Lazy Germophobe

  A key strategy of mine as a lazy cook is to remove steps and/or ingredients one by one to achieve the most pared down recipe possible. This mac and cheese is so easy that I don’t even look up the instructions anymore. If we always have a box of macaroni in the pantry and a bag of cheese in the fridge, then this no-fail mac and cheese is always a dinner option:   Place in an electric pressure cooker (6qt size):   2 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni 3 cups water 1 teaspoon coarse salt 2 tablespoons butter   Stir to make sure macaroni is evenly distributed in the water.   Set to cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. (On my cheapskate Wal-Mart Farberware cooker, I use setting 5/Meat, but most “presets” are at the same level of pressure and therefore interchangeable.)   When it’s finished cooking, allow to sit for 3 minutes; then release remaining pressure.   Stir the cooked macaroni, then dump in an 8 oz. package (2 cups) of...

  Earlier this week I joked that I was tired of gardening and wouldn’t much mind if everything froze. I was mostly kidding, but I got my sorta-wish last night when we had our first frost ten full days earlier than average (according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac ). I went out today and picked three pale orange tomatoes, six small zucchini, and another bagful of green beans off of droopy, withered plants. Just like that, the garden’s done.   Every year provides different successes and failures, and every year I learn something new. At this rate I’ll be a master gardener by age 128. 😬This year’s hard lessons had mostly to do with tomatoes (hornworms, blossom-end rot, cloudy spots).    The garden was fairly successful, though. One winner was green beans, which overcame early crop damage from bunnies that chewed right through the UTTERLY WORTHLESS plastic netting we bought as a chicken wire alternative. (Expensive mistake.) The beans rebounded; I froze several gallo...

I keep trying to resurrect my blog, but it’s almost like there’s TOO MUCH to write about. How can I write about gardening or dogs with all of this *gestures wildly* going on? I feel deep despair and grief at the current state of our society. I am also experiencing heightened anxiety with a dab of situational depression. I think “heightened” understates it. My pre-existing generalized anxiety has ballooned and morphed into straight-up phobia, courtesy of the pandemic. But I don’t want to get into all of that. Today I am sharing my two favorite cucumber recipes because cucumbers are in season. Our garden cucumbers have actually grown well this summer— not decimated by cucumber beetles, and not toxically bitter this time. Yea! If you don’t grow your own, please do not buy them at a supermarket right now. I guarantee there is a farm market or stand near you where someone is unloading their bumper crop of cucumbers  three for a dollar. These...