AntSaint

Happy Fourth of July!

To the Eight Readers who are in the U.S., Happy Fourth of July! I hope you had a great weekend of fun, grilling and more grilling. As for me and Jodie, we'll be out and about. Posts will resume on July 7.

Growing Strawberries

Jodie and I – well, really more Jodie – have begun this adventure as well. We have a long, narrow south-facing bed that runs along our outside bedroom wall, and Jodie has packed it out with strawberry plants. So far, they are growing and happy and looking like we can look forward to many years of strawberry goodness.

Link: In My Kitchen Garden - Growing Strawberries.

in January of 2007 I ordered 30 Cavendish strawberry plants (which are actually more like little bundles of roots with a crown and maybe a leaf or two than actual plants) for $9.95 from my beloved Pinetree Garden Seeds, tucked them in the ground (not too deep, not too shallow) on May 7th (they don't ship you your plants until after the danger of frost), watered them regularly, and snipped off every single blossom that dared to make an appearance. That's right - no berries the first year means much bigger and healthier plants the next. It isn't easy, but it's worth it, trust me

Why You Shouldn't Blog

You can't help but check out something with a title like that — "Why You Shouldn't Blog". Indeed. And there are many good reasons. You don't know what to say, you don't know who's going to take care of the writing, upgrading, maintaining, fixing, community response, all that sort of thing. There are a lot of good reasons for anyone, from an individual to an organization, not to blog. Or, at least, not to blog yet — these video tips are also good food for thought for what anyone needs to consider before doing a blog for the long run:

Link: Online Marketing Tips Video: Why You Shouldn't Blog from Search Marketing Gurus | Search Marketing Tips, Advice, Strategies & Tactics From Internet Marketing Professionals.

"There is a lot of excitement around launching a blog or the idea of a blog, but sometimes companies need a bit of a reality check before setting foot into the blogosphere"

Potstickers Inspire Spring Rolls

Jennifer at Culinaria Eugenius had a great post recently about doing up some  little green potstickers. I couldn't have come across it at a better time. With a fridge full of yummy CSA produce, I was nonetheless feeling a bit of a cooking doldrum.

Then I remembered that we had a bunch of spring roll wrappers in the freezer. Left over from a "roll your own" egg roll party we did for my birthday, I snagged a pack out of the freezer for about an hour's thawing.

From there, dinner was easy. I whipped up enough spring roll filling to do up rolls for 3 people, with leftovers.

Ingredients

All ingredients should be chopped small. Not minced, just small.

• Oil for stir frying and frying
• 1 chicken breast
• Couple of cups of greens (spinach, joi choi, bok choi, whatever)
• 1 carrot
• 5 mushrooms
• 1 spring onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1-1/2 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• Cumin
• Lemon pepper
• Black pepper
• Chile flakes
• 2 eggs, whisked
• A wee bit of water, say about 1 tsp.

Cooking

1. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. As oil heats, add a few dashes of cumin to flavor the oil. Add onion and garlic and stir-fry for about 30 seconds.
2. Add chicken and cook until no more pink is visible. Season liberally with lemon pepper and black pepper, and maybe a bit more cumin. Add all vegetables except the greens. If the greens have an edible stem that needs more time to cook, go ahead and add the stems too. Stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add sugar, soy sauce and oyster sauce.
3. Add chile flakes and greens. Cook for about 3 minutes or so, stirring regularly to mix all ingredients and blend flavors. Add about half the egg and kill heat. Stir to scramble and cook egg. Remove wok from stove.
4. Now the really fun part.
5. Mix the bit of water with the remainder of the egg and stir. You'll fill the spring rolls with about a tablespoon of filling each. Plop a spoonful of goodness in not quite the middle of an eggroll wrapper. Fold part of the wrapper over the filling. Brush egg mixture over the edge of the wrapper. Fold in sides, then roll the whole shebang up. Repeat.
6. Clean out and dry your now-empty wok. Heat over medium to medium-high, and add enough frying oil to cover at least half the spring rolls. When the oil is hot — either when a thermometer hits 375°F or a bit of wrapper chucked in the oil fries — start frying.
7. Lay in 2-3 spring rolls at a time. They will not need much time! The filling is already cooked and ready to eat. You are only getting the fried goodness part now. You'll need to fry only about 30 seconds to a minute per side. When side of roll in oil looks like it's browning, flip it. When other side looks like it's browning, remove roll. Lay it on a plate covered in paper towels to blot oil. Repeat, repeat, repeat until are fried a lovely golden brown, and your local Chinese restaurant delivery guy is asking if he can stay for dinner.
8. Enjoy with your choice of dipping sauces. Soy sauce and rice vinegar, red chile sauce, hot mustard, whatever. And a beer.

Oregon Bach Festival Opens to Adoring Portland Crowd

Ah, the Oregon Bach Festival. Some of my fondest Eugene memories go back to this annual event. The OBF kicked off this past weekend, right along with the Olympic Trials. Instead of the usual first night in Eugene, the OBF opened in Portland, but is now going full-steam in Eugene. In fact, I have to book — Jodie and I are meeting up for a picnic dinner, followed by Garrison Keillor's performance tonight. Viva la OBF!

Link: They love Bach back in Portland: The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore..

"For the first time in nearly three decades, the Oregon Bach Festival played in Portland on Friday — and Portland loved it. In part driven out of town by the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials that also opened Friday in Eugene, the festival, under the new leadership of Executive Director John Evans, was also looking to expand its audience and presence statewide."