Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet

Garden Tuesday: Inside Herbs

2012-01-31T17:26:00.004-05:00

For Christmas, I started chives, mint and purple basil plants for one of my daughters. Of course, I started them about 5 days before Christmas, so I just gave her pots of dirt. But she put them on a sunny windowsill, and she's got actual wee plants now.

So I decided to bring some summertime into my kitchen with the same herbs. Planted 3 weeks ago, they really show no progress.

Except for this one itty bitty purple basil sprout! Maybe with the days getting a little longer, they will all get enough light from my north-facing kitchen window to start growing.

Oh, and the problem with the pencils? The eraser caps can be detached if pulled hard enough, and so the poor little high school children might try to swallow them, and choke. (I think if you're trying to eat an eraser at 18 years of age, you have bigger issues than pencils.)

Happy Indoor Garden Tuesday, everyone!

Monday Miscellany

2012-01-30T16:24:00.002-05:00

It was a quiet weekend here; no snow (Katie is taking good care of it in Utah), little sewing, a little house cleaning, just a normal weekend.

I did rearrange my windowsill to better accomodate these pretty "measuring cups" my daughter bought me for Christmas. I couldn't bear to stuff them in a cupboard. And they look great next to the little blue teapot she bought me for my birthday a few years back.
In absurd news, do you remember these?

Ryan came home from High School with a notice that he can no longer use "My First Ticonderoga" pencils in school because they are dangerous. I'm not kidding. These pencils are dangerous to people ages 14 to 18. The smaller ones are not.
Happy Monday, everyone!

Addictive Oatmeal Cookies

2012-01-27T15:54:00.003-05:00

Yes, my dearly beloved called these addictive. I am afraid that means I'll have to make them again, possibly this weekend, despite my aversion to making cookies.

These were adapted from the red plaid cookbook, and made to be cholesterol free, but I'll put in parenthesis how to make them full fat and undoubtedly just as tasty, in case cholesterol matters not a whit to you, as it didn't to me just a few short months ago!

ADDICTIVE OATMEAL COOKIES

3/4 cup (1-1/2 stick) margarine (or butter)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1-3/4 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats (quick or regular)
1/4 cup egg beaters (or 1 egg)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves

Cream the margarine with the brown sugar. Add the white sugar, 1 cup flour and 1 cup oats, and beat until combined. Add all of the remaining ingredients, and beat until combined - the dough will be very stiff. Drop by teaspoonsful onto prepared baking sheets (I line mine with waxed paper, then spread a few drops of oil on the paper, and cleanup is a breeze). Bake at 375F for 10 to 12 minutes in a conventional oven, or 350F for 8 to 10 minutes in a convection oven. Makes about 4 dozen (46, to be exact).
There were 7 cookies left this morning, out of that 46, and my dearly beloved happily snagged them for his breakfast. I think that's a testimonial as to how addictive he found them!

It's supposed to rain all weekend, so I'll be happily hibernating. Hope you all have a great weekend!

"What Do Dogs Tell Us?"

2012-01-26T17:24:00.003-05:00

I got this magazine in the mail today. Biggify the picture; it's worth it.I believe that what this poor dog tells us is, "Don't make your dog a laughing stock at the dog park. Let him have a normal hairdo."

Or maybe, "Dogs need hugs, not hairdos."
Happy Thorsday, everyone, in memory of our boy, who's been gone 5 months.

Soft White Rolls

2012-01-25T17:12:00.002-05:00

Have you ever tried this product?
I hadn't. But you probably remember that my second daughter (6th child) is in her final semester of nursing school. And she's been harassing me big-time about her darling Daddy's cholesterol being borderline high, and I NEED to do SOMETHING about it NOW. Yes, it can be pretty loud around here when she's banging the healthy eating bandwagon (as if we glom down the ring-dings and big-macs around here)!

So when I needed to make rolls for dinner and sandwiches the other night, I went to an old cookbook called Foods From Famous Kitchens. In the Red Star yeast section is a recipe for wonderful, soft bread and rolls. A little adaptation, and I had these wonderful....

CHOLESTEROL FREE BATTERWAY YEAST ROLLS

1-1/2 cups warm water
3 tsp or 6 tsp yeast*
4 to 5 cups white flour
2 tbsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp margarine, softened, cut in small pieces (replaces butter)
1/4 cup Egg Beaters (replaces 1 egg)
4 tsp gluten powder

Pour the water in your mixing bowl or bread machine container. Sprinkle on the yeast, then add the remaining ingredients in the order given (melt the margarine/butter if you're using a mixer or wooden spoon instead of a bread machine). Mix according to my directions to the right, let rise 10 minutes, and punch down. If you use just 4 cups of flour, you will have to pour the batter into greased muffin cups and let them rise. I added a 5th cup of flour, which made a very soft and pliable dough. I then split the dough into 16 pieces, rolled each into a ball, and flattened on my waxed paper lined, greased baking sheet. Let the rolls rise until about doubled in size (about 20 minutes for 6 tsp yeast, and about an hour for 3 tsp yeast), then bake at 375F for 20 to 25 minutes, or at 375F in the convection oven for about 13 to 15 minutes, until the desired degree of brownness is achieved.

No one suspected these rolls were anything other than soft and wonderful, so this is a sneaky trick I'll be trying again soon.

Also, last night, I made brownies using egg whites instead of whole eggs. They were a little fluffier than usual, but tasted the same. I suggest you try the same deception if you want your brownies just a little better for you and equally delicious!

Want To See My Snow?

2012-01-24T18:26:00.002-05:00

So do my boys. The 6" of snow we had on Saturday morning melted yesterday. So I give you this instead. It's my side yard today.

If you find my snow, send a picture of it for the boys. I don't actually need the snow.

Happy Garden Tuesday, everyone!

Oat Wheat Rolls

2012-01-23T15:30:00.003-05:00

This recipe was adapted from an Oat Bread recipe given to me by Mickle's Dad in New Zealand. My dearly beloved is forever scolding me for being "bored" with foods, and changing them somewhat, but I point out to him that this is his cross to bear with me. Poor dear, he's a good soldier, never complaining about being fed strange and different things. You can tell his life is really hard, right?

OAT WHEAT ROLLS

1-1/2 cups warm water
3 tsp or 6 tsp yeast
3 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oats (regular or fast)
4 tsp milk powder
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp olive oil

Put the water in your bowl or bread machine container, add the rest of the ingredients and proceed as my tutorial on the right suggests. Knead, let the dough rise for 15 minutes, punch down and split into 16 even pieces. Roll each into a nice ball, flatten on a greased baking sheet (I line mine with waxed paper and then grease the paper, for easy cleanup), and let them rise until doubled in size (about 20 minutes for 6 tsp yeast, about an hour for 3 tsp yeast). Put in a conventional oven at 375F for 18 to 20 minutes, or the convection oven at 350F for 14 to 17 minutes, until the desired degree of brown is reached. You'll notice, of course, that my rolls have flour clinging to them, because I don't brush them with liquid after I've formed the rolls. That's because I like a soft roll, not one with a hard crust on it. It's personal preference; you can brush yours with warm milk or melted butter, if you wish.

These also made good sandwiches for lunch the next day. I split the rolls in half and buttered them, ran them under the broiler for a minute, removed them, put tomatoes, cheese and meat (roast beef, in this case) on the two halves of each roll, and put them back under the broiler. Note that my new broilers have adjustable temperature controls, so I dialed the temperature back to 400F. You might have to drop your top shelf by one unit so the rolls don't scorch before the cheese starts to melt. An orange is a good accompaniment to the sandwich, by the way!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Visiting Dog on Thorsday

2012-01-19T15:53:00.003-05:00

You all remember that I got new stoves in December, right? And new refrigerators about a year ago? And a new dishwasher? Well, all of the replaced, but working, appliances were stored on my porch. And a friend who lives about an hour north was amongst hundreds or even thousands of families who suffered flooding last September. So we told our friend to rent a truck and come get these appliances for his own house, and for friends of his who suffered damage. The friend brought his dog along for the ride.

Here's my little guy, making friends with Dakota, using dog cookies. The way to a dog's heart is through his stomach, after all!

And then off the new friends went for a walk. That's the other way to a dog's heart, right?

Of course, Dakota is a very peppy dog, not like Thor, so he couldn't be allowed to romp off-leash. The front gate was open and he would have raced down the road to who-knows-where, and never found his way back, since he lives 60 miles away.
Happy Thorsday, everyone!

Book Review!

2012-01-18T16:59:00.002-05:00

I think a lot of good writers from a generation or 2 ago have been forgotten. There are plenty of books in my library which are not considered "classics", and yet are very good reads. This is one of them.

WHEN EIGHT BELLS TOLL
Alistair Maclean
copyright 1966; 250 pages

"The Peacemaker Colt has now been in production, without change in design, for a century." This first sentence, followed by a description of the Peacemaker's destructive capabilities, as our narrator looks down the barrel of one, it is an exciting introduction to a fast-paced story of modern piracy off the coast of Scotland.

Ships containing valuable cargo - gold bullion - have been disappearing, and the British Secret Service has sent a small crew disguised as a surveying crew to discover why. The plot twists and turns, people on both sides of the action are killed off, and Mr. Maclean keeps his readers hooked from the first page to the last. At 250 pages, it's a fast read.

I thought this book would make an excellent movie, but I'm too late. While checking Amazon to ascertain that it's still in print (and it is!), I discovered that it was made into a movie 40 years ago. No matter. Hollywood, are you listening? Remake this movie. Don't put the CGI and unrealistic action into it. Just tell the story, because it's a good one. Meanwhile, you should all read this book. It's a fine expenditure of time!

(And I took a picture of the book, but misplaced it, so here's another picture of a tree.)

Garden Tuesday: Trees

2012-01-17T14:15:00.002-05:00

This is all the snow we had last weekend. Note that I'm not crying over this, although my little boys are.

The line of trees is the west side of an old town road, which was moved about 100 years ago. The short one has been decimated by carpenter ants, and will probably have to come down, but we'll replace it with another. I'd like to keep the old road memorialized.

And I love looking up at trees in winter. The bare branches against the sky are so pretty!

Carrot Cake

2012-01-16T17:01:00.003-05:00

Who doesn't love carrot cake? Family members love it because it's delicious, and we Moms love it because it sneaks lots of veggies and so forth into the kids and hubby. Really, it's a win-win. I tweaked this recipe a little to make it a tiny bit healthier (but not much).

CARROT CAKE

1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped walnut

In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, powder, soda, salt and cinnamon with a wire whisk. Add the eggs, vanilla and oil, and beat for 30 seconds to combine, then 2 minutes until smooth. Stir in the shredded carrot and walnuts. Turn into two greased layer cake pans, and bake at 350F for 30 to 35 minutes, until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes, then remove from the pan to a cooling rack.
When completely cooled, frost with:

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups confectioner's sugar

Beat until smooth; you might need up to 1 cup more powdered sugar to give the frosting enough body. Enough for filling and frosting one cake.

This is a very filling cake with a very rich frosting. It actually lasted 2 days, which is some kind of record in our house. It's not that everyone didn't love it; they just took small slices because it was so filling. That's a bonus in my book.

Next time, I'll be trying it with egg substitute, to see how it tastes. I'll also be baking it in a 13"x9" pan, because I really hate fussing with layers. Picky, picky, picky, right?

Of Dresses

2012-01-14T17:10:00.003-05:00

So, what do you do when you need a gown for a "Black Tie Dinner"? Do you go shopping, or do you call your mother and beg her to dye a tan dress she bought you 5 years ago and ship it to you?

Yeah, my attorney daughter did the latter. On Wednesday night. For a Black Tie Attorney thing on Friday night.

And the dress came out really pretty, didn't it? I also sent her a dress of mine from a long time ago. She wore my dress, because hers wasn't quite long enough with the 4" heels she wanted to wear.

And I made myself a princess seamed sleeveless dress with a cardigan from some lightweight sweater fabric I found in my stash before Thanksgiving. It was marked as being 2.5 yards for 50 cents per yard, and I figured out why when I washed it: There was a run 2" off center down the whole length of the piece. I figured out how to work around it anyway.

There was also enough for a long sleeved top. I'm really pleased with this $1.25 investment from probably 10 years ago!

Happy Birthday...

2012-01-13T15:41:00.000-05:00

...to my dearly beloved.

You're the best thing that ever happened to me!

Lemon Sponge Cake

2012-01-12T15:12:00.002-05:00

My dearly beloved simply adores sponge cake, especially lemon sponge cake. I decided last night to make it "lower" cholesterol (that's not "no" cholesterol, just a little healthier). So here's the new recipe I came up with. It was all gone by noon, so I'm thinking it was a pretty big success!

LEMON SPONGE CAKE
Lower Cholesterol Version

4 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp water
minced rind from one orange

Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar , and beat until foamy; add the lemon extract and 1/2 cup sugar, and beat until very stiff. Set aside. Beat the egg yolks until light colored and fluffy, add the remaining sugar, salt and water, and beat for about 30 seconds. Stir together the flour and baking powder; add them to the egg yolk mixture along with the lemon juice, and beat until well combined. Beat in half of the egg whites and orange rind, and then fold in the remaining egg whites. Bake in a well greased Bundt pan at 325F for 35 to 40 minutes, until the cake tests done. Cool about 10 minutes, then turn out of the pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when the cake is cool.

It's not a very big cake, but it packs a lot of flavor. Best of all, no one noticed that I'd cut the egg yolk content down!

Garden Tuesday: Clouds

2012-01-10T14:29:00.003-05:00

Since we don't have any snow, I thought you might like to see the clouds in our sky yesterday afternoon:

Happy Tuesday, everyone.

Sweet Potato Muffins

2012-01-09T15:24:00.002-05:00

So, we've been told to eat less cholesterol, less sugar, blah, blah, blah. I've been working on this for a while, now, and it's just plain not as easy as it would seem.

with all that in mind, I decided to use up some leftover sweet potatoes from the fridge to make some muffins. These were good, although some of the kids commented that they could've been a little bit sweeter. Next time, I think I'd add 2 tablespoons of white sugar to the batter.
SWEET POTATO MUFFINS

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp powdered milk
4 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup mashed, seasoned sweet potatoes
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts

Stir together the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients, including the sweet potatoes, and stir until well combined. Stir in the nuts, then spoon into greased or paper lined muffin tins. sprinkle more chopped nuts on the top of the unbaked muffins, along with about 1/4 teaspoon of white sugar. Bake 14 to 18 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Cool slightly before serving.

Despite the comments of these work quite sweet enough (my daughter specifically said they tasted more like bread than muffins), the two dozen I made were gone the next morning. I think that's a pretty good review.

A little sewing, and few pictures

2012-01-06T17:10:00.003-05:00

During the week after Christmas, my lawyer daughter and I worked on a couple of projects for her.

When I went fabric shopping in Philadelphia with GMarie, my daughter and her roommate, an avid and very accomplished seamstress, went along. I bought my daughter a couple of pieces of wool, some lining, some buttons, and so forth. She brought some of those home for Christmas, and we worked on her projects during the "off" week.

The first was a brown suit. It was a very fluid chocolate brown wool, with a dark gold lining. I took pictures of her in this suit, but they mystically disappeared from my camera. So, here's the sketch from Simplicity pattern 4885, circa 2004. We didn't put the ruffles on the jacket sleeves, and we used a 3" deep flounce on the skirt, instead of 6" deep as illustrated. It looked quite nice.

The second was this black and white checked, high waisted skirt. It's lined in grey. It's Vogue 8425. The biggest problem we had is that the waistband is 6" high, and not tapered from top to bottom. So, after the skirt was done, it fit everywhere except at the top of the waist. Being her father's daughter, she took it off, tossed it in a corner and vowed never to revisit it. Being a stubborn old goat who never quits, I ripped out the top half of the zipper, tapered the waistband in, and reinstalled the zipper. I did, however, refuse to hand sew on the decorative buttons on the front, so those are just waiting for my daughter to finish them.
I have a white sweater knit sitting on the dining room table, waiting to be cut, maybe into a V1250 and matching cardigan, but I just haven't felt like sewing for myself. Maybe this weekend, after a nice, long soak in a hot tub tonight. Or maybe I'll just read. But not on the Kindle. I have a feeling that steaming your Kindle would not be the best idea in the world. That's OK, because there's a full length novel, Josephine Tey's The Franchise Affair, waiting for me in my mystery anthology.

Book Review and a New Toy

2012-01-05T16:37:00.002-05:00

The week before Christmas, I had to take my little guy for an orthodontist appointment. So, of course I went to my personal library for book to read while I waited. I selected an anthology called Ten Great Mysteries published in 1959. Since the first book in the anthology was the Maltese falcon, I figured it would be a good collection. I wasn't disappointed. The first story, which was 20 pages long, was another Lord Peter Whimsy story (Remember The Nine Tailors?). This one involved Lord Peter taking his nephew to a bookstore, where his nephew what an old book. The bad guy, a good guy, a treasure map and a hidden treasure were all involved in this great little story. Next up was The Case of the Crying Swallow, a Perry Mason story 45 pages long. An Agatha Christie story that didn't follow her usual pattern was highly entertaining. And who knew that Nero Wolfe had a dog as a child in Montenegro, or that Labs have large skulls, and therefore are highly intelligent dogs? Die Like a Dog (44 pages) told me all of that. The last story I've read was an Ellery Queen story. My grandfather had "Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine" around his house when I was small, but I never read it, and, indeed, have no idea if it was even a current publication back then. But this story, The President's Half Disme, involving George Washington, a grove of trees and a buried coin, reminded me of those publications from so long ago.

Having a collection of short stories and a short novel to read during Christmas week was very good for me, because I could go sit in a corner for 15 to 30 minutes, decompress, and have the satisfaction of a story finished, and emerge from my corner much more cheerful.

So, imagine my shock when, a couple of days after Christmas, the UPS man brought me a present from a business associate:
Yep, it's a Kindle Fire. So I went online and downloaded a dozen or so free books, so I could try this new toy out. Here's the first one I read:

Letters of a Woman Homesteader
Elinore Pruitt Stewart
copyright 1914
102 pages in print - free for Kindle

This is my kind of book. It's the story of a young widowed mother who moved from Oklahoma to Denver, and then, deciding that life "in service" was good for neither her nor her toddler daughter, moved to Wyoming in 1909 to claim her own homestead. This is the story, told via her letters to a friend in Denver, of how she claimed her homestead, the people she met, and how she was able to make the land work for her. There are funny lines, such as her being told that there are 3 seasons in Wyoming: winter, July and August. There are stories of weddings, births, reunions and deaths. It's a cheerful story about life in a hard time and place. At the end, Elinore proudly reports to her friend that she's proof that a woman can successfully claim her 160 acres and support herself, pointing to, among other things, her harvest of 2 tons of potatoes and a ton of carrots. It is a nice story, and one which should make us all grateful for our blessings in life, no matter how hard life is at any time (at least we don't have to heat up rocks and toss them in the bottom of our sleighs to keep us warm when we travel in the winter)!

Now, all of these stories would have been better with my reading companion, but the memory of our boy helping us read does still make me smile.

Happy Thorsday, everyone!

Tuna Melt

2012-01-04T12:23:00.002-05:00

Bet you all thought I forgot how to cook, right? Well, not really. But I feel like I've been on autopilot of late.

Anyway, for lunch of late we've been having tuna melts. This particular lunch was on my French Bread, toasted under the broiler at 350F (my new stoves have adjustable broilers - wowsers!) for a minute, then tuna, tomato and mozzarella placed on it, and returned to the broiler for 3 minutes. The worst thing my dearly beloved could think of to say was that his sandwich was "too fat".

And have any of you tried the new Kraft mayonnaise with olive oil and much less fat? It tastes just like regular mayonnaise. I do recommend it. And if anyone from Kraft is reading, you're welcome.

Garden Tuesday: Deer

2012-01-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

The deer wee all over the place on Christmas. Look at the herd of them! There were 7. And they were attacking some of my new trees. I was not amused. I drove my Suburban down the lawn honking the horn like a lunatic to chase them away. It's a wonder the neighbors didn't call the authorities to throw a net over me.

Anyway, here's hoping for a 2012 with fewer deer invading the garden!

Monday Miscellany

2012-01-02T13:44:00.003-05:00

We had a few critters here for Christmas, but none who could romp in the wrapping paper.

Of course, there was Doug the fish. Mark bought him that penguin so he'd have company. I don't know that fish require company, but Mark was pretty insistent.
Shannon brought her birds. The grey one is Mortimer; he's blind in one eye, not too bright, and likes to sit on the floor of his cage. The yellow one is Marley, and she's a real crank sometimes. Still, the cheerful chirping was nice.

Kellie was going to bring her roommate's cat, Arthur, home for Christmas, because Arthur couldn't go to the roommate's house, but thought the better of it when she realized that other pets who are traditional snack food for cats were already here. So Arthur stayed with the next door neighbor instead. (I was a little disappointed. I like cats.)

And Cass' boyfriend was a great guy with my little boys. He led afternoons full of board games; here, they're on about the 47th round of Clue. When partners were required, he always partnered with my little guy, so the little guy would have a chance against all the older players. I think he had a pretty good time.

Lawyer daughter is back in Philly, opening her very own office, already having a little referral work. The boys have all returned to their respective jobs. But Cass and Kellie are home for a couple more weeks, so the house isn't silent....yet....

And, I see that I have follower #130! Thank you so very much!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T18:41:00.004-05:00

The big kids all went somewhere, but the little guys helped me prepare their favorite kind of feast: an informal one.

BBQ chicken, breaded chicken tenders (baked, not fried), egg rolls and spring rolls (store bought), taquitos and quesadillas. They were pretty pleased.

Happy New Year, everyone; I wish you love, health, happiness and good fortune in 2012.

2011-12-31T17:37:00.002-05:00

My oldest daughter's 25th birthday was Thursday. When did she get to be that old? And what does that say about me? GAH! Not a one of us looks fully humanoid in this picture, except Mark and Shannon, the birthday girl.

Mark took special price in this birthday celebration, because he decorated the cake. Oh, I did the lettering, but he drew the pictures.

Here's a closer look: the yellow creatures are ducks, and the green one is a bunny rabbit. There are flowers all around them. (They weren't that easy to identify; thought I'd help you out!)

One of Shannon's presents was a pair of frames for her diplomas (gotta decorate that office!) and a promise that "we" would mat them. By "We" the clear implication was that she would select her mat colors, and I would cut the mats and frame them. I think they came out rather well!

While "we" were at it, "we" matted Mark's Christmas present, too. You all probably have the inkling that my little guy is a huge football fan. For Christmas, we bought him one share in the Green Bay Packers. (The Patriots aren't available, at least not in my price range). So I wrapped his certificate, letter of ownership and frame in a big box, and while "we" were cutting mats, Mark chose his color and we framed his ownership certificate. (Now he thinks we're going to Wisconsin for the owner's meeting in July. Not bloody likely, folks, not likely.)

Lastly, as long as the equipment was out, remember that thousand books Jeffrey found me in the newspaper for $300 about 18 months ago? Well, in one of those books was this pretty little picture. It was evidently a Christmas card, hand printed in 1977. So I chose a remnant and matted it, as well. All it needs is a frame, and I have one ordered.
So, I guess this was kind of an artsy day hereabouts. Dan's bringing home the special "New Year's Eve" foods, and we're all going to hang around enjoying each other's company!

Happy New Year to all of you, my invisible friends!

Christmas Recap

2011-12-29T17:35:00.004-05:00

Christmas morning is always a circus, but one I've managed to keep under control by some excellent planning and training. First, the kids open their stockings, while I get coffee for my dearly beloved (who really suffers mornings) and tea for myself, and then get myself looking somewhat humanoid. Silly little toys, some candy, everyone laughs.

Then, they migrate from the dining room to the breakfast room for the Sugar Fest. Added to the table, you might notice punch bowls at either end. Our punch is simple and almost nutritious: orange juice, diet cranberry ginger ale, sliced bananas, frozen strawberries to keep it cold, and that's it! Isn't it pretty?
Skip the presents and whatnot; there's no dog in the paper to make us laugh.

Here's my Jeffrey carving the standing rib roast (done in the convection oven in about 11 or 12 minutes per pound, and simply fabulous):

And the table set up for the hungry hordes:

From the other end (Note GMarie's pretty Christmas napkins on the plates):
And a close-up of the roast.

The hungry hordes began to arrive! The menu:

Standing rib roast
"Party Rice"
Creamed Spinach
Steamed broccoli
Pullman Bread
Oat Rolls

And my plate (I didn't photoshop out the rice Ryan dropped when helping to serve me. This is reality, you know).

The extra guy (bespectacled) in some of the pictures is Cass' boyfriend. He's a nice guy, and decided he'd rather spend Christmas with our family than his own. He was blown away by the food, and spent days raving about Mickle's Dad's Oat bread. So, for those of you who can distinguish who is who, that's who the extra person is!

Christmas Eve Recap

2011-12-28T15:13:00.002-05:00

Many years ago, I began taking each child on a shopping trip for presents for the siblings. They had a budget and had to figure out how to buy 6 appropriate presents for a given amount. Then they exchanged presents with each other on Christmas Eve, after our special dinner.

So, Christmas Eve dinner remains Shrimp Scampi with angel hair pasta and a spinach salad.

And then everyone hauls their presents down from their rooms and sets them up in the family room. Jeff was last to arrive, and wanted to know why we had a brown paper wrapped body near the tree. 2 sisters and 2 brothers had teamed up to buy this for Jeff, and don't you think Dan did a brilliant wrapping job?

But, the present looked short next to Jeff, so Shannon came to demonstrate how life sized he is!

After a couple of hours of opening presents, talking and laughing, everyone went to bed. Everyone, that is, except my elves. (I'm pretty sure I have the biggest elves around).
Santa filled the stockings; some wouldn't balance on the hangers properly (we can't drive nails into a marble mantle, of course).

And then I set out the Christmas morning feast: 2 pans of brownies, 2 loaves each cranberry, banana and lemon poppyseed bread, a 2-color cake and a chocolate cake. Not on display: peanut butter pie and the Christmas punch. Everyone loves Christmas morning breakfast!
Next up: Christmas. It has been a happy week.

What Happened Before Christmas!

2011-12-26T22:06:00.002-05:00

Random images from the week before Christmas!

When you need to take the tag off the top of the Christmas tree, which makes more sense? To have the tall guy reach it, or have his short sister stand on his knee, hang onto his head, and stretch? Yeah, that's what happened.
Of course, the girls made Christmas cookies.
These were some of them. Mom got wild animal cookie cutters for her birthday, so our Christmas cookies were moose, porcupines, squirrels, and other things, rather than traditional silly things like trees and angels.
And Doug the Fish! I've never had fish! So who'd have believed that one of our kids had an aquarium in his closet? Doug likes this better than the Rubbermaid container.
And our tree was ready tor the festivities on Christmas Eve!
More updates when I have a few minutes more, and can select a few more pictures!

Monday Miscellany

2011-12-19T17:09:00.004-05:00

The boys hung wreaths outside this weekend,
And I hung bows on the light posts.
Nursing school daughter brought home her fish, Doug. He'll be cute hanging around with lawyer daughter's birds, but they're no Thor insofar as entertainment value.
And, for Faye, here are my Philadelphia fabric purchases:
3 lightweight knits, perfect for next spring.

Background here: a dark olive sweater knit, topped by a pink knit remnant, a tan floral rayon remnant that's pretty heavy, a pink crinkly lightweight remnant, and a white sweater knit remnant (which just might stir my interest once the holiday circus is over).

Hope you're all doing well at getting ready for your Christmas and other holiday celebrations. Me, I'm just as overwhelmed as ever!

Getting Some Christmas Spirit

2011-12-16T21:04:00.003-05:00

On the heels of the news about El'bow, this ornament arrived in my mailbox today from Nichole.

I'm floored. Really, I am. This was a very thoughtful gesture, and one I will always appreciate.

So, we went Christmas tree shopping tonight. This ornament needed a place to live. We did not have our chief shopper, so it was rather a subdued affair. However, since only 5 of us were home, we were able to fit in the "little Cadillac" and ride comfortably to the farm (as opposed to last year, when 9 of us went in the Suburban, and Jeff lifted me into the truck because I can no longer climb. That was kind of funny, actually).

And this little one decided that my dearly beloved was her new friend. Sadly, since she wouldn't stand still, I didn't get one clear shot of her. But she made us laugh.

So, tomorrow, we'll be decorating - finally.

A Farewell to El'bow

2011-12-16T13:46:00.003-05:00

I just received news that Thor's friend El'bow, the English Mastiff from Belgium, crossed over the rainbow bridge yesterday.
My heart breaks for his family.
Farewell, El'bow! I will miss you.

Garden Tuesday: Migration

2011-12-13T15:35:00.002-05:00

It was only 25 yesterday, but the sky was picture perfect.

The birds were not impressed. They're leaving town.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2011-12-12T14:58:00.002-05:00

Over the weekend, it was cold here. That's no surprise, right, given that it's December? Anyway, this was a great weekend for stew: beef stew on Friday night, and chicken stew on Saturday night. And with stew, what's better than biscuits? I went looking for a new biscuit recipe, found and adapted this one from a 1999 Good Housekeeping cookbook recently adopted at a used book sale.

BUTTERMILK BAKING POWDER BISCUITS

2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp buttermilk powder
1 cup water
1/4 cup softened butter or margarine

Stir all ingredients together (you might need up t6o 1/4 cup more flour if your dough isn't stiff enough). Drop the dough by tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450F for about 15 minutes (420 Convection for 13 minutes). Makes about 15 biscuits.

My boys raved about these biscuits. I made a double batch each night, and none were left by 3 the next afternoon (and that's with only 3 sons home)!

New Dishwasher

2011-12-11T12:15:00.002-05:00

It finally got installed!

All of the controls are push buttons on the top of the door, leaving only the handle on the front of this dishwasher, along with the giant Whirlpool logo at the front.

The tub is stainless steel, so it's dark inside. But it holds up to 15 place settings, which is a great deal from my perspective. You can see that with all of the dishes for 5 people for one day, plus a bread pan, it's nowhere near full. And it cleans the dishes just fine.
So things are wonderful here in my little corner of the world!

Zucchini the Cat

2011-12-10T16:33:00.002-05:00

I returned my daughter to Philadelphia after Thanksgiving; it was a great excuse for fabric shopping with G-Marie while I was there.

Turns out my daughter's roommate has a big cat named Zucchini. Zucchini doesn't even pay attention to my daughter's birds. Mostly, he thinks he's a small dog, following people around, and bringing them his catnip mouse and his feather on a string to play with. He was pretty funny
I thought Zucchini would like to join Pam for Weekend Cat Blogging.

Thor would have liked Zucchini. He was a friend to all small animals.
Happy Weekending, everyone!

Convection Oven: A Learning Curve

2011-12-09T14:52:00.004-05:00

I've been experimenting with the new convection ovens for almost a week now. I'm ready to declare them a success.

First, look at this stove top. Two dual sized burners at the front, 2 small burners at the back, and the circle in the middle is a "keep warm" burner. Yep, poke a little button on the control panel and it will hold something at a warming temperature, so you can use the real burner to cook something else. I'm thinking it would be handy for something like mashed potatoes.
I've never seen an oven with 3 racks before. My girls will have to try out baking 3 racks of cookies at once when they get home; I really and truly don't like baking cookies. That's probably because I know at least 5 or 6 dozen will never make it beyond the cooling rack, and it's frustrating to have little to show for all that work. But the girls will spend a few hours together baking quadruple recipes of cookies that won't last more than 2 days, and enjoy beating their brothers off with wooden spoons. It's very entertaining, really.

Now, on to what you want to know: cooking.

Meat: Fabulous. I've made turkey breast, boneless chicken breast, ham, roast beef and fish with the convection oven. I cooked them all at the same temperature as I would have used in the conventional oven, but for 1/4 to 1/3 less time, and using exactly the same seasonings I've always used. The flavor was much better. Everyone has said the same thing every night. My dearly beloved and I don't even like boneless chicken breast (it was a goof by my food supplier), because it tends to be dry, but the flavor was greatly improved. Katie, I'll be happy to give you more specifics if you want them; just let me know.

Baked goods: Yeast bread: Winner! The crust is evenly browned, and the loaf cooked in about 19 minutes instead of 25. The crust was also a little crunchier and nicer, but not thicker.

Cake and Banana Nut Bread: Not as big a fan. Both cooked about 25% faster (28 minutes for the Bundt cake instead of 39 to 42, and 48 minutes for the nut bread instead of 65 minutes). Because the rising of goods leavened with baking powder and baking soda is dependent upon oven heat, my yellow cake and nut bread didn't rise as much, and were therefore denser. They got eaten (as the end of the banana bread here shows), just weren't as much enjoyed. I made another yellow cake and a loaf of cranberry nut bread using the conventional bake cycle, and they were exactly as expected. So I'll be baking these goods with the conventional cycle unless I'm in a huge hurry.

Brownies were a resounding success. I made 3 batches of brownies this week, using the Pampered Chef stoneware pan and fudge brownie mix (my kids hate scratch brownies). None lasted more than 18 hours, including sleep time. They were fudgy throughout, no raw spots in the middle, no hard edges. 24 minutes cooking time instead of 32 minutes. This will be the formula for brownies in my house forevermore. Thank you, Chan, for the stoneware pan, which I would otherwise never have tried. (She sells great Pampered Chef stuff without you having to attend a party, if anyone wants something. Just saying.) No pictures of brownies, what with them not lasting and all. Sorry.

But I can't leave you with all this food and no recipe, so how about that chocolate frosting on the yellow cake above? Ryan found it in a cookbook and begged for it (he always wants "exciting" frosting).
BUTTERMILK COCOA FROSTING

1/4 cup butter
1 pound confectioners sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup buttermilk OR
2 tbsp buttermilk powder plus water to thin the frosting

Place all the ingredients in your mixing bowl. Start with the smallest amount of buttermilk or water, then add more to make the frosting creamy. Plenty to frost a 9x12 cake, 2 round layers or a Bundt cake.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, not too stressful before Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever other holidays you celebrate!

From 55 to Snow in 2 days.

2011-12-08T16:40:00.002-05:00

It rained Tuesday and Wednesday. It rained a lot, maybe 2 to 3 inches. But then, around 7, the rain changed. And this is what we awoke to.

Thor used to love going out to frolic in the snow with his boys. Last year we had to make him come in after a short while so he wouldn't be too stiff the next day. But this is where he liked to be best after a snowstorm: with his boys.
Happy Snowy Thorsday, everyone!

Garden Tuesday: Confused Forsythia

2011-12-06T13:37:00.002-05:00

It's been so unseasonably warm here this year that my forsythia are confused.

See? Blossoms. Really pretty little yellow flowers.

And new leaves, too. Fortunately, this plant is so hardy that I think it can survive its mistaken belief that there have been two springs this year.

And I've put Thor looking rather grinch-like in his Santa hat as my new header. Tis the season, and all, and it's been decades since we've had a dogless Christmas.

Kitchen Update

2011-12-05T16:30:00.004-05:00

How long does it take to plug in 2 new stoves? Maybe an hour or 2, right, including taking the old ones to the porch?

Wrong. Try 9 very grumpy Dan hours. The new stoves were about 1/2" narrower than the old ones, so he had to uninstall the dishwashers, replace the subflooring because he didn't like it, repaint the grubby walls, and then put the stoves back in place after sliding the counters around just a touch so all the extra space was on one side of one stove. He still needs to replace that piece of countertop, but it's better than disassembling the sink and replacing both counters!

Ad don't they look pretty! I'm trying out the convection baking feature, and will give an update and report on these stoves. Note: These are "European convection ovens" and evidently that means there's a third heating element along with the air circulating fan. Of course, the manufacturer supplied no information other than how to turn it on, so the learning curve will be pretty steep. Any and all guidance will be appreciated.
The dishwasher is not yet installed. I believe my appliance man is "not in the mood" right now. And they say women are moody! Still, he is a great guy.

My old stoves, which work just great, will be donated to whichever charity will come pick them up. I don't believe in discarding perfectly good things.

New Stuff

2011-12-03T14:29:00.002-05:00

Look what was delivered yesterday! Guess what Dan's doing this weekend.....

Dan's birthday

2011-12-02T16:31:00.002-05:00

Last weekend was Dan's birthday. Shannon decorated his cake. You can tell, because her drawing skills are significantly better than mine. Yes, this is a Viking ship, sailing toward Eek the Mouse in his Hanukkah bowl (they live on our breakfast room table).

The girls had gone back to college; I talked Shannon into staying until Monday, so she could ride with me to Philly for fabric shopping with G-Marie (no pictures). So Dan had a small crowd at his birthday cake; I'm sure he didn't mind, since that left him with more extra birthday cake to enjoy!

A Gift for me!

2011-12-01T15:39:00.005-05:00

When G-Marie was here on Thanksgiving, she brought me a present:

20 half-round napkins folded to look like trees! She chose these fabrics because she felt they would match my Christmas plates. How right she is!

They are beautiful, and I really appreciate the work she put into them. I also appreciate that she made me 20 - yes, twenty! - so I'd have enough to not have to wash them every single night.

I'd never have even met G-Marie without Thor, and I'm truly sorry he didn't last long enough to give her a big Mastiff welcome. He'd have loved her.
Happy Thorsday, everyone! Only one more day until the weekend starts!

Garden Tuesday: Sunrise

2011-11-29T15:09:00.002-05:00

Shortly before 7AM yesterday, while preparing to depart for Philadelphia, I discovered that the sky was pink.
And my yard was very pink.

10 minutes later, all of the color was gone. But it was spectacular while it lasted.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T17:22:00.003-05:00

Ah, Thanksgiving. It was a great day. The girls and a visitor worked very hard at setting up the table (and ultimately decided I was right on how to seat 22 people).
And aren't my girls beautiful? I'm always proud to be seen with them.
Here's the visitor to whom I alluded earlier: G-Marie, seamstress extraordinaire, in a beautiful new dress! I loved her festive fall colors. And, yes, she is that much taller than I. Even with me wearing higher shoes than she had, I'm still a good 4 or 5 inches shorter.
Notice Ryan at the corner of the 2 tables, looking grumpy while waiting for the food to be passed.
And dessert! Cakes, pies, all kinds of great stuff. Even my picky eater was pleased to line up.
The photo you've all been waiting for: the group shot.
Starting at the bottom left: Jeffrey, the Denver relative (her 2 sons are in front of Ryan), Mark, Ryan, the bride and groom from a couple of summers ago. Standing: Shannon, oldest son Mike, girlfriend Ashleigh, Patrick, Kellie, Greg's date, Greg, G-Marie, Cass, me, Dan, hubby, G's daughter and husband. 22, count 'em, 22 people. Great times. Hope you were all as happy.

Thanksgiving, Part 1

2011-11-25T19:45:00.002-05:00

I'm still recovering. But here's a preview of the big Thanksgiving picture.
I had a surprise guest, whose hubby was reluctant to join in the picture, until he learned he wouldn't eat without joining in the fun. (I think he was glad he did.) And she brought me these!

Happy weekending, everyone. Recover well.

Thanksgiving Planning

2011-11-21T16:04:00.003-05:00

Well, the head count is in, and it looks like I'm feeding 21 people, although it could rise to as many as 24 (somewhat unlikely, however). Good thing I have at least one set of china with a service for 24, isn't it?

Here's the food plan:

Appetizers:

Nut breads
Shrimp platter, supplied by our friend Greg (it's traditional)
Possibly a veggie platter, depending upon my mood

Dinner:
2 Chernobyl Turkeys (each bird with 2 extra legs), 24 pounds each
Apple Walnut stuffing
Green beans with tomatoes and garlic
Mashed sweet potatoes
Mashed potatoes
Corn
Pizza Tomatoes
Whole cranberry sauce
Jellied cranberry sauce
Bread (type undetermined, depending upon my mood)
Sausage stuffing, if Greg feels like bringing it.

Desserts:
Apple Pies (2)
Pumpkin Pies (2)
Lemon Meringue Pie
Coconut cream pie
Chocolate cream pie
Chocolate cake
Colorful cake
Who knows if I'll get to posting between now and then. Two of the girls are home, the third arrives tonight, the boys will arrive Tuesday and Wednesday, and the place is becoming a full-scale circus. It's my favorite holiday, but I'll probably collapse on Friday and refuse to stir my stumps until well after noon!

(All pictures from last year, obviously, but representative of what's to come!)

Book Review!

2011-11-20T12:47:00.002-05:00

Yes, I needed a break. So I curled up with a nice mystery and spent a few hours in hiding. Trust me, it's a good thing.

THE NINE TAILORS
by Dorothy L. Sayers
copyright 1934; 280 pages

Lord Peter Wimsey's Daimler ended up stuck in a ditch on New Year's Eve 1928. He and his driver commenced walking, happened upon the rector of Fenchurch St. Paul, and received an invitation to stay at the rectory until after the New Year, when the blacksmith could haul the Daimler out of the ditch and repair its axle. (As an aside, how cool is it that the town blacksmith could repair one's car axle?)

The town was quite proud of its carillon consisting of 9 bells, and plans had been laid to perform a certain series consisting of 15,000 rings, and lasting 9 hours, commencing at midnight on New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, one of the change-ringers had caught the flu, and was unable to perform, but Lord Peter, having experience at bell-ringing was able to fill in. During his visit, Lord Peter met the townsfolk, learned of the mystery of emeralds having been stolen some 10 years earlier and never recovered, and attended a couple of funerals. Shortly thereafter, when a recent grave was dug up, a second body was discovered in said grave, and the mystery began: Who was he? Who killed him, and why? Did this have to do with the emeralds? And what do the bells have to do with it? The story led Lord Peter through London, Belgium and France, and ultimately led to a satisfying conclusion.
This book is still available through Amazon, and I was surprised to learn that Lord Peter stars in several other books. I might just have to keep an eye out for those, too!

Holiday Planning

2011-11-19T19:28:00.003-05:00

Well, the Wall Street Journal has articles about Thanksgiving dinners. That means we have to get serious here, folks. The food crisis is imminent. So, here goes:

Saturday night: Taco night. Serve yourself, guys. Oh, and have a banana. I have a case sitting atop the fridges.

Sunday night: Roast chicken with stuffing and salad. Probably chocolate cake for dessert.

Monday night: Fish in white sauce with rice. Veggies undetermined. Dessert? Maybe banana cake.

Tuesday night: Roast beef, some kind of pasta side, salad. Brownie Tuesdays, of course.

Wednesday night: Ham, stuffing, unknown veggies. Nut breads for dessert, because I will have made a lot of them by then.

Pre-Thanksgiving preparation? Clean the house tomorrow, hopefully with a lot of help from the girls. Hope no one notices any dirt tracked in through the next 4 days.

Monday: Make whole cranberry sauce. Send the girls to the store for last-minute essentials (I can't believe my food supplier only sent me 5 pounds of potatoes. That's a joke amount hereabouts.) Make pie crust dough.

Tuesday: Bake nut breads. Likely candidates: banana, cranberry-orange, pumpkin. Start making pies: pumpkin and apple, likely. The others are too delicate to sit for 2 days.

Wednesday: Bake cakes, finish pies.

Thanksgiving Day's menu will be finalized tomorrow or Monday. I promise I'll share it!

The Food Has Arrived...

2011-11-18T16:26:00.004-05:00

Some in the freezer....

Some in the refrigerators....

And I'm not even going to try to photograph the cupboards and pantry shelves. You'd be bored. The boys all cheered wildly and raucously over a distinct lack of frozen veggies arriving in this load. Wait till they find out that they'll be hunting them at the supermarket the week after next.

My thanks to my anonymous commenter who will be helping to cook Thanksgiving dinners for the less fortunate. I'm sorry you're so far from your family, and will think of you on Thanksgiving.

For those who wondered, a case of margarine is 18 pounds, a case of butter is 36 pounds, and they'll both last me about 3 months. You can probably see them on the door of the freezer if you look carefully.

Menu planning tomorrow, maybe I'll have time to take a picture of the dresses I made for the relative from Denver, and I'm determined to finish a book I've been working on all week! Happy Friday, everyone.

Planning...

2011-11-17T15:45:00.002-05:00

So, it's time to call in my food order. I think I've remembered everything, but there's a supermarket 3 miles up the street, and I can dispatch people if I've forgotten anything. This will probably be enough food (excluding milk, of course) to last until the week before Christmas. (yes, there's store bought bread on this list, sufficient for sandwich making for the next few days, while I make other things.)
And my daughter brought me these flowers when she was home in October. I just found the picture on my camera. Isn't she artistic?

Garden Tuesday on Wednesday

2011-11-16T13:28:00.002-05:00

Yes, that's just how my week has gone. Tuesday escaped me.

We bought another 20 trees; these are maples. The guy will come plant them in a day or 2, when the rain stops. Then next summer will be a little greener and cheerier!

Some Kind of Chicken

2011-11-14T16:21:00.004-05:00

I'm working from the back of my fridge and freezer, holding off on the food delivery until Friday, so I can get my turkeys then. So the pictures today don't have anything to do with dinner last night!

SOME KIND OF CHICKEN

4 whole chicken breast
2 tbsp sherry
2 small onions, cut in eighths
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms, fresh or canned
2 cups water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
2 tbsp dried minced onion
2 tbsp sherry
1/2 cup cold water
4 tbsp cornstarch

Arrange the chicken in a baking dish; pour the sherry over them, and arrange the onions and mushrooms over and around them. In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil with the chicken bouillon cubes and dried onion. Whisk the cornstarch into the cold water, and whisk that into the saucepan. Add the sherry and cook until thick. Pour over the chicken, cover, and bake at 350F until done, uncovering at the last minute. Serve with rice and green veggies. (This is where I should have taken pictures, but did not. Oh, well.)

So, how about a picture of a Lemon Poppy Seed Bread I made last night?
Or maybe my refrigerator containing mostly leftovers (everyone always needs lunch)?

Because aside from that, I've got nothing.

Calvert School's State History Course

2011-11-11T15:55:00.002-05:00

I bought the Calvert School PA State History course for my youngest son last year, and never did use it. I have been able to find time this year, and he's been enjoying it.

Tuesday's assignment was for the child to draw a map of the state. My boy decided this was boring, and made a 3D map.

He knows the mountains go farther north than this in Pennsylvania, but he put his mountains on the south central border, where they are the highest. He also made a tiny paper capital building for Harrisburg, and towers for the most important cities in the state: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton and Erie. Allentown wasn't important enough to him to try to shoehorn it between Scranton and Philadelphia.

And I love that he made rivers, too. While it's certainly not complete geographically, the little guy had fun. And that counts for something in school, right?

And Happy Veteran's Day to all of our veterans and their families. You are always in my thoughts.

Let the Holiday Planning begin....

2011-11-10T16:53:00.003-05:00

Dan's fixing a few things i didn't like about my kitchen cabinets. He's a handy dude.

I'm thinking about my pre-holiday food order. That takes a lot of brain power, which I feel mysteriously lacking this week. One thing that's certain is that we'll have 2 big turkeys, plus about 6 or 8 extra drumsticks. That's a big-time tradition.

I'm depressed by my dust, which I usually ignore (and it ignores me). That might just be because it's cold and rainy today.

School is going right along, which is good. I still miss my assistant teacher, of course. We'll stop at lesson 50 and do partial testing next Friday. My little guy can have the whole of Thanksgiving week off.
I've changed my mind 3 times about my Thanksgiving dress. I was going for white stretch velvet. Then I thought maybe pink brocade, followed by sapphire blue brocade. Right now the red ribbon fabric is winning. But I still have another week before it all hits the fan and I MUST choose, right? HAH! More like 2 days.

So, has anyone else started planning for Thanksgiving, or at least fretting over it a bit? Or is it just me, because I have to make airline arrangements for some of the kids?

Garden Tuesday: Sunshine

2011-11-08T12:26:00.001-05:00

Our oak grove has lost most of its leaves. The trees look really spectacular with the blue sky behind them. We still have plenty of leaves clinging to other trees, however, so we're nowhere near even starting the fall cleanup.
Closer to sunset, we had a magnificent sunburst through the evergreens at the bottom of the driveway!

Election Day is Coming...

2011-11-07T14:08:00.003-05:00

...and with it, Election Cake.

I found this a few years back in my Fannie Farmer cookbook, and we enjoyed it. Since it's supposed to sit and rise for 6 hours, there are no pictures of the cake. But here's the recipe, so you can get started on your own, and be primed to go out tomorrow and vote.

ELECTION CAKE

1 cup warm water
3 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
2-1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp oil

Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let soften. Add the other ingredients, beat together, and set aside to rise for 6 hours or overnight.

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 tbsp lemon rind
1 tbsp lemon juice
1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups raisins
1 cup whiskey*

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. Cream the butter with the brown sugar, and add the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the lemon rind and juice, then the dry ingredients. Then beat in the yeast mixture until thoroughly combined. Add the whiskey (if desired) and raisins. Turn into 3 greased loaf pans, and let rise for about an hour, then bake 40 to 50 minutes at 350F.

It can be a real pain to get up early or get home late because you've dragged your sorry behind to the polling place, and it seems even worse during an "off year" election. But let me tell you about why I'm voting in my little corner of the world: My town government is all good. Town taxes are low, plowing is good, police are friendly. No changes needed there. School board? Well, a union leader is running for a seat on the school board, and it is incumbent upon me to stop this. There can be no negotiation if the union has seats on both sides of the table. Plus, with salaries eating up 75% of the school district budget, we need non-union people to try to keep tax increases in check. No one in this school district could possibly be happy with our school taxes, and they're talking 4% to 5% increases next year even without bigger increases in salaries. (Sorry, Pam, I know you're a teacher, but teachers make more money here than average citizens do, and that's just backward) As for the county? Twenty One Million Dollars in debt, facing at least a $3,000,000 shortfall next year, the county commissioners decided not to submit a budget on October 15 as required by law, instead announcing that an "outside committee" was going to advise them after the election of what they should do for the budget shortfall. Oh, by the way, the current commissioners have a 6 part plan to reduce the deficit. Hmmm. I wonder why they didn't implement it in the last 4 years. Curiouser and Curiouser, as Lewis Carroll's characters would say.

We can make a difference at the local level, even if we feel like our vote doesn't amount to much in the national elections. And on that cheery note, how about a lovely picture of our sky yesterday?

October Sewing

2011-11-06T12:44:00.004-05:00

Somehow, I did a lot of sewing in October. Part of it is that I used the yellow sweater fabric I ordered during the summer to make a number of items last weekend, and I was able to sew Monday night, which almost never happens.

First up: A yellow sweater. I've used this pattern for long sleeved, short sleeved, fluffy sleeved and other assorted tees. It just seemed right for a sweater.

Next: Sleeveless a-line dress. Silly thing to make from sweater fabric, right?
Not when you put a little sweater jacket over it!And the little sweater jacket is dandy over a sweater cami, too. Boy, do I look cranky. I should never have my picture taken at midnight.

Earlier in October, while gazing up at my...umm...collection of fabric, I noticed this fabric. It's like a lightweight, ribbed sweater knit. It's lighter than this picture.

It made a perfect square necked a-line dress. This shows the color well.

I also used it for a cowl necked top, from a new pattern I bought, V9771. I'm not wild about this pattern for myself. It has big shoulders on it. I actually ended up lowering the shoulder seam by about 3/4" in order to make it look like I hadn't just ripped the pads out of a football jersey. I'll stick with some other patterns I've used in similar style.

And this was an off-shoulder, half length sleeve top. The sleeves are only half length because I ran out of fabric. And here you can see me trying out my remote camera activator thingy. It makes the position of my arm look weird. Le Sigh.

Other miscellany" I bought a crystal pleated black fabric, and paired it with the 1/2 yard of the black summer weight fabric I had used for the a-line dress and jacket in August or September. Now I have another dress that the jacket will match. I love when that happens!
And another version of the V1250, in my "floral camoflage" nylon knit. Sadly, I can't wear it for 6 months. But I'm happy to know it's waiting in my closet with the other two V1250s.
I also bought these fabrics for next spring's sewing. I know I didn't need them, but the aqua at the far left was 5 yards for $2.50, and the others were $2 per yard. They all needed adoption. They can spend the winter dreaming of what wonderful things they will become next summer!

This weekend's sewing involves altering a bunch of shirts for my dearly beloved, followed by some maroon sweater fabric becoming warm clothes! Next week likely involves maroon velour, maybe a little gift sewing, and the hope that Thanksgiving dress inspiration will strike!

In Honor of Thor

2011-11-05T12:26:00.003-04:00

Today, Thor would have been 10-and-1/2 years old. I had planned to make him a cake, never believing he wouldn't make it to this milestone. So, today we are having applesauce meringue cake in honor of Thor.
And, in honor of another senior giant dog, stop by and wish Honey the Great Dane a happy 8th birthday! I'm happy that her people held a nice birthday celebration, complete with cake!

What He Did!

2011-11-04T12:11:00.004-04:00

So, I know you've all been just dying to know what Dan did. Here it is. And I'm delighted.

Before:
After:

This allowed great cleanup on all of my other counters, giving me enormous working space. All of my small appliances have a dedicated home, and it works out just fine. Honest, I'm the only idiot I know who had about 40 lineal feet of counter space, and 4 square feet of work area. So here's the outside wall of my kitchen (or half of it), before:

And after:

And the inside wall, which has long been worthless, what with cookbooks and whatnot stacked all over it to the left and right of the microwave, before:
And after:
My dearly beloved's binders are still to the right of the microwave, but I don't care. And Halloween candy and pumpkins are on the counter, but we're calling that seasonal decoration. You all understand that, right?

Suffice it to say I'm very happy with Dan's work, which, as usual, was absolutely top notch. But I fear I'm going to have to seriously curtail my cookbook purchasing, because space is pretty limited!

Halloween

2011-11-03T15:31:00.003-04:00

Again, I'm a little late in posting for the holiday, but stuff happens.

My little guy went out for Halloween with 2 of his friends. My boy, of course, is the Roman soldier. The green guy is 4 months older than my boy, and the blue chicken is 11 months older. I didn't realize just how tall this child is, because he's short when compared to his 6'4", 15 year old brother.

All of these holidays that come up are the first ones in a decade without Thor, and it's sad. But at least this year I didn't have to worry about whether Thor might decide to go outside and play with the 3 Trick-or-Treaters who showed up.
Yes, this picture was 6 years ago. And, yes, I made the tiger suit. It was a nice warm fake fur. The little guy loved it.

Happy Birthday to my Little Guy!

2011-11-02T17:25:00.002-04:00

Saturday was my baby's 12th birthday. When did he get to be so old? And why do my boys insist on trying to make me look short? OK, so I am kinda short. Still and all....
With no power outage, the cake got baked, the presents (which had previously arrived by the magic of dudes in brown outfits) got wrapped, and then unwrapped. And, of course, candles needed blowing out.
The favorite present was a Nerf axe, which Dan proceeded to vigorously try out on Ryan. It works without any harm. Dan heartily recommends this to boys big and small. Ryan says the jury's still out on it.
This was our first birthday without Thor, so it was strange. Still, it was a good night, and a fine end to a freak snowstorm.

Garden Tuesday: Snow

2011-11-01T15:24:00.004-04:00

Friday:
Saturday, same location (while the snow was still flying):
Thankfully, although we got at least 6", it melted without incident. We only lost one branch off a tree, and didn't lose our electricity. Happy Sunny Tuesday, everyone!

At The Pumpkin Farm

2011-10-29T13:16:00.003-04:00

I took the boys to another used book sale this morning. They only found about a dozen books. I'm thinking that must mean we have an awful lot of books.

Then we went to the pumpkin patch. They had this cute decoration in front of the barn.

And the boys tromped around to select their pumpkins while I hid on the porch. Can you see why?

Yep. Stinkin' Snow. I told Chan around 11 that I thought we'd dodged a bullet, because it was just raining. That changed about 15 minutes later. And look what has happened in my side yard in just 2 hours!!!!

This could be bad. I'm putting hot water and coffee in thermoses, and heating the house way up, because with all the trees in full leaf, we are probably headed for a power outage. Maybe I can get my little guy's birthday cake made before that happens.

Happy Saturday, everyone.

Soup: It's What's for Lunch

2011-10-28T14:38:00.004-04:00

In scanning Louise's cookbook contest, I noticed that there's a category called, "Eat Better, Eat Together Month". That suits my philosophy to a Tee.

Breakfast and lunch are kind of a free-for-all in my house. I feed breakfast to Ryan and Mark before school, but lunch is up to them. It's my way of creating a little bit of food independence in them. However, dinner is non-negotiable. If you live in my house (as either a household member or a transient guest), you will sit down to eat with the family, and you will eat what I serve, and you will like it. The evening meal is run by a benevolent dictator.

And, of late, my dearly beloved has been getting the same kind of treatment for lunch. He "forgets" to eat. He "doesn't want" lunch. And, of course, a man who just forgets to eat can also lose 5 pounds a week (ladies, we all have permission to hate him for that). So, this chilly weather is just the thing to permit me to force him to "Eat Better, Eat Together...." Eat Soup. This is an adaptation of fast soup recipes from various and sundry cookbooks, but mostly, it's a good way to make a great lunch out of tiny amounts of leftover food that would otherwise be wasted.

FAST BEEF BASED SOUP

For Each cup of soup:

1 tsp beef base or 1 bouillon cube
2 tbsp cooked rice
2 tbsp mushrooms (fresh or canned)
2 tbsp canned diced tomatoes
1 tbsp chopped scallions
boiling water

Put the rice, mushrooms, and tomatoes in your soup cup, and microwave it for about 90 seconds (2 minutes for 2 cups). Meanwhile, boil your water. When the rice mix is hot, out the spoon containing the beef base into the cup, on top of the rice mix, and pour boiling water over it. Stir until the beef base is dissolved. Add the scallions, let it sit for a minute, and serve with some crackers or a roll. Share the second cup with someone you love; you'll enjoy it so much more.

You can also follow this recipe to make soup to put in your thermos. It will cheer you up at lunchtime at work, I promise!

Royal Frosting and Cocoa Filling

2011-10-27T14:55:00.003-04:00

I believe this is the last week for Louise's cookbook contest, wherein you make something from a cookbook, and submit it to her. Of course, I couldn't let the week go by without participating at least once, could I?

Ryan's forever howling that I need to do something interesting with my cakes. Jeepers. I thought that desert every night should be interesting enough. The boy might be spoiled. Anyway, the other night I made a chocolate cake as requested by Mark, in layers. I don't like making layer cakes; the frosting is more complicated, and I can't handle much more complication in my life. Still and all, Mark having recruited his brothers to chime in for layer cake, I acquiesced. Then my old friend Fannie Farmer gave me an idea as to what to do with it. So, today, you get two recipes for the price of one!

COCOA CREAM FILLING

1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Stir all 4 ingredients until well combined, and refrigerate for at least an hour (I did this right after putting the cake in the oven). When the cake is cooled, beat this mixture until it's fluffy and stiff, spread on the bottom layer, and put the top layer in place. My beloved commented that this was a little bitter for his taste, so I'd probably go with 3 tbsp of sugar next time.

ROYAL FROSTING

1 egg white
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 cup boiling water.

Put all ingredients into your bowl, and beat until it stands up. Note that this will take 8 to 10 minutes. The delightful Mrs. Farmer says that stopping during the beating process will not adversely affect your outcome, but I just used my stand mixer. I do have to say that for the first few minutes, this mixture looked rather brown and dull, and I was pretty certain I'd be starting over with standard buttercream frosting. Not to worry, however, as this was arguably the prettiest cake I've ever made!

Flavor results for this frosting were rather mixed. My dearly beloved said it had no flavor. Ryan thought it rather marshmallow-y in flavor, and Dan thought it tasted somewhat similar to meringue. Maybe with strawberry extract, which would be a more vivid color and flavor, it would be greeted more enthusiastically. I might just have to try that with a white cake. I think that this frosting on a white cake might be considered diet cake. Almost. Hmmm. It's worth thinking about.

So, Louise, I submit this for your Dessert month category!

Garden Tuesday: Halloween Edition

2011-10-25T15:18:00.004-04:00

Just down the street from our little library, we happened upon this flower bed. Of course, you could tell it's not in my yard, because I don't plant fresh, seasonal flowers throughout the year. I'm lazy that way.

Right in the middle of my own little town, this is the Town Center building. It was built by a prominent local family, and deeded to the town (said family also built the school and deeded that to the town) in the 1920s. Isn't this marble entry door simply wonderful?

And this house is the oldest one in town. It was the first house built which wasn't a log cabin (all of which are long gone), and was built by a doctor in 1826. It was sold a year or 2 ago to a young family who evidently is very excited about the holidays. This is the second Halloween they've decorated; last year, it was just the crows. Ryan reports that he's seen plenty of cars simply stop in the middle of the street to take pictures of the yard, and it was featured in our paper today.

I love that these people are so enthusiastic about their beautiful home. They also gave me a great Halloween edition for Garden Tuesday, because you're all doubtless bored with my yard.

Round and About....

2011-10-24T16:59:00.003-04:00

....to the book sale on Saturday!

Two more views of the pretty little town I'd shown you before.

And I didn't try to park here.

I bought books to ship to my mother, books for the boys, books for my girls, and even these two for me!
Hope you all had an equally relaxing weekend.

What is he doing?

2011-10-23T16:42:00.003-04:00

What is Dan doing in my driveway with that sheet of maple plywood?
Any guesses?
The mystery will be solved in a couple of days.

Cinnamon Oat Rolls

2011-10-22T13:02:00.002-04:00

This was the companion to my breakfast parfaits. Who doesn't like a cinnamon roll, after all, and if they're healthier, then we should just go for it!

CINNAMON OAT ROLLS

3/4 cup warm water
1 tbsp yeast
2 cups flour
1/2 cup oats (regular or quick, whatever you have)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 to 2 tbsp melted butter
brown sugar
cinnamon

Pour the water in your mixing bowl or bread machine bucket; sprinkle the yeast on it, then add the flour, oats, sugar, salt and oil. Mix according to my bread tutorial directions (about 10 minutes). Let rise for 10 minutes, then divide the dough in half and roll out half to about 1/4" thick, perhaps 8"x12" dimensions. Brush the melted butter on the dough, sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon atop, then roll along the 12" dimension. Cut into 3/4" to 1" thick slices, rotate 90 degrees and stand on a baking sheet covered with waxed paper which is greased, and let rise for 10 minutes. Repeat for the other half of the dough, if desired. Bake at 375F for 12 to 15 minutes, until they're browned and perfect. Make a glaze with confectioner's sugar, a bit of vanilla and a bit of milk to drizzle over the cinnamon rolls, if desired. Makes a total of 24 cinnamon rolls.

The boys devoured these. They didn't even realize there was oatmeal in their cinnamon rolls, and therefore, they were a healthy treat. So, I suppose these will quality for "Cool Foods For Kids" in Louise's contest. I did start with a cinnamon roll recipe in my bread machine cookbook, but it's not even recognizable. Sometimes inspiration strikes as you're standing elbow-deep in ingredients, after all!

Breakfast Parfaits

2011-10-20T16:33:00.002-04:00

This delightful little breakfast takes about 2 minutes to assemble, looks really pretty, and fills you for a while at a relatively low calorie count. What's not to love?

BREAKFAST PARFAIT

For each parfait:

8 ounces plain yogurt
4 ounces blueberry compote (approx)
1/4 cup granola

Find your prettiest dessert glass. Layer in it blueberry compote, half the yogurt, half the granola, more blueberry compote, the balance of the yogurt, the balance of the granola, and another dollop of blueberry compote. Voila! Breakfast!

I loved this. My dearly beloved made faces at the yogurt, and told me it tastes like sour milk. Maybe next time I should stir in a little vanilla and some sweetener?

Thor wouldn't have told me it was sour. He'd have asked for more.

Blueberry Compote

2011-10-19T15:04:00.002-04:00

I decided last weekend that I wanted something to perk up breakfast and involved blueberries. So I just did what anyone would do: pull a pound of blueberries out of the freezer, and wing it. This was very popular, so I had to figure out a fast way to do it too. You, my invisible friends, are the lucky recipients of my desire to have blueberry something!

BLUEBERRY COMPOTE
Version 1

1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup water
3 tbsp Creme de Cassis (optional)
1 pound (approx 3 cups) frozen blueberries

In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch until they are well blended. Add the water and Creme de Cassis, and cook until the solids dissolve and the mixture is hot. With a wooden spoon, stir in the blueberries, and cook until it simmers and thickens, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Makes about 1 quart.
Version 2: For when you only need a bit, and just can't wait.

3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 tbsp Creme de Cassis (optional)

Put the blueberries in a 2 cup microwavable measuring cup. Sprinkle in the sugar and cornstarch, and stir well to coat the berries. Cook in the microwave at high power for 1 minute, remove, stir well, stir in the Creme de Cassis (if used), and return to the microwave to cook for another 3 to 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens, stirring every minute or so. Perfect for when someone wants warm compote over ice cream for dessert. (Can you tell I spoil my someone?)

This was great served over ice cream, and over pound cake. I don't know how long it will keep, because it only lasted 2 days. Oh, well. At least they loved it.

Garden Tuesday: The Start of Fall

2011-10-18T15:54:00.002-04:00

Ryan took these pictures; the kid has a good eye.

This is the bottom of our driveway.The house is at the top of the hill to the right.

This is in our "forest", which is only about 2 acres. The sunlight on the ground is pretty.

There will be much more color next week, as it gets colder!

Book Review!

2011-10-13T16:05:00.002-04:00

Mary Roberts Rhinehart is an iconic American author. I've seen her referred to as "the American Agatha Christie," high praise, indeed, for writing mystery novels which are logical and entertaining. This book certainly fills that bill.

THE YELLOW ROOM
by Mary Roberts Rhinehart
copyright 1945
In WW2 New York City, 24 year old Carol Spencer sat aboard a train bound for Newport, Rhode Island, with her mother, a peevish, fretful society woman, and three servants. Her fiance having been shot down and presumed dead, Carol had wanted to join the armed forces as a nurse, a plan vetoed by her mother. With her 32 year old brother Greg embarking upon a month's leave, during which he was to receive a commendation and be married, Carol was dropping her mother off at her sister's house in Newport, from thence to continue to Maine with the three servants to open the family's vacation home at her mother's behest.

Upon her arrival in Maine, Carol finds George, the gardener, hospitalized with appendicitis and the yard overgrown, and Lucy, the housekeeper, not in evidence. When one of the NYC maids opened the linen closet, a body fell out. And thus begins a tale of murder, AWOL service men, and mysterious newcomers set in a close-lipped New England town. Some things seem odd to us today, such as the power being shut off by the utility company to all vacation homes (hello? frozen pipes?), gas and food rationing, and, of course, the "society" people who really don't exist today. But this was a good, entertaining read, fast paced and lively. Mrs. Rhinehart is able to make us feel emotion for each of the characters, which is essential to real enjoyment of a book.

This is available on Amazon - be sure you get the one by Mary Roberts Rhinehart, and not one by any of several different authors (including "Anonymous"). It's a fun book.

And a memory of our Thor, the day he got his cow tail from Debbie Cook. He did enjoy it!

Columbus Day Cake!

2011-10-12T14:33:00.003-04:00

Monday was the day we celebrate as Columbus Day here in the US, although the actual date is today, October 12. So, you're in luck! You still have time to make this cake!

This is so obviously a "Cool Food For Kids" for Louise's celebration. You can use half of a yellow cake mix, but I suggest instead that you use half of the one bowl yellow cake recipe I found in a Fanny Farmer Cookbook (you can find that here). Bake it in a well greased oval casserole dish, cut a notch in the top so the fo'castle and poopdeck are formed, frost with chocolate frosting (or the mocha frosting at that very same link), and frost. Use a wooden skewer, cut a square sail from a piece of paper. The sail should be the same dimension as the width of your ship. Stick the sail in the middle of the cake, and watch those kids smile!

See? Don't they look happy? Clearly this is a cool food.

And if you don't feel like making this tonight, just make it for Thanksgiving and call it the Mayflower. The kids will be very excited.

Happy Columbus Day, everyone!

The Lawn

2011-10-11T16:37:00.002-04:00

I love old books. With that in mind, you won't be surprised that, a few years back, I scooped up a set of 4 books labeled The Audel's Grower's Guide. Having been published in the 1920s, they are quite amusing, but they contain wonderful information. Here's one of my favorite tidbits:

An English gardener when asked how to make a lawn replied: "Oh, it's quite easy, quite easy, I assure you. You prepare the ground carefully, and you sow it with a mixture of the best grades of lawn grass seed, and then all you have to do is roll it for about 300 years. And there you are."

Biggify the picture to verify that's what it says, but Audel's does acknowledge that it's not that hard.

So, my yard started out as a cow pasture around 1820 or 1830, then became a back yard around 1923, in which horses grazed happily until perhaps the 1940s or 1950s. I doubt it was ever seeded.

How am I doing after less than 200 years?

Happy Garden Tuesday!

Orange Oat Muffins

2011-10-10T15:45:00.002-04:00

Louise issued a challenge: Dig out your cookbooks, find a recipe, and make it. Choose one appropriate to an October food celebration. Change it up some, maybe, post it, and tell her. Mine came from the trusty red checked cookbook that most of us grew up with and have even today.

ORANGE OAT MUFFINS

1-1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp powdered milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/5 tsp salt
1/2 cup oats - quick or not
3/4 cup orange juice
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Stir together the dry ingredients, make a well in the center and add the juice, egg and oil. Stir until moistened, then stir in the walnuts. Spoon into muffin cups (I used 18 standard muffin cups), sprinkle white or brown sugar on top if you wish (I used brown sugar), and bake at 375F for 15 to 20 minutes, until they test done.
These are not only great for breakfast or dessert, they're a great lunch box filler. So, there you are, Louise, an entry for School Lunch Month! It also works for Cool Foods for Kids Month! Happy Monday!

Last Weekend's sewing

2011-10-09T18:13:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, I made a dress for the relative in Denver from the same turquoise as my second V1250 dress. The pattern was quite shapeless, so I ran 5 inverted pleats, open at each end, across the front at the waist. I think the sleeves are too long, but she called me last night to say that both she and her husband love it. I love it when things work out well.

I had this floral that I wanted to use, since I was sewing in blue anyway (Sue is right about my tendency to using color families), so I made a draped neck cami
and a drape necked top. Not sure when I'll wear them, since the weather's turning cooler, but they'll doubtless wait for me.

I'm distracted this weekend. My nursing school daughter called me Friday. What do you get when you mix this:

With an 18-wheeler doing 35 in a construction zone who fails to stop at a red light where 2 other vehicles are already stopped?

Lucky. Damn lucky. My daughter is fine, but her car is totaled. The cop told her she'd have been dead if she had been driving a smaller car. The car is now 3 feet shorter front to back, and sitting on the ground. Her siblings have been rotating in and out of her college apartment to keep waking her (she had a concussion), and chauffeur her around (no car and whiplash). I have purposely stayed away, so I don't smother her. I'll be normal in a couple of days, after she sounds normal.

Book Review

2011-10-07T16:16:00.002-04:00

Here's another of those red and blue bound mystery books.

THE DAUGHTER OF TIME
by Josephine Tey
copyright 1951

Scotland yard agent Alan Grant, bedridden in the hospital because he fell through a trap door, is bored. A kindly nurse he has dubbed "The Midget" urged him to read the many books his friends have brought him to alleviate his "prickles of boredom.". (Side note: I would like friends bearing books!) Alan's friend Marta, knowing his fascination with faces, brought him a group of portraits, one of which caught his eye: King Richard III - whom he took for a murderer before reading the caption on the picture. Richard III is said to have murdered his two nephews, who were the rightful heirs to the throne. Grant had historical reference books brought to him in an effort to solve the historical murder mystery.

This was not an exciting read, but it was a nice, quiet book for a cold night at home. I do enjoy books from a while ago, but not an unrecognizable time ago, because they make contemporary reference to things which are now a part of history. For instance, in this book, there is reference to a picture of someone wearing a strange hat to Princess Elizabeth's wedding; it was with a start that I realized that this princess is now Queen Elizabeth II. And it was rather amusing to recall that there were derogatory pictures of a hat at a much more recent royal wedding. Some things don't change!

Our First 7th Grade Test

2011-10-06T16:14:00.004-04:00

Thank you all for your dishwasher detergent comments. I'm doing more research, and will report when I have something intelligent to say.

So, today we've been working on Mark's first test for Calvert School's seventh grade. There are probably a bunch of you who wonder why on earth I would homeschool my kids instead of sending them to school. Well, in a word, it's a very deep curriculum for whatever age is being taught. Here are sample questions from his testing. Remember, this is the first test for seventh grade. These questions are typical, and I think there are adults who would be hard pressed to answer some of these. For example:

Reading: "The reader could view the story told in Around the World in 80 Days as two races - one involving Phileas Fogg, the other involving Fix. Write a paragraph discussing the two races and be sure to include what each character is racing, and for what reason."

Geography: "Half of earth's land is not useful to humans. Why do you think this is so?"

Art History: "List 3 characteristics of an Egyptian temple."

Science: "List and describe 3 characteristics of living things."

History: "Using complete sentences, identify and give the importance of: archaeology, Constantine, Justinian, Muhammad, Gupta India and Byzantine Empire."

Of course, there are spelling, grammar and composition requirements, multiple choice and fill in the blanks for all areas, and many more than just one question for each subject. I just took the first question from each area for you.

And we miss our school guidance counselor terribly. He was a great, soothing presence in the classroom for many years.

Anyone Have an Answer....

2011-10-05T15:20:00.004-04:00

...to the problem of dishwasher detergent?

You've all heard the rumors that I have 3 dishwashers. I do. There's one in the breakfast room:

(Yes, there are 2 coffee pots, plus both a can of Folgers and a coffee grinder on that counter. There's a lot of coffee consumed hereabouts.)

And there are two in the kitchen.
For 30 years, I happily used Cascade powder. My dishes were clean, even when I didn't wash them carefully, and I was a happy camper. All of that changed in the summer of 2010. And I have tried everything to get my dishes clean again.

Powders leave white residue and icky films all over my dishes, and sometimes I can get it off using steel wool and soap. Sometimes I just throw them out (especially glasses). The liquid or gel detergents don't clean the dishes. I have a big flowered mug I keep filled with tea all day, and it's stained, of course, at the end of the day. Cascade powder used to clean it without any work on my part. Nothing today does.

So, does anyone have any solution?

All this comes to a boil because my dearly beloved has agreed that the dishwasher in the breakfast room is a great big (string of expletives deleted), and should be replaced. But if I can't get my dishes clean because detergent is now (more expletives deleted), what's the point? I could have my son build a lovely cupboard front to match those already there, since I already have to wash my dishes by hand before I put them in the dishrinser.

So, talk to me, everyone. Tell me what to do about the magical cabinets into which I used to be able to put in dirty dishes, and an hour or 2 later I'd have sparkly clean ones!

Garden Tuesday: Hydrangea

2011-10-04T17:00:00.002-04:00

For Pam, who asked what my new hydrangea looks like after the planting crew left.

(It's been so wet outside that I don't want to venture far, anyway. Every day the weather idiots promise sunshine "tomorrow". My feet are waterlogged.)

Buttery Dinner Rolls

2011-10-03T13:49:00.002-04:00

It was a cold and rainy night last Thursday. That's no surprise, given that it was the end of September, and one of the rainiest months on record here. So I wanted hot dinner rolls. I started with a bread recipe in my Foods From Famous Kitchens cookbook (which is falling apart at the seams), tweaked it a tad, and had a winner of a recipe. How did I know it was a winner? Why, my littlest fussbudget went hunting for one for lunch on Friday, nuked it a few seconds, and happily munched it with some soup.

HOT BUTTERY DINNER ROLLS

1-1/2 cups very warm water
6 tsp yeast
4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp dry milk powder
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces

Pour the water in your bread machine container or mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast on top of it, and add the remaining ingredients in the order given. Mix according to the directions in my bread tutorial (see link to the right), knead once. let rise, and punch down. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll into balls. Place the balls on a lightly oiled baking tray and let them rise until approximately doubled in size, poke a dimple into the top of each, and put a little pat of butter in each dimple. Bake at 375F for 16 to 19 minutes, until they reach your desired degree of brownness.

July & August sewing

2011-10-01T19:34:00.004-04:00

I never wrote about the sewing I did in July and August. Since it's October, and I've started sewing again, I need to record what I did, lest I forget.

This was a pink eyelet embroidered fabric. I was so short of the fabric that I used plain white for the facing. I love it anyway.
Blue gauze with gold and metallic silver embroidery on it. Great summer dress. This must be a lat night picture, because I look wiped out.

I had a little of that blue gauze left over, so I took a pattern I made based on something GMarie flagged in a magazine she sent me, cut it out of a blue voile left over from something else along about 1995, and made this fluffy little number.
Drape necked cami from a pink stretch lace. Ribbon straps - 3 per side. I like ribbons.

White linen pencil skirt. Fits well; I wore it to the dentist last week.
This is the dress that generated the remnant for the scarf I sent with the outfit to Denver. My dearly beloved exclaimed that I look like I'm going to a garden tea party, and it's very feminine.

There was enough extra fabric that I turned it into a skirt. Because it's a very light fabric, I lined it with a dark pink something - I think maybe organza? Whatever's sheer, sorta stiff and itchy. I like that it changed the color of the skirt. This one's from my favorite 6-gore pattern.
Lightweight green linen skirt from the same 6-gore pattern. Of course, mine turns out to be 7 gores, because I put the zipper in the center back, never on the side.
Summer dress from the same green linen. The dress came first, and the skirt was leftovers. I wore this in Florida, and it was a brilliant choice for hot days, despite the fact that linen wrinkles a lot.

Last up: Orange. I don't know why I bought this fabric, unless it was really cheap. I don't wear orange. I know even less why I chose to use it, unless it was because I wanted it used. It came out pretty well, and I'll wear it at least once next summer. Of course, Ryan, being a smartass, brought me a green hat to wear with it, so I'll look like a carrot. Great kid.

And so that's the old news. A dress for the relative in Denver and one for me are the news from this weekend, but I haven't quite finished them. Too bad. It's time to bake a cake.

Hope you've all had great weekends!

Blueberry Cake

2011-09-30T15:56:00.002-04:00

Every Wednesday, my local newspaper runs a food section. And for the last year or two, they've been featuring a recipe submitted by a reader from this area; the winners get their picture in the paper and a $75 gift certificate to a local supermarket. No, I've never entered, and, no, I don't intend to. But sometimes I get some inspiration from the articles.

This recipe was featured in August or so. While it called for fresh blueberries, I took frozen berries, thawed them partially in cool water, then drained them while I made the cake batter. I also changed several ingredients in the cake to suit me. Everyone loved it, although Dan commented, "Mom, you made a mistake. When you make something with blueberries, you are supposed to double the amount of blueberries the recipe calls for. Then there will be enough." I'm afraid the boy may subscribe to my school of cooking, poor dear.

BLUEBERRY CAKE

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
3-1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk (not skim milk)
1 pint (2 cups) blueberries
1 to 2 tbsp flour

Beat together the shortening and butter. Add the salt and eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugars until smooth, then add the flour, powder, milk and vanilla. Beat 2 minutes. Rinse and drain the blueberries, and stir together with the 1 to 2 tbsp of flour to coat the berries (this will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake). Turn the batter into a greased tube pan, and bake at 350F for 60 to 75 minutes. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then invert onto a serving plate and let it cool completely. Sprinkle the top with confectioner's sugar.

This was sort of a cross between a giant blueberry muffin and pound cake, and really good. Take a hint from me, however. If you don't want to worry about it spilling out of your bundt pan, use the bigger, 10" tube pan.

It's Been One Month

2011-09-29T17:10:00.002-04:00

...and still I listen for the thump of the tail when I come downstairs.

And I'm sad when there's no one beside my chair while I'm reading.

But I'm happy that we had 10 wonderful years with our boy.

On another note, I was surprised at how many of you have multiple refrigerators! I was also amused by your comments on the arrangement of my fridges. But everything has to be just so around here. Oh, I don't care too much about dust, and I'd rather chat with my family than vacuum, but when I put things away, they must be where they must be. All boxes are turned the same way, all items of like kind together, spaces left when something is used, etc. Even the flatware in the dishwasher has a required order.

(These are my old refrigerators, the day after a food delivery).
I've been told I'm 2 or 3 degrees off plumb because of this.

So, I'd like you all to tell me something about your household. Tell me anything. How or even if you have things organized, what your "must do" and "must avoid" things are, anything! All of this because of a nice anonymous commenter who told me about her daughter and life in her house! You all are helping cheer me up on bad days, and I thank you.

Green Beans Provencal

2011-09-28T14:18:00.003-04:00

Jeff bought me this cookbook for my birthday last year. He's a great son, isn't he? This is another cookbook with a lot of verbiage and not as many recipes as one might think, but it's pretty.

Anyway, in searching for a new way to cook boring old veggies, I stumbled upon this recipe. It was easy, and gave a while lot more flavor to green beans.

GREEN BEANS PROVENCAL

1 pound whole green beans
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup boiling water
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
2 tbsp butter

Add the salt to boiling water, add the green beans, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until tender-crisp. Pour into a colander to drain and cover with the pot lid to retain the heat. In the same pan, heat the olive oil, then add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the parsley and cook until it wilts. Return the beans to the pan, stir to coat and heat through. Turn off the heat, add the butter and cover the pan for a minute, until the butter melts. Stir again and serve.

And since I have no pictures of this side dish, you can instead see what my refrigerators look like the day after I get a medium sized food delivery. Of course, there's a separate, small refrigerator which holds 8 gallons of milk, and two freezers for meats and frozen veggies.
I just thought you might like a glance at some of the lunacy which is my life.

Garden Tuesday: Hydrangea

2011-09-27T15:13:00.004-04:00

My oldest daughter considers herself the Master Gardener hereabouts. So, after we took down a large poplar tree out front, which left a barren spot in the shrub bed, she consulted with her Daddy, and decided she needed to find something to fill the void.

Off she went to the local garden center, and returned with a spirea, and a hydrangea. She promptly recruited Ryan to help with the hauling.

Then it was time to position the plants, by which she meant Ryan was to dig holes while she supervised.

It did seem like a good plan.

Ultimately, Dan and Mark came out to join the planting party, but by then the photographer had wandered back indoors to work.

V1250: 2 Dresses!

2011-09-24T15:20:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, after finishing the gift outfit for the "Friday Night Sew In," I decided to give my new pattern a whirl. The Vogue 1250 pattern has been out there this spring and summer, and I've seen lots of versions of it. What attracts me is that it looks good on everyone: tall, short, plump, bony, inbetween, whatever. So when my friend G Marie offered to pick me up a copy of the pattern, since she was attending the pattern sale, I jumped at the offer. It came in on a Monday, and I spent the week periodically puzzling over the directions and oddly shaped pattern pieces (there are only 3).

Then I chose my fabrics. For the first test, I chose a turquoise poly knit, lightweight and soft. I cut right on the size lines as per the envelope sizing, and it worked perfectly: the drape in the neck eliminates the need for any fiddling to fit the upper torso.
Then, on to the fabric I really wanted to use. I picked this out because it looked like a watercolor to me, but the fabric was much thicker than I thought it would be. (Note: it was a poly-lycra blend, so I was just a dumbass in not realizing what it would feel like. But I'd likely have bought it anyway.) Sewing went faster the second time, and the dress was just what I wanted!

My dearly beloved opined that the fabric is so loud that I make noise without saying a thing. I told him that's just great.

And, with temperatures in the upper 60s this week, I was able to wear both of these dresses!

Now, using things I learned from these dresses, I think I'm going to revamp my long sleeved top with the draped neck, and see if I can make it better. My guys are watching football, so it's probably time for me to get those sewing machines making noise!

Drive By Post

2011-09-23T16:07:00.003-04:00

It's been another hectic day, and things haven't been improved any by the monsoon rains. Poor Ryan came in soaked.

Mark told me last night's dinner was "the best ever." This is high praise coming from that child. So, you ask, what was so wonderful?

Ham with roasted roots and broccoli.
And corn bears. Lots of corn bears.
G Marie sent me this pattern almost 2 weeks ago. I'll be writing about my results some time this weekend!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Butter Crackers on Thorsday

2011-09-22T14:31:00.005-04:00

Do you know Deana? She writes historical posts and ties them to the food of the time. Her pictures are wonderful, and her food is remarkable.

So, a couple of weeks ago, Deana included a fish chowder and butter crackers The crackers looked like a great project for my boys, so we gave it a whirl.
BUTTER CRACKERS A LA DEANA

1/4 cup warm water
3/4 tsp yeast
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp + 2 tsp butter, softened

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Sift together the flour and salt, cut in the butter until crumbly, then stir in the water and yeast. Knead until smooth, let it rise about 10 minutes, then divide the dough in half. Roll out each half to about 1/8" thickness, cut into small squares or shapes (my boys used Halloween cookie cutters), and place on parchment paper on baking trays. Bake at 350F for 12 to 14 minutes (Deana's suggested 10 minutes was too light for me), cool and serve. Deana says these can be stored in an airtight container, but since they lasted about 9 minutes, I wouldn't know about that.

Of course, our beloved supervisor was missing. Oh, he was not allowed in the kitchen, but when I left the room to get my camera, he'd always sneak in to see what was going on. He never got too close, but he was always there.

Almost Instant Chicken Soup

2011-09-21T15:47:00.002-04:00

It's been chilly here for about a week, so I'm spending lots of time using leftovers to make almost instant soups. Remember, you can make these to eat at home, or put them in your Superman or Star Wars Thermos and take them with you.

So, how many of you have leftover chicken wings at the end of a nice roast chicken meal? I do. That.'s because no one else will eat the wings, so I select a nice drumstick or second joint, and leave the wings to become leftovers. Two chicken wings were the inspiration for this lunch; the picture depicts the makings of lunch for two, double this recipe.
ALMOST INSTANT CHICKEN SOUP

1 chicken wing
1 tsp chicken base
10 oz boiling water
1 tsp dried onion flakes
2 tbsp wild rice blend (or plain white rice, if you prefer)

Put the chicken base and dried onion in your cup or thermos, and add the boiling water. Let it sit for a minute. Remove the meat from the chicken wing, and cut into bite sized bits; microwave for 20 seconds. Microwave the rice for 10 to 15 seconds. Add the chicken and rice to the cup or thermos, and let it sit for at least a minute. Excellent with a nice, fluffy roll or a handful of crackers (more on those tomorrow).

Garden Tuesday: Holly

2011-09-20T12:03:00.001-04:00

It doesn't seem to me that holly usually has berries this early.

I could just be confused.

Pasta with Tomatoes

2011-09-19T17:12:00.002-04:00

Have you tried this pasta?

I decided to try it out recently - you know, the whole eat better and healthier foods, blah, blah, blah - and was surprised by it. It doesn't taste noticeably different from regular pasta, but it contains a whole lot more protein and other nutritional stuff. The biggest surprise, however, was that it doesn't sit as heavy in the ol' tummy after eating. To me, that's a huge plus. I'll be buying this on a regular basis from now on.

Anyway, I used this in a side dish based upon the suggestion on the side of the box. It was pretty good, or so I would conclude, since there were no leftovers.

ANGEL HAIR WITH TOMATOES

1 pound angel hair (I used the "Plus" angel hair)
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can tomatoes, coarsely chopped, juices reserved
1 good handful of parsley leaves
1 tsp dried basil (or some fresh basil, if you prefer)
6 turns fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan

Cook the angel hair according to the box directions - 6 minutes for this variety. Pour 1 cup of the cooking water into a measuring cup and reserve; then drain the pasta and cover the colander with the pot lid. Return the pot to the heat, add the olive oil, heat, and stir in the garlic. Cook for a minute or 2, then add the parsley leaves and cook another minute. Add the tomatoes and heat through, then add the basil and pepper. Turn off the burner, return the angel hair to the pot and stir to combine with the tomato mixture. Stir in the parmesan, and add some of the reserved cooking water if needed to moisten it up.
This was a great side dish with our ham, but would also make a fine lunch. Since my guys don't think it's dinner without meat, it wouldn't work as an evening meal in our little corner of the world, but others might have a different opinion!

Hope you all had a nice weekend!

Friday Night Sew In

2011-09-17T19:58:00.003-04:00

Well, at the last minute I found out about the "Friday Night Sew In" (thanks, Claire), and so used it to finish something I started in August.

This outfit is a present for the relative in Denver. It's the same green I used for a top in Faye's sewing challenge in April. The fabric is incredibly soft. To be fair, this was finished except for the straps, top and bottom. The jacket wasn't finished; it was just a bunch of pieces. I have one myself, and realized that a sleeveless dress in Denver in September isn't the best idea, so added the jacket to the gift.
Then, I realized that I had about 1/4 yard left from something I made in early August (and have never even photographed), and that it would make a good scarf for this outfit, since the greens are the same. So here it is.
The UPS man will take this away on Monday, and I feel like I accomplished something!

Instant Roasted Root Soup

2011-09-16T17:06:00.005-04:00

Have you seen these products? I found them in the "big box pay-to-get-in" store a while back.

I know a "real" cook isn't supposed to use anything like this or bouillon cubes. So maybe I'm not a real cook. I can live with that. Nonetheless, when I saw these, I was intrigued, and bought one in each flavor. They are actually better tasting than bouillon cubes or powder (although just as high in sodium).

So, on to instant soup. When I'm in the middle of my day, doing whatever I do, I don't want to make elaborate preparations to eat. And without Thor, I'm finding myself with little bits of leftover food that I won't throw away, because I'm too "frugal" (or just plain cheap. Whatever). So I thought I'd try a really fast food on this fine, sunny, 49 degree day.

INSTANT ROASTED ROOT SOUP

1/4 cup roasted roots
2 tbsp canned mushrooms
10 ounces boiling water
1 tsp beef base
2 tbsp diced beef, optional

Dice the veggies into small pieces, spread on a microwavable plate with the mushrooms, and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds, until hot. Put the beef base in a cup (preferably a fun cup like my Pooh cup), add the water and stir, then add the veggies. If you have a little leftover beef, microwave it for about 10 seconds, and add it. Let the soup stand for a minute for the flavors to blend, and enjoy with some crackers or a slice of bread.

To take this to work, just follow the directions, putting your soup in your Superman Thermos. You can do it while you wait for your coffee to brew, and you'll thank me around noon.

What do you mean, you don't have a Superman Thermos? Don't you want everyone to know just how wonderful you are?

Happy weekending, everyone.

Roasted Roots

2011-09-15T16:24:00.003-04:00

It was cold and rainy last night, and I wanted something cooked in the oven to keep me warmer. I had tried this back when we had a couple of cold days in late August, and it was a big hit, so last night this joined roast beef on our plates.

ROASTED ROOTS

2 redskin potatoes per person, plus 1 or 2 for the pot
1 to 2 carrots per person
2 medium onions
4 stalks celery
minced garlic
olive oil
kosher salt
paprika

Wash all veggies. Chop the potatoes into bite sized chunks. Peel the carrots, if desired, or just cut them into bite sized pieces, also. Coarsely dice the onions, cut the celery, mince the garlic, put them all in a roasting pan and mix together. Drizzle olive oil over the mixture, then sprinkle with a small amount of kosher salt and a liberal helping of paprika. Roast at 350F for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until the potatoes are tender.
The idea for these potatoes came from this cookbook (I changed it to suit me), which was a gift from the relative in Denver. She just adored this cookbook, and she thought I would, too; I wondered just how anyone could take seriously a 240 page cookbook that contains "Over 60 Recipes!" But it was nice of her to think of me.

And, in honor of Thorsday, I might point out that I made these in August, before our boy took ill, and he loved them. So you have the Canine Seal of Approval, too!

Garden Tuesday: Purple Flowers

2011-09-13T12:02:00.002-04:00

These are the first flowers which have bloomed in our yard since we lost Thor. I'm so glad I spotted them this morning!

New Toy

2011-09-12T16:59:00.002-04:00

Somehow, I ended up on the email list for Woot. They sell lots of great stuff, just not generally stuff I want. But about 10 days ago, they had something really weird: A Singer sewing machine and serger for $350. I let it go by, but I mentioned it to my dearly beloved as an oddity.

He immediately said that I should have bought the set, so I could have a second serger, thus having one loaded in white and another in black thread. He was insistent, so I ultimately ordered just a serger from a different web site. It arrived Friday.

I set the new serger up over the weekend, and took up looking for a project I wanted to take on. We got flu shots at the end of last weekend, so I spent the weekend feeling like whipped crap. I thought about sewing, and I have some ideas, but nothing concrete. But I'm blown away buy the fact that my dearly beloved wanted me to not have to fuss with the threading circus which is a serger.

Actually, I think it was his way of mourning Thor. He's trying to buy all of us more stuff to show how much he loves us. I do adore my man.

September 11, 2001: I will never forget

2011-09-11T15:59:00.002-04:00

They never understood that they could not destroy us by attacking. America is our spirit, our perseverance, and, most of all, our love of freedom. We have the freedom to do whatever we wish, to rise from poverty to greatness, to work as much or little as we please. They can never destroy our freedom.

God Bless America. God Bless our military and first responders. And today, shed an extra tear for the families and friends of those who died on September 11, 2001. I will never forget.

First Day of School

2011-09-09T14:43:00.005-04:00

I ordered Mark's 7th grade course last spring, when Calvert School was having a big sale on their curriculum. I love their curriculum, which includes detailed teaching manuals (so I feel competent)! In any event, we don't open the box until the start of the school year. I want the books to be as fresh and exciting as possible. So, here's the student, inspecting his books.

He arranged his books on the table for me to take pictures. The Science course has 5 individual books, three of which concentrate on Biology. The first book deals with plants and animals, and they go on from there. Geography this year covers the Western world, which dovetails with the History course, covering the time frame from 150 AD to 1789, including the fall of the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, the rise of Christianity and Islam, and China and India. Grammar, Composition and Spelling are what they are, but I love the fact that the Reading course uses great novels instead of the stereotypical Reading books.
I'm not quite sure why Mark took up residence in the box, but he was hollering for me to UPS him to some place more "interesting" than home.

And we can't forget Ryan's first day of school. He hollered at me for taking a picture of him in front of the growth chart: "I'm too tall for this!" So it only goes to 72". So what?
Mark still fits on the chart at 5'4".

One funny note from Ryan's first day of school. The school handbook was modified this year to ban another dangerous thing from being brought to school. No, not guns. Not knives. They were already banned. (Barbecues are banned, too, after my oldest son's best friend brought a small grill to hold a cookout before school on the first day in 2000.) Nope. They have banned Hacky Sacks. Yes, the small beanbags that kids toss around. Can't have those pesky kids having fun between classes, now, can we?

Not Flooded

2011-09-08T15:58:00.002-04:00

Just a drive-by post to tell you all I'm not flooded here on top of my hill. We've had at least 6" of rain in the last 3 days, but, as you can see, it's rolling right out of my little corner of the world.

There are places within 10 miles west, 20 miles south and 30 miles north that are under vast amounts of water, but I'm in the hillier section.

School started yesterday, and I'll be back later or tomorrow to tell you about it. It's just not the same without the hairy student.

Book Review

2011-09-06T15:34:00.002-04:00

What's wrong with this picture?
It's a great chair. I curl up in in to read, and to watch TV with my dearly beloved. This weekend was cold and rainy, so the girls were doing papers for college, while Ryan read the last of his summer reading list - Don Quixote (the others being The Life of Pi, The Count of Monte Cristo, Le Morte D'Artur and The Good Earth). Mark's friend next door was assigned to read Blood on the Moon: The Story of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and Mark wanted to read it, too, so I bought it. (This was a terrible book to assign to 7th graders. It's rather dry even for an adult, and very long. What was that teacher thinking?). So, while I had company for my reading, I missed the furry fellow who's been curled up beside or in front of this chair for a decade now.

I read, anyway.

THE BIG SLEEP
by Raymond Chandler
copyright 1939

Philip Marlowe is a detective in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Hired by the very wealthy General Sternwood to investigate a blackmail letter regarding one of the General's daughters, Marlowe finds himself looking into a book dealer whose real business is renting "dirty" books, which leads to murder, gambling and speakeasies, ultimately tied to a mobster. At only about 200 pages, this book was a quick and entertaining read. Adding to the entertainment value, at least for me, is that the book did have characters making a few politically incorrect characterizations regarding hypothetical people. This is another from my set of red and blue mystery books, which were a wonderful find from one of my library book sales.

Last, but certainly not least, I really want to thank all of you for your expressions of sympathy regarding our loss of Thor. I am touched that so many of you loved him from afar. And a special thanks goes to those of you who checked in with me afterward to see how we're faring. It hasn't been easy, and, truthfully, I'm glad the weekend was a washout. I think we'd all have been too sad roasting marshmallows without our giant friend looking for his share.