Grammar Freaks Unite: share your wisdom, funny stories, and read-rage on The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar's Blog

Thanks to Fletcher Memorial Library for providing the link to SPOGG's blog!! (How fun is that to say ten times as quickly as you can?) SPOGG on Blogspot is "an online journal in which members of The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar document their noble efforts." grammatically.blogspot.com

Check out Things That Make Us [sic] by SPOGG founder Martha Brockenbrough. 10% of royalties are donated to a cause very near and dear to my heart, the National Brain Tumor Society.

From Amazon.com:

This book is for people who experience heartbreak over love notes with subject-verb disagreements...for anyone who’s ever considered hanging up the phone on people who pepper their speech with such gems as “irregardless,” “expresso,” or “disorientated”...and for the earnest souls who wonder if it’s “Woe is Me,” or “Woe is I,” or even “Woe am I.” Martha Brockenbrough’s Things That Make Us (Sic) is a laugh-out-loud guide to grammar and language, a snarkier American answer to Lynn Truss’s runaway success, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Brockenbrough is the founder of National Grammar Day and SPOGG -- the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar -- and as serious as she is about proper usage, her voice is funny, irreverent, and never condescending. Things That Make Us (Sic) addresses common language stumbling stones such as evil twins, clichés, jargon, and flab, and offers all the spelling tips, hints, and rules that are fit to print. It’s also hugely entertaining, with letters to high-profile language abusers, including David Hasselhoff, George W. Bush, and Canada’s Maple Leafs [sic], as well as a letter to --and a reply from -- Her Majesty, the Queen of England. Brockenbrough has written a unique compendium combining letters, pop culture references, handy cheat sheets, rants, and historical references that is as helpful as it is hilarious. 

Barbarians henceforth to do Cooks and Books in the same blog

"The Horde Board" has now officially been rolled into Barbarian Cooks and will no longer exist as an independent blog. Why? It's simple. I have to cook at least 2 meals a day, whereas with my limited reading time I get through about a book a month. So, a whole separate blog devoted entirely to bookish stuff began to seem kinda silly. So now you can get grog for both yer noggins* in one place!


* in case ya didn't get the joke:
nog·gin   /ˈnɒgən/
–noun

1. a small cup or mug.
2. Informal . a person's head.
3. If you're Zaphod Beeblebrox, you have 4 of them at a bare minimum.

Reviews, Blogs, and all-around excellent content on Booklist Online

Most of us can't afford Booklist's $295 individual subscription price, so it's a blessing that so many of the reviews can be accessed online. To be honest, SO much is available, I'm not sure what that hefty sum and the Booklist password account gives you in addition to the free stuff. In any case, I love what they do put out for free. In addition to a plethora of reviews and articles, they have a great selection of topic-specific blogs.

www.booklistonline.com/

Beet Chips

It's too hot for roasted beets this week, so I decided to try this snack recipe instead. Most recipes call for deep frying the suckers and removing the peels, so I'm interested to see how this works...
Beet Chips

•4 beets, scrubbed -- do not peel
•1 Tbsp. olive oil
•Sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Using the slicing blade of your food processor, a mandoline or a sharp knife, slice beets thinly. You want them to be the thickness of a potato chip. Toss with olive oil and salt. Spread evenly on a cookie sheet. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour (turn halfway through) until crisp. Check often to make sure they don't burn.

Camera Obscura: Ethan Jackson's Visual Art Installations in Woodstock

From Jackson's Polyopticon Series

Went to see Ethan Jackson's installations at MABI today. Fascinating! I've always been drawn to ephemeral and metamorphosing visual art (Navajo sand paintings, John Luther Adams' "The Place" in Fairbanks, AK). The camera obscura images, interwoven across multiple screens both flat and curved, are serene and poetic. I'd like to see the images during a storm - I expect the effects would be far different!

"Ethan is currently Artist-in-Residence at the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historic Park in Woodstock, Vermont. He is installing a series of optical works in historic and contemporary buildings and working with the art collection of the park."

ethanjackson.net
MABI Artist-in-Residence Program

End of Summer Sippin'

Labor Day fast approaches and the trees started changing color a couple of weeks ago, but we still have some summer-like weather ahead of us here in Vermont. Here are a couple of refreshing drinks to make with the last of your garden's mint to keep you cool through outdoor work and play on hot Indian Summer days.

Sassy Water
Friends trying out Prevention's "Flat Belly Diet" had raves for this daily drink. I like to add a 1/2 tsp turmeric for extra anti-inflammatory power and a tiny bit of stevia or agave nectar for sweetening.
2 quarts water
A couple of handfuls of fresh mint (about 12 leaves)
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (or 1/2 tsp powdered)
1 sliced lemon (or about 1/4 cup lemon juice)

Add all the ingredients to the water and refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled. Sweeten with agave nectar if it's too tart.


Cuban Mojitos & "Fauxjitos"

A delicious and easy cocktail! Just omit the rum for a non-alcoholic version. This recipe is from Taste of Cuba.

1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Juice from 1 lime (2 ounces)
4 mint leaves
2 ounces white rum
2 ounces club soda

Place the mint leaves into a long mojito glass (often called a "collins" glass) and squeeze the juice from a cut lime over it. You'll want about two ounces of lime juice, so it may not require all of the juice from a single lime. Add the powdered sugar, then gently smash the mint into the lime juice and sugar with a muddler (a long wooden device pictured below, though you can also use the back of a fork or spoon if one isn't available). Add ice (preferably crushed) then add the rum and stir, and top off with the club soda (you can also stir the club soda in as per your taste). Garnish with a mint sprig.

Weekend Fun: Natalie MacMaster and Great Big Sea

Gotta say, I've never seen Woodstock folks so energized as at last night's concert at Suicide Six! Natalie MacMaster opened with her trademark fancy footwork and even fancier fiddling. She was engaging and adorable (as always) and we were all impressed by the energy she exerts while on stage - and pregnant with her 4th kid, no less! Her sixteen year old niece came on for a couple of cameos, too, and wowed everyone with her rich, jazzy voice.

I've seen MacMaster several times and knew she'd put on a spectacular show. Great Big Sea, however, was a complete unknown to me. My first clue that they weren't just some pub band from Newfoundland should have been all the tots scrambling around wearing Great Big Sea T-shirts. When a mosh pit formed on their opening song and most of the audience began belting out the lyrics, I was blown away. Apparently, Woodstock is Rife with Great Big Sea fans, and I had no clue! (Me, the veteran Celtic music fan...) Let me say, they put on an awesome show. At least one band member was even game enough to chug Vermont Maple Syrup on stage.

Play Great Big Sea's "Sea of No Cares"



Although I had a great time at the concert, I regret that my shirking of email the last few weeks caused me to miss a fantastic-sounding event held this weekend: Alchemical Wedding at White Owl Farm. (Music, magic, farm work....gah, it sounds great.) Anyway, I'm marking my calendar for next year! If it sounds like your kind of gig, friend them on Facebook and sign up for updates from the Boston area super-fun spiritual/creative/environmental/just all around fantastic group Hearbeat Collective. Their Forestdance at Earthlands Institute is coming up soon too, yay!!

To Bean or Not to Bean

Dilly Beans Galore

Luckily I didn't have to ask myself that question when presented with Fable Farm's unbelievable bounty of green, wax, and purple runner beans last week - because I am a Dilly Bean addict! I discovered spicy dilly beans in Maine years ago, back when the only things the average American ever saw pickled were pickles. I was delighted by their crispness and ate a whole jar of them at one sitting. Well, today I've made my first batch of my own dilly beans and I hope they turn out well, since now I've got 10 jars!


INGREDIENTS:


6 cups water
1 cup pickling salt
6 cups distilled white vinegar
8 heads fresh dill weed
1/2 cup pickling spice
1/2 cup mustard seed
8 dried red chile peppers
16 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon alum
5 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed

DIRECTIONS:
1. Sterilize 8 (1 pint) jars in boiling water for at least 5 minutes.
2. Combine the water, pickling salt and vinegar in a large pot, and bring to a boil. When it begins to boil, reduce heat to low, and keep at a simmer while you pack the jars.
3. In each jar place the following: 1 head of dill, 1 tablespoon of pickling spice, 1 tablespoon of mustard seed, 1 dried chile pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1/8 teaspoon of alum. Pack beans into the spiced jars in a standing position.
4. Ladle the hot brine into jars, leaving 1/2 inch of space at the top. Screw the lids onto the jars, and process in a hot water bath for 6 minutes to seal. Store for at least 2 weeks before eating.

After the dilly beans, I processed the rest of the herbs and produce picked Thursday, then had a lunch of avocado and olive oil on toasted whole grain bread, with a side of sauteed squash blossoms. Yum!

Curried Cukes

It's the end of the farm share week and this time I am still loaded with cucumbers. (I'm not sure how, since we usually only get a couple each week.) I'll eat a whole cuke for lunch, but when I've got this many left over and in imanent danger of shrivelling, I like to do some kind of cuke entree. I've used them in stirfries and salsas, but wanted something a little different this time. I found a website listing some more eccentric cuke recipes, including non-alcoholic cucumber cocktails and cucumber granita (sorbet)! I settled on cucumber curry since it looked interesting - and EASY. I decided to substitute coconut mik for the heavy cream since a) I didn't have any moo juice in the house, and b) the recipe was for a potluck and I like to keep the vegans happy. ;-)

Ingredients

1 cucumber
1 can coconut milk (regular, not lite)
1 tsp curry powder

Mix coconut milk and curry in a small sauce pan and warm on Low. Peel and cut cucumber into 1/2 inch cubes (Seeds scraped out). Blanch in salted boiling water for 5 minutes, drain, put them into saucepan with the coconut curry. Add salt to taste. Let simmer 10 minutes and serve.

Source: Aunt Daisy's Cookbook, from Doreen Randall

Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread

As far as I'm concerned, you can NEVER have enough zucchini! That's because once I've maxed out on stir-fries and grilled zuc, I turn to one (or two, or three) of my favorite yummy zucchini bread recipes. I put all the extra zucs through my food processor and fill up the oven with zuccini bread loaves! Whatever we don't eat that day and the next, I slice up and stick in the freezer. For a really decadent dessert, try this recipe adapted from Gluten Free Easily.

Photo from glutenfreeeasily.com

Makes two regular-sized loaves



3 eggs
1 cup oil (I like to use canola or sunflower)
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp bourbon vanilla
2 cups shredded, peeled zucchini (about one zucchini, medium sized)
2 ½ cups general purpose gluten-free flour mix
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp baking powder

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients and mix well, so that there are no lumps.
Add in zucchini and chips; mix. - I find the batter to be very stiff; the easiest way to mix is to oil my hands and mix with my fingers. Plus, it's messy-fun! ;-)
Pour into two greased loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until bread tests done (toothpick method). Cool. Extra bread can be frozen.

Summer Slaw (that doesn't suck)

I never truly appreciated the humble coleslaw until I joined a CSA. In fact, as a child, it gave me the heebie-jeebies. Remember picnics with industrial sized vats of slimy, soggy slaw dejectedly wilting in the sun? I've discovered that t turn slaw from slawvenly [sic] to superb you need to make it in small batches with super-fresh veggies, and to keep storage time to a minimum. I don't even like to eat day-old slaw - I find it begins to exhale a certain "cabbatosis" (the cabbage tastes like bad breath) if it sits around. That's one of the reasons I like this particular recipe: the fennel seems to keep the cabbage fresher longer and I can make bigger servings. (We're on day 3 of slaw right now and I just happily munched a bowl of it without any fear of yakking.) Once we're past cabbage season (oops, are we ever past cabbage season? pesky brassicas!!)I'm actually planning to try a batch without any cabbage at all to see how that goes.

Ingredients
1 fennel bulb, core removed, cut into quarters, and sliced very thinly, fronds reserved
1 cup thinly sliced cabbage (I like a mix of purple and white for a fun, festive look)

Optional:
2 scallions, chopped
crumbled bacon or fakin' bacon

For the dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped fennel fronds
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoons mustard seed

Directions
Toss the fennel and cabbage (and optional scallions and bacon) together in a bowl. Whisk the mayonnaise, vinegar, fennel fronds,sugar, and mustard seed in a small bowl. Add the dressing to the slaw and toss to coat. Serve fresh.

Vegaccoutrementism II: Dress up your veggies for a night of fun!

A Day in the Life of a

Squash Boa

"Friend?"

"Whoops...FUR."

"Hmm, frozen dinner tonight?"

"Or should I have the Weightwatchers..."

 Bonus: Baby Daikon
we have diaper radish!!

Rebuttal to "Vegan Confession": Have you considered Vegaccoutramentism?

Shocking news: my vegan sister hates fennel. Oy veg!! She'd starve here in Vermont. What? You say you also hate this fenne-fatale of the farmers market, this most bountiful and beatified of bulbs!? Well, fear not. We have a use for your superfluous savorless cellulose. The Barbarians are at the vanguard of the new and exciting movement known as Vegaccoutramentism and are eager to share their ideas with you!*

Perky-Ponytail Vacuous Anime Girl Look

Shake Those Tailfeathers!

Rio De Janeiro Samba Costume

Magnificent Moustachios

Fen Manchew Beard

Luxurious Fennel Stole

For those of you who, like the Barbarian Cooks, are fans of "upcycling", after wearing out your Fennel Fashions you might try the dish we made last night: fennel and tempeh garam masala! (Yes, we actually cook and eat fennel - and sometimes we even like it.)

browned tempeh, fennel, zucchini, and onion stir-fry spiced with garam masala

Be sure to visit my sister's recipe and book blog, TSquared, where you'll find many fine vegan recipes - such as scrumptious Vegan Poop Nugget Cookies!

* The habitual wearing of vegetables to make stunning fashion statements.

Raspberry Coyote (!?) Pie

OK, it didn't really have coyote IN it... My husband did his PhD research on western coyotes so folks have, over the years, given us tons of coyote kitsch - including a great coyote cookie cutter, which I have too few opportunities to use.

Raspberry Coyote Pie with Beech Leaf Accents!

I dragged him out to pick raspberries last week and we ended up with about a quart - exactly enough for a pie. Since he'd put in almost half the work of picking, I though it was just plain cruel to make a pie he couldn't eat (he has celiac disease) so I diplomatically used a gluten free pie mix for the crust, though I suspected the resulting dough would be difficult to work with. In fact, it turned out so crumbly and uncooperative that there was no way to make a traditional pie top or lattice. The dough wouldn't hold together and after rolling out the top I had what looked like a bunch of dough-rubble, so I decided to turn all the little pieces into fun shapes using cookie cutters. The results were not perfect, but the pie tasted wonderful!

Here's the gluten-full recipe. If any of you have found a recipe for a gluten free crust with good consistency and cohesion, please post it!

1 quart fresh raspberries 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 2 tablespoons instant tapioca or tapioca starch 4 tablespoons water 2 9" refrigerated pie crusts 1 egg white 3 tablespoons butter

preheat oven to 425°F. Mix together raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, tapioca, and water in large bowl. Line a 9" pie plate with 1 pie crust. Brush crust with slightly beaten egg white (reserve some beaten egg white to brush top crust). Spoon raspberry mixture into bottom crust. Dot raspberry mixture with butter (see TIP). Top with remaining crust, crimping top and bottom crust together. Cut 4-6 slits in top crust to allow steam to escape while baking. Bake at 425º F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350º F and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Cover edges of pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent over browning. TIP: To dot with butter, grate cold butter on a cheese grater and sprinkle grated butter over pie filling.