This morning I am baking bread, making sorbet, and bagging up pizza dough. I will deliver these to three farms. My goal is to give farmer friends things that take time to prepare (when they have little extra time or energy this busy of year) for some faster food. I make sorbet from culled fruit frozen last season. Fruit is in short supply this time of year, but this first heat seems to make us …
Each week – rain or shine – I go to my local farmers market where I can buy food from the next generation. I know them, I have visited their farms, I know how they grow my food, and I want them to survive. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARMERS!
What am I doing at 7:30 a.m. when I have an evening invitation and the forecast is for a blistering hot day? The story starts long ago when we had some rain as Ken was starting to harvest melons. First the bottoms got a bit soft, so Ken set the melons up on empty tuna cans so they would stay dry. But some got soft enough that picnic beetles bored into them. Once we cut …
I like liver. Ken, not so much. But when we butchered chickens and had 20 or more livers he would make his version of pate – LOTS of mustard. I am happy to have access to liver from healthy animals! Here is my recipe: brown some liver on both sides, remove from heat and cook some chopped onion in the pan. Deglaze with some sherry. Combine with mustard – to taste – and mayonnaise, salt …
I have been eating great greens from the farmers market. As the week ends, I look at what remains. When I get over enthusiastic about greens, I wilt them so I can finish them up. Here are some beet greens and a couple green onions Chop Here is a bit of sausage and the onions Add greens and wilt ; they will turn bright green and shrink – just a minute or two Add a …
Remember the necks that I knit this past winter? Well, there were plenty of small amounts left from that project. First I knit a “rainbow” neck. Then I got myself a 4″ x4″ pin loom. I have been making small squares from the the left over yarn Eventually I will put them all together for a blanket. It’s a great summer project – no huge hot afghan all over me – and also a great …
First it was the daisies on the side of the drive Then the irises. Bless them for staying ahead of the weeds – I haven’t with this year’s mosquito population at an all time high Then the wild roses And the valerian is starting to open Flowers are in almost every direction I look! No peonies yet, though
It had been a quiet, but good day. I had felt less of the residual neck pain and headache from the shingles. I went to the laundromat. My clarinet lesson had gone well. I had done some cleaning. My day went fine until some time after six. I was in a t shirt and underwear and a woman came banging on my door wanting to buy pots in spite of having seen the closed sign. …
Since Ken’s death, I have avoided dance music and dancing. I am just not ready – yet. But I love music. People who visit often comment that there is always music playing here. As a kid I chose dance lessons over music lessons. Since I find myself rebuilding my life, I think about positive things to do and try; I decided learning to play music would be not only enjoyable, but good for my brain …
Now that I live alone, I spend more time on the phone and in front of screens. Sometimes, I confess, I eat a meal while I read email. Recently a little furry friend has taken to napping on the chair by the computer. It may just be the right chair or the right temperature (the sun has gotten hot in the last week), but I take the opportunity to question whether I need to sit …
