These short little blurbs at the top of a post are meant to hook you. GRAB you so you want to keep reading. As the writer I'm supposed to tease the content below with something that almost forces you to keep reading because it seems so mind blowingly AMAZING.
Last week I ate a potato.
Are you hooked yet?
When last we met I had lost my memory. I've regained it so I can let you in on the roller coaster ride of my delightful and incredibly interesting life over the past couple of weeks. I ate a potato. I know. And you thought only rock stars and royalty lived wild lives.
The interesting thing about the potatoes, these purple ones in particular, is they went into the pot one colour and came out of the pot a completely different colour. They were a dark purple to begin with; almost black really.
After cooking them they were blue. Like, navy blue. It was kind of alarming. I was cooking in cast iron so I figured it had something to do with the pot. But then I cut into the potatoes.
It was obvious this was more than the result of a little pot. This was a full-on acid trip.
When I thought about it, I realized I added baking soda to the water I boiled the potatoes in. THAT'S what changed the colour of them, not the cast iron. Purple vegetables are full of different kinds of anthocyanins, which reacts to acid and alkalinity. The extra alkaline in the baking soda boosted the anthocyanins in the potato (which make them purple) and kicked them into high gear turning them blue.
So not an acid trip at all. An anthocyanin trip.
The potato to the left of the purple potatoes in the top photo is called Amarosa and it's pink on the outside and on the inside; in case you're looking for colourful potato inspiration for next year. (I bet you didn't think I was really going to talk about the exciting world of potatoes did you?)
TIP:
Baking soda helps make the surface of your potatoes soft and rough which in turn helps them get more crispy when you fry them.
OTHER STUFF I DID THE PAST WEEK OR SO ...
I went to an art school fundraiser where I walked in, gave away my drink tickets, and headed straight to the charcuterie board where I shovelled 14 pounds of cured meats into my yap. Then I didn't feel very good in my stomach.
The fundraiser, has a brilliant premise by the way. It takes place in a big gallery in the school where the walls are covered in small paintings in identical black frames. When you show up for the night you're assigned a number which goes into a bit lottery-type drum.
At 7:00 the drum is brought into the gallery and it begins. The first person to have their number drawn gets first pick of all the paintings on the walls. Everyone goes home with an original artwork by an exceptional local artist. And a belly full of pork.
And finally, last weekend I had 7 cords of wood delivered. My sister Fish Pedicure came and helped all day. We stacked from 11 a.m. to 3 or 4 in the afternoon. It was cold and snowing so I did what I could to make the day as pleasant as possible. I put some happy 80's music on the outdoor speakers, lit a fire in the pizza oven and took some acid.
In those 4 or 5 hours we had one coffee break and one hotdogs cooked in the pizza oven breaks.
I feel compelled to tell you that I ate a nice healthy breakfast of oatmeal (doing that whole overnight oatmeal thing I do) with maple syrup, pecans and raspberries on top. In case you were thinking of judging me for eating hot dogs. And not even fancy hot dogs at that, but regular cheap, grocery store hot dogs. On bread, because I always have hot dogs but never have hot dog buns.
You can see what my firewood looks like when it's stacked in this post in case you're fascinated with wood piles. If you stuck around to hear about how I ate a potato, you might be dull enough to think a good stack of wood is entertaining too.
ON THE MENU LAST WEEK
On the Menu
Mainly ass fat food. Bread, pasta ... that sort of thing.
The plan tomorrow is to make pasta dough and pumpkin ravioli filling so I can make a big freezer batch of these pumpkin ravioli.
Kale Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate, and Pumpkin Seeds
A reader introduced me to this salad last year and it's SO good. Even WITH kale. It's an ideal salad because you can make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge for the whole week, pulling out as much as you want when you need it. (dress the kale, and keep the other ingredients in separate containers in the fridge)
Tofu. It's not just for patchouli scented hippies anymore. I'll be making some of this marinated tofu and then pan frying it to add to rice, mung bean sprouts and peanut sauce for a quick and easy Buddha Bowl.
Antojitos are a football event MUST. And since Sunday is Canada's Grey Cup and since my hometown Hamilton Tiger-Cats are IN the Grey Cup, I see no way around it. I'm going to have to make anotjitos. The Grey Cup is like our Superbowl in Canada, only with worse commercials and less endorsements. Also the halftime show is likely to be a someone I've never heard of. Or a polka band.
Hope you're having a good weekend!
→If you make any of my recipes or do any of my "stuff" post it to Instagram with the hashtag #taods.←
Dave R
I'm assuming that fundraiser was at the DVSA. How did I not hear about it? More importantly, why am I not framing these pieces for them?? And it kinda gives me anxiety for the artists. Flashbacks to being picked last for teams in gym class.
Catherine Naulin
Hi Karen,
Thanks for these recipes. I'm definitely doing the Antojitos. I love that they can be made ahead of time and frozen. It's great for Christmas entertaining. As for the kale salad, have been making for a while now (I call it Winter Fatoush, as I put in pieces of toasted pita bread) I love it, so do all the friends I've served it to, kale and all.
My block of tofu is marinating as I write this.
Thanks for all these inspiring recipes and ideas. You are a bright shining light in this dreary - and early - beginning of Winter.
Catherine
Karen
Catherine! Thanks so much for saying all those nice things. :) I'm having my caesar salad tonight and I'll be doing the fried tofu later this week. :) Enjoy! ~ karen!
Kat Boynton
I really wanted to see the picture you won from the school fundraiser.
Susan Alexander
I can always count on you when I need you!
You post how to stack wood, and while I was interested, probably way too much, in two days SURPRISE my fence needed repairs, immediately behind the 1\2 cord wood pile that’s been quietly sitting there for eight years. NO PROBLEMO! My girlfriend just showed me how to stack it. And it looks damn good!
I HATE making breakfast...don’t know why...since your recent reminder of your overnight oatmeal, I’ve been enjoying making breakfast in 60 seconds flat this entire last week...and it’s GOOD!
Had to let you know that I appreciate you! Thank you so much for knowing what I need before I do. How do you do that?
And, you are SO cool!
Karen
Thanks Susan! Mainly I just talk about what I'm doing at the moment and that often ends up being what other people are doing at that same moment, lol. My friend Jamieson checked in with me last week and he started doing the overnight oatmeal too and loves it. :) ~ karen!
Jan in Waterdown
Oskee wee wee! Go Hamilton.... tigers eat em raw!!! 🐯🏈
Sherry
Thanks for sharing! I am following your Christmas list for the month of November. Since I am not hosting this year, I have decorated the inside of my home, put up trees, and picked up my pictures to be mailed out! This is a first for me in 43 years of marriage, to be so organized! Now I can enjoy December!!
Jane
Ah! A hotdog for lunch! I still reminisce about that hotdog @ Niagara Falls a lifetime ago: a little shed near the railing, a fresh half baguette with a hole drilled not quite all the way through, squirts of ketchup & mustard, then a foot-long dog stuffed all the way in. Never tasted anything better. Tried to find the place again a few years later, no luck.
Mary W
What do you owe your sister for all that help? or do you have some horrible old picture of her you have threatened to post? Food looks amazing.
Kim
I very much enjoyed the pictures of stacked wood. I also liked the post itself. I hadn't read that one before.
I don't judge you for those hotdogs. Sounds amazing tbh. Eating outside after working your ass off: nothing tastes better.
ps. You're a wonderful human and you make a positive difference in the world. Thanks for sharing yourself & your life with all of us.
Karen
Oh! Thank you for saying that Kim. I'm really not though. I'm really just a normal human. :) ~ karen!
dawn
but in the link, it took you until midnight to stack TWO CORDS. how long did SEVEN take? and photos? i have never seen seven cords of wood! (and i am from colorado.) and how long will it last?
Cathy Reeves
Well, she did type “ bush cords” at first, then “2 cords” later so maybe there’s some sort of inverse relation like when it rains 2” you get 7 cords of snow.
Wait, that’s not right.....
Karen
Hi Dawn. In the link I was stacking 2 bush cords. Which is the equivalent to 8 face cords. With my sister helping me we got 7 face cords done in 4-5 hours. It will last me the winter with enough left over to begin next winter as well. (and have enough for the pizza oven!) ~ karen!