Hubby was at a dinner at a professional conference this past spring, and white asparagus was served. Someone wondered what it was, and someone else confidently replied that it was parsnips. Dh refrained from going WTF? because it was a professional conference after all. LOL! No, really, he's just generally tactful; the yin to my yang. I am known for many things, but being tactful and diplomatic is not one of them.
Anyway, hubby told the person who first asked that those were white asparagus, and that we grow them. Whereupon someone else wondered if white asparagus was a different variety. I'm here to dispel that notion just like dh did that evening. White asparagus is just asparagus grown covered so that it doesn't get to photosynthesize. People who grow frisee do the same thing to them because whiter frisee is less bitter. See the white spears in front of the others? Those were covered by leaves before they were picked.
I won't even bother with a clever segue, but want to thank
Robin (who writes the wonderful Rurification blog) for encouraging me to make cheese. She recommended the kits from
New England Cheesemaking Supply Company so I got one and made mozzarella twice already! There were one or two mistakes in the instructions, but overall, it was a great experience and fairly easy. This was the stage where the curd formed and I cut it with a knife.
And here it is, done! Ta-da! Very tasty it is too.
Third random thought: we have a black snake that has decided it likes to keep company with our tools in the shed. Great. Don't get me wrong; I love snakes. I just prefer to know where they are in proximity to me and that they aren't dangling over my head. I don't like things above my head and I don't like it when people walk behind me. Oh wait, this isn't a random thoughts post after all. This is a post about Teresa's irrational phobias!
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams
12 comments:
Love the story about the parnsips, aka white asparagus, how you can mix up the two things is beyond me, and I'm a city gal.
You're not going to be able to go back to store bought mozzarella anymore are you?
I hardly think the snake thing is an irrational phobia, I think most people would be horrified just to have a snake in their shed. Now if you could only train it to be a guard snake for your chickens or at least your veggies right?
Epi, well, you're a foodie so you make it a point to know the difference. The guy who claims to know what it was is neither a gardener nor foodie...just an academic who thinks he knows everything...LOL!
Alas, snakes eat chicken eggs. But, they do guard our blueberry bushes by eating the chipmunks - yet another reason why I love snakes. :)
I LOVE you! I'm so excited about this fairy tale magazine--I'm going to submit!
Mozz! Yay, Teresa! It's totally easy, isn't it.
Btw - I taught my sister how to make some and we discovered that her 'local' milk isn't local after all. It had been high temp pasteurized [but not marked such] and out of three gallons, only one made mozz and even then it wasn't quite....right. So I taught her how to make ricotta. No milk wasted and we got some great ricotta for her lasagna.
Duckie, :) :) I can't wait to read your stories at EC!
Robin, I was a bit nervous the first time but by the second time, I felt like I'd been doing this forever! :) I need to look into ricotta in case I ever get some highly pasteurized milk by accident (not usually likely at Bloomingfoods).
Okay, I'm here to tell you that your "phobia" about not liking snakes dangling over your head is NOT irrational!!! YIKES!!
And I think it is SO COOL you made your very own mozzarella! I wish I could have tasted it. You're amazing, Teresa!
ARe you going to enter? You should!
Holly, you're so sweet and supportive! I'm not amazing, but friends like you make me think I am. ;)
Duckie, yes...at least I think so...LOL!
First off - MMMMM asparagus. Love, love, love.
Okay now, in your honest opinion: is making your own mozz cheaper than buying it in the store? (Please say yes?)
So is white asparagus less bitter than green asparagus? I haven't noticed it if it is, but I love asparagus and don't consider it bitter, usually. Was homemade cheese worth it?
Amber, I meant to look into that, but I think it may be. A gallon of Org Valley milk cost me about $6 and it made about a pound of mozz. Dh says that normally the Org Valley cheeses we get are about $8/lb. If I can get the milk for less than $6/gal, and if the mozz we usually get is at least $8/lb (I like to get the fresh stuff, but I don't remember the price of that) then it's worth it even if I only "get paid" $2 in labor. ;)
Maureen, normally asparagus is never bitter to me, so I taste no difference in the white ones at all! The cheese...well, cost-wise, see above reply to Amber...taste-wise, totally! LOL!
The snake would freak me out too! I'm going to have to check out Robin's blog--I've been meaning to make homemade ricotta. I've heard it pretty easy.
So what about purple asparagus? What's the different there?
And it seems like the fresher the asparagus the less bitter the taste.
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