mizchef

Archive for August, 2010

Hi, gang. This week, I tried something new.: Cassava bread. I’d never seen it before and I was very curious. I had to buy it. (Does that surprise you?)

Mind you, I’ve seen–and even made–bread made out of cassava, but not what is known on the market as “cassava bread.” This particular product is dry, flat, and cracker-like. It’s quite plain and is meant to be eaten as an accompaniment to meats and stews. I asked my Dominican friend at work about that because the package says that it’s imported from the Dominican Republic. (What’s funny is that the store where I bought it had it stacked on a shelf in the produce aisle. Um, sure. You know, plantains, potatoes, and cassava bread all go together, right?)

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Hi, gang. Well, here it is, August 20, and I’m left wondering where the summer has gone. Despite the fact that this was one of the hottest seasons in recorded history—according to some sources, the hottest—I haven’t complained too much because, all too soon, the freezing cold will be upon us. Well, unless you live in a warm climate, which I don’t.

This week, I was on a lychee kick. An Asian market near where I work had bags of beautiful, colorful lychees and I simply had to have some. But other than eating them straight out of hand, I didn’t know what to do with them. They are yet another food item that I did not grow up with and only became familiar with at the end of some Chinese meals. So, I set out to find some good lychee recipes. But first, a little info…
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This week, I’d like to talk about purslane. We recently got a farmer’s market near where I work and one of the farmers sells it for $2 a pound. What’s so interesting about that? I’ll tell you.

I’m kind of mad at myself because I used to have purslane growing wild in my pots. The dirt in my pots came from a large garden I had in my backyard (which I subsequently paved over for a patio). But I wanted to grow vegetables and herbs so I transferred the dirt from the ground to the pots. All kinds of things came out of that dirt: garlic, mint, and purslane.

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Hi, gang. Before I get into anything else, I just want to mention that I got a really cool review over at Savvy Vegetarian. Go check it out. YAY!

I’m very pleased to introduce my second guest blogger this week. Her name is Mary Griggs and she has an awesome food blog―very cleverly called Mouth Brothels―where she talks about all things food-related (a woman after my own heart) and offers fabulous restaurant reviews. She’s done me the honor of writing something up, so let’s get to it. Here’s Mary with her blog (and recipes) on grits.
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