Week 3 of the Recipe Challenge

This week I photographed this Baked Yam with Alaska Salmon, Sour Cream and Chives. It is one of those easy and quick in a microwave dishes. I use the Garlic Chives from my garden and they work fine but plain chives might be better. The hardest part is smelling it while I take time to photograph when I am hungry! I also typed up that Curly Soup Mix recipe from last week. How are you doing with your recipes? Getting any sorted or tried any new ones? It isn't easy to find the time with so many things to get done. But I figure I have to eat and occasionally that means I cook as well so might as well take a few extra minutes once a week. So far, so good.

Milk Weed

We made another trip to Maas Nursery (one of my favorite places) and I brought home this Milk Weed.

If you click on this next photo for a close-up view you can see some of the orange and black Assasin Bugs. The girls assured me they are good bugs before I put it in my car!
This is also a close up of the seeds which are not all that easy to harvest. But I really want to grow more next year. And why, you ask, would I want to grow a weed, much less go BUY one?


Look closely and you will see that I was fortunate enough to bring home a caterpillar that LOVES milk weed. I know he looks similar to the one from my parsley but this little fellow doesn't dine on parsley. I put the trellis behind the plant hoping he will climb up there when he is grown and make his chrysalis there. I will post a picture of it if he does.

By the way, I recently read that basil repels mosquitoes! Now I am glad I chose to put that Cinnamon Basil on the table next to the glider. I know I have been pleasantly surprised at how few mosquitoes I have seen in the evenings considering all the showers we have had.

Memorial Day Thoughts

Yesterday was Memorial Day and like many I gathered with family and friends for a bbq. Lots of fun and food and sunshine. But frequently during the course of the day I thought of the many soldiers and sailors I have known and of the sacrifices they and their families made. And then of all the thousands more that I never met that did the same. So while I did not attend any of the programs physically, I was there in spirit honoring them. Remembering them? I remember them every day!

Week 2 Recipe Challenge

This week I put together some goodies for a housewarming gift. The first was this Curly Soup Mix for a quick and easy dinner.



Next I made a batch of Chocolate Fudge, her favorite.



M&M Cookies for the little girls was a must.



Banana/Chocolate Chip Muffins for tomorrow's breakfast.



All came together in this basket which I left for my son to give them when he goes over to help unload their furniture. We had a bad storm just as I arrived and I had to sit in the car till it let up watching the hail on my windshield and listening to the lightening, which struck a power pole nearby dropping a line on the road! I guess the soup will be appreciated tonight.

So I was on a roll trying one new recipe and photographing four. I also went shopping for supplies to try something new this week. I am eager to try it out.

Before, During, and After

This patio chair was very comfortable until my then puppy used it as a chew toy. This week I finally made time to sit out back and enjoy this awesome weather we have been having with the excuse of restringing this chair.

Here I have almost finished stringing the vertical strands. I am adapting a pattern for a folding lawn chair so a little trial and error was involved.

I really wanted to use black and gold to match the cushions on the glider but could only get back and green. Those are crochet hooks anchoring each end as I weave the pattern.

Here it is completed. A nice improvement. The matching chair was not chewed on but the plastic is cracking so I bought enough cord to redo it as well. I plan to run the diagonal the opposite direction so they will look like a set as I have them on either side of the small table. It may take longer to finish though as the weather is warming back up and it will only get hotter now!

This was another project I planned to do last year but was not here for. At this rate I might even get caught up with my projects! HA! That'll be the day!

Week 1 of the Recipe Challenge

This challenge has really inspired me so first I photographed the Chicken and Dumplings above to add to that recipe on the computer.



Then I had a recipe from Charleston that I planned to try tonight but one thing and another and I couldn't do that. However at the grocery store this nice lady, a total stranger, came up to me and shared this dinner idea of putting either tuna salad or chicken salad in a scooped out cantalope half. So I got out a tuna salad recipe that I wanted to try, mixed it up and put it in the cantalope as directed. It was an easy, quick and yummy dinner. It will be perfect on a hot day which today was not but that's ok, I can never have too many hot weather recipes! To top it off I typed the recipe into the computer and added a photograph so I am off to a good start thanks in part to the kindness of a stranger. Remember this when I have a week that I get behind! I am looking forward to next week and would love to hear from anyone else who would like to join the challenge.

Woolly Dryer Balls

I am trying to remember to do 'before and after' photos so here is one of the latest things I saw over at withatangledskein and wanted to try. Easy to make and they take the place of dryer sheets. My daughter wasn't interested as she likes the smell from the sheets but I buy unscented and like the idea of saving money. She did however explain (being a science coach) why these will actually work. Anyway, the two balls on the left have not been felted yet while the two on the right are ready to do their thing. I can hardly wait for laundry day to try them out! Of course I have half a dozen more waiting to be felted so I will be enjoying laundry day for the next couple of weeks. I will try to have my next before and after project photos more dramatic.

Blooming

The Cinnamon Basil has begun to bloom and they are such delicate blossoms and colors! I worried that the rain predicted for tonight might ruin them so I ran out and snapped a few quick shots. This a such a lovely time of year around here although it is beginning to warm up, but tomorrow will be cooler and I hope to do some more weeding next week.

Before and After

I ran across a beautiful woven butterfly over at Crone-Findlay Creations last week with terrific video instructions. I really wanted to save it to try another day but it can take years for those other days to arrive and I worried the video won't still be available. So I dug out an old pot holder loom, wooden spool with nails for knitting and some yarn so I could try it out. The video was great and I took lots of photos as I wanted a more permanent reference. I look forward to making the next one out of some fancier yarns but this was good for learning.

But midway through the process I was outside watering my parsley and discovered this fat fellow having lunch. It seemed so appropriate.

He did not like being touched though and popped out these bright antennae looking protrusions.

Family History in the Kitchen

I mentioned in my post on April 29th that I am photographing recipes that I previously organized and put on the computer. What I didn't mention was the stash of untried recipes I still have. I love that term - stash. It can mean a pile, a box, a drawer, a closet, a room, even a garage or basement and for most of us it covers more than one of the above. I have other stashes but we'll save those for another day.
I know I'm not alone with this recipe stash/organizing problem as I have even been given stashes of recipes from relatives. So today I am issuing a challenge to myself and anyone else willing to join me in gaining control of this stash one recipe at a time. Each week I intend to do one of the following:

1. Try a new recipe from my stash.
2. Type a recipe I have tried into my computer.
3. Photograph a food from a recipe I have already organized.
4. Throw out/give away a recipe I saved but no longer want to try.

I consider recipes a heritage. Favorite foods remind us of friends and family and special times. They are as precious as photographs to me and get equal status when it's time to move or evacuate. So join me and share your ideas and let me know what you think. I will post every week and let you know how I do as well.

Full Flower Moon

The clouds were skittering past tonight's full moon giving some very cool effects. I had never heard it called a Full Flower Moon before. Apparently that is what a full moon in May is known as. I learn something new all the time! Reminds me of sitting out under a blue moon one night chatting with my in-laws...

Bonzo

Happy Bonzo Botler Day!

This special day comes but once a month

so sure hope you enjoyed today!

Mudbugs

Yes, it is unofficially summer, at least it is on the third coast. Tonight was the neighbor's annual block party celebrating birthdays. It was rescheduled due to the flooding a couple of weeks ago. This year's music featured a younger group from around the corner. They were talented and we loved the sax! It was the usual large crowd and the light breeze with torches kept the mosquitoes down although they are large enough you feel them landing and can generally avoid being bitten. I confess I haven't yet gotten up the nerve to try the mud bugs. I am working on it. After all, I've eaten Sushi in Misawa and Escargo in Kenitra. Granted I was younger but I don't believe I have entirely lost my willingness to try new things. It's just that, well, I used to catch crawdaddies in the ditch when I was a kid. I dug nightcrawlers too and you won't catch me eating those! So...maybe next year.