May 30

Not a lot of cooking going on here, No new recipes but I did make a dish I haven't made in a few years...Santa Fe Rice Salad.

It's pretty good but not really a favorite of ours.  It can be used as a side dish with a Mexican meal, or just scoop it up with tortilla chips like salsa.

I had to take my string trimmer in for repair earlier this month. Same problem as before...broken drive shaft...covered under warranty again...no charge.

This big dog (lab/shepherd mix) is always at the repair shop to greet the customers.

When I dropped the trimmer off,  she came from the back with a red ball for me to throw for her.

I threw once and she retrieved it...but when I threw it again I accidentally bounced it off a stack of boxes. 

She gave me a funny look then picked up the ball and took it to the back room!   Ha! 

It's like she didn't want me to embarrass myself with such bad throws!

This time she had a big Nerf Frisbee.  She did let me throw it but only once.

I can't remember ever seeing one of these Giant Leopard Moths before.

They come out only after dark, but this one had gotten trapped in the screen porch somehow.

It didn't want to fly at all, so I nudged him off my hand onto a tree trunk.

Please excuse my chipped nail polish

One day I glanced out a window and saw my Purple Smoke Tree looking like this...stripped to it's skeleton!  What on earth?

It was these...some kind of small purple caterpillars.  I picked them all off, then tried searching the internet to see what they could be.  Not many results for purple caterpillars.  Maybe eating purple leaves caused them to turn purple?

See that small beetle in the photo below?  There were a couple of those on the tree too.  Not sure if they are related to the caterpillars in any way?  

Not being sure if these were good bugs or bad bugs, I decided to smoosh them.  Probably they are the larvae of some rare and beautiful butterfly.

The last time I planted peas in my little garden, a deer chomped them down just after they started blooming. So this year, I just planted a few snow peas right up next to the back porch.

 I think they are such a pretty plant anyway. As good as any decorative plant you could buy...and all I need is a few peas to add to a salad.

On Memorial Day, I rode over to Evansville with Lonnie to visit his parents grave site.  We are such clods, we didn't even think to take any flowers for the urns.  We haven't done this before and it just didn't occur to us to take any decoration.

After visiting the cemetery, we drove around looking at Lonnie's former homes, schools and other landmarks.  

As we drove past this subdivision entrance (below), Lonnie remarked that it was the spot where he and his older brother sold newspapers when they were kids.

For fun, we stopped and got a picture of Lonnie with some church newspapers he happened to have in the car.  He emailed the photo to his brother Don to see if he can figure out where it was taken.

I don't think there were flowers planted there back then...only grass, but Don might recognize the concrete structure.

Not much sewing lately.  I did finish up all the sailboats.  I will show those next time.

sail boat quilt started and other stuff

Sewing...
I had been planning to make a baby girl quilt...just in case...but it turns out that I will be making another baby boy quilt.

For a while now, I've been thinking I'd like to use some fabric from my stash with an anchor print, and what could be better than a nautical themed quilt for a boy?
I sketched up a possible layout, including some blocks made from pieced sailboats.

Piecing the sail boats was more difficult than I expected, so I finally paid $1.50 to download a paper pieced sailboat block pattern online.

It's been awhile since I've done any paper piecing so there was a lot of sweating and swearing and seam ripping as I got the hang of it again.

It's gotten a little easier now that I've completed five of the boats.    I'll probably make about four or five more, and then make some simple blocks to alternate with them in the quilt, using the fabrics in the photo below.

Outdoor project....

I think we found a solution to our screen porch door problem.  

We have replaced the original doors twice already. No matter how nice the doors are when we hang them, they end up sagging and coming apart at the corners. We have tried reinforcing with "L" brackets and turnbuckles with no luck.

Then I saw this one day on Amazon's Lightning Deals and thought it might be worth a try.

Lonnie was skeptical at first, but after using it for a few days he told me to go ahead and order another for the other door.

It was quick and easy to put up...but I am going to add a few more nails/tacks for extra hold around the edges.

You just part the magnetized middle strip with your arm, walk through and the magnets snap it closed behind you.

It will make it a lot easier to get in the porch with a tray of plates, drinks, and food for the grill, too.

Those baby squirrels are getting bigger and exploring every square inch of the yard.

"I'm the king of the world"

In the kitchen...

One Sunday, the Sasquatch brought over something interesting for us to try...these unusual drinks from Jamaica.  One peanut flavor and one vanilla.

Both were rich and creamy, but the peanut was the best...a taste kind of like that "Mary Jane" chewy peanut candy.

Fun to try something unusual and different!  These were marked down in price. He's hoping they will go on "clearance" and he will buy more.

And....

In the early 1900's, my Dad's grandfather opened a saloon on Market Street in Louisville.  He was a great believer in advertising and had a variety of give-away items made up to promote his business...mugs, match cases, watch fobs, miniature jugs and so forth.  

There are a few of these items still in the family.

Earlier this week, Chopper and the Sasquatch made a stop at one of those antique/junk malls and came across one of the old advertising mugs for sale. The price was right at $3.

They emailed me a photo...

It's weird because they had mentioned the possibility of finding one as they walked in the store!  Pretty exciting for them to come across something with their great-great grandfather's picture embossed on it!  

Other family members have found them on ebay and at flea markets too. I've never found one myself, but I was given one by my parents.

What would George Deckmann, saloon owner, think about his descendants buying back his give-away promotional items?

Here he is in a photo taken behind the bar at his establishment...

And another - at a different time and with a mustache. ..

One more...

Nice that he made the effort to have these photos taken. Not many are fortunate enough to have photos of ancestors from that time period.

Chopper liked these old photos so well, he had copies framed and they're hanging in his dining room.

What would his great-great- grandfather think of that?

April has flown by

Spring is such a busy time...it just flies by with weekly mowing, sprucing up flower beds, washing windows, and so forth.

I had started some seeds indoors...a few things for the vegetable garden, some hyacinth bean vines and seeds from a couple of different trees.

A couple of days after I had the seeds in their little cups, I came down stairs one morning to find dirt scattered and seeds missing.

It had to be the work of a mouse!

I found the hoard of seeds behind my stand mixer...some chewed open.  I just tossed them out, sanitized the whole area, replanted my seeds, and set mouse traps.

I caught two of them. I think that's all there are for now.

The pool guys were out and opened up the pool...

None of us have taken a dip yet, but I did have to scoop a poor drowned opossum out of there later that week.

I threw him over in the field not really thinking about it, then a couple of days later we had vultures flying low through the yard as they came in for a landing to have a tasty possum feast.

One was this black vulture, which I'm pretty sure is the one that was hanging around last summer. He seemed to remember that he could get a drink at the birdbath...

Then he studied the pool for a long time...    Please, no swimming!

Well, sorry to show you dead animals and scavengers!  Here is a cute baby squirrel to change things up. There's been about 4 or 5 of them scurrying around eating helicopters (maple tree seeds).

Not much time spent in the sewing room lately.

In the kitchen...a couple of new recipes.

I made these bars twice. Once for dessert on Sunday, then again for Lonnie to take for a potluck dinner at his bible class.

The recipe came from a Land O Lakes butter box so as you might imagine - it takes a lot of butter.

Really good though, sort of a toffee flavor.  Probably would be a good Christmas time treat too, but I think it's better to spread out the goodies throughout the year! 

And,

I bought a 10 pound bag of frozen chicken wings at Sam's, then searched the internet for ways to make Buffalo wings/hot wings.  

I knew I didn't want to fry them so I decided on this recipe " Crispy Oven Baked Chicken Wings ".

Basically, you toss the thawed wings in a mixture of baking powder and salt. This helps to draw the fat out of the skin so it will crisp up.  Bake at a low temperature for a while then at a high temperature for longer.

I wouldn't exactly say mine came out crispy but they definitely weren't soggy or greasy.

I had to order wire baking racks to use for this recipe.  I balked at buying a new kitchen item...I've done without them all this time.  But now that I have them I'm sure I'll find other uses for them.

We had the wings for Sunday dinner. Just before serving, I tossed them in a mixture of Frank's RedHot Sauce and butter.   My family liked them and there were plenty left over to send home with Chopper and the Sasquatch.

So, that about winds things up for April.   Rain in the forecast this week so maybe I will do some sewing.

a couple of new recipes

I've tried out a couple of new recipes this month.

First there was Pork Carnitas.  I followed this recipe (click to see recipe) but instead of simmering the pork on top of the stove, I braised it in the oven.

And I made a Tomatillo sauce using this recipe...except I roasted the tomatillos rather than boiling them. There was plenty of juice and I didn't need to add water.

The Carnitas were good. 

It's one of Choppers favorites at the Mexican restaurants. He said they just serve the pork and sauce with tortillas, so that's the way we ate them for Sunday dinner,  but when eating as leftovers we found they are better with lettuce, tomato and some shredded cheese on them.

I've been wanting to try making Cabbage Rolls ever since my dental hygienist was talking about how good hers are. She is from Romania so I'd like to get her recipe sometime, but meanwhile I tried out  this recipe, except I microwaved the head of cabbage to soften it and baked the rolls in the oven instead of simmering on the stove.

I think my rolls may have been a bit small...

...but they were tasty.

Lonnie really liked them and I had plenty to freeze for later.  I think they might be good with a slice of American cheese melted on top!

While I'm talking about food...I've been buying papayas at the grocery.  They are delicious - so long as you let them ripen until they are fairly soft.

The information book in the produce section at Kroger said the seeds are edible...well sure they are but they taste horrible!

I have the top all sewn together for the Ninja quilt. This photo is a little washed out. It's brighter than this.

Next, I am going to put together another top like this but in girly colors because I am not sure if the upcoming new arrival is a boy or a girl.  

Either way I will be glad to have an extra baby quilt on hand...it seems like they just keep coming!

My outdoor project is re-doing this flower bed.  I've dug out an overgrown Forsythia that was there when we moved here in 1986.  It was the kind that arcs over and had an out of control, messy growth habit. It only looked pretty a couple of weeks a year when it bloomed. The rest of the time it was just a tangle of stems, no matter how much I trimmed and pruned.  

I did save about 8 or 10 "babies" from it - you can see them there on the right. Not sure what I'll do with them...maybe plant along the edge of the woods.

Now, I will thin out and spread the Iris, Day Lilies, Daffodils and Crocosmia  growing in there.

Also I will lift those three asparagus plants (you can see the tall stalks - used to be my asparagus bed) and give them to the Sasquatch who is going to try growing some asparagus.

I still think I need something taller and larger to balance out that side of the bed...maybe a small evergreen?  I have some growing in containers that I could use. I'll keep thinking about it as I continue cleaning it up.

some sewing, and pickled eggs

Here's what I've been working on...This is my main project.  I have around 300 of the nine patch squares made and I'm putting them into blocks with the gold fabric.

The pattern is not my idea. I am shamelessly copying a quilt I saw online. It's a good pattern to use up some of my smallest pieces of leftover fabrics.

And to keep from getting burned out on my main project, I am also working on a little boy quilt.

I had ordered a bundle of fabric fat quarters online. They were labeled as "I Spy" fabrics, so I expected to get lots of children's and novelty prints.  

When my order arrived, most of the fabrics wouldn't really work for playing "I Spy" in a toddler quilt. However there was this cute Ninja fabric and some coordinating prints in there.

Not a lot to work with but I added some fabrics from my stash and it will be enough for a quilt.

Unrelated...pickled eggs.   By coinsidence, my older brother and I both started experimenting with pickled egg recipes around the same time.  I had just made a batch when I saw on his FB page that he had made some too.

My first batch had water added to the vinegar and didn't seem pickle-ey enough, and it had too much of a clove flavor from the pickling spice blend I'd bought.

Next, I bought a jar of the expensive pink pickled eggs from the grocery to find out exactly what sort of taste pickled eggs should have.  That was a waste of money. Mine were better.

For this second batch, I left out the sugar and used vinegar, spices, red onions and jalapenos.

They have to set in the fridge for about a week to soak up the flavor...then I'll see if I need to make any more changes.

what's cooking

Click here  to see the recipe for Lemon Loaf.    That link will take you to a blog with a lot of good recipes. The blogger is a ranch wife who has to cook for a crew of hired hands during the times when they are there to work the cattle...so she knows how to make some tasty chow.

The Lemon Loaf recipe is not her original recipe, but it's one she tried and recommended.
She is right...it's good!

My glaze turned out a bit too thin and runny. I will have to make another one soon and try again.

And here is something else fattening...bacon wrapped, cheese filled hot dogs.

Chopper mentioned that he remembered me making these when he was little, so I thought I would make some again and surprise him. 

Actually, my dad made these a few times when we were kids - that's where I got the idea.

Well, the bacon could have been a bit more done and a lot of the cheese ran out on to the baking sheet (but it was easily scraped off and smeared back on top of the dog).

 

Whew, they are rich, so a few of them go long way.  A nice combination of flavors.

 They were even better reheated in the microwave later...it helped to crisp up the bacon a bit more.