A Most Joyful Fall

Rain, beautiful rain.

It came in gently and has lingered for weeks, sometimes with winds and thunder, sometimes constant and with a promise to give that long deep drenching the earth needs.

The garden is out now, except for a green pepper plant which had so many flowers on it I just couldn't bring myself to pull it. Today's yield will become part of the chile verde sauce simmering on the stove.

Audrey the artichoke has been trimmed back and will eventually join her offspring that are doing well under the olives. We have plans to build a shelter with sunscreen fabric for the searing summer sun. A mister system is in the works as well. It is an experiment to see if we can make our area hospitable for the tender, cool weather plants.

Meanwhile, fall has come, and winter.  We were given a 26 lb Cinderella (baking) pumpkin and it was my first go at making homemade pumpkin puree. It was so good we were eating slivers from the raw pumpkin as it was cut apart. We ended up with 19 cups of pumpkin puree to freeze for soups, cookies, pies and breads.

The electric temporary fence is up all around and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the sheep for the neighbor's alfalfa fields.  It has been a wonderful winter so far.  The leaves litter the drive and we let them. The road down the way has a dip that floods, but otherwise we've had nothing more serious than muddy paws.

Christmas is nearly here, and the tree is trimmed with vintage style dog-proof ornaments and anchored with bricks. This is Lily's first tree up close and she pulls out the tree skirt every day and sticks her head in the branches to look around. She's turned on and off the tree a couple of times - that dog always seems to delight us. Sammy and she sleep together curled up like Yin and Yang.

We missed the olive harvest by a month with it coming early and me not paying attention to the seasonal changes because of the drought. But our neighbor's tree was loaded and he didn't have any plans for them, so we will have more in the brine for summertime.

This is Resolution Season. There are plenty of things left on the chores list, and the temptation is to focus and resolve to whittle them down. But this year we aren't wasting our resolution on that.

Twenty-Fifteen will be the year of Real Time visits.  Of taking care of ourselves.

No more leaning solely on technology to keep in touch, and taking the lazy way out. We will be ~

Entertaining more
Savoring our visits more
Traveling more for fun

We're not concerned about the work / life balance. We're concerned about engaging better to life outside the farm. So this year count on putting an actual date on the calendar, instead of saying we really should get together more and forgetting to do it. Know we'll be planning a meal, sending a map, washing the dogs and spending quality time in person.  That's a promise.

And thanks again, Santa, for bringing me my wish for everyday rain. It surely hits the spot.

Audrey

I like to rise and stretch awake as I gaze out the back window at the garden. Even now, as the plants are half crusty brown with little green struggling tomatoes, it is a beautiful testament to the soil and sun, and the rinky-dink drip system the Hubs and I installed to keep water flowing in the drought.

I've been itching to get in there and clean things out, but the peppers were still producing and the Japanese eggplant and it seemed like they were asking for a little longer.

We had a solid, fill-the-buckets kind of rainstorm on Friday.  I stood in the courtyard at work,  face toward the sky, arms outstretched, palms up, with a great big smile.  I drove home with the radio off, listening to the slap of the wipers, the tinny taps of raindrops on the roof.  The sky was every color of grey, black and white and I gazed at the drops gain weight and trickle down the driver's side window. How I have longed for the smell, the sound, the promise of rain.

On Saturday the ground was still damp with the soil the color of dark mocha, and we tackled those giant tomato plants that had interwoven with one another and spilled out onto the walkways as if making a run for the gate. We harvested what we could and reluctantly pulled everything except for Audrey.

Audrey presents a special problem. She is a beautiful and robust plant and takes up most of a 4x8 raised planter box. All too late did we discover the mistake of planting her in a full sun garden. She cannot tolerate our style of hot, dusty endless summers. She is a coastal plant that needs the moist ocean air and cool breezes to make big, tender, flavorful artichokes.  She produces big and promising artichokes in the late winter and spring, but they are tough.

I'm attached to this plant.  We have been told a full size artichoke is unlikely to survive a transplant, but we will try -- into a big earthenware pot on wheels to move her seasonally into the shade or to a greenhouse where she can enjoy some gentle morning mist and temperature control.  If I know Audrey, she'll probably do well.

Top Awardees, 2014

At the end of the season when the plants are about ready, and the last of the edibles are safely tucked away in the kitchen to become something luscious, I park myself out in the garden. The little repurposed bench with peeling paint has been there all season to set vegetables on, hold treats and the chuck it for the balls I toss into the yard and rest in the heat.
Today I am taking stock, trying to remember as I look at the overgrown, worn out plants, how small and promising they were back in March. We'd had an unseasonably warm winter and planted early. The garden was composed and ready soil then, needing something productive to do.  The perfectly weeded walkways were covered in tanbark and now are covered by long leggy branches heavy with green and ripening tomatoes. I have really enjoyed the harvest, learning what to do with it, looking forward to the gifts it gives to the family.

This garden did even better than the first. It lasted a lot longer, for sure. Our first garden was planted late in May. I think Green Acres Nursery with their huge selection of non-GMO heirloom veggies and knowledge staff played a big role this year. More than once they talked us off the ledge when we had whitefly troubles. Their recommendation of a spray of water, white vinegar and a drop of dawn dishwashing liquid seemed to help. We bought our ladybugs there, too.

2014 Garden Awards

Most Surprising:  The salsa pepper plant produced literally hundreds of shiny green and red peppers of varying heat. It had no other identification on the card other than 'Salsa Pepper'. Canned in chile verde, pickled, and generally loved and appreciated in every dish we could imagine.

Biggest Dud:  The tomatillo bushes grew like wildfire and produced pods for the tomatillos to grow, but nothing grew beyond a bud. We'll trim her back, trellis and fertilize them and see what next year brings. Maybe they're in the wrong spot.

Most Prolific: We had just one Japanese Eggplant, thank God. Last year's plant produced maybe 8 this year it produced at least 4x that, and is still growing strong. I took 6 eggplants off the vine last week. Having full sun with late afternoon shade proved to be the key here.

The Big Bummer:  For the second year in a row, not very many zukes grew even though there were tons of flowers. The fruit forms, it grows an inch or two, it turns yellow and rots. They are plentiful in the stores. I'm thinking we'll give this a rest.

Best New Plant:  The Pepperoncini produced copious amounts but not enough to pickle and can them as we wanted, because Operator Error planted just one. Next year...

Biggest Faux Pas:  Planting artichoke plants in full sun in a hot climate.  Audrey is too big to transplant now and takes up an entire 4x8 raised bed.  She produced a lot in the winter but they were really tough. We took cuttings and they are doing better under the shade of the olives but I'm not hopeful unless we can devise a mister system to duplicate coastal conditions. Maybe not worth it.

Most Consistently Amazing:  We say it too much, but the Armenian cucumbers just blow us away.  Tons of them, all spring and summer long, big on flavor, crispness, last days and days in the fridge, and they grow huge. Two plants produced probably 100 cukes. I've pickled them, made a fresh tomato vinaigrette salad with 'em, given tons away. They are my favorite plant, other than tomatoes.

And Now on to My Favorite Topic: Tomatoes.
Top awards are for Beefsteak (size and viney fresh meatiness), Black Beauty (not prolific, but what a delicious rich and sweet flavor), and Abe Lincoln (not overly large, but oh the flavor, volume, color, texture). 

Big lessons from Garden 2014.  There were a lot of successes, but still mulling over the other side of things. The Romas bombed and last year didn't do very well either. Maybe a sunny / shady afternoon spot and try them there. The Jetsetter was planted late to replace the Romas and had a modest yield this fall. It won't ever hit its stride before winter.

The Biggest Water Lesson. It was driven home with this hot, hot dry summer the importance of consistent watering like we do with the garden. The corn never rooted, due to lack of water. The Rhubarb never even sprouted. The boysenberries are struggling - not sure if it is the location or just a water issue. I need to spend some time doing research over the winter.

Off Season Projects. Finalize and put into action a greenhouse design. Get a handle on the water cycles for the nectarine and apricot this winter with a drip system in by spring, so we don't have to start from scratch. Devise something also for the olives, fig and pomegranates and get an irrigation specialist to make it permanent and underground.
 

Flavor Up!

It's been the kind of growing season that will become folklore: tomatoes planted on March 31st are still going strong in October. Peppers and Japanese Eggplant, too.

The only problem is we're kind of sauced out by this point, have tons of tomatoes sliced and frozen, lots of canned sauce in the pantry, frozen in bags whole, stewed and chile verde made from the green ones and the tomatillos, and we've eaten them fresh every day all summer.

I cooked them down with some olive oil, and decided to try making tomato paste. We don't really use tomato paste but were told it tastes NOTHING like what is available in the stores. It was worth a try.

So, 16 quarts of fresh, quartered tomatoes made eight quarts of sauce that eventually became this wonderful, just-dip-a-piece-of-French-bread-and-eat-it-right-from-the-jar bruschetta. You're going to love it. Fresh bruschetta is good, and we love that, too - but this - as a gift for holiday entertaining - is amazing.

HOLIDAY GIFT BRUSCHETTA

16 qts fresh tomatoes, quartered in a stock pot (adjust recipe for volume)
1 whole head of garlic
7 yellow onions
Fresh herbs - sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, parsley, basil
Fresh pesto if you have it
Pepper, salt
Fresh chives

Cook down the tomatoes and put through the juicer, skins and all. Transfer to 8 qt stock pot, continue to cook on med low.

In a sauté pan, add cleaned, rough sliced garlic and onions, clean and add fresh herbs in big handfuls, to taste.  When sautéed adequately, add skins and seeds from the juicer and Cuisinart on high to pulverize until nearly smooth. Add to sauce. (We waste nothing.)

Taste as you go - add fresh pesto for deeper flavor, if needed (we had a 4 oz jar of freshly made, and added it)

350 oven. Lay out rimmed baking sheets and wide flat baking dishes - enough for 3 shelves in the oven.  Ladle sauce into each pan to cover the bottom and up some on the sides. A little tip: the sauce will cook down more evenly if all the pans have approximately the same depth of sauce. 

Set the timer for 30 minutes, rotate position of each pan, mix sauce and watch so it does not burn. Continue at 30 minute intervals. When sauce thickens to a deeper red color and reduces by 30%, it is ready. You can tell by the nice spreadable texture and chunks of herbs peeking through. Spoon into canning jars and process 15 minutes in a water bath canner. Cool. Label.

For those wanting to continue on to the tomato paste phase, I'd recommend turning down the temp to300 and continue baking until sauce reduces by 50% or more, and it has a thick, savory texture. Follow instructions for canning.

Tip: have a plate a cookies out, because the kitchen aromas will draw people into the kitchen like a magnet.

Spray 'n Play

The study of plant extracts and essential oils is calling my name, after I have snubbed it for most of the year.  Life -- real life, the stuff you need to focus on like work and commitments -- completely took center stage and I just couldn't find the time to play in the dining room lab.

Boring stuff to most people, but not to me. I've missed trying to figure it all out as we build toward a successful product. The Hubs is still cheerful about being a guinea pig for the formulas, and when the repellent stock dwindles, as it is now, there's no putting off cracking open the leather bound ledger of scribbles and scrawls, the one we keep in the safe like it has the formula of Coke written inside. Hey, when we dream, we dream big.

I'll be digging in the back of the closet to find the bag of bottles to fill and tag. I'll be hauling out the old 1920s Hamilton Beach mixer that smells of oil and dust as it emulsifies a batch, that we found at a yard sale for $2.  In our little speckled kitchen, I will do these things and imagine not being able to keep up with the orders if we really hit on something effective and safe, and wouldn't that be a great problem to have?  And I worry that we'll never settle on just one final recipe after so many revisions and be satisfied.

All we want ... is for it to work well in the mountains and Everglades, and pass muster in real use situations like camping, hiking, and after being tossed into the glovebox of a hot car for 6 months.  Dogs need to be able to safely lick it off your leg, because they will.  Oh, and have a name ... other than Bug Mud.

The girls and I play ball with a persistent swarm of mosquitos that trail around behind us hoping for a meal, and I say to myself, you have to get back to that repellent recipe, and let's keep moving, girls! We don't often squirt ourselves with repellent just for the few minutes we're outside at this time of year because it's too hot to play ball for very long. Still, with reports that West Nile cases are up sharply in our area, we need to rethink that.

Mosquito Vector is on speed dial, and whenever we call they are extremely responsive, and say they'll do a nice spraying for us, and they always come out. BUT! One morning last week one of their employees stopped by for a treatment while I happened to be still at home, and he didn't observe me observing him work. He haphazardly sprayed a little squirt here, a little squirt there, and headed on to the next farm. The abandoned pool next door is finally empty in the drought but you can't tell by the mosquito population. Beats me how they can thrive in a drought. The Vector guy probably understands better than we do the losing battle, but still.

So this weekend I vow to make time for experimentation in the pursuit of making humans downright unappealing to the mosquito population. I'll whip up a batch, and we'll spray n' play to our heart's content.

Hey! Great name.

Long Between Posts

My first love is living my days following our little journey and second is writing about it, and I miss when life becomes too hectic to do either of those things. But do the gardens and fruit trees permit excuses? No.  To catch the worm, I need to find the time to be ready when they say it's time.  The slavedrivers.

The 2nd harvest, 1st pick of figs happened a few weeks ago and from them we made jam. A couple of weeks after that twelve more quarts of figs were picked, which became whole fig preserves along with fresh munchies and a bunch brought to work.  The last of the figs should have been ready last week, and a lot were, and dried, and today I just checked the tree and more are ripening. Alright already!

Garden Chili Verde sauce

So in spite of intentions to hang out on the blog, I was canning and preserving continually after work, fell into bed, and was up and at it again the next day.

It has been a fantastic bumper tomato crop - and yes, Heirloom makes a difference in the taste and quality of the fruit - and also the garden has done well with salsa peppers, green peppers, Japanese eggplant and Armenian cucumbers. I think we have 10x more eggplants than last season just by putting up a trellis that shields them from a little of the afternoon sun.

We've put up quite a few quarts of Gardineira and dilly beans, plus a jalapeno/wax/green/salsa/garlic medley that looks interesting. It was another disappointing yield with zucchini, and I'm inclined to skip it altogether next year.  Our tomatillos are fruiting but they are small - we will trellis them next year and see how they do. They made a really good chili verde sauce base, along with some of the green tomatoes and salsa peppers - and we like knowing it has no preservatives. And now I'm experimenting with ChowChow with green tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and a lot of interesting spices including mustard seed. Will let you know how it goes.

Garden vinaigrette salad

 The full sun artichoke cannot tolerate full sun. It leaves me wondering why local nurseries sell it with those tag recommendations when they know better.  Seymour is too big to transplant, so I took cuttings and planted his offspring under the shade of the olive trees, where they seem to be doing well. He'll be coming out in the fall.

That little spindly leggy Pomegranate out back turned out to have the only beautiful pomegranate of the season: the other big tree produced a lot of small and dry fruit that opened months early and spilled out for the birds. Nothing gets wasted but we were disappointed. But that one pomegranate was harvested and trickled in a salad with friends and we enjoyed every kernel.

Pickled raw veggies

We received a 13 gallon kitchen garbage bag full of fresh basil and made pesto to share - how easy and delicious to whip that up with a Cuisinart, fresh garlic, olive oil, fresh parmesan and pine nuts. We traded it for a couple of pickled veggies and a bowl of tomatoes. Pine nuts are big $$ so we are trying out roasted almonds, roasted walnuts and (hopefully soon) roasted pumpkin seeds.

I am looking into a good salsa recipe now that we are quickly exhausting the tomato options with spaghetti sauce, freezing them whole, eating them in Caprese salads, stewing them and constantly eating them as part of my lunchtime vinaigrette salad.

Garden Pesto

Tried out a new recipe yesterday, a corn, cilantro, fresh tomato, lime and avocado salad.  Super easy, super good. It's a keeper.

Mexican Salad with Honey Lime Dressing (FB)

Salad:  (prep this in a bowl and squirt a little extra lime juice and coat everything so the avocado doesn't turn)
1 pint cubed tomatoes, fresh
1 avocado, ripe but still somewhat firm
2 T. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 ears fresh sweet corn, cooked al dente or raw - cut the corn off the cob and with the back of the knife scrape the cob to get all the juices.

Dressing:  Juice of 1 lime; 3 T. olive oil, 1 teaspoon honey, sea salt and lots of cracked pepper, 1 clove fresh garlic minced, and a dash of cayenne.  (Mix these ingredients and whisk; set aside)

Saran Wrap cover and store in the fridge until ready to serve. Great over broiled fish. Great as a pico de gallo alternative with chips. We loved it as a side for our breakfast omelet this morning.

Being in the kitchen seems to relieve some of the day's stress. Now if only someone would clean up the mess ...

Work in Progress

 

There is something beautifully unkempt about a work in progress.

The dust that clings to our boots as we tromp through the yard is tracked back into the house.  The weeds we appreciate because at least something's green on the back grass. Everything partners here and everything plays a role.

There is beauty in incompleteness.  The weeds jockey for position all spring and summer, being pulled and mowed down, and springing up to make another run. They stand now brown and reedy, giving up in the heat of summer, completely unaware they will be back. 

Change is indiscernible, and I'm more than ok with it. There is no stopwatch here, no big fancy event we need to host. In these rambling thoughts, I look out at the tangible changes we have forgotten about, the workshop and garage, irrigation out front and gardens out back with a rinky-dink drip system that criss-crosses the yard and keeps things alive.  

The work part of 'work in progress' seems to involve thinking and talking out where the wildflower garden should be with the butterfly bushes, and how to devise a seasonal greenhouse over the garden. Should we or should we not invest in gutters and rain collection barrels? What are the pros and cons of solar panels? We seem focused on 3 things: what do we need, how do we get there, and when do we start. It seems we are working towards becoming honest and true self sustainers.

Before all that happens, we are collecting unusual bottles for the bottle wall, and wondering if this climate zone can sustain a Pistachio tree and Lemon Eucalyptus. We walk around framing in squares with our hands: here is perfect just as it is; here will be the deck, and here someday a porch room to sit out in the evenings and look at the stars.

Part of this involves trusting things we can see (the little blue Well) and things we can't see (the Septic). We drive by fields of alfalfa that are being overwatered and furrow our brows in concern. We look for, and miss, the Great Horned Owls and wonder where they are raising their baby. I'd have never given any of that a second thought in the city.

The feral cats are fed and watered and all we hope is for whatever they can give back.  Just like the land, slowly but surely, we feel ourselves as magnificent works in progress, too.

Water Muscles

We get it.

People over plants is the new water conservation mantra. And we know the reality of spending thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of blood, sweat and tears on our yards that we aren't going to give up without a fight. These are real life dollars lost.  Hobbies and livelihoods. Curb appeal.

We started to let the lawn die, like the Governor suggested, and it just seemed too long on regulation and too lean on innovation. I wanted a non partisan, more moderate approach that involves some lifestyle changes and a little ingenuity. We have impactful water choices: let's make 'em!  

So I recently learned a little about plant speak. According to Grassology, your lawn will tell you when it needs water. When the blades have a gray blue tint or older blades curl slightly, it's time. I can't believe how much we have overwatered the lawn all these years... and probably the shrubs.

The idea in a drought is to sustain the root structure even if the lawn looks like hell. Deep, infrequent waterings are the way to go. Watering late at night or early morning is also ideal for water conservation, and never when the sun is up or it's windy.

We're on well water here and not regulated by the city ordinances, but we see farmers struggling all around us and know we all share the same short supply. So we have become self aware and proactive, meaning we are looking at our habits to find better ways to use what we consume so it meets our needs and those of our green guys.

For instance, we shaved some time off our showers, and turned off the running water when we brushed our teeth.  We aren't laundering our comforters and bathroom mats except when necessary, and wearing our jeans an extra time or two. You can't even tell.

Putting a bucket under the spigot in the shower was an amazing experiment. We couldn't believe how much water went down the drain during the warming time from cold to hot, and the step away soap up/shampooing before rinsing off. It's a little awkward with a 5 gallon bucket but hauling it outside and nourished the fruit trees more than made up for it.

We are starting that in the kitchen and bath sinks today. I'm in the kitchen all the time - why not. It feels empowering to build up our water conservation muscles.

Another great choice was to install drip systems for the gardens, plants and shrubs. Timed spot watering puts it direct to the roots, with no waste at all. No big irrigation systems are needed. You can buy rather inexpensive battery operated timers that hook to the hose and the drip line and are easy to program. Drip system kits are available, and you'll need a coupling from the hose to the drip that costs under $3. Seasonal adjustments are a snap and we literally ran the drip lines right on top of the ground inside white PVC irrigation pipe to protect it. Since it works so well, next year we'll bury it right and proper and hook it into the main irrigation system for expansion.

Probably the biggest challenge was in reprising the old school lawn watering technique of using a soaker and regular hose rather than pop up automatic sprinklers. We dug down a little to see how deep the lawn roots went, and deep water in small sections just enough to reach them.  Using a clock timer to remind you to move it makes it extremely efficient, and we are seeing improvement even with temps up over 100 degrees.

It's all good for our friends the plants, and none of the wasteful symptoms of runoff, wet concrete, water loss from broadcast evaporation or overspray on the fences.

Caramel Fanatico

Friends found an article in the local paper about a Zinnia Farm in Zamora so we checked it out.  It was a pick your own flowers place. There were buckets of water, clippers to use, baskets and glass jars to arrange the flowers and take home ... all completely free. This was the second year Metzger's Farm in Yolo has offered the Zinnia Farm but we didn't know about it. It was a pretty great stop, a total feel good from start to finish. There was no one to thank, so we left our clippers behind for others to use. I'm taking 5 cheerful bouquets to work tomorrow.

The other fun part happened a couple of weeks ago when I made caramel sauce for the first time. Caramel is one of those amazing kitchen chemical miracles. You add heat ... sugar ... butter ... and cream and it transforms into this creamy rich dark gooey caramel yumminess.

I took 4 oz jars to my test lab (work friends) and they went nuts. As they talked about it little spittles formed at the edge of their mouths. Not really. But I did hear reports that husbands cleaned the jars and requested refills. Some grandmothers who shall remain nameless resorted to hiding their jar from their family and wanting more even before the jar was empty. And one of my coworkers who has this tiny little body and never eats ate the entire 4 oz jar with sliced apples while standing in the hallway as we all watched in awe.

I offered the recipe, but I was pretty much told to just make it for everyone forever and they would buy it. HA! So I turned it into a Relay fundraiser and in one week had over $200 in orders!

So part of my weekend also involved batches of Salted Caramel Sauce. I was blogging tonight and out of the blue came a photo of a bowl of vanilla ice cream with the caption that read: my ice cream is sad.  I'm not going to even think about my role in creating an office of Salted Caramel Sauce junkies.


I could balance the Federal budget with this!
                                              Fund universities!
                                                                   Create world peace!

Serve with my test lab recommendations ~ green apples, sliced banana, unsalted pretzels, marshmallows, Triscuits, strawberries, and ice cream.

I am told it is also very good twirled on a fork and eaten right from the jar. That's right, the Hubs knows his stuff.

The Father's Day Breakfast Pie Challenge

No this isn't our place but
in our heads this is what we see

The best part of the weekend is a leisurely breakfast enjoyed with a nice cup of Graffaeo coffee.  We're eggheads so weekends for us involve a full breakfast at least one of the days.  Omelettes, poached or over easy eggs. Potatoes. Fruit. Some type of meat. Maybe toast. 

Merr's Casserole

I started out with Egg McBagels when the kids were small - a scrambled egg on a toasted bagel with a slice of American cheese. But recently I've been making single serve omelettes for the Hubs on weekdays, 1 beaten egg folded over a few veggies and cheese, which he heats up at work. Sometimes it's oatmeal, sometimes cereal, but he's on the go earlier than I am and I'd rather him have some options for the week.

First, I eyed a friend's holiday brunch casserole as a possible option. It is really delicious.

Essentially it is sourdough sliced lengthwise and placed butter side down in a lasagna pan, a bunch of cheese layered over, your favorite cooked meat, some diced chiles, seasoned eggs and milk, and a 350 oven for about 1 hour 15. A meat strata. I mean, what's not to love.

It feeds an army, and you can individually package them up for the week.

Meat Lovers Pie

But I really wanted mine in muffin tins, true individual servings, and I didn't want sourdough to be an every day of the week thing, so I played around in the kitchen for something new.

I purposefully under beat the
egg to give the pie texture

Meat: Sautéed up 6 frozen zucchini pancakes and lined the bottom of sprayed muffin tins with them. There were leftover beef hot links in the fridge so I cubed and sautéed them with some onion. Each tin got 1/2 link and a handful of shredded Mexican cheese, and poured over it was a beaten egg (1) seasoned with ground pepper and garnished with leftover green chiles.   350 oven for about 22 minutes until set.

Meatless with leftover bagels
to line the outside

Without meat:  Leftover stale bagels were repurposed. I sliced them vertically in 1/2 slices and cut them in half so they stick up a little around the rim (3 per).  Cubed pepper jack cheese filled the center with 6 or 7 chunks, a small sprinkling of shredded Mexican cheese was added, and a beaten egg seasoned with -- a bit of sage, paprika and rosemary.  350 oven for about 22 minutes until set.

Remove from tin and serve (or cool)
right away so it does not overcook

They turned out! The zucchini made a nice bed and the meat was a pretty layer in the middle of the pie.  The bagels crisped up nicely with the meatless variety and gave it additional texture and crunch.  

But the Father's Day Breakfast Muffin Tin Challenge winner was~~~

The meatless!
It won out for the flavor combo with the pepperjack cheese. The meat wasn't even missed.

I was surprised, pleased. Anytime something can be repurposed instead of pitched, it's a good day. Working towards meatless, but it's a  s-l-o-w  go.

Fleetwood Max

Every day starts off pretty normal.  The way it goes is this:  after I'm 3/4 of the way through my first cup of coffee, somebody gets a little antsy.  She looks deeply into my eyes as she prances around, she whines and hops from one foot to the other.  Are you ready yet?
How about now?
Now? Now? Now?

I slide into flip flops, refill my cup and head out to the chuck it with ball wedged in the tree, waiting. Enthusiasm is running high.  We play throw and catch and find it in the tall weeds, all over the yard, and they are finally ready to start the day.  This is incidentally the same routine when the last bite of dinner is gone and the Hubs and I chat afterwards about our day. He cracks open an orange and the dogs are at my feet like lightning, begging for a piece from him and a game from me.

 

Today, there is something new in the drive. It's a Fleetwood Americana pop up tent trailer airing out in the sun. We explore that for a while and the dogs have to sniff and lay on every surface to see if it is comfortable, including the space below the table where they will park themselves during dinners on the road.

I sipped on my coffee and imagined being in Big Basin or Yosemite. And then we went out to play ball.

It has a peaceful energy, spacious inside with two large beds. We are hoping one will be for us and one for the dogs, but they do enjoy sprawling between us until we are clinging to the outer reaches of the mattress.

 

One of these units has always been on my wish list, but when the kids were small it was just as easy to tent camp, and we didn't have anywhere to store it or something to haul it.  

But now we do! So when we saw the ad, my love of camping and his love of fishing bubbled up happily and we thought it would be a lot of fun. We named him Max.

It's a big Father's Day surprise that I have arranged with our dear
friends in Portland to head up over Labor Day ... but hopefully we can get in a couple of overnights to break it in before then.

Surprise!! Happy Father's Day, sweetheart.  n



 
 

SOS

Temps are soaring and it looks like we got the drip system in for the herb garden just in time.  I made some salted caramel sauce for my buddies at work as we head into a strenuous week of usual. Sugar heals all wounds, and this stuff is delish. Thanks again for the recipe, Nell.

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar, med heat, stirring constantly until it clumps and then melts smooth and darkens into a medium golden color, add 6 tablespoons cubed butter until melted (which is immediately), and then drizzle in 1/2 heavy cream (stirring still, right, so it doesn't burn). Cook 1 minute with it creeping up the sides of the pot, remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Cool a bit, pour into jars, cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks. Warm slightly and serve over ice cream.

I've been a Dessert First kind of gal for most of my adult life. My dad had a jelly jar on the table and after dinner would take a big spoonful before leaving the table. It just seemed pretty obvious to me that when you hold off on the good stuff you sometimes miss out.  

The fruit flies got to some of our figs. A lot of them, actually. They were ready to pick early in the week and the time just got away from us, and figs don't wait very well. Add to that some pretty high temps on Fri*Sat*Sun and we missed the window. We picked some tonight but we'll be back watering and fertilizing her for the next yield in August. Live and learn.

Lots of green beans are on the vine even after having them Saturday night. Our first crop. The tomatoes are growing, and we are waiting for things to blush and redden. Two bushes on the end are stunted and turning brown (??) - no real reason for it, same soil, same nutrients, sun ... so I'll pull out some soil and freshen it when we replant more heirlooms. There's plenty of time for a late harvest. The corn didn't make it (my fault, we were gone) but the boysenberries have new growth and I'm glad about that.  Nectarine and apricot trees are doing okay. Little baby fruit is a cheerful sign.

I've been experimenting with a friend's breakfast bake (strata) recipe that uses leftover bread. I always like having something for the Hubs to take to work and warm up for breakfast.

Glass lasagna pan
Sourdough or other hearty bread sliced in 1/2 thick pieces and buttered on one side, lining the pan, butter side down
1 7oz can green chiles diced sprinkled over the bread
1 lb favorite breakfast meat - cooked - sausage, ham, bacon - evenly distributed
4 cups of cheese of your choice - I use Mexican white and yellow cheese -
Some finely chopped onion if you have it and want to add it (I omit) - sprinkle that on next

8 eggs whipped with 2 cups milk, 1/4 t. each of onion powder/dry mustard/oregano, pepper to taste.
I topped it with fresh oregano that was handy. Pour the egg mixture on top, cover with foil, and cook 45 minutes on 325 degrees. Remove foil, cook 10-15 minutes longer until set, and serve.

Thinking these days about some way to shield the artichokes from the hot sun because they aren't producing tender veggies ... and that got us to thinking about a garden cover that would essentially convert the raised beds into a greenhouse for the winter. That solves a ton of problems, will likely be a lot cheaper and it fits into the got it use it attitude we are learning about. The garden is perfectly capable of being utilized more of the year and shielding it from a freak winter freeze is a very good plan.

SOS:  Sunscreen or Suffer

Speaking of hot sun, just a reminder to be kind to your skin. I just had another skin cancer removed and so did the Hubs ... so when you are vigilant about spraying on that mosquito repellent be sure first you've slothered on the 50 spf sunscreen.  Skin cancer strikes every type of skin - those who tan easily like the Hubs are just as vulnerable as those with fair and pale skin like me.

We all know to cover up and layer on the sunscreen when going to water parks, the river, 4th of July picnics and all that. But did you know that skin damage happens through an accumulation of exposure also doing the kinds of things we do everyday?

Things like ~ walks in the morning * a quick trip to the garden for just 15-20 minutes * driving to and from work for years with the left side of your body in sun - face, shoulders and arm *  tossing the ball with the dogs 15 minutes in the morning and night. I don't remember to put sunscreen on for those types of activities or even before I dash over to the farmer's market on a trip home from the store.

Skin cancer is serious business, especially Melanoma. If you want to learn more about ways to be healthy and active outside, check out www.cancer.org.

Every Square Inch

The Gnat season arrived in force, and we have been out there taking them on as we finish the by-summer projects on the list.  These little black devils are undetectable without you looking down to see them on your arm. They crawl through your window screens and under your clothes. Until the itchy welt starts to rise do you realize they've been there and gone.

Gnats show up in May and die off when the temps sustain just over 100 degrees for a few days (typically at the end of June). We're armed: there's the mosquito and Gnat propane powered attractant to catch and kill them; the bug zapper near the house; we eliminate the standing water sources we can find; and still they come in little swarms from early morning to after dusk.

We use the natural bug repellent we make, and that seems to keep them at bay, at least for a while. Other commercial products without Deet don't work and we're just not going the chemical route with our health. We spray the natural oils onto our hands and coat the inside of the dog's ears, run a damp hand along their muzzles and over their heads, and a quick spray on their tummies and backs. There's nothing in it to cause them trouble if they lick it off, and we can reapply as needed.

So, a couple of weeks ago I was off to town and the Hubs needed to get some chores done on the tractor and so the dogs went into the shady outdoor kennel.  They love it there, watching the world go by with a big bucket of drinking water and a dog house. When I got home, we discovered Lily was covered in welts. Sam was untouched.

We lay Lil on her back between us, head on my lap and feet on his, as we soothed her with sweet words, topical Benadryl and antiseptic dog spray to relieve the hundreds of bites on her neck, chest, belly and haunches. She closed her eyes and hummed happily from all the fussing.

We haven't had Lil quite a year, which means she came to us after gnat season. Sam has thick lab hair but Lil has nearly-bare belly skin and fine, wiry hair. The poor little girl.

This week we'll be making up more repellent and praying for hot, unrelenting days. And Lil gets the royal treatment from here on out, covering every square inch of skin, just like we do for ourselves. Can't wait for gnat season to be over.

Memorial Day

Thank

You

to the often

invisible

force field

of men and women (living and not)

 

who chose to defend

the weak

and oppressed,

 

 

put themselves

in harm's way

for liberty

and freedom,

and who 
know that

protecting

this
strong nation

is a

daily

job.

The service
to our country 
is what has
always made
Liberty possible.