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December 12, 2006
I've got holiday head. Also known as little motivation.
But I did manage to put up some eggplant in oil today, that had been marinating in vinegar and salt for the last two days:
I'm really, really excited to eat this stuff. Here's the recipe I used, which our friend Jelena had her mother-in-law write out for me:
I love that it's written with the assumption that the person reading knows how to cook, and doesn't need to jack around with little things like measuring ingredients. Intuitive cooking is my favourite kind of cooking.
The recipe calls for garlic and oregano as the only added flavours, but the first time I ever tasted this at Franco and Jelena's house it was spicy hot, so I added some red pepper seeds. When Peter and I were discussing what else to throw in there he said he thought there had been something like mustard seed as well. I realized too late, when I was transferring the flattened-and-drained eggplant bits into jars (it's not like we ever cook eggplant and we don't even make our own baba ghannoush from scratch but rather buy eggplant already roasted and mashed in a can at the Lebanese grocery up the street, so I had no idea what it really looked like inside, or that there would be quite so many seeds.) that what Peter remembered seeing was probably just the seeds of the eggplant itself floating around in there, and by then I already had mustard seeds dry-roasting in a pan. So I put them into one jar and not the other two; who knows, perhaps it'll be one of those weird flavour blends that turns out to be perfect and wonderful.
Also, I've been working on Stefanie Japel's Forecast cardigan:
I'm making a few changes to the pattern to suit me better: starting the ribbing higher, a little below the bust for the body (I really, really hope this ribbing isn't going to perfectly sculpt my amply rounded love handles, but am bracing myself for the inevitable and have added a bit of extra length to offset that) and just below the elbows for the sleeves; I ditched the collar and made a simpler ribbed neck that's lower on the shoulder and shows a bit more skin, because I feel like all of my cardigans are of the boxy type for wearing "over stuff", and I want to make a few that are more feminine and dressy. And I just like a boat neck better than a collar.
The yarn is a lovely red merino that I reclaimed from a secondhand sweater ages and ages ago; long-time readers who hang on my every stitch (yeah, there must be hordes of those, eh?) might recognize it as something you've seen before. It first made its internet debut as this ill-fated cardigan, and later on as a nearly-completed back of the Urban Aran. What you didn't see is the plain top-down number (inspired by Stefanie's Ubernatural, but with the gauge totally re-jigged); I finished the whole body on that one too before I realized that I'd made a mistake in the math and the fit was terrible.
So far this Forecast sweater fits, and looks lovely. I may run out of yarn but I'm not worrying about that just yet. If anything does go wrong, though, I think this time I'll just throw the wool in the garbage and console myself by eating lots and lots of eggplant.
Posted by jodi at December 12, 2006 05:25 PM | categories: food : sticks and string
Comments
It's strange. I kept reading "eggplant" as "artichoke", and didn't realise until the last word of your post. Proof that I should eat as many artichoke hearts as possible.
Posted by: crumpet at December 12, 2006 07:02 PM
Welcome home for a well-deserved rest. Do let us know how the eggplant turns out - it's probably my fave veggie, so new ways to prepare it always sound delicious. How do you eat it- spread on toast, with other veggies? I'm clearly intrigued by this.
I love the color of the Forecast and I hope the yarn works out. I'm interested to see how it fits on you, as I'm also concerned about the love handles factor.
Posted by: Jenna at December 12, 2006 10:33 PM
Get this one: did you know that there are male and female eggplants? Supposedly the male eggplant have less seeds (duh) and some say are less bitter? You have to look at the bottoms to "sex" them. Aren't ya' glad I went to culinary school? LOL
Posted by: bonnie at December 13, 2006 12:33 AM
Hmmm I want to know how the eggplant turns out so I can try some. I love eggplant but there is only so baba ghannoush one can stand. (I make mine from scratch) Hey are you guys staying around on Sunday here?
Posted by: Krista at December 13, 2006 09:58 AM
I hang on your every stitch! I do! :)
I MUST try that eggplant!
Posted by: Emily at December 13, 2006 02:54 PM
mmm, pickled anything is so good!
Your sweater is looking great, I would love to see a post on how to pick out sweaters at thrift stores and how to frog and reuse them! Its seems as though you have a knack for it.
Posted by: Terra at December 13, 2006 03:37 PM
My mom used to do a lot of canning, and she pickled everything. We always had well-stocked shelves full of the stuff.
Unfortunately, I have a strong aversion to anything with vinegar, and I don't like eggplant. But damn, girl, those jars look beautiful.
Posted by: NWJR at December 15, 2006 04:48 PM
pretty jars!
Posted by: fin at December 22, 2006 02:01 PM