Author Archives: jeffreyww
Worm Sign!
Worm poop, to be indelicate about it. Since my containers sit on concrete this is often the first indication that I have a worm gorging itself. Above this particular spoor was a cayenne pepper.
It’s amazing how hard it is to spot these critters even when you know there is one there, somewhere. When you do, finally, spot them you are again amazed that you didn’t see it right away.
This one is on a Thai pepper. I saw the poop under it a few days ago but I couldn’t spot the culprit. I thought that it had moved on. Then I spotted a branch shaking. He is so heavy that his own movement gave him away.
Sunday Movies
We moved a game camera to a spot overlooking a stretch of lawn south of the house. The camera is pointing towards the east and doesn’t usually get much action. This morning it saw a bit more:
A small buck in velvet wander past just after 5AM this morning..
followed by a coyote trotting quickly off-frame on the right in the first seconds of the video..
and a turkey moseying along a few minutes past 8AM.
Hickok, Wild Dill Hickcok
Found this “wild” dill growing under the vitex when I moved one of the benches to a sunnier spot.
The vitex is that taller tree like thing in the back with the purple flower fronds. Bees and butterflies love it but it has to be cut back or it will take all the sun. Wild Dill Hickok is just visible to the left of the big pot of coleus under the vitex.
Duck Tacos
I had some of that duck confit leftover and decided to do tacos with it. I did an image search for “duck tacos” to get an idea of what sort of fillings would work and saw a lot of pickled red onions:
These are pretty easy to make, a cup or so of vinegar, teaspoon each of salt and sugar, plus whatever seasonings you desire. I used some peppercorns and a couple of cloves of garlic. The sliced onions were wilted by dipping them into very hot water for a few seconds. Stuff the drained onions into a jar with the vinegar mixture. I have a glass hockey puck shaped weight atop the onions to hold them down.
I also made a slaw with half a red cabbage, an equal amount of green cabbage, and some shredded carrot. It’s seasoned with lime juice, cumin, brown sugar, minced garlic, paprika, cayenne, minced jalapeno, and olive oil.
Cheesesteak
Ribeye is the canonical cheesesteak meat but I nearly always use flat iron steaks. This one was cut thin while semi-frozen and tossed in a bowl with onions, green peppers, and salt and pepper. It marinated for an hour or so – the onions started to wilt a little.
That’s provolone starting to melt into the steak and veggies. I turned small stainless bowls upside down over the two piles to help it along.
It worked pretty well. This is the closest I’ve come to this particular style of cheesesteak, I usually go with a cheese sauce poured over the meat in the bun, and I think I prefer that method although it is just a touch more trouble.
