TheTravelingZipperhead.com

I don’t know if you know this or not, but my home is very hostile towards vegetables. They are ignored, called names, and cast aside in a pile on the plate. I have hidden them in things, and tried to disguise them as much as possible, but I wish I could just put a vegetable on the table and my family would eat it.
Enter okra: the gateway veggie.

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It’s no secret on here that I have Chiari. It’s also no secret that I have a toddler, and I’m pregnant with my second child. I’ve mentioned all of these, though not together until now, plus 95% of you reading this are family or close friends, so you know all of this anyway.

When I was first pregnant with my son, I did as much research as possible on giving birth after having decompression surgery. Here’s what I found:_____________. Yeah, a whole lotta nothing. It’s not uncommon to have kids, and Chiari, but those of us who have had children after being diagnosed, are not out there talking about it, and even fewer who have been decompressed, (I know why, but more on that in a minute) so I was not surprised when a few of my Chiari sisters approached me with questions.

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Ok, going to try this again, as my iPad decided to get rid of my last post.

I was admitting that I could truly give or take eggplant. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t seek it out, and in culinary school one of my teachers hated it. Truly HATED it, the flavor, the texture, everything about it. Needless to say, we didn’t work with it a lot.

When you think of eggplant, you can’t help but think of ratatioulle.

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When Stephanie told me abut her CSA, I was so excited to find one, and now that I have, and we are both partaking in one, we have decided to pick something each time to talk about. Now. You may or may not know this, but Stephanie and I don’t live close, not in the same state, or agricultural zone. Apparently things in Texas grow differently than things in Colorado…. Who knew? We picked summer squash this time around bc if you live in a southern climate you have this coming out your wazoo right now, and if you are farther to the north, you’re fixin to get this.

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I have this friend, (I know, I know, you’re thinking “you ain’t got no friends!” But I have a couple) she is my foodie inspiration. She was cooking, and getting me interested in it back when I struggled making boxed mac ‘n’ cheese correctly. Before her, I didn’t really have the kind of friends who cooked. Most of their ideas for meal planning was “which drive thru is getting my combo business tonight?” So when I met this friend, I was curious. She cooked, and with actual ingredients, not boxed stuff. And she LIKED it! Had everyone lied to me all my life? Could cooking actually be fun? Not just a chore to feed hungry people who want to survive, but actually something to be enjoyed? Surely not!

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I wanted to blog earlier, but I took a nap instead. My head has been killing me lately, so I go to bed in hopes that when I wake up, it will be gone. It’s not. All signs are confirming that this baby is a girl. Not the least of which are the headaches she’s giving me now in preparation for the ones she will give me later.

Anyway….
I am always saying “shop local”, “know your farmers”, blah blah blah. And I do shop farmers markets, but Stephanie told me about CSAs and I have been looking for one in my area that wasn’t crazy expensive.

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Lets talk about allergies for a bit. I have been plagued by allergies my entire life. Growing up, anytime my brother and I were sick, my mom told us it was just allergies. She was right most of the time, and still wrong. See, when allergies affect every aspect of your life, you do accept that they are “just” allergies. You grow up living on Benadryl and alka seltzer cold tablets. To tell you how much I’ve had to rely on these over the years, I can tell you that I LIKED the taste of alka seltzer before they changed it some time in the early 90s. It was better before, but now they have the liquigels, so no one has to taste them anyway.

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Yep. Not only am I baking and frying…. I’m baking AND frying. And I’m not ashamed. Ok, maybe a little, but it was good! I read a story saying the inventor of the cronut was going to do a Nutella stuffed cronut on May 19, and since I 1) don’t plan on being in New York 2) can’t wait that long & 3) can’t eat a real cronut anyway, I took matters into my own hands.

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Yes, you read that right, and yes, they were awesome!!

What is going on with me? First, I’m baking, now I’m deep frying? I just don’t even know who I am anymore. It’s almost like I’ve been taken over by another being who is in charge of my brain and my stomach. Oh, right…..

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There are some VERY unnatural things happening in the zipperhead kitchen.

See? That’s flour on my phone. I’ve been baking…… By choice. Y’all know I am not a baker. It just isn’t my thing, but I’ve had some crazy cravings lately.

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