Gardening in a Kilt (Buzz Kidder Canvas)

**Bugbear** · 13th February 08, 09:19 PM

(dolmathes and dolmathakia), but I make them differently than my recipes say. That's the Greek, I don't know about any other cultures.

* I'm seeing all kinds of spellings of this now (dolma...), so something like that. I might post some instructions later. Got a little reading to do...

**Bugbear** · 13th February 08, 09:47 PM

Ok, I don't make mine like the recipies specify, but mine are probably a bit easier. In fact, these aren't dolmathes... they're just stuffed grape leaves.

First, I use fressh grape leaves right off the vine, so they aren't pickled. They have a slight lemon taste when they aren't pickled. This is real easy. I go ahead and put a cup of rice, two cups of water, a dab of butter and some salt in the pot and get that started. I then put the grape leaves on top of all the rice and spoon some on to the grape leaves. It helps to have some rice under the leaves to keep them off the bottum of the pot a tiny bit.

I then put in the chopped meat and what ever else you want making sure some of it gets on the grape leaves. You might then roll them, and flip them over so the seam is on the botum..., but I just leave them open. Keep in mind that this is how I use the grape leaves in my rice dish, and is not the Greek dolmathes dish.

I then just cook it the same as usual. When it is done, I lift the grape leaves with the rice and stuff out of the rest of the rice, put sauce, then roll them. You can get three or four as a little side dish... The real ones require lots of aranging and fooling around with them. I don't cook that way.

I just push the quarters of orange peal down in the rice and stuff and they fill on their own. I don't suggest that unless you can eat a raw orange peal, though. I also use grape leaves in place of leafy stuff like lettus...

**Bugbear** · 14th February 08, 12:32 AM

There was a while where I was taking a piece of spam with a dab of spicey brown mustard, and wrapping it with grape leaves, then steaming them. It was good for spam and mustard, LOL! I also like to take a bunch of grape leaves that have been well blanched, lay them out on a tortilla, then put shredded beef or something like that on all of it then roll it. Now that I think about it, corn beef works well for that. I don't like spending a whole day making a meal... just throw it together as I go. That's probably why I don't do much baking, LOL!

**string** · 14th February 08, 06:48 AM

For some reason I was thinking they were called dolomite, but that is a rock similar to limestone. Incidentally it's the rock that is responsible for making Niagra falls, fall.

**Bugbear** · 14th February 08, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by string

For some reason I was thinking they were called dolomite, but that is a rock similar to limestone. Incidentally it's the rock that is responsible for making Niagra falls, fall.

I'm not sure dolomite would taste so good... Limestone is kind of bland tasting. Perhaps we could get Barb T to hop in here and tell us about the flavors of the different rocks. Which kind of stone is best for stone soup?

Oh, and I like opals, but I wouldn't want to eat them... I kind of like lab created opals too.

**string** · 14th February 08, 11:38 AM

Opals are very very pretty. I am extremely fond of looking at them, way too pretty to eat.

**Bugbear** · 14th February 08, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by string

Opals are very very pretty. I am extremely fond of looking at them, way too pretty to eat.

Yes opals are very pretty. They happen to be my birthstone, but I don't care much about that... Now that I think about it, they kind of remind me of candy.

I like those pepermint candies that are round and have the red stripes because they're pretty too. Keep in mind that I'm a blind guy... I just have to go by what I remember, LOL!

**Bugbear** · 14th February 08, 03:13 PM

Ok, ok! I'll confess. When I was a little kid, my parents always bought these red, transparent, glycerin bars of soap. They look exactly like a giant candy... and I took a bite of one. It didn't taste like candy... That's ok though because we were required to brush our teeth with baking soda and dish soap sometimes, and I was already used to the taste of soap..., but I wanted it to taste like candy. It still makes me sad that it didn't taste like candy. (Just for the record, that was about thirty years ago.)

In other news, I remembered that I have a pack of porkchops in the freezer. That means that when I run out of chicken, I can try experimenting with pork and citrus.

**Bugbear** · 15th February 08, 12:52 AM

Oops, I goofed and started posting out there in the real world..., but I don't think I went too far. I did bring up String in a knitting patern thread.

Allergies are causing a bit of a problem with the gardening right now, but it'll be ok. It's started raining just a tiny bit. I could always go eat a bar of soap...