I don’t recall what I paid for it, but this was one of the best purchases I have bought for my kitchen, a Revere Ware Steamer Insert. *I see that there are used ones for about $20.
I just had some steamed cauliflower tonight, flavored with some salt, margarine and bacon grease. Delicious! And that has prompted me to write this posting.
I steam way more cabbage than either broccoli or cauliflower, combined, but I do like the flavors and textures of all three steamed veggies. Currently, I am steaming cabbage and then flavoring it with a little Splenda and salt. But I also really like Toasted Sesame Oil… and bacon grease. **I eat a lot of bacon. In fact, almost every other day, I have bacon either with fried apples, or with a waffle, or with egg salad. ***Toasted Sesame Oil is what I consider the base flavor for fried rice. When I thought of adding the toasted sesame oil to my steamed cabbage, I thought about the shredded cabbage that is found in egg rolls. It made sense that the toasted sesame oil and soy sauce would go well. I haven’t added soy sauce to my steamed cabbage yet, but I will.
I think the steamed cauliflower would be my second favorite of these three steamed veggies, although I have probably steamed more broccoli than cauliflower, over my lifetime. I am qualifying favorite veggies by being either steamed or not. I really like sauteed okra. I don’t have to bread it although I sometimes add some of the Wondra fine flour. I like sauteed okra with onion.
In the past, I have eaten a great deal of corn on the cob, which I fix in the microwave. But, now that I am eating “more healthy” with an eye toward reducing my A1C levels, I will re-think whether I want to eat as much corn on the cob when it comes in season next year. ****Recall that I normally buy my corn in the husk, cut the stalk end off so just a little corn is showing on that end and then steam it in the microwave for about 5 minutes. At the end of this time, I turn the spray on my faucet and take the steaming corn out by the silk end and squeeze that end. What happens is that the corn on the cob slides out the stalk end and all the silks are left inside the husk. This is a trick that I just learned this year, and it works!
Oh, I just had a mental image of one of my favorite summertime meals: fried okra, corn on the cob, a tomato chutney and sliced raw tomato. No meat involved, or needed for this one.
Instead of a tomato chutney, I used tomatillos & onions above. The thought being that the flavor of a tomatillo was similar to a green tomato.
I ate a bunch of corn on the cob this past year, and I also ate a lot of fried okra. There had been several seasons that okra was scarce and expensive, but Pate’s had good looking okra for many weeks this year. I even added fresh okra to my soups also.
What would I eat with steamed broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower? Well, some calf liver, a hamburger patty, a pork chop or round bone lamb chop would be good.
And having written all of this, I finally thought, “Oh yeah, steamed asparagus.” I love steamed asparagus!
So this steamer insert has served me well. I have used it a bunch over the years. I may have had this steamer insert for close to 30 years, but not a long as I’ve had the Revere Ware frying pan that I bought back in 1978.
I’ve said it elsewhere, if I had married, I probably would not have kept this Revere Ware or my Gibson dishes for anywhere as long as I have, but they have served this old batchelor well for a long time. I’ve also got six classic beer mugs that I have had for more than 30 years. They were donated to the “Hem of His Garment” by Russ & Deborah Savage when I was still working there, and I came to Fayetteville State in August of 1995 and worked there until I retired 24 years later. I saw them and bought them, and have used them ever since.
[ NOTE ]: As I was writing this, I got up to go to the bathroom. I have a temporary, new habit, and have a copy of a book I am reading in the little basket near the toilet. I say temporary because I just started reading (non-technical) books for fun. I had read “Fig Pudding” and then got hooked to read the Matthew Perry memoir because of his recent death, and now have read one Michael Connelly/Bosch novel, “The Crossing.” What was interesting to me was how the Bosch TV series differed from the Connelly book. After I finished “The Crossing,” I started to read “The Wrong Side of Goodbye.” But, about 30 pages into this second novel, I recalled the storyline from the TV series and knew that I didn’t want to waste my time on this novel. I then started another, “Two Kinds of Truth,” which I recalled the storyline, but am now about 245 pages into a 402 pages book. And, the last few days, I have rewatched the TV episodes that cover this storyline. I must say that I like Connelly’s writing better from his books than from the TV series. Also Mickey Haller offers a richer interaction than Honey Chandler.
But after the bathroom, and before I made it back to my easy chair, I stopped in my bedroom closet. Even this short time later, I don’t recall why I stopped there, but I tried a sip of Peach Schnapps, a sip of Disaronno, a sip of Tanqueray Gin and I think it was Smirnoff Vodka. This is not the usual. I rarely taste either the vodka or the gin, and most times not the Disaronno. I do like just a small sip of the Peach Schnapps. If it weren’t for watching my blood glucose levels & weight, I might drink a little more alcohol, but I don’t have any desire for it. It is a large bottle of Disaronno, but I have had it for several years. I like the flavor, but have no desire for it.
I also ate one clove hard candy, which I first tried from a vendor at the State Farmer’s Market in Asheville, NC. That is where I got the yellow grocery bag that I use at Wegmans & Sprouts sometimes.
Oh, another tangent: I think my current main TV has a 40 inches screen. It is positioned diagonally across the room from my easy chair, and often I take naps while the TV is on. But, the size of the characters on the TV must be close to “actual size,” and more than once, or twice, I may wake up and see the image on the TV, but in my stupor, I may say something like, “My laptop has really good video,” but then realize I’m actually looking at my TV.
Earlier today, I awoke and there was some black & white show on, and there was a human being crawling toward me on the screen. But not realizing the image was on the TV, I jumped as I tried to process what I was seeing, and actually thinking, “Is this happening, or on TV.” I have a broken TV still on the wall, just behind the current TV which is on a long, low table. The darkness of the monitor on the broken TV blended into the black & white video on the new TV.
Bill Gibson, II 