Slow learning

[In case anyone is still wondering: no, we in Canberra have not been affected by the recent bushfires, for which we are very grateful. Please spare a thought—and maybe a few bob or bucks—for the people of Victoria after last weekend’s terrible events.]


And now to return to our regularly scheduled nattering…


I love my slow cooker, and always feel as though I want to be using it more than I am. So when I came across A Year of Crockpotting a few months ago, I squealed with joy and promptly started working my way through the archives from January 1. If you’re not familiar with it, the blog arose when Stephanie, the author, made a commitment to using her slow cooker every day of 2008. She did it, too, and along the way used her slow cooker in ways heretofore unimagined, at least by me.

I’ve bookmarked dozens of recipes, most of which I have yet to try. But in the course of my reading, I did absorb two important concepts about using the slow cooker:

1. It’s a good tool for cooking things that are likely to burn in the oven.

2. It’s a good substitute for the oven when you don’t want to turn the oven on—the obvious reason being that you don’t want to leave the oven on in an empty house, and the less immediately apparent reason being that it’s too #@!$%?& hot to turn the oven on in the first place.

With these two ideas in mind, I’ve been doing some experimenting over the last few weeks, when the temperature has consistently been hovering in the high 30s C (around 100F). I’ve made:

- Baked potatoes
- Croutons
- Roasted tomatoes
- Granola
- Pizza sauce
- Chicken stock
- Roasted zucchini
- Bacon

My favorite so far, though, has been a slow-cooker version of this roasted rhubarb recipe, taken to another level with the addition of fresh sliced peaches during the last hour of cooking. Mixed into a bowl of Greek yogurt, with a generous fistful of (slow-cooked) homemade granola sprinkled over the top, it provided a transcendental breakfast every day for a week. Which is really saying something when it’s so hot that even I don’t feel like eating.

Allium conundrum

Q: What would you call those green things in the bowl?

a. Scallions

b. Spring onions

c. Shallots

A: It's a trick question: they're all correct. It just depends on where you are. In the US they're scallions, in the UK they're spring onions, and in Australia they're shallots. How's that for confusing?

I even tried growing some in my container garden so I wouldn't have to remember what they're called when I go to the supermarket, but they fried in the sun as soon as they popped out of the dirt.

This is the first food item I've found that has a different name in each of the three countries, but I'm keeping my eye out for more.

Oh, and whatever you call them, my photography/cooking assistant, seen here straying into shot, has given them the Miss B Thumbs Down: "too spicy!"

Rocking politics

I heard Peter Garrett on the radio this morning. He’s the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts in Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s Labor Government. He was talking about a government funding program to give people money to insulate their houses. It’s part of the Australian government’s economic stimulus package, and an environmental initiative as well (because if your house is insulated, you won’t use as much energy heating or cooling it).

That’s Peter Garrett, former lead singer of Midnight Oil. One of my favorite bands of the '90s.

Okay, I know that we had Sonny Bono in the US House of Representatives, and before that we had Fred Grandy, better known to most people as 'Gopher' from The Love Boat. Plus that guy who ran for President—Fred Thompson? And probably a few more besides—not forgetting Ronald Reagan, who before he was Governor of California and President was the star of such cinematic masterpieces as Bedtime for Bonzo. And, of course, the Governator. But these people’s previous careers are kind of a cultural joke or, if we’re going to be kinder, a cultural curiosity. (Also, they’re all Republicans, which I never thought about before. What’s up with that?)

I feel differently about Peter Garrett, probably because I vividly remember standing against the back wall of the Paradise Rock Club, mesmerized, feeling like he was speaking directly to me as he passionately expounded on his political views, and then he and the rest of the band ripped into “Dream World”.

I always knew he was political; that was part of the band’s appeal to me. I even knew he was in Parliament in Australia. But he was always in opposition, always fighting The Powers That Be. Now he’s part of the system. In the inner circle, even—the Cabinet. It’s a little weird.

Especially because even his speaking voice is so distinctive that, half-listening to the radio as I made toast, I dropped the butter knife when I heard it and said out loud, “Hey, isn’t that Peter Garrett?” And then realized that it was, and that he sounded like a bureaucrat.

Who knows? Maybe tomorrow President Obama will announce that Chuck D is going to head up HUD. Which is not a bad idea, actually. I just hope his income tax records will stand up to scrutiny.