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Asparagus has popped up! This is our first year of being able to harvest this tasty vegetable. I wasn't sure what to expect.The tiny and barely above soil sprout can grow several inches in an afternoon. The stalk shown in this photo was ready to harvest by dinner time. I won't say that we've had a bumper crop or anything, though it's been very satisfying to spy them here and there in the asparagus bed.

Fresh cut from the yard to the table asparagus is amazing, and that is all. 

Olive oil, salt and pepper, and a little sprinkle of fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Simple. Delicious.

And then there was this day. Flying kites. Ohio springtime and kite flying go hand in hand.

Is it just me or Flying a kite is a feeling of freedom. I love being connected to the kite via that thin little line of string and feeling the wind tug and whip. It's the closest thing to flying while your feet are still on the ground.

Yes, yes, I know, anymore stained glass windows in my house and I'm gonna have people showing up on Sundays looking for a hymnal and the offering plate. Never mind that business, the window on the right is portable and can be moved from window to window in our house. The door however is staying forever in that location. I love the peaceful feel.

I suppose you are wondering if I'm ever going to post another recipe. I certainly am wondering. There's something about red highlights added to your hair that makes you wonder about things. Like. If my hair gets really grey anytime soon would I do a total dye job? I don't think so. Being over half of a century old... if my hair isn't getting really grey yet then I might get by with just a highlight from time to time. This was my first addition of hair color in over 10 years so I was a little nervous. I like it though.

This little doggie is very camera shy. It's a rarity for her to make eye contact with me when I'm trying to take her photo.

This ham bone of pooch however, he loves the camera. Of course, he's old and loosing his sight. Good ole' Tucker Boy is 14.5 years old.

Not much new in the cooking world around here. I've been dabbling with crock pot recipes, to date there's been nothing outstanding to report on that subject. I did however bake a great cake known as a Hummingbird Cake. I was rather fond. You can find the recipe here. Designed to be served as a 3 layer cake, I frosted each layer separately and had 3 one layer cakes. One to eat and two to share.
No photos though.

Last year was a blur of a year and I'm certain that I aged way more than 12 months. This spring has me with less energy and frankly less desire to flit around the house and do spring cleaning. My single tasking lifestyle is more by necessity than by choice.

I hope you're enjoying a lovely day wherever you are. Being productive includes things like kite flying and taking naps. Never underestimate the power of less.

It's finished

Hanging a little cock eyed, and the photo is a little off centered. You get the idea though. My first big stained glass project is complete. Yippee!!

Christmas 2014

Christmas Eve started out innocently enough with each of us opening one present. The big kids who have their own lives and homes were fair warned that this year was a gift card sort of year because neither myself nor Mister really wanted to bother with all of the shopping and wrapping.
The three humans that inhabit our home and two very lazy dogs were pretty content on Christmas Eve.
 One present.
Then just one more.
"Fine, let's open them all and go to breakfast in the morning instead of opening gifts."
I'm a huge fan of spontaneity. As I age, more and more I despise tradition. How boring is it to celebrate the same holiday the same way year after year? Guess what, we opened everyone of those presents before 6PM on Christmas Eve and it's a good thing.

The next morning, I made good on my promise of hauling my butt out of bed and going to breakfast. I felt a little rough. Let me tell you guys something, there was something incredibly wonderful about being surrounded by total strangers on Christmas Day. Sure, nothing was open for breakfast except for a truck stop. A truck stop filled with families and people making their way across the state to their loved ones or heading home. The hustle bustle and a kindred spirit among the echoes could be heard. The food was awful. A buffet of awful. The coffee was hot and sort of delicious. I still felt rough.

Over the next 24 hours we had company pop in and out but, this old girl was sick.

That little blue jar of vaporub is keeping me alive. Without it, I'm certain the influenza and that truck stop food would have killed me by now. I can never remember if we are suppose to feed a fever or starve it. My symptoms are a fever, achy chills, and chest congestion. No runny nose or stuffiness. I've been booze free for 6 years now but, a big old chug of Jack is sounding good. I'm out of the thick of it. The fever has been gone for almost 24 hours. I'm feeding the fever. Mister made a batch of my favorite quick and easy soup today. Soup, vaporub, and my dogs are all I need. And the new cozy jammies I opened on Christmas Eve.

It all worked out just fine.

 So, if your holiday was spent at a truck stop, or home alone, or a shelter, or at the in-laws, it was your holiday. I resent the images planted in our heads of what Christmas morning is suppose to look and feel like. I saw two old crusty dudes walking out of the truck stop together Christmas morning just as happy as larks. I quietly bid them Merry Christmas. They looked into my eyes with sincere smiles and bid me the same. I'll take that over pretentious, fake holiday family glib any day.

I'm thinking the flu shot might be a good idea.

Clean Slate

It was either a pink tree, white, or silver. My intentions were to create a holiday tree with no emotions attached. Having a 13 year old child required a tree be decked and installed as a holiday icon. I was having no part of it this year. Not a bah humbug sort of way. Just a feeling of new. New and different. Removed from tradition. Originally I planned 2 small trees with simple decorations. Aimee, convinced it was the work of dragging the tree and ornaments from the basement which discouraged my desire for the merriment, offered to "do all of the work". I knew, right then. There. A tree symbolizes so much more than presents to this dear child.
How fun would it be to start new?
The ornaments from years past are still safely tucked away in their said red and green totes. Most will remain there.With the exception of the snowflakes and a few nondescript baubles, our tree is a quiet symbol, a hushed whisper of calm. No "baby's firsts" or "new homes" or wonderful handmade childhood creations of my four now grown kiddos. In years to come those ornaments can return. Just not this year.

As I read recently about memory. These notions came to mind. We spend our days creating those "happy memory moments" documenting them with photos and journals. When did our species become so obsessed with creating and storing memories? Is this a maternal thing? For good or for bad, we cling to the past. Hoping to search and find ourselves there.

 Maybe it's my getting older, Maybe it's the issue of my own mother that I wrestled with this year. Something snapped inside of my Christmas consciousness. I want to dream of the Christmas in the future. I want to anticipate exciting whimsical holidays. I needed a clean slate.

All of my ornaments represented the past. Not that those associations are negative. Just past.
I'm not sure when we started stuffing presents in our Christmas tree. It's not a tradition. Just a way to secure the gift cards and small presents from becoming lost in the chaos of Christmas morning. This year is no exception for this quirky little family thing.

A few old out dated brass horns were sprayed white with paint. A new crystal clear star on top. There you have it!

Aimee has her tree.
 One, I'm sure she will remember for a very long time.
And I have a memory free tree.
 One that simply dances, glows and doesn't echo the events or occasions of the past.
Wishing you and yours a damned good, celebrating life, future anticipating 2015!

Tamborines & Elephants

Lookin' out my back window.
 This morning.
Our upstairs laundry room over looks the roofs of our buildings. I usually peek through the curtains in the morning to determine the day ahead. This morning included boots and gloves.

In other areas of life, I've a new project.

This is the storm window to a screen door which was buried in our basement when we bought the house. Sadly, the door was in poor repair and despite my kicking and screaming the door could not be used anywhere in our home. Plan B...turn the window insert of the storm into a stained glass piece.
This is step one of removing the old caulk and old window panes. Tedious process. Work in progress.

I have dug my heels in and refused to update the wonderful 1923 windows in our home. Heavy curtains have sufficed. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. On this subject, I win!

I think my new project when finished will hang in the upstairs laundry room window. The light will fill the hallway beautifully. For now, there's a rose stained glass piece hanging there. I hate florals in my decor. The rose serves as motivation to get my hind end busy to finish up my window project.

Say Cheese

A picture is worth a thousand words, can this be true? Since my last post was in June of this year, I'm easily behind in writing by around 1,000 words. And let me tell you people there isn't any picture out there that could cover what's gone down in my world since June.

Garden update:

• Asparagus took well, survived the summer and I will be trimming back the fern portion soon.
• Onions rocked as usual. Red, yellow, and white, a basket of bounty in the basement.
• Potatoes were plentiful. The current supply should last at least until the new year.
• Peppers were one big failure this year. I just don't get it. Normally my pepper plants are amazing.
• Tomatoes...I'm over it. Next year...2 plants and that's it. I swear. We just don't use them up and the canning of tomatoes is way overrated.
• Pinto beans were amazing in their growth. We had an entire bushel basket full. I hang my head in shame to admit this. Brain surgery took priority over pinto beans. I promise you, on one day that basket full of gorgeous musical fruit was sitting pretty as could be on the back porch and then it rained. As I sat reclining side by side with Mister the damned mildew overtook those beans in that basket. Which didn't seem to bother the local squirrels and chipmunks or birds. Who knows what ate them. All I know is between movies on Netflix, I wandered outback, dumped out those nasty mildewed beans and something took care of them for me. I never give it another care. Convalescing won over the beans this year.
• Peas were a wonder to behold. Sweet and tender. The dream pea.
• Carrots were gnarly and woody and left in the ground too long. Again, local critters didn't seem to mind.
• Apple Trees, not one single apple. The freezing cold of last winter must have done them in.
• And that's all I have to say about Garden 2014.

Canning Round-up

• Salsa... check...we canned about 48 pint jars. Thank God because there is no way in hell I will doing that again next year. Exhausted and stumbling around with a bag of tortilla chips is not my idea of a fun weekend anymore. Thank you Amish dudes for growing tomatoes, peppers, and onions.

• Jelly. So many wonderful combinations of jelly rolled out of the kitchen this year

 Strawberry Jalapeno jam was a great new recipe which Anna brought to my attention. I think we made 12 pints. The jalapenos were mellow and fruity. A nice match to the sweet strawberry.
 Also, our standard strawberry jam saw a turn or two or three.
Black Raspberry jelly which is of course my all time favorite was put up again this year. It won't last through the winter. It stains my teeth but, I'm a junkie for the stuff. It's a bit of a labor intense project due to straining all of the tiny seeds through cheese cloth. So worth the effort. Remember boys and girls don't squeeze the juice through the cloth, otherwise your jelly will be cloudy. Or so I've always been told. I dare not squeeze the cheese cloth.
Red Raspberry was the crowning glory of the jelly making adventure this year. Truly a scrumptious product. Expensive as heck to make. I will be a bogart with my red raspberry jelly stash. HA. I did not take photos of that beautiful batch. but, look out below for the strawberry and black raspberry variety.

The only photographic proof of the sticky business of preserves are these two fine specimens.

This summer while on our hiatus we shopped and thrifted some fantastic bargains.

Exhibit A

One skinny dollar bill ($1.00) was forked over for this pair of great mid century lamps. Yes, they are in the spare room and work as an excellent night light. The bases even light up. Score!

Exhibit B

This janky little chair cost all of .50 (fifty cents) and me being a penny pinching tight wad, counted the money out of my change purse in nickles and dimes just like a cranky old lady. Just you and wait and see, I am making this ole girl into a beauty. More on that later. Crosses my fingers and makes promises.

This year we grew vegetables, herbs, flowers, and weeds. The weeds were by far the most successful.
And that's okay. Mister has fully recovered and life has almost resumed a normal pace once again. Or maybe the new normal is stopping to pause between tasks. I always strive to single task my days. I like living life on those terms. Never biting off more than I can chew. One thing the events of this past summer hellish year 9 months has taught me is sometimes single tasking can be overwhelming too.

Hip Hip Hooray, It's like a Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin moment. We survived the kidney surgeries and brain tumor and all of the other out of our control bullshit nonsense to finally arrive here in October. Walking hand in hand with a red balloon, and whispering philosophical cliche`s to one another.

Victory Path

There's Cilantro to be harvested in the herb bed. I happen to enjoy a nice bowl of Cilantro Soup. Alas, no one else in this house agrees. I might still make some just for me.

Look at the color of these snapdragons. I dearly love them. Snapdragons are an annual flower but, I've had good luck with dead heading the flowers, allowing the spent bloom to disintegrate into the soil. and the following year the snapdragons have returned.
What lovely blooms are you growing?

Look at this kid. She's so competitive. Tonight, they lost their game. As she strolled towards me with her gear slung over her shoulder, she said " Don't even talk to me yet". She played a good game. Made a fantastic catch and threw the ball to third base for a double play. She's still learning that small individual victories are just as important as the glamor moments in life.

Look at my crooked little path. It's mossing up nicely. An area between two buildings was just a pile of rubble and grossly overgrown with ferns and piled with debris cluttered waist high. I managed to scrounge around the yard of what was our new home at the time and find enough old worn bricks to create a lovely pathway. The moss is just a lovely addition that endears the crooked path all the more to my heart. Some people prefer the straight and narrow path free of moss and ferns. I like my rickety old wobbly one.

Look more snapdragons. We watched a young baby cardinal bird struggle to fly the other day. Under the watchful eye of both Momma and Pappa Cardinal. The little bird wandered around for about 45 minutes trying to get it right. Each time he flew a little higher. As night time approached, he was last seen wandering his way around this patch of snapdragons. I hope he made it off on to his birdie journey safe and sound.

No recipes of profound nature are being doled out around this house as of late. We have two upcoming doctor appointments this week, another step towards complete healthy recovery of my Mister. For now, hot dogs, grilled cheese with tomatoes, and smoothies are about as creative that I get as a cook.

Take care all,
plant something,
you will be glad you did.
No matter what,
if you grew it
It's yours.
Find something to grow
Patience, and kindness are nice things to harvest.

Schlepping with Love

I wonder what super women do when the shit hits the fan at their house? When I think of a super woman...

the vision of the professional woman (not a schlepper like myself)*
with the perfect nails, hair
clean car (schlepper just stuffs it under the seat)
clean house
perfect children
fabulous wife on a schedule...
prepares meals in a flash with entire healthy ingredients
okay, you get my point

*schlepper=self employed earning a decent income but not required to dress nice or comb my hair

Well let me tell you what a schlepper does when the shit hits the fan at her house.

• I obsess on the carpet needing to be clean. No joke, the spot bot was busted out today and I found myself crawling around on the floor looking for any odors and or troublesome traffic areas.
• Lunches are not packed, I search frantically for cash (who has cash on hand these days) to cover the cost of a bought lunch at school. Our school charges $3.00 for lunch. Aimee dreads using change like it's the plague. Graham crackers, watermelon, and a Little Debbie cake is probably not a well balanced meal to pack in my child's lunch box.
• Grocery shopping...really why the hell doesn't anyone just deliver groceries? I need milk, eggs, bread, both wheat and white please. One pound of butter, potatoes, fresh fruit, and yogurt. Please grocery fairy hear my needs. I can't drag myself out to fetch the basic for an omelet these days.
•  stuffing bowls of suspicious looking items deeper into the refrigerator to avoid actually having to lift the foil and determine what's lerking underneath.

I did manage to do a few loads of laundry today, work, clean the high road of the kitchen, dust, and mop the downstairs. The upstairs is another thing.

Mind you I am not normally a slob. I have lovely piles of cookbooks and small piles of this and that on a regular basis but, in general when the world isn't lopsided I'm fairly tidy.

Yes, my husband is sick. Mister is more important than anything the super woman might have on her list of things to do. She can have her stepford wife world of perfection and I will schleppe along with the best part of my everyday. My Mister.

I wonder if a super women still arrives with a perfectly pressed blouse and maintains a certain amount of dignity in these situations or does the shit hit the fan at her house too?

Just in case!

When my kids were little and we left the house for the day we would pack a day bag. We always used the expression "Let's pack this because of our old buddy Justin... Justin Case" We would pack a few things just in case we needed them.

Today, I needed to be reminded of the proverb of walking away if you don't like what people are saying. So in honor of my old buddy Justin Case, I'm posting this reminder to myself.
I have had weeks and weeks of dealing with people whom it has been hard for me to determine if they are friend or foe. In personal relationships and professional.

I have met a few good doctors and have come across a few who have just incited panic into my world. Mister has been sick. My Mom is aging. This brings a lot of opinions.
Tomorrow I will listen with my feet!

A Good One

This is hands down my favorite place to drop in and find a proven good recipe.

The Baking Pan

I am so thankful to see Spring has officially arrived, even though gloves and boots are still required in my area of the world. Spring brings the fresh flavors of lemon, mint, and strawberry back into our baking.

My girls came over for a good old fashioned Sunday dinner tonight. Two baked chickens, scalloped potatoes, green beans, and a delicious salad which Anna brought.

We decided on our Easter menu. Of course, dessert was decided first. A banana split bar... On the healthy side, we are doing a salad buffet bar, and steak on the grill. Nothing says Easter like a dead cow. Oh, stop hating!

Have a good week friends!

P.S.
maybe I will go all out and make this cake.

dogs and donuts

Look, my dogs like to spoon. Cookie is the little white dog in the back of the bed, she's a snarky old lady sometimes. She's always kind to Tucker,  he's the big brown guy in the front.

I'm curious, is it possible to recreate those little chocolate gem doughnuts in my home kitchen? Call me gross but, oh how I love those waxy little blobs.Maybe you have seen the donuts of which I crave. I prefer the variety that comes in a bag with the little plastic window on the front. My guess is the little concoctions are about the least healthy food choice I could possibly want for breakfast. Coffee, waxy doughnuts...better than a Lucky Strike and a beer I guess.
Yep, you guessed it, tons of snow in our area tonight. The dogs will snuggle and I will eat doughnuts!

Valentine Origami

Aimee is going to show us how to make this adorable little paper valentine.

Personalize it with your own sentiment. Aimee has inserted coupons good for one free chore.

 Cut your paper (you pick the color) into a square. 8x8 or 6x6 or 10x10. The smaller the square, the smaller the heart will be. For starters you might want to begin with a bigger square until you get the hang of the folding. Fold your square in half. (We call this the hot dog fold)

 Next fold the and crease the paper in half again. This is the hamburger fold at our house. After creasing the paper, open the folds back up to reveal the creases just made.

Fold the bottom quarter of the paper up to the center crease. Then FLIP the whole thing over.

 This step reminds me of paper airplane building in freshman study hall. Fold your edges with the quarter crease up towards the top of your heart. Creating a nice bottom point to your heart. Then FLIP again.

Fold each outer edge towards your center crease. Making nice crisp creases. A bone folder helps with the creasing, or a ruler. We weren't going for showroom quality paper crafting. Just a fun family paper craft.

 So, at this point, this is how your paper should look.

 Now, we get a little tricky. Fold the top part of your heart again forming a triangle towards the center crease.

Bearing in mind the portion of the paper which will form the point of your heart or bottom. See where Aimee is pointing?

 Fold the top two sharp points towards one another. Bottom to top.

 Your heart should look like this.

Now, again a little trick. Open the flaps as best as possible to fold a crease and create a corner like in the photograph. Do this to both flaps.

 Now, this is how your heart should appear at this point. I will refer to the top as the rounded part of your heart taking shape. Do you see the top left and right or the heart?

 Fold those top left and right flaps of your heart towards the seam created in the previous fold.

Fold the tiny point created forward and create the boxy rounded top of your heart.

 Open your heart slightly.

 Find the bottom point pocket and insert the corner into the corner.

The back should look something like this.

 The front has this neat little fortune cookie like pocket to insert your greetings. Or if you are feeling extravagant...a gift card could be inserted. Just use a 12x12 sheet of paper to insert larger greetings.

 Smaller paper makes smaller hearts.

This one is just right!

This paper craft has been brought to you by Aimee. She is self motivated and comes up with very clever ideas. An independent person indeed.

I think white paper would be fine for this craft and then embellish the whole project with stickers or glitter and make it your own Happy Valentine's Day.