Flan, in pieces

The slaughtering.

You might remember my post from November about the time I spent at the pig farm, recording audio of a pig's slaughtering. Today, the project is finally online:

Beth Nakamura shot the photos. She is so great to work with:

Locavore learns to slaughter and butcher his own pig

Lines of Helvetia

Flashback

with my parents:

Down-home cooking

I've been working on getting a vegetarian gumbo just right, and I think I finally have it. It took a few tries (one sad one involving carrots), but here is a good recipe:

VEGETARIAN GUMBO




- Make a roux and mix with about three cups of vegetable stock
- Add one cup of ONION and one whole bunch of GREEN ONIONS (tops and all)
- Cook until onions are all tender then add two cans STEWED TOMATOES, one small can of TOMATO PASTE, two bay leaves and three tablespoons of WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE (you can buy fancy vegetarian sauce, which is expensive, or you can just buy an off brand at the store, which is cheaper and actually doesn't include anchovies)
- Simmer 30 minutes
- Add TONY CHACHERE'S liberally
- Add one whole package of QUORN CHICKEN TENDERS; Simmer for 30 minutes
- Add one bunch of chopped KALE (remove bottom, stemmy parts) and add two more cups of vegetable broth, along with salt and pepper, to taste
- Add one bag frozen okra (fresh okra has cooked with varying results for me, sometimes it's woody. Frozen has never gone wrong)
- Cook 30 minutes


Serve over rice

Correspondence (2)

Letters from Seattle, Africa and Nebraska:

North to South visitor

Amanda came for the weekend. We stayed up till 4 a.m., til the ceiling looked weird and a tiny palette seemed comfortable. I took these the day after:

On going home

Surprise plane companions:

I was bent over my laptop, trying to connect to something or another, when I noticed Dana Rae in my periphery. Back 10 years ago, we were Internet friends, searching through these waves for other Southern lesbians. Later, we met in a real bar in Hattiesburg, Miss., all on accident. Later, we moved to the same city. This day, again by accident, we met again in the airport then flew the thousand something miles home to the South. An old lady sat on my other side and pronounced finger "fanger."

Christmasland

I spotted this headless Santa when driving from Louisiana to Texas a few months ago. I couldn't wait to go back and take some pictures, so when my dad drove me to Fort Worth while I was home, he pulled over so I could investigate. Little did I know, headless Santa was part of a family: