Here’s wild broccoli or “broccoli rabe”, also known as “italian broccoli” or “Spargelkohl” in germany. This long-stemmed cousin of the well-known normal broccoli is more aromatic and has a more distinct flavor. I cooked it asian-style these days and it was a very delicious yet easy to make dish.
Recommended Read: Author H.P. Lovecraft
I stumbled upon a Kindle complete works edition of H. P. Lovecraft (▸wikipedia: de|en) and can’t stop reading. I read this guy’s novels and stories when I was a teenager and I liked his storytelling and his way of narration very much. IMHO, horror stories like the ones Lovecraft wrote are good because there is no distinct picture of the subject itself – it all relies on the reader’s imagination.
Narrow-minded fellows 😉 will object Lovecraft is overrated, his narratives being too harmless and “failing to make them feel any horror or anxiety” – well that might the case nowadays.
Minimalistic Camping Chuck Box
Years ago, I made cooking chuck box, intended to be used for an occasional overnighter at the lake and mounted in some form of converted van, station wagon or the like. Well, things went a little different – no van, but my trusty old Lada Niva, called “Juri” that I still proudly own today and that steadily serves me very well.
Farcydes Top 5 Recipes 2022
These are the dishes I liked best in 2022 and/or that I repeated most often. I’d appreciate if you give them a try, enjoy and let me know how they worked out for you!
Chimichurri
Chimichurri is an argentine uncooked herb sauce normally served as a condiment with grilled meats and steaks. I made it for our christmas dinner (and promptly forgot in the fridge). In it’s country of origin the sauce is also used for marinating even fish or poultry. It’s very aromatic, fresh and delicious and it’s easy to make with a mortar and pestle.
Greenhouse Heater – Upgrade
My new greenhouse heater that I luckily got hold of. Since the previous one unfortunately was a real letdown, I gave another product a chance.
Originally, this an emergency kerosene heater, even suitable for living spaces, more expensive but also much more potent and durable. (This one to be precise, but it’s available as several different models for different prices and in different qualities).
I tested this product thoroughly and over several days before writing another enthusiastic article, and in this case I can indeed give a clear recommendation. It’s got a capacity of about four liters of kerosene which it burns in about 36 hours on the lowest setting – a thirsty sailor. But it works! As soon as it’s heated up, it doesn’t stink very much anymore, it doesn’t self-extinguish with a half-filled tank and it heats my 6 m² greenhouse to 3 °C when it’s -10 °C outside reliably.
Also, it just looks cool, doesn’t it? Let’s keep that one. 
Cooking Rice – Knuckle Method
My. Rice. Cooker. Died. Don’t laugh, this is serious, no kidding. I cooked rice without one before but I’m absolutely not experienced with it and a rice cooker really is very convenient.
Now, lots of people have smiled over Uncle Roger’s hilarious YouTube reaction on somebody’s rice cooking, so, of course I tried his “finger method”, just for the test. No measuring of rice and water, just use your index finger’s knuckles and somewhat “eyeball” everything. There’s a nice and comprehensible explanation here that I shamelessly copied – see below.
And it works! I got fluffy, perfectly cooked and delicious rice. So easy, so convenient, so idiot proof. I’m even thinking about NOT buying a new rice cooker now 🙂
Asian Cooking Ingredient Roundhouse Kick
I did a sweeping blow in the kitchen today. Inspired by one of those nasty food videos on YT with appetizing and mouthwatering pictures of delicious ramen bowls, I made a whole series of japanese soup ingredients that I have almost all made before in the past – but never all of them together.
Now I’ve got a nice collection of asian ingredients to use in the near future – besides, it was an enjoyable way to tackle my downright miserable mood this morning.
Grumpy Molting Girl
Poor Priscilla in the middle of molting. She has already grown a lot of brand new feathers and many pinfeathers are waiting to develop, but she still looks like she got under a lawnmower.
Update: Chicken Care Cheat Sheets
Now that a year and a half have passed, I have learned geometrically and gained a lot of experience tending to my brave and pretty chickens. So here are my updated notes on chicken care and feeding. Maybe someone will find this useful, since they’re solely born from experience and, well, trial and error – but that makes these notes all the more “original” and reliable for me.
