DoveSoup Art

3 days ago I started my 1st batch of "real" Dill Pickles. My recipe came Sandor Katz book "Wild Fermentation" ISBN 1-931498-23-7 No vinegar to create the sour, it comes naturally when you allow the pickles to ferment in a salt brine. It was very easy, I layered the bottom of my crock with oak leaves, then added fresh dill from my herb garden (I added more dill that his recipe called for - just because we love dill) I tossed in the garlic cloves and then about 5 lbs of cleaned baby pickles. (I also cut the blossom end off because I read somewhere that can contribute to the pickles going soft) I dissolved the salt ( a little less than he called for) in filtered water. Poured it over the cucumbers, added a few more flowering dill heads and oak leaves, weighted it down to keep the cucs under the brine and covered the crock with a dish towel secured with a big rubber band. Below is Sandor's recipe Timeframe: 1-4 weeks Special Equipment: * Ceramic crock or food-gr...

I had okra in a New Orleans style restaurant in Pasadena California once. I thought it was the most fabulous thing I ever tasted. I wondered where okra had been all my life? I wondered why everyone did not eat and love this delicious vegetable? Why wasn't okra on every restaurant menu? That was the 1st and the last time I loved okra. I gave it several more tries but each time is was totally disgusting. I tried both frozen and fresh, nothing could have triggered my gag reflex more efficiently and effectively. I think cooking okra is like growing hydrangeas, you just gotta have the knack or you may as well hoist the white flag. Dove

Hey Jack J ack, why did you slash the wrist of your immortal muse? Did you stare as Red idioms pooled? Dripping, seeping, spilling, pouring streams of skillful consciousness soggy on the soles of your boots, leaving tracks along Route 66. Allen, the hawk stopped by my garden for breakfast today Majestic menacing brazen magnificent. Can you imagine having Bukowski as your mailman? And what would you Say to the academics when they ripped Billy to pieces, while his back was turned. © 2009 Dove 'Anybody can make Paris holy, but I can make Topeka holy.'" Jack Kerouac

I was out in the garden harvesting squash & Brussels Sprouts and doing a little weeding when our local (Columbus Ohio) NBC news pulled into my drive way and asked if I would give them a tour of my vegetable garden. As soon as they introduced themselves (being all hot and garden work sweaty) I blurted out, "Sure, but Don't take my picture". I did give them a tour, told them about my organic gardening techniques and philosophy. They filmed my tomatoes and Banana Nut squash. They acted genuinely surprised to actually see how Brussels Sprouts grow, it was over before I could wipe the sweat from my brow... but I'm thrilled my vegetables will have their 15 seconds (not minutes) of fame. If any group members are in Columbus, watch channel 4 news tonight between 5:00 and 6:00 pm.... you'll know my vegetables from the anyone else they may have interviewed today because mine, of course, are prettier! Cheers Dove ©

Beefy BBQ & Bread Stew © Ingredients: * 2 Lbs Stew meat * 1 Tblsp of assorted herbs, Mrs Dash or what ever you have on hand * 3 to 4 tablespoons bacon drippings * 1 chopped onion * 1 (to 4) cloves of garlic, minced * 3 cups beef stock * 1/2 cup red wine or dark beer. * 2 to 3 cups diced potatoes, cooked * 2 cans (15 to 16 ounces each) cream-style corn * 1 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste * 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce * 1 cup barbecue sauce, your favorite * 3 cups of stale bread crumbs * 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper Preparation: Season Stew meat with dry herbs and salt before searing it in bacon fat (or oil.) Add onions and garlic Place all ingredients in a stockpot or Dutch oven. Cover and simmer until hot and bubbly. Taste and adjust seasonings with more salt and hot sauce, as desired. Dove Soup: Recycled Bread #1 Dove Soup: Recycled Bread #2 Here's the deal - Please do not copy my recipes and post them elsewhere without my permission.

She's like fat Persian cat sitting on a satin pillow waiting for the world stroke her silky hair, at her bidding of course. She thinks it's a privilege when she lets you sniff her puckered cat ass. Surely the entire world is interested in a whiff. You don't know how often I wish I could once again just be her daughter... not her maid, her cook, her legal secretary, her chauffeur, hair stylist and general caretaker. She doesn't need any of the above except the transportation part, good god she should never again be behind the wheel. (OK maybe some help with the hair for church too) She sits in her chair and reads, watches TV and cheats at crossword. She doesn't talk to me much and she wants to be fed. Everything I knew about her, every enjoyment I once shared with her is gone. This is not the woman I experienced as a child or as an adult. I would not choose to spend time with this person, I would not chose this person as a friend. I don't think it matters to he...

The Myth of Natural Food, Farming, and Products Walk down the aisles of any Whole Foods Market (WFM) and look closely. What do you see? Row after row of attractively displayed, but mostly non-organic "natural" (i.e. conventional) foods and products. By marketing sleight of hand, these conventional foods, vitamins, private label "365" items, and personal care products become "natural" or "almost organic" (and overpriced) in the Whole Foods setting. The overwhelming majority of Whole Foods Market products, even their best-selling private label, "365" house brand, are not organic , but rather the products of chemical-intensive and energy-intensive farm and food production factories. Test these so-called natural products in a lab and what will you find: pesticide residues, Genetically Modified Organisms, and a long list of problematic and/or carcinogenic synthetic chemicals and additives. Trace these products back to the farm or factory a...

Sorry to spoil your holier than thou belief that your food choices do not cause the death of an innocent animal, or infringe on the quality or length of life of an insect. I grow my own herbs & vegetables in an organic garden, it is impossible to harvest them without also harvesting small insect eggs, caterpillars and other insect larvae. Impossible with a capital I, capital M, possible. Furthermore you can not harvest wheat, oats, any grain, soy bean or legume on a large scale without using a tractor that scoops up and kills mice and other field critters in the process. I'm sorry (not really) to break this to you... everything, including your Whole Foods organic oatmeal and your Mori-Nu Tofu, cost the life of small animals and countless insects. Fact , you can not eat without taking life. Get over it.... a mosquito would not hesitate to dine on you. © Dove