Eggplant Monday

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It is such a beautiful day outside, and although I waited three weeks without a working microwave to find out this morning that it's irreparably broken and we now need to start shopping for a new one that will cover the gaping home in the wall, I'm still psyched about this weather. It's Meatless Monday, and as I bought four eggplants over the weekend, I have just issued a decree that tonight's dinner will celebrate l'aubergine, la melanzane, both such prettier words than their English kin. With one, I'm not sure I can resist making Yotam's burnt eggplant-tahini recipe. With the others, I'm noodling on a lemongrass-coconut milk stew of sorts. At yesterday's farmers market, I found fresh lemon grass; each stalk is taller than Jack. So I got a bunch, three Asian eggplants and a cool red & green Jamaican green called callaloo. I have some steamed potatoes and thought some combo of all those ingredients might be good. I'm going to do some recipe research and see what happens.

Have you eaten black cerignola olives? I think they're my very favorite type. Soooo meaty and good but their flavor isn't slap-you-in-the-face briny which is nice sometimes.

Non-toxic silver cleaning

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Hi All! Have you ever polished silver jewelry or any other sterling stuff you might have around and noticed how toxic and revolting the cleaning agent smells? It's also really NOT a friend of the Earth, your lungs, your home, and so forth. Nonetheless, I was desperate to clean the frame one of our wedding photos is in as well as some of my jewelry which was so tarnished I was worried it was pitting. So, your green tip of the day is: ECO-FRIENDLY SILVER POLISH. Yay!

For serious and large jobs, rub toothpaste over the tarnished (or all) areas. I used Tom's all-natural. Rub off with a soft towel (an old t-shirt works well). For smaller jobs, like earrings or bracelets, line a pan with foil, put all items to be polished on top of the foil and sprinkle generously with baking soda. I used Bob's Red Mill all-natural. Then, slowly pour very hot water on top until your pieces are submerged. When they look as clean as you want them to, remove carefully from the water and rinse well. My jewelry is gleaming, my frames are beautiful, this was easy, cheap, non-toxic and super fun for kids to watch.