Luffa Love

Remember that luffa we got back at the end of October? It's been drying in a dry, well-ventilated spot all this time, on a table in our living room. Yes, that's right--We've had a gourd sitting on an end table for two months.

All this time, it's been getting lighter and lighter and a little more shriveled bit by bit until, finally, it got to the point where it was frightening people. Seriously. People would touch it and be freaked out and yell, "Get it away!"

So I decided it was time to open it up and get my sponge! Of course, by this time, I've lost my directions, and it seems like no one online can agree on the best way to proceed. After reading several opinions, I pretty much decided to wing it and hope for the best.

So, the picture up top is what it looked like once it dried out. I actually thought it felt kind of neat and leathery. And the seeds inside made a nice rattling sound.


I started by pushing my thumb into the flower end of the gourd. The flower end would be the end opposite the stem end. (Probably obvious to everyone but me.) Then I turned it upside down and shook and shook and shook and shook to get the loose seeds out.


Next, I submerged it in a sink full of water for about fifteen minutes.

Then I just started peeling off the skin. It came off very easily. Looks like an ear of corn, doesn't it?

See how easy it was? One piece!


Looks like I missed a LOT of seeds! I soaked it some more, then I carefully poked in there with a chopstick.

Finally, it's mostly clean!

Almost every set of directions tells you to dry the sponge on a baking rack for a few days. I just set mine on the radiator, and it dried overnight.

I have to admit, I thought this whole thing was pretty cool. If you have kids, by all means, grow some luffas next summer!

Mid Winter Report

Hey, all! Long time, no post. We had intended to continue posting about vegetables and recipes and such, even after our CSA was finished for the season, but you know what they say about good intentions!

Gerry is slowly making his way through the peppers he froze back in September. They've found their way into everything from breakfast omelets to spaghetti sauce. He also used his first pack of frozen, shredded zucchini for muffins. I thought they came out a little weird, but he thought they were fine. More experimenting will follow.

If you remember, back in November I wrote about Gerry's love of parsnips and blogged about a new recipe he tried with them. Now that I reread it, I even mentioned Christmas dinner! Well, he didn't make that dish for Christmas dinner, but he did make his favorite: carrots and parsnips. You can see them in the picture above.

To make the classic, all you do is boil the carrots and parsnips, then mash them. Easy.

Edit: Gerry told me a few more things about making C&P. Okay, obviously you're going to peel them and chop them up first. Then boil until soft and drain well. Also, add butter, salt and pepper when you mash. Oh, and you can throw in a turnip too, if you'd like.

And if you're interested, you can find the recipe for potatocakes on my other blog.