Pop Music as Teacher

When I recently purchased the new Elvis Costello disc (I should actually call it an album with deference to Mr. Costello - the volume was issued first on vinyl "the way the Supreme Being intended," he says, with the CD version coming almost a full month later), I was intrigued by its name, Momofuku.

'What does Momofuku mean?' I wondered. Lucky for me, he explains on his website that the name is an homage to Momofuku Ando, inventor of cup noodles, because, says Mr. Costello, making this album was as easy as just adding water. So now I have that little bit of trivia tucked away in my brain.

Other things I have learned from pop music:

* The meaning of the word bravado. I had to look it up because of the line in that awesome 70s pop song Baby Come Back by Player: "All day long, wearing a mask of false bravado. Trying to keep up a smile to hide the tears."

* Who John Coltrane is, because of the line in the Cowboy Junkies song, Sun Comes up, it's Tuesday Morning: "Lunchtime: I start to dial your number. Then I remember, so I reach for something to smoke. And anyways, I'd rather listen to Coltrane than go through all that shit again." I figured if Margo Timmins is listening to Coltrane he must be cool.

* Who Ann Rice is and what the vampire chronicles are, because of Moon Over Bourbon Street by Sting. A sentence in the liner notes of the album on which the song appeared says, "'Moon Over Bourbon Street' was inspired by Interview with a Vampire by Ann Rice." I ran right out and found the book and read it.

There's more. But those are the ones I can think of right now. You get the idea.

Jersey Fresh InDEED!

Or... Mmm, Mmm! Caterpillar-y Goodness!

This is the Farmer's Market story I alluded to in my last post. Earlier this month, we got a GREAT head of broccoli at the market. I swear it really does TASTE better because it's so fresh.

When I went to clean the steamer basket, I saw what looked like a funky, bumpy piece of broccoli stem ... but upon closer inspection... it.... ummm... wasn't broccoli...



Pretty sure it would have been a monarch butterfly someday.

Will's reaction: "I'm done eating bugs, Carole."

There's NO evidence that we actually ate ANY bugs! (Although I barely noticed this, so who knows what escaped my attention.)

First Feast of '08

For lunch today I enjoyed my first little feast from the garden. Had a ripe Green Zebra, Black Prince and one little Riesentraube. We've actually had a few ripe Black Princes, but there also seems to be a slug issue with that plant (see pictures at the bottom of the post), which had made it difficult to really enjoy any of the fruit (not much left after cutting away the slug trail).

This was lunch:

BTW - the mozz is fresh from a local farm right next door in Port Colden. Got it at the Washington Farmer's Market. More tales from the market today - will save for another post.

This was HEAVEN!!! And I was shocked at how different each tasted. The Riesentraube was the middle-of-the-road flavor in this trio. The Black Prince was crazy sweet and the Green Zebra was nice and tangy! I know it looks odd and you're not sure what to expect, but for my pallet, the Green Zebra was the best. As of this moment, I'm thinking I may want to try growing those again next year. Ah tomatoes. YUMMMMM!!

And look how PRETTY the Green Zebra is!



The Black Prince is really nice looking too,

As long as you can't see the slug trail : - (