Thursday, June 14, 2012

smashed potatoes and gravey, anyone? i'll have seconds!



a big sink, a salt shaker, a knife, a cutting board and a cooler? can you say outdoor-korean-kimchi-making!?!?!?!? i know that you can!!!


here's the nappa and bok choi getting a nice soak down! next up, some green onions and one white onion.


layer everything in your cooler one layer at a time - dump a bunch of salt on, lay your next layer, repeat, repeat. once everything is in and salted, fill your cooler with enough water to submerge. close cooler, carry it to the basement and let it soak in the brine for about 12 hours.


i love traditional korean kimchi. i will finish the recipe in the next post!


isn't that the most awesome-looking little plant that you have ever seen? it's called a round-leaved sundew - you can learn more about it here. we have tons of this stuff growing around here, apparently it grows in bogs and dense forest in the northern hemisphere but i just think it is so unique!!! the little round yellow leaves, although they don't look much like leaves to me, are covered in the little red hairs that secrete a sticky-mucillage that are loaded with a sugary substance that attracts insects who then get stuck to the hairs after which, the plant uses enzymes to break down the bug's bodies and therefore gets it's nutrition. they are kinda like sticky venus fly-traps! no matter - they glimmer like jewels in the bright sunlight.

can you say bloooooooberries? oh ya baby!


here's some beautiful daisy-like flowers - so pretty!


oh you all knew it was coming - stop acting surprised! the obligatory sky pic for my dearest friend Helga. don't ya just love those puffy clouds?


dinner today was a fresh fruit salad with a honey, ginger and lime dressing. oh and a nice shot of aged Caribbean white rhum - bahahahahahah!


supper was supposed to be steaks on the bbq and some more fruit salad. but i got a craving for smashed potatoes and gravey - bahahahahahah! i love smashed potatoes and gravey. but to round out the meal, we of course had a little fruit salad. not me though, i gave my salad to jambaloney and went back for seconds of smash and gravey!!!


lastly - thank you to all of you who left a comment on our "she said, he said" post. guns, laws and licensing discussions often turn into fiascos and i was very happy to see that everyone weighed in with their own opinions while respecting the right of everyone else's opinion. i can't thank you all enough for taking the time to leave your own personal opinion on such a difficult topic - so i will just say thank you.

33 comments:

  1. I think your little daisy plant is wild chamomile...or as my kids used to call it: pineapple plant. Love smashed potatoes and gravy myself: yummy!

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    1. hey Linda - the plant is wild chamomile, also known as false chamomile. i love them. and i just call them daisies - bahahahah! we have tons of different-sized flowers that look like daisies in the yard. i call them big daisies, little daisies, other little daisies, tiny daisies - bahahahah! i am very scientific-minded that way. i'll be having more smashed potatoes and gravey for breakfast - you are more than welcome to join! no...wait a sec...that means i would have to share. ugh. decisions. bahahahahahaha!

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  2. Too much salt is not good for your blood pressure...;)

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    1. hey Rob, buddy - this is true and proper sea salt - no iodine in it. also, after the cabbage/onions soak in the brine for 12 hours, you rinse the leaves thoroughly 2 times. the salting/brining is for the fermentation process. kimchi is like sauerkraut - once it's fermented it keeps for a long time.

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    2. Mashed are good, but French Fries are my #1. Mashed is #2.

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  3. Hey Kymber - Exactly what I needed to see - more of your beautiful sky. It's been raining heavily here for days and days. Bleck !

    I haven't heard of korean kimchi before - but it sure does look interesting ! And the berries and the flowers, not to mention the food - all look divine ! I need to get my butt over there !

    I found what I think may be a perfect read for you. It's a book called - Earth Medicine -Explore your individuality through the North American medicine wheel and their correlation with the Taoist teachings of the East- and the wisdom of the ancient Caucasian peoples of Britain and northern Europe. Author is - Kenneth Meadows if you want to check it out first.

    Now that you've made me hungry - I must eat. Pass the smashed potatoes and gravey please !!!!!!!!!!!

    Love you sis ! xoxoxo

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    1. Helga - i am glad that you liked the pic and so sorry that it has been raining - but heck - you live in BC! the province of perpetual rain - bahahahaha!

      there are about 7 million kinds of korean kimchi, the traditional kind is made with cabbage and chili paste, garlic, ginger and fish sauce. think of a hot and spicey sauerkraut. it is an acquired taste for most but we love it. go to a korean market and ask fro some. but be careful - it's really, really, really spicey! but not spicey like mexican food - more like spicey like Thai food.

      now i gotta go and look that book up!!!

      i'll always have smashed potatoes and gravey ready for my sis! i love you too, hon! xoxoxoxoxo

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  4. Sooper yummy. That looks great.

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  5. Down here we eat mashed potatoes...I need to try and smash 'em next time. I do love my kimchi.

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    1. dear sweet one - i smash the crap out of my mashed potatoes. i use a ton of butter and a ton of cream, then smash the crap out of them until they are almost like whipped. i also like to bake them whole in the oven and then take them out and smash them - that's great too. i am glad that you love kimchi - it is so good for you!

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  6. The yumminess has no end at Framboise Manor. All I am doing here is agonizing over, and going to see well hand pumps for use in power outages. Oh how I miss the high water table of Nova Scotia !

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    1. Jane - i saw that post and i agree - i wish your laws allowed you to hire a Mennonite well-digger or a few!!! we are very fortunate to have such a high water table. there's an old saying around here - "you can't swing a dead cat half-way 'round your head without hitting 5 springs!" - bahahahahah! good luck with your hunt for a hand pump! xoxoxo

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    2. I will find a way to get reliable water when the power is out in this section of mountainous VA. In NS, if the power were to go out (and they will call you on the phone to let you know if it does), we gently pry the top off the well, and send a clean bucket down on a rope a few feet to get plenty. Still, there are challenges of one kind or another everywhere.
      You do know that you and Jam could probably make a million if you set up even a small bed and breakfast ?

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    3. if anyone can find a way - it's you!!! and yes - we are amazed at the courteous phone calls from Nova Scotia Power - and the service is so much better and more reliable than we had in Ontario?!?!?!? how is that possible?!?!?!? we live in the middle of nowhere?!?!?! you always have that can-do spirit which i admire so much!

      ugh. a bed and breakfast is the last thing i would want! unless you came up and ran it for us. we could pay you in Tim Horton's - bahahahahahah! xoxoxox

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    4. jane:

      i got my hands on one of these:

      http://www.dbestpump.com/

      let me know if you can't get it in the states, if not we will send you one or if you are going to NS this summer, it is available at home hardware - i had to order mine by phone in advance, i am sure there is a hh near your place:

      http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Hardware/Farm-Supplies/Farm-Tools/Miscellaneous/Miscellaneous/2-Manual-Drill-Transfer-Pump/_/N-2pqfZ67l/Ne-67n/Ntk-All_EN/R-I3122410?Ntt=Crank+EZ+Pump

      cheers!

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    5. Thanks so much Jam ! I still need something that will pump from 300 feet in the ground up to the surface when the electricity is out, and for some reason we do not wish to use the diesel generator (like during a hurricane or something), but then this item should help moving it from there. There is something called Flojak that may work also. We have no HH in Virginia, but when we are in NS, there is a wonderful one in Barrington Passage where I bought more than I should admit to last year !

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  7. Sweet Kymber, Your outdoor kitchen is coming into so really good use. Making Kimchi My Dear!!! I haven't had kimchi, is it good? Now I love red cabbage pickled, its got to be close in taste right? The round leafed sundew reminds me of something you would see in the ocean or on an alien program. It's gorgeous and unique looking. I see you took a picture of your beautiful skies :-).....I like it!!!!! Looks like cotton balls hanging from the sky. Very pretty.....show me more :-)
    We made fruit salad too, but I didn't put ginger, honey or lime on it. We had it straight up. Smashed potatoes are my favorite.....I could eat them all the time. My hips may not like it but my stomach sure does.

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    1. hey sweet Sandy - it's a pretty sad-looking outdoor kitchen - one day it will have walls and a roof but for now - it's just a sink and a table out in the middle of the yard - bahahahah! kimchi is somewhat of an acquired taste - the traditional kimchi is pretty spicey - see my comments to Helga above - if you want more info - just yell. but it is pickled/fermented so you just may like it! you are right - the sundew DOES look like something from the ocean...but it grows in rocky hard dirt where nothing else except maybe moss lives - it's very beautiful! and thanks for liking the sky pics - i like them too! sometimes i prefer to have my fruit salad straight up as well - it depends on the mood. as for smashed potatoes - i could eat them all the time, too - bahahahahah!

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  8. Do you know I've never had kimchi? What does it taste like? Is it like a sauerkraut? I'm all for homemade yummies, might have to try that sometime.

    As for smashed potatoes, 2nd Man makes them quite often, delicious! I don't blame you, I'd go back for more of that every time!

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    1. 1st Man - read my comments above - kimchi is like spicey hot sauerkraut - an acquired taste for sure but people who love it - love it! and people who don't - can't stand it - bahahahah! it's a very polarizing thing! go to a korean market and get a small jar of it to try and let me know what you think. yep - sounds like you are in the smashed potatoes club, too - bahahahahahah!

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  9. ACK!!! Bee eating flowering plants must DIE!!!

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    1. LOL Kymber Plants can't be vermin. Invasive weeds though :)

      I should invite you down to see first hand what vermin can do to a silo of grain sometime. I don't disagree with your place for everything but I do advocate keeping that place limited (very limited) in some cases.

      But plants eating my bees? I leave the assassin bugs alone but I may draw the line at bee eating plants :)

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    2. dang. i still thought that you would screech "VERMIN" - regardless of whether plant, weed, or animal!

      i have honestly never been in a grain silo so i really have no idea how bad the vermin are. and yes - if we had vermin destroying our crops and whatnot - we would have to protect them. everything in it's place but i agree with limiting in some cases.

      ya. these little plants eat bees. ouch. it hurt to even type that. time to get out the shotgun!

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  10. LOL - we were one the same wavelength yesterday, because I also had a craving for "smashed" potatoes - which I fulfilled :)

    Love your outdoor kitchen!

    That little plant reminds me of a Venus Flytrap

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    1. Dani - you are the newest member to the smashed potatoes club - bahahahahah! welcome to the club, buddy! i am glad that you got your fill, too! the outdoor kitchen ain't much but it is somewhere to do a big job like making kimchi and not mess up the kitchen! that little plant reminds me of a venus flytrap, too!

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  11. I love kimchi.and have made it before, although not that big of a batch. Looking forward to your recipe.

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    1. i love kimchi, too, agirl! i can eat tons of it! i use it as a side-dish with different meals but i can also be found with the fridge door open eating it right from the jar - bahahahah! i will send you the complete recipe in an email if you want!

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  12. kymber,

    I too have not tried kimchi. They sell it (many different kinds) at my local organic Green Market on Saturdays. Think I'll pick up a 1/2 pint to see how I like it.

    I think I can be the president for the potato club (never met one I didn't like & it shows - haha). Mashed, Smashed, Riced, boiled whole with milk & butter (the little itty bitty ones), Potato Salad, Scalloped, Augratin, Fried, Baked. Hashed, sauteed on the grill w/peppers & onion ... with butter, with sour cream, with cream (with all of the above). Oh, I could on & on....

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    1. DFW - go ahead and try the kimchi - you may just love it! and let me know when you try it what you think of it - i'll be curious!

      oh and from here on in i am referring to you as "Bubba, the Prez" - bahahahahahahah!

      you and me got the exact same taste in potatoes! but i got one for ya - how about raw, run under water and then salted and eating it out of your hand - whenever i am making potatoes i always have a raw, salted piece - love it!

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    2. Yep, I like them raw as well. But if I eat more than one or two slices, they give me a belly ache.

      I'll gladly accept the title ;)

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  13. Building an outdoor kitchen myself. Shhhh, don't tell my readers.

    Food, yum, hungry now.

    Your sundew looks like my passion flower (don't allow hubby to read too much into that)

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    1. bhahahahahahahahahahaha - omg - bahahahahahahahah! that was wicked funny, gurl!

      hey - your secret outdoor kitchen is safe with me. i hope one day to have a roof, floor, walls and plumbing in my outdoor kitchen. for now i will have to make do with the hose, a big sink thingy and a table!

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