Consider the dandelions

So there I sat one night, sucked totally into some mindless show in TV.  I was totally drawn into this amazingly lovely shot of a girl, about to blow the white, puffy dandelion..  A Perfect Childhood Moment.  Inhale and.....

And then....
Then it ended abruptly, with her father running out (ineffectively, I might add) to try to stop her from enjoying that moment, so that his perfect, green-blade grass would not be destroyed with.....(oh hold your horses)...flowers. You can see the slo-mo "glory shot" of him yelling "noooooooooo."

Well, I was bothered by the whole concept of that commercial.

My kids love dandelions. They love to pick them.  They love to blow them. And they love to eat them (well, that varies, but they do eat them more than I would imagine).  If you had a country gramma, you must know that you can eat them in a pinch.  I've never done it, but I like knowing that I can.  They are incredibly nutritious. So there!  But mostly, they like to pick them and/or blow them.  I've always loved this myself.  The dandelion has adapted itself really beautifully for things we like to do.

Dandelions are one of the first flowers to sprout in the spring and they are so very welcome.  They are heralds of growth. They pop out with the daffodils and provide In-Your-Face evidence that Our Earth keeps on keeping on.  Then, when you're distracted by the other bulbs or flowering trees other things you might want to plant, they can grow big and green and cover the ground if there's nothing else there.  But really those dandelions would rather to just chill out and let the clover have its day -- to hide down there and meditate under the fragrant flowers and soft leaves (and the honeybees)...and the occasional lawn mower..  The word "weed" is very subjective, truly.  It just means "a plant that grows well in a place I don't like it."

So think about letting the dandelions grow.

Thai Basil Chicken

My favorite spot for cut herbs is my kitchen window or the dining room table.  They smell great and look lush and lovely and are accessible for snipping for dishes.  Pictured here: thai basil, genovese basil and purple clover (picked from the side of the road by the 3-year-old).

So this is my very first food/recipe post.  I needed to trim up my basil and figured it was a good time to pull out a favorite family recipe.  I've never actually followed the recipe for this Thai Chicken with Basil Stir Fry, but all the variations I've made are great.  It's a fragrant, sweet/spicy, fresh tasting dish that is pretty easy to throw together.  The wonderful thing about stir fry is that it doesn't really matter.  You have fresh ingredients and toss in whatever you have on hand.  Let's see how it goes tonight.

Here are the ingredients I used tonight.  I've got rice, garlic, ginger, sweet onion, chicken, coconut milk, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, red pepper flakes, green onions and a bunch of basil.  When I'm doing stir fry, I do like to chop up most things beforehand and pull out any spices/condiments I might need.  Usually I would put all the garlic/ginger/onion in one bowl since it all goes in at the same time, but I was aiming for a fancy "foodie" shot.  Now that I have uploaded this picture, I can see that it is necessary to note that I had about  a 2:1 ration of ginger to garlic.

The dark purple herb leaves are a thai basil which tastes (to me) like the italian basil with a licorice note.  This is actually the first time I've ever had thai basil for this dish, and it came out of my garden, so that's a reason for celebration in my kitchen!  As you can see, I'm using brown basmati instead of jasmine rice.  The kids like it and it's really nutritious in the event that they decide the thai chicken is not their speed tonight.  I tend to prefer to add veggies to the white rices, so we'll save the jasmine for another night.

I cook the onion, garlic and ginger for a few minutes, then add the chicken.  If you are compelled to add a grind of pepper here, it's a good time for it.  Hopefully you can see the size of strips.  I used chicken thighs because that's what I had.  I think this would be lovely with pork or shrimp or probably tofu.  I am honestly nervous about tofu based on a bad experience with my mother's tofu chili in my formative years. I promise that my future adventures with that soy product will be fodder for upcoming posts.

While the chicken cooks, I make up the "sauce" in a pyrex cup.    I forgot when I took my ingredient picture that I'd wanted to sub some of this thai chili garlic paste for some of the red pepper flakes.  I used about 1/4 tsp red pepper and 1/2-3/4 chili paste.  If you are not familiar with the condiments/spices I mention, my best advice is to buy them and try them!  You have to use it and taste it to know whether or not you like it.  Just remember if you have a low spice tolerance (like me): you can always add, but it is difficult to take away.  Start out with no red pepper and 1/4 tsp. chili sauce if you're nervous.  You can add more next time if you like it.

I don't cook the chicken totally through before adding the sauce.  It's going to cook while that sauce reduces, so I'd say it's about 75-80% "legally" cooked when I add the coconut milk sauce mixture.

While the sauce reduces, I chop the green onions  and basil.  Do you see that little glass dish?  I used to toss those root trimmings in the compost, but after seeing this blog post I now stick them in the garden.  You only need a teensy bit of the white root bulb left and soon....new onions!

So, once the sauce reduces, toss in the onions/basil and you're ready to go.  I did not have mushrooms tonight, but if you have some, slice and toss in.

This is how I serve it.  I have a better shot, but then you cannot see my sweet child looking out the window waiting for dinner and I could not deprive you of such loveliness.  Forgive the garish tablecloth; it is cheery in the room, but not terribly photogenic. I have toddlers so we use the canvas  indoor/outdoor cloths for easy cleanup. I put the rice in a ring around the outside so that the kids can have "plain rice" if they so desire.  They snacked on frozen green beans during dinner prep, so lieu of other veg I served cantaloupe and grapes.  Also on table are parmesan for the kids' rice, sweet chili sauce for me and sriracha for my heat-loving husband.

Critics reviews

2-year-old: loved rice plain, rice with chicken sauce, rice with parmesan and cantaloupe

3-year-old: liked cantaloupe best but also enjoyed rice with parmesan and grapes

Husband: declared it a company-worthy dish

Me: agreed

(full recipe after the break)

Using less water

How ironic!  Water rises in the streets and yet there is not enough to drink.  With Nashvillians being asked to cut water usage by 50% and in my county even more than that, life has been more odoriferous than ever before.  

This is a great opportunity to develop new habits of using less of this precious resource.  We have always tried to instill a sense of scarcity with this for the kids.  We always turn off the water while brushing teeth or soaping up our hands.  But a restriction of necessity has shown me that there is a lot more we could be doing every day.

I have been running some soapy water in the sink and instead of rinsing dishes under the tap, I scrape them and toss them in the sink.  At the end of the day, I rinse some (like knives that need to be used for the next day) and put the rest straight into the dishwasher.  We've run the dishwasher about every third day with this method and NO stuck-on food bits.  We've been using paper plates and cups too, of course, but this simple change dramatically cuts down on the amount of water I normally use for kitchen cleanup through the day.

And yes, we are letting it mellow if it is yellow.  I think this may be our new household system.  We are potty training and I am now wondering if the many, many extra flushes are contributing to our recent higher water bill.

It started raining this morning and I ran and picked up all the pots that were not too heavy and moved them off the porch.  I set out buckets to catch the water.  I would never have done this two weeks ago; it would have seemed like too much trouble.  Now I think perhaps that is just sheer laziness on my part!

I have been sparingly watering my plans with a bucket of collected rainwater.  I think we really need a rain barrel!  We've talked about getting one, but this water restriction has highlighted how useful it would be, even in normal circumstances.  

The most fun thing about the water restrictions?  Family bath!  A perfect treat for 2 and 3-year olds if you have a big tub.  Also a perfect treat for a mom and dad who have not had a proper shower all week!

Only in Nashville

How can a major U.S. city flood and few in America even seem to know?  We're talking here about the largest disaster to hit Middle Tennessee since the Civil War.  Does no one care?  

I've seen it suggested that maybe no one cares because there's almost no looting and no violence and that's not exciting enough for a national television story.  There might be a grain of truth there, but I hope not.  I realize that it's important to cover the oil spill in the Gulf and the potential ecological disaster (not to mention the oil that keeps coming, and coming). There is also other important news going on all over the world that people obviously need to know about. I don't think Nashville should be the only thing on the national news...but it should be one of them.

The problem is that if no one understands the extent of the damage and devastation in Tennessee, then people are less likely to donate money to help and people are less likely to come assist with cleanup and rebuilding. 

This was an unprecedented, "500-year" flood.  Most people affected did not have flood insurance because they were not in a flood plain (well, before Sunday, anyway).  There is a water shortage, the structural stability of many roads/bridges is still in question, thousands are homeless and there is a great immediate human need for food, water and shelter.  

We are not panicking here.  We are working.  But we still might need a little help from the rest of the country.

I do realize Nashville is a bit of a punch line for the rest of you who don't live here.  And we don't mind and even kind of enjoy being the funny cousin at the American Family Reunion.  I mean, I personally love Hee Haw and am totally not ashamed to admit it.  Not everyone in Nashville may love that old show, but the goofy, cornball humor is Totally Tennessee. Part of why this is such a great place to live is that we know not to take ourselves too seriously; we know how to laugh at ourselves and with each other.   

Let me tell you what you will find here during this time of catastrophe.  What you will find here are neighbors knocking on doors and asking "What can I do?"  What you will find here is a story about a disaster of massive proportions in a large city that has always felt more like a vast neighborhood.  And this is not just on my street or my side of town, but I'm talking about the entire Metropolitan Area.  If you live in Nashville and I don't know you, you are just a friend I have not yet met.  That's what it feels like to live here.

People who live here respect each other as human beings, all created by God, no matter our race, or creed, or freaking political affiliation.  We are polite and respectful because that's what our mama and daddy taught us and because that's how God calls us to live and because it's a damn nice way to BE with other humans.  We are a city of diversity in many ways.

I've always thought our multifaceted music scene is a perfect metaphor for living here: the rest of the world thinks we're Country, and we are...a lot.  But we are also Rock and Metal and Hip Hop and R&B and Blues and Bluegrass and Big Band and Jazz and Classical.  

We may disagree about things and even argue -- and, honestly, we maybe even cuss a little. We often say our piece, but we respect your right to say yours too.  We're all humans down here, for sure. But at the end of the day, we're neighbors. We sit down on the back porch or meet at a local restaurant that has a patio and we have a beer or a glass of Sweet Tea and talk about the Vols or our gardens our kids instead for a while.  Because that's what neighbors do.  I have always loved living here, but I don't think I realized until this disaster how very, very much I value being a part of this community.  I have never been more inspired by the indomitability of the human spirit than in the last week.   And I read a lot of damn inspirational stories!

Please let's share here the many stories of our neighbors at their best in the face of this disaster.  How many of these could only happen in Nashville?  

One example is the CSA/farm collective, Avalon Acres, who have their own farm down in Hoenwald and also coordinate with many local area Amish to help supply organic fresh vegetables, farm eggs and free-range meats across the mid-state.  They were hammered by this flood, but they have picked up their  1,200 drowned chickens and are still delivering fresh organic food across Middle Tennessee on Sunday.  Now, there are organic farms across the country, but most people are surprised to learn that there is a thriving Amish community here.  

Or how about last night's hastily arranged benefit?  I'm not a celebrity chaser; on the contrary, I eschew celebrity gossip and what I think is the tabloidization of what used to be The News.  I know why a lot of "celebrities" choose to live here -- because while I know they still run into fans, most people wouldn't want to be rude and get in their business and figure they just want to enjoy their dang dinner.   Last night, Nashvillians Keb Mo, Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Darius Rucker and Naomi Judd, just headed on down to the local news station and sang for their neighbors to help raise more than $1.7 million to help people who have lost their homes.

Or the local charity, Hands on Nashville who is coordinating volunteer efforts and has had a massive response from people looking to volunteer.  I just talked with my husband a week or two ago and we were musing about if Tennessee would still qualify today as "The Volunteer State" -- if we would rally when the need arises as we always have historically.  I think we have our answer after the last week.  

I think Social Networking would play a role in any part of the country, but I do think it's interesting how helpful it is to connect the volunteers with the needy and, hopefully, to get the word out. Twitter and FB are being used both to help tell our story and to rally our community.  Pay It Forward Nashville and We Are Nashville, Nashville  are two, but there are many.  My friend Irene designed a T-shirt to help her 80-yr-old neighbor Wynona (no, not that one), who also didn't have flood insurance.

What are your stories?  Call or e-mail the networks and news outlets and share them!  Or post them here and I will keep sending them on!  We know our story better than anyone.  Let's tell it the way only a Tennessean will.