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Go ahead, ask me anything
But if you want to ask it today, check out the Reddit AMA thread for Queen of Swords Press and crew. (Other days, you can just ask.) https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/vznu15/queen_of_swords_press_small_press_ama_2022/
I think it is just barely possible that this year I will have achieved More Than Enough Zucchini. Whatever the trick is to getting them to set and not shrivel up while tiny, I've stumbled on it this time. Replicating in following years is a toss-up. But currently I'm on track to get about one large (as in 12-15 inch) zucchini about once a week, which is hard to keep up with unless that's all I'm eating. Yesterday I froze three servings of pureed zucchini soup, and then harvested another zuke today. (Trying to catch them before the seeds harden.) Just for fun and variety, I may see what happens if I slice-and-dry in the food dryer. My usual zucchini dishes are: pureed soup, baked au gratin, cubed and stir-fried, turned into "vegetable noodles" and covered in pesto or marinara.
The tomatoes have achieved "you do not need to buy tomatoes" level of production, but not yet "make marinara sauce to freeze" levels. Even though I'm not inundated, I may slice and dry some of the Romas simply because it's nice to have them around for seasoning in the off season. I've discovered that the combination of food dryer and then bagging them in the freezer results in a very crisp, almost freeze-dried, product that crumbles easily into small flakes, which is perfect for adding to savory scones, omelettes, and the like.
I may also be getting close to a good rhythm on planting successions of onions. My goal is to see if I can grow all the onions I use, since it seems to be one of the crops I do well at.
# # #
Today's tea is another one of the "Trope Teas" from The Ripped Bodice. This one is named "You Look Hot in that Flannel" and is more of a fruity-spicy tisane than even what I'd call an herbal tea. The ingredients are: honeybush, cinnamon, licorice root, chamomile, "natural flavor" (???), dried apple, orange peel.
Ok, now I need to look up "honeybush". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopia_(plant)
So evidently it provides the "body" of this mix. But remembering that the last time I'd tried this mixture it had seemed very thin and watery, I decided to toss in a bag of ordinary English Breakfast black tea.
The loose tea smells very pleasantly fruity-spicy, with apple and cinnamon note predominating. Brewed, the apple notes are still quite strong in the aroma. Adding the black tea was definitely a good decision. Good body, with the spicy-apple overlay.
I'm not very fond of most "herbal teas" (see my previous post about mint tea) because a lot of the time they end up tasting like slightly flavored water. But I do like the floofy flavors of some of them, so maybe I simply do need to start working on my own tea blend workshop.
I think it is just barely possible that this year I will have achieved More Than Enough Zucchini. Whatever the trick is to getting them to set and not shrivel up while tiny, I've stumbled on it this time. Replicating in following years is a toss-up. But currently I'm on track to get about one large (as in 12-15 inch) zucchini about once a week, which is hard to keep up with unless that's all I'm eating. Yesterday I froze three servings of pureed zucchini soup, and then harvested another zuke today. (Trying to catch them before the seeds harden.) Just for fun and variety, I may see what happens if I slice-and-dry in the food dryer. My usual zucchini dishes are: pureed soup, baked au gratin, cubed and stir-fried, turned into "vegetable noodles" and covered in pesto or marinara.
The tomatoes have achieved "you do not need to buy tomatoes" level of production, but not yet "make marinara sauce to freeze" levels. Even though I'm not inundated, I may slice and dry some of the Romas simply because it's nice to have them around for seasoning in the off season. I've discovered that the combination of food dryer and then bagging them in the freezer results in a very crisp, almost freeze-dried, product that crumbles easily into small flakes, which is perfect for adding to savory scones, omelettes, and the like.
I may also be getting close to a good rhythm on planting successions of onions. My goal is to see if I can grow all the onions I use, since it seems to be one of the crops I do well at.
# # #
Today's tea is another one of the "Trope Teas" from The Ripped Bodice. This one is named "You Look Hot in that Flannel" and is more of a fruity-spicy tisane than even what I'd call an herbal tea. The ingredients are: honeybush, cinnamon, licorice root, chamomile, "natural flavor" (???), dried apple, orange peel.
Ok, now I need to look up "honeybush". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopia_(plant)
So evidently it provides the "body" of this mix. But remembering that the last time I'd tried this mixture it had seemed very thin and watery, I decided to toss in a bag of ordinary English Breakfast black tea.
The loose tea smells very pleasantly fruity-spicy, with apple and cinnamon note predominating. Brewed, the apple notes are still quite strong in the aroma. Adding the black tea was definitely a good decision. Good body, with the spicy-apple overlay.
I'm not very fond of most "herbal teas" (see my previous post about mint tea) because a lot of the time they end up tasting like slightly flavored water. But I do like the floofy flavors of some of them, so maybe I simply do need to start working on my own tea blend workshop.