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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Tuesday, June 12, 2007 Eggplant Parmagiana, and concrete Today we have a much longer and less steep wheelchair ramp. Tomorrow, if the forecasted thunderstorms don't actually materialize, we will have a 12 foot concrete pad extending from the end of the ramp out into the gravel driveway, so I can get Clarence from the car to the ramp. Next year, if I'm able to do the hoped for addition to the house, it will all have to be moved. Billy looked glum when I told him that, but there's no help for it."Add on to the other side of the trailer," he suggested. No, that would leave us with no back yard at all, because we're only about 30 feet from the property line as it is."Add on from where the porch starts and leave the rest of it as it is," he said hopefully. I sympathized, because I don't like the idea of tearing out something I paid considerable money for. But we have to have the wheelchair ramp and concrete pad now, and we will have to move the porch and the ramp later. That's all there is to it.So he and his helper will be back tomorrow to dig out the area where the concrete will go and build the form for the section that will slope up to the ramp. He says the ready-mix truck can probably come tomorrow afternoon, weather permitting, so by the end of the week, at least, I won't have any more worries about getting Clarence in and out of the house.We celebrated his return, more or less, to intestinal health with a pan of Eggplant Parmigiana. This is one of my favorite dishes, and it's amazingly easy to make.Peel as much eggplant as you think the number of people will eat. One medium eggplant is about right for two adults. Cut it into half-inch slices, dip the slices in a bowl of whisked egg, and then into a bowl of flour or bread crumbs, whichever you prefer. Fry them gently in oil until they are soft. Most recipes say to fry them just until the coating is golden, but I've found out the hard way that if you don't get them soft in the frying pan, they won't be soft after you take them out of the oven.While the slices of eggplant are frying, for every eggplant shred about a cup of fresh mozzarella (pre-shredded low-fat mozzarella is nasty stuff compared to the real thing) into a bowl. Add about the same amount of fresh grated Parmesan. Throw in about a teaspoon of fresh basil and a teaspoon of fresh parsley, and mix it all together.You can use grocery store spaghetti sauce for this recipe, but of course your own is better. You'll need about two cups for one eggplant, and another cup for each additional one if you're making a larger amount. Spread a third of the spaghetti sauce in an appropriately-sized pan (an 8x8 cake pan is about right for a one-eggplant recipe). Put a layer of fried eggplant slices on top, throw half the cheese mixture on top of that and then another third of the spaghetti sauce. Lay the rest of the eggplant slices on top, sprinkle the rest of the cheese on the eggplant, and spread the rest of the spaghetti sauce on top of the whole thing. Stick it in the oven for about 20 minutes, then let it sit on top of the stove for another 10 or 15 minutes to let it thicken so it doesn't run all over when you dish it up. Yum! posted by Liz @ 5:11 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Today we have a much longer and less steep wheelchair ramp. Tomorrow, if the forecasted thunderstorms don't actually materialize, we will have a 12 foot concrete pad extending from the end of the ramp out into the gravel driveway, so I can get Clarence from the car to the ramp. Next year, if I'm able to do the hoped for addition to the house, it will all have to be moved. Billy looked glum when I told him that, but there's no help for it."Add on to the other side of the trailer," he suggested. No, that would leave us with no back yard at all, because we're only about 30 feet from the property line as it is."Add on from where the porch starts and leave the rest of it as it is," he said hopefully. I sympathized, because I don't like the idea of tearing out something I paid considerable money for. But we have to have the wheelchair ramp and concrete pad now, and we will have to move the porch and the ramp later. That's all there is to it.So he and his helper will be back tomorrow to dig out the area where the concrete will go and build the form for the section that will slope up to the ramp. He says the ready-mix truck can probably come tomorrow afternoon, weather permitting, so by the end of the week, at least, I won't have any more worries about getting Clarence in and out of the house.We celebrated his return, more or less, to intestinal health with a pan of Eggplant Parmigiana. This is one of my favorite dishes, and it's amazingly easy to make.Peel as much eggplant as you think the number of people will eat. One medium eggplant is about right for two adults. Cut it into half-inch slices, dip the slices in a bowl of whisked egg, and then into a bowl of flour or bread crumbs, whichever you prefer. Fry them gently in oil until they are soft. Most recipes say to fry them just until the coating is golden, but I've found out the hard way that if you don't get them soft in the frying pan, they won't be soft after you take them out of the oven.While the slices of eggplant are frying, for every eggplant shred about a cup of fresh mozzarella (pre-shredded low-fat mozzarella is nasty stuff compared to the real thing) into a bowl. Add about the same amount of fresh grated Parmesan. Throw in about a teaspoon of fresh basil and a teaspoon of fresh parsley, and mix it all together.You can use grocery store spaghetti sauce for this recipe, but of course your own is better. You'll need about two cups for one eggplant, and another cup for each additional one if you're making a larger amount. Spread a third of the spaghetti sauce in an appropriately-sized pan (an 8x8 cake pan is about right for a one-eggplant recipe). Put a layer of fried eggplant slices on top, throw half the cheese mixture on top of that and then another third of the spaghetti sauce. Lay the rest of the eggplant slices on top, sprinkle the rest of the cheese on the eggplant, and spread the rest of the spaghetti sauce on top of the whole thing. Stick it in the oven for about 20 minutes, then let it sit on top of the stove for another 10 or 15 minutes to let it thicken so it doesn't run all over when you dish it up. Yum!
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
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PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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