Can This Tree Be Saved? Yes!

One of the benefits of living in an old (and I mean old) neighborhood is the mature trees.  When we bought our house eighteen years ago, one of the reasons was the settled feel of the neighborhood with its huge trees and established (and sometimes shabby) shrubs and landscaping.  Sadly, since we've lived here, three immediate neighbors have lost large trees.  Two to storms and one to a garage addition.  We have two large trees in our front yard -- a pin oak and a hackberry.  The hackberry, while not a particularly gorgeous tree, shades the front of our house in summer and provides a visual anchor for our yard.

2012

Quite a few years back, our hackberry lost a large limb that grew toward the house.  The limb was as big around as many good sized tree trunks.  It did a little damage to the gutter around the porch, but nothing serious.  It was a bad loss, but we knew the tree could survive.  My husband was pretty militant about it in fact.  The tree must be saved. Then in 2008, another gigantic limb came off, pulling much of the bark from the side of the tree.  I figured the tree was a goner.  How could it survive with large chunks missing on two sides?

2008

The man from the tree service came, cleared the limb, and cleaned up the wound.  He said we didn't need to take the whole tree down right away.  I think he was afraid my husband would start weeping openly if he said the tree had to go. We decided to leave the tree and see what happened.  What happened?  A little regrowth around the wound and ants. Periodically my husband would drag me out there and say, "See? It's regrowing."  Yeah, okay.

The current state of the 2008 wound, with a
climbing hydrangea about to overtake it.  The
first wound is completely covered by the vine.

This summer I noticed some fungus growing at the top of the wound. This was a couple of weeks after a tree at the end of the block came down and knocked out power to the neighborhood for a whole day.  I started to worry about that darn hackberry.  I suggested calling in an arborist.  The husband resisted.  He was reluctant to hear that the tree would have to come down.  That it was a danger to passersby and the front of our house.

But one day, I went ahead and called an arborist in a nearby city.  He came by very early on a recent Saturday morning.  We prepared ourselves to hear the worst.  But lo and behold, he said he did not recommend removing the tree or even any of its branches.  Maybe a little trimming in a few years to take out some dead wood if we wanted to.  I was very surprised and also relieved.  My husband?  It was the best gift he ever received, to hear that his beloved hackberry was spared.  At least he had enough dignity not to do a happy dance right there in the front yard.

Spanish Chicken or Blackened Mess?

By accident the other day, I happened to catch a little of Nigella Lawson's TV show.  She was making a super easy oven-baked Spanish chicken.  I found the recipe online and tried it out last night.  Before baking it looked gorgeous.

After baking, not so much.

Before dinner, I told my husband I would have to blog about this chicken as a major FAIL.  He insisted that it was not a failure at all.  Turns out he likes onion and garlic blackened in olive oil.  Actually the chicken and potatoes were quite tasty, and even the chorizo was good if one could look past the heavily blackened exterior.

I'm pretty sure the finished dish is not supposed to look like this.  I'm not sure what went wrong.  I did trim some of the fat from the chicken thighs before cooking.  I also used Mexican chorizo rather than Spanish.  It was a soft chorizo with no casing.  Maybe that's why it charred.  The onions? I don't know.  I cut them in fair sized pieces.  Maybe next time -- and, yes, I think there will be a next time -- I'll lower the temperature a bit.  The only changes I made from Nigella's recipe were to reduce everything (I used four thighs rather than twelve), lightly salt the chicken, and I added a couple of grinds of black pepper over the whole thing and  three large cloves of garlic, peeled and quartered.  Click here to go to Nigella's recipe.  Don't judge her recipe by my blackened mess.

Still Working Through "200 Crochet Blocks"

Now that I finished my oversized crochet baby blanket, it's time for me to get serious about my other crochet project, the 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans sampler throw that I am making for our daughter.  I've completed seven more blocks since my last update.

Top row: #55 Centered Square, #47 Queen Anne's Lace, #88 Edwardian Fancy, # 173 Big Round.
Bottom row: #161 Daisy Chain, # 86 Sunray, # 17 Alternate Bobbles, #28 Christmas Rose, # 38 Dahlia.

I had the most fun making the Alternate Bobbles.  I have never been able to knit bobbles for some reason, and I was pleased to find out how easy they are to make in crochet.  Love that!  I think there may be a crochet bobble scarf in my future.

On a separate, Blogger note: I am quickly running out of free space on Picasa.  In fact, I had to go in and delete some unused photos from my web album in order to upload these pictures.  Anyone have good advice about how you dealt with this?  Do I just have to suck it up and purchase additional space?  I am super cheap, so I hope not.

Aug. 29 post script:
I am trying out Photobucket as a replacement for Picasa, so I am adding in this photo of the Dahlia square to see how it goes.  The square reminds me of commercials I used to see for Outback Steak House's blooming onion.  Photobucket allows you to store photos and then upload them with the url.  So far, this seems like a free solution.

Put away that hoe! Grilled zucchini boats

"The first zucchini I ever saw, I killed it with a hoe."  -- columnist John Gould in Monstrous Depravity: A jeremiad and a lamentation [about things to eat], 1963

Zucchini can take over a garden, and maybe some gardeners feel like taking a hoe to them on occasion.  When I was growing up, if a zucchini hid under the leaves and got too big to suit my mother (and by too big I mean anything over five or six inches long), she would pull it off and chuck it aside to let it rot in the garden.  Let's face it, zucchini are so prolific that gardeners can get pretty cavalier with them.  

We don't have enough space or sun to grow zucchini at our house, so I cherish zukes when I get good ones.  Last week I showed you the zucchini I got at the farmer's market.  Today I'll show you what I did with them.  My sister-in-law sent me this great grilled zucchini boat recipe.  If you have a zucchini-filled garden, it'll have you saying "whoa" to the hoe!  

This was cooked directly on the grill for great grill marks.

This recipe could be changed up almost any way you like.  You could make it spicy, add garlic or olives.  I've even seen similar recipes with bacon or sausage.  We liked it just like this, as a side dish.  It makes a beautiful presentation.

Grilled Zucchini Boats

2 medium zucchini (6-7 inches long), ends trimmed

3/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

2 plum or large cherry tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, chopped

3-4 green onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons bread Italian crumbs

1/2 teaspoon (or several grinds with pepper mill) black pepper

Olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat grill to medium-high heat.  Cut zucchini in half lengthwise.  Scoop out centers to for a 1/2-inch- thick shell.

For filling:  Chop the zucchini center flesh.  Combine with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, basil, onions, bread crumbs and black pepper. 

Brush cut side of zucchini lightly with olive oil.  You can salt them lightly if desired.  Place zucchini, cut side down, on grill either directly or in a grill basket.  Grill, covered, for 6-8 minutes until tender crisp.  Check occasionally to prevent burning.

Turn zucchini over and fill the wells evenly with the filling.  Sprinkle on remaining ¼ cup Parmesan cheese and parsley.  

Filled and ready to go back to the grill.

Return to grill and cook, covered, for additional 4-5 minutes or until cheese is melted and filling is heated through.   Remove from grill.  If not using a basket, remove carefully using a large spatula.

Click for Printable recipe

A blanket for my baby

Back in November, I mentioned an afghan I was crocheting from a baby blanket pattern. After a year of working on it on and off, I finally finished it!  I wanted to complete it in time for my "baby" to take it along to his new apartment.  He came home yesterday to steal a rug for his living room.  I was all "Your blanket's done!" and he was all "It looks great. Nice stripes.  I'm not taking it right now."  Did you hear the pop that was my balloon being burst? Or maybe it was just the hiss of a slow leak of the air being let out. Regardless of the letdown of not hearing, "I've been hoping you'd get it done! I can't wait to take it with me!" I am happy to have completed the afghan even if it is still here instead of warming up the college apartment.

It is quite a large afghan as you can see.  The "baby" is 6'3" and wanted the blanket to be big enough to stretch from toes to chin.  Not sure if it's quite that long, but it's a big one.  And heavy.  It weighs about six pounds.  It's nice to finish a big project, but the husband is a little envious of the blanket, so who knows?  Maybe I'll have to start another one and, if I'm industrious, get it finished before we are shipped off to the old folks home.

Summer Bounty

It's the middle of August, and I finally made it to our local farmer's market.  Corn and zucchini from just down the road to go along with peaches our daughter picked up at another farmer's market.  And that prize tomato?  It's from my very own plant!  Looks like there's some fresh and healthy eating in my future.

I'm linking to God's Growing Garden's Themed Blog and Shop Hop.

Cat Wars: It's On

"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose." -- Garrison Keillor

Cats.  Let me preface this post by making one thing clear.  I don't hate cats.  Much.  No, no, I really don't hate cats, but sometimes I strongly dislike them.  The ones I dislike are the feral cats that populate my neighborhood.  

K.C. taken through my office window

We live in an older neighborhood where a number of the houses are rentals.  It's not that the neighborhood has recently fallen on hard times, it has been this way for more than 100 years.  We live near a university, and some of the homes in our neighborhood were built as student boarding houses or supper clubs.  Then others have been converted from single family to apartments over the years.  It's a higgledy-piggledy neighborhood where homeowners, students, renters, professional people, hippies, professors, and sometimes borderline crazy people all live cheek to jowl on tree-lined streets.

And maybe it's not the renters/students who are to blame, but we have a population of feral cats.  These are not strays.  They are wild, and will not let anyone get within five feet of them (and that's for the tamer ones).  One of the neighbors feeds them I believe.  I know they used to feed them and were trying in vain to tame some of them.  Some of the cats have lived here for years, and we know them well by sight.  There is one fluffy gray and white cat that we first saw as a kitten under my husband's car.  He tried to entice it out with food and milk, but no doing.  Still, we have a fondness for that cat and it seems to tolerate us as well.

I'm not wild about the cat poop in my lawn and flower beds, but there's something much worse than that.  Murder.  The cats that really get me are the killer cats.  I know it's a cat's nature to hunt, but there is one Killer Cat (K.C.) who sits under my office window and periodically leaps up and tries to snatch birds right off the feeder.  He has succeeded, too. It's horrible to be sitting at my desk and hear a sudden squawk and look out to see a bird being torn to shreds.  I seem to have solved that problem by laying rose canes and other thorny branches under the feeder.  The birds and squirrels don't mind them, but K.C. stays back a bit.

But now K.C. is stalking a bunny rabbit.  A sweet little bunny rabbit! We haven't had rabbits in our neighborhood for quite a few years.  (Gosh, I wonder why?)  But just this summer a little bunny has ventured back.  I've seen it twice. Yesterday evening I also saw it being stalked by K.C.  I ran outside and chased the cat away but, of course, he came right back.  So I looked online for ways to deter cats, and a beautiful solution appeared.

I dug one of the kids' old Super Soakers out of the garage and filled it up.  The next time I saw the cat, I grabbed my water gun and headed out, shooting streams of water at the fleeing feline.  Then I circled the house to see if there were other cats lurking in the bushes.  I felt like John Wayne in some war movie.  This morning K.C. was back, sitting near the feeder in what used to be a fern bed (until the drought).  I crept out and got within eight to ten feet and let fly a stream of water.  K.C. fled across the street to the safety of the neighbor's yard.

K.C. in the neighbor's yard taken with extreme magnification.  Look at him, trying to look so innocent.

I have no idea if this will really keep the cat out of our yard, but it's worth a try.  Doesn't hurt the cat and makes me feel a little like Rambo.  (If Rambo carried a yellow and green plastic water gun.)

Orange Glow: Yummy Carrot Muffins

One summer day when our daughter was about three years old, we were at the city pool where we met a little girl the same age.  Her mother, Mary, was an editor, like me, and we became fast friends.  The girls played together and trick or treated together even though we lived across town from each other.  Mary introduced me to a natural foods buying group, and we traded recipes and brainstormed ways to get the kids to eat healthy.  Sadly, Mary and I eventually lost touch after my family moved away from that little town.  But I have never lost touch with her carrot muffin recipe.  These muffins have been a hit with my family these twenty years.  They always tasted great, but sometimes turned out a little sad and droopy looking, not the tall, gorgeous muffins that look pretty in addition to tasting great.  I've tweaked the recipe in various ways over the years to reduce the fat and so on, and recently, I finally got it right.  Yessireebob, the muffins still taste wonderful, but now turn out pretty, too.

Muffins, milk, and the newspaper equals one good breakfast, topped with walnuts or plain.  Either way is tasty!

Carrot Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour (1/2 cup of this can be whole wheat flour)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs (beaten)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 3/4 cup finely shredded carrots

In large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Mix in brown sugar.  Add eggs.  While mixing, slowly add oil.  Beat until smooth.  Mix in nuts and carrots.  If desired, reserve some nuts to sprinkle on top of muffins.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20-30 minutes.

Printable recipe

The Best Fried Chicken

Fried chicken: everyone has his or her own idea of a "best" fried chicken.  I have had lots of good fried chicken -- the bone-in, skin-on fryer pieces my mother used to cook in her electric skillet, the tender parboiled and fried chicken my Aunt Irene used to make -- who can say which is really the best?  What I can say is that this is the best fried chicken that comes out of my own kitchen.  A tender, buttermilk marinated piece of chicken joy.

There is no real recipe for this dish.  I use boneless, skinless breast meat which I usually cut in half through the thickest part to make each piece thinner and a little more uniform.  Trim off all fat, pierce each piece all over with a fork, and soak, fully immersed, in a buttermilk bath for at least four hours.  If you want a little more zip, you can add a splash or two of Tabasco sauce to the buttermilk.  Dredge each piece in salt-and-pepper-seasoned flour and fry in hot vegetable oil, turning only once.  I usually dredge in the flour twice, letting the chicken rest just a couple of minutes in between.

Any time, any place, winter or summer.  Love this chicken.

Holy Toledo

Botanical Garden glass flower

When you hear "Toledo, Ohio," what do you picture?  A Rust Belt city that has seen better days?  Well, okay, there might be some truth to that.  But Toledo, the Glass City, is much more than an industrial town.  While a number of giants of the glass industry -- Owens-Illinois, Owens Corning, Libbey Glass -- originated in Toledo, art glass is just as important.  The Toledo Museum of Art, with its cool, modern Glass Pavilion, houses one of the most comprehensive glass collections in the world.  Furthermore, it was in Toledo in 1962 that American studio art glass really began.  It was a happy coincidence of a glassblowing workshop at the Toledo Museum of Art led by Harvey Littleton, a ceramics instructor at the University of Wisconsin, and a glass engineer and innovator named Dominick Labino.

We were recently in Toledo for a couple of days and stopped by the Museum of Art.  My husband grew up in Toledo, so we have been to the Museum many times, but a special treat this time was "Color Ignited: Glass 1962-2012," an interesting exhibit.  It took us a while to work our way back to the Wolfe Gallery, where the exhibit was housed.  I mean, you can't just rush past the Impressionists, Rodin statues, and the Cloister!  I don't think I was supposed to take pictures in the Wolfe Gallery since it was a special exhibit, but I did snap this one before I remembered.

"Bowl: Citron Vanishing Gladiator" by Stephen Rolfe Powell

Glass and art also play a part at the Toledo Botanical Garden, still called Crosby Gardens by the locals.  The Botanical Garden was started when George P. Crosby, a businessman and realtor, donated 20 acres for a park in 1964.  The Garden now covers more than 60 acres.  And not all of the flowers are alive!  Check out these amazing larger-than-life glass poppies outside the artist demonstration buildings and shops.

In addition to the art outside in the gardens, there is also a Lithophane Museum on the grounds.  A lithophane is a delicate artform that reveals its three-dimensional beauty when back lit.  Plaster molds are made from beeswax carvings which are then cast, usually in porcelain.  The picture below is a lithophane lamp.  The lighter areas were more deeply carved to allow more light through.  Imagine the skill the carver would need to create all the detail.

Of course, the Botanical Garden also features some living things as well.

I believe this is a carpenter bee.  It was at least an inch long!

So there's just a little taste of Toledo.  And now, this fat lady doesn't sing, she doesn't even talk, but if she could, she might tell you to check out Toledo for yourself.

"Woman with the Birds" by Joe Ann Cousino

What Says Summer to You?

What is the essence of summer?  Spending time on a lake, watching fireflies, mowing the grass . . . .  All these say "summer" but, for me, food is one of the most notable marks of summer.  Burgers on the grill, fresh sweet corn on the cob, luscious vine-ripened tomatoes, and fruit salad.

When I was a kid, my aunt and uncle often hosted family picnics.  They lived at the old "home place" (although the old home had been sold and moved and they built a new house), and we ate outside under the big oak trees near where the barn used to be.  I come from big families on both sides.  This was my mother's family.  There were eight children in her family, and many of them would come to the picnics.  Looking back, there was something comforting about the predictability of those picnics.  The hostess usually made chess pie, my childless aunt and uncle always brought a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, at least one person made potato salad, and there was almost always watermelon.

My favorite fruit salad mixture -- watermelon, strawberries, and seedless grapes.

Watermelon is my ultimate summer food.  I have loved it all my life.  I remember eating it in the yard when I was about six years old with my friend and neighbor, Tracy, whom my dad called Betty because he said she looked like a girl he used to know.  Tracy was a year younger than I was and kind of shy, so she never told my dad he couldn't call her Betty.  I think she kind of liked it anyway.

We also had occasional picnics at home -- cook-outs.  We had a spindly three-legged charcoal grill. No one we knew had a Weber in those days and, while the internet tells me the gas grill was invented in 1960, in the mid '60s, I'd never heard of such a thing.  Nope, we had a shallow pan grill -- at least until my mother burned it up by building a wood fire in it one time so all the neighborhood kids could toast marshmallows.  We ate on a fabulous redwood deck that had built-in benches all around as well as the ultimate 1960s wrought iron table and chairs.

These days, we still cook outside as much as possible during the summer, only now we use a gas grill for instant heat and easy clean-up.  Our menu has expanded as well.  We still grill burgers, hot dogs and steaks, but also chicken, bratwurst, pork loin, fish, and shish kabobs.  And when I can find flank steak, I like to make this grilled flank with spicy corn relish.  Boy, this would have knocked their socks off under the oak trees back in the day.

Full disclosure: When I took my plate outside to take the picture in sunlight, another sign of summer came along. I certainly remember these pesky guys from my childhood picnic days!

The flank steak recipe comes from Country Living.  It is super easy, just a marinade of olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic.  You can find the recipe on their website.  I changed their relish recipe slightly to make it less spicy and more colorful.  The original is here.  My version is below.

Corn Relish

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup minced onion

1 cup chopped colorful bell peppers

1 cup frozen corn kernels

Sprinkle of salt, to taste

Couple of grinds of pepper mill

1/2-3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

Heat oil in non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and peppers, cook about two minutes, stirring frequently.  Add corn, salt, pepper and cayenne, and cook until vegetables are slightly soft, about 4-5 minutes.  Add lemon juice and honey, stir to combine and dissolve honey.  Remove from heat.  Serve at room temperature.

Printable recipe

Linking to Mercantile Muse Get Your Party On: Gotta Have It/Gotta Blog It Link Up

Works in Progress

With this awful hot weather and lack of rain I haven't had a lot of gardening to do lately, so I've been working on some things indoors.

My big, horrible project is painting the last room in the basement.  When I say "room," don't get the idea that we have some kind of lovely finished basement.  Not at all.  We have a basement that serves strictly as a laundry room, storage, and my old darkroom (that I haven't used in years).  A basement with 100-plus-year-old stone and brick walls.  The walls need to be coated occasionally to help prevent the mortar from crumbling.  I have finally, after eighteen years in this house, gotten up the motivation to finish the final section.

The first step was decluttering.  I took apart an entire home gym, hauled it to my car, and had both the Salvation Army and the junk shop reject it.  Luckily, the metal scavengers took it from the curb.  I also emptied the husband's computer accessory closet -- 20-year-old software boxes (many empty), manuals for printers that are long gone, textbooks for software that is several generations outdated.  Then on to the fun part.  


And by fun part, I mean drudgery.  This job involves a LOT of shop vac use, wire brushing, more shop vac, filling small cracks and holes, more shop vac, painting with thick, gunky, stinky waterproofing paint - which seems to be the best thing for solidifying the mortar - and, for good measure, another round with the shop vac.  It is a slow project, partly because I work on it for a day or two and then take a couple of days off, but also because it all has to be brushed on by hand in order to cover the rough, pitted stones.  I don't have the words to describe just how yucky this job is, but I think the brand name of the paint -- UGL -- kind of sums up how I feel about it.

This is what I'm dealing with.

Coming along -- s l o w l y.

To take my mind off the horrors of DryLok, I have also been crocheting more squares from 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans by Jan Eaton.  The three newest squares are  Victorian Lace (#92, two hook difficulty), Kingcup (#95, three hook), and Spinner (#89, two hook).  I'm really liking the brighter colors in the last two squares.

I also began working on the shawlette I am making with the Alpandina yarn I received from the yarn swap I wrote about in June.  I still have a little ways to go before I get into the lace portion, but I like it so far.  The yarn feels fabulously soft. I am going a bit slow on this because every once in a while my center line gets off by a stitch and it has to be unworked.  I don't notice the problem for a while, so this usually involves taking out one to two complete rows. Confession:  I lack the confidence to undo my knitting mistakes if it's more than a couple of stitches, so I have to wait for my daughter to come home for a visit.  I'm sure she thinks I am incompetent, but she kindly fixes things so that I can continue.

Looks a little like a stingray.

How Dry Is It?

How dry is it in northern Illinois?

Pretty darn dry.  Last week I heard that we are six inches below average in precipitation this year.  Pair that with above average temperatures, and you have some crispy conditions.  This is the worst I've seen it in the eighteen years we've lived in this house.  While I am doing my best to keep my perennials alive and have deeply watered some of the younger trees, there are parts of the yard we have just let go.  The grass is mostly brown and dormant, except in the shadiest spots.  The ostrich ferns along the west side of the house (pretty much constantly shaded) are brittle and crumbly.

Sad, dying ferns

Even some of the weeds in the lawn are curling up and drying out.  When your weeds start to suffer, you know it's a drought!

Curling, wilting plantains.  Not sorry to see them go!

We need rain, and we need it now.  If I thought it would help, I'd do a little rain dance.  As it is, I'll just keep hoping.

UPDATE:  A squall moved through the area and gave us about twenty minutes' rain.  Whoo hoo!  Just the threat of my rain dance was enough!

Hello Sunshine

Good morning, Sunshine!  Beccra over at TrueBlog! recognized me with a Sunshine Award.  Thank you, Beccra!  Beccra is an Australian transplanted temporarily to Louisiana.  Please check out her fun blog where she writes about "all things woolmerhof" -- recipes, travel, family -- and signs each post "Peach out ya'll."   

Luckily, as the recipient of a Sunshine Award, I don't have to make a public speech or anything, but there are still conditions.  The first one is not a hardship at all.  I get to recognize a few blogs that I admire and love to read.  I recognized some of my favorite blogs back in January with a Versatile Blogger Award, so I am spreading the joy to some newer favorites this time.


Here are three really creative, fun blogs that I try not to miss.  Please take a look.  I bet you'll like them as much as I do.

Flowers in the Window -- Even though Maggie lives in rainy England, her blog brings sunshine to my day with each new post.  Maggie is so fun and so talented!  She lives in Gloucestershire, so I love it when she takes her readers along on her walks.  She also quilts, crochets, collects vintage, and has an adorable dog named Spencer.  I especially look forward to her Sunday series, Spencer's Sunday Hats.

House of Hawthornes --  Pam is a fellow Midwesterner, an Ohio gal who loves auctions, garage sales, and shares her vintage finds with her readers.  She also throws in some gardening, pets, and life in general.  She has a fun sense of humor and a great eye.  Her photos are fabulous and you'll have fun reading, too!

The Polka Dot Petticoat -- The Polka Dot Petticoat almost always brings a shot of bright color with each post.  Who knew life in Alaska was so colorful?  Polka Dot (sorry, don't know her real name) is a fearless decorator -- who else do you know with a clementine orange bathroom? -- who also shares some of the beautiful Alaska scenery.  This blog is sure to brighten your day!

Looks a little like the sun, right?

The other obligation for a Sunshine Award winner is to answer the following questions.  So now you are going to know some pointless things about me that you never even thought to ask.

Favorite Color?  Well, that depends what day it is and what we're talking about.  I used to say blue was my favorite, but I have moved on.    I have painted a lot of our walls a soft green because it is so easy to live with, but I love the yellow of the outside of our house.  And one of my favorite color combinations is pink and orange.  I have an argyle sweater those colors and LOVE it.

Favorite Animal?  Easy,

Alfie

Favorite Number?  Do people have favorite numbers?  I guess 13 because I was born on a Friday the 13th.  Bad luck for my mom maybe, but supposedly that makes it a lucky day for me.

Favorite Non-Alcoholic Drink?  Another easy one: Diet Coke.  I have an addiction.

Facebook or Twitter?  Facebook.  I don't even understand Twitter.  Tweets -- what is that about?

Passion?  No single passion.  I like lots of things kind of equally -- knitting, crochet, gardening, cooking.  I guess I'm still looking for a real, all-consuming passion.

Giving or receiving?  Who is going to say "receiving"?  I mean really?  But I actually really do prefer to give.  I am more excited on the kids' birthdays for them to open their gifts than I ever am on my own.

Favorite pattern?  Um . . .

Favorite day of the week?  Friday, especially Friday night.  There's the (frequently disappointed) hope that the weekend will bring something fun.

Favorite flower?  Could you pick a favorite child?  Pansies are a long-time favorite, but I also like lilies for their endless variety, and I LOVE peonies and big fat windblown cabbage roses.

Here's hoping your day is filled with sunshine!

Two sunbathers in my yard this morning.

Taste of Scotland: Bannocks

with daughter in Forres, Scotland

My great-great-great-great grandfather, James, came to the States from Ireland, with his Scottish wife Catherine, in the 1770s. After some 240 years, of course, the Scotch-Irish blood in my veins is pretty well diluted by infusions of English, German, and who knows what.  Nevertheless, I feel some pull (probably purely imaginary) of the old sod on occasion.  I have only been able to visit a few times, but I can also connect through food.  I've written before about discovering the yumminess of freshly made shortbread during our visit to Holyroodhouse.  Another tasty treat with Scottish roots is bannock, an easy quick bread.

My recipe varies from a truly traditional Scottish bannock, or oatcake, in that it contains wheat flour in addition to oats.  This recipe is not original to me, but I have had it for many years and have no idea where I got it.  I wish I could claim that it had passed down in my family since my ancestor came over in the eighteenth century, but that simply isn't true.

Bannocks

1 1/4 cup flour

1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal (quick cooking also works)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

Combine dry ingredients, cut in butter.  Add buttermilk; mix lightly with fork until dough clings together. 

Turn out on lightly floured board and knead gently several times.  Pat out to make two 6-inch rounds.  Cut each round into 6 or 8 wedges.

Coat griddle or frying pan with vegetable oil or shortening.  Cook over low heat until golden brown, about 3 minutes.  Turn over and cook the other side until golden and the inside no longer appears moist.

Printable recipe

I am linking to:

Bunny Jean's Bunny Hop

Light and Crunchy for Summer

Summer is in full swing here in Illinois.  We've been sweltering in the mid to upper 90s for about a week.  I know that is routine in many parts of the U.S., but here in northern Illinois, it's above average for June.

One nice thing about the coming of summer is that it's time for lighter foods. One of our favorites is Chinese chicken salad.  The name is no doubt completely erroneous -- the Chinese probably would deny all knowledge of this dish -- but it does have a little bit of an Asian flair.

This salad is easy to make, especially once the chicken is cooked and shredded.  If you want to make life really easy (after all, it is summer), you could make the dish with rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, but I have never tried that.  I stick with chicken breasts that I braise in a little water and shred as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

I prefer this salad as a combination of cool and warm ingredients.  When I assemble the salad, the cabbage is cold, the chicken is usually about room temperature, and the noodles and almonds are still quite warm.  You can have everything chilled if you prefer or if you want to prepare all the ingredients in advance.  It is important not to dress the salad until immediately before serving, however, or the noodles will lose their crunch.

Chinese Chicken Salad

4 cups (approximate) chicken breast, cooked, shredded

1/2 medium/large head cabbage, chopped

10 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup butter

2 packages Ramen noodles, crushed

1/4-1/2 cup slivered almonds

Dressing (whisk all together):

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup sugar

Mix chicken, cabbage, and green onions together in a large bowl. 

Melt butter in non-stick skillet.  Add crushed noodles and almonds.  Cook, stirring frequently, until nicely browned.

Add noodles to chicken/cabbage mixture.  Toss to mix.  Add dressing.  Toss to mix.  Serve immediately.

Printable recipe

No Need to Gild these Lilies

One of my husband's favorite expressions is "gilding the lily," so much so that it has become something of a joke in our family.  To gild the lily, of course, is to add something to an item that is already perfect.  Did you know the expression arises from a misquotation of a Shakespeare play?

Therefore, to be possessed with double pomp,
To guard a title that was rich before,
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To throw a perfume on the violet,
To smooth the ice, or add another hue
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.
-- Salisbury in The Life and Death of King John, IV ii

double orange daylily

I really kind of like the original expression -- "to paint the lily"  -- but there's no going against all these years of misquotation.

The lilies in our yard this summer need neither gilding nor painting.  While maybe not perfect, many of our lilies are in glorious bloom right now.  There is always a period when the Asiatics and the daylilies are in bloom at the same time, a time of vibrant color in our garden.

I love lilies; they are so carefree.  The only problem I have with them is that almost all of my Asiatic lilies must be staked.  My yellow trumpets and pale peach lilies, for example, are giants, reaching four to five feet tall.  Even the shorter ones need to be staked though, as the weight of the blossoms will cause them to topple.  The only other work is entirely self-induced.  I deadhead my daylilies every single day.  Am I the only one crazy enough to do this?  I have old-fashioned varieties, so it does not encourage further blooming.  I just don't like the sight of the wilting blossoms.

I thought I would share with you some of the lilies in our yard.  If I showed one of each variety, this post would be much too long. This is less than half of the lily varieties we have.  (What can I say? I'm a nut for lilies.)  I wish I could tell you the names, but I have no idea. Many of them were hand-me-downs.

Linking to:

Bunny Jean's Decor and More Bunny Hop Party