If this is spring, I have survived!

 

This great poster is by my friend Josh Johnson and it advertises his upcoming show in Indy.  I fell in love with this fox immediately!

It's so warm here, all the records are falling, 80, even 82 in March!  I have gone right out and bought some lettuce seed.  My bed is all ready as I put down black plastic last summer.  I have already planted some Rose of Sharon seed I found in seed pods on the way home from digging up cedars along the 4-lane.  My white pines are slowly dying, either from old age or because we found and repaired the water leak among them.  Pines are not doing so well these days anyway, I can't tell if it's a mite or some defoliant, it depends on where you get your news.  I thought I'd replace some of the dead trees with cedars, which are hardy and drought resistant.  We had so many in Virginia when I was growing up, I quite think of them as old friends.  And free.  I just dug up the 3" ones that have come up on the wide verge since the last mowing.  Anything bigger than that is too hard to dig up, the tap root is very long.

I am having sort of a crises with food since finding out I am diabetic.  Books and internet sites are confusing, and my Doctor seems to wish I would just stop eating anything at all.  "Just leaves and stems and things like that" he said to me last week.   "If you didn't eat anything at all these problems would all be gone in a week" !

So I won't be having any menus for this week.  I am struggling with carbohydrates, which I have pretty much lived on all my life, and the expense of buying much larger portions of meat and fresh vegetables.  I suspect I will have to go back to once a week shopping.  My own attitude is the biggest problem.  I dream of stuffing on strange cakes, swimming in chocolate syrup and mountains of ice cream. I am angry about a lack of buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy. However, larger spinach omelets are OK  and the prospect of frequent guacamole is enticing.  I can have cream and mayonnaise, if in small quantities.

Thank goodness for friends who share their knowledge and experience with me.  I am still doing research and will fill you in as I become more educated.

Baby it's cold outside!

We've had such a mild winter.  All of Europe and westward to Russia and China have had major snow and cold weather.  So I'm aware I shouldn't complain about the cold.  We've only had a few days of cold.  Saturday I don't think it got over 17 degrees.  Hat weather, windy or not!  Time to eat oranges.  I've piled up our oranges in a compote like Hyacinth does on "Keeping Up Appearances".  We love that show.  Also "Downton Abby". We are  reading "Victorian Home" by Judith Flanders as background material as well as any number of Charles Todd mysteries.
We are warm and cozy by the fire, indeed, the wood stove heats the house much better than the heat pump ever did!

Bill uses an old shot glass to soak pen parts, when he's restoring vintage pens and he left it in the kitchen sink.  It was like "Funniest Home Videos" when I turned the water on and a fountain shot up into the air.  Eliyah was fascinated, in fact I played with it too.

Eliyah and I made a dinner for us  and his Mother.  We made burritos with all the trimmings, you know, cheese, sour cream and salsa, rice on the side and tossed salad.  We were all very merry eating.  That boy purely loves to cook.

I had to go to the laundromat because the dasher in the washer broke.  See my home-made laundry soap, a gift from my Daughter and her Partner.  I don't really mind going because all your washing gets done at one time.  I brought them home to dry the whites on the clothes line and the darks in our dryer.  I do love laundry dried outdoors.  It gets so white and smells so good. 

While I was at the laundry I observed the other people, as I always do.  There was a family doing a very lot of laundry.  They had two children, a little girl about 7 or 8 and a boy a little older.  The Mother was very fussy about how the laundry was done and had the little boy hurrying around getting things out of the car and putting them in various machines.  They were using about 10 machines.  And she kept criticising him, and raising her voice to tell him he was no-account and useless though he seemed to me to be trying very hard to please her.  He didn't cry or complain but I was getting pretty upset.  She must have said a dozen times "That's not how I want it"!  Finally the Father took the little boy on an errand.  The little girl wanted to go too but the Mother called her back.  And then she began to treat the little girl the same way, yelling and scowling.  I am sorry for people who don't enjoy their own children.  And it can't be pleasant being mad all the time though I have known the temptation.  I don't recommend giving in to it though!

After the burrito dinner on Thursday, we had baked fresh salmon on Friday, with baked potatoes and blackened baby green beans with garlic, now a new favorite.  Saturday I made a Tatie pot such as mentioned in Susan Albert Wittig's "The Tale of Castle Cottage".  I found plenty of recipes on-line.  I substituted some dry summer sausage for the Black pudding though.  It was pretty good if a little overdone.  We had a salad with it, perfumed with grated lemon peel.  Today we'll have fresh ham, hot biscuits, creamy mashed potatoes and salad as well as some fruit compote.  Rose is coming for dinner.  Tomorrow we'll have some chili made from the leftovers of the burritos and on Valentines Day I'll make a ham and potato and cheese casserole and we'll have chocolate for dessert.  After that I don't know but you can bet some frozen pizza will show up because it was on sale last week when we did our monthly grocery shopping!

Worry, worry, worry!

I heard from my Daughter Jude over the weekend and she was telling me that the microscopic fibers from our synthetic clothing are collecting in the ocean water.  They're not biodegradable like cotton, wool and silk, etc.  So I looked it up and sure enough it's true, and the place they're testing the water is around Australia, where you would think there would be fewer washing machines than maybe here in the USA?  They don't know what the consequences will be but not good, it seems.  For a couple of days I went around looking at labels.  I had the idea that most of what I owned would turn out to be natural fibers, and hence ok.  The new (second-hand) sheets were indeed linen with cotton embroidery thread and crochet thread.  My nifty knit nighty was all cotton.  Ditto the towels in the bathroom.  But then I began to find other things.  Almost all my underwear was synthetic.  Bill's favorite shirt was acrylic though we both imagined it was wool.  Interestingly, it was made in Australia!  My favorite sweater, pink, with my initial in tiny pink studs, was also acrylic as well as nylon and spandex.  I wore it anyway today.  The sin is in washing it, after all.  I will have some time to think about it because the washing machine died over the weekend anyway.  Sigh, another man-made thing to worry about.  However, I have just achieved some favorable results from my experiments with beeswax cloth.  I read about it on-line and made up a beeswax and mineral oil mixture and dipped squares of cotton (thankfully) in and pulled them out in great sodden lumps to cool and solidify.  Not hopeful looking.  But then I had the idea to iron them with pairs of undipped squares sandwiched between.  Bingo, flexible but water resistant and nearly airtight wraps.  I made some big enough to wrap a sandwich in and some smaller to lay over bowls and secure with rubber bands.  If I get some food on them, they wipe clean with a damp cloth.  I like them very much.  They store flat in the drawer.  A way to reduce the use of plastic wrap and aluminum foil.  
And ultimately biodegradable.

Another item we acquired in order to be more green and clean was a carpet sweeper.  I have for some time deplored our vacuum cleaner because it sprays dust into the air.  Bill found me an old (1986) but new in the box product called the Hokey from Hukaba, made in Japan.  It has a sturdy metal handle and natural bristle brushes.  It cost about $25.  I was very surprised that it picked up far more small dust and fibers than the vacuum seems to.  No bags but you do have to brush out the cup with a paint brush because of static electricity, but that's not hard.  So far I am very pleased with this too.

 
It's been nearly three weeks since we went to the grocery and the cooking is picking up.  I cooked some stew beef in the small crockpot to make Strogonoff.  And a whole bag of pinto beans in the large crockpot.  That made 8 pints of chili beans.  I had used the last bag in the freezer to make Fajitas on Saturday.  That is one of our favorite meals.  Chunks of chicken and onion and green pepper are sauteed in a hot skillet, sprinkled with a little Pico de Gallo and served with rice and chili beans with shredded cheddar cheese and salsa and sour cream as condiments.  We dispensed with tortilla wrappers.  We had canned mandarin oranges for dessert.  On Sunday we had the Strogonoff with left-over rice steamed with some water and butter.  As a side, I sauteed tiny frozen baby green beans in butter and garlic in an iron skillet.  I let some just blacken.  They were delicious.
Today I made chili with the newly cooked chili beans and we had it two-way, with pasta and shredded cheddar cheese, and with it we had toasted tortillas with salsa and sour cream.  These are just cut in wedges and baked in a 425degree oven for about ten minutes. (but watch them like a hawk)  Just a little coarse salt sprinkled over and these are low fat and low sodium chips for about $.50 for the two of us.  For dessert we had some of those delicious Margaret Holms O'sage Peaches.  Tomorrow we'll have leftover scolloped ham and potatoes with cheese on top and some salad and some bread and butter.  More peaches wait in a glass jar in the fridge.  On Wednesday we'll have soup made from the leftover Strogonoff and sandwiches made on rye buns with sliced chicken on a mixture of cream cheese and finely minced onion, garlic and green pepper (not very much green pepper) and seasoned with sea salt and maybe some dill.  This is a delicious sandwich!  For dessert we'll eat the last of the peaches.  On Thursday we'll have the chili again, with the chips, et cetera only with dark chocolate for dessert.  And on Friday we'll have chicken stir fry with cabbage and carrots and broccoli, soy sauce and over rice.  And chocolate for dessert.  These are all well-loved meals.  I am already getting the long grocery list ready.  The budget is $226 but I already spent some for $1 a pound chicken.  We have 24 chicken breasts in the freezer now.
I want to buy some salmon steaks as we are tired of canned salmon.  I hear the price of beef is skyrocketing so maybe some pork chops would be better.  We'll see . . . .
Happy menus to you!

Flowering

I got a lovely Christmas gift from my brother.  A set of verses written for me and about me.  Furthermore, I see he has really been listening to me.  Nothing affirms us like being listened to.  Here it is:



                                          My sister
First of all, I respect your empathy and compassion for 
                                            others, 
Not just for me but for your family, your husband, your
                                                                        friends.
You are the patient Robin with the ever present worm for 
                                           the nest,.

Though you long to be the Jay screeching vociferously at the

                                               cat.

I envy your incisive honesty that you fear too persistent foe

                                               some.

Your joie d' vivri causes a smile from me and my desire for

                                           emulation.

Seeing the Past as past, you enjoy life here in your nick of 

                                               time.

Always dream for tomorrow with your wisdom, courage and                                                 Hope.  

                                                                                                                             Your Brother, Ernie  


This seems like a good place to put the flowering of my Amaryllis:

One flower. . .

Two flowers . . .

Four flowers . . .  Wow!
This has really been a pleasure to watch.  Thanks John and Jenny




The vegetable beef soup was a resounding success, though I cannot say the same for the home-made clam chowder!

A Christmas Present

I told you that there was a present I have become deeply involved with.  It is a children's book, "Miss Hickory".  You know I collect nut-head dolls.  So far I have never made any though.  That is about to change.

Here is the book.

Here is Miss Hickory in her little corncob house, with her own little stove and bed and tea kettle.  I am smitten!

Here is a little handmade stove Bill found at the Seventh Street Mall.  The miniature bucket and basket came from the Miniatures shop in Nashville which is now gone.  The hickory nut is one I selected from a bunch Eliyah and I picked up on the road.  The little broom I made myself.  I am searching the yard for suitable twigs for Miss Hickory's arms and legs.  I can hardly wait!


Another present is a biography about Tasha Tudor.  I am confused about her.  She seemed implacable with her family but I so admire her dedication to doing exactly what she wanted.  No matter the consequences.  She wanted to live in 1830.  So she did.  She lived without plumbing, central heating, shopping malls, even the telephone, at least for a while.  She raised the food they ate, made fabric and clothing, cared for animals and children under these circumstances and illustrated and even wrote numerous books while doing so.  
I too was fascinated by a time period, and by Pioneers.  When I was 4 or 5, my Mother remarried and we moved to rural south-central Kentucky.  They bought 8 acres of land.  The neighbors came and put up a log cabin for us.  I remember the day very well.  It was a nifty cabin. I helped to chink the logs with cement.  Then Lloyd Floyd came and put in a brick fireplace  sidewise in the middle of the single room.  Near the back.  Now the room was divided into two.  On the back of the chimney was a hole in which the stove pipe from the cooking stove was inserted.  A rough counter made of 2x4s at the front window on the left was for washing dishes on.  A table attached to the wall under the right window.  There were three chairs and an Army cot.  My bed was a pallet in the loft.  Eventually we got an icebox and the iceman came twice a week.  Though I have lived in expensive houses and cheap ones, in big cities and small towns and in the country, no place has matched the perfection I found in that small cabin when I was a child!

Beee-utiful soup

One day last week I watched Dr. Oz.  He had 28 recommendations, one for every day in February, I guess, and one of them was "No canned soup"!  I kept thinking about that.  Why ever not?  Too much salt?  Well, there are reduced salt versions.  I looked on the back of a can in my own pantry.  Hmmmm, not too many vitamins.  I thought about soup.  My Mother-in-law, Mary William (her father had hoped for a boy)  also known as Dot because when she was born, prematurely, she fit into a cigar box,  always said that beef vegetable soup was not so much flavored by the beef, but by the variety of vegetables put in, and she recommended at least 10.  I see clearly that the canned soup doesn't have such a lot of vegetables.  In fact, when we ate it that night for supper, it seemed to consist mostly of flavored slightly thickened water.  Not offensive,  but I remember Mary Bill's soup  . . .but of course we can do that again!

Here is what I put in:
1 pound of stew beef, cut small
1/2 onion, minced
1 or 2 stalks celery, leafy tops included, minced
1 or 2 carrots, minced
1 medium potato, minced
1/4 small head of cabbage, finely shredded
1/2 cup frozen or leftover peas
1/2 cup frozen or leftover corn
!/2 cup frozen or leftover lima beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup barley
6 cups, about, water or beef broth
6 teaspoons beef boullion if you used water
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 or 2 shakes of Worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon parsley
I started this soup in my crockpot at 11 am, to be eaten at 7 pm.  I'll be posting here at noon so you'll have to read my next post to find out how it tastes but I'm pretty confident it'll beat the canned soup all hollow.  I've left some room to add water if it's too salty, at 5 o'clock and I'll taste for seasonings.  I've made about a gallon so it will serve for 4 meals, at least.  I'll freeze it in canning jars with only the rings screwed on with a piece of waxed paper or plastic bread wrapper under them.  Otherwise the glass will break.
As to the expense, I don't think it is appreciably cheaper than canned soup on sale is, but that's not the point here, quality is.


On New Years' Day I made the house and kitchen tidy, filled all the salt containers and watered and arranged the plants.  My Son and Daughter-in-law had given me an Amaryllis to force so I got that out.  One should always have something to look forward to in the winter.  I was surprised to find the bulb already sprouting.

I made a mess soaking the peat and getting it in the pot and planting the bulb.  "Put it in a warm place" it said so I put it on a stool near the stove.  Here it is 24 hours later!

Look how it has stood up and is leaning towards the heat.  Today it is noticeably greener and taller.  Amazing!


I've been thinking too, about Resolutions.  Not necessarily New Years' because you can make them any time.  But my Buying diet has only just gotten started.  I took a year to really get used to it.  I have learned a lot more strategies for not spending money unnecessarily this year.  So I have decided to renew my resolution for another year.  I will be dieting foodwise as well, in earnest now because I am being treated for Diabetes.  No more room for cheating now.  Not if I want a long life.  It is very motivating.

It wasn't all perfect!

Here's the Mince pie.  Most of it is still in the fridge.  I think it's just too sweet!  Another quart is still in the jar in the fridge.  Maybe I can turn it into plum pudding or some kind of cake?
We had a hitch in the Holiday plans.  My Daughter, who would come and help cook and eat the best dinner on Christmas Eve, got a migraine and had to stay in bed.  I was a little rushed to get the dinner cooked, then we ate hastily and took dinner to my Daughter's house.  Not how it was planned.  And I was so sorry she felt so bad.
My Husband and I went on to Spring Mill Inn as planned and that went very well indeed.  We opened our presents and there were very satisfying surprises on both sides.  I'll do a post on my gifts soon as they have sparked some activity here at home!  We walked in the village early in the cold morning, ate of their lovely breakfast buffet (which is ridiculously cheap), sat in front of the fire and then went home.  Christmas dinner was easy as everything was cooked already.  Our company came, we talked, we ate and finally we opened presents.  I think everyone got things they needed or  even loved.  The last bit of Christmas cheer was watching Downton Abby before bedtime.

We missed having a white Christmas by two days!  Tuesday morning it looked like this!  Just beautiful.  But short-lived.  By afternoon it had mostly melted.

I am afraid Mary Lincoln didn't make it home in time for Christmas.  When I undressed her I found she had no skin!  She needed more underwear too.

Now here she is with new skin, new petticoats and a tiny corset!  The dress is under construction and full of problems.  More on that later.


The menus for the week were all about left-overs.  
Monday we ate cold sliced ham and cheese, salad, potato casserole heated in the oven and Christmas cookies.
Tuesday, Chicken and dressing, also left-over
Wed Quiche and home-canned green beans
Thursday Canned beef stew and chicken sandwiches with Swiss cheese, broiled
Today:  Left-over Quiche, last of the asparagus, dark chocolate for dessert.
Saturday, Hamburgers and roasted garlic potatoes and the last of the cookies.
Sunday:  Large Shrimp cocktails, baked potatoes with sour cream, tossed Chef's salad, white wine.


Quiche recipe:
Crust:  
3 cups plain flour
scant 1/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter or 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup oil
!/2 cup ice water
Mix sugar and flour and cut in solid shortening until mealy.
Mix oil and water and pour into flour mixture all at once.  Stir gently until mixture makes a ball.  Divide into 2 or 3 portions.  1/2 makes a bottom crust and some lattice strips for the top.  Or make 3 thin bottom crusts.  Keeps well for several days in the fridge.
Filling:  
2 eggs
1 clove garlic
several slices of onion  
4 ounces or more sharp Cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Put these ingredients in the blender and pour in milk to the 2 cup line.  Blend until cheese is just little chunks.
Arrange in the raw crust bottom 1 1/2 cups just barely cooked crispy  broccoli and chunks of ham, about 1 cup.
Pour liquid filling over.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until center is mostly set or a knife comes out clean.  I left out the onion this time and sliced some green onions over the top when I took it out of the oven.
I am thinking about New Year's resolutions and how I might improve on last year's performance.  More on that later.