Nina Surya

Two small things:
1. there should be a space between the words takes and less on the card.
2. I love the look of log houses where at their corners, where the logs 'sit in each other'. Is it possible to add an image (detail) of such joinery? With moss between the logs for insulation?

Thank you Jay and Burra!

Great thread!
I'd add Swiss chard to the "sow once and walk away"-list. It's not calorie-dense, but a great green for the diversity in the garden and kitchen.
It readily goes to seed and self-sows...a bit like salad

I'd love to know how to prepare sunchokes properly. I love the taste but get horrible bellyache+ from eating it.
Burra says long, slow cook. Like in a slowcooker with meat or something like that?

Thanks everyone!

My biggest kitchen mistake was to underestimate the power of a Mme Jeannette pepper.
We had friends coming over for dinner. I can't remember what the dish was, but I cut and used one whole pepper.
Immediately the kitchen was filled with fiery fumes, but in my naivite I was hopeful and thinking the hotness would somehow mellow down during the cooking.
It didn't. We ended up ordering takeaway

As I was walking around here at our place, I noticed a lot of nettles growing lush in the cooler, wetter autumn weather.

My vegetable garden is in need of a nourishing layer of mulch, as I previously mulched with sawdust+horsemanure. I learned after mulching that  the sawdust consumes nitrogen as it decomposes, and that is showing in the yields... I've been adding extra nitrogen in the form of diluted urine before rain (or flushing with just water afterwards).

I used a good part of the afternoon pulling up nettles, tossing the plants with seeds on separate piles and the plants with no seeds (hopefully) on one big pile to wilt before using them as mulch in the vegetable garden. I hope a topping of nettle mulch will feed my vegetable garden, which currently is clay soil, compost and the said sawdust + horse manure and soon also chop and drop of the current crops.

Does anyone have experience with mulching with nettles? How did it go?

Jay Angler wrote:At Nina's request:

Jay's Liver Pate
Maybe we need to ask Burra for her recipe?  See how different they are?

Thank you Jay!!! And yes, let's

M Ljin wrote:I cultured another batch from the last, and it seems to have lost some of the complexity of flavor, tasting more like a mild buttermilk culture--probably, the diversity of microbes decreased because of the change in medium. I'll keep it going though because it's still good. The change could also have been temperature related, as the first batch was on a cold countertop and the second on a warm heat mat, so I'll try culturing it on a cold surface once more.

Did it work? I'd love to have milk kefir again and I have a sourdough starter and access to raw milk so... Interesting!

Jay Angler wrote:
...
However, the list doesn't include heart and liver, which make a great pate when cooked and whizzed with an egg, onion, red wine vinegar and some extra spices.
...

Hi there Jay,
We have a couple of roosters that need to be, hm, upcycled soon. Do you have the recipe of your pate to share? Sounds yummy!

Thanks in advance

Wow, you've been busy!
And thank you for the reminder to take pictures

Rebekah Harmon wrote:Shre, Nina! Thats good with me

I would add that, in order to get as many guests that I wanted at the gathering, I used some of my network marketing skills. I wanted 8 people. I invited 24, a week in advance. I kept a list of their RSVPs. I followed up with potential guests a few days later. I reminded the YES list the evening before, giving details about the party.

Also, this wasn't my first party. My husband and I often host Sunday dinner potlucks. I would say 5 times a summer, for years now. So I have a community built up, which takes time.

Thanks Rebekah! And those are awesome network marketing skills - well done!