More squash blossoms

We invited Lindsay to join us on our weekly pilgrimage to the Ojai farmer's market yesterday. It's one of those things everyone wants to do until I tell them we get up there around the crack of 9 a.m. because that's when the best flowers are available -- and flowers are the main reason for the trip.

So Lindsay was all excited and gung-ho: we'll give you a call. Then we'll go out to breakfast. Then Sunday morning rolled around and she called and said Ryan didn't want to go, he was still sleeping. I said OK, but Rob smelled a rat and told Lindsay to just come over herself and we'd take her up there with us.

Lindsay called back: Ryan was really up and they'd go up separately. Check mate in the life game of chess we all play.
So we met up with them. It's really easy to spot Ryan in a crowd because he's 6'4" or close to it and he rises above the rest of us. Lindsay complains that he's too tall for her to dance with because she has to strain her back to look up that far.

We wandered around and picked out flowers. I got some more fresh eggs because the farmer's market ones are so fresh and good. I got my weekly allotment of salad greens from B.D.'s market. Then I saw some tiny squashes with squash blossoms at one stand -- these aren't the ones that are sold at the big artichoke, pencil thin really expensive asparagus place. These were much smaller. So I had to get them. I also got some really cool heirloom cherry tomatoes that I'm going to use to create a recipe for the National Chicken contest.

I love my weekly expeditions to the farmer's market. I run into people I know and the drive is so cool up the 33 to Ojai on Sunday mornings. It's kind of my version of church.

I know I've written about stuffed squash blossoms before. But I created a different recipe for them last night and they really came out well. I've been making all kinds of peach cobblers and my peach streusel bundt cake (recipes are on this blog for August 2007), so it was nice to make something else for a change.

Stuffed squash blossoms, take two

1 cup canola oil or enough for 1/2 inch of oil
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup milk (or as much as it takes to make a thick paste, about the consistency of pancake batter)
1 teaspoon or to taste Trader Joe's barbecue, grill and broil seasoning (this stuff is great it as no salt and is just peppers, garlic, onion and herbs)
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
10-15 squash blossoms with squash attached, if possible. Some of these will fall apart because they're very very delicate. Don't worry, just fry each part up separately, remembering to stuff the blossoms with cheese
Pepper jack cheese

Heat the oil until it's rippling and hot and turn down to medium heat. Mix flour, cornstarch, grill seasoning and salt with milk until smooth, pancake-like batter forms. Very carefully separate the blossoms and put pieces of pepper jack cheese in the middle of the blossom. Handle very gently, because these are so delicate. Dip the stuffed blossoms in the batter and coat. Cook battered squash in hot oil and cook about 5 minutes on a side or until golden brown all over. Drain on paper towels. Serve these with jalapeno jelly..

Amputating The Lump

Ever since I was hit by the truck, I've had a big, old lump on my right hip. It just sits out there like a baby's head has been put under my skin. I've had it drained twice, to no avail, so my orthopedic surgeon finally had to go in surgically to try to get rid of the thing.

So last Monday, I had to go in for yet another surgery. Rob and I are becoming quite the surgery connoisseurs. The procedures themselves haven't been so bad, at least not the last two. Rob's eye is sore after and my hip was sore, but we really were hit hard by the anesthesia, which left us both feeling as though we'd been beaten up.

I could actually feel the build-up of lactic acid -- the chemical that makes muscles sore -- in my muscles and I was so sore I couldn't even lift my arms over my head. The pain was untouched by the Vicodin I was prescribed. In fact, it felt as though the Vicodin made it worse. I just felt as though I needed to be flushed out, so I drank a lot of water and by Day Three after the surgery, I was feeling much better.

Right now, the lump is draining, which is good, but it hasn't closed up yet. So I'm not supposed to be doing much moving around, although I did just bake a peach streusel bundt cake, but I can't sit around doing nothing.

This should be the final surgery for all the injuries I sustained in the accident. It will be nice to have a life that's free of doctor's appointments, surgeries and recoveries.

The results are in

The results are in. I got a blue ribbon for the peach pie and a third place for the chocolate chip cookies. The rest got a Big Fat Nada. Oh well. There's no accounting for taste. Everyone who's had the cookies here has LOVED them and that's what counts.

I went to the fair for the results with Dena and Rob this year and they helped find all the entries. Dena was disgusted because the winning zucchini bread had chocolate chips, which just sounds gross and isn't any kind of zucchini bread I'd want. The winning sugar cookies had frosting, which I think is not the way to judge a sugar cookie. IMO it should be just the quality of cookie that's judged.

Anyway, we moved on and went to the commercial tent, which Rob loves and we had lunch. I was able to walk pretty well, although by the end I really needed to sit down and the ankle was quite tender. I'm just glad I can walk as much as I can.

I have one final surgery scheduled. It's to get rid of the lump on my hip. It's, big and round and looks like there's a baby's head on my hip. The doctors have drained it twice but it keeps coming back. Now they're going to try surgery. Some of the doctors think my bursa broke, but they're puzzled because it doesn't hurt as much as one would think a burst bursa should.

It should be an easy surgery, but I do have to go under general anesthesia again -- the third time this year. With any luck, this will be it and I'm all done with the surgeries. I just hope this doesn't make things worse like the first knee surgery did. Otherwise I just want to get it over with.

My garden is going crazy and I'm harvesting zucchinis and cucumbers. I made some zucchini fritters the other night and they turned out really quite well, especially after I added some Parmesan cheese. I ate them with sour cream and they were quite delicious.

Zucchini cheese fritters

1 large (from the garden) or 2 store-bought zucchini, shredded by food processor or by hand
4 tablespoons canola or other high-temperature oil. I used grapeseed oil.
1 large egg
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
3 tablespoons fresh chopped Italian parsley
large pinch of salt
pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large skillet and mix the rest of the ingredients. Spoon mounds onto hot skillet and flatten. Let cook about 5 to 6 minutes a side or until cooked through. Drain on paper towels and serve with dollops of sour cram and a dill garnish.