Artichokes and the Mediterranean Diet

Artichokes are a winter vegetable of the Mediterranean diet with a reputation for being healthy. However, here we are more interested in their culinary virtues, in their slight-bitter nutty-like flavor that makes them delicious and special.

Their physical appearance is also special, and at first, artichokes may puzzle inexperienced non-Mediterranean home cooks.

To tell you the truth, I remember once feeling put off by the artichokes I saw in a Ghent food store. They looked completely inedible to me. They were huge and had a brownish-green color, the leaves were all open and hollow to the touch, and as dry as if they had been exposed to the desert sun for weeks. Now you know how an artichoke shouldn’t be when you buy it. Continue reading “Artichokes and the Mediterranean Diet”

More Tips and Techniques About Your New Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

How Do You like Your Eggs?

Cooking eggs in an Instant Pot®, like rice, is an individual affair. A casual search of the Internet reveals myriad suggestions, directions, and exhortations about how to cook eggs. Again, most of them are wrong. This is an area that you, as a user of this unique device will have to explore for yourselves.

The most popular technique appears to be the “5-5-5” method. To wit: “Place 6 eggs in a steamer basket or on the trivet, “Pressure Cook” for 5 minutes, then wait 5 minutes, and then cool for 5 minutes in an ice water bath.”

However, I find that “8-8-8” works better for me. I start with eggs directly from the refrigerator, and then proceed to cook them, “8 minutes at “Pressure Cook”, 8 minutes wait, 8 minutes in an ice bath”. Continue reading “More Tips and Techniques About Your New Instant Pot Pressure Cooker”

A Day in the Life of a Zombie Nurse

I knew nursing school would be rough, and I was willing to sacrifice my sleep to get my degree. I would arrive in class like something from the walking dead. I managed to get through the tough times in nursing school because I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and there was. But jeez, can we turn the light off sometimes and just all go night-nights?

Well, as you’ve gathered by now I’m a zombie nurse. I graduated 6-years ago, and I work on a busy med-surg floor. 12-hour shifts are the norm, and I work mine three-in-a-row. I guess you could say, I’m a glutton for punishment, and you’d be right. Many nurses choose to separate their shifts throughout the week so that they won’t be so tired. But me? Nah, I’m a diehard. I figure, if I’m already working, I may as well continue through till I’m done, then enjoy being off for four days. My boss thinks I’m crazy, but I would never admit that she’s right about that, because she already thinks she’s Einstein’s ghost. Continue reading “A Day in the Life of a Zombie Nurse”

Survival Tips – The Best Emergency Food Kit

Who Needs The Best Emergency Food Kit?

Who knows what the future holds? If only we knew, day to day, what challenges would arise, we would never be caught unawares. Unfortunately, life just doesn’t work that way. Those who prefer to look forward and make preparations for the “just in case” scenarios are often painted as fringe lunatics and doomsday preppers. However, assembling the best emergency food kit for yourself or your family should be something every responsible adult takes seriously. Just a few of the “normal” situations that could arise, when having emergency rations for your family would make sense, include: loss of a job, temporary lay off, extended storm damage or power outage that traps your family at home. Or perhaps you’d just like to be a position to help another family in need, should the opportunity arise. Then there are Armageddon type scenarios that plague the mind of some, and no better way to put those fears to rest than to look ahead and prepare for the worst. Whatever your reasons for looking forward and setting up emergency rations against a difficult time ahead, we are here to help you build the very best emergency food kit for your family. Continue reading “Survival Tips – The Best Emergency Food Kit”

Wrapped in Loving Arms

It’s early morning. We’re still in bed. It’s Monday morning and we’re wondering what this week will hold for each of us. I know the previous week was hard for my wife. She has so much on her pitchfork. She has to support so many people. She has so much to do. She has to give a lot of herself.

And in this early morning she asks just one thing of me: “Please hold me. Just hold me.”

We men don’t always understand the role we have to play for our wives. Sometimes we’re rather too pragmatic. We want to give advice. We want to make suggestions for doing it easier, better and quicker. We want to give answers. It may be the right answers, suggestions and advice, but not the right solution right at this moment.

They just want to be held. Continue reading “Wrapped in Loving Arms”

Scandinavian Rullepolse – Or is it Ribberull?

Life as I know it will never be the same. There are moments in one’s life when the very fabric of your being is ripped apart, leaving you a shell of what you once were. Ok, this may not be one of those times, but I have recently learned an iconic tradition in our family is not what we have thought it to be.

Growing up in a Scandinavian household, there are Christmas traditions unique to our culture. Many of the ones we retain revolve around the food we prepare during the holiday season. One such treat is what we call rullepolsa. It is a rolled lamb and pork dish we serve as a lunchmeat.

Thanks to the internet, we have learned what we have been calling rullepolsa is actually a similar Danish dish using beef and pork. The Norwegians have their own version which is called ribberull, using lamb instead of beef. Thanks for destroying a Soberg family tradition in a few keystrokes and clicks of the mouse. I’ll let YOU tell my 88 year-old mother that she has been deceiving us by miscalling it rullepolsa all these years. Continue reading “Scandinavian Rullepolse – Or is it Ribberull?”

The Future of Natural Beekeeping

What is ‘natural beekeeping’?

The question should rather be, ‘is any beekeeping natural?’ and the answer must be that, in nature, only bees keep bees.

As humans, our interest in them has been primarily selfish: we saw them as the source of a uniquely delicious, sweet substance and paid little heed to their pervasive presence in the natural world, where, largely unnoticed, they went about their business of farming flowers.

Farming? In the same way that horticulturists select plant varieties for breeding, so have the bees and other pollinators selected, over millions of years, the plants that provide them with food in the forms of pollen and nectar and so have greatly influenced the colours and patterns of our landscapes and the scents and flavours of the herbs and the hedgerow fruits that we have taken and further developed into the food we eat. Continue reading “The Future of Natural Beekeeping”

How to Pick a Stand in Large Hardwoods

Where do you set up your deer stand in big hardwoods?

One big question every rookie deer hunter has is where do I set up my stand? The question really needs to be how do I decide where to set up my stand. Even experienced hunters ask themselves that question sometimes when in new territory.

The answers to the question have a few common rules regardless of the terrain being hunted, but a lot has to do with the specific terrain you will be on. This article will concentrate on what I’m most familiar with, and that’s hunting big woods with no agriculture in the area.

Big woods hunting can be very difficult. There is seemingly an endless amount of places deer can hide. With plenty of oak trees around and a generous mast the past few years, they don’t have to travel far to find food during the hunting season. Chances are there’s a stream or at least a little crick where the deer can get water nearby. So what does a guy do? Continue reading “How to Pick a Stand in Large Hardwoods”

Sticking People Together, Making People “Stick” Out: Honey Farms and Anthropology

Sticking People Together, Making People “Stick” Out: Oh, Honey

Almost everyone around the world eventually discovers that food brings people together and apart. Bread and rice start medieval peasant riots, GMO’s strain or heal international relations, family business for many people happens around the table, and in some countries chocolate may win a girl’s affections for a day. In Charlottesville, VA, the Saturday morning City Market clearly brings people together, but an interview with a local honey merchant shows that homegrown food can form communal relationships while also setting people apart from each other within that community.

The Hungry Hill Farms booth sits next to the popsicle stand, the first booth in a long row of organic and homemade stalls. The couple working the booth first caught my attention when the friendly man complimented my friend’s “I’m no rocket-surgeon” shirt. Other people who stopped by to look at the honey often just stopped by to chat; two ladies paused because, as they said, “I buy your honey at the Cville Market.” The honey they had purchased at the local store had become a way to open up alliance in conversation; it had created a social “debt”, albeit a very small one, between the person at the booth and the customer, and while the customer and the vendor did not know each other, they both acknowledged a small friendly bond. Colin Johnson, the friendly man watching the booth, said that often regular customers will come solely for conversation, not to buy honey. Continue reading “Sticking People Together, Making People “Stick” Out: Honey Farms and Anthropology”

Mother’s Day – Simply Special

Once a year a day is set aside for Mom. But Mom could be Grandma, Auntie, Step Mom, Sister, or anyone who was there in your growing years and made an impact on who you are today.

Stores and shops are filled with ideas for gifts, food, cards, and “items” to celebrate this very special day. However, having been a mom, grandma, auntie, etc. and all of the above, gifts and years have come and gone. Some gifts are very, very special and others you remember and appreciate. The gifts that truly are part of your heart are those that brought memories, visions of the past and the beautiful years you shared, as well as the “details” that you thought no one would ever remember.

Let me just say – I have kept every single gift, card, and picture of my special day with my very special people. All are forever etched on my heart and with today’s and the world’s special needs, the gifts of today’s Mother’s Day are uniquely different. Continue reading “Mother’s Day – Simply Special”