Breaching The Web

I recently watched the 2006 BBC production of Jane Eyre. Although abridged, it is a very good adaptation of the book. Jane Eyre is often lauded as a great feminist novel. However, I find it troubling that Mr. Rochester has to be diminished before he can accept Jane as an equal partner. Surely a sighted Mr. Rochester could have offered her a companionate marriage.

I like Fringe, a new Fox show, well enough, but I love it for the intertitles (see here, here and here.

I made pesto for dinner tonight. It contained 17 different species of plants (I originally twittered the list of species, but upon review I was wrong, omitting some and counting others twice).

In a food processor, I chop up 1/4 cup cashews (instead of pine nuts, I can’t tell the difference), 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/2 cup of grated romano or parmesan cheese, and 2 cups loosely packed leaves. I don’t like pesto to be 100% basil, so I use 1 cup of basil leaves and 1 cup of whatever else I can round up. I mince that in the food processor, then season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Here’s the rundown of the all the species that went into tonight’s dinner.

I started with these 4 basics, all store bought:
olive oil Olea europaea
cashew Anacardium occidentale
black pepper Piper nigrum
garlic Allium sativum

From the farmer’s market, I purchased this item:
basil Ocimum basilicum

From my garden, I collected leaves from these 15 plants, which are from 12 species:
Swiss chard Beta vulgaris var. cicla & beet greens Beta vulgaris
minutina Plantago coronopus
chives Allium schoenoprasum
garlic chives Allium tuberosum
creasy greens Barbarea verna
spinach Spinacia oleracea
kale & kohlrabi & broccoli Brassica oleracea
radish greens Raphanus sativus
Welsh onion tops Allium fistulosum
oregano Origanum vulgare
sage Salvia officinalis
nasturtium Tropaeolum majus