Jocelyn Campbell

Laura Hans wrote:

The dried stalks are hollow and if bundled, make great native bee habitat.

 

One gardener told me she planted lovage specifically for the hollow stems:  to use them as bloody Mary straws!

Tereza, I hope you can try again! As Nicole mentioned, lovage suffers a bit in the heat and dry, and starting from seed might be better if you can, but once established, lovage survives even Montana winters well! I transplanted some lovage that was growing intermingled with some flower bulbs and had to water it a lot until the transplants could make it on their own (in Montana).

William Bronson wrote: Egg yolk,  perhaps the world's greats sauce!

Yes! And in this post, I talk about my favorite, easiest Hollandaise sauce, ever. If you have any leftover and put in it the fridge, it becomes the texture of Cheez Whiz (yes, I typed that!) and is spreadable on crackers or toast. YUM.

Or, gently re-heat by putting your bowl of congealed Hollaindaise sauce in a bowl of warm water, and stir, then whisk to reheat all the way through. You might need to replenish the warm-hot (not boiling) water in the outer bowl in this method.

William, I agree with Robin that steaming eggs on top of greens or soup or stew or sauce is FAR better than poaching. And that it's kind of cross between steaming and poaching.

For me, I put the salt and pepper and fat or other seasonings in my greens, and the eggs on top are well enough seasoned by taking bites together. I think it probably does infuse a bit, though it's mostly that you're eating it together, I think.

Also, important for me is a clear glass lid. I LOVE a runny yolk, and watching so that the whites are *just* done (no longer runny) means that yolks will usually still be runny. You might need to experiment with your own settings - just below medium, or medium-low is often the heat I use to steam my eggs on greens. Shake the pan to see if the whites jiggle or not. I do not like runny whites! Blech! But IMHO, a runny yolk *is* the best sauce!

Another important note is that duck eggs and some backyard chicken eggs have egg whites that are still clear when they are cooked and no longer runny! This can throw you off and lead to a hard cooked yolk, which in my book, is not a happy thing.

I love that Aimee uses the stems of the greens, too, and cooks them longer than the leaf/greens part, like I do! Yum.

EDITED to add:  if you're using a pan that holds heat, like a cast iron pan, or a hot pot of chili, you might have cooked the eggs perfectly, but if they sit in the pan, they will keep cooking and your yolks will harden! So get them on a plate (or in a bowl) almost immediately!

Robin Katz wrote:
One of our other favorites is two eggs steamed or poached in homemade green chili with pork that I make and freeze every summer.

Yasss! I love to steam eggs in the top of a hearty chili, stew, or even leftover spaghetti sauce. It reminds me of Shakshuka, which is a Mediterranean flavored tomato sauce with eggs steamed or poached in it.

I like to slide greens in the bowl under my chili, stew, or even spaghetti so that it just wilts for serving up. Or I'll add greens to the egg-heartiness combos above.

Jordan Holland wrote:If they don't do business online, maybe encourage them to, and if you can, point them the way or help them get started. I think this will be more and more important as time goes by.

I am taking mental notes about businesses in the area. I am remembering the ones who choose to help people and stay open. I will be patronizing them more in the future than I have in the past. Ones that are taking advantage of people, not so much. I like my money to go to good people.

I like both of these thoughts!

When I was in Missoula earlier this year, and the health department didn't allow the farmers market to open fully, the market pulled together an online ordering system where you *could* order items from market vendors who weren't allowed to have a stand at the market yet. If some of those systems continue, and you might be making a trip to town for a market, check to see if you can order for pickup at the market. It was really a slick deal.

Also, I'm not sure how many areas this service might be in around the U.S., but this is like the Etsy for FOOD:  https://www.barn2door.com/buy-food.

Way cool, if you ask me. I think it's far easier to add your own listings to an existing system like a farmers market online store, Barn2Door, or Etsy, etc. than to create your own online web store. So that might be a great way to encourage someone to list their stuff online.

Anne Miller wrote:Jocelyn, thank you for sharing this.

I live too far from the towns in my area so I cannot help.

What I decided to do is to show my support was to subscribe to the local newspapers.  It is not much though they are trying to keep people informed on locale happens.

These communities did pull together to help keep the school children with meals and to keep meals on wheels going.

You're welcome, of course!

I think even those who live far away from town could find one thing, whether it's coffee, jam or jelly, or a hand-sewn thing, and order online from a local maker. Even if it costs a tiny bit more, if you're able to just buy one thing locally, ideally on a regular basis, instead of from a big box store or the grocery store, that's something!

The local newspaper is a great idea!

Very neat about meals for school children who depend on meals at school and the meals on wheels. I love hearing those stories!

This was a fun vegan foodie / outdoor enthusiast tour of Missoula.

Here's what I'm learning:  agreeableness and coffee go together!

Aren't we all happier with coffee?  Haha!

Cheekiness aside, I appreciate the conversations, and better yet, awesome examples (!), around how to be agreeable and not be a doormat. Especially in professional relationships.

It's an odd line, those boundaries. And since we're all human, we make mistakes and cross a line here and there.

I just started listening to a podcast by Ester Perel (sp?) about work relationships and I'm looking forward to hearing more of what she has to say. I have a feeling it's a far cry from assertiveness training, too.

Artie, I have fired clients, so I hear you on that.

John, that IS funny about women's business attire! When I worked as a corporate accounting manager I dressed in what I thought was appropriate, though rarely business suits. (I owned one dove grey suit - it was a pantsuit if that matters - that I enjoyed wearing to work.) I had another woman in the office tell me I should cover up my boobs more than I did. Some times I would wear a tight sweater (not low cut or anything) without a jacket or anything over it. She told me she thought that was too distracting for men in the office. I thanked her for her opinion and kept dressing as I wished.

John F Dean wrote:Close to this topic is the fading away of assertiveness training seminars. I spoke to a prof at Southern Illinois University as to why I did not see such training now when it was common in the 70s.  His take was the people who could benefit from the training were often too withdrawn to take it.  The classes had too high of percentage of dominating people who were sure they were being walked on.  In the worst cases they were making bigger bullies out of bullies.

That's frightening. And interesting.

A common theme to help women become more successful in business has been assertiveness training. Though I watched an illuminating TEDx talk by a woman who felt it wasn't so much about assertiveness (and I'll extend that to include agreeableness in the face of disagreeableness) but she thought is was about a lack of business acumen. She specifically postulated that women would do better to learn more about finance and MBA-type skills (or degrees) to be promoted in business, not the more "soft" skills of communication, assertiveness, and relationships.

For me, in my business, I've learned that my high conscientiousness, my agreeableness, and my attention to detail mean that I work best with a certain type of client. Those who are responsive, and conscientious in their dealings with me (and their books!) are the best. Those who put me off, or don't care if their books are kept well ("kept well" is admittedly/purposely vague, and I'm certainly not as much of a stickler as some), are okay letting some things slip, etc., are not a good fit as my client.

Those who disregard me and/or their own books and taxes, leads to my agreeableness being in huge conflict with my conscientiousness and it's not a happy thing in my world.

TIL that temperament has an 'a' in the middle! I thought it was spelled 'temperment.' Who knew? Also, I tend to call the attention to detail personality trait a 'high level of discernment' but (edited to update due to my slow memory recall) I think Jordan Peterson called 'orderliness.'