Sunday, May 11, 2008

If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother.

Happy Mother's Day, all you Mothers out there.
And a big thank you to my children, since you made me the mother I am.
So, if you have any complaints, speak to the hand, since I am what I am because of you.

Youngest Hawthorne invited the Mister and me for brunch at the Flying Fish Cafe,
where he works.

I had my brand new little Nikon Coolpix 5100 - and a virgin at that. That's the new one I bought to replace the Coolpix 3100 which was STOLEN FROM MY HOME.
We got to the restaurant and our son was immediately at our table filling our glasses with ice water.
He looked very handsome in his white shirt and apron. I must say, the service was excellent.
And remember my Restaurant Lemon Litmus Test?
Well, my "Five lemons, please," gave them a Five Lemon Rating.
My waitperson, Leslie, came back with 5 HUGE lemon slices
equivalent to almost 2 WHOLE LEMONS.


I brought the leftovers home. I had the Caesar salad with grilled tuna. The tuna was quite good. I make a better Caesar salad dressing,
but then you already knew that.


Mr. Hawthorne had the fillet mignon sandwich with fried sweet potatoes. I'll have to try the sweet potatoes at home.
They were quite good.

I so wanted to take pictures at the restaurant- of the lemons, of my son, of our meals, but the restaurant was dimly lit, the blinds were drawn, and it was a cloudy day outside, and I didn't want to draw attention with my flash, an
d I didn't want to embarrass Youngest Hawthorne because everybody knew it was his parents there, and as he said, "Why would you want to do that and look dumb?" Me: "For my blog?" YH: Sighs, shakes head, and walks away.
So I refrained myself.


At least until I got to Harris Teeter, then I was all like, "What the hell."

Here's a lovely orchid at Harris Teeter. I started to buy it but it was $50. A little steep for me.
But I thought Orchidgirl would enjoy the pictures.

The produce at Harris Teeter is beautiful, so I started taking pictures.
During lunch, I thought up a new idea for my blog, which necessitated the trip to Harris Teeter. I have decided to buy vegetables I've never eaten before, or rarely eat, and prepare them and share the results with you, my loyal readers.

I am overwhelmed by the produce at Harris Teeter.


Check out the size of those artichokes.





So, back to picking a vegetable I've never had.
Today's vegetable is Kohlrabi, Brassica oleracea Gongylodes Group, in the same species as the wild cabbage plant. The name comes from the German, Kohl, for cabbage, and rube, a variant for turnip, since the base resembles a turnip.
I'm also going to use some fennel from my garden. I won't be using the bulbs, since I don't want to lose the plant just yet, but I will be using the leaves.




Music to cook by: Heart from the Dream Boat Annie album in Hi-Def.
Takes me back 30 years.
Ambiance: Tornado Warning in effect until 11:30 PM.






So here's everything I'm cooking: the kohlrabi, potato, apple, onion, garlic, sausage, balsamic vinegar, and mustard.


And parsley, thyme, and fennel.


Ooooh. Lookie, lookie.
Youngest Hawthorne just came home from work and brought me flowers.

Now, back to the kohlrabi.

I sliced the kohlrabi, potato, and apple and let set in water while I prepared the rest.
And let me just tell you, kohlrabi is some tough little vegetable.

I sauteed the sausage, then added the kohlrabi, potato, apple, onion and garlic, then decided to add in some celery.


I deglazed the pan with some white wine.


I added in the rest of the leafy greens and stems from the kohlrabi.


Then added in the parsley, thyme, and fennel.
And some Dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, and a bit of lemon juice.
The verdict?
The sausage was good.
I could've used regular cabbage and probably would have liked it better.
But now I can say I've eaten kohlrabi.
Now, what to do with that extra kohlrabi I bought?


Ooooh ... lookie lookie!
Daughter Hawthorne surprised me.
She came home and brought me these beautiful roses.


And here's the Mother's Day present I bought for myself.
Exciting, isn't it?
I can't wait to start working on my hardwood floors.

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