Fun Food Experiments and Phlox

[lydamorehouse]

 
Image: purple garden phlox and orange day lilies.

My Asiatic lilies have all faded and are making way for the purple garden phlox and the orange day lilies.  

Today, everything started out stormy, but then the heat mostly broke (though the humidity lingered a bit) and it has been moderately decent. It is currently 83 F / 28 C. My house spy seems to think the temperatures might actually drop into the upper sixties tonight. That's good sleeping weather, so fingers crossed.

Since the temperatures weren't insanely hot (and I was up early,) I decided to try to make the lettuce soup recommended by dragonlady7 and pameladean ... folks, I think I maybe did something wrong or, it might just be that I don't like the taste of lettuce as much as I thought I did. Here's how it ended up looking:


Image: lettuce soup with flecks of... lettuce? (Although the flecks might be chives, honestly.)

Is this how it's supposed to look? I used my immersion blender and followed the recipe as closely as possible. However, I am the sort who will read and read and read a recipe and then discover I missed something critical like baking soda (obviously not in THIS recipe, just as an example.) So, who knows? My family and I all tried it at lunch, and it certainly used up a lot of lettuce. I'm down to a very reasonable amount to last until Thursday when the next CSA is scheduled.

It smelled AMAZING when I was making it. I'm not sure why did didn't live up to the smell.

The thing that did live up to its reputation?

BASIL ICE CREAM.


Image: home made basil ice cream in a sake bowl (on a red counter.)

Thank you sabotabby for convincing me that this was not as weird as it sounded!  My rather picky wife even ate a whole bowl. Mason agreed "not bad." So, we now have Thai basil ice cream in the freezer.

Which is good, because I may need some comfort food tomorrow. I got pressured by my boss to come in to work at White Bear Lake library tomorrow from one to five. I am... full of trepidation.  I mean, it's not open to the public (although apparently some branches are to some extent;people are being allowed to use the computers) but there is still a lot of handling of things that were in the extended possession of hundreds of patrons. The air will all be recycled, as "hermetically sealed" is actually the preferred mode when dealing with books. But, I kind of need to put in some hours, some time? Or they will drop me off the roster.

So that sucks.

We also failed to purchase Mason's computer twice again today, even with a banker sitting on the phone with us. We must have gotten tagged as fraudulent by the company we are trying to buy from because we tried unsuccessfully too many times. Damn you, American Independence Day! (*waves fist*)

However, we found the same laptop available at a local Best Buy, so we're just going to try walking in. We are still pre-approved for the spending, so... hopefully, it will work. Even if they don't have it, they can probably order it for us with better luck.

I can't believe it's been this hard to buy a damn computer.

Anyway, hope you all are doing good. How's things?

Comments

[spiderplanet]

That's a beautiful looking ice cream.

[lydamorehouse]

Thank you!

[sabotabby]

I'm glad it worked! I hope the computer also works.

[lydamorehouse]

The computer did NOT. But we figured out the problem. The company kept rejecting us so fast because they don't have any of that model in stock. Like, maybe say that on your web site??? But, whatever. We now just have to figure out if any of the local stores still have the one we want.

[dragonlady7]

That's what the soup ought to look like! And then it tastes sort of... green and oniony, as I recall, and vaguely creamy. I quite liked it but I guess it's not for everyone. I probably put slightly more potatoes in, as I was feeding a crowd-- actually I about tripled it, as I was cooking for nine, but proportionally I think I added more potatoes so it was thick...

[lydamorehouse]

You know, if I made this again, a few extra potatoes would probably make a big difference.

I will make a note of that.

[mindstalk]

Have not had basil ice cream. Have chosen to have garlic ice cream more than once.

I'm not sure recycled air is a good thing, unless there's a HEPA filter involved; is someone's infectious then diluting with outside air is better than recirculating their droplets.

OTOH despite the early "wash your hands" frenzy there seems weak evidence that covid transmits well via surfaces. If paper surfaces have been sitting around for a few days there's unlikely to be much live virus left anyway. I would worry most about whether anyone in the building with you is wearing their mask.

[lydamorehouse]

Just back from work, and I can report that they are quarantining the books for a couple of days and all my colleagues were very masked. So, that's good.

[mindstalk]

Good to hear!

[oracne]

Still doing okay. I want a nap.

[lydamorehouse]

Naps are awesome. Highly recommend.

[minnehaha]

How I appreciate the daylily and phlox picture. I just admired the combination driving past someone's house, and it reminded me of so many pleasant summers, so many gardens.

K.

[lydamorehouse]

This combo was part of the house when I moved in, so I'm not surprised to hear it is common. I have only added some spring and late fall flowers to keep things interesting all year long.