Commercial Break

A couple of weeks ago my computer failed after four years. Not bad for a Pentium D. My understanding is that the motherboard gave out. I’ve managed to pick up a new system since then at my local Best Buy. Hopefully I can resume posting this weekend.

Pride in the Name of Love

The Spamwise Chronicles first began life as an LGBT blog and with this post, I return to my roots. No food-related content; that can wait for another day. Instead I’ve captured a little bit of the Pride march this afternoon. Today marks the 40th anniversary of Stonewall — a very special day indeed.

This Is A Test

I’m trying out a new theme for a few weeks since I’ve gotten tired of the old one.

It’s interesting that the blog has become more of a foodblog than one on politics in the past year. Accordingly, I’ve decided to start including some content that seems to be more common on similar sites, some of which are listed in my blogroll. Expect a couple of changes in the next week or so.

If you have any opinion about the new look or if you just want to say hi, please take a moment to comment, won’t you?

Tonight’s dinner involves a market basket challenge. More later.

Gnocchi 3

When I started this blog three years ago, I didn’t know what I wanted to blog about.

I thought a combination of politics, poetry, LGBT, writing and food would be a good mix. I guess the food eventually won out. Somewhere along the way, food photography entered the picture. As time progressed, my photography skills improved [i.e., not as much flash photography, more use of natural light]. I’m still not satisfied with things on that end. For instance, when I’m eating out, I can’t take a picture in a low-light setting to save my life so I usually miss out on some great shots. I guess that’s a goal for the future.

I recognize that this here blog thingy isn’t well known. Very likely that’s because I haven’t networked as much compared to some folks on my blogroll. And I still have to get over my fear of Facebook.

So you can imagine my surprise when Kaela of Local Kitchen gave me a One Lovely Blog award. That’s the first time I’ve ever won a blog award of sorts. The 10 blog thing might take some thought so I’m afraid I’m going to have to sit on that for a bit while I sort things out.

In the meantime, here’s some [food] eye candy:

Sheep’s milk ricotta gnocchi with chanterelle mushrooms, zucchini and nasturtium flowers

The gnocchi from two weeks ago was such a hit that I think it’s earned a permanent place in my repertoire. There’s a lightness and a subtlety that comes from the ricotta. Potato-based gnocchi [while good in its own right when made well] just doesn’t compare.

If you can’t find chanterelles, use regular supermarket button mushrooms.

If you live in New York City, nasturtium flowers can be found at Union Square Greenmarket on Saturdays. Fresh chives are a good substitute.

unsalted butter
chanterelles, sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced thinly
1/2 large zucchini, sliced into matchsticks
kosher salt, to taste
freshly milled black pepper, to taste
fresh thyme, chopped
4 or 5 nasturtium petals, chopped

Ideally you’ll want the ingredients prepped ahead of time. As the gnocchi cooks, make the sauce.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and briefly sauté, about one minute. Add zucchini and sauté until zucchini is partially softened, about two to three minutes. Add mushrooms and a scant pinch of kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally or until chanterelles are browned, about an additional two to three minutes. Remove from heat.

I like to add another pat of butter at this point for additional richness but the sauce is good as is.

Check seasoning. Lift gnocchi with a slotted spoon and place in individual serving plates or bowls. Spoon sauce over gnocchi. Scatter with nasturtium petals and thyme, and serve immediately.

Some Puzzlement

Yesterday and the day before, there were 130 views. Today as of this writing, there are 61 views. Maybe people find a plate of pasta and asparagus less interesting than a bowl of soup or beans with greens. I dunno.

But the really puzzling thing is that the total number of visitors yesterday to this here website thingy was 39 of which 17 were referred to from other blogs I’ve commented or visited. The remaining 22 were people who used search engines like Google.

Who are the other 92? Certainly not spammers. God I hope not. Akismet caught 2. At the rate of one post a day, I seriously doubt that this blog is on the radar of most spambots on the int@rw3b.