She's Crafty

I've been feeling that crafty urge lately, despite the utter lack of time I have to make things that generally end up being pretty useless. Fun, but useless. Like this, my practice 2x4. Fuzzy found his (very old) wood burning pen in the basement last month and I have to say that I'm pretty enamored. I like the little wisps of smoke and the smell of the pine resin. My technique needs some work, but I make up for it with enthusiasm! Right?

Human Nature

The trilliums are blooming in big rafts of white on the hills, and the red buds are a blushing smudge along the roadside. My drive to work is a snapshot of life in West Virginia, and probably a good portion of quasi-rural America, that edge between city and country that in a wealthier place might be called a suburb. I pass old coal camps, independent now, and new houses. I pass abandoned mine entrances and an active surface mine with coal trucks to dodge. I pass several potential meth labs and a junkyard that is "Liquidating! Everything Must Go!" because the county is preparing to seize the property. Every morning I pass the history and the stereotype, the surprising and the sadly predictable, and every morning the hills rise up behind, and Scotts Run goes on to the Monongahela.

Ramp Fest '07

Around the middle of Spring, when the daffodils are fading but the deciduous trees have just started to leaf out, local talk turns to a culinary delight particular to the hollers and coves of Appalachia. Loved by many, hated by, well, probably just as many, the ramp, an especially pungent wild leek, serves as a sort of unofficial gastronomical mascot of the region. Community centers and county parks hold ramp dinners, often including the allium in as many dishes as possible. Today, Fuzzy and I followed Dunkard Creek down to Mason Dixon Historical Park, and the Annual Ramp Festival.


About two hundred people were gathered on the hilltop; clusters of tents surrounded a small log cabin whose porch served as a stage for two guitar-wielding men. In the course of our day, Fuzzy and I sampled batter-dipped ramps, sausage and ramp burgers (just for me, Fuzzy's a vegetarian), home fries with ramps, ramp bread, ramp cookies, and ramp wine, which was much better than you might think, though I made Fuzzy taste it first anyway. In addition, we also tried whiskey jam (damn good), fresh doughnuts (I don't think I even need to tell you how good those were), and drank a spring tonic of sassafras tea "to thin out that thick winter blood."

We came home happy and tired, and my farmer's tan is now in peak condition. A shopping bag of ramps is sitting in the fridge right now, just waiting for some scrambled eggs or hash browns, or hey, maybe even some ramp pesto! I apologize in advance to my co-workers. It's going to be a smelly week.

Spring

Ok, Spring has been here for awhile, but I really needed an excuse to post a picture of this tulip blooming in the side yard (also one of Edie's plantings). We'll definitely have to dig these up when we finally make the move out to PineTop.

Leaving Louisiana

From August 2005 to May 2006, I lived in a small town in central Louisiana. I loved Louisiana: my tiny, spartan apartment, the Cajun jokes, and of course, the food. Namely, Bread of Heaven Soul Food and Shipley Do-nuts. Ah, fickle Shipley's. When I would wake up hungover from a night at the Pioneer or Roque's Grocery, longing for a sweet, fried, leaden breakfast, I would drive to Shipley's. Would they be open? Maybe, maybe not. Whenever the morning's batch of doughnuts was sold, they closed. So sometimes they closed at 10 am, sometimes at 1 pm. Pastry always tastes better when there's a little suspense involved.

My life has been so busy here in West Virginia, I haven't really reflected on my time in Louisiana. My friend Melissa over at Adventures in Louisiana has written some beautiful posts that have brought the place back to me so vividly that I can't help but stop and think. I miss the anoles darting around my balcony and the Resurrection Ferns' miraculous unfurling after a rain. I miss the drive to Oakland Plantation and the rush of a sudden, violent thunder storm. But mostly I miss the warm, funny people I was lucky enough to call my friends.

I love West Virginia and I'm glad I'm building my life here, but I don't think Louisiana is done with me yet.

Success!

The lasagna came out great! Yay! Here's the (pretty damn casual) recipe:

-1 bag of frozen, chopped bell peppers and onions (I would use 2 onions and 2 fresh bell peppers if fresh bell peppers weren't so fucking expensive)
-1 medium zucchini cut into little half moons
-a squirt of olive oil
-a box of whole wheat lasagna noodles
-2 jars of pasta sauce
-a block of extra firm tofu, crumbled into bits
-Italian seasoning
-garlic powder

I seasoned the veggies with a few shakes of Italian seasoning and garlic powder, as well as some salt and black pepper, then roasted them with a squirt of oil at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. The crumbled tofu I seasoned with salt and more garlic powder.

When the veggies were cooked by not too slimy, I poured a little sauce in a 9x13 inch glass dish, then started layering noodles, then sauce, the veggies, then noodles, tofu, more sauce, noddles, the rest of the veggies, the rest of the noodles, then the rest of the sauce. Got that? Oh, and I didn't bother cooking the noodles beforehand. That's always such a pain in the ass. Instead I covered the dish with foil and baked for about 45 minutes, also at 350 degrees, till the noodles were soft. Awesome! Take that, Cadbury!

Temptation

My dairy-free plans were foiled by Cadbury Cream Eggs on clearance, two for 25 cents.

Now that I've licked my fingers clean, I'm back on the wagon. I'm roasting veggies for vegan lasagna at this very moment. Hope it turns out tasty, because I'm seriously jonesing for a cheese pizza.