In the garden

I've said it many times, gardening is all about hope, patience, and some kind of faith.     Whenever I plant a seed, I hope it sprouts, then I have to have patience that it will prosper, and faith that it will make it to harvest!     Basil is our story today.   It lives warm and cool and water, lots of water!

Can you guess what I'll be making over the next few days?    More pesto cubes!

 Tonight caprese salad with pesto pork chops.   Yum!

July 2021

July 2021.  The amount of laughter in our house has increased immensely, due to the addition of two kittens.  Our dog Sauk has anxiety issues.  He was in need of a buddy, and when my sister’s cat charlotte had kittens – we had the kids pick two as playmates for Sauk.  So far, a week later, we have no regrets.  Addy (withthe mustache) and Marilyn are 10 weeks old this week, and they are settling in quite nicely into our family.   Addy is the mustache cat, she is very inquisitive and loves to be wherever you are.   Marilyn is a little bit more independent, but she loves to snuggle up to Sauk when she first wakes up.   The adventures of these two are going to be inspiration for my blog and beyond for years to come!   

I must admit, I’ve not been cooking or reading too much lately.  We went thru a heatwave that made eating hot food undesirable.  Now that we're back to our normal July weather - I'm ready to dive in to some creative dishes!   As far as reading goes, I did sign up for Kindle Unlimited, but feel that I just don’t have time to sit and read and do nothing else.   My time lately is filled with constant cleaning, organizing – both inside and outside.  I did finish the a new Nora Roberts - which felt great to read and relax.    My goal for the rest of July is to take at least a few hours each week and sit and read something.   It may be a magazine or a book, but it helps ease my mind from all the jumbled thoughts in my head.

Outside, the garden was planted late due to the greenhouse construction.  It’s still not fully done, but it’s done for now and thus the plants are growing at a wonderful rate!   We have tons of squash planted, tomatoes, cukes, greens, garlic, onions, peppers and herbs.   I have a few more late season items to plant, re-do the outter fence to keep the chickens out, and plant fall flower seeds.

We did loose one of our beloved hens due to the end of June  heatwave.  It was 113 degrees, and the humidity was so high it was hard to breathe.  The hens were brought inside for a day, and one of our girls has yet to being laying again as she was on the verge of death herself.  Violet was our best layer, and she is missed much by the remaining three (picutre left to right is Biggie, Sweet Pea and Milly)   We are looking towards the fall when it's our plan to get a few pullets to add to the flock.    These ladies do more than just lay eggs -they are our natural pest control, fertilizers, and compost makers.     

We had a family visit over Independence day weekend, and the weekend after.  This visit was put off last year due to Covid-19.  We had a blast, and ended up doing a full seafood spread with local oysters, clams and a seafood chowder.   We had so many oysters leftover that I made a spread for the 5th of July bbq.    I must say I did it pretty well and I feel it will be a crowd pleaser for those that enjoy oysters!  I didn't get picture of the spread, so you'll have to use your imagination. 

Oyster  Spread

Courses:  Condiments  and  sauces

Ingredients

1 cup  Cooked  Oysters

1/2  cup  Cooked  Steamer  clam  meat  

8  oz cream  cheese,  softened

1/3  cup  sour  cream 1/3  cup  parmesan  cheese  -  shredded  or  grated

1/2  tsp  marinated  garlic

Salt

Pepper

Worstershire  Sauce

2  TBSP chopped  Green  Onion

1 TBSP Olive  Oil

Milk  or  half  and  half  (to  thin)

Optional:  Hot  Sauce

 

Directions

Rinse  clams  and  Oysters  to  remove  any  grit

Add  to  food  processor:  seafood,  cream  cheese,  parm,  sour  cream,  olive  oil,  and  garlic

Pulse  a  few  times  to  combines

Add  a  few  shakes  of  worstershire  sauce,  green  onions,  pulse  again

Check  for  consistency  -  if  too  thick,  add  a  splash  of  milk

Process  on  low  for  30  seconds

Add  salt  and  pepper  to  taste

Taste  test  again  -  adjust  seasonings  to  your  preference.  If  too  thick,  add  another  splash  of milk.

Process  another  15  to  30  seconds  until  smooth.  Do  not  overmix.

Transfer  to  a  bowl.

Cover  and  chill  for  30  minutes  to  an  hour. Serve  cool  with  crackers,  crudités,  or  pita  chips

Notes

Will  keep  in  fridge  for  up  to  3  days

Cook  Oysters  on  the  grill  a  day  before  for  the  best  flavor.  Ok  to  substitute  them  for  jarred (glass  or  plastic)  oysters.

Use  extra  small,  small,  or  medium  sized  oysters.

 

Upcoming in the next chapter - the cookbook progress, and what's growing in the garden!

May update; Reading, Greenhouse and more

Let's try this again.  I wrote out a beautiful piece about how I have bought more ebooks than print books this year, how I loved and laughed at the Addison Holmes Mystery series by Liliana Hart; how my greenhouse was coming along and in trying to help my tablet, I closed this app and lost all of my work.   

First world problems, right? I may be frustrated right in this moment, but it will pass.  So let me catch you up.  I originally found Liliana Hart via her Gravedigger series, which lead me to read the JJ Grave Series - which is ebook only.  I bought an Amazon Fire 7 thinking it would be a good tablet (it wasn't), which it ultimately became my Kindle.   The battery life on the Fire sucks.  It barely lasts a day,  not even being used due to the ads that wake it up.  It won't stay off while charging and takes the old charger and is like a trickle.  Do you know how frustrating it is to watch your battery drain as you reach a real steamy part of your book (not that I would consider these housewife level steamy, but there is a lot of insinutating and I have an active imagination).  At least with a print book I don't even worry about charging or dropping it, or if I accidently spill a bit of coffee during laughter.   

I will definetly recommend the Addision Holmes books to anyone needing a good series to laugh along with -but it comes with a warning. You will crave ice cream.  I woke up one morning after a dream I purchased a full boat banana split at Dairy Queen.    Yup, you guessed it - I went to the store and bought all the ingredients to make such a dessert.  It was wonderful - see for yourself.

The only downfall to reading though, is that you can't multi-task as much.   It's hard to read and do house chores, and forget about chicken and garden chores.   The ladies would rather try and eat the kale plants than sit quietly and read with me.    

Speaking of gardens - the greenhouse frame is up.   We were just talking about rafters, and all I can think about is how many herb boxes I'll need, and routered plant signs, and a kitchen herb box in front.  There are so many choices  of what to build first and what to plant and so forth.  I'm just excited to have an enclosed space to start garden plants away from the hungry little monsters that lay us breakfast.

Greenhouse progress.

Looking back to plan for the future

Here we are, a year later from last year.   Life has changed a bit - but not always for the worst.   We are  about to start prepping for Irish Feast Week - just like last year.   Garden veggies are being planned, seeds started, yard cleanup, and with more sunlight and warmth, the flora and fauna are budding.   

Feast week is about saying good  bye to Winter, hello to Spring and Hope for whatever comes next.

So what does come next?  It felt like last year, things were changing so much, I like to say it was "fluid".   If you were resistant, then you hit the wall and got a headache.  But, if you were fluid, your stress was less and you didn't have a constant headache.    We have always been a couple who has never been afraid of work, or trying things ourselves.  We have chickens, our dog, our gardens, and am hoping to complete our new outdoor bbq patio this year.   Doing things ourselves has never been an issue.

With this upcoming Irish Feast Week, I am planning on writing down and taking pictures to include it in my still a work in progress cookbook.   Things that may or may not be made, sausage rolls, cheddar drop biscuits, irish cream, champ, beets, steamed cabbage and carrots, and of course, corned beef.  Dishes we have done in the past, and know they are our classic American-Irish favorites.  

As always, on the Sunday of Irish Feast week, I like to take a few moments and reflect on the ending season and look forward to the coming Spring and Summer.  My family is so spread out  -with the closest relative over an hour away, so we dont get many guests unless its something long planned.  Plus with the pandemic, we're not able to gather.   I am missing having people over - planning for dinner, laughing, and making memories.  We do have one guest planned for this week, B's mom is coming to celebrate!  This is her first time being with us for St. Patrick's day, so I can't wait to share this special holiday with her.  

Looking forward, new varities of tomatoes are started - greenhouse designs are still being worked on, fuscia's are budding, and I am hearing more birds returning.  Knowing how last year was more like an isloation experiment, we are looking for this year to start adding in more things - people, pets, features, and even a new business!   

What are you looking forward to most for the upcoming season?

Spring Planning 2021

Sitting at home, in the chair while looking out at my front gardens, I dropped the maeer and did my seed order today.   What surpised me most was that I had more flower and herbs in my cart than vegetables.  Maybe that's because I have been saving seeds for quite some time.  I tend to be shifting to a more all around garden - herbs, vegetables, fruits, and flowers.   Who knows - maybe I'll make my own set of teas.

Looking forward to spring, new growth, new plants and rethinking my garden plan.   

2021 has been a wild ride thus far, but we're looking forward to this summer, yard projects, our annual gumbo night festivities, new dishes, and hopefully some new furniture (built by us).

I am still working on my cookbook project too.  One recipe I've been developing is our Salisbury steak.   

A top quality beef, egg, spices, cracker crumb, onion, garlic browned then simmered in a mushroom onion gravy, and topped with fresh picked parsley.  I won't post up the recipe as I still have some work to do.  But I'll give y'all a picture.  The answer to curious minds, yes I licked the spoon.