A Late Summer Harvest

It's been a good year for gardening in Seattle, at least in my garden. Thanks to great new tools* and Steve Solomon's recipe for homemade fertilizer, my house has been swimming in home-grown vegetables all summer. I'm fortunate that a friend lets me garden a 300 square foot plot behind her house. Here's a photo of part of today's harvest; various kale/collards, zucchini, tomatoes and the last of the pole beans:

Perfect for the Eocene diet.

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A Pressure Cooker for the 21st Century

Pressure cookers are an extremely useful kitchen tool. They greatly speed cooking and reduce energy usage by up to 70 percent. This is because as pressure increases, so does the boiling point of water, which is the factor that limits cooking speed in water-containing foods (most foods). If it weren't for my pressure cooker, I'd rarely eat beets or globe artichokes. Instead of baking, boiling or steaming these for 60-90 minutes, I can have them soft as butter in 30. But let's face it: most people are intimidated by pressure cookers. They fear the sounds, the hot steam, and the perceived risk of explosion. I escaped this because I grew up around them.

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