Chef Sandy cooks Eggplant Parmesan

Hullo, Chef Sandy here. If you are following this blog regularly, you know that a few days ago I showed you our beautiful eggplant growing in the greenhouse. Well... today we harvested it and are ready to make something delicious.

(Belated Drool Alert for all Vegetarians)

It is a beautiful eggplant... it seems a shame to eat it but... such is the life of plants.

Today we are going to make Eggplant Parmesan. We have used this recipe before and it is super duper yummy.

And this from two humans who never liked eggplant (that was before they tried it of course)...

Right, first you need some olive oil and crushed garlic...

Then you slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch slides...

And then you peel it...

Why do you peel it? Apparently the peel is bitter...

You paint the slices on both sides with the olive oil/garlic mix and put in the oven for 15 minutes... or so.

While that was baking, Dr. Sandy was called in to bandage a sliced finger. This is why little bears do not cut vegetables... right? So humans are the ones who get cut up... right? As you can see, the bandage isn't doing much sooo...

So we put another bandaid on top... there we go... This is field triage you know... no time for something fancy!

Grate some mozza cheese and slice a tomato...

 Then some fresh basil. This is key... you can use dried basil but it never tastes as good...

 There are our eggplant slices... mmm... You take them and start layering them into a pyrex... with parmesan and basil and tomatoes and mozza and more eggplant and more mozza...

Bake it again...

And voila... eggplant parmesan. This batch was sooooo good!!! The humans scored it 10/10. Last time it was 9/10 so we figure the fresh basil put it over the top.

Chef Sandy signing off. Thanks for joining us on today's show!

Dr. Sandy M.B.

Hullo there. Today I have been asked to consult on an injury that Mama sustained last week while working in the garden. She says she stepped off a high step and landed on one leg and fell down. Let's see...

Mmmm... uh-huh... That is a pretty significant bruise you have there. And your leg looks rather chubby and swollen.

Let's compare... Oh yes, definitely swollen. At first I thought perhaps you had gained some weight (Mama rolls her eyes.)

Oh yes, yes... and even a bit of swelling going up the leg. I think it must definitely be a sprained ankle and a doozie at that! Possibly some torn ligament fibers as well. Tsk tsk...

Well, off to the first aid box...

Wow... sure is a lot of stuff in here... ***rummage, rummage***

Ah there it is...

A tensor bandage... that's the ticket. You want to keep an injury like that stable and try to immobilize it as much as possible.

Now... something cold, something cold...

Well, these are cold packs but not really suitable for ankle injuries. You want something that will conform to the ankle...

I could use the ever present, always dependable bag of peas but... that's not really good for the peas to go through a freeze/thaw cycle every few hours. They tend to turn into little ice cubes after a while...

Ah-hah!!! This is what I want... one of those super-duper cold gel packs.

Alright... cold pack, tensor bandage (which unravelled itself when I wasn't looking... hmmmm) and a tea towel...

You don't want the cold pack directly on the skin otherwise you will also have frostbite to deal with!

Now... the tensor bandage... they work best when they are rolled up... not unrolled!

Maybe Spooky can help?

Uh no Spooky... I said help me roll it up not... unroll it!

Sometimes good assistants are hard to find!

There we go... Now... Dr. Sandy says to stay off of your feet as much as possible, put your leg up and get your little bear to bring you hot chocolate. Maybe watch the FIFA World Cup or something. OK?

Mama!! I said stay off your feet!!! Sigh... some humans make beary bad patients!

(Note: A real doctor was consulted as well and concurred with Sandy's findings.)

Sandy the Nurse

With Mama sick with a cold, Sandy has been a very good little bear providing a unending supply of tissues!