Keeping Up With Carol

Break it down...

2011-09-02T10:14:00.000-04:00

I don't mean to alarm anyone, but I am getting rather nervous these days.

Politics and the Media have become a cesspool and I am not mollified by the rhetoric that states that "it has always been thus". Nah, I don't think so. I was definitely not born yesterday, or even a handful of yesterday's ago. I remember clearly - I have no memory problems. I will give you a millimeter of wiggle room for 1.) an individual's propensity for revisionist history and also another for 2.) the drift in subject matter focus that occurs as we age and mature. So that leaves you with an allowed error of plus or minus 2 millimeters - and that minuscule allowed error will not bridge the divide between what I am seeing and hearing from "The Four Horsemen" (Media: Print, Television, Radio & Internet) and the soothing dulcet tones of "it has always been this way throughout history". So both cannot be correct. Okay?

Back to why I am nervous. Judge for yourself whether I am thinking clearly. It is my assertion that we are on the verge of "Class Something". Huh? I am not sure how bad the Something will be, so I can't be more specific. Some people like to use the word Warfare - this I doubt; it smacks of Hysteria. Perhaps merely Discrimination? Perhaps merely Persecution? Did you like how I downplayed the "merely" in those two sentences? If you were thinking to yourself that "merely" and "discrimination" or "persecution" don't belong in the same sentence, I would say that you are right. Please bear that in mind in the coming years.

The Four Horsemen are working hard to polarize the "Haves" and the "Have Nots". In a way, it seems Natural for them to do so - as natural as a lion taking down a springbok. It is the Law of Their Nature. The Demons of Ratings drives the Four Horsemen and they must, must, MUST ensure that they will live to see another day of Influencing the Public.The easiest way to do so is not to Investigate and Report but to Create and Report. Please deny that the Four Horsemen are NOT creative. And please note that I did not credit them with being Original, only Creative.

But allow me to point out that they also seem to be the only trusted conduit from "The People" to "Political Leaders". Let's ponder that a moment.

Hmmmm, what are the ways that "The People" can influence "Political Leaders"?

Lobbyists - a group of people (an organization) can hire lobbyists to try to influence political leaders. But the Four Horsemen have shown us that this is UN-Ethical.
Individual Contact - an individual can meet with,write, call or email political leaders. Again, we all know that only Crazies or The Rich gain any notice doing this. Says who? The Four Horsemen.
Vote - voting works but who do we vote for? How do we know these strangers? Well, we need to go to the Four Horsemen again. Hell, I think in hindsight the Four Horsemen did a fabulous job of getting our current president elected against all odds. Our President owes the Four Horsemen BIG TIME.
The Four Horsemen - as an entity, the Four Horsemen seem to be decentralized. Every locale and ideology can be found within the ranks of the Four Horsemen. Certainly, they must be Representative of The People and their Opinion. Right? Therefore, when a clamor is heard from the Four Horsemen - that clamor must be the Opinion of The People since the Four Horsemen are too large and too disparate to be influenced by anything other than The People and Their Ratings. Right? So, Political Leaders can rely on the Four Horsemen to tell them what The People want. Right?

I will end right there. Ponder, please.

Suggested reading: Do you remember Orwell's 1984 or Huxley's Brave New World? Please reread and toss in Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 while you are at it.

Bite me, Ellsworth Toohey.

Things I'd like to learn to do....

2011-05-01T11:35:00.000-04:00

Grow asparagus in Jacksonville, Florida.
Fund raise for a non-profit devoted to community gardens (see Friends of Northeast Florida Community Gardens)
Keep my house and yard clean without actually expending physical effort
Prevent myself from getting distracted by the above mentioned nonprofit (see Friends of Northeast Florida Community Gardens), facebook, email, etc. so that I CAN expend physical effort to keep things clean around here.
Find my keys - I can't make the darn keychain much more obvious now that the 3 foot beaded lanyard is on it. Perhaps if I attached it to a live rooster? I hear they are very noisy & I would think easy to find.
Get the bloody laundry done
Get to the grocery on a regular basis
Successfully start my veg seeds - I now have to go and buy peppers and eggplant and zucchini since my starts failed miserably this year.
Okay, I am approaching double digits.... time to bail on this post. I think I feel worse than when I started.

Harvest Monday - 27 December 2010

2010-12-28T14:46:00.001-05:00

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions the host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests!

Okay, I'm a day late. But today is the first day I've had from the post Christmas flurry to do some home canning. Nothing has come from the garden - the chickens got into the garden for a scant 5 minutes and devoured my last head of romaine lettuce. The greenhouse has been reorganized and has 3 floodlights in it to try to keep it from freezing. The seeds that were planted 10 or so days ago have only broccoli sprouts sticking their brave and hardy little heads out of the dirt.

So, what did I "harvest" - 6 quarts of canned tomatoes. I wonder how Daphne tracks canned veg? Most of the green tomatoes laid out across my kitchen last week had ripened and needed something done to them to keep them from rotting uselessly. Not even I can eat that many raw tomatoes raw.

Actually, I did once go on a raw tomato binge. I was a teenager and had planted a garden in our backyard. I had so many tomatoes and dearly loved coming home from school and eating whole raw tomatoes with a sprinkling of salt for a snack. Many whole raw tomatoes - daily. Well, I apparently severely irritated my system doing so. I must have killed a boatload of beneficial gut bacteria and had to resort to a serious regimen of probiotics to get things back to normal. This was in the 1980's before anyone had heard of probiotics. Yah, it was quite the adventure in the health food store - let me tell you.

Back to the far more interesting world of canned tomatoes. I found this site: http://www.pickyourown.org/ and I dearly love it. Using the directions on the website, I have put up figs and strawberry preserves, and also some peaches. YUM! Now I can add tomatoes to my list. I just hope I did it right.

Wish my family luck!

Harvest Monday - 20 December 2010

2010-12-20T10:00:00.002-05:00

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions the host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests!

I've not played in a while since a cold snap last week did my tomato plants in. Even though covered, the wind chill in the teens snuck right into my barricades and killed my poor darlings. I was proud, perhaps too proud?, of my gorgeous tomatoes in December which were simply loaded with fruit. The steak variety was producing very pretty 11 oz fruits and I was simply giddy at the prospect of picking and picking and picking my way to spring. Twas not to be.

So, I have 3.6 lbs of ripened fruit in the fridge and have picked the remainder of green tomatoes and am waiting for them to redden. It's a race - will they ripen or rot first? Sigh.

On the brighter side, the romaine lettuce made it through and is being enjoyed mightily. So much tastier than that bought in the stores. Also, the carrots, cabbage and broccoli are looking quite spiff. The remaining patio tomatoes in pots have moved into the greenhouse along with the herbs in pots.

The Sulzbacher Center has decided to have their community garden at The Garden at Jackson Square which relegates me to volunteer status (hurray!) instead of lead train puller in the 20' x 60' plot I have been working for their kitchens (along with my trusty sidekick, Dee Dee). I spent a wonderful Friday afternoon at the Center, participating in an adult nutrition class led by Julia Muntean. We taught the residents how to make newspaper plant pots and then planted 14 varieties of seeds for the upcoming spring/summer Sulzbacher Garden. Those pots are nestled happily in my greenhouse hoping for warm temperatures for sprouting. Here's hoping another cold winter doesn't push our dates out this spring.

Calling All Gardeners!

2010-11-12T19:09:00.003-05:00

For more information about our community garden and get to know what we are doing, find us on facebook!

What: Community Garden Clean Up
When: 12/04/2010 1pm - 4pm
Where: Jackson Square, 2554 Philips Highway, Jacksonville, Florida 32207

The Garden at Jackson Square is hosting a Clean Up Day event.

The winter clean-up at the garden will take place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 4, at Jackson Square, 2554 Philips Highway, Jacksonville, Florida. Activities will include the following: organizing produce processing area; clearing garden margins and debris removal with gardeners.

From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., there will be a learning event with Mary Puckett, Master Gardener volunteer from the Duval County Cooperative Extension Service/City of Jacksonville Agriculture Department. Mary heads the Urban Gardening program there. Potato planting will be demonstrated and care and harvesting discussed with the upcoming planting dates in mind of mid January for this winter crop.

We'll be topping off this event with a potluck meal and a bonfire.

Volunteers with weed-eaters are MOST welcome.

So, bring yourself, your kids, your friends...
bring your work gloves and boots...
bring a dish to share...
bring a shovel, or a weed-eater, or just a camera...
and have a great time.

Please RSVP! And please invite EVERYONE!

High school students looking to earn community service hours are always welcome.

View Larger Map

More information about the Garden at Jackson Square:

In Jacksonville, what started with scattered seeds will feed those in need

A new bloom on Philips Highway plants seed of change

Four Cheers: Care for kids, keeping Florida scenic and good Samaritans

Sulzbacher Center's homeless kids pick wildflowers for Mother's Day

This was definitely one of my all time favorite days, ever. Before the kids picked flowers, we gave them seed packets to sow perennials into the flower field. We tried to impress upon them that these flowers they were planting would be here for years and years and those flowers were theirs. They kept the packets and then made cards for their moms, with the packet on the left side of the card and the following on the right side of the card.

Happy Mother’s Day

I planted a flower garden for you today.
This seed packet shows you
what they will look like
when they grow up.
When you see these flowers
growing in The Garden,
you’ll know that they are all for you
and that they are all from me.

If I had a single flower for every time I think about you,
I could walk forever in my garden ~Attributed to Claudia Ghandi

The Garden Blossoms

So, you don't like okra?

2010-11-06T10:54:00.000-04:00

I know, you've probably had okra all slimy and yucky. That's okay. I get it. But seriously, you need to give it another chance. If you like a variety of cuisines, okra is found in African, Middle Eastern, Greek, Turkish, Indian, Caribbean, and South American cuisines. You can also give it another try in our familiar Southern, Creole, and Cajun cooking.

It's a beautiful plant, tall and lush. It grows very quickly and is grown strictly as an ornamental in many parts of the country (crazy - send me your okra, people). It's in the mallow family, related to hibiscus and the flowers are very hibiscus like. Gorgeous! It is prolific and you can get a massive amount of bang for the wee tiny length of time you'll need to have it in the ground. It loves, loves, loves heat.

What are the benefits of okra? Here's what I've found on the internet (I haven't been terribly interested in the actual scholarship of the sources since I am already sold on this potent little veg).

"Besides being low in calories it is aplenty with vitamins of the category A, Thiamin, B6, C, folic acid, riboflavin, calcium, zinc and dietary fiber. Eating okra is much recommended for pregnant woman besides other for it is rich in folic acid which is essential in the neural tube formation of the fetus during 4-12 weeks of gestation period in the mother's womb.

Research revelations by the eminent nutritionists' state

The mucilage and fiber found in okra helps adjust blood sugar by regulating its absorption in the small intestine.
The fiber of okra has many superior qualities in maintaining the health of the gastro-intestinal tract.
It helps reabsorb water and traps excess cholesterol, metabolic toxins and surplus bile in its mucilage and slips it out through the stool. Due to greater percentage of water in the bulk it thereby prevents constipation, gas and bloating in the abdomen.
It is an ideal vegetable for weight loss and is storehouse of health benefits provided it is cooked over low flame to retain its properties. This also to ensure that the invaluable mucilage contained in it is not lost to high heat.
Okra facilitates the propagation of good bacteria referred to as probiotics. These are similar to the ones proliferate by the yoghurt in the small intestine and helps biosynthesis of Vitamin B complex.
For adding bounce your hair. Boil horizontally sliced okra till the brew become maximally slimy. Cool it and add a few droops of lemon and use this as the last rinse and see your hair spring back to youthfulness and jump.
Okra is an excellent laxative treats irritable bowels, heals ulcers and sooths the gastrointestinal track.
Protein and oil contained in the seeds of okra serves as the source of first-rate vegetable protein. It is enriched with amino acids on the likes of tryptophan, cystine and other sulfur amino acids."

Nuff said, it's good stuff.

Now for my favorite part - tell me this doesn't look delish.

The goo is cut with acid and prior to adding it to the dish, sauteing. This recipe contains the following instructions, all of which cut the goo.

Leave it whole, cut off only the crown. The more you cut it - the gooier it gets.
Marinate it in vinegar. I used apple cider vinegar. You are using acid.
Saute in a pan with butter (and who doesn't love butter).
Cook it with tomatoes - adding acid.
After you add it to the dish, sprinkle with the juice of a lemon (again adding acid).

Here is the recipe, which is very Mediterranean (greek and arabic that I know of so far).

Bamya ( Lamb or Beef and Okra Stew)

Remember, "invaluable mucilage " translates as "goo", "slime" and "ewwww". So, if you are gunning for the "invaluable mucilage", you'll have to live with the "goo".

You are checking out last night's dinner, and it was SO YUM. Give okra another chance, and I'll hook you up with okra from my garden which is so much prettier than any you'll find in a store.

XOXO,

Carol

Christmas Countdown: Six Weeks to an Organized Christmas!

2010-10-26T09:16:00.000-04:00

I did this.

Christmas Countdown: Six Weeks to an Organized Christmas!

If you are driven quite mad during the Holidays, basically beginning with Halloween and getting more insane through the New Year - help is out there. A few years ago, I stumbled upon www.organizedchristmas.com and I've never looked back.

My first year, I was completely behind but I did accomplish enough that I realized that Cynthia had something special here. I looked forward to the coming holiday season and beginning again when she told me to! I am a soldier, figuratively speaking. Give me marching orders and I will follow them. Anything to absolve myself from the responsibility of having to figure it out on my own.

So, the second year came and I accomplished probably 1/2 of the items on the checklists and WOW! what a difference it made.

I did this too.

I think my biggest surprise came with the filling out of the Holiday Values Worksheet and the Post-Holiday Debriefing Worksheet. These are a Before (Holiday Values Worksheet) and After (Post-Holiday Debriefing Worksheet) sort of thing. What was most interesting about these forms were that in the following year, I began there. I sat down and re-read what I'd written (or we, if I could get feedback from the fam). I saw the same problems occurring repeatedly in the Post-Holiday Debriefing Worksheet and gave my family permission to change. I gave myself permission to change. We decided that implied obligations or relationships that really didn't cut the mustard weren't central to our holidays and would not be trusted and allowed to wreck our holidays anymore. We cut out the problem, surgically, and have had the best holidays since then. Now that is priceless!

Did that cause problems? Nope, it didn't. Nobody cared - believe it or not. Which just goes to show that those things that we thought we had to do were not respected by anyone else which might account for the problems we had. And if I ever feel guilty, I go back and reread the debriefing from The Tragic Years and my resolve is renewed.

And I did this.

Now then, back to touting the glories of an Organized Christmas. I would recommend that you give it a try. This is the first week of the 6 week countdown and you haven't lost any traction. It is simple and Cynthia breaks it down very nicely. You can go on autopilot this year and just let it happen. Cynthia will make sure that you have all the big things covered.

... and this.

We have graduated from skidding across the finish line on or even after Christmas Day and depending on the kindness of others (dinner invitations) to get the family fed - to hosting family celebrations in our home (which have been very successful) - to doing all of that and hosting Cookie Swaps. This year, there will be a Guy's Day planned where they'll have a golf day or fishing day or some such fun just for them.

Last year, I was even able to go from hosting a Cookie Swap to a Cookie BakeOff! All of my guests last year were frazzled beyond belief (economy etc.) and wanted to punk out on me, leaving me without cookies! So, I changed gears and told them to bring themselves and kids and we'd make the cookies at my house together with me providing all of the ingredients (except for their special ones). I made lunch and champagne punch and got everyone a special apron. It was a blast!

... and I did these. ME! Believe it or not!

I would not have believed that we would ever be here. But we are, and it's a cinch. Promise. Flylady says that you can do anything for 15 minutes and that is all that Cynthia is asking for.

Have a great holiday season, loved ones.

Sewing Room Makeover - Yarn Storage

2010-10-25T14:41:00.002-04:00

I am on a roll. Or on a mission. Or I have the nesting bug. Whatever. Things are proceeding nicely.

We went from this...

to this...

What do you think?

I covered one of them with wood grain shelf paper. It makes it rather modern and rather dark inside the hoop. I think this would be great in a modern space, but I think my home's architecture is not modern so I'd probably better go a different direction. Also, I got wrinkles in my paper - kind of throws off the whole wood vibe.

These have loads of room; there is actually an almost completed afghan in one of the partitions (next to the green). Can you see the stacks of hexagonal granny squares?

I've got some fabric samples ordered to see whether upholstering these would be better. I also want to find some fabric to recover my task chair with. I am leaning toward the last selection for the seat since it is art nouveau and I do love it. Perhaps a tone on tone stripe for the shelves? Ivory? I'll probably need to primer them if I go light, since the cylinders have printing on them.

Here is how I made these:

Modern Cylinder Shelves

You'll need...
Duct tape
small L brackets - 1 per cylinder
small nuts (1/2") and bolts to attach the bracket to the cylinder (locking washers would also be a good idea)
20" diameter cardboard concrete form
circular saw
ruler
razor knife
sandpaper - 100 grit
foamcore posterboard (I got a piece 20"x30" for each shelf)
for the 3 compartment shelf, get an extra piece of foamcore
Drill

My shelves measure ~20" in diameter and 13" deep. This is rather deep and I would suggest making them 1-2" smaller if you are concerned about how big they look. 11" is plenty deep for yard skeins.

Mark the cylinder at 13" (depth of shelf) and cut with the circular saw. This is much easier if you have someone to help you roll the cylinder while you cut or vice versa.

Use the sandpaper to remove the fuzzy edges to the cylinders.

Dust them down very well both outside and inside. These are construction forms and were not kept in hermetically sealed warehouses. They aren't all that clean. You might find spiders. Hopefully, the saw scared them away.

Measure the diameter of your circle (across the widest point) and cut a rectangle from foamcore posterboard measuring 13" (depth of shelf) by the diameter of the circle (plus a smidge - you want it to be snug).

Using duct tape, attach the foamcore shelf in the center of the cylinder. Use a piece of duct tape for both sides of the shelf and both ends of the shelf.

If you are building the 3 compartment shelf, measure from the center of your shelf to the highest point on the circle (radius) and cut a rectangle from foamcore measuring 13" (depth of shelf) by the radius (plus a smidge - you want it to be snug too).

Attach the half shelf in the same manner that you attached the center shelf, using 4 pieces of duct tape.

Holding your bracket flush to the back of the shelf, mark the holes for the bracket. Using your drill, drill those holes out slightly smaller than your bolts. Attach the bracket to the shelf, using the bolts and the nuts. Tighten well.

These are ready to be covered as you please or painted and hung using the bracket for support.

Hints:

For the cleanest look: use a fresh razor blade to trim the overhang on the duct tape. Don't try to wrap it around the edges.

Before you attach the foamcore, inspect your rings from both ends. Select the better looking side for the side facing out from the wall. Take care to line up your foamcore shelf to be level with that exposed edge.

I mounted my brackets on the inside of my cylinder and I can see it. I would recommend that the bracket be mounted to the outside of cylinder IF the cylinders are tall enough that you cannot see the top edge (i.e. the bracket). My method would have been less obtrusive if the were mounted lower on the wall. I will flip the brackets when I recover the shelves.

Shelf paper is a hassle to work with. It wants to wrinkle and these curves shelf spaces are small to work within. I think I would prefer fabric covering (I know, you are shocked to hear that, yes?)

The area of the outside of each ring is a rectangle measuring 13" (depth of shelf) by 2*pi*radius of the circle. You can use this to calculate yardage if covering with fabric.

Sewing Room Makeover Part Deux

2010-10-24T14:49:00.001-04:00

I have been profoundly motivated by fellow bloggers, most recently Juebejue, to actually do a makeover on my sewing room. My aunt found my first blog post on the subject to be vexing, since The Sewing Room was once The Guest Room. It was a very pretty guest room but we never had any guests! My aunt and uncle stayed once in the five years that we've lived in the house and it didn't seem like a wise use of space. So, after cramming the flotsam and jetsam of our lives into this room, I decided to disembowel it and get some use out of it again.

Step 1: Disembowel the room again. You know how it goes, there is one room in your house that noone uses on a regular basis. Everything goes there. Closets full of husband's pants that stopped fitting and might once again now that he's lost 25 lbs - into our room. Closets full of winter coats - might as well put those back in the coat closet downstairs.

Once enough space had been cleared, I moved onto the next step.

Step 2: The furniture from the guest room (full size bed) was bequeathed to the teenage son, graduating him from bunk beds. But as with most projects, there was still some of that furniture in the guest room - one upright dresser and one nightstand. They were cleaned out and moved to the teen's room. The tall upright dresser in natural pine that occupied his room was moved to The Sewing Room. While I am at it, I steal the extra computer chair from his room and walk my broken wooden chair to the curb. Ahhhhhh, cush for my tush.

Step 3: Gather all fabric (!) and fold and put away neatly (!!). Some of the fabric wound up on hangers in the closet of The Sewing Room but most wound up folded and put away in the natural pine dresser. The bottom drawer of the dresser holds interfacings and linings.

Step 4: Gather all yarn (!) and ... and what? Yarn isn't easy to tame. But I have had an idea and now my husband has a new project to complete. I am going to make shelves for the yarn in something of the manner of wine racks. Have you seen the storage for yarn at LYS where there are tidy cubes with yarn all neatly arranged?

Well, I am too cheap for that. I wanted to mount my system on the wall. What to use? Hatboxes! No, not deep enough. Ah! Cardboard concrete forms come in long tubes that I could slice off pieces of and then mount them onto the wall. I could paint or paper or upholster them and they would be lightweight. So, I call a local building supply and got a 12' tube for $70 delivered to my home! The diameter of the tube is 20" so they should hold loads of yarn. I am even thinking of putting foamcore separators across the middle for getting two bins out of one circle. Cover them with contact paper or wrapping paper and cover the edge with bias tape? I could mount them with simple L brackets and get something that hopefully looks similiar to this.

I am definitely looking forward to getting the yarn OUT of the garbage bags under my folding table. Not only that, but I am going to have 9' of this stuff left to fashion laundry bins for my master bedroom and a place for my daughter to store all of her enormous bouncy balls and even a tube for her to crawl through. My teen will probably also do some crawling, if I know that kook.

Step 5: Put everything back where it belongs! This is from previous projects being dumped onto my folding/cutting table. Okay, I am a slob.

Step 6: Kirsty at kootoyoo turned me onto this idea - make this a kid friendly space! Move the folding table to another wall and collect glue, googly eyes, foam stickers, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, odds and ends of fabric and little girl scissors for the table. Add a chair from downstairs and invite my kids into the fun. The Sewing Room has been renamed by Caroline to The Making Room.

Step 7: This is the groaner.

COMPLETE ALL PENDING PROJECTS PRIOR TO PROCEEDING ANY FURTHER. Ugh. This is a commitment to myself. I want to free myself from these things and I don't want to be heckled by my husband anymore about that horrible dress that has been hanging around for at least a year.

Mending - completed.
Reusable produce bags - completed.
That horrible dress from eons ago - ugh. What a story - it deserves a post. But, completed. Now I just have to wear it.
Finish altering my gray Ann Taylor slacks - pending.
Grandmama's busy pillow - pending.
Fix and upholster the top of the toy chest - fixed and pending upholstery.

The last two projects remaining on the project wall.

Step 8: Things still here that don't belong here. I have to finish painting the bunk beds and set them up in the little girl's room. One of the beds is already there. I just need to do a couple of final coats on the top frame to complete them.

Here is a sneak peek of art that I am thinking of for this room.

Singer Sewing Machine Co. Giclee Print at Art.com because I have always loved art nouveau poster art such as those by Alphonse Maria Mucha.

"Fil Au Demon" Brand of Sewing Thread, circa 1880-90 Giclee Print at Art.com because it is just so kookie! I mean, WOW! I am trying to picture ladies of the 1880's being encouraged to purchase products sold by a scantily clad male demon! What the heck is that?

Hey, where are the eggs?

2010-10-21T21:58:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder for myself. Can't turn my back on that mutt for a minute. Must remember to take camera WITH ME from now on.

My creative space...

2010-10-21T13:19:00.001-04:00

Time to go into my closet and clean it out.
Time to try things on. Time to let things go.
Time to focus on me for a change.
Time to pamper my inner priss.
Time to make something for me.

Charmeuse and View D. This will be the test run on that particular combo. I have a gorgeous charmeuse not pictured here that I will also do in this pattern if I likey the result. That fabric has already gotten the perfect accessory necklace purchased for it. The shoes for this fabric already live here.

Wish me luck.

Look for more creative space inspiration over at Kootoyoo.

Chef Gary Rankin Teaches Me Focaccia

2010-10-19T18:21:00.000-04:00

How special am I, right? Well, actually I'm not. I am just lucky enough to be first cousin to Chef Gary Rankin. He was passing through on his way from his last gig in Maine to visit his parents in West Palm before his next gig in ... oh, that's still a secret! You'll have to come back to find out.

I love my cousin! He is totally hooking me up with the recipes, the nummies, and lots of puppy love from Killian, the Best Golden Retriever in the World. Don't believe me? Ask my daughter. He even wants to come back and help me cook Thanksgiving dinner if he can arrange it at .... whoa, there - you almost got me to spill the beans.

Before we get to the info on how to make the awesome bread, I am going to rub your noses in the exquisite dinner that Gary cooked for my motley crew and our Uncle John and his Ann on Sunday.

ME:

Sangria [Bordeaux, brandy, pomegranate and blueberry seltzer with blackberries, raspberries, Honeycrisp apples and Navel oranges (Okay, I made this a la Chryssi my go-to Sangria girl)]
Cold boiled shrimp appetizer with homemade cocktail sauce and big wedges of lemon.

HIM:

Goat's milk brie melted onto wheat or butter crackers and topped with my homemade fig strawberry preserves or apricot pineapple preserves (not mine).
The main course was a baby spinach salad with strawberries, toasted walnuts, candied shitake mushrooms topped with the most absolute perfect pan seared Atlantic salmon and drizzled with a pomegranate balsamic reduction. This was about the time that the table manners got weak. The plates were CLEAN! I am pretty sure that nobody actually licked the plates, but fingers were involved and not all the culprits can blame the sangria for such bohemianism since you weren't drinking. You know who you are.
Dessert was pound cake topped with fresh strawberries and bananas and topped with a chocolate ganache and fresh whipped cream.

That's right! You can hate me now. If you are chafing over not getting invited to dinner Sunday with my totally gorgeous, tall, thin, non-smoking, straight cousin cooking in the kitchen (yes, ladies, he's single), I would suggest self reflection and a possible point to muse upon: what kind of a friend have I been lately to my wonderful friend, Carol, and can I do better? Just trying to help - I like to think of myself as an agent of personal growth in those around me.

Alright, now I guess I can give out the information you've all come here for. The recipe? Well, not quite. You'll have to wait on that a little while. I've got it, but can't publish it yet. I'll explain why when he gives me the nod.

Instead, I am going to share a couple of techniques he taught me today.

Roasted Garlic Oil and Rosemary Focaccia - made wonderful by infusing the flavors.

Technique #1: Making a sponge
I've never done it before. So, this sponge was made with
3/4 oz yeast
1/2 lb bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups water

Heat the water to 110 - 120º F. If you get it too hot, you'll kill the yeast.
Combine all ingredients and whisk till smooth.
Let rise until the sponge has double in size.
I know, simple right, and I've never done it before. But at least now I know what it is supposed to look right when done correctly. It may be old hat for you, but not for me!


proper temp	sponge before	sponge after

Technique #2: Roasting Garlic or Making Roasted Garlic Infused Oil

1. In an oven safe pot, put 1 cup of olive oil and 3 heads of garlic, cloves peeled. Put a tight fitting lid on the pot and put into a 300º F oven for 1 hour.

2. When you remove the pot after 1 hour, you will be able to see that the garlic clove has shrunk within its skin. I know, you peeled the skin off already but I guess garlic is like onions - it has layers, to quote Shrek. There will be bubbles of air inside the skins. Puncture the cloves to ensure that all of the garlic infused oil is in the pot and not trapped in the cloves.

3. Allow the oil to cool and drain it from the garlic cloves. You will have less than 1 cup of oil (probably 2/3 cup) since the garlic absorbed some and the garlic fairies sipped some up.

Keep those garlic cloves! They are yummy and spreadable. You should totally snack on them right now! Mmmmm, I think I need to go grab some wheat crackers and roasted garlic. Be right back. Neither shall I be troubled with mosquitoes or kissing ever again!

Technique #3: How to infuse your bread with rosemary for lazy chefs

The bread recipe contains sugar and salt. Part of the sugar in the recipe was used to make the sponge, leaving the remaining sugar accessible to us for infusing with rosemary.

Add the salt for the recipe, the remaining sugar and about 1/4 cup of rosemary leaves to the food processor and process until the salt sugar mixture takes on a green hue. Another item to note: part of the reason this works is the friction from the blade. If you check the photo of the blade closely, you can see that the heat on the blade has liquified some of the salt and sugar with the dark green yumminess of the rosemary. Also, the blade has bruised and pulverized the leaves also helping to release the oils in the rosemary. Open that processor, and take a whiff. Heaven!

Now, when you add this salt and sugar to the dough you are also adding all the flavor and scent of the rosemary.

Now then, onto what I taught Chef Gary. Do not trust amateurs! When Chef Gary told me to put the bread into the oven to proof (rise), he trusted that I would not put it in the hot oven used for roasting garlic. He trusted that I would put it in the bottom oven, which was where he would have put the bread to proof and so would every other half way intelligent person. Not me. I stuck it in there with nary a thought other than the family gossip that was pouring out of my mouth at a high rate of speed.

So I killed a lot of yeast. It still rose a little since Gary smelled a rat (or cooking bread) and whisked the dough out of the oven but not before I'd done my damage. Still, we baked it even though it is only half the height it should have been. Bad me. Very bad me. But, it still looks AWESOME and smells AWESOME and I suspect that even my sabotage can not defeat the amazing and awesome powers of Chef Gary. Let's find out! It's taste test time!

Okay, I am no food critic here so don't ask for high falutin' words from me. I am sitting, with 1st slice from the pan. Here we go... First impressions - coarse ground salt, bread, yum, chewing, explosion in salivary glands, something sweet?, rosemary, toasty garlicky, soft, chewy, oh my gosh, I am not sharing, crap, I just drooled on myself.
Okay, ya'll - I've got to go find something to serve with this for my family's dinner.

Harvest Monday - 18 October 2010

2010-10-18T08:00:00.006-04:00

Tally for the week:

5.23 lb Okra
3.06 lb Bell pepper
4.625 lb Eggplant
14 oz Basil

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions the host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests!

Balsamic Basil Aubergine Pizza

2010-10-16T14:30:00.002-04:00

The experiment that went well! The bacon drippings give the grilled and slightly caramelized eggplant a slightly smoky flavor. The combination is a hearty pizza with 'an explosion of flavor' according to Dear Husband. Surprisingly satisfying. And a great way to use the bounty of the garden.

Balsamic Basil Aubergine Pizza

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp bacon drippings (I freeze mine in ice cube trays - so this was 1 cube)
2 small eggplant, peeled and sliced lengthwise 1/4" slices
Italian Seasoning
2-3 cups part skim shredded mozarella cheese
1 large tomato, diced
garlic powder
dried oregano
1 fresh pizza dough
1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh basil, slivered
salt

Using a grill pan, add olive oil and bacon drippings on medium high heat. Sprinkle eggplant with italian seasoning and grill both sides till lovely carmelized grill marks appear.
Spray pan with baking spray or olive oil and form dough into desired shape. We use a cookie sheet and make large rectangular pizzas (someday, I hope to have a pizza stone!) Top with 3/4 of cheese, sprinkle lightly with garlic powder and oregano.
Add grilled eggplant, diced tomatoes and remaining cheese.
Bake at 400º F for 20-25 minutes.
Top with slivered basil and drizzle balsamic vinegar
Finish with a sprinkling of salt.

Pizza Dough Recipe
1 cup lukewarm water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour (or 2 1/2 tsp vital wheat gluten + enough all purpose flour to make 2 1/2 cups)
2 1/2 tsp yeast

This recipe is from my breadmaker, I just put the ingredients into the machine and use the dough setting and WAH LAH! 90 minutes later I have pizza dough.

43 and still having moments of brilliance OR Duh, Carol.

2010-10-15T22:26:00.001-04:00

Do not ask how long it has been since I cleaned that bathroom (or any of them, really). Hey, cleaning is NOT my passion, gardening IS. Get it? Dirt, good! No dirt, bad!

Today is Take Your Chicken to School Day!

2010-10-14T20:14:00.000-04:00

At least, it was for me! Caroline's class is having "Pet Week" and since they knew we had chickens, they asked if I could bring one for everyone to see. You know me - of course, I said YES! So, Panagiota got to strut her stuff for Caroline's class and perhaps 5 more classes. Before she left the house, Charlotte the spider dropped by to leave a special message on her cage.

We packed up a few of Penny's eggs (boiled) for showing to the kids, a container of Cheerios so that the kids could feed her and the camera for catching the action. There were many pleas to let her out of the cage, to which I replied, "No way! Chickens are FAST!". To which they replied, "I'm faster than her." If that is true, I pity their parents.

What is most amazing is that most of these kids have probably never seen a live chicken before. I am glad I got to share my pretty Barred Rock with them.

I absolutely love it when adults ask whether we live far out on the edges of town (livestock and all that), and I reply that quite the opposite is true. I tell them that these are pets (who happen to make me breakfast) and that I live quite close by and even closer to a country club and a couple of posh private schools. Tee hee, I am such the little anarchist.

All in all, a great way to spend a morning. Wouldn't you agree?

First Time Sewing Knits!

2010-10-14T12:36:00.015-04:00

As the weather changes and the evenings cool, a quick survey of the girl's clothes shows that none of her warmer pajamas fit anymore and she still kicks off her blankets shouting "I like the cold air!" Time to try to make some pajamas! Joann had a 0.99 pattern sale this past weekend, so I loaded up.

I've procured some darling knit fabric, thick and soft, ball point needles and a walking foot attachment for my machine. I played around with stitches; overlock, slanted zig-zag and straight stitch. The overlock worked okay for the attachment of the yoke to the bottom of the front and for some seams. I found the slanted zig-zag wanted to get caught in the bobbin hole and was very difficult to remove from the machine. Overall, a longer straight stitch seems to work best for me with this fabric and with the thread tension on the machine.

The little girl was DELIGHTED with her pajamas! For this Amazonian 3 year old, I wound up up making the size 6 and hemming the pants up to length. The waist is still too long but since she is still wearing "sleep diapers", it fits comfortably over her "diaper". Perhaps I will let the hem out next year so that I get more than one year out of them. The arms were not too long, oddly enough. Not bad for a first attempt at knits. I hope Joann puts this fabric on sale soon!

Here is my favorite model, fresh from the bath and sporting her new yummy fresh pajamas and her very best νάνι (pr. nonny) also quite yummy and fresh from it's bath. Ah, victory!

Look for more creative space inspiration over at Kootoyoo.

Harvest Monday - 11 Oct 2010

2010-10-11T15:33:00.001-04:00

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions the host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests!

Back again! Sorry about not joining in the fun online; I was still harvesting! After rigging more micro irrigation heads (I think I like the misters best at this point) for a couple of the veg beds, I grabbed my NEW-TO-ME picking basket and the girl and started pickin'.

Much bellpepper and one huge grocery store quality mac-daddy pepper in the bunch! Woohoo! I have removed 3 of my bellpepper plants now and replaced them with Roma tomatoes. The peppers seem to be suffering some sort of malaise (end of season?) but otherwise seem healthy. As they get peaked looking, I am pulling them. I NEED MORE ROOM!

Hmmmmm, oh yes! Don't you just love okra? Today, I was delighted to find the fruit sweating on the plants! So cute and fuzzy and sweaty. I love that Bangchik calls them Ladies Fingers. As I find a few that have escaped my attentions for a day or so and have grown HUGE, I wonder whether these become Men's Fingers or Long Shoremen Fingers or Burly Lumberjack Fingers or Sasquatch Fingers? They certainly aren't ladylike anymore. Oh, and my okra are as different as night from day as compared to that meager selection since in the grocery store. Mine have no spots and are beautiful and velvety. These grow so fast, I really do encourage people to try them. They love love love heat. I have 3 gallons of the whole petite okra in the freezer now and a quart of jumbo okra sliced and ready for gumbo or frying and 3 gallons of bell pepper diced and ready to use. An upright standalone freezer makes gardening make sense. Before this year, I was thrusting produce upon people and had a lot of anxiety about watching my efforts go to waste if the produce rotted in the fridge. Sigh, things of the past...

The eggplant have started to come in - although they look nothing like Black Beauties to me. Long and narrow. Larger than my Ichibans of last year. This is the first to be harvested since Baby Girl couldn't keep her hands off of it and twisted the stem ten ways from Sunday. I realized this one was loosing its luster and found the shredded stem - no point in leaving it there any longer. Dear darling daughter made sure it wouldn't grow any further. This one became Wednesday night's Eggplant Parmigiana with this recipe for the Oven Fried Eggplant.

Here is something I've wondered about my eggplant. The plants are absolutely loaded with fruit but it all seems to be staying rather small. Should I 1) fertilize the heck out of it 2) water the heck out of it or 3) remove some of the fruit so they'll get some size to them. I could use some help on this one.

Oh, the story behind the NEW-TO-ME picking basket -

as I was driving away from the dry cleaners this morning on the way to the dentist, I was musing on hods and how expensive they are. Oh, I want one alright but am too darn cheap to purchase one. Generally, my harvest comes in mop buckets, sand castle buckets, tucked up aprons and the hands of anyone close enough to help. I guess my coveting of a lovely hod basket is something of the 'Martha' bubbling to the surface, aye?

Well, as I was driving - what did I spy in the road? A basket! Not a hod, no no. But what I consider to be a traditional garden picking basket. Rawther generous of Someone, wouldn't you say? I pulled into the parking lot adjacent to the forlorn basket and rescued it for my very own. Maybe now I can quit coveting a silly hod - or was that The Idea? Either way, Thank You Sir. It may not be pristine, but there are no structural issues and it wouldn't have stayed pristine in my garden for more than 2 seconds anyhow.

Again, thank you so much to the one responsible for my finding this basket. I love it. Sorry about the atrocious writing, I am trying to hurry because I have a guest for dinner tonite! Ta!

"Now and Later" Vegetarian Empanadas

2010-10-05T20:01:00.000-04:00

After school, doctor's appointment, meeting at the nursing home and some grocery shopping, I got together with Resa and the kids today and did a whole lot of cooking....

Dinner tonight (and a few other nights as well) was "Now and Later" Vegetarian Empanadas. We made a double batch so that we'd both have a full recipe for our houses. It definitely makes MORE than 8, and 3/4 cup of filling is perfect to fill 1/2 of a pie crust. I got 10 empanadas out of the recipe and mine are stuffed too full! Hopefully, I will remember to stick to 3/4 cup next time I make this.

Then we put the girls to work on some granola bars. They added dried fruit, raisins, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips - hmmmm, oh and some coconut. They are delish!

Toss in a little Scrabble, some tired babes and my day was complete. Plus, Resa brought me a bag of delicious oatmeal cookies!

Too tired and it's only 8:01 pm. G'nite all!

Makloubeh - Cauliflower

2010-10-02T20:31:00.000-04:00

My sister-in-law from my first marriage, Rita Harb, has taught me to make many Arabic dishes which I do so love. She gave me a way to prepare vegetables that I had never liked and turned them into my favorites. One of these dishes is called Makloubeh (Arabic: مقلوبة) and it is absolutely wonderful. If you don't care for the taste of cauliflower, you should definitely give this a try. The cauliflower takes on a completely different flavor and the dish is real comfort food.

The recipe itself comes from the pages of "Sahtein, Middle Eastern Cookbook" which was given to me by Rita's sister, Renda Ajluni. My first husband was Palestinian, so I must assume the way that I was taught to cook these dishes would be with a Palestinian or perhaps Ramallahan flavor, Ramallah being the city they were from. This dish is simple and flavorful. I would call it country or peasant cooking since it is prepared in one pot. Being a southern gal, I am all for that.

The trick to Makloubeh made with cauliflower is to thoroughly brown the cauliflower by deep frying it. I have to admit that I was surprised at just how brown it needs to be for this dish, but the reward of the rich flavor you'll create is worth it. It will take time to get it brown enough even with a lot of oil and high heat.

You can see this recipe here, for nutrition information.

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

1 large cauliflower
cooking oil for frying cauliflower
1 to 1 1/2 lbs boneless beef cubes (or lamb)
1 large onion
1 1/2 to 2 cups rice
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 dash garlic powder
2 tablespoons butter
4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups broth or 3 1/2 cups water
1/8 teaspoon saffron
2 tablespoons pine nuts

Directions:

Prep Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 3 1/2 hrs

Saute onion and meat together in butter.

Add salt and spices. Add broth or water and cover. Let meat simmer over moderate heat until tender.

Break cauliflower into medium size florets. Sprinkle with salt. Fry in deep, hot oil until dark brown, the darker the better. When it looks almost burnt to me, I know its right. Drain on paper towels. The picture at the right is probably still not brown enough. But it is smelling too good and I am getting impatient.

Add cauliflower on top of meat. Add uncooked rice on top of cauliflower. Make sure that all are covered by broth. Add more if necessary to cover.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 40 minutes, or until rice is tender and broth/water is absorbed.

Traditionally, this dish is allowed to cool for 30 minutes and then the pot is turned upside down in a large platter. It is then garnished with pine nuts and served with plain yogurt. I just dish it from the pot because my family can't wait 30 minutes now that the whole house smells so yummy. You can also make this in a crockpot.

For my family of four, I will usually have about 1 lb of stew meat and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of rice in the recipe. As far as I am concerned, the more cauliflower - the better. We are having this tonight for dinner with a green salad and homemade plain yogurt (called lebneh in Arabic: لبنة ) and again tomorrow for lunch.

Sahtein!
(meaning "two healths" or "may your health be redoubled") is the Arabic equivalent of bon appetit!

Put the Oxygen Mask on Yourself First

2010-10-01T11:45:00.002-04:00

Finally, my "errands" this Friday require nothing more than me sitting with phone in one hand and computer in the other. And I finally take care of the person who always gets pushed to the bottom of my TODO list. Yeah, me!

If you have been putting these things off, take a few minutes and do something for YOURSELF today. Remember, "Put the Oxygen Mask on Yourself First" or you won't be able to take care of everyone else.

XOXO, Carol

Mossfire Crab Cake Salad Ripped Off

2010-09-29T19:53:00.017-04:00

There is a restaurant here in Jacksonville called Mossfire Grill that has a Crab Cake Salad that I CRAVE! However, it's quite a jaunt from the house and with a 3 year old, eating out is a challenge and not the relaxing experience I'd wish for. So, what's a girl to do?

RIP THAT SALAD OFF! That's right, baby! I got it and I got it good. My husband does not like crabcakes by the way. Out of deference to him, I only put one crab cake on the salad. Next time, he's suggested more. Believe it.

For crabcakes, I watch the sales and buy good frozen crab cakes. To be honest, I have yet to master the crab cake. Every once in a blue moon, they'll go on sale and I snap them up. They are perfect for making stuffed fish dishes, etc. And for this salad, which ROCKS!

The corn salsa is the key. It has fresh jalapeno, fresh cilantro, tomato, corn, red and green peppers and onion washed in lime juice. The proportions are perfect and really light up your taste buds. I can't resist cilantro and lime. I adore it.

Crab Cake Salad (serves 1)

2 crab cakes (pan saute with butter, it's usually the recommended preparation)
1 cup roasted corn salsa (I didn't roast my corn, so mine is plain corn salsa)
2 - 3 cups Romaine Lettuce
1/2 cup diced cucumbers
1/8 cup pumpkin seeds
drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil

Roasted Corn Salsa

Ingredients:

Servings: 2 1/2 Cups

2 ears sweet corn, in husks
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped green pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped sweet red pepper
1 teaspoon minced seeded jalapeno pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
tortilla chips

Directions:

Prep Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 45 mins

Peel back husks of corn but do not remove; only remove silk.

Replace husks and tie with kitchen string.

Place corn in a bowl and cover with water; soak for 20 minutes.

Drain.

Grill corn, covered, over medium-high heat for 20-25 minutes or until husks are blackened and corn is tender, turning several times.

Cool.

Remove corn from cobs and place in a bowl.

Add tomatoes, onion, cilantro, limejuice, peppers, salt and pepper.

Serve with tortilla chips.

How To: Make Your Own Reusable Produce Bags

2010-09-29T17:03:00.005-04:00

Look for more creative space inspiration over at Kootoyoo.

Why would I make Reusable Produce Bags? I hate plastic bags. They take up space in my house and I never remember to take them back to the grocery store. At least the plastic shopping bags can be reused as bags but the produce bags? I rip them open and they are worthless. Since Walmart stopped using the giant ones, I can't even say that "at least I can put my home baked bread in them". Bah.

And the expense of reusable produce bags! Oh my goodness. $13.37 for 3 or $11.00 for 5. I do not think so. Also, I don't think I want the added weight of something that looks very like a lingerie laundry bag to me on the scale at the checkout. Call me cheap. Please. I'm serious. I love it.

I don't want to compare my bags to those anyway. I want to try to replace the bags available at the grocery store.

The stats:

Grocery Store Bag	My Bag - LARGE
Cost nothing, except the future	Max $0.29 each
Weighs 3 grams	Weighs 4 grams (my first bag weighed 3 grams but I gave it away so I can't measure the finished size.
Holds a fair amount	Holds more than twice the volume of the store bag
Holds about 3 lbs of apples or pears	Holds at least 7 lbs
Doesn't hold greens well at all	Great for greens!
Produce has to be removed to be washed	Produce can be left in bag for a rinse.

This took 2 grocery produce bags to hold.

And there's still room for more.

Not much larger in size, but has much more capacity.

Wrapped up tiny and ready to shop.

What you'll need:

lightweight synthetic netting (I got mine from Walmart for 77 cents per yard) and
whatever thread you have handy
twist ties

I made 8 bags from 2 or 3 yards of netting so my bags cost me either .1925 or .28875 each. I apologize - I just can't remember how many yards I purchased. Either way, these are super cheap.

Step 1: Cut a rectangle approximately 38" by 15".
These measurements are not exact but will result in the bag pictured here. The resulting bag will be approximately 18.5" x 13.5". This is a LARGE produce bag. Change your measurements according to the size bag you want.

Step 2: Fold the rectangle in half, forming a rectangle which is 19" x 15".

Step 3: Starting on the bag opening, sew the two sides together with a small seam allowance using an OVERLOCK stitch or a ZIGZAG stitch.
You are sewing toward the fold. Why? This fabric is slippery. Let's make sure the opening of the bag matches up pretty good. Repeat on the other side. Now you have a bag measuring 19" x 15".

Step 4: Trim your seam allowance close to your stitches.

Step 5: Turn the bag inside out and topstitch with a stratight stitch approximately 1/4" from the edge. Now your bag should be plenty strong. You also kind of just did a French Seam. Congratulations if you never have before.

Remaining Steps are optional. You can use this bag as is.

Step 6: To get a nice even top, cut the top of the bag with a rotary cutter if you find yours to be as ragged as mine always are (not good with scissors - that's me).

Step 7: Turn it under twice (1/4") and topstitch. I could have sworn I had a rolled hem foot but alas, no sign of it. Doing this the hard way was no fun since netting is SO slippery.

The best part about this bag? Plastic bags—"WARNING: Plastic bags can be dangerous. To avoid danger of suffocation, keep bag away from babies and children." I think my daughter has nothing to worry about. What a monkey.

The worst part? The monkey wants to steal my bags.

Enjoy!

Post It Note Tuesday

2010-09-28T11:36:00.074-04:00

Harvest Monday - 27 Sept 2010

2010-09-28T11:13:00.005-04:00

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions the host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests!

Garden gal, Delaney, showing off her handiwork

Do you see that stunning smile? That is my favorite harvest this Monday. The produce on the counter - eh, that's another story, right? Okra, peppers, basil and eggs. I didn't weigh the produce this week or last week, and truthfully, I had some anxiety over that. But then, I thought - so what? It's not like I really needed to know how much there was. That was a "nice to have", not a "got to have". The "got to have" was processing that produce so that I wasted not a bit of it. The "got to have" were yum recipes that I could use for my home grown produce.

So, Part 1: What I did with my produce!

I diced, bagged and froze 2 gallons of bell peppers, froze 1 gallon of okra (as I pick it, I wash and freeze it since I am getting about 8 oz per day from the plants and must collect for a few days to have enough quantity for a recipe. I freeze to keep them fresh, I think they get manky if kept in the fridge too long).

I gave away probably 5 lbs of peppers, an enormous bunch of basil, a dozen pasture-raised eggs, and probably another gallon of okra. Tossed a few cups of pine nuts (for pesto), 16 oz of home made fig preserves and 32 oz of home canned peaches into the bag to REALLY weigh it down. Like I told Delaney and Brenna, that's what I call playing!

And last but not least, Crockpot Chicken and Sausage Gumbo for dinner last night. Oh, so yum! I can't wait for the day when ALL of the produce in the pot came from my garden, not just the pepper and okra. For a delish recipe for Gumbo, here it is... I used 3 chicken thighs and 2-3 cups little cocktail smoked sausages (what I had in the freezer). I only barely shook the red pepper over the pot since I have a 3 year old. Gumbo is a perfect solution for okra that has gotten too large. Stewing means tough okra gets tender and the slime is gone, daddy, gone. My guys DEVOURED it (they got all manly with the the Tobasco and Lousiana Hot Sauce). Philip swears I added a dash of gris-gris! Cha, mai non! Just love.

Part 2: Family Rocks!

Monday, I got to meet my little cousins, Delaney, Brenna and Quinn. Their mom, Resa, brought them over for a meet and greet! Resa's grandmother and my grandmother are sisters. We got in touch through Facebook. Thank you, Facebook! Resa and I "knew" each other, but now I think we will have a friendship. Yeah!

Resa and I have been getting in touch, which delights me to no end since we seem to have so much in common. Ever been to a family reunion and seen people to whom you are related but don't even know what to say to them? Kind of, "oh, those are so-and-so's kids". Like, you end up leaving and didn't really get to know anyone new? I hate that. It seems like conversation ought to be easy, but it winds up feeling like a really clique-y party where you don't know enough people? Hard to horn in on conversations, hard to make a connection when you don't know who belongs to who. It always seemed like a family reunion was one of those places where you couldn't go up to someone and say, "Hi, I'm Carol. Who the heck are you?" Seems kind of rude to me, like you ought to know your family better than that.

In a group of strangers, I am totally at ease. I'm that wacko that will just plop down on the sofa beside you and start chattering like a magpie, grilling you like the FBI. But at a gathering where I am supposed to know these people, have played with them in paddling pools, etc. I become shy. What if I get a name or relationship wrong? Oh, the embarrassment. So, I generally orbit around the old ladies I've grown up with, talk to my immediate family and hover over my children (children give you a great excuse to ignore potentially embarrassing social situations, n'est-ce pas?) - and regret that I am no closer to anyone than I was before.

Not so for Resa's family! Thank you, Resa, for piling your babes into the car and coming to me! I know how hard that can be with wee ones such as Quinn (who is totally yummers, just want to eat him up). The weather was threatening something fierce so we did the whirlwind introductions, quick tour of the house, quick out to the garden. I love getting kids out into the garden and to meet the chickens. Like, here, sweet one, is a treat for you - a slice of my childhood at my grandmother's house just for you. Open Immediately!

The time flew by and babies got worn out. Brenna was so sweet to Caroline (Caroline was her usual bossy self!) and I am officially in love with them all! Can't wait to see them again!

Super Quick Sundress

2010-09-24T17:11:00.002-04:00

Look for more creative space inspiration over at Kootoyoo.

Hiding in the okra forest.

I am trying to distract myself from an impending commitment that I am totally not prepared for - I actually said I would play at a piano recital. What was I thinking? Only my stubbornness is keeping me from backing out. How to distract self? Garden, check. Get face ripped out (also known as waxing eyebrows - must be groomed when I make a fool of myself on piano), check. Make girl a sundress, check.

Caroline picked the fabric from my stash; it is silky and looks like sunshine. I looked up shirring videos on you tube and went for it. She has a serious shortage of clothes that fit, anyway. Maybe she can wear it tomorrow night at the piano recital or Sunday to church.

Obsessed with picking peppers

I love it when she puts on a dress and holds out her hand and asks me, "May I have this dance?"

The halter tie dress may become a staple as she is unable to take it off! The Super Naked Girl has been thwarted! Dad will be delighted.

I used the width of the fabric and put the seam in the back. The length is about 25". The ties are 22" long and 1" wide (finished). It took me a minute to figure out the shirring. First, I had to wrap a bobbin with elastic. ??? How do you know that it isn't too tight? Then the first row of the shirring came out, I think because I didn't hold the fabric taut from the back. I think the tension on the elastic was too much and it pulled free even though I knotted the ends together. It worked out fine though, since she now has a ruffle on the top of the dress that the first row of shirring would not have allowed.

Back detail

All in all, a great little project. Super easy. Very little fabric needed. I'll be making a lot more of these. She has a knit dress with short sleeves and shirring. I may have to use it for a pattern for the next project. After all, winter is coming. Who am I kidding? This is Florida. If she gets cold, she can put on some hard core outerwear (cardigan - to you yanks) to keep her shoulders warm.

She is so cute in this. I keep catching flashes of the young woman she'll be as she saunters around. Sigh. Maybe a matching mommy/daughter set?

A special treat was found by the model in the okra forest as she gathered the large fallen leaves. A little tree frog bounded up and tried to hide from my girl, but she is determined.

"Can I touch him?" I caught the millisecond of touch before Mr. Tree Frog escaped to the neighboring plant.

The gentlest of baby touches and he bounds away

Rant for Resa

2010-09-21T15:54:00.002-04:00

When my cousin, Resa, recently posted an S.O.S. on Facebook, I had to jump in with both feet. Any excuse to tell family what to do, right? Ha! The point was - how in the heck do you try to be all that you can be with the over abundance of education we are given regarding what we should be feeding our families and still fit that into the reality of this economy and our wallets. Yeah, how the heck DO you do that? Quit pontificating and tell me HOW in easy to understand instructions.

Seems to me that most of the country has gone bonkers. The food conglomerates aren't helping, the government isn't helping, the school's don't help - it is pretty much left to us home economists. Man, I need a Ph.D. behind my name for that. As I was chewing poor Resa's ear off with my tips and tricks for stretching that non-stretchy dollar, I realized that I should probably write it down so that no one else would have to endure what the sweet darling had to go through. One and a half hours - yes, she was still pleasant at the bitter end. What a sweetheart.

So, if you want to know - read on.

Background: We are both stay at home moms with fixed budgets. We both handle the finances. Little ones to feed. If we could live organic, we would. If we could live whole, we would. I think we both like Paleo, too.

Resa really likes the Raw thing.

I feel pretty strongly that whole foods is probably all any of us need. Just getting away from pre-packaged stuff winds up eliminating so many bad things from your diet. Also, I think all this organic stuff is a way of ripping us consumers off. The over-inflated prices are not jiving with what my head tells me are less expensive practices. I did it, yes I did. I love the organic stuff. I am one of the those people who swears they can tell a difference in taste. But I can't afford it. I evaluate based on cost, and when the organic makes sense financially, I purchase it. There - the key to my heart = $$$.

So, here goes. #1 enemy = OVERSPENDING. It's really hard not to do this. My suggestion is to...

#1 Get a Prepaid Credit Card - I have been using one for years and for the low, low price of $104/year, I get to stick to my budget (I handle the finances, remember). As the person who handles the finances, I get the applause when the money is enough - but the down side is that when the finances are a manky mess, I am generally the one who did it.

The cost is because the company I use charges $2 every time you "load" money onto the card. I have my weekly allotment added to the card on my busy errand day, Friday, so $2 X 52 weeks = $104 dollars. Is it a savings? Well, a bounced check charge costs $39 so that means that I would have to bounce less than 3 checks a year to save more money. And it is a serious STRESS RELIEF to know that I absolutely cannot overspend. I am forced to prioritize my purchases. First, gas up the car. Second, grocery store for the weekly shopping. All I have to spend for the rest of the week is more milk and more produce. When the money runs out - I just do not touch the credit card, etc. I sit on my hands, pout, and wait for Friday to roll around again. Kids need clothes? After the gas and the grocery, if there is money left - yes, clothes it is. You get the picture.

Does it pain me that I have to be so tricksy with myself, a grown woman, to prevent Swipe It Fever.? No, it doesn't. My budget balances and your doesn't - so there. Phbbbbbbbt.

#2 Saving money with whole foods means making it yourself - I love the coupon queens. These women walk out of stores with zero out pocket spending and somehow stuff cash into their purses to boot. I wish I could be one. But then again, I can't feed my family gum and ziploc bags. So, since I am not going to pack my pantry with processed food mixes, what am I going to do? Well, start by making a list of what your family eats. Then start learning how to do it yourself. The more you make from scratch, the cheaper this becomes. Why?

Once you know how to make yeast bread, you can make sliced bread which our kids love, yeast rolls, hamburger buns, hot dog buns, pizza dough. Get the picture? Doughnuts? Cinnamon rolls.? Sounds like bread heaven to me and sounds like bread death to all sorts of people. I beg to differ. If you were able to choose the ingredients going into your bread products, you would be able to get rid of a tremendous load of inhospitable chemicals that your babies don't need. Our favorite Buttermilk White Wheat Bread recipe ingredients are as follows: 1 1/4 c. milk, 1 T. vinegar (to make buttermilk, purchased buttermilk is expensive), 2 T. sugar, 1 - 1.5 T. butter, 1 t. salt, 2 1/2 t. yeast, 1 c. whole wheat flour, 2 c. all purpose flour, 4 t. vital wheat gluten. That is it. So please point out to me which of these foods is so bad for me. And, I don't need to look at the recipe anymore. Those old ladies were right. I know it like my favorite song now.

Many doughs can be made ahead and kept in the fridge till you are ready. I cheat and use a breadmaker on the dough setting to save myself all the mess and hassle of mixing. Call your mom, your grandmother, best friend, her mom, etc. and you should find that at least one of them has a breadmaker that they don't use. Nab it! You are doing them a favor by saving them from storing the thing any longer.

Now that you are making all these products from scratch, it isn't crazy to go out to the warehouse stores and purchase 50 lbs of flour in those ginormous bags. Now, you are saving a boat load of money. By the way, my yummy bread costs me less that $1 per loaf. Did I tell you I like the math, too?

Oh, oh! Now that you are this rocking baker, you can give home baked goodies as gifts! How cheap is that? And people will act like you gave them diamonds - I am NOT kidding.

What other food products can you cheaply and easily make yourself? Here is a start...

Yeast breads (we already covered that)

Quick Breads (Baking powder, Baking soda breads), Banana bread, corn bread, etc.

Granola bars - the primary ingredients are puffed rice and oatmeal, both of which go on sale BOGO all the time. Now, here is a time to be a coupon goddess. Good long shelf life on this. Oatmeal gives you oatmeal, muffins, breads, granola bars, cookies, cobblers and crisps (see frozen fruits below), peanut butter balls (kids love 'em).

Yogurt (Financially, 1 quart of store brand yogurt = 4 quarts of homemade yogurt, and it is better for you.) Can be used instead of sour cream, cream cheese (by straining in colander to thicken it), flavored and sweetened it can be put into the freezer for a great substitute for ice cream. No machinery neccesary.

Canned beans - what is she talking about? MAKE my own CANNED beans? Yeah, I know they are cheap but you can do better. Buy dried beans, soak them in a lot of water overnight, drain the soak water, fill up the pot with a lot of water, and cook them on medium low heat the next day till they are done. Quit worrying about doing it wrong and just do it. Drain them and package them in freezer bags. A can of beans is a 15.9 oz can - measure your beans out in 16 oz batches for your bags and then when a recipe calls for 1 can of beans, you just grab a bag. Notice that I did not season or salt my beans. When I make my recipes, they get all the seasoning they need. Partial "cans" hit the fridge for addition to the picky eater dinner menu (wee ones like eating beans with fingers).

Chicken stock - by keeping every scrap of chicken, bones, trimmings, fat, skin that comes through your kitchen and throwing it into a baggie in the freezer you can amass an amazing quantity of chicken broth ingredients. I find that my carcasses hold enough meat on them that this is the way that I make chicken and dumplings/rice/noodle soup recipes. The broth is super rich since some of the chicken is grilled, some is roasted, etc. It is NOTHING like those cans of water which someone chased a chicken through that are found on store shelves marked "broth". Shelling and/or heading shrimp? Do the same thing and make shrimp stock one day. Freeze it and you now have the makings of some gourmet dishes. Beef scraps can go the same way. Sorry puppy dog, those steak trimmings and bones are going into my stash.

#3 Saving money on produce means throwing NOTHING away. You probably got that idea from the chicken stock idea. Well, the most expensive produce is the stuff that lands in the garbage, right? So, if you have fresh fruit and veg that are about to get tossed - process them (processing means cleaning, peeling, cutting up) and throw them in the freezer. Frozen fruit is ideal for smoothies or topping for ice cream. Frozen veg, even in small quantities, is perfect for stews and soups. When my potatoes start to go soft, I slice them thinly and freeze them. Scalloped potatoes, anyone?

Do the same thing with your bread. Cube it up and freeze it. Think bread pudding, croutons, stuffing and when you have more time, use your food processor to make bread crumbs.

Did you buy some new veg or fruit that your family hated? Cook it, puree it and freeze it. Add the veg to soups and tomato sauces. Butternut squash puree makes macaroni and cheese that crazy orange that you get from Kraft Mac and Cheese. The kids will love it. Fools, they should know that I'd never feed them that stuff.

Black bananas? Squeeze the banana out into a freezer bowl and keep it for your next banana bread. Once they start to smell or start growing fuzz, I will chuck them but other than that - you would be surprised at how much yummier your banana recipes are when you use really overripe bananas. Don't be afraid to save them.

Freeze stuff that you think you can't freeze. I bet you can use it in soup.

#4 Urban chickens will save your soul. If you can do it - get them. I am not all wiggy about having zen chickens who cultivate cross cultural friendships with frogs and lizards. My girls are mini raptors that eat what they can catch and their food bowl is filled with Purina Chicken Chow (I am joking about the name - It is Purina and it is actually Layena Pellets). I did the math on this one, too. It is cheaper to have your pets lay your eggs than it is to buy the cheapest grodiest food conglomerate eggs you can find in the grocery store. According to my city code, they are my "pets". I am not raising them to eat them, therefore, pets. My sheshe neighborhood has suffered my chickens quite nicely. Mine have names and I cried when one died. So what if they lay eggs. Keep your nose out of my ladies' cloacas.

Major obstacles to this: City codes, no fences, home owner's associations (fascists), um - I don't know what all. I am not much of a believer in obstacles.

#5 Buy your plasticware from local restaurants. I buy 1 quart plastic soup containers from my local chinese restaurant for about a quarter each (way cheaper than buying Gladware, etc). The actual cost of these at the restaurant supply is 8.6 cents per container/lid combo so haggle with them. I offer 10-15 cents and "let them" rob me blind at a quarter. I would buy the case, folks, but I do not need 800 of these things taking up room in my house. Therefore, I buy them "on the side". These containers fit in freezer doors like a champ and are great for your frozen veg, nuts bought on sale, etc.

#6 Get yourself a huge freezer. I guess you saw that coming since everything prior to this said "throw it in the freezer". Think of your freezer as a holding area for foods till you get 1) enough time or 2) enough volume to actually do something with it. I got my upright freezer on craigslist for the fraction of the cost of a new one. I bought one with lots of pics that had had a clean life. It wasn't some manky rusty garage fridge. The down side is that everyday it is costing you $ to store your food. How can you do that cheaper, then? Once you get a good head of steam up with this stuff, you'll be onto step #7

#7 Learning to preserve your food. Jams and jellies are a perfect way to start. Be savvy about your prices on your fruit (at the peak of the season prices will be dead cheap) and then throw loads in the freezer till you are ready to can. Canning is CHEAP and EASY! Since I know already that you have the internet, get busy finding a cheap setup or call mom, sis, grandmom and talk them out of their goodies. I prefer canning now since I HATE plastic food containers. I still remember when you got things in 1) a can or 2) a glass bottle or 3) a cardboard box. That was it. No plastic. And these fools are still packaging this horrible, horrible way. Whatever, man.

Anyhow, there are coupons for jars, lids, etc. and you can reuse the jars FOREVER. How nice, huh? And very country cute for drinks, flowers, storage containers, etc.

And #8 is a secret that I am working on. I am using my computer in a new way and I will let you know how it goes. I will give you a hint. I am planning on becoming one of those coupon mavens. I don't get to use many coupons because of the whole foods thing, but I am working on a way of NEVER LETTING A COUPON GO TO WASTE. I think I am onto something here. Sorry for the teaser! Mwah, ha, ha - no, I'm not! But I promise to spill when I get it all smooth and groovy.

Ta, ta! Thank you, Resa, for your patience today!

Update: I forgot all about Food Storage Made Easy! These are a couple of very cool LDS chicks who are totally reworking the long term food storage thing. They helped me come up with a REAL pantry grocery list which lets me work the sales hard to maximize my savings. We probably have a 3 month pantry supply and that is also a stress relief when something major breaks around the house and my weekly allotment needs to be tee-ninecy for a while. Nothing like grocery shopping at home.

Harvest Monday - 13 September 2010

2010-09-13T09:42:00.000-04:00

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions the host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests!

Today's Harvest:

Okra 5.5 oz the fellow on the left is the preferred size. the monster on the right hid from me.
Bell Peppers 2.034 lbs seems like a small harvest but there were gobs left on the plants. although I have tons of small peppers on the plants, I really want to try to wait for them to get some size prior to picking. I would also like them to get RED.

Other garden news:

Daddy brought home a construction project for Mama and the wee girl - a bird feeder. We worked hard inside the house to complete the feeder and then filled it with yummy sun flower seeds and hung it on a shepherd's hook to attempt to thwart the evil hoards of squirrels. No such luck. One of the varmints was sitting on top of the feeder bold as you please this morning just looking at me. I am going to try to put Vaseline on the pole and see how he likes that. Or maybe something very sticky - then he'll be stuck in place while Shiloh, the dog, advances upon him in a most threatening manner. Just a taste, boy. We want him to go back to the union hall and spread the word.

When it came time to fill the feeder, Caroline immediately went to the pantry and flung open the doors. I wonder what she would have put into it if we hadn't pulled her out to the shed where the sunflower seeds are kept in a metal garbage can. Ritz crackers? Peanut butter? Syrup? Cereal? Croutons! She is a crouton addict - or would she share her stash? I guess we'll never know.

Dad worked hard all weekend spreading gravel in the greenhouse base and working on the molding around the front door. I am waiting to do a comprehensive greenhouse post when we actually make some headway. Some of the molding work was done indoors but much was done out front. Heat gun and scraping of paint from the masonry around the top of the door. He actually painted! There, honey, I wrote it down. Now you can point to it for all eternity. What makes all that work even more impressive is the fact that the temps this weekend were above 100 F and there was no way that I was spending much time out of doors. Sitting in the shade on Saturday and watching Hannah and Caroline in the pool was too much. It was 108 F and no breeze. I don't know how he does it, but he loves the heat.

Thanks, hon.

Green Metallic Bees (genus Agapostemon)

2010-09-10T06:00:00.002-04:00

I spend most of my time in my backyard and largely ignore the front. My husband fusses endlessly over the boxwood hedge along the front of the house, left by a previous owner - he does so love precision in pruning. I've had spotty results in the front as I have never gotten very interested in irrigation out there. It is blazing hot and in full sun until late in the afternoon, which is when I actually have to do householdey type activities such as paying attention to children, etc. So, it's an environment only for the hardy out there.

We've started planting fruiting trees out there to get the most from the sun: Black Mission Fig, Valencia Orange, Fuji and Anna Apple and a couple of Rabbiteye Blueberry bushes. Other than that, I perform a biannual weeding on the circular bed surrounding the light post in the center of the yard, toss a few packets of seeds therein and walk away.

Volunteer Purslane awash with Green Metallic Bees

On the last weeding, I discovered that a plant had decided to work its way into the bed that I had not seen there before. Apparently, some soul had managed to put some Purslane seeds there (not me!) and they were making a go of it along with 3-4 Vinca sproutlings from one of my seed dispersal campaigns. So I weeded around the Purslane and let it go! Vinca and Purslane love the heat and don't mind neglect and could care less if they get watered or not. Just my kind of plants.

Green Metallic Bee

The bonus of the Purslane was the bee fest that occurs every morning when they begin to open. Tiny green metallic bees swarm the Purslane before the flowers are even fully open, fighting their way into the blooms and defending them from other bees. I am mesmerized! What are these tiny bees? I do not believe I have ever seen them before or at least not in such a swarm which denies my disregard.

Green Metallic Bee

I believe these may be Sweat Bees or Green Metallic Bees (Agapostemon genus) and they are so delightful! How busy and quick! I wonder what species they are? I couldn't find much information on them online, just the following: "Metallic Green Bees (genus Agapostemon) are very small bees in the Sweat Bee family, Halictidae.

At most, the bee measures between one-quarter and one-half inch in length.

Known for their green bodies, some species also have colorful, striped abdomens. Often they can be found visiting garden flowers.

While they are not aggressive bees, they do have a mild sting."

Wonderful variety in color of Purslane blooms

Portulaca grandiflora (Purslane or moss rose) -

"Originally from the hot, dry plains of southern Brazil, Uruguay and northern Argentina, moss rose is cultivated throughout the world as a favorite garden annual. It has escaped cultivation in a few areas, including central Florida."

"The related purslane (P. oleracea) is a bothersome weed in warm climates, although it is widely cultivated for food and has been for more than 2000 years. In fact, purslane, which is used raw in salads and cooked like spinach as a potherb, is very high in vitamins A, B1 and C. It is available commercially in both ornamental and culinary cultivars." - from floridata.com

I have found forums where the grandiflora is also edible but not considered to be as tasty as the wild oleracea. I am intrigued by the concept of using it as a living mulch in the garden. My garden is covered in oleracea and in the past, I'd always pulled it. If it will help keep other weeds out and will not interfere with my plants, then it is more than welcome. I shall leave ye be, my dear! Especially love the menu suggestions! I can be sure that my guys will try anything if I tell them bacon is involved...

Check out Grower Jim at Garden Adventures for his First Friday Creature Feature.

My Creative Space

2010-09-09T07:59:00.001-04:00

nauseated turtle?

Work is proceeding slowly on Grandmama's Busy Pillow. I know nothing of embroidery so creating a turtle out of fabric and yarn is clumsy at best. The result is crude but if you close your eyes and rub it, it has good texture. I think my grandmama will enjoy that. My only problem will be stitching it to a back, turning and stuffing. I left too little space around the margins and the subsequent embroidery left it rather frayed. Wish me luck. I could also redo it. It wouldn't be the only thing which needs to be redone on this project - see below.

This is where I melted the zipper.

I managed to get one side of the pillow approximately half done and then managed to melt the zipper together with the iron. I honestly don't know if I will redo it or not. The zipper is a jacket zipper and will come apart if undone all the way. I don't think my grandmother will have the patience to get it back together again, so melting the zipper together may be a kind of blessing. I'll have to mull over replacing versus leaving well enough alone.

Onward! I am going to work on the other side for a little while so that my sore fingers can recover from the encounter with the turtle. And so that I can ignore the melted zipper.

Look for more creative space inspiration over at Kootoyoo.

Seed Binder: Garden Organization Project

2010-09-08T12:04:00.007-04:00

I am a garden slob. I have a large shoebox where I have been keeping seeds, garden plans, assorted plant markers, and other things-that-do-not-apply-to-the-garden. It is not organized. As a matter of fact, it periodically emits a steady stream of seed packets and loose seeds, something like Old Faithful. So, as I have worked for half and hour outside turning my compost bed and cultivating my carrot bed in preparation for planting, I thought I'd take a break and give my seed box a makeover.

What a mess! Seeds and papers everywhere.

I started poking about my office shelves for a binder, thinking that I could put sheet protectors or some such in it to control the chaos. But eureka! I found a couple of CD binders. One was chock full of software from the previous decade, so I pulled it all out and got started. I tested my packets and even the giant packets fit snugly into the CD pockets.

1st sort


2nd sort and 3rd sort

Time to sort the seeds. I got a couple of bins and did a rough sort to begin: Flowers, Herbs, Others. I tucked the Flowers and Herbs into the binder with plenty of empties between the sections and began a second sort: Root Crops and Above Ground Crops. The Root Crops got put into the binder and I began a third sort: Curcubits, Tomatoes, Leaf, and Others.

This went fast! Before I put a packet into the binder, I made sure it wasn't empty (found plenty of those) and taped open/torn packets shut.

Notecards for dividers

Stapling divider into slot

View of completed upright binder

squashes

other curcubits

flowers

paperwork in front binder slot

All in all, I am very pleased with the result. Now I will be able to quickly find my seeds! But knowing me, how long do you think this organization will last?

Oh, and I also downloaded packets to print and tucked them into the binder so that I could save my seeds.

Thank you for a wonderful weekend

2010-09-06T17:07:00.031-04:00

Harvest Monday - 6 September 2010

2010-09-06T14:02:00.003-04:00

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions the host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests!

Today's Harvest:

Basil 5.9 oz
Bell Peppers 3.848 lbs

Other garden news:

Eggplant blossom (Black Beauty, I think)

Clemson Spineless Okra blossom

Clemson Spineless baby okra

I am looking forward to next week since my okra and eggplant have finally started to bloom! I'll be hand pollinating the eggplant just to be sure.

But I've already got 2 baby okra and the plants are loaded with buds. Okra is so much fun since the time to harvest from bloom is so short - a couple of days at the most. I like my okra young and tender! I am a wee bit disappointed that I missed the two blooms that have turned into okra but at least there was one beautiful big blossom waiting for me under the leaves. I adore these blooms.

Alice Kling Fuchsia

And another surprise waiting for us when we got home today from Live Oak, my Alice Kling Fuchsia is blooming! I've only had them for one month from Pedricks Corner. It is my understanding that hummingbirds find Fuchsia irresistible. I do hope so - I certainly find them to be so.

Hummingbirds

2010-09-03T08:01:00.002-04:00

I've always been terribly jealous of my Aunt Patricia and Uncle David. They have a house in Live Oak, Florida out in the hinterlands on 2 acres. And what makes me so jealous? They have so many hummingbirds flocking around that house. There is a stand of oaks in front of the house and visible from the front deck, which are festooned with many hummingbird feeders. The action is intense. When I am there, I love to borrow the binoculars and try to watch them closely. I have always been fascinated by these little animals.

At my home, I've never had them. Never. I've lived all over this city and I have just never had the experience of hummingbirds. Well, guess what? Tee, hee! I feel like a little girl with a secret! I have hummingbirds. My husband had spotted one in the garden while I was working away. I didn't get to see it. Just a blur out of the corner of my eye. But I believed!

So I dug out the hummingbird feeder that I had purchased a couple of years ago and the blown glass one that my son insisted upon and filled them up. I put them out by the garden and BANG! hummingbirds. I think they used a jedi mind trick on me to make me root through every closet looking for those feeders. Seemed like a pair of hummers to me. Well, another feeder has been purchased and the blown glass has retired (they didn't seem to ever use it). The best part is that we put one of the feeders 2 feet outside my breakfast room window. The table there is used for every meal and now we have the best show in town. This hummer joins us for dinner every evening.

I love how bold and curious hummingbirds are. How do they know that they are in no danger from the sloth like giants observing them? Or is sugar water just that yummy that you'd risk wing and beak to sip a little?

It is so interesting to me that they are only found in the Americas. I've always thought they would have been the impetus for the fairies myth. They are so hard to see and so bold. I've had 2 fly under my arm in the garden completely oblivious to me as the went about chasing each other. But if they are only found in the Americas, where - oh, where - did the concept of fairies come from in Europe? What creature first prompted that conjecture?

If anyone knows what kind of hummingbird this is, I would so appreciate it if you could tell me!

Check out Grower Jim at Garden Adventures for his First Friday Creature Feature.

My Creative Space

2010-09-02T12:18:00.025-04:00

THE PROJECT: An 18" square pillow for my 86 year old grandmother with advanced Alzheimer's.

THE REQUIREMENTS: She has glaucoma and will not use her glasses. The Alzheimer's has taken away all of her usual pursuits, yet her hands are still working constantly. They still garden and crochet and fold clothes, just in the abstract now. The goal is to give her a soft and cuddly busy pillow to keep those fingers busy.

THE FABRIC:

Although the fabric could have some very coordinated possibilities, the decision is to make it as high contrast as possible. This will hopefully help to draw grandmama's interest and enable her to see the edges or boundaries more easily given her poor vision.

THE EMBELLISHMENTS:

Velcro, large colorful plastic buttons, yarn, toys and teething rings scavenged from baby's first toys (all have different texture or sound), silk daisy, emoticon patches for faces. Snaps.

THE SKETCH:

The left pillow face shows a diagonal zipper to nowhere that can be done and undone endlessly. The top right corner will have a pocket with a large button on it holding a crinkly crab (tethered to the pocket) scavenged from a baby toy. The lower left corner will have another pocket with a velcro closure containing an old teething toy in the shape of a footprint (also tethered to the pillow)

The right pillow face shows from upper left to lower right:

Velcro closure pocket with puffy turtle I somehow craft from green fabric, yarn and green emoticon patch tethered to it.
Flower crafted from silk with an emoticon badge stitched onto it. Perhaps green yarn embroidery stem and leaves.
Hard nubby red plastic ring held onto pillow face with fabric loops.
Another button closure pocket containing a jingley puffy fish (also scavenged from baby and also tethered to pillow).

This project is the idea of my aunt, Marcia Phillips. She requested that I make something for grandmama and purchased all of the supplies. We worked on the sketch together.

And then, I let it all languish in the sewing room forevah! I am sorry, Marcia, but I promise I am starting today!

Look for more creative space inspiration over at Kootoyoo.

My Library Sucks!

2010-09-01T21:06:00.001-04:00

Titles I searched for:

"How NOT to kill everything you are starting from seed."

"Starting seeds for DUMMIES."

"Why do all my seedlings die?"

"Everyone can grow things from seed, WHY CAN'T YOU?"

Needless to say, this stupid branch does not have any of these and after checking the library catalog, there is not ONE SINGLE copy of any of these in the entire system. Ah well, I guess I'll just have to go buy more seeds. Time to google "I suck at growing things from seed! HELP!"

What actually happened: We made it to the library in the nick of Story Time. Mr. Robbie read a few books about Max the Duck by Jackie Urbanovic. The titles were Duck at the Door, Duck and Cover and Duck Soup. I enjoyed the illustrations; they reminded me of the style of Berkeley Breathed of "Bloom County" fame. Sitting Duck by Urbanovic came home with us along with a great duck mask project to be completed at home (attention span issue). With those two items in our shopping bag, this week's edition of SuperMarket Sweep got underway in earnest. She prefers one aisle and she ravages it. The shopping bag was full in no time flat.

At least I don't have to sit around while she dithers over this Curious George or that Curious George. Definitely a grab-n-go kind of girl.

Then I attempted the impossible! I went to the new releases shelves (in the adult section - remember, they don't like screaming out there) and went about looking for something for myself. She sat down in a nearby chair and began disemboweling the shopping bag. I could hear the clock ticking....

Quickly, now. Go for nonfiction. There are fewer choices. Maybe there will be a gardening or cooking book. Look for something shiny. Um, do I want to think about it? No, keep moving, next shelf. Ooooooooooo. Restore. Recycle. Repurpose. by Randy Florke. Open the book and quickly flip. Lots of pictures - good, good. Cute blond guy on the back - good, good. In the bag.

Next... Hey, where is she going? To look at the self checkout machines. If smoke starts pouring out of one them, the fire alarm will distract everyone while I grab her and run. Two more minutes, perhaps. Keep moving. The Boys From Little Mexico - probably gut wrenching and sentimental. Might learn something. Might be good for my soul. Okay, its a keeper.

Whoa. SEAN CONNERY. Alright, now we're talking. What's that? Oooooooo. Being a Scot by Sean Connery and Murray Grigor. Now that's bedtime reading. I hope. No time to flip through - she's on the move. I hope, hope, hope it's full of lovely pictures from throughout his life. That is one good looking man. Too bad its not a talking book. Great accent.

Grab the girl and get in line. Whoops, its time for this week's What Will Mommy Read? This is where my daughter runs to the spinning paperback stands and graciously selects "a book for you, Mommy!" This week it is PINK. The last one she picked was Sleeping with Ward Cleaver by Jenny Gardiner. I had to stop reading it when the heroine described mandatory weekly relations with her husband as the Baatan Sex March. Okay, I don't think my marriage needs that kind of stress. I put it down and fast.

So, what did my glorious girl get for mummy?

"Sweet Talk" by Susan Mallery

From the back cover:

"Is there anything sweeter than a first love?
Don't ask Claire Keyes. The twenty-eight-year-old piano prodigy has never had a regular boyfriend, much less a real romance. Her music career has left little room for friends or family--which is just part of the reason she hasn't seen the family bakery or her two sisters in years.
But now Nicole is sick, and Jesse is AWOL. Despite the fact that Claire can't boil water, she's determined to play caretaker. Connecting with her sisters tops her to-do list...along with falling in love, or at least in lust, for the first time.
Ruggedly sexy Wyatt just might fit the bill. Although he keeps saying that he and Claire come from entirely different worlds, he lights up hotter than a bakery oven whenever Claire is near. If this keeps up, she just might sweet-talk him into her bed...and her life."

Oh yeah, baby! A harlequin romance novel. Why are they always virgins? I don't get it. And they are always so cynical. I don't know about you - but as a virgin I was all goo-goo eyed. But these chicks? All that repression, ewwwww gross. Anyhow, that's this week's edition of "Library on Wednesday". See you next week for the reviews!

Oh shit, she's already torn the cover off one of the books.

Harvest Monday - 30 August 2010

2010-08-30T15:42:00.010-04:00

Good afternoon, everybody! WARNING: Because I have very little to harvest in my late summer garden, you will be subjected to other kinds of "harvests"! I apologize for going off on tangents, but something in me rebels at just posting a picture of my bells and calling it a day.

I can rationalize the place mats, because there is a flower on them. So that is somewhat garden-y. But the shoes? And the floor? I got nothin'. Other than a loose interpretation of the definition of harvest: "the consequence of an effort or activity".

So, "shopping" as an activity got me those killer place mats and those too-stylish-for-me-but-I've-been-such-a-good-girl shoes. Or maybe the effort is "cleaning up my act" since I look like such a slob these days. The shoes may bring another kind of harvest when my husband gets to see them (hopefully a good kind of harvest).

The repaired floor is the "harvest" of water intrusion in the foyer (that'll larn me not to clean the front door for the 4th of July cookout), buckled concrete, chip hammers, front door frames getting removed and reset, me living with a bathtub sized crater in my house for a couple of weeks, waiting around for repairmen when I could be out ending world hunger and all that - and at the end of it all - I get normalcy again. No more concrete grit everywhere.

Ahhhhhh, I love Harvest Monday.

Bell peppers 4.47 lbs
Cool place mats!
Hot shoes!
Repaired foyer floor!

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions the host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests!

P.S. The floor really wasn't my fault. Yes, I put the water there (outside!) - but I did not put the honkin' big hole under the door frame which allowed a lot of water to go under the sill and under the wood floor and under the moisture barrier. I never saw a drop of water, only the floor rising like a loaf of bread. Twas the door installer's fault, I swear. Don't tell my husband I admitted to cleaning the door for the 4th.

Music on Saturday

2010-08-28T15:39:00.004-04:00

It's been another wonderful morning of mayhem and music at our house. Doorbells ringing off the hook, phones ringing off the hook, numerous jaunts to grocery and produce and ferrying son about. It's life the way I like it - BUSY! I love juggling.

Miss Martha!

Saturday is the day of the week that our wonderful music teacher, Martha McKie, comes a-calling. There are four of us in the house from 3 to 43 and we all have piano lessons.

I have wanted to learn to play since a little girl. My mother had an upright piano in the livingroom and I don't have any idea where it came from. Reminder to self: ask dad. It was light brown, something of a caramel color and I loved to mess around with it. My mother would write the letter for the keys on them with pencil and I would try to puzzle out the sheet music stored in the bench. I never received lessons and so never learned to play. There was a friend of my father's who often came over to the house, Clyde, an older black man who, although illiterate, could play the most marvelous ragtime piano. I dimly remember him trying to teach me to play. Whenever he came over, he would always cede to my requests to play resulting in a completely captivated me. I thought it was magical that he could make that piano sound so wonderful! Clyde was a wonderful person; a great friend to such a little girl. We'd go camping at the Little Jetties and he and I would stay awake all night sitting on the boulders of the jetties fishing. He listened intently as I told him as many jokes as I could remember (not high quality jokes - more along the lines of 'how many elephants can you fit in a volkswagon') and he would listen raptly as I retold the story line in excruciating detail of every book I had read, or movie I'd seen, or television show I happened to have watched recently. The man was a saint.

The piano was a casualty of my parents' divorce when I was nine and there was never another. I toyed briefly with taking lessons as a young woman, but was advised by the teacher that, unless I could find a place to practice, my lessons were primarily useless and probably a waste of my money. Ah, well.

Caroline and her godbrother playing in earnest

That would bring us to October of last year, when my mother-in-law called to tell me of a piano at an estate sale on her street. It was old, banged up and was intended to delight my daughter who was displaying a toddler's interest in music. The rationale was that in its condition, we would not be opposed to letting a baby damage it further, I mean - play it. A low price was negotiated and I had it delivered and tuned. That piano turned out to be a great deal and a quality instrument. It just looks - lived in. It also turned out that all four members of my family wanted to play the piano. As soon as it hit the door, my husband was scouring YouTube for instructional videos. A teacher was needed. Shortly after that, I found Miss Martha.

So, on most Saturdays from 10-12, an angel comes calling. I get up early and try to clean up and cook and there are nummy things to eat and drink and lots of coffee. The doorbell rings and we can hear her singing and playing drums and recorders and our day begins in earnest. I am scurrying around with laundry and gardening and chickens and cajoling babies to play for Miss Martha. It is fabulous.

sea nymph AKA Hannah

Today was extra special, however. I am honorary Tante to a very wonderful young lady named Hannah. She turns 10 next month and Phil and I thought she might like to have a dose of Miss Martha on Saturdays. After all, baby girl at three is just not that into it. We invited; she and her mommy came over, pancakes and orange juice were consumed, piano was played and Hannah enjoyed it! She'll be back next Saturday! So sprinkled in amongst early morning grocery shopping (you were still sleeping), mid lesson jaunts to the produce store to procure garlic and lemon for the hummus I was making for Martha (I bribe her to keep her quiet about the fact that I rarely practice), intercepting my father as he picked up grandmama's new toilet safety device to install , ferrying the teenager to his next destination, and feeding anyone and everyone in sight - a little girl got the gift of music, too. Mommy, can you write Music on Saturday in Hannah's school planner please? I am soooooo pleased with myself.

And proper thanks needs to go to my mother-in-law, Toula. Without her generous gift of that piano, our Saturdays would be much drearier. Thank you, yiayia.

Martha Stewart Living Magazine - September 2010

2010-08-27T15:08:00.003-04:00

For some reason, I receive a subscription to Martha Stewart Living magazine. I have no idea why. Perhaps someone got it for me as a gift and forgot to mention it? Perhaps Martha knows that I am her antithesis and has stuck me on the mailing list to try to bring me over to the dark side much as Darth Sidious wooed Anakin, promising 'Unlimited Powah'? I find no pleasure in being the antithesis of MS - I would love to have everything she has with the exception of the criminal record, mugshots, orange jumpsuits, etc. But I get to do all my own dirty work and my nails, feet and refrigerator all bear witness to my lack of polished perfection. Ordinarily, MSL is usually great for flipping through when it comes and I don't read too deeply into it. I enjoy the pretty pictures and the idea of all those crafty things she suggests. My frugal nature rebels at the thought of doing any of them however. She's not exactly thrifty, is she? Cute, though.

The September 2010 issue got my gander, however. I am perusing Martha's 50 Top Kitchen Tips (you can see it online) and I think the woman has serious issues that need to be addressed. I am not saying that to bash Martha; I am serious! I think Martha is a hoarder and more than a little OCD and possibly a substance abuser. When I think of the hell she must give her army of live-in domestic help, all I think of is "Sleeping with the Enemy" - I mean, look at her kitchen drawers! There are probably 2 shifts of help coming through daily just to make sure no dust settles on all the gleaming pots and shining crockery sitting on hooks and open shelves. Mine would be furry with a fine layer of airborne bacon grease and accumulated animal dander which wafts all over the place. Does she keep those damn dogs in doggy bubbles or something?

Please note HOW MANY pairs of scissors she has, HOW MANY sets of measuring cups, HOW MANY juicers, etc. It's crazy! I think I count no less than 6 instant read thermometers. In ONE drawer. She has 16 drawers photographed for this article and they are all the same way. There is an entire drawer for "skewers and picks". No shit.

I especially love the "first aid kit" drawer with the open container of some mysterious red, white and blue pill. Any guesses what those might be and why you might store them the way bartenders keep peanuts, ready for munching? Remember what I said about substance abuse?

And what is up with the cluttered islands. She's got TWO and I have more open counter space than that. She's got so much crap all over the place! I would so be knocking those mortar and pestle bowls off the counter. I need to send my daughter over there. It'll teach her not to leave stuff laying around. And she's single right? Does anyone live with her? Christ, who the hell is she feeding? There have to be, like, a dozen heads of garlic there! And how many frickin' chickens does she have that she keeps all those eggs on the counter like that. Let's review some basic food safety, kay?

From U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service website:
"Why Should Eggs Be Refrigerated?

Temperature fluctuation is critical to safety. With the concern about Salmonella, eggs gathered from laying hens should be refrigerated as soon as possible. After eggs are refrigerated, they need to stay that way. A cold egg left out at room temperature can sweat, facilitating the growth of bacteria. Refrigerated eggs should not be left out more than 2 hours. "

And look at this rolling cart 'kept beside the stove'! "Whether you use one crock or several, it's wise to have essential tools in arm's reach when you're at the stove." Seriously, how many koutala (tr. spoon) do you need, lady? Do her assistants refuse to touch each others things, or what?

All joking aside, Martha, votre maison est charmante. I am just jealous. And I like wide open uncluttered spaces. But anytime you'd like to come my way and use the force on my house, feel free! Everything in your house looks like a decorator put it together. Everything in my house looks a mess. I haven't the knack.

But I'll keep trying, Darth Marth. XOXO.

My creative space...

2010-08-26T17:21:00.003-04:00

I found kootoyou... today and have decided that Thursday sounded like a likely enough candidate for being creative. I've had "Sew" on my daily to do list but it rarely happens. I've even tried to convince myself that I should just go upstairs and tidy up my sewing room for 15 minutes (Flylady says you can do anything for 15 minutes - sounds like voodoo to me) instead of actually sewing anything. I can't really get in there you see. But, with a rush of enthusiasm or perhaps just a pot of caffeinated coffee in my belly and a demanding toddler I am trying desperately to pacify, I decided that since I am only actually committing to doing something "creative" (okay, I am already quoting creative meaning that I plan on abusing the concept mightily) on 1 day out of 7 then I could probably go upstairs and do something now. Right?

Before - girl with airbrushed clothes

Not so much. Remember, I can't actually get in there. My daughter can though. I think perhaps the only creative thing I've managed to do today is to gimp/photoshop clothes onto my necessarily naked child. I couldn't keep clothes on her long enough this morning to actually get her to preschool. That's how naked she is these days. I gave up and kept her home, insisting that panties were mandatory.

debris from completed projects and those in progress

So, I embarked upon the titanic endeavor of clearing the room out. Nothing fancy mind you. There was the crib that had been broken down out of the girl's room. I thought idly of donating it but then after [1] reading how this style of crib (drop sides) was now considered dangerous and [2] abandoning "disassembling" for "dismembering" with a hammer, I decided that it really just needed to be dragged to the curb. Not that I really did it. I was waiting for it to slink out there in shame on its own. Nevertheless, Thursday also happens to be "the day before Garbage Day" so this is perfect. I will bribe my teenager with fresh baked bread and fresh made preserves to remove the hardware that I am coveting (the locking wheels and drawer glides) and drag the behemoth to the street. The mattress went under the girl's big girl bed for later retrieval by an out of town friend (who got the call - do not forget this thing!). After cramming an assortment of empty boxes into the closet, untangling a mountain of clothes hangers and finally ironing some clothes that have probably gone out of style, I discovered more items to mend (okay, that is not what I had it mind. Mending is not creative, it is a chore.) Keep moving.

Trashed sewing machine

The sewing machine got reclaimed and that box of shoes for grandmama got moved to yet another room. I should probably just take them to the nursing home and trust to the grangods that they won't wind up on someone else's feet. I am certain that leaving the bowels of your machine exposed to household dust is probably not advisable. Reminder to self, clean the machine. Okay, that left a single bed still languishing against another wall until the little girl is ready for bunk beds instead of the single (that would be until mommy doesn't have to crawl into her bed every night - think bonk! beds). And we've actually got floor space!

After! Note mending hanging on wall.

I think I am ready to get started. Well, maybe not today. I guess my creativity wound up being in "creating chaos". I did make something today - strawberry fig preserves and a loaf of buttermilk wheat bread. And a totally trashed kitchen. And I have a totally trashed laundry area. Something tells me that if my husband comes home and finds me with glue gun in hand and the rest of the house like this, dinner will not be as highly lauded as it usually is. Well, I am a sucker for compliments so I guess I'll do some (ugh) cleaning.

The real creativity today:

Laundry chaos

Kitchen chaos

Teenager bribes

Okay, how about I just look forward to next Thursday? Yeah, that sounds good to me.

The Little House Cookbook

2010-08-26T12:49:00.003-04:00

The Little House Cookbook: Frontier Foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Classic Stories by Barbara M. Walker and illustrated by Garth Williams.

From the back cover:

"Here are over 100 unique recipes of classic pioneer food - dishes Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family shared throughout their lives on the frontier. From pancake men to vanity cakes, re-create the very foods described in the beloved Little House books, all of which have been adapted for a modern kitchen.

Even more than a cookbook, this collection is a social history of frontier life. For the Ingallses, and many pioneers, feeding the family was a task that involved everyone. Pa hunted and farmed for food. Ma prepared and preserved it, and the children helped in both activities. This book celebrates the rich communion of a pioneer family working, cooking, and eating together, in a time when putting food on the table meant more than just a meal - it meant survival."

I found this book while browsing the shelves in the childrens' section of our local library. Caroline was selecting books in a manner very like "Supermarket Sweep" and I began looking around for something 'different' to introduce to our stash. I grabbed a couple of toddler cookbooks to share with her and found this.

I loved the television series "Little House on the Prairie" when I was a young girl. It seemed so idealized to me. I came from a blue collar family and most of the problems that the young Laura's family faced were not that different from those playing out around my dinner table in the 1970's. So, they didn't make too much of an impression on me. I could focus on the landscapes she enjoyed and the freedom she seemed to enjoy. I had never read one of the original books that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote. After reading this cookbook, they are on my to read list. I had no idea that the books revolved so much around food. As Barbara Walker writes, "Food also looms large in this pioneer chronicle because there was rarely enough of it. Though she tells of being listless and weak from near-starvation during the Long Winter, the storybook Laura never complains of hunger. Yet the real grownup Laura's memory for daily fare and holiday feasts says more about her eagerness for meals, her longing for enough to eat, that it does about her interest in cooking. Farmer Boy is not merely her husband's story; it is her own fantasy of blissful youth, surrounded on all sides by food."

by Garth Williams

Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867 - two years after the abolition of slavery. Hers was a pioneer family, and it never occurred to me that her family did not have access to the same staples in the kitchen that I saw in my grandmother's kitchen. My grandmother kept chickens always and sometimes would rotate geese, ducks or rabbits through her suburban double lot. The backyard was largely taken up in a vegetable garden. There were shelves of home canned vegetables. There always seemed to be something fresh on the table from the garden. I was shocked to find out that the Ingallses did not have those things. Walker writes, "Basic to their lives were the tools and staples that could be paid or bartered for, regardless of place or season. Next in importance were the gifts of Nature - fish from the rivers, berries from the brush, game from the woods and prairies - to be gathered in the summer and fall and preserved for winter and spring. Bread from their own wheat was the Ingallses' dream; usually it was made from store flour. Fresh garden vegetables and barnyard meats and eggs and cheeses were, for both Laura and Almanzo, childhood fare that became elusive prizes." Wow. Reality check.

by Garth Williams

For a poor pioneer family, the ability to purchase items was predicated on the availability of a store(rare!) and their dwindling finances. There was no 'paycheck' for Pa. Yet, this was where the majority of their food came from. Wheat flour was a luxury - purchased cornmeal was the daily fare. The bounty of nature - fickle at best. Berries pickers would have to range far to come up with the meagerest of harvests. Hunting and fishing? No guarantees there either. And their crops, when they managed them , were just as vulnerable as mine to weather and wildlife. There wasn't much in the way of preserving because it was rare that there was enough of anything available to make it feasible. This was quite a shock to me. Melissa Gilbert certainly didn't look hungry as she skipped through the fields on her way home from school on that television screen. I feel guilty now; I've discovered that I have more in common with that pompous brat, Nellie Olsen, rather than the Laura Ingalls I always fancied myself.

As a stay at home mom always trying to organize my household into some sort of self-perpetuating domestic utopia, I loved reading about the traditional axiom found in the book.

Wash on Monday

Iron on Tuesday

Mend on Wednesday

Churn on Thursday

Clean on Friday

Bake on Saturday

Rest on Sunday

Walker asserts that if a wife followed this plan, "your house would be clean for Sunday sitting, with or without guests; your butter and baked goods would be fresh for Sunday dinner; and your best clothes and linens would be washed before any stains could set." I always wondered about that when I heard it growing up. I always thought it was some sort of fascist nonsense, but now it makes complete sense and is rather brilliant if you ask me.

I am thinking of recreating this one for myself as Daphne's Dandelions gives me Harvest on Monday and kootoyou... gives me Be Creative on Thursday. I've got my own Visit on Tuesday worked out as I go see and take care of my grandmother on that day. And Friday is Shop and Errands on Friday because that is when I get my money for the week and I'd best do the important stuff before it runs out on junk food and fun stuff. Any ideas for the rest of the week?

Harvest on Monday

Visit on Tuesday

??? on Wednesday (Library & Storytime for daughter?)

Be Creative on Thursday

Shop and Errands on Friday

??? on Saturday (for husband?)

??? on Sunday (for son?)

I find the book fascinating and it is prompting a whole series of philosophical internal conversations about organic farming and whether it's just some sort of social experiment. Is it truly feasible? If the Ingallses couldn't rationalize the economics of planting their own wheat, et cetera and they expected to work endlessly for meager subsistence rewards; can we really expect anything but industrial farms to feed us all? I may have to sit down and really flesh that one out. Check back for future installments of "How My Brain Pan Churns"...

Chickens, Eggs and Industrial Farming

2010-08-25T15:57:00.002-04:00

Garnered at 7:42 am today.

Have you been able to watch any of this footage of industrial chicken farming? Egg farming? I tried. I can't do it. The conveyor belts with baby chicks just freaks me out. I know the massive recalls (.5-1 billion eggs) from Wright County Egg or Hillandale Farms have been in the news so much and everyone is so irritated. Why is everyone so irritated? I think it might be because they don't really want to have to deal with this. It's far easier to grab the dollar-a-dozen eggs in the store and march out without wondering why they are so much cheaper than the other eggs. It's not like these industrial farms have been a big secret, right? Why is everyone so indignant?

I am not endorsing them. Far from it. And I am NOT on my high horse, I swear. I, too, bought the cheapo eggs and left it at that. I also did the vegan eggs and the free range eggs and the pasteurized eggs. And I still eat meat. From those same places. However, this is an egg conversation. And, you guys know how cheap I am, right? Remember when gas prices skyrocketed a couple of years ago? All of the produce in the stores was barely fit to eat; most of it was on the verge of spoiling as it sat there. My theory was that the trucks were parked waiting for full loads or something to make it worthwhile to spend all that money on gas to deliver the stuff. It scared me. I mean, it really scared me. If our food supply was that easily disrupted and I was staring at spoiled food, how much would it take to stop it altogether? That was when I got serious about gardening.

And about owning chickens. My husband thought I had lost my mind. We live in a nice neighborhood which is a little over 7 miles from the center of a city of close to 1 million people. But, remember how cheap I am? I will give you the low down right now. What I am trying to say is... grow your own eggs! If you want safe food, grow it yourself! Seriously, ask around. Ask someone 60+ years old. Ask them how many people kept chickens in their little postage stamp sized yards. A lot of people used to do it and there is NO REASON we shouldn't still be doing it.

4 days worth of eggs. Are yours as fresh?

Our 3 chickens are 17 months old. They lay approximately 1 egg each per day. Yes, they sometimes molt and then stop laying and sometimes one of them will take the day off. Let's call those the perks of this job. I will calculate my numbers based on 3 eggs per day. And on a $0.99 dozen eggs at the grocery store. Mind you, these are free range eggs in the best way since their range is my entire back yard. But I won't take this into consideration for the cost of the grocery store eggs. I am truly being generous here. I will also not count the additional eggs we got from our 4th chicken, Pola, who recently left us due to a raccoon. She is considered in the cost of the food. Those are actual dollars spent versus my low estimate of eggs gathered.

In the course of 1 year, I get 91.25 dozen eggs from my girls which would cost you $90.34 at the grocery store (again, $0.99 per dozen). It only cost me $83.94. I beat your cost.

My costs are a 50lb bag of Purina Chicken Chow every 2 months at $13.99 a bag (seriously, it's called Layena Pellets) and the chickens share it freely with my stupid dog.

Yes, I know there are many things that I am not counting... some ADD and some SUBTRACT from the costs. I'll freely admit them.

Boy eye to eye with Lilla

ADD: The cost of the coop. Well, I am not willing to count this because my husband and son did so much research together and then built the thing together and had so much fun TOGETHER that I consider the expense to be nothing. They could have been building reinforced steel hula hoops and I would have gladly footed the bill.

ADD: The veterinarian costs. There have been NONE. Zero, zilch. We did not immunize them against anything. We have 3 chickens and I don't really foresee having issues seen on farms. If I do, they are chickens - nuff said. My only option for a vet is an exotic bird hospital anyhow. Like I said, I live in a nice neighborhood. Not the country.

From Top: Lilla, Penny, Ruth

SUBTRACT: These are free range eggs. Try to buy these at the store for 0.99/dozen. It can't be done. These girls' diet is supplemented mightily by daily loads of fresh kitchen compost. They love it and they are a great help in my compost bin. They tear it up and dig it in. They eat bugs, worms, snakes, lizards - you name it. Whatever they can catch. These eggs are gorgeous. Strong shells and dark golden orange yolks. These are quality eggs. They taste great.

SUBTRACT: Dog food costs are down because the mutt helps himself to their chow whenever he can.

Is there anything I am missing?

Baby Ruth

ADD: The 18 weeks they ate and grew but did not produce an egg. Hmmmmm, but they were SO cute. Would I be having this conversation with you about your pet cat or dog? They still love to be petted and they follow me around. Little girls love to chase them. My friend Misty considers them to be HER chickens. My neighbors have all had conversations with us about growing up with chickens - on farms, in the old country, you name it. Everyone loves these chickens. So, for 18 weeks they cost me $29.05 in feed. I think that letting the kids in the neighborhood look for eggs and the good will we've shared with our neighbors is worth that.

So given all that, how about we call it even and my numbers still beat yours.

Proud chicken farming princess

They are not stinky or messy. Trust me, my 50 lb dog leaves me way more to clean up than these ladies. Their bedding is my shredded bills and junk mail. And my kids are learning where their food comes from and they are proud to have a crazy mom who lets chickens run around the swimming pool.

Bottom Line: Raise your own eggs... why?
Healthier.
Cheaper.
Kinder to animals.
Good for your family.
Fun!
More convenient (I don't have to get out of my nightgown to get fresh eggs)
I say, why not?

I really wish people would wake up. We've gotten so used to this pretty life - I don't know what else to call it. We take our garbage to the curb and when we come home the cans are magically empty. The grocery store is pretty and brightly lit with lovely delis and bakeries and meat counters with everything all packaged and wrapped up in cello and styro and fish counters and we never have to clean a fish or pinch a head from a shrimp. Cold, flip a switch. Hot, flip a switch. It's so - plain. Boring. Surreal. We are forgetting how to do the single most important basic things in our lives - get food. Buying it at the store is no substitute for getting out there and coaxing it from the soil. From tending it daily. Sigh.

Wake up, silly people. And save some money while you're at it.

Related Information:
BackYardChickens.com
Garden Girl TV
Urban Chickens

My First Time Canning!

2010-08-24T12:50:00.020-04:00

The mission? To can some Black Mission Fig Preserves...

I have been itching to try canning something... anything! The 6 pounds of white peaches ripening on the counter are taking too darn long to get ripe enough to can! The gall of those $0.50/lb peaches! So before it gets weird over here (and I have been eyeing Caroline's My Little Pony collection - gelled perhaps?), I grabbed some Black Mission and Brown Turkey figs from my Publix (on sale this week BOGO) and some pectin and got my can on.

The recipe was from PickYourOwn.org and is considered a low sugar recipe. I am not sure I understand that. Each pint (16 oz) jar has a little over 1 cup of sugar in it. I used a recipe calculator on Food.com to find the nutrition information and compared to my Smucker's Strawberry Preserves, there are 30 calories more per tablespoon in my fig preserves. If I were to do a recipe that was 1/2 sugar and 1/2 Splenda, the calories would be cut from 83.2 to 39.2 calories per tablespoon. That might be an option in the future. It seems that many of Smucker's preserves are 50 calories per tablespoon.

I think what suprised me most was that I did not burn myself (much, there was an instance where I stuck a fingertip into the hot water bath - do not ask me why). Next, I was most surprised at how quickly and easily this came together. Next time, I will be sure to start my hot water bath pot to boiling earlier. That canner is ENORMOUS and takes a long time to get up to temperature. The number of ingredients were very small and except for the right kind of pectin, everything was readily available. I got the no-sugar pectin since this is considered a low-sugar recipe.

I really need to get some 1/2 pint jars if I am going to can preserves. The pint jars are okay for just us, but I'd really like to be able to share with friends and family. The recipe which used 3 pounds of figs made only 4 (16 oz) jars of preserves. I think having 8 jars would have been nicer. I don't think I am generous enough to part with 1/4 of today's haul with anyone!

I found some too cute labels on Sweet Preservation to download and print. I need to find a way to make the color labels water resistant since I know that the ink jet ink runs when wet. Any suggestions? I love the color of the preserves and hope that it doesn't darken too much more. There are a few Black Mission peels in there and if I am reading correctly, that might cause some darkening. It is so yummy - I had a hard time staying out of it.

There you have it! I am not a canning virgin any more! I wanna learn something new everyday... Have you heard that on PBS? They have brainwashed me!

Harvest Monday - 23 August 2010

2010-08-23T13:53:00.016-04:00

I have been looking forward to today since this past Thursday when I first read of Daphne's Dandelions Harvest Monday. Now, I've joined at the tail end of my summer garden so I've only got bell peppers and basil that I can harvest today. I haven't gotten anything yet from my eggplant or okra but I am hoping! My fall tomato sprouts are starting to peak out of their pots and I think I saw the first bush bean break ground this morning. We'll see if the squirrels leave me any (I have had to replant my beans, which will probably put me out there too late).

I know my harvest is puny, but count me in! Hopefully, the fall/winter garden will be rockin'. I've also glommed onto Daphne's Harvests table in the side frame. She's so cool.

Today's Harvest:

Basil 1.65 oz
Bell Peppers 1.79 lbs
Sleepy Girl after First Day of School 54 lbs

Oh, did I mention how wonderful my hands smell with lovely fresh basil all over them? Mmmmmmm, pesto for dinner.

Stop by Daphne's Dandelions the host of Harvest Monday to see more harvests!

The Great Silence

2010-08-20T09:21:00.005-04:00

I took a hiatus from the blog for 8 months, and I did say that I would explain. We had an event in January that kind of knocked me out for a while.

Our baby girl got very, very sick 2 days after her 3rd birthday with a very high fever (beginning on Monday) and Tuesday we were at the pediatrician with antibiotics and on Friday with no break whatsoever in her fever and no eating and no drinking and no keeping anything down and we were back at the pediatrician for a chest x-ray (and, and, and remember to breathe). Her doctor came in and tried to keep me calm. She said to go straight to the hospital with the x-ray and that she would call my husband. They had worked together in her office and she was so great at keeping him calm. Like all casual, "Hey, Phil....just looking at the baby and I don't think she's doing too good (as she holds an x-ray in her hand of a completely whited out left lung and part of a right lung)...". Smooth, very smooth.

So we dropped brother off at home for his birth father to pick up and grabbed a bag and went to the hospital with a pneumonia and it was 3 weeks after that when we left the hospital to come home (and, and, and remember to breathe). She had to have an operation because the pneumonia had traveled outside her lungs and was untreatable with antibiotics in the space between her lung and chest wall. After the operation, she was still on IV antibiotics via a PICC line. The PICC line stayed in for the next 3 weeks at home and she had to learn how to walk again. So what is that - the end of March. I really didn't breathe for the first three weeks and then for the next three weeks, it was round the clock meds, making blouses to accommodate the PICC line and trying to keep everything moving. It's not easy to go grab a gallon of milk with a baby sick for a month and a half.

So, as you can imagine - it was a challenge. I didn't think black thoughts in the hospital but I did cry like a baby every time one of our priests or one associated with the family (3) came by for a visit and to give her communion. Father Milton who baptized her. Phew. That is hard, hard, hard. Philip said it was like watching them give your child last rites. And her godparents - oomph. Like a punch in the stomach.

And I cried when the surgeon came by at the end of week 2 with an MRI and asked a million questions that started out sounding like no surgery would be necessary and then it changed and I got frustrated with 20 questions and finally confronted her with ...
"What are you getting at? You are asking all of these nibbling-at-the-edges questions - what are you trying to figure out?" And her reply which shattered me...
"The mommies know."
"Know what?"
"Know whether the babies are getting better."
CRASH.
"She's not (sobbing) ... she's stable ... (sobbing) but she's not getting better."
So she had the surgery which saved her life.

The first night in the hospital, Philip stayed because she was in such rough condition that I thought his medical training was more important than my need to watch her breathe. We had the first of the fights with the doctors while Dr. Daddy insisted that they get her on IV fluids since she'd been uber febrile for a week and not eating or drinking. She'd lost 20% of her body weight in one week.

I think he may have stayed once more and then again the night after her surgery (same rationale - better a doctor watching her breathe than ignorant me). I threatened him with death should anything happen to her on his watch, but I doubt that my threats were really his motivation for hovering over his girl. The rest of the time, I was there save a scant 2 or 3 hours in the morning when Phil spelled me and I ran home to bathe, do laundry covered in blood and vomit and spills (the νάνι (pr. nonny) did not leave her side - how could it? It would have to wait for a bath till we got home) , feed animals, grocery shop, pay bills, go to the cleaners, etc. Phil had to go work half days because his patients needed him too; lab results coming back that prompted a phone call to go to the hospital now. That wasn't abstract conversation any more. I worried about his patients too. While I was there, I watched that blue line go up and down and up and down. Waking up when alarms on monitors or IV's went off. Watching the drip, drip, drip of medications of last resort going into her and praying for them to work, work, work. Using an alarm clock to make sure that she got Ibuprofen or Tylenol every couple of hours round the clock. A late dose would mean that her fever would spike back up to 104F. She was so brave. All of the poking and sticking and pain. She was so so so brave.

Once we'd come home, Philip told me how close we'd come to losing her. I'm glad he didn't tell me while we were in the middle of it. My focus was keeping her fever under 102 and getting any food or liquid I could into her in case she needed surgery. There was nothing else for me but that. I had to keep her strength up. That was my job. I don't think they ever touched her without me touching her too or instead of them. I really didn't mind that he hadn't told me. I've never been a gambler so statistics has always seemed like "playing the odds". Odds are no comfort when you wind up in the fatal minority. I was more like that squirrel who runs into the road in front of you and hunches down under your vehicle till it passes. Too small to really comprehend what has just happened. Just knowing that my heart is beating a million miles an hour and a huge, loud shadow just passed over. Close your eyes and don't look. Feel the hot wind ruffle your fur and pray, pray, pray.

I think the whole experience kind of derailed me for a time. I fell off the wagon with smoking when we got home. I am not sure why. Maybe the idea that the whooshing sound I'd just heard was the sound of a bullet whizzing past my ear? I don't know. Brother went to stay with his birth father till we came home from the hospital. That is a whole `nother story about having babies where you can't see them and touch them and smell them when you need to do that more than anything in the world. It was hell. When people found out, they asked "Why didn't you call?" and I didn't know what to say except, "I've never been through anything like that before. The world stopped. Nothing existed outside that hospital room."

And I suppose after that there was a lot of recovery. Learning how to do everything all over again. Rethinking and reviewing. Savoring. Watching babies breathe. We had a couple of friends go to Haiti. As a matter of fact, I was supposed to drive one to the airport the day after we went to the hospital (much frantic calling of other friends to get him there on time). One friend went as a FEMA doc and the other did search and rescue (recovery, really), both in Port Au Prince. That too was nerve wracking. I was frightened to death for them to go. I think I held my breath for a very long time. The edge is a very scary place to live.

Anyhow, I promised and here is an explanation for where I'd been. Thought I'd save it for a day when I have nothing else to say or am too busy to blog like today. I keep getting an image of a foxhole with our 4 hands poking up out of the top waving hello. As though to say, yes we are still here but there is no way we are sticking our heads up out of here. But DO please send chocolate.
We are all okay now and getting our legs under us again. I wonder if we are different people now?

Today is Baking Bread Day

2010-08-19T13:25:00.023-04:00

Did you know that I have been baking all of our own bread for a while now? I've been working on some planning based on a website I'd found while looking for a simple way to get my hurricane supplies in order (Food Storage Made Easy) and while that is another post altogether, I have realized that I need to do a better job of rotating my pantry items. So, that combined with sticker shock over bread in the grocery store ($5 a loaf - are they KIDDING?) prompted me to give bread baking a serious try.

Well, I have loved it and my family has loved it. Trust me, I am shocked at how easy it really is and the wonderful results. Since I'd decided to bake a loaf (we are out!) today, I thought I'd take you guys along for the ride. I guess I intend this post to show just how simple and easy it is and that if you have thought it might not be for you, maybe it will make you think again?

Here we go! I am making a buttermilk wheat bread recipe today. We love it and it has become our standard loaf.

Step 1: I have assembled all my ingredients so you can see that it really is not that much. Go ahead and grab them all because this is going to go fast. I need the following:

1. All purpose flour
2. Whole wheat flour
3. Salt
4. Yeast
5. Sugar
6. Buttermilk
7. Butter (unsalted is all I buy)
8. SECRET INGREDIENT: Vital Wheat Gluten

Here is a little note about Vital Wheat Gluten. Take a look at the ingredient list. Do you know what you DON'T see in the list? Bread flour. That's right. Those are ALL PURPOSE flours. I do not buy cake flour or bread flour. Why? Because all bread flour is - is all purpose flour + gluten. All cake flour is - is all purpose flour + cornstarch. I am not kidding. I don't have the room to store every specialty flour I might want or need (nor do I wish to pay a premium for them or juggle shelf lives). So, I keep gluten around to make my own. Here is how I do it. You need to replace 1 tsp of gluten per 1 cup of flour. So, take your 1 cup measuring cup and first add 1 tsp of gluten and then top it off with flour. Gluten is a baking staple and it is not expensive. If it is expensive in your store, 1st call them price gouging creeps and then go to someplace like Walmart. I pay about $1.59/box there.

Step 2: Here comes my secret weapon! A breadmaker from 1995 that was given to me by a person who never used it. She was cleaning out her closet and asked me if I wanted it. I actually said no at first because I wasn't making our own bread and I certainly didn't need yet another kitchen appliance to store. Thank goodness she didn't get rid of it. I asked if it still needed a home when I decided to embark upon this enterprise and TADA! my favorite little friend. The relationship had a bumpy start because I thought I would use it to actually bake the bread. OH, THAT WAS A MISTAKE - those too small too dense loaves could've been used to kill someone with if dropped strategically on their heads. I use it exclusively for mixing dough and the 1st proof now. And I'll never look back.

When using a bread machine, you need to add the ingredients in the right order. Wet/fat, then sugar and salt, then flour and top it off with yeast (at least for mine). So, here is the recipe proper and the order to add the ingredients.

Buttermilk Wheat Bread

1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbps butter (melted)
1 tsp salt
3 tsp gluten
2 cups all purpose flour + 1 cup whole wheat flour (less 3 tsp for the gluten)
2 1/2 tsp yeast

Put that breadmaker on the dough setting and 90 minutes later, it has been mixed and has risen once. The kitchen is STILL clean, or no dirtier than when you started. I love this machine. I love to cook but I am messy, messy, messy. When I bake, I get flour EVERYWHERE. The mess was probably my biggest issue with making bread. Now I don't have a mess to deal with!

Step 3: As I said, the loaf has risen once. It really needs to rise twice. This is why I don't like bread made in the breadmaker. The bread is dense from not rising twice. Get out your loaf pan and grease it lightly (I love Baker's Joy), form your dough into a loaf and fill the pan.

You want a nice warm place to let the loaf rise. It will take about 30-45 minutes. Don't let it rise too long or it will collapse like a souffle! I use my oven with the light on for just the right warmth. I will also add a cup of water that's been nuked for a couple of minutes for humidity. I have to do this because I have a hard time putting anything onto the rising dough and then having the dough stick to the plastic/cloth/whatever. My solution is to add a little humidity and then the dough won't dry out.

30 minutes later - second rising finished!

Step 4: Bake at 375 F for 20-30 minutes. Seriously, I tap my loaves and take them out when they sound hollow and when they are getting so brown that I start to wonder whether my family will eat it. They don't like crust that is too brown.

Step 5: Get the loaf out of the pan to cool, or the bottom and sides will be soggy. When it is mostly cool, put it in a bag (I like Walmart's produce bags - they are HUGE). If you are getting condensation on the bag, the loaf is too warm. You want most of the moisture to evaporate. With just a bit of warmth left, the loaf will soften up like store bought bread once it sits in the bag. Don't try to slice it till its cool or you'll mangle the loaf. The rule around here is - you can have it if it's in a bag. My guys circle like sharks once you can smell the bread baking. And oh! what a smell that is!

Step 6: Last but not least, here is the total cleanup I have waiting for me. That's it. Not kidding. They are dirty. They need to be washed. I am going to pop them in the dishwasher and take the baby to the library.

Now seriously, if I can do it... Go give it a try!

Going Crazy in the Kitchen

2010-08-18T08:06:00.005-04:00

So, as time goes by and I get very serious about "not paying exorbitant prices for something that I can do myself", I am furnishing the kitchen with gadgets that I have been drooling over.

Currently, my top fave is the Baker's Mate Organizing Rack. It folds flat and gives me room to put 4 large sheet pans up to cool. I have a solid surface (white) counter that absolutely will punish me mercilessly if I put something verboten upon it - so I have to cram hot pans onto my cooktop to cool. Not very helpful when I am trying to accomplish miracles in la kitchen. This totally fits into my cabinet folded flat where I keep my trays and sheet pans (and even my electric griddle) stored vertically. For loaf pans, I just put a sheet pan on it and loaded it with loaf pans. I can't wait for the Christmas baking with this little lovely in the house. The gals will love it!

One of my next forays will be into growing my own sprouts. Each time I pick up a container of alfalfa sprouts for sammies or salads or pick up a container of mung bean sprouts for stir fries, it grates down deep in my soul. I know in my heart that sprouting is easy and much better than purchasing them in yet again more plastic containers and that they will be far fresher since I never seem to get more than one use of my sprouts before they become slimy and have to be consigned to the compost bin. Instead of purchasing one of the fancy sprouting setups (talk about over engineering), I bought a Sprouting Lid Strainer which will convert one of my wide mouth canning jars into a great sprouter. I thought about trying to punch holes into a metal jar top, but after reading all of the admonitions against using metal lids I decided to find this plastic wonder. It was uber cheap and I also purchased a pound of alfalfa and a pound of mung bean seeds. Yum, yum!

I am also going to try my hand at canning. I am convinced after seeing prices ebb and flow in the stores that it is possible to get seasonal fruit and veg at rock bottom prices and do my own canning. This appeals on many levels since I get to control the sugar and sodium content of the foods I am storing. So far, I have had amazing success at preparing my own dried beans and storing them in the freezer for the convenience of canned beans always at the ready without the expense and the salt! I cook my beans in water only! Salt is applied as needed when using a recipe or while sitting at table. So, while I am faced with the changing ingredients in canned fruits, etc. (syrup vs. water and artificial sweetening for packing) I think I will strike out on my own and prepare items that I am happy to feed my babies. I took a look at "canning kits" and found them to be rather expensive. I was able to purchase the items separately for a HUGE savings. The Ball Home Canning Kit retails for somewhere in the $50-70 range without shipping tacked on (bump it up around $10 for that) so I started looking at the contents and found that I was able to duplicate it for $29.81 by purchasing a 21 qt canner and the 5 piece canning tools separately. Okay, that was a no-brainer. They are in transit and I have a bunch of $0.98/lb peaches waiting to get immortalized in a very light sugar syrup. I'll let you know how it goes!

Tomatoes

2010-08-17T11:16:00.006-04:00

I know, I know... I've been silent for a long time. I'll get around to posting about that but first, let's talk tomatoes!

How many people had a hideous summer where the tomatoes were concerned? My first round of tomatoes this spring were Romas (Det.) and managed to kick out a few fruit before the temps soared up to the triple digits. The animals had a field day on my fruit and I vowed to get some planters next to the house to scare off the little monsters.

After that, I found some volunteers by the compost pile and moved them and started up some cherries for planters next to the house. Well, it was already too hot apparently but you guys know me - I'll plant anything and see what happens. So, guess how many tomatoes I got.... Go ahead, guess. NONE. That's right, none. Lesson learned. Next time, I'll be wiser I hope and plant something that will be fruitful instead of just depleting my soil. I've spent the morning cleaning out the garden, tomatoes GONE, cukes GONE leaving some fledgling okra, eggplant and some bell pepper plants that needs my TLC (I really need to get in there and tie up and pick the ripe ones). This has been my best bell pepper year yet. FINALLY! This is a great crop to have instead of purchasing at the store - I think that now is the only time they've been on sale all summer (.79/each) and they are usually SO expensive. Just wish I could find some red, yellow, orange varieties to plants.

Alright, where does this leave us now. Planting seeds for fall garden - YES! Okay, I am trying to be a good girl and clean out my seed stash. I found 3 varieties which claim that they can be planted in this zone come September. Roma (det.), Everlast (indet.), and Steak Sandwich Hybrid (indet.). Fine... Unfortunately, there were only 4 seeds of the Steak Sandwich remaining so they are planted in mini peat pots on my kitchen window sill. These will get pampered to try to ensure that they will germinate and survive. Mind you, these are not the freshest seeds in the world so we are operating at a disadvantage. I've got 18 of the Everlast planted and 16 of the Roma planted. There are plenty of Roma left for a replant so I'll save those for now.

7-10 days (Aug.24-27) from now, we should see some sprouts. 70-78 days after transplanting, we should get some fruit. I'll be sharing these plants with my Uncle Curtis, tomato wrangler extraordinaire. He's also having tomato issues this year, so I figure 2 heads are better than me on my own. Ahhhhhh, time for a nice glass of water and some TUMS!

Holiday Etiquette a la Carol

2009-12-16T09:47:00.006-05:00

I've just reviewed Emily Post's Etiquette for Invitations (i.e. you received one) and I'd like to add my own variations. We are in the midst of the holidays and it's getting hectic and frustrating for everyone. I've decided that I need to step up and fill some big (yet, somehow dainty and ladylike) shoes left by my mother and my paternal grandmother. But now I get to deal with the hemming and hawing that occurs in the modern day when you are trying to draw those you care about close to you for the big days.

So what are my rules? Here's where they currently are (subject to modification when the wind blows)...

When inviting people to your home for holiday fun (meal, cookie swap, cocktails...)

Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner: Who should you invite?

Family - as many as you can possibly get a hold of and fit into and around your home. Notice that I did not specify that you get along with these people. This is a new rule for me, made sometime in the last 24 hours as I do some real soul searching about the subject. I have kids and they need me to be VERY mature about family relationships. Excluding anyone in your family is horrid (unless they are evil, i.e. the police are after them or should be - please don't let these people around your children or anyone else's).My own insecurities slap me in the face for every holiday where I do not receive an invitation to my in-laws or cousins' homes for the big holiday shindig. The least I can do is make sure that everyone gets an invitation from me from now on. This is going to take some big couple's work between me and my husband - but I think it is time for this trend of family staying separated to change. I may regret having everyone in my home but I do not think I will regret wanting things to be better.
Friends - orphans should always be invited (friends who have no family in town) because it is not cool to be alone on the holidays. Besides, it is nice to have the sanity of friends in the house when family comes calling.

Other events: cookie swaps, cocktails, etc. -

Here is a great opportunity to get friends over when they are busy on the big days and a great opportunity to have fun without the stress of family.

When receiving invitations -

I agree with Emily Post, respond within a day or 2 of receiving the invitations. You know whether or not you are going to attend within that time frame, don't you. Let your host invite someone else if you have no intention of attending - Great Aunt Elizabeth would probably love to be invited out.
Do NOT berate the person inviting you for any reason. It is unspeakably rude to do so. They are inviting you to their home, for heaven sake. If you don't know what I am talking about, bless you. I am referring to those who complain in a nasty tone that you have waited x length of time too long to spend time with them (causing me to want to make it 2x length of time before I check in with them again. Seriously - can't you just say that it is nice to hear from me? BTW - phone works both ways).
The guest list is none of your business, really. So don't make your response contingent upon whether this or that person is or is not invited (unless there is a criminal in the family, see above suggestions for guest list if you are the host). If you care so much about who will attend, you should have a party of your own where you can control the guest list.
Also, unless there is some really compelling reasons to decline (such as being out of town or having surgery scheduled), ACCEPT all invitations. You should be flattered and happy that people are asking you to be part of their lives. Don't be a dork and make people think you do not like them by being picky about your invitations. Do not hem and haw and make it sound as though you are saying the following: "I would say yes right now but I am afraid that something better might come along or that I won't be in the mood to do something with you at the last minute, so I will be unable to truly commit to coming to your shindig right now." This is what I hear when people start dodging an answer and I must say that I am keeping a list and I'll be checking it twice the next time I decide to slave for days in an attempt to entertain these people and spread joy and massive amounts of calories around. If your spouse is the obstacle, then get used to leaving them at home or else you will alienate all of your loving family and loving friends.
Once you have accepted all of these invitations, Emily Post has some good advice here as well...
"Is that your final answer?
- Changing a ‘yes’ to a ‘no’ is only acceptable on account of: illness or injury, a death in the family or an unavoidable professional or business conflict. Call your hosts immediately.
- Canceling because you have a “better” offer is a sure fire way to get dropped from ALL the guest lists.
- Being a “no show” is unacceptable.
- Changing a ‘no’ to a ‘yes’ is OK only if it will not upset the hosts’ arrangements."

Check back for my advice on how to behave as a guest. I'll be fine tuning it after the Cookie Baking Day and the Grand Christmas Dinner.... God help me.

Garden at Jackson Square

2009-12-10T14:35:00.004-05:00

I am so excited about this new project: a community garden at the location of my grandmother's house. The developer has been stalled in beginning the building and so has decided (with some help - tee hee) to start a community garden. I have a 20' x 20' plot and am planting collard greens and cabbages for the Sulzbacher Center. The gentleman who is running this is Steve Cissel, a man that I think I can call a friend after these few years of working with him. Check out the following video by Bob Self from the Florida Times Union. Bridget Murphy did a great print piece on it as well at: "A new bloom on Philips Highway plants seed of change". I am SO excited about this!

The little girl is also excited about the project. We are keeping a shovel and our galoshes in the car from now on!

Strawberries

2009-10-11T15:50:00.004-04:00

Well, it's been ages since I added something to the blog. The end of the summer was a whirlwind of activity. I think the last time I wrote I was on pins and needles because my son was gone for three weeks to college. I survived, he thrived, his phone got lost, he's decided he wants to go to Duke for college. When it came time to pick him up, I decided to fly up and get him and fly back, all in the same day. This is not something that I would recommend. Durham, NC was no fun to drive in - I had to call home to get my husband to get me unlost with an online map. Oy!

Duke's West Campus is absolutely gorgeous. The dorms are all gothic looking - very charming. My son likened his experience to the 1st year at Hogwarts - it was that cool. This kid has some kind of wonderful life - let me tell you. Of course, I was not terribly thrilled to hear that Duke TIP is his true home. Say what? What am I, chopped liver? Sigh, he's a teenager now - I knew something like this would happen.

He's started high school and really seems to like it. He's made some awesome new friends and joined the robotics club. This is very cool because he is learning to work in the machine shop for the club. He is looking forward to learning how to weld. Walking in his grandfather's footsteps (my father is a welder by trade).

The summer garden ended on a whimper - the Ichiban eggplant are really all that's left. I love these by the way, and will be planting them from now on. The boy's habaneros are doing great and our three strawberries have yielded about 50 baby plants. I removed the babies and worked on the bed they were in - it will be a dedicated strawberry and herb bed now. The chickens helped me to cultivate this bed and fertilize it. I got the strawbabies planted today, 48 of them in a 1 foot grid pattern.

My loving husband tilled the main bed under today and as soon as that combines a bit more, I will be planting collards, romaine lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. Of that list, I've only ever planted collards. I would love to plant some root veggies - maybe in the barrels? After the fiasco of the onions and carrots in the flooded backyard, I don't think I can put them in the ground. I would absolutely love to have some beets.

The chickens are happy and sweet as anything. We've really gotten a kick out of having them as pets. We usually get an egg from each of them every day. I must say, if you are thinking of getting some - do it! They are SO much fun.

Enough for now... I am totally tired.

My Apron Strings

2009-07-11T12:44:00.006-04:00

Okay, first and foremost - my wonderful son has left today for 3 weeks at college. I think I am handling it okay - I've called only 2 times so far today and once it was to give him the fabulous news that we have EGG! It's not a ruse to call the boy while he is in transit to college - it is a true statement that we have our first egg. It is white - therefore I attribute it to Lilla the Leghorn. Way to go , Lilla - you are a week early as the girls are only 17 weeks old today. I like a proactive chicken! The egg is probably 2/3 the size of a normal egg and has a crack in it (see the photo to the left, the egg on the right is a store bought egg - hopefully my last). It will be disposed of after being weighed, cracked, photographed endlessly and blogged about eternally. EGG DAYS ARE HERE!

Back to the boy, I wish he were here to see it. 1 day too late for him to enjoy the bounty he's helped rear. Okay, I am having a hard time with him being gone. He's been home for 2 weeks and the baby was very, very ill for the last week of it. Absolutely no fun whatsoever. We did get out to see the new Transformers movie with his friend. Other than that - it has been boring for him. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will not get what we've got while he is away. My boy, sick, out of state, where I can't take care of him. Oy! Please let him dodge the bullet!

And I still am not smoking. This is really my quit! I am HAPPY to be a non-smoker. Yeah! 36 days and counting. I want a chit like AA for my keychain!

I've been hiding under a rock

2009-06-15T15:07:00.003-04:00

So, where have we been? Hiding out. Why? A variety of reasons - the best of which is... we quit smoking cold turkey on 06/05/2009 6:30 PM. DH and I differ by 1 hour on the exact time. Well, yes - we are now exsmokers. Excuse me, it feels more like EXSMOKERS. Yes, I believe all caps is called for. How did we do it? I have no idea. The last 10 days has passed in a sweaty, sleep deprived, sometimes cranky, sometimes lethargic, usually brain damaged blur. My only advice to people who want to quit would be - keep painkillers nearby. I found that ibuprofin worked best on my aches and pains - which were numerous. But, golly gee - its been 10 whole days and I am still alive and so is my DH and so are both kids and all the animals and all the neighbors, inlaws, random jerks in traffic. I don't even think I've damaged any bugs in the garden in the last 10 days.

I have, however, been a HUGE hermit. So that might count for something and explain the lack of damage we haven't caused. We haven't wanted to tell anyone we were doing this - what if we failed - but I think that we're over the hump and can proudly say that we are RECOVERING NICOTINE ADDICTS! I think I am prouder of this than I was of graduating from college. I WANT TO LIVE! So, anyhow - we'll see if I can get back into the swing of writing again now that my hands aren't shaking so badly. Also, I've got a lot of family stuff to catch up on. I did NOTHING for anyone's birthday - and I missed quite a few.

Garden update: I found 3 enormous zucchini (3 pounds each) hiding in the garden when I emerged from my dark little nest for a couple of minutes one day last week. I am not convinced they aren't aliens from outer space, because there are no other zucchini out there - just these 3 mysterious freaks. What's up with that? A raccoon has found me and my tomatoes and the battle is on to see who can eat more tomatoes - he's HUGE and he's kicking my butt. He pulled a Grauman's Chinese Theatre forecourt on me in the swampiest garden plot and left a PERFECT set of front and back paws for me to see. Heavens forbid I give the credit for the tomato banditry to any other varmit.

Ichiban eggplant - I love them. And love the little "hands" of eggplant that I am getting - they are SO prolific. I moved the cherry tomato planter to the patio to get them away from the raccoon OR to lure the raccoon up near the dog's territory (seriously, I am going to fire him if he doesn't get his canine butt in gear). Strawberries are sending out baby plants like crazy! We are ALL going to get strawbabies next year, not just Baby Girl. The cucumbers are finally showing me what they've got (delish!) and that's really about it. The rain killed everything else. The sprinklers have been off this whole time and the sump pump is still making regular appearances in the back yard. The yellow squash is just pathetic and is next on the chopping block - borers got the vines. The beans never got it right and also going to get pulled. I suppose I will try some okra - but I am not enthused. I don't go out there much right now due to the Jessner's - I've had a very bad flareup and had to start the 'roids again since I was starting to get the "I-wonder-if-I-should-give-her-the-battered-woman's-shelter-phone-number" look from people. When it gets bad enough that I look like someone's been slapping me with 2x4's - I hit the prednisone.

I am still a month away from getting eggs from the chickens.

Baby girl started school 3 days a week for 3 hours a day - yeah! And she's back in swimming class. She'd stopped floating - so back she went. She is SO stubborn - her teacher thinks she'll have to stay longer than just a week refresher.

Big Boy just got back from camping in the Keys - he had the time of his life and is getting ready for Virginia next. He's decided that he's definitely a High Adventure kind of scout and is going for something called the triple crown - which includes 2 more extreme trips along with the one he just finished at Sea Base.

And to battle the bulge of I-don't-smoke-anymore-so-I-think-I'll-eat-everything-in-sight along with the weight gain of I-occassionally-take-steriods-for-my-stupid-skin-problems, I have "started a diet" using a FREE site called Calorie Count. So far I've just gained weight, but I have hope. The interface is good and simple. I can cut and paste recipes from Recipezaar (which I use religiously) into the site for adding to my food log. One of the things that I like about it is that it asked about my wrist size when calculating my BMI. For those of us who are big-boned, it is NOT funny when the doc, etc. looks at our weight and height and says "You need to lose 40 lbs" - yeah, right - from where? Which leg are you planning on amputating? Okay, that was like, 20 pounds ago. My doc says I need to weigh 120 lbs (BWAH, hahahahahaha - I haven't weighed that since BEFORE puberty) and the site says my goal weight is 153. I think the 153 is far more reasonable. That was about the weight I was when I met my husband and he thought I was SKINNY - therefore, it must be my PERFECT weight. Anyhow, Calorie Count gives me all the benefits that I had with WeightWatchers online without the price tag - I do miss WeightWatchers menu suggestions - I love to cook but I hate trying to think of menus.

And for anyone who shops at Publix, you have to check this out... Hot Coupon World. They do a great job of matching up the sales ads with coupons. I have never managed to get efficient with my coupon clipping - but now, whoo hooo! I am cashing in at the grocery store. I keep my coupons in manila files UNCLIPPED with the dates on the tabs and just clip as I need to when I make my shopping list. I love Hot Coupon World's Publix forum.

I am going back to hide in my hole now. Well, maybe I'll go do 10 more minutes of that Denise Austin DVD (I hate her, no I don't, yes I do) - I just wanted to let everyone know that I still am alive. And maybe in better shape than I have been for almost 30 years. Did I mention that I am an EXSMOKER now?

Will it grow in a swamp?

2009-05-26T08:14:00.006-04:00

Just a quickie update before the week gets rolling (hopefully not over the top of me). Yes, its still raining - not nonstop but the sump pump looks like it will be a fixture in my yard for a while yet. Galoshes are necessary in the garden unless you really want to soak your tootsies in the brackish mess. Okay, so what's the breakdown so far?

1. Carrots do not grow well in our swamp. I pulled 3 lbs of carrots yesterday - because a test pull found the larger carrots are rotting. They were so beautifully big! But now they are mush (and stink very badly). So, 3 lbs pulled, cleaned, and bagged in the fridge. Some are tee-ninecy - how big do they have to be before you can eat them? Husband and son were Tarzan-yellin'-chest-puffing-proud of the carrots they pulled. Good on 'em - mom got to clean 'em. 1 patch of carrots left in the highest driest bed - we'll see how they go.

2. The collards are gone. I managed to remove 1 row which yielded about 10 lbs of collards. The other row was dead, dead, dead a couple of days later. Note to self: since the only thing big enough to hold 10 lbs + collards is the tub upstairs, prep the bathroom BEFORE resorting to desperately blundering my way into this room laden with that many muddy collards, smearing muck along the walls and doors. Also, my tub does NOT have a mangler - or In-Sink-Erator food waste disposer. So, an initial wash in the back yard is a good idea. Maybe use the kiddie pool?

3. The hot peppers look like they need intensive care. They are drooping badly, rotting most likely. Hopefully, the Habaneros will make it. My son has 2 Habanero fruits and badly wants them to survive. The larger plants, cayenne (loaded with fruit) and Habanero are the healthiest looking. The thai peppers and jalapenoes - well, I am bracing myself for the worst. Bright spot - their neighbors, the Ichiban eggplant are okay. I know eggplant love water, so I was hoping for the best in this corner (harvested one yesterday). The plants are loaded with blooms.

4. The baby okra - gone. Will have to replant. Thank goodness they love the heat. Note to self: buy more seeds.

5. The tomatoes, with the curious exception of my lone Roma, look so sick. Fruit still there, no splitting yet. Yellow, drooping as though they'd not been watered in a couple of weeks (ironic, huh?). I have harvested 1 of the steak variety and another is ripening. But the plants - again bracing myself for the worst.

6. Zucchini seems to have given up the concept of fruit and the crookneck squash is aborting just about everything ( did pick 2 uuuuuuuuuuuuugly squash yesterday).

The corner bed (hot peppers and eggplant), in standing water still, stinks badly. Many little centipede-y looking critters in there - notably all over my collard roots as I pulled them. I am contemplated Sevin but am not sure whether I need these guys to help with the mush.

Ironically, as we were walking en family to Yiayia's house last night after dinner for cafe we ran into a resident of the neighborhood who gave us high praise for our garden. Kind of her, but it still had a touch of twisting the knife. And you know, of course, part of me wonders whether God decided to solve my problem of "I've planted my summer garden in all my available space, where will I start my winter garden" for me. Looks like most of my summer garden will be hitting the compost bins. Good news, right? I'll have plenty of room to start my winter crops.

My garden is half full? Of water, at least.

Good news from the garden

2009-05-22T08:05:00.006-04:00

Lest anyone believe that I am stuck in a rut, complaining about garden issues... My yard has very little standing water in it right now. The reason why is my wonderful hubby. He brought home a sump pump Wednesday and stuck it in the low spot in our yard. After pumping continuously for 24+ hours, the yard looks like the after picture.

Before
After
I am hopeful that this will cut down on some of the rot that will ensue in the garden. I went out yesterday to pick collards and felt like I was in a rice patty in water up over my ankles. Notice that the chicken tractor is missing from the "after" photo. This is because the Ark had to be moved to higher ground. It is still quite squishy out there and yes, there is standing water. BUT, this is much better than Wednesday. It's good to know that my plants are not sitting in this in addition to the 30,000+ gallons that got pumped out to the street. We'd had similar flooding (not as bad) in the past due to a stalled hurricane off the coast and we had standing water for weeks. So, while it may not sound all rosy - to me, it's wonderful. Yay, sump pump!

In another vein, an update to the rodent problem is needed. 4 dead mice around my shed (plus the 1 found last week in yard). These helpful little vermin poisoned themselves. They actually broke into the poison in the shed on the shelf and gorged themselves. The burrow under the shed was likely flooded, so some may have drowned. The king of rats is still on the loose and may be a rat from Nimh. He's quite adept at avoiding the poison, traps and snares that are laid out. This worries me. He scampers about bold as brass, as though he is waiting for an audience. He's been in me squash. I have to put on me galoshes and slosh out there and see what scandalous behavior he's been indulging in. Lots of stuff falling over in the garden, so I'll be trekking over to the neighbor's bamboo this weekend to grab some stakes. Yes, I already called them and asked.

I pulled some carrots this morning - Danvers Half Long, just in case they all rot in the ground (And they are shading my bell peppers too much). These are my very first carrots ever! Yay! Next year, I believe I will tear down the bed in the far right corner (swamp land) and simply do the raised barrel thingy all over. The water got within 2 inches of the bottom of the potato barrels as they were on cinder blocks, but the potatoes did not have to put up with standing water. This is brilliant. And definitely not my idea. I got the idea from a south Florida garden where the soil was so poor and ridden with nematodes that the entire garden was in containers and up off the ground. I initially thought "how expensive" since the containers were filled with commercial potting soil - but I have seen the error of my ways. I am thinking of all manner of root veggies, carrots, onions, etc. Or would this be a good idea for the curcubits? My cantaloupe were floating last year and I didn't get a single one. If they were up in containers, couldn't I also make a platform for the vines out of plywood and blocks? After seeing enormous pumpkins grown on plywood, perhaps this would be a good way to avoid the rot and bugs that I faced last year.

Gawd, I am such a redneck. My backyard is going to be covered in plastic barrels on cinder blocks like abandoned vehicles and sheets of plywood sprinkled about. Oh, plus the stealth chickens. Am I going too far? Hi, my name is Carol and I am a garden junkie. It's been 1 ~~day~~ hour since my last inspection. Need a fix! See you later... where are those galoshes.

The rain rain rain came down down down

2009-05-20T09:13:00.007-04:00

The rain (sorely needed) started Monday and has... not... stopped... since. My yard is a lake. The pool is close to overflowing (but never seems to make it since there is likely some sort of leak occurring at that water height). The water is a foot deep in many places. Sigh. And I am trapped in the house with a toddler. HELP!

The chickens are planning a mutiny. As though I have any control over the weather. They tried to rush the door this morning when I opened the chicken tractor to feed them. At least they are not in standing water yet and can get up out of the wet.

So far, my potatoes (which you can see behind the Pindo palm in the white barrel planters) are up on cinder blocks and so far, are keeping from being swamped. Everything else is SWAMPED. I managed to get out there for 15 minutes this morning when the rain slowed slightly and got a couple of tomato cages on a couple of eggplant.

Is rain a plague? What number plague am I up to? Or is it the frogs that come after the rain that will be the plague. Oh, its like the playboy mansion out there for frogs right now. You should hear them - sounds like the Amazon.

Remember the song from the Winnie the Pooh movie?

The rain rain rain came down down down
In rushing, rising riv'lets,
'Til the river crept out of it's bed
And crept right into ~~Piglet's~~ Carol's!
Poor ~~Piglet~~ Carol, she was frightened,
With quite a rightful fright.
And so, in desperation
A message she did write.
SHe placed it in a ~~bottle~~ blog
And it floated out of sight.

First Slugs and Now Rats!

2009-05-04T21:59:00.003-04:00

Does anyone know where I can get seeds for this -> variety of tomatoes? I need tomatoes that can FIGHT BACK! Some tomato variety with TEETH! Something with a taste for RODENT! In a sequel to last summer's blockbuster "RATS! Is any tomato safe?", we've got "RATS II! Now it's war!"

They're back. Last summer I was thwarted in my efforts to harvest tomatoes - growing was not a problem - it was the harvesting that was well nigh impossible. The rats and mice munched, munched, munched on any tomato that was pinking up or even getting a decent size to them. After baiting our shed (but no sign of rodents there) and setting out spring traps under the tomatoes and the subsequent demise of 1 rat and 1 mouse, the problem seemed solved. We got a precious few tomatoes.

Well, it didn't last. I have been watching like a hawk and have seen that my fence is a rat highway. Note, that there is nothing planted along it. It is bare. That is good.

I have also seen that there is an offramp on the rat highway at my neighbors shed which is 1 foot off of my back fence and in close proximity to my garden. I have suspected since last year that they were nesting under the concrete pad of the shed, and this year (after we cut down the viburnum which blocked said shed from view) I have seen two distinct burrow openings in the ground around the shed. That is bad.

With the neighbors permission, we have dropped 3 rat baits back there and 2 have subsequently disappeared. That is good.

My tomatoes are still getting munched. This year they have developed a taste for my Roma tomatoes and are not waiting for anything. They have decimated around 10 so far from 1 plant in the past 4 days. Even quarter sized tomatoes are not safe. That is bad.

They have also helped themselves to my Yellow Crookneck squash. That is also bad.

This morning I went out with a bottle containing a solution of cayenne pepper, water and a little dishwashing soap (to help it stick to the tomatoes) and BASTED every single tomato I could find. That means the Steak tomatoes, the Cherry tomatoes and the much beloved but yet to be tasted Roma tomatoes. The squash and zucchini also got BASTED. I hope that helps. I'll be traveling to the ole hardware store soon to pick up a variety of rat baits.

I will also be sprinkling mas cayenne pepper in the bird feeder, or should I say, squirrel feeder. I am certain that the rodentia are feeding there as well. Well, maybe they are... those squirrels are the fattest, sassiest squirrels I have ever seen. Maybe the cayenne will work on them as well.

I also (sadly) cut back some of the cosmos which is threatening to take over the vegetable bed and which would provide lovely deep cover for the tomato bandits. The bees were very unhappy with me as I was removing those plants. Sigh. I do love my pollinators.

Good news is that Plague #1 - The Slugs has been curtailed. I will be retreating with Sluggo often but I do not think my collards are suffering nearly as badly as they did earlier. This is good since I have just planted Clemson Spineless Okra seeds between the rows. I don't need those slimy little creeps munching on those - I do love my bamya!

How many plagues were there in the bible? I think it was 10! So, I am only up to my own personal Plague #2 - Rats. Uh oh. Could be 8 more coming. Do you think it would help if I posted a sign that said "Down with Pharoah?"

Slugs

2009-05-01T07:14:00.009-04:00

Yesterday, I finally made it to the nursery to buy some Sluggo! As soon as I came home and divested myself of 45 lbs of baby and 55 lbs of associated book bags, diaper bags, purses and dirty diapers, I ran out to the garden and shook that Sluggo container over every inch of my garden - with great malice. Yes, I have a slug problem. It's absolutely creepy around here sometimes when it rains, as the little cretins come crawling across every surface in site. Ordinarily, that is just gross - but when they are in the garden - it is intolerable. Are those slug eggs under that slug?

My collard greens look like swiss cheese. I have lost more seedlings than I can count. My strawberries always get eaten from the soil side - they know exactly when I am going to pick them and show up the night before and eat perfect little round holes in these otherwise perfect fruits but only on the side touching the ground.

I am done. It's war. My favorite way to use the Sluggo -

remove slug from collard greens
place slug on flat surface of side of raised bed
grip 2.5 lb Sluggo container firmly by handle
raise Sluggo container, taking aim on slug
smash the little monster into the next life

What is the large white thing on the leaf with the slug? It is a Sluggo pellet that landed there and this guy looks like he ate some! Yes!

Do I bear some responsibility for this problem? Yes, I do. 2 new beds created this past winter with mostly yard mulch in them, sort of composting on the fly. Basically, I created slug heaven in those beds. Okay, now I know. We'll see how the Sluggo works - I went out this morning first thing and the more I looked, the more of the villians I found on the collard greens. When I picked a mess of them 2 days ago, there were a lot of slugs on what I picked. I am hopeful that I can get this issue under control; losing all those seedlings was torture (especially when a couple of slugs got into my seed flats - it was too horrifying, you'd have nightmares if I described the carnage) and I am not in the mood for a repeat come August.

Today, after touring a school for baby girl (she will probably be starting 3 days a week, 3 hours a day in June) and getting the boy registered for the karate tournament tomorrow, I will be moving some eggplant from the bed with the collards to a sunnier location where the sugar snap peas used to be. I hope this works. I am just not interested in miniature eggplant. They are not growing in between the rows of collards. Not enough sun? The Ichiban eggplant that I purchased from the nursery as seedlings are doing well enough since they are not overshadowed by the collards, but the ones I started from seed (and planted and replanted and replanted - thank you slugs) are just non-starters. Keep your fingers crossed!

Hurricane Mad Max Sighting!

2009-04-28T08:18:00.006-04:00

Dear Ann Landers,

This morning as I was seeing my DH off for work, our wayward Hutt (see Jabba The Hutt) came home calling out to us in the sweetest voice. As my husband drove off, he called to me "he's using you!" Could it be true? Have I been caught up in a polygamous relationship by a callous and manipulative male? What should I do? As I shouted to my husband, "he loves ME!" as he left, I wondered to myself "am I just a fool for this guy?" Is he playing me?

He refused to follow me into the house, instead lounged at the front door while I scurried through the garage, shutting it and went through the back door, crossed 2 rooms and opened the front door for him to come in. He came in, calling out loudly "I'm home" (Doesn't he care that he might wake the baby? He hasn't asked about either of the kids yet, even though he hasn't seen them in days, perhaps weeks!) and headed straight for the food. He ate a light breakfast and then started hissing at Miss Biscuits and Eggo. I knew that he didn't care for Eggo too much, but you'd expect some arguments when an old man is faced with a new teenager in the house. But Miss Biscuits? She has always been such a sweet, gentle little lady! Why is he starting arguments with her?

After lashing out, he headed straight for the front door, telling me quite loudly that he was leaving. Not so much as a single purr or ankle rubbing! I am being strong, not running to do his bidding. He's not happy - he's walking around the house, complaining at the top of his lungs. I know that blended families are hard, but I think if you love someone, you try to make it work. Why can't he see that? Can't he see what's it doing to all of us? I just know that he is going to run straight to his "other family". Who takes care of him when he's sick - us! Who always lets him in the house - okay, well maybe not always. Sometimes, he is just too piggish to let inside. I've tried to set boundaries... there is no longer a food bowl filled and waiting for him outside. I insist that he come inside and eat like part of the family and not like some stray from off the street. But really, does he love us? Or is he just using us for the kibble and the occasional nursing? Should I shut the door and move on with my life?

Sincerely,
Waiting at the Door

Dad's Beanie Complete!

2009-04-27T22:43:00.010-04:00

Have you seen this disreputable character? Beware, he fancies himself rather thuggish in his new beanie.

It's as though I have instantly created a beanie! When in actual fact, the beanie sat on a shelf in the den waiting patiently for me to get around to finishing it. I am eager to move onto another project so 3 rows later - finished! I do like this yarn, yummy soft and nubby. It's a very attractive brown + variegated with other tones from red to green to blue. From the same yarn, I have a scarf that I crocheted for myself and the 1st attempt at the beanie with too large a needle. Unfortunately, it also made too large hat which I altered into a hat for me. It looks sort of like a mushroom, or beret-ish. I like it, even though I know the construction is clumsy at best. I decreased a few stitches to get it to narrow around my forehead. Okay, next project - messenger bag for the son!

Trivia! Whose mug shot card is he sporting?

What's going on it the garden?

2009-04-26T14:09:00.011-04:00

As you all know by now, I am COMPLETELY obsessed with my garden. And I've taken my son and husband along for the ride. I have very warm shoulders right now from gardening for the last few hours. I have spent much time weeding and putting mulch down under the bed containing the strawberries. You've got to love these little plants - still putting out flowers and still making berries in late April. I'd have thought it was too hot in Jacksonville. The mulch got put in place because something is eating my berries from the bottom up. The ants seem to be gone thanks to my ant bait, so I am thinking it is those d*** slugs. It's just the sort of sneaky underhanded thing you'd expect from slugs. Every time I catch one, I give it to the chickens. I hope they develop a taste for them!

So lot's of work in this bed today. To the left of the cucumbers (they are just not growing), you can see a nice bare patch. That is where I have pulled all of the radishes up to give the cucumbers more sun. Perhaps that will convince them to get their butts in gear. The radishes were lovely with delicate white flowers that I must credit with letting the bees know where we live. It's taken a while but they've found us! For some reason I am just not (as) happy in the garden till there are loads of butterflies, wasps and bees flitting from flower to flower. So where was I? Oh yes, this bed contains 3 varieties of cucumbers so something just has to grow, right? I know my son is hoping that the pickling cucumbers are going to be prolific. He's got the pickling bug. Speaking of which, those radishes that I pulled did not go to waste. Having overplanted them to try to ward off garden pests, there were a number that never made bulbs but we did get enough from this 8 foot row to put up a jar of pickled radishes. My son, the pickler, found a recipe and after pulling 2 very juvenile onions to add to the recipe we had everything needed. I can't wait to taste them - they should be sweet and spicy. In the future, I want to try out asian radishes - the long white kind. I don't know about their pest repelling abilities so there will be some research involved. Ultimately, the primary job of the radishes is to get rid of bugs! I may plant another row of the radishes in front of the cucumbers - I have a pickleworm phobia after the carnage of last year.

The other beds are taking off. The main bed is holding the now failing sugar snap peas. We didn't get much from them (but what we got was SO yum), so perhaps planting more of them even earlier next year might work. They act like they are going to try a second round of growth, but the brown spots have started and everything that I can find tells me that this is the beginning of the end. So what to do? Yank them out? I could always put some bush beans in that spot. Hmmmmm, I hate to pull anything living up and they do have the sweetest little flowers. HEY! I just had an epiphany - the reason why we didn't get as many sugar snaps as I'd hoped might just have something to do with my husband out there snacking all the time. Once I'd introduced him to the concept of munching on them "in the field" so to speak, he's been worse than deer! Okay, okay - no fair blaming spouses or children.

Let's see, now that the volunteer cosmos which is sprinkled into the main bed have started to bloom - I think I can pull out the mustard that is mixed into that mesclun mix blend that I planted. Never again! Apparently, they'd not meant for this to be planted in Florida because the mustards totally outgrew the red and green looseleaf seeds mixed in. They bolted so fast, but of course I couldn't get rid of them because of the flowers. The bees love these too. I found them too bitter for salad or they probably would not have had a chance to bolt. Here's a snap of a harvest of 1 foot worth of row. The looseleaf lettuce that was struggling in the shadow of these beasties now has a chance to make something of itself. And there are 3 row feet of it left. It was delightful in our perennial favorite, Italian Sausage Bean and Spinach Soup. The tomatoes are doing their thing - the roma and steak have set fruit and the cherry is blooming like crazy. I am pinching my tomatoes this year... I didn't last year... I don't want to talk about it... It was bad.

Anything left, oh yes! The zucchini is on its way! And the summer squash too. The collard greens are ready to picked and the cayenne peppers are setting fruit. The potatoes are peeking out of the ground and have gotten a little more dirt on top. The marigolds have gone crazy! I am totally growing these from seed from now on. They have been the easiest thing in the garden so far to grow. Zinnias have been sprinkled here and there and the basil is starting to get its legs.

I love my garden, did I mention that? Sorry for the disjointed rambling, but I didn't want it to be much later in the season before I gave an update. Things change so fast out there! I really want one of these - it's a time lapse garden camera. My loving husband sent me this link with the admonishment that I could NOT have one of these. I know he's trying to help but I think he's caught between enabling my obsession and trying to get rid of it. But seriously, that camera is TOO cool don't you think?

PROJECT: Hoodie Pullover Finale

2009-04-24T14:50:00.005-04:00

That's right! I finally finished the hoodie pullover! I have failed miserably with blocking - I don't know if it is me or if it is the yarn - you can see the curling at the hem and the way the hood wants to curl inward. This, even though the edges all have a single crochet stitch on them which I thought would help to straighten them out. No such luck. I tried it on the wee one to see if she had plenty of room to grow - yup! And she loved it so much that she had to go for a walk around the block in it - RIGHT NOW! It is a very warm and thick sweater so I am looking forward to her getting a lot of use out of it this coming winter.

What took me so long to finish it? Trying to figure out what to do at the slit in the neck for closure! I didn't want to use a rawhide lace as called for in the pattern - the babe would have pulled it out immediately and then it would have been adios lace. I couldn't find any cute closures for kids in the right color group so I made my own "frogs" or "toggles" with satin cord and ladybug buttons. One side of the satin loop is sewn down under the left ladybugs and the other side slips over the right ladybugs for closure. I think my son did a great job of picking the colors for this. I found the buttons and picked up a couple of different colors of cording and then he picked out the red satin.

I am SO glad to have finished this project. It was my very first knitting project and I actually finished it. It fits (or will this winter) and she likes it! I feel pretty proud of this one - and the fact that its that Red Heart yarn means that it just might wind up a family heirloom - this stuff is certainly NOT biodegradable! Short of throwing it into a bonfire - I think it'll outlast us all. This yarn has to have some desirable characteristics since it certainly isn't soft and cuddly. But it is thick and warm and cheap, cheap, cheap! Now I have to go and finish Dad's beanie. I hope I can figure out where I left off!

Christos anesti!

2009-04-19T22:53:00.009-04:00

Okay, I have taken forever to write something about our easter. At least I started a post and saved it so that I could come back to it - right. But I did finally get the photos up, with my meager allotment left on Flickr. Okay, here goes.

We went to the picnic. GASP. Yes, I know - we never go. Well, that is not exactly true. This makes 2 times in 7 years, I believe. Maybe 3 times. Hmmmm. Okay, back on track. We get up and start getting ready. I decided to try to curl the baby's hair. What was I thinking? Well, I was thinking that my nieces have such nice curlable hair and that my baby's hair curls a little sometimes. I thought that I was going to have a shot at it, but nooooooo - genes won out. My genes. Yes, my baby-fine, stiff-as-a-board, completely-uncurlable hair wound up on my daughter's head. I will learn from my mistakes and I will not subject her to the horrors of hairdressing that my aunts (not you Tricia) put me through as a child. They could not believe that my hair could not be curled and used every possible implement and chemical on my hair trying to deny that simple fact. No luck. My darling girl got hot curlers all over and all they managed to do was to remove the natural curl that she had at the tips - that's right, apparently I can straighten hair with hot curlers. I guess its a gift. Needless to say, her "hair hurt!" and she was not happy by the time I was finished. Next, on to the dress.

I don't think that pictures do the dress justice. It was fabulous. And the shoes, which really weren't great shoes for a toddler but hey, its about the look - right? We got dressed and up went to.... the hospital to visit my MIL. If you aren't familiar with Greek Orthodox - let me tell you - Easter is the "BIG SHOW". Beats Christmas by a mile. It's a very important day to my MIL but she was in the hospital doing her last round of chemo for leukemia. I offered to bring Easter dinner to the hospital, but understandably - she was not in the mood for that. But you have to offer, just in case. So, we get all gussied up for about, oh, 20 minutes - the time it takes to get there. Then the pappou-is-bad-chocolate-chip-cookie meets the girl - of course, I stripped her to her pantaloons (made by yours truly for my big leg girl) and let her have at it. She talked to her yiayia and pappou about the helicopter she could see from yiayia's room, parked on the helipad. Did you know that she can drive it? Me either. She was certain that if she could convince us that she could, that one of us would pull the keys for it out of our pockets and hand them over. She was a tad disappointed.

Next, off to the picnic. GASP. I know, I still can't believe it! We joined baby's godparents and their family and friends there. Did I mention that my koumbara is the best cook in the world? Okay, Tricia - you can be close second. But this gal does it all and from scratch. Her husband and his friends cooked a whole lamb on a spit (it was fabulous!) and she roasted part of a goat - the haunches, I think (also fabulous) and supplied most of the other food. Do you know, she makes her own phyllo dough. That's right, kneel at the feet of the goddess. Picture a single spanakopita made in a pan that you'd use for a extra large pan pizza, its that big. Oh - my - god. Anyhow, we laughed and smashed the red eggs and hunted easter eggs. There were so many people at the picnic (I think it is all the Orthodox churches in the city participating) that the kids had to be separated into 4 or 5 groups to hunt eggs. Baby girl got to go first in the 0-3 yrs group - what a blast! She and her godbrother who is 4 mo. older were so cute chasing people with kites all over the field. Hmmmm, I still owe her a kite.

Oh, and the best part (aside from the fact that He Is Risen) is that when all was said and done - the leftovers came home with Koumbara - across the street from me. Oh yeah, I went over for some cake. I love that woman. Damn, she's got skills.

Chicken Update

2009-04-18T09:15:00.007-04:00

For all our chicken fans, here is a little update on the girls. They are getting SO big - it's amazing what 1 little month can do. Still some peep, peeps but there are a lot of chicken-y chuckles coming out of the tractor. Yes, I've got a countdown going for eggs. 91 Days until they are old enough and I have to switch them off baby food for laying food.

They've gotten big enough to climb the ladder to the laying boxes and they've started roosting on the high roost at night. Penny seems to have a problem getting up there with everyone else and runs around underneath them complaining till I lift her up there. It amazes me that she is so sweet. When the sun is going down, she lets me pet her and pick her up with no fear. I lift her and push the other girls over enough for her to get a seat.

Pola is definitely the most curious. They've gotten in the habit of scratching and eating bugs. I am trying to keep snacks to a minimum since they are still so young and I don't know what would be best for them. I had thought that I had so many bugs in the yard, but now that I want to toss them into the tractor for the girls to gobble up - I don't seem to see any.

Lilla is the smallest and sleekest, our little leghorn. They are almost done getting all their feathers. You can see the tiniest feathers coming out on their faces. And Ruth is the bossy one. I hope she's not a rooster. She made a funny noise at me yesterday that did not sound at all hen-like. She's also the prettiest. Their eyes look green to me, except for Pola.

So there you have it! Latest updates on how big our little girls are getting. I have moved the tractor to the garden and removed the nursery light. They aren't too smart - the tractor has to be moved very slowly and I still had to rescue someone twice from being crushed under the back edge (she'll remain anonymous since that would be too embarrassing for her). They are in the garden area, cleaning up and fertilizing a spot that I plan on putting a new bed. Thanks for the help, girls!

Easter Week

2009-04-13T09:22:00.008-04:00

So, here we are - straddling two worlds. Orthodox and unorthodox. Yesterday was western easter and eastern Palm Sunday and of course, we did them both. Baby girl and I got up and dressed and went to church for Palm Sunday. Packed house, standing room only and 3 priests giving communion. Baby girl was beautiful in her new dress that Yiayia and Pappou got for her. I was disappointed that we had to exchange the dress they'd bought - a sumptuous pink confection - for a larger size in a different style. The 3T they'd bought was far too tight - the 4T was a bit too tight - and size 5? I couldn't even get the thing to zip! What is up with that? I guess they expect little girls to turn into string beans at age 5? Well, mama needs to get it in gear with the sewing machine, I guess. We did find a gorgeous satin number in purples and greens which totally suited Baby Girl since purple is her favorite color. We added some adorable silver sandals - baby's first Kenneth Cole. I'll get it laundered and pics up next Sunday - OUR easter. Anyhoo, the girl was perfect in church. She stayed in mama's arms (which are MIGHTY sore today from holding 40+ lbs of girl for that long) the whole time and whispered while we were there. Whispering is very good since the last time we were in church I was bellowing for my husband and running out of the service (long story - someone collapsed, doctor husband was downstairs with the baby, I panicked, started yelling for him like the redneck I am, man's heart stopped - not because of my screaming!, very dramatic) - I hadn't had the courage to show my face since.

Got home, threw lunch together for Gammy and Pawpaw while DH and DS finished the surprise cleaning they performed whilst I was at church (how nice is that?). Baby had to nap for a bit - it's exhausting looking so pretty on a Sunday morning. We put down some burgers and dogs - discussed religion and space aliens and got down to some serious yard games. Bocci and horseshoes for everyone - word of advice, don't play my husband or my father in horseshoes - or at least, don't bet them money. Those two are "ringers". It was so much fun - reminded me of holidays at grandmama's house, with everyone playing horseshoes, badminton, ping pong, card games galore around the dining room table. We've got to do a cookout monthly - it's a MUST. Baby got up from her nap and donned a pretty little sundress with her newest favorite hat. The easter eggs were already hidden, with the exception of the ones the dog decided to collect (we had to put him in the house to prevent wholesale de-egging of the yard) so after a quick demonstration of gathering the eggs - she was off and running. Thank goodness I got wooden eggs because she has developed a pathological attachment to HER eggs. They are all over our house. I like the wooden ones over the plastic because they are 1) very pretty and 2) they do not have to be "fixed" all the time like the plastic ones (fixed because they are open).

My son got to hunt eggs too. His eggs are camo and terribly hard to find in the yard. If it weren't for Pawpaw's helpful hints (2 paces to the right, look up at a 35 degree angle, etc), I don't know how many of those eggs would still be out there. It's rough on a teenager hunting eggs with an audience taunting him with hints. But it was soooooo good to see him relaxed and laughing. He enjoyed himself, I think. I think we all did. All of this is a warm up for actual Easter Sunday coming up - maybe we will go to the church picnic. Well, maybe if koumbara goes with her family. Hmmmmm, could be fun.

Keeping Up With Carol

Break it down...

Things I'd like to learn to do....

Harvest Monday - 27 December 2010

Harvest Monday - 20 December 2010

Calling All Gardeners!

A new bloom on Philips Highway plants seed of change

Four Cheers: Care for kids, keeping Florida scenic and good Samaritans

Sulzbacher Center's homeless kids pick wildflowers for Mother's Day

The Garden Blossoms

So, you don't like okra?

Christmas Countdown: Six Weeks to an Organized Christmas!

Sewing Room Makeover - Yarn Storage

Sewing Room Makeover Part Deux

Hey, where are the eggs?

My creative space...

Chef Gary Rankin Teaches Me Focaccia

Harvest Monday - 18 October 2010

Balsamic Basil Aubergine Pizza

43 and still having moments of brilliance OR Duh, Carol.

Today is Take Your Chicken to School Day!

First Time Sewing Knits!

Harvest Monday - 11 Oct 2010

"Now and Later" Vegetarian Empanadas

Makloubeh - Cauliflower

Ingredients:

Directions:

Put the Oxygen Mask on Yourself First

Mossfire Crab Cake Salad Ripped Off

Roasted Corn Salsa

Ingredients:

Directions:

How To: Make Your Own Reusable Produce Bags

Post It Note Tuesday

Harvest Monday - 27 Sept 2010

Super Quick Sundress

Rant for Resa

Harvest Monday - 13 September 2010

Green Metallic Bees (genus Agapostemon)

My Creative Space

Seed Binder: Garden Organization Project

Thank you for a wonderful weekend

Harvest Monday - 6 September 2010

Hummingbirds

My Creative Space

My Library Sucks!

Harvest Monday - 30 August 2010

Music on Saturday

Martha Stewart Living Magazine - September 2010

My creative space...

The Little House Cookbook

Chickens, Eggs and Industrial Farming

My First Time Canning!

Harvest Monday - 23 August 2010

The Great Silence

Today is Baking Bread Day

Going Crazy in the Kitchen

Tomatoes

Holiday Etiquette a la Carol

"Is that your final answer?

Garden at Jackson Square

Strawberries

My Apron Strings

I've been hiding under a rock

Will it grow in a swamp?

Good news from the garden

The rain rain rain came down down down

First Slugs and Now Rats!

Slugs

Hurricane Mad Max Sighting!

Dad's Beanie Complete!

What's going on it the garden?

PROJECT: Hoodie Pullover Finale

Christos anesti!

Chicken Update

Easter Week