Fun Food. Fun.

The thing that I hate the most about this 90% humidity, 100% heat weather is the sudden lack of vision everytime I get into and out of a temperature controlled environment.

Just sayin'.

Fortunately, for me (and you, by extension), is the wondabulousness (okay, that puktastic portmanteau, is never going to make the cool circles) of summer food.

Over the last couple of weeks of this glorious summer, I've visited the Bentonville Farmer's Market. On Saturday morning, no less. None of the wimpy mid-week market for me, no siree! I wake up early to go to the Saturday market.

(Fine, fine. You got me. I went because a dear friend had dropped in and our other plans for the morning were shot to high hell. )

The market itself is pure delight. I've fallen in love all over again with the historic town square.

Fresh produce, colourful scarves, art, Live Music (sometimes), fresh baked goods, fresh meat, delicate jewelery, belts - yup, we've got a diverse market. There was even a breakfast cart serving crêpes. (Umhmm!)

Anyway, thus it was, that I discovered Zucchini. R and I had found our lunch.

We got home and had to dig around a bit for a non-kofta recipe.

We found this recipe for Zucchini Pancakes and since I rarely ever have everything a recipe calls for, here's our variation.

Before you start cooking, brew a pot of Coffee.

Then, gather:

2 Zucchini

2 eggs (*Don't eat eggs? See notes.)

1/2 cup of wheat flour

1/4 cup of onions

1 and 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 and 1/2 tbsp Parmesan Cheese (again, see notes)

2 tsp baking powder

(Indian) Red Chilli Powder

Salt (to taste)

Oregano (to taste)

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Grate the Zucchini into a bowl.

Add the onion.

Add a fourth of the cheese and a little salt. Add the Red Chilli Powder.

Add the eggs, flour and oil, mixing (or lightly beating) the ingredients together.

As you mix, blend in the rest of the cheese.

Grease a baking tray and spoon the batter onto it.

Sprinkle Oregano onto the spooned pancakes.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes.

And while you wait for the Tada! moment, sip the coffee and read these notes on the recipe:

* If you're not going to add the egg, you might choose to add in a fourth of a boiled and mashed-up raw banana. If you don't have that at hand, try a small boiled and mashed potato. And if that's not possible, don't fret. Use a little water and proportion the flour to give it the consistency that you'd like. The recipe works fine without egg.

* Speaking of consistency, you might choose to thicken the batter (cut down or omit the egg, for instance) into little cutlets instead of pancakes. If you do, you may need to bake them longer.

Don't forget to check at the 10 minute mark, anyway.

* For variations on a theme, use spring onions instead of yellow or white onions. Use shallots. Change the cheese and use mozzarella instead of Parmesan, or if the fancy so strikes you, use both. Throw in grated carrots. Add some peas to the mix, while you're at it.

Phew! Finally I assure you that writing this post takes much longer than just making the yummies.

P.S. Just before posting, I found this link that looks awesomely similar to our variation.

Go on, take a look then.

And until the next post, take care.

To go how no man has gone before - on a bus

The decision to up and move it from the des to Bentonville in pursuit of the spouse was easy.

The real transition from being a working-person-with-a-life-of-one's own to homebody-learning-to-keep-house is still - a bit of a pain - ahem, is underway, I mean.

My biggest bugger often is 'how am I going to commute?'
I can find things to do, places to go, people to meet... that has never been my problem.

But what drives me crazy is to have to wait for the spouse or a friend to be free to drive me around - to the grocery, to the mall, the hairdresser, to roam around.
Sweet gorilla of Manila - what a royal pain!
Aight, so I did learn to drive, but ahem, I don't have a car right now.


So there it is again, that dreaded question: 'how the hell am I going to get around on my own!'
I have actively considered starting a rickshaw service, but that's not as easy as it seems.

I've walked around a bit, but there are some days that I'm loathe to walking about. (what the heck! there is only so much a person - this person - can walk around)

Enter: Ozark Regional Transit

In this area they have two routes running Route 46 in Bentonville and Route 44 in Rogers with regular transfers between routes.
Service to the Springdale and Fayetteville areas is aslo available.

Stops: The Bentonville route stops at a whole bunch of convenient places: NWACC, the Library, Harps, City Hall, the Walmart Super Center and more

Fare: V. V. Reasonable at a $1.25 for adults and $1.00 for students (NWACC students and profs travel free) - the service also has the bus-pass option if you plan to hop on and off frequently.

What you should know:
The frequency of service is ... long. Buses run at one hour intervals.
Usually on time but can sometimes run a few minutes late.
You will need to plan a little bit in advance - look at their maps for Bentonville or Rogers to decide where you want to go and when.

Remember though that if you're in a hurry to get somewhere or if you're the last-minute commuter, the bus is not your ideal choice.
Now there I'd vote for calling up the spouse / friend to get you around.

Pros:
All the drivers I've met on Route 46 are helpful and super friendly.
If you have a question about where to stop, what to do, they always have an answer for you.

And above all, I can get around on my own - and that for now, is good enough.