microwaving asparagus
We love asparagus! It’s asparagus season in Western Australia. This year I have been cooking it in the microwave, maintaining the clean, crisp flavour. No soggy asparagus for us. I’ve had a couple of requests to explain how I do it so I’ve photographed the process and hope it’s easy to follow them.
Tear off four sheets of paper towel. Fold in half then dampen under running water. Squeeze so the paper is damp, not dripping. Lay flat.
Wash and the trim the spears. Lay along the short edge of the dampened paper in a single layer.
Then begin rolling the paper to create a cylinder. Microwave for 2 minutes.
The first time you cook asparagus this way, take a piece out and test it to decide if it’s cooked to your taste.
Unwrap, cut in half if you need to and serve with butter and black pepper or however you like!
Asparagus with mushrooms, cauliflower and steak. Delicious.
electric cars
During the week three protesters locked themselves to concrete filled barrels and by parking across a bridge used to access the Burrup Peninsula near Karratha, Western Australia, prevented workers from leaving the LNG hub at the end of their shift. Over 600 cars were unable to pass.( The frustrated workers eventually thwarted the blockade by driving along the beach)
The protesters claim the development of Woodside’s LNG project will produce 1.6 billion tonnes of emissions over its 30 year projected life time. A consultant analyst, quoted in the Financial Review, noted this project will process gas with higher thermal efficiency and lower greenhouse emissions. Woodside claims by exporting gas to India, China and Japan those countries will reduce their dependence on coal.
Our discussion about this news item and the use of energy resulted in my husband writing this brief essay.
The Law of Unintended Consequences
Everything we do, every choice we make, has a consequence or a cost.
Sometimes we consider the cost, sometimes, carried along by feelings and emotion we don’t and sometimes we are just uninformed and unaware of what the real consequences of our actions are.
It feels morally correct to buy an electric car. We feel good about it, righteous. We never think of the energy and CO2 cost of making the car and its battery.
Battery chemicals start out as rock which is mined, crushed, separated, smelted and transported across the world before being put into a new car made from steel which has been created in a similar way. It takes about 68% more energy and produces 68% more CO2 to make an electric car with a battery range of 400km than a conventional car.
Then, if the electric car I buy is fueled with electricity which is not produced by solar energy or wind power it too is responsible for creating more CO2.
By trying to do the right thing I am adding to the problem and increasing the burden. Perhaps it would be better if everyone made their existing car last as long as possible before replacing it with a new electric one. That would produce far, far less CO2 and pollution and require much less energy and be better for the planet.
preparing for christmas
As we near the end of our second year with CV-19 I still feel our celebrations need to be quieter, smaller and less like Christmas celebrations before the pandemic. Western Australia has been closed off for nearly two years with no community transfer, so we feel safe but this cannot continue with pressure to open the borders to other states and the identification of another strain of CV-19, the Omicron strain. We have a few cases in Sydney already.
I’ve reduced our gift giving, our decorating and will even reduce the amount of cooking I’ll be doing, too. There will be the extended family to lunch but I’m planning a simpler menu. I’m still making little gifts for friends and baking two Christmas cakes and a ham, but turkey has gone from the list. Are you doing less, too?
Our son and my Mother will be here for a week or so and we look forward to the lunches and parties already on the calendar but also look forward to the hot days after Christmas Day when we can relax with our usual haul of books ( we are a family of keen readers) and leftovers.
I hope your preparations are going well!