STAR TREKKIES, Into The Botanist’s Lair (The Lost Episode)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Space:  The Final Frontier

These are the voyages of the “Pretend” Star Ship Enterprise.

It’s one Halloween Night mission:

To explore strange new backyards in the state of Florida, (hopefully without being shot.)

To seek out Alien Ingredients and Recipes for Foods, (And do a bit of Trick-or-Treating just for shits and giggles.)

To boldly go where two seniors in Florida have never gone before……

 

Ah. Ahhhhh.  Ah Ah Ah Ah Ahhhhhhhhh…..

Ah, Ahhhhhh.  Ah Ah Ah Ah Ahhhhhhhhhh….

Ah Ah, Ah Ah, Ah, Ahhhhhh, Ah Ah Ah Ahhhhhhhhh…..

AHHHHHHHHHH…

(Well, you get the picture.)  🙂

———————————————————-

UNDER STAR FLEET NEED TO KNOW BASIS 

In space (or Florida) no one can hear you SCREAM!!!

(Can you hear me?  No?  Kinda proves my point, huh?)

—————————————————–

WHAT IS THAT????

Oh, It’s just a plant.  (Sigh of relief.)

————————————————————

Set Your Phaser’s To STUN!

Captain, I don’t like it here.

Captain Gordo

Julie Whann as:  Science Officer Whannita Jules

Let’s proceed with caution.

Gordon Whann as:  Captain Whann Gordo

AND,

Introducing

Guy, as Lieutenant Guy

—————————————————————-

We originally shot all of this in October 2021, but didn’t get to the write ups until September, 2022.

The first episode of Star Trek premiered on September 8, 1966.  Hence, every September 8th. is Star Trek Day.

We just wanted to acknowledge the original series and how Gene Roddenberry’s vision spawned a multitude of Star Trek’s in it’s wake.  Although the series only aired for 3 years, and with such a low budget, the creativity that went into the set design and wigs and costumes was genius.

Thank you Gene Roddenberry.  Rest In Space.

August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991

————————————————————

Hawaii Creation Convention

My very first Star Trek Convention flyer.  I still  have it!  🙂

We met George Takei, Sulu, he held our little girl Veronica in his arms.

——————————————————————-

Beaming Down To The Surface  🙂

(Having such a hard time keeping a straight face here.)  🙂

————————————————————-

SCREAMING!!!! 

‘CAUSE THAT’S WHAT WOMEN DO!

Oh No!  Something has happened to Lieutenant Guy!

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

———————————————————-

I’m fine now Sir.  I will see to my duties.

I’m taking his pulse Captain.

 

The Readings Are Off The Charts Captain!

 

I really can’t be sure sir, but I think that he might be….dead!

I don’t believe that we are safe here, sir.  Perhaps we should look around?

————————————————————

I don’t understand?  Where did all this come from?

Sir, I don’t see anyone.  I will check back here. 

Don’t go too far Lt. Jules.  It sure does look good.

Thank you sir.  I do look rather good from behind if I do say so myself.

I was talking about the food Lt. Jules. 

Oh.  🙁

—————————————————————–

The Botanist’s Table

Cheesy Cauliflower Gratin with Bugs

Botanist’s Plants with Creatures and Bugs

Stuffed Alien Squash

Breads

(The Botanist’s Recipes are Down Below)

————————————————————–

Captain Gordo and Lt. Jules

What is all this?  I’m so hungry Captain.  And not just hungry for your love.

Simmer down Lieutenant. 

A toast Lt. Jules.  To our host, whomever he may be?

We shouldn’t appear to be rude.

We don’t want to offend first contact with this planet and it’s people.

Perhaps we should partake of all this nourishment?

 

Yes, Captain.  But, why does it appear to be moving?

 

BUGS!  CAPTAIN!!!  BUGS!!!!!

EVERYWHERE!!!  AHHHHHH!!!!!!!

—————————————————————————

The bugs overcame our hero’s. 

Captain Gordo and Lt. Jules were consumed….

The two pots above are for Captain Gordo and Lt. Jules.

They are to be added to The Botanist’s Lair Collection.

Our hero’s have been transformed into potted plants in the Botanist’s Garden.

They will forever live on in Star Fleet memories, and the Botanist’s Lair.

——————————————————————-

Lt. Guy will forever be a Scarecrow inside the Botanist’s Lair.

—————————————————————–

Let’s all set our phaser’s to fun in remembrance of Captain Gordo

and the sexiest of all Science Officers Lt. Whannita Jules.  (You know it!)  🙂

—————————————————————–

———————————————————————-

Carving Our Pumpkin, Dinner Table

AND, Eating the Botanist’s Leftovers

———————————————————————————–

The Star Trek Insignia Pumpkin

(How -To instructions listed down below.)

Gordon Ready to Carve the Star Fleet Insignia

———————————————————————

The Revamped, Throw Together Leftovers are Delicious

(All the recipes are listed down below.)

————————————————————————

Something for the Trick-or-Treaters

———————————————————————

——————————————————————–

Attacked By BUGS!!!!

We were actually attacked by giant horse flies while we were shooting this. 

That is me trying to swat them with an electric tennis racket that fries bugs.

We think they were after the shell fish (shrimp.) 

Normally, we don’t see these kinds of bugs in our backyard.  Which tells us that they are always there, they just don’t come out unless there is something they want.

———————————————————————-

Cooking The Food

Captain Gordo and Lt. Jules, Following Orders

—————————————————————

The Botanist’s Recipes

Bitter Melon Creatures Crawling Everywhere!

(We found these at The Asian Supermarket.)

———————————————————————-

Washing the Vegetables

————————————————————

Shh…  A Few Leftover Bites

Delicious!

————————————————–

———————————————————————–

Botanist’s Plants With Creatures and Bugs

Ingredients:

~24 Large Shrimp – Shell on and de-veined

————————————–

~4 Cups Walnuts – Roasted, Reserve One Cup for Garnish

~1-2 Tbsp. Sea Salt for Pasta “Water”

2 Large Bunches of Garlic Chives

10 -12 Garlic Cloves, Reserve 4 for the Shrimp

2, 5 oz. Containers of Fresh Spinach and Arugula

~1 1/2 Cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil for the Blender Items

3-4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

4 tsp. Sea Salt

————————————————

1 Pkg. Ronzoni Brand SuperGreens Thin Spaghetti

1 Pkg. Al Dente Brand Spinach Fettuccine

~3-4 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil for the Wok

~1/2 Cup Grated Asiago Cheese

~1/2 Cup Grated Romano Cheese

~1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

4 Garlic Cloves – Sliced thinly for cooking the Shrimp

4 Tbsp. Butter

Garnish with Plastic Roaches and ~1 Cup Roasted Walnuts

————————————————————

Pictured are the large shrimp we used for this recipe. 

I bought them with the shell on, which means I will have to de-vein (remove intestine).

To do this, place the shrimp flatly on your cutting board and slice just below the shell starting at the head down to the tail.  Open the shrimp up and you should see its intestine pictured with the shrimp’s feces.  This as you can imagine is not something you want to eat especially with larger shrimp.  Pull to remove the intestine then rinse with cold running water and repeat for all the shrimp.  To have your Fish Monger do this will cost you a lot more money which is why I simply do it myself.

When done, I placed them in a bowl then into a plastic bag and put them back into the refrigerator for later use.

—————————————————————-

Now to Make the Pasta

Our Ingredients

———————————————————————

Roast your walnuts on a sheet pan at 350’F for about 15 min. or until you begin to smell them.

Roasting brings out the flavor of the nuts.  Remove them from the pan and set aside.

——————————————————————–

Add a good amount of water to two pots to boil your pasta.  Set the burners on High.

———————————————————————-

Here are the Roasted Walnuts.

———————————————————————-

Add ~1-2 Tbsp. Sea Salt to the water to flavor the pasta.

Slice your first bunch of Garlic Chives (regular Chives also work) into 3 inch lengths to assist the blender.  You will have to repeat the blender steps twice to make enough for this recipe.

Add your Chives and Garlic Cloves to the blender.

Spinach-Arugula

Now add your handful of mixed Spinach and Arugula leaves.

Then add your Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the blender.

Now add your Red Pepper flakes and Sea Salt.

Blend the ingredients for about 5 seconds to reduce the mixture.

If needed, add more Olive Oil to make the mixture move while blending.

Add about 1 1/2 Cups Walnuts to the mixture.

Blend the mixture until mostly smooth as shown.  Repeat these steps to make another batch.

Add your Extra Virgin Olive Oil to a large Wok.

Add your Ronzoni Pasta to the boiling water.

Push the pasta into the water and cook, following the packages directions.

Do the same with your Spinach Fettuccine pasta.

Stir the pasta occasionally during the cooking process, so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot, or to each other.

———————————————————————-

Gordon Testing to see if Al Dente

Taste the pasta to ensure it is 95% cooked and still has a little bite to it, which in Italian is “Al Dente” or to the tooth.  Drain both pasta’s well then…

immediately add them to a wok and turn to medium heat.

Fold your pasta into the oil, then add your blended mixture and continue to fold the ingredients together.

Grate your Asiago, Romano and Parmesan cheeses into the mixture and continue to fold all the ingredients together.

Turn off the heat and set aside when the cheeses have melted, which should only take a few minutes.

———————————————————————–

Now For The Shrimp

—————————————————————–

Thinly slice your Garlic for the Shrimp.

——————————————————————–

Add your butter to a large saute pan heated to medium heat.  When the butter starts to melt, add your garlic.

Mix your Garlic into the melted butter and cook them for about 4 min. creating a delicious Garlic Butter.  When done, and your Garlic begins to brown, add your shrimp.

Place the shrimp into a single layer as shown.

After just about a minute, the shrimp will turn pink, flip the shrimp over and cook the other side for the same amount of time.  Remove the shrimp from the heat placing them into a bowl to slow down the cooking process.  The shrimp will continue to cook as long as they are hot.

Using a large platter, place your pasta into a large mound as shown.  Garnish with your remaining 1 Cup of Roasted Walnuts then place your shrimp all around the mound of pasta as shown.  Finally, add your plastic Roaches to the platter and you are done!  I hope you and your guests enjoy this great Alien pasta dish!  🙂

————————————————————————–

Cheesy Cauliflower Gratin With BUGS!

Our Cauliflower

(One Cauliflower per Casserole)

Casserole Dish and Pot of Water

Ingredients:

1 Lg. Cauliflower – cut into small florets

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil – reserve 1/4 Cup for topping

1 Tbsp. Onion Powder

1 tsp. White Pepper

1 tsp. Tabasco Spicy Salt

1 tsp. Freshly Ground Nutmeg

1/2 Cup White Cheddar Cheese – we used Black Diamond Grand Reserve – reserve 1/4 Cup for the topping

1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs

——————————————————————-

Using a large pot, boil your Cauliflower Florets until just tender taking about ~5 min. time.

Here is a great picture of the cheeses we used and the other ingredients.

Here you see the Florets boiling.  Be sure to check their tenderness using a fork.  If the fork penetrates them slightly they are done.  Just don’t get them too tender or they will be mushy and won’t hold their shape.

When cooked to your liking, pour the Cauliflower into a colander and run enough cold water over them, to stop the cooking process.

Add your Extra Virgin Olive Oil into a medium sized bowl.

Now, add your Onion Powder, White Pepper, and Tabasco Spicy Seasoning to the bowl.

Here is a Nutmeg nut which has much more flavor than Nutmeg that has been already grated. 

They are readily available in most supermarkets.

Use a small grater to grate the Nutmeg nut into the bowl.

Now, add your drained and cooled Cauliflower to the bowl.

Toss the Florets using a rubber spatula in the Olive Oil mixture until the ingredients are well combined.

Grate your cheeses into the bowl as shown.

Mix the cheeses with the Florets.

Pour the ingredients into a glass bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients.  Top the mixture with a little more White Cheddar Cheese as shown.

Now, spread a thin layer of Panko over the mixture and top with a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  The oil will help the Panko to brown while baking.

Bake the Cauliflower Gratin in a 400’F oven for ~10-15 min. or until the top of the Gratin is browned.

We hope you enjoy this easily prepared Cauliflower Gratin side dish, which can be made almost anytime of the year.

——————————————————————-

The Botanist’s Uniquely Stuffed Winter Squash

Ingredients:

3 Acorn White Winter Squash – cut in half, seeds removed

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

8 Tbsp. Butter – 1 Tbsp. for each of the 2 instant potato mixtures

1 Pkg. Instant Potatoes with Spinach

1 Pkg. Instant Potatoes with Beets

2 Cups Chicken Broth or Stock – 1 Cup for each instant Potato mixture

2 Cups Water – 1 Cup for each instant Potato mixture

3 Tbsp. Purple Moon Cheddar Cheese

3 Tbsp. Green Pesto Gouda Cheese

——————————————————————–

Slice the Squash in half then slice a small portion of the bottom of the Squash, or you can slice the top stem off, so they will sit flat on a sheet pan with the cavity side up.

Gordon looks like he’s ready to cut his fingers off.  🙂

Remove the seeds using a scraping tool.

Add your Olive Oil to a small dish…

then brush the oil over the entire outside of the Squash.

Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and place the sliced Squash on top.

Place 1 Tbsp. of butter into the cavity of each Squash.

Bake them in a 400’F oven for about 20 min. or until mostly tender.

After 20 min. remove the Squash from the oven and set aside.

While the Squash are baking, make the Spinach and Beet infused instant potatoes.

Here I am adding Chicken Broth, then water to make the instant potatoes. 

Bring the mixture to a boil.

Here I am adding a Tbsp. of butter to the liquid to add more flavor.

Add the Potato mix to the water and broth and combine using a whisk.

——————————————————————–

Add your Spinach Potatoes to three of your Squash.

Add about 1 Tbsp. of your grated Purple Moon Cheddar cheese to the top of 3 Spinach Potato stuffed Squash.

——————————————————————

Make your liquid the same way as you did for the Spinach Potatoes.

Combine using a whisk.

———————————————————————————

Add your Beet infused Potatoes to the last three Squash as shown.

Top these with your grated Green Pesto Gouda cheese.

————————————————————————–

Bake the Potato Stuffed Squash in a 400’F oven for about 15 min. to melt the cheese and finish cooking the Squash.

Use a fork to ensure the Squash are tender.

Here you can see we baked the Gratin Cauliflower with the Potato Stuffed Squash.

We hope you enjoy this unique fall side dish.

————————————————————————

Pumpkin Carving

This was one I really liked and wasn’t that difficult to carve.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day in Florida to be outside.

Our printer wasn’t working that great as you can see, but I got the basic outline of the design.

——————————————————————-

Here is our bottle opener which looks like an original Star Trek Communicator.

To start, find a good spot on your pumpkin for the design.

Place the design on the pumpkin as shown and tape it down as needed.  Fold the edges of the paper down keeping the design intact.

—————————————————————-

I use painters tape because it doesn’t stick too tightly to the pumpkin.

Trek-or-Treat

I love the roaches pictured with some of the tools I will be using. 

They were part of our Botanist’s Dinner.

Carefully use your punch tool to trace the outline of the design, making a hole about every half inch and at every corner.  Don’t push down too hard as you just need the tool to puncture the skin of the pumpkin.

———————————————————————-

Julie checking in on my progress.

 

——————————————————-

When you have completed all the punches, remove the paper almost the entire way, then check your work to ensure you got all the lines needed.  This way if you missed a section, you can easily replace the paper and make the needed corrections.  DON’T throw away the dotted paper as you can use it to keep track of your design.

Here you can better see the punches I made.

I have found if you first trace the outline of the design with your knife, it works best.  Carve just outside the punched holes (Dotted Lines).  Use your knife placed at a sharp angle to then remove a thin layer of the pumpkin’s skin between the outer lines.

———————————————————————–

Do this for the entire pumpkin.

Beer, Snacks, and BUGS!

When almost done, I used the small serrated blade to remove the top of the pumpkin using a steep angle.  You also have to be sure you make it large enough, so that you can get your hand and scraping tool inside.

Here you can see the steep angle I used. 

You do this so when you place the lid back on the pumpkin, it won’t fall in.

—————————————————————————

———————————————————————

Now begin to remove the seeds and place them into a colander to rinse and eat later.

Use the same cutting tool to make an edge for the lid to sit upon.

Scrape the pumpkin’s inside to remove the meat of the pumpkin.

The thinner the insides get, the more light will shine through. 

Here I used the sun in reverse to see the light coming through.

Here I am using that same carving tool to cut through the pumpkin to make the center design.

It’s good to have a friend by your side! 

Say hello to Sparky!

Here you can see the finished design along with the pumpkin seeds and all the scrapings I removed. 

You can use the scrapings to make a pumpkin pie!

——————————————————————–

The Pumpkin Seeds

Never Throw Them Away, Roast Them

Separate the seeds from the meat of the pumpkin and rinse them well.  Once all the seeds are cleaned you can place them into a ziplock bag until ready to cook them.  Here I am spreading the seeds out evenly over an aluminum foil lined sheet pan.

————————————————————————-

We decided to use Pumpkin Seasoning this time, but you can use most any seasoning that you like.

Generously season the seeds and place them into a 350’F oven for about 15 min. then remove the seeds and turn them, adding more seasoning if needed.  Place the seeds back into the oven and cook until browned taking around another 10-15 min.

Here you can see I added more seasoning to the seeds.  Once the seeds are crispy and golden brown they are done.  When cooled taste one to ensure they are done.  These are a great Halloween treat to make either sweet or savory!

—————————————————————–

Our Revamped Botanist’s Lair Leftovers

——————————————————————-

Ingredients:

6 Broccoli Rabe Stalks – par-boiled

Box of Pearled Couscous – Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil (per package instructions)

1 pkg. 12 oz. Green Beans – boiled

1 pkg. 12 oz. Baby Mixed Yellow and Green Beans – boiled

2 pkgs. 1.75 oz. each Mixed Micro-greens

3 to 4 Shallots – sliced thinly

~1/2 Cup Flour

Salt and Pepper to taste

Tabasco Spicy Salt to taste

3 to 4 Cups Peanut Oil

——————————–

For the Lemon Mustard Sauce

1 Tbsp. Cuban Style Mustard

1 Tbsp. Grey Poupon Mustard

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Juice of two lemons

——————————–

~6 oz. Spinach Fettuccine Noodles – Al Dente Brand

Instant Potatoes with Spinach – Badia Brand

Instant Potatoes with Beats – Badia Brand

(These were actually our leftovers from the recipe above.)

————————————————————

Ingredients in the Kitchen

Ready to Get Started

——————————————————————-

Start by making the Couscous as per the box directions.

—————————————————————-

Trim the Broccoli Rabe as needed.

Place the stalks into boiling water for about 2 minutes (par-boiled) to mainly bring out the color and to make them a little tender.

—————————————————————

After the 2 min. or so are up and they are bright green, remove the Broccoli Rabe with tongs from the boiling water….

place them into a bowl of cold water for a few minutes.  Then transfer them to a colander and rinse with cold water just to insure the cooking process is done.  Set them aside for later use.

Using the same water….

boil your beans.  You cook these longer as they need to be tender.  I will try them after about 10 min. of boiling.

Here you can see all the beans cooking.  You can also see the almost done Couscous.

——————————————————

While the beans continue to cook, slice your onions thinly for frying.  Here I found a bad one, so it is good to have a few spare ones on the side.  The fried onions will be used as a topping for our pasta dinner.

————————————————————–

Here are the Microgreens we used.

  You can use a little or as much of these as you want.

——————————————————————-

When the beans have cooked to your desired tenderness, remove them from the pot and place into a bowl of cold water which will stop the cooking process.  Strain the beans using a colander and set aside for later use once they are cool.

—————————————————————————

Ready To Fry The Onions

Place your flour and fresh cracked pepper into a medium sized bowl.

Then add your salt and Tabasco seasoning to the bowl.

Add your sliced Shallots to the flour and ….

mix them into the flour mixture until well coated as shown.

Place your peanut oil into a large pan and heat to medium heat.  When heated to temperature, add a handful of sliced shallots to the oil.

————————————————————-

Fry the Shallots until golden brown as shown.

———————————————————————–

Pictured are the mashed potatoes we made at an earlier date that had beats and spinach within them.  In the center is more of our Pesto we made earlier in this post from the recipe above.  These will play a role in our leftover dinner.

——————————————————————

Making Our Dressing

Place both your mustard’s into a medium sized bowl.

Add your good Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the bowl.

Squeeze your lemon juice into the bowl…

Then add salt and pepper to taste.  Whisk the ingredients together until well combined.  If some of the lemon seeds fell into the mixture, use a strainer to remove them.  Place the mixture into a small serving bowl for later use.

——————————————————————–

Use a large pot of boiling water to cook the pasta as per the package instructions.  We had half a bag leftover from our original recipe above.

(We can not locate the photos that come after this step, but we can explain the rest and how to assemble the platter.)

———————————————————-

Taste the pasta, pictured above, to ensure it is done.  When done, pour the pasta into a strainer and place the pasta onto your serving tray in clumps.  Place the microgreens in spots around the platter along with the Broccoli Rabe and cooked yellow and green beans.  Place the Beet and Spinach Potatoes along with our Spinach Arugula Pesto into small bowls nestled into the platters ingredients.  Then top the items with the fried onions.  Call your guests and enjoy this great tasting meal with some nice bread.  Pour the Mustard Lemon Sauce over your plated Microgreens, Broccoli Rabe, Beans, and Pasta Noodles and enjoy!

Also pictured in the photo above is our Couscous Pearls.

———————————————————————

Dinner in the Botanist’s Lair

—————————————————————————–

Happy Halloween Captain Gordo

————————————————————————

—————————————————————————

Hey, what with the threat of nuclear war, civil war, plague’s and pandemics, if we want to run around the backyard wearing Star Fleet uniforms and pointing phasers at each other, so be it!  We plan on exiting this life while having fun!

Live Long and Prosper, and Happy Halloween!

Julie and Gordon