the passion of dandelion and hickory

Although I'm vegan, I don't often buy much fresh fruit and vegetables. Doing so results in needing to wash, peel, cut, cook, (etc.) as well as eat them, and to do so before they go bad, regardless of whether I have the time that day or week. Background stress. Not buying them avoids that. Usually I'll only buy a few easy things here or there. Avocados are good. Occasional fruit. Carrots; they last almost forever in the fridge without going bad.

I felt like cooking something this weekend though, and that fruit would be nice too. So yesterday I bought:

a passion fruit
2 oranges
blueberries
blackberries
jicama (pre-cut sticks, ideal for munching on! such a great convenience even though it comes in a plastic container)
fennel
dandelion greens

The fennel didn't have a bar-code on it. At the self-check-out station, it wasn't listed in the item look-up menu. A Kroger store employee came over to help, but we couldn't find it on their physical cheat-sheet either. Then I said, "It's also called anise, but I don't think it would be listed under that..." Yet it was listed as "anise / fennel".

.

My erstwhile flu or cold still lingers a bit. Last weekend, my upper right chest area ached for a day; might mean a slight lung infection. My throat has been phlegmy; I still have a slight cough and occasional runny nose. Otherwise, I've still been feeling ok. Still much better than the usual kind of colds I get, where my nose is runny and/or congested non-stop for days or weeks.

.

Kleenex has renamed their "Cool Touch" tissues to "Cooling Lotion". In the store yesterday, I wasn't sure if it was the same product. The ingredient list included polyethylene (plastic!?), which I hadn't remembered it having. So I took a photo of the label and didn't buy any. But comparing that now to a "Cool Touch" box which I still have, the ingredients are the same.

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While walking, I passed a hickory tree and thought of that children's rhyming song, Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock. Except I thought the rhyme must be like "Tickety tickety tock, the mouse ran up the clock" (since clocks go tick tock). I recall thinking, well if I *did* put in the word "hickory", how should it go, "Hickory hickory hawk?" I played around with other variations in my mind, "clickety clickety clock", "clippety clippety clop"

Looking it up today, I was surprised that my brain's initial word association of "hickory" with the rhyme was correct. It's interesting that those words "hickory dickory dock" may have come from Cumbric numbers.

errant thought while munching

Jicama is like kohlrabi, except that it tastes good. It doesn't have that bitter cabbage-like flavor.

weather: watch vs warning

Poll #23217 Weather terms: Watch vs Warning

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

View Respondents

Without looking it up, do you know the difference between a "warning" and a "watch", in terms of weather events?

View Answers

Yes
2 (28.6%)

No
2 (28.6%)

Unsure
3 (42.9%)

If you answered Yes, which is more likely to be dangerous?

View Answers

Watch
1 (14.3%)

Warning
1 (14.3%)

I did not answer Yes
5 (71.4%)

If you answered No or Unsure, which do you think is more likely to be dangerous, without looking it up?

View Answers

Watch
2 (33.3%)

Warning
2 (33.3%)

Neither sounds worse than the other
1 (16.7%)

I answered Yes
1 (16.7%)

( Please answer the poll before reading )

Dandelion Greens Saute

I was worried the dandelion greens might be bitter. But they turned out very good the way I cooked them. (It could be that the store-bought ones simply aren't very bitter to begin with.)

I dry-roasted some raw pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, and hazelnuts* in a pan with some salt, until the first one popped out of the pan. I set them aside. After they were cool enough, I rubbed the loose hazelnut skins off the hazelnuts and discarded the skins.

I squeezed the juice out of several miniature lemon-type citrus fruit that my mom gave me from her little tree. They look like tiny tangerines, but taste sour, though not quite as sour as lemons.** Then I cut up the remaining thin peels into small pieces, and set both aside.

I sauteed a clove of crushed garlic in some almond oil*. I added a leftover half package of Gardein Italian Saus'age (partially defrosted), and sauteed that till it started to brown.

Then I added the washed & chopped dandelion greens and citrus peel. After a few more minutes of sauteeing, I added the citrus juice. I also added a few handfuls of raisins. Then I continued sauteing it all until the dandelion got soft enough for my taste. Then I stirred in the roasted seeds & nuts, and sprinkled on salt.

*All of which I happened to have in my fridge; they're quite old. But they still tasted ok.

**They're not kumquats, though they look similar. They are a squat round shape rather than oblong and have a thinner peel. I remember reading the plant label after my mom bought the tree from somewhere, and that it had a warning about this variety being patented, so that you're not allowed to propagate it. The fruit have seeds; I'm not sure if my mom ever tried growing more trees from them. Now I'm curious if they would even grow, and am curious if my mom still has that plant label; it's been years since she got it. The tree is still in a pot, and she brings it inside every winter.


Summary of recipe ingredients:
1 bunch of store-bought dandelion greens (the large/long kind, not wild-picked)
~1/4 cup pine nuts
~1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
~1/3 cup raw hazelnuts (filberts)
~1/3 cup of lemon or other citrus juice
~1/8 cup of citrus peel, cut into small pieces (could use zest instead)
~1/3 cup raisins
~4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 clove garlic
~1.5 cups of vegan sausage slices
salt to taste