Bi-son Curious... and other thoughts...

I was talking about exotic meats with some friends yesterday...

Jason said he was curious about trying bison... That was too easy...

It's easy to eat healthy and properly at home - but when going to parties outside of the house, it can be a challenge. Fortunately, the people having the poolside bbq yesterday were also inclined to eat organic and healthy (though not to the same degree as me - but I'm way out there). We had Asparagus wrapped Tilapia (the recipe i linked this to is with salmon - but Jason used Tilapia instead), Steaks, Bok Choy with portobello, Caprese salad (all purchased from Whole Foods)... and apparently someone brought ribs, but those weren't cooked until the second round of eating started much much later.

but you know - a strange thing happens to me when i get hungry in the middle of the night... somehow at 3 am, some ribs were thrown down and they were so good. This is ME - Sharon - gnawing on pork ribs that I dipped in bbq sauce where the first ingredient was High Fructose Corn Syrup (though it was toned down with some beer - Texans really know how to doctor up BBQ sauce). Mmmm, ribs.

Did you know that you can get Goat Mozzarella?

Why I Love the Santa Monica Farmer's Market

I was housesitting last week - but my employer asked me to get ingredients for some recipes for the 4th of July BBQ she was hosting upon her return.

I also needed to get stuff for my Spicy Guacamole that I took to the BBQ I attended.

Destination: Santa Monica Farmer's Market - Wednesday.

Parking is hell though - yes - I drove... there were too many things to carry.

The tomatoes are looking so good now... and this was the absolute last week of Boysenberries (from a different grower than my usual guy at the Hollywood market).

While I love the Hollywood market (it's close, and it's on a sunday) - the Santa Monica CFM has a lot more growers/vendors. And it's all about the fresh food rather than prepared meals and vendors.

Heaven for serious foodies.

Guacamole & Salsa Verde

I don't measure out the ingredients really - I just gather these items, start chopping - mix them all together, and adjust from there:

Avocados for the Guacamole/ Tomatillos for the Salsa Verde
Tomatoes
Red Onion (or white - but I liked the look of the red)
Scallions (white & green parts)
Cilantro
Jalapeño or Serrano pepper
Lime juice - freshly squeezed
Kosher Salt

I used about 5 or 6 avocados and 1 pound of Tomatillos (blanch for 3 minutes to reduce bitterness).

I chopped up the 2 tomatoes (one red, one orange), half a red onion (small dice), Scallions, Tomatillos, and since i couldn't find Jalapenos, I used Serrano instead - finely diced.

For the Guac, I cubed the Avocados, dropped them in a bowl, tossed in some of the tomatoes, the red onion, the cilantro, about 1/3 of the Serrano pepper, and mashed it all together. I promptly added the juice of one Lime so the Avocado wouldn't turn brown, and then added several pinches of Kosher Salt... Until the balance was right. Note: many people insist on never adding garlic to the guac. I've enjoyed it both ways - but I chose not to add it here... and don't over-mash the Guacamole - It's best when it's chunky. I hate the overly processed ones.

For the Salsa Verde, I chopped the tomatillos into small dice, and to it I added the rest of the tomatoes, red onion, scallions, the balance of the Serrano pepper (since tomatillo mellows the heat a bit, I could go heavier on the Serrano), lots of cilantro, and the juice of another lime. oh - and 2 cloves of garlic finely minced.

Basically - the 2 salsas use the same ingredients so i make them in conjunction.

****

Yesterday I was invited to a pool party - and since I didn't go to the Farmer's market in the morning, I was stuck with very little on hand... but what I did have: 2 avocados and some leftover Salsa Verde... So I cubed up the avocado, and added about a cup worth of the Salsa Verde - and it worked!

Why I won't get a bus pass this month

I probably won't be driving much this month - but I don't think I'll ride the bus that much either.  

Not $62 worth at least.  After my disastrous experience that one Saturday night in June - I've become rather disenchanted with the whole thing.  I won't take the bus to/from Hollywood on Friday or Saturday anymore... and if I do take it on a weeknight, I only need to pay $1.25 each way - since I won't have any transfers.

If I do need to take multiple buses - then I'll pay the $5 day rate - but even then - It won't add up to the $62 monthly rate.  

I have seriously cut back on my driving though.  gas is ridiculously expensive.  I paid almost as much to fill up my tank as I did on my bus pass.  I'm now averaging 2-3 weeks between fill-ups.  

I'm planning on taking a road trip up to Petaluma... that's gonna cost a pretty penny.  But I'll need transport in that small town - so the train would be silly.  I'll use my dad's Honda - gets better mileage than my 18-year-old Toyota... or is it 19 now?

Brownie points: I got 2 friends to finally visit the Hollywood farmer's market - and both were pleasantly surprised with the quality of foods - and both did their shopping under budget!  yay! And they used their re-usable bags.  I haven't been preachy... just sharing my enthusiasm - and it's working... slowly but surely.

Relocalize

I got an newsletter from the Locallectual.com site that referred me to Relocalize.net.

I just joined.

But due to my short attention span at the moment... I haven't quite had the chance to peruse the site too well... but it's now bookmarked and I'll check it out and report on what I feel is worthy of comment.

Sponsors?

I can't be bought out - nor will I sell out...

... but if I can earn a few $$ from ads on my blog...

well, why not?

apparently they surf my content and find ads that would pertain to my posts...

so please click on the ads and visit my "sponsors".

Beating the Heat

I'm not a morning person but I wake up when it's sunny.

For some reason - I was awake at 7am and decided to go to the Hollywood Farmer's market super early.

I got a Chicken!! They've been sold out for the past 3 weeks...

Last chance for Boysenberries in Hollywood. I got a basket. If I'm ambitious, I might hit up the Santa Monica FM on Wednesday to get the absolute last basket of the season. Rory & Rob are awesome - super friendly. It's nice how you can get to know the vendors and they recognize you.

I tried the most delicious Blenheim Apricots - and got a pound. The lady explained what made them "dry grown" or something... The trees are by a river bank, and their roots go super deep to extract the ground water. The fruits are tiny, but the flavor is super concentrated. As compared to other apricots i tasted - they were large and watery tasting. no where near as fabulous as the ones i got from that one lady.

It was so hot by the time I was done - and I was done before 9am.

Nap time.

Homemade Lemonade

My favorite recipe for Lemonade:

Make this at night to enjoy the next day

4 lemons (organic of course) - scrubbed clean
1 cup Sugar
64 oz filtered Water

(an extra lemon for slices to garnish would make a nice touch)

1. Peel the outer zest from the lemons into strips (or a long coil if you can manage that). Place the peel and sugar in an airtight container - shake it to get the sugar all infused with the lemon peels - and set aside for about an hour or more.

2. Heat the water and bring it to a boil.

3. Remove from heat, add the sugar/lemon peel mixture and stir until the sugar dissolves. The oils released from the lemon zest will give the lemonade a great fragrance and wonderful flavor... the longer you leave the zest in, the stronger the flavor... so don't leave them in too long - just about a minute or 2

4. While the Lemon-infused Sugar water cools, Juice the 4 lemons and then add to the water.

Pop it into the fridge to cool over-night

The next day - you'll have a great lemonade! Garnish with lemon slices if desired.

For fun... If you're overloaded on strawberries (they're so cheap now at the farmer's markets!) You can make a puree of them and freeze the puree in ice cube trays. So when you're prepared to serve the lemonade - pour it over the frozen fruity cubes for a strawberry (or raspberry) lemonade... you can do this with any red fruit juice as well...