The farmers market in Houston is year-round. Which makes me very happy. Almost every Saturday morning JR and I hit the bank machine for $60 dollars in cash and head to the market. That is about the average we spend every week. Probably more than if we went to the grocery store but the things we buy are locally grown and organic. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy supporting local farmers.
Here is some of what we picked up.
Strawberries are in season rightnow. We picked up 2 pints. I had envisioned making ice cream. Alas, they are gone. No, I did not make ice cream. We ate them before I had the chance to do anything fancy with them. Maybe, next week.
The leeks looked good so I picked up a bunch. Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet. This is the first week I've seen them at the market. The excellent thing about shopping at a farmers market is the opportunity to eat seasonally. I'm all for eating seasonally. I buy whatever is at the market that looks good to me then figure out what I'm going to make out of it when I get home.
It always surprises me that others don't do this. I really don't know any other way. I think it is because for most of our marriage we have cultivated a large garden so I learned to cook whatever was ripe at the time or whatever I had canned up the season before. It's a different mindset from picking a recipe then buying the ingredients. It entails having the ingredients then picking the recipe.
I bought 1 cartoon of red tomatoes and 1 cartoon of green. I've become seriously addicted to fried green tomatoes. I used 3 of the red ones in last night's pasta dinner. We had what I like to call bruschetta pasta. I make bruschetta topping, add cubes of mozzarella, a vinaigrette of fresh lemon juice and olive oil, and toss the whole thing with homemade fettuccine. Yum! I can't wait for my leftovers for lunch.
We bought a bunch of beets. JR and I are big fans of roasted beets. The first year we had a garden we planted a 20 foot row of beets. All on the same day. Big mistake. While we ate the little ones as we thinned the row the rest all ripen at the same time. We must have eaten beets every day for a month and canned up enough for 2 years. The next year we didn't plant any beets. We just couldn't face another plate of beets, in any form. Lesson learned. Stagger your plantings.
Every week or so I pick up a couple of dozen eggs. Eggs are an excellent source of protein. Plus, as a vegetarian 1 or 2 of these a week keeps that nasty B12 deficiency away. B12 deficiency is hard on the memory. Since, I eat eggs my only excuse for forgetfulness is menopause. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
I never fail to buy portabella mushrooms. At $5 per pound they are about $3 cheaper than the grocery store. I typically stuff them with a variety of veggies and cheese. I just made up a batch of very garlicy hummus yesterday. Maybe, we'll have greek stuffed mushrooms for dinner. I'll grill the mushrooms then stuff them with a bit of hummus, some kalmatta olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and feta cheese. Okay, it is official. I'm hungry now!
It's time in our area to plant tomatoes and herb starts. I bought a purple cherry tomato plant, a lemon thyme, and a flat leaf parsley plant.
And, basil. I can't really live without fresh basil and mine died 2 weeks ago in the Great Houston Freeze of 2011. 2 days of under 30 degrees will kill basil plants. It also makes the denizens of Houston think that the world is going to end.
There is my weekly shopping trip to the market. All I can say is that it is much more fun to shop there than to go to the grocery store. You really can't beat the samples.
Love,
M
PS. I haven't said it recently but it is Monday so try to go meatless today or some day this week. Thanks
Okay, I'm always thinking about history. Making it, living it, presenting it, teaching it, you name it. I believe that every day we all wake up (hopefully, if not, I'm really sorry and will be more than happy to send your family a covered dish) put our feet on the floor, go through our day and that is history. It is private, or public or personal history but history all the same. Of course, that doesn't mean that I wake up and think; "oh boy! I'm going to make history today!" It doesn't really happen that way. I doubt I will ever make the history books but then I doubt if many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence thought that they would make the history books. I could be wrong about that. I'm pretty sure they knew that what they were doing was historic but I doubt if they thought much further than; "Crap! This could get me killed but its got to be done."
With the advent of digital media just hitting the post, publish, or submit button creates history. It is that instant and can be that lasting. Websites are being archived,
tweets are being collected,
and blogs are being curated. It seems that most everything is or can be put out for public consumption and a good portion of it is kept (speaking of which, are ya'll archiving your blog posts? You should be. Think of this as a journal or diary. Someday, your children's children may want to know what grandma or grandpa were thinking, doing or saying. Old diaries are a wonderful source of social and personal history).
I am now envisioning all of you reading through your posts and tweets than frantically deleting the ones you don't want your descendants to read . Please don't think of sanitizing your posts because your future family may think; "OMG, great grandma had a potty mouth" or "Wow, I so did not need to know that grandpa had diaper rash from hell".
These dairy entries are the stuff of history. They will someday put context and individuality to our lives and social structure in the future. They will allow our descendants to 'know' us. They will make learning, researching and studying history more interesting to those that come after us. They will give people in the future a point of reference for why things are how are are in the their time.
This is so not where I was going with this post at all. I was going to talk about the history of the universities that I have attended and how they are inter-related and about the history of higher education in America. This post sort of took on a life of its own but I'm going to call it all good since this is a subject that I am passionate about.
It has made me think about my posts. About how I tend not to talk about certain subjects, such as politics, religion, family members personal issues (they can get their own blogs if they want to talk about stuff about them. This here blog is about me), and sex, though I have strong views on all of these topics. I like to think that I have reserved this space for all the flotsam that rolls around in my head. I think I'll keep it that way but maybe be a little more opening in sharing my views and feelings. Maybe, just a little less flippant. Though, if I'm to be totally honest I tend towards flippancy. I thing I've been more honest than I thought. I feel much better now.
Once again, not where I planned to go with this. Sorry.
Remember a week or so ago I put this lovely book up for grabs?
I knew you would.
Me?
Uh yeah, well about that...
I just about didn't but then I'm old.
Old people forget things.
There are a whole host of age related reasons for memory loss.
Topping the list?
Menopause. Trust me, we do not want to go there.
Again.
After traveling all last week, then catching up on 80 billion emails, then catching up but really not commenting too often on all of you (sorry about the not commenting), then cleaning my house of all dog fur and dust (breathing, I'd almost forgotten how wonderful it is) I almost forgot about the drawing.
So without further ado;
The winner is:
Laufa!!
And no, she didn't win because she complimented me on my realness.
Though compliments very hurt.
She won from the random drawing of names from a hat or in this case a cereal bowl. Sans the cereal.
Laufa, please send me your address. I promise I'll walk my lazy butt over to the student copy/mail center and ship it out. At the same time I'll send out the postcards for Capt. Dumbass that I've been carrying around the Southern United States. Hope he still wants them.
It seems that our fearless leader Keely is out of commission because of a malicious computer virus. Don't people,
and when I say people I mean those computer types that can write code
and when I say those computer types that can write code I mean the ones that can do it without drinking,
and when I say without drinking I mean alcohol,
know they should only use their code writing powers for good?
According to the stats thingy on Blogger (who I hate but I have a fairly committed relationship with mostly because I'm too lazy to cheat on it with another blog platform) one of the top ten searches that will get you to my blog this week is 'dildo attachment for a kitchenaid mixer'. This is a visual that I just can't get out of my head and one that I have given way too much thought as to the mechanics, marketing, and the disclaimer of. How to design something like this is not that hard to figure out but how do you take into account the setting up of this appliance for home use? Have you got a kitchenaid mixer? Those suckers are heavy. The contortions required to pull off this stunt would baffle a circus contortionist turned porn star. I am fairly certain that the difficult logistics would far outweigh any possible pleasure but then I maybe wrong. It certainly seems that I am with the number of people who search for this particular item.
Then I start to wonder how one would market something like this, adult stores, the internet, the kitchen supply store? Would the kitchen supply store put it behind the counter wrapped in brown paper like the magazine stores do with the Playboys? And, would anyone have the brass cojones to ask the sales associate to; ring one up for them? Would the sales associate break an eardrum holding their breath hard enough so they don't laugh? Is that a legitimate Workers Compensation injury?
What should the disclaimer say? WTF were you thinking? Using this product as it was designed may cause serious injury. Do not attempt while standing, siting, or lying down. Using the maximum speed will likely result in injury to affected area. Not designed for commercial use.
That leads me to start thinking of the battalion of lawyers that Kitchenaid would have to have on retainer because you know, sure as shit, that some idiot is going to run that baby on Kitchenaid warp speed and hurt themselves. Let the lawsuits fly! I can just hear one of the lawyers say; "your Honor I'd like to introduce the dildo in question as exhibit A, but ewwww".
See? I have spent too much time thinking of this search string.
I went on an epic house cleaning binge this weekend and I'm paying the price in sore muscles today. In this case the pain was totally worth it. I can breath now that the dog fur is gone. I swear to all things doggie that that Corgie sheds like 6 dogs. The tops of my baseboards have never looked this good. I even dusted the tops of the door frames. I KNOW! I was obsessed or possessed or something. At the end of this frenzy of domesticness everyone got a bath. Not all at the same time, of course. Me, JR, both dogs and the cat.
The indignities that this poor kittah suffers is great.
That's ta ta ta all folks. Tomorrow I'll announce the winners of the recordable book. The day after that I have another installment of My misspent youth, where I explain why I hate snakes. Then Friday is history day. See ya'll around.
PS. I'm still traveling so if I haven't visited please understand. I'll catch up over the weekend. In fact, you'll wonder why you put up with me by the end of it.
PPS. If you haven't left a comment for the recordable book giveaway don't forget to do so.
I told Becky that I was rather food driven. She said that she got that about me. I love how honest she is. We had a lovely, if expensive, meal at a Mexican place on Monday afternoon. The best thing on the plate was a creamed corn thing. It was sweet and spicy all at the same time. I need that recipe. I need to make that recipe.
On Tuesday night I walked down to this Italian place on Peachtree Street.
Baroni's.
It was wonderful!
I, of course, had the wild mushroom risotto.
It was the special.
It was the least I could do.
It was finished with truffle oil and a red wine reduction.
The earthy truffle oil played very well with the sweetness of the reduction.
I like food that plays well with others.
I was happy.
My tummy was happy,
burp.
I want it to be known that I did not lick the bowl.
I wanted to but I thought that it wouldn't look good.
There were people sitting next to me.
So, I refrained.
It was big of me, wasn't it?
What I did do was sop up all the yummy goodness with a couple of pieces of bread.
They were small pieces.
If one has to eat alone, one should eat well.
I think I'll make that my new motto. What do you think?
And, I received this adorable book in my Blissdom Prep kit.
Ha!
Some kit.
So totally like "some pig"
Guess what book that is from?
Because I'm a librariana
(Spell check that is a word. Because I said so.)
And, I must pedal my wares everywhere.
And, last but not least
Because "All the Ways I Love You"
I'm giving away my copy of this recordable storybook.
When this book showed up the first thing I thought was...GIVEAWAY! So I'm offering this book to whoever leaves a comment answering this question. What was your favorite childhood book?
According to my mother my favorite book was Humpty Dumpty. There seems there was some kind of unfortunate incident involving this book and my uncle. My mother maintains, I likened my uncle to Humpty Dumpty. Ah, the truth of children.
So here are the deets: U.S. and Canadians only. The shipping is a killer.
One comment = one chance.
Tweet it = one chance.
Put it on Facebook = one chance.
All that equals 3 chances to win. You've got to let me know about the Twitter and Facebook thing though because I'm not clever enough to figure out how to find out this info. Oh, who am I kidding...I'm too lazy.
Neither Hallmark, Blissdom, or any of the Gods of Giveaways put me up to this.
Drawing will commence Saturday the 19th. It will be a random drawing of names from a hat. There may be a dog and peanut butter involved. Just trying to let you know how things roll around here.
I spend a lot of time on my computer, whether at work or at home, and a good portion of that time is spent on the internet. And while, I am definitely not a very good programmer (I tend to get crabby if my code doesn't work the first time, then I start to drink which ensures that my code won't work any other time.) but I am a pretty savvy computer software user. Usually it only takes me a couple of times using a particular piece to figure out most, if not all, of it's secrets. With the exception of Blogger.
Maybe it is because I started this blog with the thought of becoming one of the thousands, dare I say millions, of blogs that start and stop within a 6 month period. (did you know that someone did a study that found that most blogs are started, then the blogger gets tired of thinking crap up all the time and stops, usually within about 6 months? Also, that there are like a bazillion blogs. No one actually knows how many.)
Maybe it is because this is not something I do for work. I don't have to know anything about the whys and wherefores of my blog platform.
Maybe, it is because Blogger is a pain in the butt. Totally not out of the realm of possibility.
Whatever the reason, I figured out something new, exciting and potentially scary (for you). Did you know that you can sort your posts? Of course, you did but I didn't. I just scrolled and scrolled, and hit next page until I found that one draft post that I had started but didn't finish but now I wanted to. (I spent some quality time in the Midwest so it's okay if I end a sentence in a preposition.)
This is what my edit page looks like:
See the posts all default by date. Cool but it's not really going to help me. I was looking for a post that I had started quite awhile ago. One that I could finish up really quickly because, uh well, I'm lazy and I post at 5:30 in the morning? Whatever the reason, I needed a particular post.
WTH Blogger? I had a screenshot here with a circle around the word 'draft' but Blogger ate it.
I know it is really small but what it says is Your posts: All, Drafts, Scheduled, Imported, Published. To tell you the truth I never ever looked at this line. I had figured out a system for myself over the last 3 years of posting and never felt the need to investigate the software further. I took a chance and clicked on the Drafts.
Look what popped up?
It's like magic (as my mother calls anything that I help her with on her computer). All my draft posts on one page. Now, I'll get to finish all those half started posts that probably were going to be as mundane as this post. How awesome for all of us. :)
So that's it. My new discovery. It doesn't mean that I hate Blogger any less. It just means, well, nothing actually. I just wanted to share.
First thing I Stumbled Upon this morning. Do nothing for 2 minutes this is a lot harder that is sounds. Go ahead and try it. We can we 2 minutes... Did you make it for the whole two minutes?
I love my phone but I hate Hate HATE the auto spell feature. Looks like I'm not alone.
Painting progress
Step 1 & 2: draw out the basic shapes and start to paint it in.
Step 2 & 3: paint some more
Little more work on the hair and ear to go.
New painting table. My back will thank me.
Everyone uses a 100 year old child's chair for a work seat, right?
And, everyone has a purple and gold Christmas ornament hanging from a piece that their dad carved so that the Feng Shui is right, right?
Go forth and multiply randomly. That's not right. Go forth and randomly multiply? No that's not right either. How about, just go visit other randomers.
Love,
M
PS: I'll be in the Washington DC area in March and quite possibly NYC if I can find a couch to sleep on.
I know!
I was as shocked as you that I pulled this one off. A recipe? One I made up as I went along? What are the odds? Pretty slim it seems, since, it's been quite awhile since I posted a recipe. I thought I'd throw this one out there see where it landed.
With my travel schedule it is sometimes hard to put food on the table let alone something that I made up on my own. Why is it that my family thinks they need to eat? Do they think it magically appears on the table? Yes, yes they do.
Sunday was JR's birthday. I won't mention how old he is now but let's just say that retirement age is not so much creeping up on him as it is roaring up on a Harley. At our age we don't make a big fuss out of birthdays. We have or can go out and buy whatever we want so there is none of that gift angst anymore but I like to do something a little special for him. In that spirit I made him one of his favorite breakfasts...french toast.
Not just any french toast but cranberry walnut french toast with homemade cranberry syrup. I know, I give and I give. HA! The day before I found a loaf of cranberry walnut bread on the day old bread shelf at the grocery store. I immediately thought of french toast. So I snapped up that loaf of bread like it was a Running of the Brides sale at Filene's Basement. I paid .89 cents for this cranberry walnut loaf of love. JR didn't need to know that he was getting discounted breakfast for his birthday.
Then Sunday morning I discovered that we had no maple syrup. Oh groovy! No syrup for the french toast. This could have been a birthday breakfast disaster but no! I saved the day by making syrup.
If you are on some sort of diet you are going to want to stay clear of this or do what I do...use moderation. I'm not sure if you can use artificial sweetener but I don't see why not. Here is my recipe that I made up on the fly, if you want to change it up be my guest. That's cool.
Cranberry Syrup
1 1/2 cup cranberry juice cocktail (I had diet Ocean Spray on hand)
1/2 cup orange juice (straight out of the carton. JR buys it that way. Without champagne in it I don't really do OJ.)
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Craisins
1/4 cup or so corn starch
Combine cranberry juice cocktail, orange juice, sugar and Craisins to a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Turn down heat to low and let syrup gently boil, stirring frequently to prevent it from burning. Boil for 15 minutes or until sugar completely dissolves and Craisins plump up. Take off of the heat. Whisk in corn starch a little at a time. It will thicken up as it cools down so don't be generous with the corn starch. You can also use arrowroot if you are not into corn starch. Corn starch and arrowroot thicken in cool liquids. Spoon over french toast while it is still warm. Eat. You will have to remind yourself of the moderation rule because this stuff is Yummy!
This sounds really sweet but the craisins and cranberry juice cuts the sugar sweetness. We started talking about all the other things we thought it would be good with, such as;
turkey (JR's contribution)
grilled tofu (mine)
pork tenderloin (JR again)
grilled romaine lettuce (me)
I'm sure you can think of many other savory dishes where a semi-sweet sauce would work well.
Love,
M
It's not really Saturday but what the Elmore!
This will be my page to go to if you want a painting on commission. I'll pretty it up as I go along.
Paintings on Commission
Have you got a photograph that calls to you? A mountain house, a special beach you like to walk on? A contemplative picture of your child? Your beloved pet? Need a gift for grandma? Something that she already hasn't got about 12 of already? I can help with that.
What about a photograph in painted in oil on canvas?
Here's all the particulars.
Size: 11" x 14" is standard size for the price quoted below. If you want something larger we'll talk.
Examples:
Testimonials: This is the amazing part. People like them. A lot.
Price:(you did know this was coming) paintings start at $125 for the 11 x 14 (includes shipping in the United States and Canada. Add $25 for places outside of North America) U.S. currency only. There is that crazy exchange rate thing that just baffles me. I'm a librarian and a painter not a mathematician.
How to order: Email your name, address where you would like the painting sent (please indicate if it is a gift or not), and the photograph you want painted to reillypaintings@gmail.com. Send the payment in the form of a money order to me. I'll send, via email, the address to send the payment. If the photograph is in print just email me something to that effect. We'll work out the details.
One of a kind: I won't be doing another painting from the image you send unless you want more than one. There will be a price reduction for the second one. Please remember that they are one of a kind so multiple paintings of one photograph will look different.
Give them time: Paintings take time. Please allow about 8 weeks from the time I start the painting (I'll let you know when I start a painting. In fact, I'll probably send you photographs of the progress of the painting. Most likely, I'll fall totally in love with the painting thereby ensuring that I will fill up your inbox with photos.).
Disclaimer: (you knew this was coming)
Refunds:
There are no refunds. Sorry to be so blunt but I just don't want to get into a hassle about this part.
I was a Girl Scout. You're shocked, I know. Not only was I a Girl Scout but I was a Girl Scout in Oklahoma City when I was 10. I can't really say whether I was a good Girl Scout or not. I'll let you be the judge.
In 1970 our Girl Scout troop sold so many boxes of cookies we were able to go to camp for free. It was awesome. All of us girls and a few mom's went off into the woods of Oklahoma (wherever that is) to camp.The camp site included a lodge type thing where the mom's slept and cooked. All of us girls slept in these strange tent things. I was a Northern girl and had never seen canvas tents on stilted wooden platform bases in my entire life. In the Pacific Northwest when you slept in a tent it sat on the ground not perched of the side of the hill. These were more like huts built into the hills, on stilts, with wooden floors, and canvas tops and sides. Strange, huh?
Our tent, the one my friend Carolyn and I slept it, was built into the side of the hill like all the rest. Where the canvas met the platform there was a gap of about 6 inches or so. Loose canvas, large gap, small girls, this is vital information remember. Just setting the stage.
If I remember correctly, there were very few rules. Just your basics; stay with the group, follow the rules of the facility and NO food in your tent. That was the big one. NO FOOD IN YOUR TENT! The theory was that food attracted animals. Animals are bad. Animals would... I'm not sure what, nibble on your toes? Anyway, this was the rule that was drilled into our heads. Carolyn and I were sure that very bad things would happen if anyone in our tent had food.
We found out that Sandy was a rule breaker. She was a rebel that didn't believe the NO FOOD rule. She was destined to get us all in trouble, infested with and bitten by animals. She kept candy in the bottom of her sleeping bag. Carolyn and I could not let this flagrant violation of the rules slide. Something had to be done. Something bold, something meaningful, something that would teach Sandy the lesson that she deserved. We thought long and hard. Then we came up with our evil plan teachable moment.
Our plan was simple.
1. While Sandy and the rest of the troop were eating Carolyn and I would stay back in the tent/platform-tent-like-structure.
2. We got all of the candy out of the bottom of Sandy's sleeping bag. We ate most of it (hey! we were 10).
3. We put a few of the wrappers back in the bottom of Sandy's sleeping bag.
4. We put a few of the stuffed animals that all 10 year old girls take to camp in the bottom of Sandy's sleeping bag.
5. We kept our mouths shut.
Later that evening, when all the girls in our tent were getting ready for bed Carolyn and I could hardly wait until Sandy crawled into her sleeping bag. We were pretty sure she would scream. We were pretty sure she would try to get out of her bag as soon as possible. What we couldn't have predicted was what happened next.
Sandy crawled into her bag. Her feet meet the crumbled candy wrappers and furry stuffed animals. She screamed bloody murder. She thrashed around so violently in an effort to get out of her sleeping bag that she rolled off of her cot. She rolled off not towards the middle of the tent but towards the edge of the tent. Where the canvas part of the tent met the wood of the platform. Still in her sleeping bag she slipped between the tent and the platform, fell about 4 feet to the ground, then rolled 30 feet to the bottom of the hill. All the while she was screaming and thrashing. It was hilarious!
Carolyn and I laughed our heads off. We stood at the top of the tent steps with tears running down our faces. The other girls were screaming, crying, and laughing (because Sandy was kind of stuck up). If it happened now I would pee my pants laughing (TMI? What? I've had a couple of kids and I'm old! It happens.)
The mom's came running out of the lodge, frantic that one of the girls left in their care was being attacked by some vicious animal. They pulled Sandy out of her sleeping bag. One mother tried to calm her down while the other moms tried to evict the feral beast from her sleeping bag.
That is when they realized that her bag was infested with empty candy wrappers and someone's plush toy.
Sandy was ushered into the lodge where she was cossetted and comforted. The girls in our tent were scolded halfheartedly by our mothers (it wasn't until much later that our mothers found out it was Carolyn and I who set up the prank). The night passed in relative quiet after that; though I'm sure Sandy is still traumatized 40 years later.
My mom said later that as we were taking a hike we met up with another girl scout troop. The troop leader was all gossipy. She told my mom that she had heard that some "girl" was bitten by an animal that was in her sleeping bag. The "girl" had to be taken to the hospital. The "girl" had made the mistake of hiding candy in her sleeping bag don'cha know. The troop leader hoped that the "girl" and her troop had learned their lesson. My mom said that it was all she could do not to laugh.
My mom and I still laugh about it today.
The moral of this story is; don't be snotty and selfish. Share the candy that you are hiding in your sleeping bag or you may be the one that rolls down the hill. Or maybe not.
There you have another little slice of my misspent youth. Did any of you go to Girl Scout camp? Was it as fun as my experience?
This Random Tuesday Thoughts thing is like an international phenomenon.
If Keely really is serious about world domination than this is her inroad and I'm one of her minions.
Those of us that went to Blissdom are still talking about it and probably will for awhile yet. I'll try to be brief.
Beth and Becky with a giant raisin.
I'm sure this needs no explanation.
Becky with standing instrument playing horses.
Yep, no explanation here either.
Mary Anne's dinner.
My dinner
Once again, no explanation needed.
Text from JR: "new record tripper a six bagger ness a no bagger"
My reply: "That dog is no longer full of shit"
I like to pass this information along as a public service. If you are ever walking in the park on a Saturday morning and see a tall man with a short fat dog you are going to want to watch where you step. Sometimes JR runs out of poop bags.
One last thing. I'll be putting up a page for commissioned paintings sometime this week. I've looked around a bit to find out how much others are charging and it's outrageous. I plan to charge enough to feel like it is a win win for both the parties in this transaction. I need to start at least covering my costs. So if you are interested watch for it. Thanks - over and out.
Okay, that's it for me. Please take a moment to visit any or all of the wonderful bloggers that play along with this crazy game.
