Grow Your Own

I’m rather amused by the images in Northwestern’s World War II poster collection, and more than a little surprised at just how much currency their suggestions still retain. I mean, the US government was telling Americans to reduce their meat consumption, to raise their own vegetables, to can and preserve their homegrown produce, to car pool, to reduce unnecessary petroleum consumption, all those conservation strategies for which contemporary tree-hugging liberals are so often derided. Of course, the government was trying to conserve supplies for the war effort, not protect the environment or conserve natural resources per se, but the contrast still reminds me of just how decadent a nation the US has become when the present administration’s reaction to economic troubles is to give everyone a little extra cash for that shiny new toy, rather than encourage values like frugality and thriftiness.

Anyway, here are some pics of vegetable and herbs from the garden here at home and a pasta dish I created with some of the harvest. Nothing particularly historical and no formal recipe today, but hell, pasta with vegetables is about as forgiving a dish as you can imagine, so I don’t anticipate you need explicit instructions. More details on what I made after the fold…

Mr. Shaw’s Vegetable Goose

Famous playwright, vegetarian, and cantankerous old bastard George Bernard Shaw was a critic of a great many things, not the most trivial of which, for my purposes here at least, was his disdain for vegetarian faux-meats, “such weak concessions to the enemy as ‘vegetable rabbit,’ ‘vegetable sausage,’ and the like.”

Nonetheless, there was one vegetable beast of which he approved: “‘Vegetable goose’ is, however, to be commended when in season. It is simply a vegetable marrow with sage stuffing and apple sauce.” So, as a particular fan of cantankerous old bastards, I offer my attempt at vegetable goose with a caramelized onion, pecan, and sage stuffing. I made this with two massive zucchinis picked from our garden, but any squash ought to do, though you may need to adjust the cooking time accordingly: