Those of you on social media might have noticed that all I post are cat pictures, political rants, and food pics.

The latter’s number increased when I signed up for the UCD Student Farm CSA this summer.

The Pros

So much fresh fruit & veg!

The Cons

So much fresh fruit & veg, but Dante & I are just two people, and he’s picky as hell.

The Challenges

I didn’t want to let anything go to waste, which was difficult due to the amount of produce, the smallness of my freezer, and time.

I had to change the way I do meal planning. Normally, I plan out what I want way in advance and shop for what I need. In this system, each Monday had new surprises, and since there was just so much, I had to do meal planning around the vegetables.

A lot of family favorites got put on hold, since they didn’t call for summer produce.

And I’m proud of myself for finding so many new recipes to use what I got, but it took a lot of time each week to make it work.

I just don’t have those hours to give right now.

The Products:

Gazpachos, frozen watermelon concoctions, zucchini in all its forms, cobblers, stews, quiches, stir fries, pestos, pizzas, salsas, salads, mexican, indian, thai, and lots of cocktails with lemons and cucumbers.

I’ve roasted poblanos, baked beets, and cured my own pastrami.

I’ve tried (and failed) to find a watermelon potent potable I enjoy.

What I Learned:

I like eggplant.

Though he doesn’t like eggplant or zucchini, there were ways I could prepare both that Dante could stomach.

Gazpacho is better with corn.

Watermelon Gazpacho is also awesome.

I’m not just a good planner; I improvise well.

New Favorite Recipes:

Honey Mustard Ribs (from White on Rice; I did a boil and bake method.)

Pork Tonkatsu with an apple-sauce-based sauce (from Food & Wine)

Mexican Street Corn Chowder (Tiffany’s recommendation, from Taste of Home)

Roasted Chicken with Figs and Rosemary (from The New York Times)

Sweet Corn Tomalito (like Chevy’s, from All Recipes–I followed the microwaving tip from the reader comments)

Creamy Gazpacho (from The Food Network; I added sweet corn)

Eggplant Ikra (slow roasted eggplant, tomato, and garlic dip, from Food & Wine, though I didn’t have to mash it–I let it simmer on low for several hours)

Thai Chicken with Basil (and Egglant, if you add it like I did, from Food & Wine)

Eggplant with Basil and Chili Paste Stir Fry (from Hot Thai Kitchen)

Oven Fried Chicken (from Cafe Delites; I haven’t actually made the accompanying sauce. It’s so good already, especially with a little peri peri sprinkle in the mix)

Crock Pot Honey Garlic Pork Chops (from Dinner at the Zoo)

Honey Curry Glazed Chicken (from Oprah; we pair with East Bombay Potatoes, from Tales From the Kitchen Shed–if you roast the potatoes a little longer, you can do the chicken and the potatoes in the same oven)

Greek Chicken Kabob with Lemon and Oregano (from Food & Wine; you don’t have to use skewers if you don’t have them; you can also put green beans or something below them in the pan to roast while they do; we paired with rice and tzatziki)

My friend Tim’s zucchini bread

The best amateur butter chicken I’ve pulled off so far (from Two Sleevers)

Tomatillo Pork Stew (Chili Verde, from Simply Recipes; the CSA wouldn’t always give me enough tomatillos for this, so I would round this out with a jar of Safeway-brand chili verde stew simmer sauce. I also always add fresh corn, rice, or potatoes).

Zucchini Fries (from Gimme Delish; you can do this with okra as well; I also like to either add cajun seasonings, Indian spices, blackening, or peri seasonings to give these more kick. I bought an air fryer, and used it constantly for these and for reheating things without turning the oven on)

Asian Boiled and Baked Ribs (from All Recipes)

Watermelon Gazpacho (from Gimme Some Oven; I added basil and balsamic)

Watermelon Sorbet (from Delish; I added balsamic vinegar)

Chicken Milanese with Sage-Butter-Lemon Sauce (from Food & Wine)

Sweet Corn Pesto Pasta (from Last Ingredient; I tried it with Chicken and Shrimp)

Roasted Okra with Rosemary (from Decor Chick)

Corn Bread (take that jiffy box–follow the instructions, but add in fresh herbs and veg (diced jalapenos, chives, and/or shredded zucchini + some cheese)

Figgy Bread Pudding (make your usual bread pudding, but add diced figs to the batter)

Curried Chicken and Zucchini (from The New York Times; we discovered this is best with mashed potatoes and sauteed corn, all mixed together; two minor changes: I shredded the zucchini and cut the chicken into cubes before marinating)

It’s not new, but here’s our other favorite zucchini pasta recipe, from NPR.

This also isn’t new, but if you have okra and fresh corn, cut the kernals off the cob, slice the okra and saute them in a little oil or butter with salt and pepper and/or peri/Indian/blackened/cajun spices. I serve this side dish constantly in the summer, often with fish.

Two of the most successful dishes were almost pure improv (I promise to give you the recipe before I tell you my life story):

Curried Lentils with Eggplant & Okra

Marinara with Eggplant and Fresh Tomatoes (My CSA Marinara)

And Then What Happened?

It was time to re-up, but the freezer was bursting with veggie dish leftovers, I was starting new rounds of physical therapy, my teaching load was increasing, and I was cowed by the thought of trying to enjoy mountains of collards and other winter things that I’ve just never loved.

So my first CSA experiment is over.

What I’m Doing Now Instead

Imperfect Foods–I can actually buy enough food for two instead of a big family, they have local meat & dairy & snacks as well as veggies and fruit, and I can customize the cart so there’s nothing we won’t eat.

Want to try it? Let me know–we could both get $10 off.

Ingredients (approximate; I don’t really measure):

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• three garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 c. red lentils
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 jalapenos, chopped, or cayenne pepper, if desired
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes (or fresh, chopped)
• 1 eggplant, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 15 oz can coconut milk
• 1.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• salt and pepper
• 3 Tbs butter
• 1-2 cups chopped fresh or frozen okra
• fresh cilantro, unless you have that weird gene that makes it taste like soap (you might want to avoid the coriander, above, if that’s the case)

Method:

1. Before going to bed, cook the garlic and onion with the olive oil.
2. Don’t go to bed yet. Put the now-sauteed garlic and onion all of the rest of the ingredients, except the butter, okra, and cilantro, into a pam-ed crock pot.
3. Go to bed. Read something wonderful, like O’Malley’s The Rook, Miller’s Why Fish Don’t Exist, or Atwood’s new poetry collection, Dearly. Your crock pot should be on low while you dream.
4. In the morning, check the seasonings and give it a good stir.
5. About an hour and a half before you want to eat it, throw in the butter and the okra (longer if it’s frozen).
6. Serve with cilantro, naan, and/or rice.

Can you do this without the eggplant and/or okra?

You could, yes.

But this recipe was invented (adapted from Kitchen Confidante) just for eggplant and okra.

I had the penultimate pile of fresh okra from the summer (the ultimate serving was air fried, of course) and an eggplant from my chiropractor’s garden. And I’d been craving dal, the creamy Indian lentil soup.

In my experience, most lentil recipes vastly underestimate how long it takes to cook the lentils to perfection, so I decided to let my crock pot do the work, especially since I was breaking down the smokey eggplant completely.

Does it need to be in the crock pot that long? No. But why not? I didn’t actually serve my curry until about 20 hours after I started the crock pot–and it was perfect.

Too many tomatoes, eggplants, and sprigs of basil?

Not anymore!

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• Tomatoes (any kind will work), roughly diced
• Eggplants (any kind), peeled and roughly diced
• Basil
• Italian Seasoning
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic
• Wine (red or white, as long as it’s dry)
• A spoonful of honey or sugar
• optional: tomato paste
• Italian sausage (any kind)
• optional: cayenne
• Heavy cream
• Parsley

Why no measurements? That’s not how kitchen improv with your CSA works!

Method:

1. Put the olive oil, tomatoes, eggplant, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic, wine, and honey or sugar into a large pot. Heat on low for several hours, stirring infrequently, The vegetables will break down.
2. Use an immersion blender to mix everything (or transfer everything to a food processor or blender, mix, and return to the pot).
3. Cook the Italian sausage. Add to the marinara.
4. If it’s too soupy, perhaps because the tomatoes were really juicy, add tomato paste.
5. Mix parmesan cheese (1/2 cup-ish) and a cup-ish of heavy cream. Adjust seasoning. (If the Italian sausage isn’t spicy, I add cayenne to give the sauce a kick.) Adding some chopped spinach into this step would work great, if you have some.
6. Serve over pasta, topped with parsley and additional parmesan cheese.
7. Since you made so much, put some in the freezer.

This recipe came from my Summer of 2020 CSA adventure. I had run out of ways to use eggplant and tomatoes and basil (especially since my son wouldn’t eat eggplant). I asked for his permission to try to make a marinara that would include eggplant.

This worked so well; the smokiness of the eggplant balances and complements the other ingredients. We tried other proteins, but when we didn’t have Italian sausage, it just wasn’t the same.

If we were vegetarian and didn’t know the joys of what Italian sausage would do, though, we would have still loved this dish.

I still have lots of this in my freezer, and the boy is happy when I resurrect some for a weeknight pasta fest.

I gave you the recipe before my life story, unlike so many recipe sites.

But here’s some life story, which has nothing to do with the recipe:

I was with my grandparents for my summers (and more) as a kid. They would often let my cousins and I play in the pool in the afternoons, until the first thunderclap.

There was always a first thunderclap, usually around 2 p.m., signaling a storm that would last about two hours.

That’s how Northern Florida works.

I would run in the house and change while my grandfather made popcorn. I would then take my place on his lap; we would watch The People’s Court, trying to guess how Judge Wapner would rule.

It’s the smells I remember most: buttered popcorn and the chlorine lingering on my hair. But I can also still hear the heavy rain pouring on our round house in the woods.

When therapists have asked me to picture myself somewhere safe, I’m on that lap, eating popcorn, smelling chlorine, listening to the rainstorms, determining justice.

Most of you have already seen the video of Snowball’s first night playing fetch.

Her consistency was shaky at first, but now she’s reliable.

Each night, when I tell her it’s time for bed, she runs up, and we play fetch while I read.

She likes to play with the toy on the floor for a few minutes before she brings it back to me, which gives me time to turn some pages.

The boy is disappointed that she thinks this is only bedtime behavior; she looks at us like we’re crazy when we ask her to bring a living room toy back to us.

Although she usually gets tired before I put my book down, there have been a few nights when she’s wanted to keep going longer than I could.

And there have been a few when she’s wanted to play in the middle of the night. I’ve woken up with a toy mouse in my hand more than once.

Today, I woke up with one between my collarbones. She was on my chest too; maybe she just wanted all of us to be together.

This is just a short blog to recommend an episode of This American Life, “Something Only I Can See.”

It’s about a woman who first is convinced her family has a rare genetic condition.

And who then is convinced she has a second one.

The doctors don’t believe her either time.

I’m lucky, at this point in my life, to has a GP who believes me. I have lots of rare things, and I’m that person who has the rare side effect–the one that isn’t listed in the commercial.

When I go to the ER for abdominal migraines, I have to educate everyone about it. Since I’m never asking for pain killers, they don’t fight me. God help me if I did need some to fight this, though.

This story reminded me to keep explaining and to keep pushing. Lightening does strike twice for some of us.

Even if Trump weren’t Trump, I would still be voting for Biden.

Not because Biden is my dream candidate or because the Democratic party is progressive enough for me.

But because there’s a clear difference between it and the Republican party’s positions.

The Republican Party (RP) won’t admit there’s structural racism. In fact, it claims “reverse racism” is worse.

RP doesn’t accept climate science.

RP isn’t just coming after abortion–it wants to take away my right birth control.

RP is rolling back protections for the many rape victims on campuses, focusing instead on the exceedingly rare cases of false rape claims.

RP wants to take some of my tax money away from public schools and give it to private schools, schools that can discriminate against students, which can refuse to accept troubled or disabled students, and which don’t have to uphold the same standards.

PR believes in draconian immigration laws.

RP thinks police get to shoot to kill, no matter what the situation.

RP believes in the death penalty.

RP doesn’t want LGBTQA+ people to have equal protection and rights under the law.

RP believes in “religious liberty,” which is the “liberty” to discriminate, sometimes lethally.

RP believes our laws should be based on their interpretation of the Bible. This is Sharia law and violates the separation between church and state.

RP believes certain kinds of science shouldn’t be taught in schools (see Sharia law, above).

RP is the only 1st world major political party that doesn’t believe in evolution. Even the Catholic Church thinks the RP is wrong on this one.

RP wants to restrict the social safety net significantly. Many Republicans would rather end it for everyone than have any people benefit who don’t “deserve” to.

RP is the only 1st world major political party that rejects universal healthcare.

RP doesn’t believe any form of protest is okay, if you’re protesting them. If you’re on their side, taking over a government building while carrying semi-automatic weapons is fine.

RP doesn’t like higher education.

RP wants to pretend America has always been perfect.

RP worships the generals of racist insurrectionists who lost a war against my country.

RP is supported by, endorsed by, and filled with KKK members, incels, and other white terrorists, and the RP minimizes their terrorism and refuses to combat it, even though their own government intelligence agencies are clear about the threat.

RP turns away refugees.

RP claims that they’re the only patriotic ones and the only moral ones, despite enormous evidence to the contrary.

RP often resists giving aid after natural disasters.

RP only wants some parts of history taught in history classes, while claiming that’s not indoctrination.

RP attacks a democratically-elected Governor, encourages her overthrow, and then blames her when their supporters follow their encouragement.

RP has an ineffective Cuba policy. Its leader’s relationships with dictatorships around the world are inconsistent, often encourage human rights abuses, and are far too cozy with the worst..

RP would invalidate some of my friends’ marriages and take away some of my friends’ children.

RP has alienated most of our allies.

RP’s own studies confirm Russian interference in our elections, but doesn’t take action.

RP denies the realities of the pandemic and what we could do to stop it. Its members keep saying we need to “reopen safely” but tell their supporters that the most basic safety measures shouldn’t be followed if doctors, scientists, or liberals suggest them.

RP has rolled back countless environmental regulations.

RP wants people in jail for smoking pot.

RP bails out banks, but not families.

RP is fine with crippling college debt.

RP sees wages stay stagnant for decades, while the cost of everything we pay for with our wages has skyrocketed by comparison, but does not support a living wage.

RP is probably thinking I shouldn’t have said the last thing, since CEO wages have increased at a much higher rate than inflation (they probably think that disproves my point somehow).

RP supports a higher tax rate on me than on the wealthy and corporations.

RP claims it’s the party of the economy, but the trend in my lifetime has been Republican=recession, Democrat=recovery.

RP refused to seat judges nominated by a black guy and then said it was the black guy’s fault for “leaving all those seats open.”

RP’s policy regarding abortion will drive the abortion rate up, and I don’t want that.

RP says the government shouldn’t have a say in my healthcare; instead, the insurance company, which will only turn a profit if it refuses the care I need, gets to make the decisions.

RP fights against all gun control legislation, even those policies the majority of its members and the majority of NRA members support.

RP pretends Puerto Ricans and other colonists aren’t American and tries to refuse them help after natural disasters.

RP is anti-union.

RP often supports unilateral treaty breaks, rather than building international consensus. At the same time, it rejects the UN, WHO, etc. Under Republicans, the US usually tries to put a gag order on overseas family planning aid, which ends up causing increased abortion numbers, and refuses to support war crimes legislation, in fear that an American might get in trouble for committing them.

RP pretends the Constitution was written by omniscient people who foresaw every social, economic, and political change, crisis, and challenge we would ever undergo (aka Originalism).

RP wants to limit voting, to make it harder. It spreads false stories about voter fraud, while some of its members publicly admit its goal is to curb liberal’s ability to vote.

What do the RP and I have in common? We both want this country to be different and better than it is.

We have very different ideas about what “better” means and in some cases, like lowering the abortion rate, very different ideas about how to do it.

We’re also both hypocritical sometimes about our states’ rights positions.

Increasingly, it seems like we’re living in different worlds. They think Biden is a radical socialist. And we think he’s too conservative.

And if I use the “are you better off now” metric, the decision to vote for Biden is even easier.

My life is much, much worse than it was four years ago, economically, socially, and emotionally.

For example, even though I’m the President of an academic society, I’m not allowed to attend some academic conferences right now, FFS–because the EU has banned us! Many family members have Covid. I have to worry about my brother, who not only is getting over Covid, but who doesn’t have insurance because of the GOP control of Florida, and I have to worry because of the constant hurricanes heading toward him, which is what the scientists said would happen if we didn’t do something about climate change. I can’t see my friends safely. Most of the students and I hate online learning; it’s also a lot more work and a lot worse for my body. My lungs have been aching because of a fire for over two months–a fire the GOP tries to blame California for, instead of acknowledging climate change. The only people who touch me are doctors, and I miss oxytocin so much. My medication makes me immuno-compromised, so I fear dying of a disease the GOP keeps lying about. My son could bring Covid home to me from work; all it would take is one person not being careful or being deliberately toxic. I had a socially distanced visit, and my one year old nephew kept trying to come to me–he’s always been able to come to me–I was the first non-parent and non-hospital person to touch him–but I had to tell him that he couldn’t. I had to tell a baby I love not to touch me, knowing that he couldn’t understand why, that he would think I didn’t love him. All of the budgets are strained, which is bad news for nontenured faculty, especially with a GOP that won’t support workers’ rights. Trump’s China policies caused much fewer Chinese students to enroll, and I’ve lost many junior colleagues who taught them. My already-ridiculous rent keeps going up. After paying $800 a month for almost ten years, I only managed to pay down a couple thousand in principle and owe more money than I borrowed for my degrees. It seems like almost every day, another unarmed person of color has been shot and all I can do is cry and fight and march and be mad when people criticize BLM by intentionally misinterpreting it with an “only” in front, and I don’t buy for a second the other side’s argument that it’s just a few bad apples, not only because of the pervasiveness, but because the GOP always sides with the cop, every. single. time. and you would think if they really believed in a few bad apples, they would be able to point to one cop who murdered a guy and say, “see–that’s a bad apple: he should face justice,” but the POC always deserves it and every cop is innocent, they say, while we wonder why Dylan Roof got a hamburger from the cops after murdering black people in a house of god because they were black when we’re pretty sure a black man who killed white people in a church a) wouldn’t be taken alive b) wouldn’t hear some version of “killing whitey must really work up an appetite, so here’s a snack” and to wonder why, after everything, a heavily armed white man who just shot a bunch of people at a protest is able to walk by police, while people are screaming to those police that he just murdered someone, and not get arrested, but then when he does, “Christians” raise money for him and deny white privilege, and the pastor of a church in my town says that murderer would make a good President.

This is a country in which a violent man who murdered a teenager sells autographed skittles to his fans. We know which party those fans vote for.

This election is about Trump and it isn’t.

Even if someone else were running on the RP ticket, the RP would still have all those distasteful positions.

And they would still be the party who, for the last four years, let a traitorous psychopath run my country.

Here’s the second part of the podcast we appeared on. Thanks to Best Darn Diddly: we make a groin-grabbingly good team!

Denise and I were honored to return to the Best Darn Diddly Podcast, to discuss an episode with everything–a great Vincent Price impression, Fred Willard, and Dolly Parton!

Here’s the first part of our joyful overanalysis of “Sunday, Cruddy Sunday.”

Q: Thanks for checking in with us again, Karma. Are you excited about the start of Fall?

A: It’s going to be 100 tomorrow, it’s still smokey, and some of my friends have been evacuated.

Q: Ah, it’s gonna be one of those interviews.

A: It’s 2020.

Q: What were your goals this summer?

A: Well, once it was clear what summer was going to be, I wanted to get into some good routines for myself. I wanted to try new recipes with my CSA, to take a walk every morning, to read in my hammock for a bit at the end of the work day, and to take Sundays off from school work. And I wanted to do some things on the big “to do” list, like backing up my old family photos.

Q: Did you meet your goals?

A: I tried a bunch of new recipes!

Q: What about the rest?

A: I was doing really well until the start of August. I was up to walking for almost an hour, but then my back went out. Right as two upper division online summer classes were starting. Since I give so much more feedback now, I was having trouble getting away from the computer. And then, once my back was better, the fires started.

Q: Ah, yes. And the air turned yellow and unhealthy.

A: While over 100.

Q: Yes.

A: It’s 2020. Yes. But I created an incredible marinara recipe.

Q: Do you think you’ll be able to get back into good health habits in Fall?

A: I’ll be teaching six classes.

Q: No hammock time?

A: The air is still unhealthy, but I do want to use it in between when the fires let up and the rain starts. If we get that break.

Q: Anything else happen this summer?

A: My brother and nephew got Covid, my rent went up, my hometown (with Covid-recovering family) got hit by a hurricane, and I’ve been bleeding for six out of the last eight weeks.

Q: Let’s leave the audience with sometime positive, shall we?

A: My son started grad school.

Q: And?

A: I got the cutest kitten in the world.

Q: And?

A: I survived. I survived more of this year, even though the natural and unnatural disasters make it hard to get out of bed in the morning. And while I didn’t manage to make any headway on my health or on my big list, I did manage to teach three intensive summer classes and to keep on top of them. And my fall classes are ready to go.

Q: And?

A: And I made a great marinara sauce!