold, leftover brown rice in a small bowl over which I ladled a portion of unknown size.

My verdict of the result: Yummy! I'm not sure why some folks bitched about the cayenne used being too much. I found it balanced nicely with the amount of "sweet" flavor from the cardamom. I could see potentially adding some turmeric with the initial spice infusion, but that could radically alter the final flavor profile. Plus I don't think turmeric is used as much in Moroccan dishes as it is in Indian ones. A bit of an attempt at authenticity is good, right, Gentle Reader?

So Long, Summer!

I do realize, Gentle Reader, that I didn't post once all summer, thus having a summer recap post seems somewhat pointless. But who said this is a recap post anyway? Consider this a "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" post, except you get to see more pictures and read less text. Now, that has to be a miracle right there!

In the slideshow above, you'll enjoy pictures of two of Mamma Mooch's latest kittens, who took to my grandpa's old tractor seat (especially Felix) like it was catnip, along with a lot of pictures of the boy. The boy and I spent a lot of our summer at the pool, which kind of culminated in his passing his swimming test and learning to love the diving board, which is obvious in the pictures. We also took a trip to the Austin Zoo to honor the boy's halfers birthday on August 5. Despite the heat, which had pretty much zonked out the big animals, we had fun.