Morning!

Well, first off I’m doing my tiny bit to help to Rootz so I can worry less, and many thanks to those here who helped start that ball rolling.

Second, I bought a 99 Miata and there’s something about that top down wind in your hair (while still getting ~28 mpg) fun in the sun that really decompresses me.

Sitting on my front porch with a cup of coffee or tea and being very still while watching the hummingbirds work over our hanging baskets is great therapy too.

Hugs to all the FDL family, decompressing is good from time to time!

Morning everyone — the peanut is having a poptart and milk, and watching Shrek, and I’m getting the coffee pot going now. It’s another dreary, rainy day here…what’s up with that?!?

Looking forward to the discussion (and the recipes) today. :)

Good Day all

Lovely day here in Maine

Love you all, grateful for you all

OS

I sorta suck in the cooking department. Decided to use some fresh garlic for the first time in some simple chicken divan recipe this week. Two cloves was just way too much.

Gonna have to see how some fresh garlic does in my already kick ass spaghetti sauce next time I make some.

A song for a Saturday Morning…

Story of a Life

written by Harry Chapin and performed by…

Well, the birds are singing outside my window, not a bad way to wake up. As for gardening, well…maybe next year. If it weren’t for day lillies my yard would be a bit lacking in color. I’ve spent my extra time on painting my house inside and out instead of yard work.
Nice to know I can come to FDL for early morning chat and information. Thanks!

I tried a recipe from Jamie Oliver for grilling a whole salmon on the BBQ. Wow! Take the salmon and remove the scales, Get a big piece of foil – twice the length of the fish. Double it over, then put a layer of thinly sliced lemon down and the fish on top of the lemon. Season the fish inside and out with salt and a little pepper. Put some fresh basil inside the fish, along with some lemon slices. Then add another layer of lemon slices on top of the fish, and seal up the foil.

Put on the grill for about 25 minutes, then flip over and grill for another 25 minutes. (This for a 3.5 pound fish – bigger fish, more time.) Take it off the grill, let it sit for 5 minutes or so, then open it up and serve with delight. Also with a nice white wine – pinot grigio works great!

[All from memory, but I think that’s right.]

[ added by Moderator at the request of the original commenter : For the grilled salmon @ 8, don’t use foil. Instead, wrap the salmon in two sheets of newspaper (or four, if it’s large). Fill it as describes, then wrap it up and tie it all together with string. Moisten the newspaper all around right before you put it on the grill, and the moisture in the paper will give the salmon a slightly smoky flavor and keep the paper from burning.

Sorry for the glitch - and if a moderator wants to go up and correct the recipe above, I’d be forever grateful. :) ]

grrr…comments hate my links:

spaghetti sauce = http://mywebpages.comcast.net/zamboni/sauce.jpg

I listen to Nick Drake, especially the album “Pink Moon.” Or Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” Or I play a computer game. Or my partner and I make love and stay in bed too long afterwards, pretending our loft bed is floating above the world.

None of it, even the sweetness of my lover, keeps the devastating turns of the world away long enough.

Oh, that garden photo brings back memories. My mother and I had an “English garden” section in our suburban back yard in Portland, Oregon. Creating and maintaining the casual, chaotic organization of an English garden was the single hardest thing we ever did in that yard.

20 years later, my partner wants a yard and to do the same thing. I’m resisting.

Being a Saturday morning, I thought about sharing my recipe for pancakes, originated by Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen — a truly great resource for recipes and cooking tips. Being lazy, and looking out at the miserable soup that has descended on Washington, DC, I’ll share a salad recipe instead.

Orange, glazed walnut and Parmesan salad
(Serves four)

Salad:
One head Butter lettuce (approximately 1 lbs)
2 Blood oranges (You can substitute navel oranges if blood oranges are not available)
1/2 cup Shelled walnuts (Use either whole walnuts or walnut pieces)
1 tablespoon Butter
2 tablespoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Orange juice
2 ounces Parmesan cheese (in whole block, to be shaved thinly)
10-12” saute pan
10-12” sheet of aluminum foil

Dressing:
1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil (Needs to be a light, somewhat fruity oil)
3 tablespoons (Fresh squeezed orange juice it must be fresh squeezed, and again, blood oranges are preferable)
3-4 drops Balsamic vinegar
teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Coarsely ground pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the dressing first to allow the flavors to fully develop. Pour the fresh orange juice, cumin, pepper, and balsamic vinegar in a non-reactive bowl. Slowly pour in the olive oil, using a whisk to stir and emulsify the oil and vinegar mixture. After you’ve added all the oil, taste and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside in a refrigerator until the salad is ready to serve. Don’t dress the salad before you serve it – the butter lettuce will wilt.

Pull out the core of the lettuce. Pull head apart, removing any browned or damaged leaves. Rinse and drain lettuce completely. (I use a salad spinner, but washing and draining with a colander works well, especially if you blot dry the leaves with a towel.) Place drained lettuce in refrigerator and allow to cool.

Peel the oranges, and carefully remove any of the pith (white material on the inside of the skin) from the slices. Once all of the pith is removed, pull the oranges apart and set aside the sections.

Shave approximately 2 ounce of very thin slices off a block of Parmesan cheese. The slices should be very fine – almost translucent. .

Melt the butter in the saute pan over low to moderate heat. When the butter has melted completely, and is foaming (but is NOT brown), place the walnuts in the pan. Toss or stir the walnuts so they are completely coated with butter.

Drain any excess butter from the pan. Turn the heat of the burner to high. Add the two tablespoons of sugar to the pan and toss or stir the walnuts until they are completely covered. Allow the walnuts and sugar to caramelize in the pan for approximately two minutes. Add the two tablespoons orange juice to the pan – be careful, as the juice may splatter when you add it to the very hot pan. Toss or stir the nuts in the juice, and replace on the heat. Allow the juice to boil away. When the juice has boiled away, stir the walnuts in any remaining syrup, and remove to the sheet of aluminum foil. (You can use a baking sheet, but it means one more utensil to wash.) Allow the candied nuts to cool.

Assemble the salad just before you’re ready to serve it. Place the larger leaves of lettuce at the outside of the plate, and smaller leaves on top towards the center. Next, place sections of oranges on top of the lettuce, arranged in a pinwheel pattern. Sprinkle the candied nuts evenly over the plated salad. Place the thin slices of cheese on the top of the salad. Finally, pour the dressing over the salad, and serve immediately

Christy, I once had a great cookbook called “Chez Martha Rose” that included recipies and stories from the time she lived in Paris. I think it was her. It was a gem. Unfortunatly many of the good ones burned up in the housefire we had 2 years back, the ones we salvaged are all wrinkly and smokey but we simply couldn’t part with them!

Old sow – does your screen name refer to the old sow whirlpool?
http://www.oldsowwhirlpool.com/

Yowzers — Peterr’s salmon and scory’s salad: I think we done died and gone to Heb’n!

Christy: …the peanut is having a poptart and milk…

My daughter used to prefer toaster strudel. They’re more like pastry, and they come with a little packed to frosting so you can write things or draw pictures with the frosting. We always used to write or draw something having to do whith what we were interested in at the time.

Ahhh rain. I’m jealous. We’re expecting temps in the 90s for the next 5 days and dry, dry, dry. Weekend projects will be indoors for entirely different reasons. Christy, you have to share your diet tips, although I’m sure that chasing around after a three-year old is probably equivalent to an hour of bike riding. As for me, I continue to enjoy the fireflies in the evenings. I walk over to a nearby meadow and watch hundreds of them float effortlessly above the prairie grasses. Very soothing.

err, that’s “packet of frosting”. arrgh.

We are in rainy season here in Florida too. Best time to get them seeds in the ground. Last weekend I planted a bunch of sunflowers and African daisies and today I’m going to throw out some zinnia and Johnny Jump ups. I’m still working on them damn weeds in the lake. Friends have lent me rakes, triangle cutting tools and every other tool known to a home on the lake. What a nightmare. I am going to be looking for a home off the lake real soon. The only thing is I will miss all the lake creatures.

Here’s a pic of the weeds and a recent storm…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9…..189998533/

morning all,

the orange, feathery mimosa and violet roses of sharon continue to bloom, now joined by a line of crepe myrtles. although the great magnolia has run its course, the gardenia are asserting themselves in the front beds. when the air hangs heavy in the evening, its scent is a riot of honeysuckle, jasmine, gardenia, mimosa and god knows what else.

summer has begun her overstatement. blueberries are fat and dark, and the “deer apple” tree has fruited prodigously. the little, black “sweet ants” are in the weeping willow again.

we foolishly planted fescue in the side lot this spring, but the rain was so plentiful that we now have a lovely green carpet: just right for the extended game of croquet planned for tomorrow night when our dear friends come in from brooklyn.

Mary Jane at 12 — I sense a browse through ABE Books to see if I can locate that particular title. It sounds awfully fun. I love her Mediterranean and Provencal cookbooks as much for the atmosphere as I do the recipes. I’m like’s Jane’s mom — I devour a new cookbook like a novel. And one about living in Paris sounds lovely…

ccmask at 18 — oh, how lovely! I don’t think I would have the heart to move away from a view that nice. Maybe you can find some nice, young teenager to pay to take out the weeds and stick to some iced tea on the porch?

Christy, I just came in from TRYING to work in the yard. It’s already too hot to be out and there are way too many mosquitoes. So much for taking my mind off the world’s problems.

Morning all.
Someone help me out in the memory dept. Remember how President Clinton single handedly brought the verb “parse” back into common usage after it’d been in the “long out of use but still in the dictionary” pile for so long? I remembering reporters saying they had to scramble to their dictionaries to look it up.

The same thing happend with the verb “poring” a few years ago, but I can’t remember the occasion. Anyhoo, it turns out that a person is “poring over” books, papers, etc., not “pouring over” them. This was news to most people, including myself (which means very little since I’m no grammar or vocab geek by any stretch).

Anyways…anyone remember the occasion when the “poring over” thing blew up a few years back

http://www.websters-online-dic….._over.html

Christy — a three year old and and English garden? Wow. You’re a brave, brave and ambitious woman! (But we know that already.)

Bon matin les amis.

I was lucky to win a Mediterranean cruise and received as part of the gift package one of the most gorgeous and useful cookbooks I have in my collection.

‘Mediterranean the Beautiful Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from the Mediterranean Lands’ by Joyce Goldstein

Its coffee table format and loaded with incredible photos and of course authentic local recipes that will make it feel like you are there, absorbing the sun, surf and sea salt.

http://www.abebooks.com/servle…..&nsa=1

Food&Wine has a nice selection of Joyce’s recipes here;

http://www.foodandwine.com/art…..-goldstein

~~~

Eggplants are in season so its off to make some baba-ganoush. My spin is grilling the eggplant on the BBQ and of course the herbs fresh from the garden. In lieu of bread I like to lightly toast a batch of pita bread cut into large triangles.

http://www.recipesource.com/mu…..oush1.html

Ah, gardening. Here in Maine, with humidity at 81% and temps in the 80s today, I’m hoping to get outside this am before it gets too hot and spread some mulch.

Up here, one can grow great stuff as long as it doesn’t take too long. Healthiest damn weeds I’ve ever seen.

In the back of my mind is the thought that we may be moving. Hubby’s job not going so well. I’m looking forward to someplace with less humidity. A good friend tells me the Northwest is a good bet.

Any other ideas? I’m not good with humidity!

Scory at 23 — when you add in the fact that we really don’t have the climate for it, so I’m approximating with plants that do work in our hot, humid summers (but are hardy enough to survive our cold winters)…let’s just chalk it up to some form of garden insanity. LOL

here’s what i’m eating out of my garden so far :

mesclun (too much!)
loads of parsley and basil
my first grape tomatoes yesterday
zuccinis from my giant (compost boosted)plants
green onions

and the tomato plants are flowering and fruiting like mad. the cayenne peppers are huge this year as well. h/t to global warming

Oh, I almost forgot – that’s an absolutely stunning photo of the garden you have posted up there!

christy:

congrats on your weight loss. how’d you do it?

I live by the sea in So. Calif., and lately it’s been too hot to cook. I did broil some salmon basted with Japanese Miso dressing and served it alongside some couscous. My husband liked it (but he’ll eat anything).

As for escape from the realities of our world, I have to read fiction. I just finished “Heartbreaker” by Susan Howatch. It’s the first book in a modern setting I’ve read in years. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

I also reach for a netflix for additional escape. Just watched “Indochine” and found it to be one of the best films I’ve ever seen. Not light fare, but quite worth the watch.

Am trying to focus on quiet and positive things after having another manic episode last night. Need better meds.

Have found some lovely green spaces nearby as part of going on longer walks for my health. That new habit is going well. In one direction is a small lake, in one a woods with a small brook, and in the third a long walk under a canopy of trees leading to town.

Christy, do you have Clementine in the Kitchen?

My garden has been neglected recently due to paying work and impending vacation. The neighborhood cats had sent me a thank you note for building them a 4′ x 8′ raised bed litter box. The “litter box,” as I now refer to it, is growing sunflowers, cilantro, 4 types of hot peppers, tomatoes and basil.

Welp, I’m gonna repair to my fave Greek cookbook again for an idea for all you vedge-gardeners. Warning: though the recipe says “Serves 4-5,” this must mean “4-5 big plates piled high with nothing but” . . . which, come to think of it, wouldn’t be bad a-tall. Yummy as leftovers too.

BAKED SUMMER VEGETABLES (BRIAMI)

1 lb. zucchini
1 lb. aubergines (eggplant)
1 lb. potatoes, peeled [or not, if you use little new ones]
2 onions, sliced
2 green peppers [seeded]
1 1/2 lbs. tomatoes
1 1/2 cups olive oil
Salt and pepper
Parsley, chopped [I substitute dill and mint, and plenty of ‘em]

Scrape and wash zucchini. Slice all vegetables in 1/2-inch pieces. Arrange in [LARGE] baking pan. Add olive oil and one cup hot water. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley. Cover and bake in moderate [350] oven for 1 1/2 hours. Uncover for the last 30 minutes. Serves 4-5 [*g*].

Hey Christy,

For a great summer treat, my husband and I put whole garlic cloves in foil with a little bit of olive oil and salt, and put them on the grill. When they are done they can be spread like the consistency of butter on a thick slice of Italian bread. They can be eaten just like that, or topped with chopped tomatoes and basil. Delicious!

As for gardening, we have three kids, so we wish to do more than we ever do. But we wistfully watch our retired neighbors add more and more each year to their gardens, and we know that some day we will have the time also!

Christy — believe me, I understand. I can’t make Washington, DC into Portland, OR no matter how much I want to. I’m not seeing delphinium, hollyhock, bearded iris, and tea rose in my garden future. WV isn’t much different from DC, if I correctly remember my Sunset zone guide to American gardening.

Lotus, for some reason I wandered back to the bottom of the last thread and saw what you wrote about your friend who was dropping out of her professional and personal life. Sounds like A-plus top quality major depression. She needs medicine, a good shrink, love, and support of many kinds. Time is of the essence, it can be dangerous. We have this stuff throughout the family, just kind of wait to see who gets it next.

It’s brilliant and hot here in Chicago. I’m also a gardener in a big way (Q: How is a gardener like a Cubs fan? A: Both start saying “Wait til next year” in April.) In 14 years I’ve managed to turn my entire yard into garden — the front in perennials, the back in native plants — with no lawn whatsoever. People marvel at how I can maintain it, but the secret is that I spend a lot less time on my garden now than I used to spend mowing the bloody grass. I use landscape fabric and mulch to keep down the weeds, but the real answer to controlling weeds is getting a lot of plants well established as quickly as possible, so the weeds simply can’t compete. There are usually a few puny opportunists hidden here and there under my flowers but they’re easily extirpated during my strolls through the garden. Also, give your flowers a good organic food so they can outmuscle the weeds. I use foods from Gardens Alive! which are pricey but unbelievably effective.

Your post reminds me that the underlying psychological draw for gardeners is the same as that for progressive activists — it’s the hope. When we sit in the winter with our books and plant catalogs and imagine the glories of the summer to come it’s the same as when we talk of a world that’s just and a country that truly cares for its citizens. Maybe we won’t ever achieve the perfect English garden or a perfectly fair world, but there’s always next year, and we’re going to keep hoping no matter what.

Oh please can I join up and chat about food and gardens? We just finished saturday morning breakfast here–high above our garden which is one floor below us and very green and lush without any flowers ata all because I don’t have time to plant or keep it up. I love gertrude jekyll, and also have many books on shade gardens and children’s gardens which I hope to put into practice before my kids are in highschool.

Breakfast was corn pancakes from Fields of Greens–I make them in advance and freeze them in small lots so my daughters can eat them before camp. Home made blueberry jam and home made apricot jam, and home made dried cherry scones from Fields of Greens (made with one third white whole wheat for a little extra flavor).

I, too, love Jamie Oliver–my husband and I call it the “all things pancetta” cookbook. My best dish from that is the asparagus bundles with rosemary and anchovy inside, wrapped in proscuitto and grilled and served with a grilled lemon. Fantastic! Cold soups are also good, I make a quick beet borscht sometimes with beets, orange juice and ginger served with greek yogurt. We just got back from a trip to san francisco and I had some amazing salads there and have become a convert to mint in everything–mint, nectarines, proscuitto and mozzarella and arugula? Perfection. Mint, arugula, lemon juice and smoked trout? cool and sophisticated.

aimai

Oceanbreeze @ 34

My mother remembers to the year — 1971 — when she really put me to work in the yard. I was ten. Old enough to handle a spade, a hoe, and a rake, and docile enough not to complain. You may have a window of opportunity with your kids!

i am off to use my little tractor to move some dirt and stone. i have been landscaping this year after building my dream house (i have the hole in my hand where the nail went thru to prove it…). it’s good therapy to vent lots of anger in the world. then i am off to a ned lamont appearance this afternoon and hand out bumper stickers (actually authorized by ned). this site is one that keeps me very informed so i can counter the laziness in responses from some of my peers. it’s easy to stay with joe, so they say. my skin crawls when i hear that. thanks for all you have done to fortify me and keep me going.

Thanks, egregious 37. Wishing you peace and calm, dear.

Yes, as a struggler with chronic depression myself, that’s what S’s “break” sounds like to me too. But she’s doing such an effective job of hiding that we who care can’t find, much less influence her. Her sis is going out there to start seriously beating the bushes, but S is so smart (and street-smart) that I don’t hold much hope for K’s success. Awfulness, and so out-of-the-blue . . .

I have to say that I have gardened by profession my whole life. I have gardened in Pennsylvania and I have gardened in Oregon. I MUCH prefer gardening in Oregon than Pennsylvania, and we can grow way more stuff here too. Except good corn and peaches. I do miss them.

I haven’t mowed the grass for three weeks, and it has to be done this weekend. Actually, the grass is fine — it’s the weeds and alfalfa and sumac sprouts that are raggedy. We had two days of serious rain last weekend, which was the most moisture we’ve had all year.

In my little rose garden, the perennial violas have taken over the ground cover. They love shade, and as long as they get enough water, they are very hardy and robust.

mornin Christy…beautiful pic….we are finally getting a break from the rain here in Ft Lauderdale. But I am not complaining because it keeps the water bill down (which is usually high, thanks Jebby) and there has been tremendous wind shear so all those nasty tropical waves aren’t developing, they are just dropping lots of rain.

A couple of other story-filled cookbooks. “Flatbreads and Flavors” is by the husband and wife team of Alford and Duguid, who travel the world to research their subject.The book has lots of stories and lovely photographs of not only flatbreads but all the good stuff that goes with them,including the people they meet along the way. They even met while traveling and often take their small children along. All of their books are beautiful.
My favorite Diana Kennedy is “My Mexico” which includes vivid intimate descriptions of places and people all over Mexico. Both great books to plan a trip around, or just excellent armchair traveling.
Now I’m off to the great outdoors.

Well, around my neck of the woods we have been having what my pappy called “brilliant, blue-eyed days.” (On such days, I also remember, “Rise and shine! It’s time to be about!)

Since it’s summer time, those of us in the academic end of things are unemployed. Oh, sure, you can stretch your paycheck over 12 months instead of 9, but why kid yourself? Alternatively, you could call it “annual retirement.” Regardless, things slow wa-a-a-a-y down.

The past few weeks have been focused on getting an academic article finished on economic problems with people getting their day in court, particularly in other countries. If you think lawyers are too expensive here in the USA for the average citizen, consider that if you sue the government or a private company in almost every other country in the world and lose, you might have to pay their lawyers too. But who can write all the time? (Except for Christy and Jane, of course . . . .)

For some reason, the rest of this won’t post, so I will divide this comment….

So part of each day has also been spent in the garden, attacking the laurel edges surrounding our place (laurels are absolutely indestructible, so being kind to laurels is completely unnecesary), pulling dead limbs out of trees, and creating some new flower beds as well.

Pansies and petunias and daisies provide some real hope in a world that is exploding and imploding, both at the same time. And here comes another rose!

aimai @ 38

if you like asparagus, try this:

Roast asparagus

One lbs asparagus
One lemon
One Tbsp olive oil
18″ piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil

Rinse and prepare the stems of the asparagus to your preference. (I won’t get into the theological debate on peeling v. breaking.)

Zest the lemon completely. You can peel the lemon skin and very finely chop the zest, or use a microplane grater if you have one. Once the lemon is completely zested, cut the lemon. Set aside both the zest and the lemon.

Place the asparagus in the center of the foil. Sprinkle the lemon zest over the asparagus, then drizzle the olive oil over the asparagus. Roll the spears to evenly distribute both the oil and the zest. Fold the foil around the asparagus, but not too tightly, and place on a grill or on the middle rack of a 350 degree oven. After ten minutes, open the foil packet and check the asparagus for doneness. It should be bright green, and bend slightly — not as much as steamed asaparagus. If not done, return for a few more minutes of grilling or roasting.

When done, squeeze the lemon over the asparagus spears. Serve immediately as a warm dish, or chill to use in cold asparagus salad.

You could easily add other herbs to the foil packet.

This has become my favorite way to prepare asparagus. Simple, fresh, and reduces the use of butter (which I love, but as I pass my mid-40s, is not my friend for many reasons).

That’s outside. Inside, I have been working to reduce the mountains of boxes stuffed with the detritus of my former life in the extra bedroom that we have euphemistically called the “storage room” since my wife and I moved into this house a few years ago.

Going through those boxes yields hidden treasures — yesterday, my long-missing and treasured copy of the stunning book, The Family of Man, as well as a lovely picture of my Mom (who passed away 10 years ago this fall) with my brother and me and boxes of reel-to-reel tapes containing music that I recorded before CDs and even before cassette tapes.

And among the reel-to-reel magnetic tapes I came across a deeply mysterious one in my mother’s handwriting, with a date 50 years ago: “For my sons, if anything happens to me.” My Mom had some bitter years and a lot of sadness early on. What can be contained on that?

And will the magnetic particles even retain their orientation, or will the tape be impossible to decipher?

And do I really want to know what it contains?

Well, I think I’ll put off listening to that until next month, after taking off to the “boonies” (as my pappy called the outdoors) for a long, long camping trip. After all, I’m retired again this summer.

P.S. I realize as I have written this that I am being careful not to be too specific. No city. No state. The least possible amount of identifying information.

Why’s that?

Because unlike what may be contained on that old reel-to-reel tape recording, this message is likely to last forever. And with the data-mining and Internet interception projects of the US Government, as well as private companies doing the same, it might be reassembled with other information for everything from interference with my civil liberties to identity theft.

In this increasingly open and connected world, we have to think about people who will will abuse that openness and can do us harm. And some of them are in the highest levels of our own government.

That’s sobering and deeply worrisome.

Christy that IS quite the striking photo up top. You’ve got quite the eye. The Kludge household is ‘notsomuch’ recipes, gardening and the like. I will echo that I for one sure appreciate the Lake environment. What a cool collection of folks.

At another site, a thread asked about ‘most reliable media (news). There a folks posting from across the spectrum. Even subtle questiioning of C&L w/o questining the ACCURACY/AUTHENTICITY. So, my first listed media was C&L, then I stuck in alJazeera link. This site allows post-posting editing, so upon reflection, I recalled that the most dependable way to access info is your local library/librarian. I ended w/”Thank a librarian today.” IIRC there’s a couple folks around the Lake who are librarians. Isn’t sharkbabe LOC? Anyway, thanks to librarians, and helping keeep info accessible and ‘free’.
——
Someone above mentioned the relationship b/t a garden and the Cubs. As it happens, I began my affair with the Red Sox in ‘67. (What a year, in many ways besides baseball…). Being summer bring to mind baseball. I have a link to the box score of my first visit to Fenway (’69). Some might recall my little vignette regarding how my Dad brought me along with him into the voting booth. He also brought me to my first Fenway adventure. He also passed along a love of quotes. In that spirit I have Annie Savoy:

“I believe in the Church of Baseball. I’ve tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I’ve worshipped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora Duncan. I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn’t work out between us. The Lord laid too much guilt on me. I prefer metaphysics to theology. You see, there’s no guilt in baseball, and it’s never boring… which makes it like sex. There’s never been a ballplayer slept with me who didn’t have the best year of his career. Making love is like hitting a baseball: you just gotta relax and concentrate. Besides, I’d never sleep with a player hitting under .250… not unless he had a lot of RBIs and was a great glove man up the middle. You see, there’s a certain amount of life wisdom I give these boys. I can expand their minds. Sometimes when I’ve got a ballplayer alone, I’ll just read Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman to him, and the guys are so sweet, they always stay and listen. ‘Course, a guy’ll listen to anything if he thinks it’s foreplay. I make them feel confident, and they make me feel safe, and pretty. ‘Course, what I give them lasts a lifetime; what they give me lasts 142 games. Sometimes it seems like a bad trade. But bad trades are part of baseball – now who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, for God’s sake? It’s a long season and you gotta trust. I’ve tried ‘em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball.”
——
You have built it; we are here.

My cookbook collection numbers about 150. I figure, to my wife’s chagrin, that the book is worth hanging onto if it has even one good recipe. (The deal is, I can never comment on her shoe collection.) I’ve instructed the family that when I die the should cremate me, but I want the cookbooks buried.

Here are five I’m fond of, four probably available via Amazon marketplace (i.e. used.)

The New Orleans Cookbook, by Rima and Richard Collins. Recommended to me years ago by some natives of New Orleans. My only complaint is that I can’t try the crawfish recipes.

The Manhattan Chili Co Southwest American Cookbook, by Michael McLaughlin. Why anyone selling chili would include the word Manhattan in their company name, I don’t know, but this book has some damned fine chili recipes in it.

Cuisine Grand Mere – Traditional French Home Cooking, by Marie-Pierre Moine. A great “retro” look, and honest, homey, recipes from the folks who gave us the word and concept “cuisine.”

Good Cheap Food – Miriam Ungerer Don’t be put off by the title. Emphasis on the “good.” Recipes from all over.

And finally, a book you probably cannot find anywhere: Yemenite and Sabra Coookery by Naomi and Shimon Tzabar. I’ve never actually used it, but how can you throw away a cookbook that includes recipes on the same page for Locust (start with 2 kgs. locusts and a hot oven), and Geed (Ox or bull penis)?

Incorporate all the humus/manure you can deal with into your soil. Get the Better Homes and Gardens Flower Book (the big one) Create an irrigation system w/ those little tubes (not the internet variety) you can get in garden stores that carry water everywhere and are an enormously fun project to put together. I had a huge garden so gorgeous it looked embarrassingly almost like those hideous Kimball paintings of English gardens.

Age intervened, the pleasure:effort ratio shifted and I moved to a smaller place. But what fun while it lasted!

Kludge, I’d never heard of Annie Savoy before, so many thanks for introducing us — wotta hoot!

Not a recipe, but under the “good news” clause, I scored a 3-foot-high Elmo for my 2-yo peanut at a garage sale for 50 cents! I imagine that if you account for gas and search time going to all the garage sales this morning, it’s more expensive than just buying one at Target, but it still feels like good news!

On cookbooks: I’m a big fan of Joy, mainly for the “theory” sections. I also have an ancient “Cordon Bleu” cookbook that they’ll have to pry from my cold, dead hands. But by far the best is the now out-of-print In My Kitchen by Paul Bocuse, a collection of simple recipes (I mean that: no recipe is more than a dozen ingredients, and most weigh in around half-a-dozen) that really are sturdy enough for everyday cooking. Sort of the same spirit as Jacque Pepin’s current cooking show on PBS—which here is on Sunday mornings, and is much, much better than the Talking Heads shows.

Cathy –

I can see how as a gardening professional Oregon would be much preferrable to Pennsylvania.

But, IMHO, there are good peaches in Oregon — from the Rogue Valley, and certain parts of the Willamette Valley. I try and bring a box back to DC each year from my August visit, along with blackberries and Marionberries.

On the other hand, we could never get our peach trees in Portland to do anything.

Way to go on the weight loss Christy.

I have a sunflower that the top bud has turned directly away from the sun. It’s a little disturbing actually. Where did I go wrong?

I live in a cottage in a former Methodist summer camp. It’s a challenge to garden with a very small plot, and even less sun. Last year I was able to get that English garden look, and I wasn’t trying for it.

I wanted a variety, but with such a small area it didn’t leave many options. I bought some tall perennials, for the back, a lot of herbs, and I bought a wide variety of annuals to fill in. The trick for me was to go to all the different garden centers in the area, and buy a single 4 or 6 pack of the different annuals and not full flats. Mixing the herbs with drastically different foliage also helps.

This year I did the same thing, only with not as many annual herbs.

lotus:

Thanks. You gotta rent this sometime:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094812/quotes

Kludge @ 51 isn’t that from “Bull Durham”?

This sat am segment is a great take me away respite.
Our lives are dominated by working to put food on the family & home drudgery duties leaving so little time & energy left over for those life is good pursuits. When I was bitching about not being able to work on my favorite project loves, a well-meaning 80 relative who knows we are work overloaded said, “Oh, you don’t have time for that.” Oh my, I wanted to shake that sweet woman. She really was trying to make me feel better but it felt like Lucy yanking away the football at the last moment. Living in such a precarious, stress filled world, it’s even more important to carve out time for all things that keep us not just sane, but sustained.

For those of you who don’t know about The Family of Man, one place to start is here:

http://www.moma.org/research/a….._1955.html

The book came from an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1955. It traveled around the world and is now on permanent display in Luxembourg.
http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/clervaux.html

One of the many haunting images is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I…..ther02.jpg

Mind you, many in the artistic and progressive communities have been critical of The Family of Man:

“It is an awesome exercise in naivete, oversimplification, and sentimentality.”

And this:

“What is disheartening is to see the agency (Museum of Modern Art) which claims to preside over the artistic values of photography tumble so easily into vulgar ideological postures.”

http://elmo.academyart.edu/study/ph101/Required reading/Jay.htm

Sure, sure. Undoubtedly the critics are right. The exhibit and book are too optimistic. Too positive.

But so are gardens.

Sigh.

Last night Organic George and I enjoyed an amazing new dish — Pork Tenderloin with Pomegranates and Orange, served with a lovely Pinot Noir, from a great new food/wine book — PERFECT PAIRINGS, by Evan and Joyce Goldstein. To die for! Can’t wait to try other recipes/suggested wines from the book.

Abysmally hot here — 105 degrees and thunderstorms predicted, *with humidity*. This is southern Cal… and this is NOT supposed to happen here.

As for our heirloom tomatoes: they’re suffering from overfertilization and excessive kindness. More leaves than ‘maters, alas.

Love all you guys. Carry on.

Oh, and just a reminder for everyone, Colleen Rowley will be on Howie’s Blue America this afternoon at 2 pm ET/11 am PT. She’ll be here to chat. :)

scory-
When I was 19 and 20, summer jobs were very few and far between and my college let out late in the summer compared to the rest in the area. So the only job I could get was at the local produce farm picking fruits and vegetables. Talk about hard work! Anyway, in September we picked peaches and you have never tasted anything as heaven on earth as a tree ripened peach grown in Pittsburgh.

During the school year I hide from the news in my real job, chorus singing, primarily classical and opera. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work in the summer, when my groups go on hiatus, and my voice teacher does too, leaving way too much time to follow the news. We start up in late August, and I am really looking forward to it this year.

Since peaches are coming in, I will be making this dish.

3 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
3 cups blueberries
1 lb peaches, peeled and sliced

Bring to a boil the balsamic vinegar, sugar, and 1 cup blueberries, cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly. Add a grind or two of pepper. Pour over peaches and remaining blueberries. Sugar to taste. Let stand at 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Found on Epicurious.com

I make a version of this every year, and every year I forget and have to get a new version. Peaches here are really good, but the blueberries have been less so this year.

Mmm, real peaches. I haven’t found a good one locally since I moved to Florida. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve been visually and/or olfactorally seduced by a display in a store or stand, only to bring some home, bite into one, and find the same old meally, dry, dull story.

What I’d give for some real Georgia Belles (aka Belle of Georgia, properly pronounced something close to “Bella Jowja”). Incredibly sweet and juicy white peaches — if you ever run across ‘em, buy a pile, not for my sake but for yours.

Eye candy garden books:
Tasha Tudor’s Garden & The Private World of Tasha Tudor

Last night I browned some chicken thighs in a large saute pan, added carrots, leeks and fresh thyme (plus salt and pepper) and sauteed a few more minutes. Deglazed the pan with some white wine and a little chicken broth, and simmered for 25 minutes. To finish the sauce, I added a little cream and fresh parsley.

It was delicious, but I love anything with leeks.

Favorite cooking magazines: Fine Cooking and Cook’s Illustrated.

In Marin County, Northern California, we have dense fog this morning and 58 degrees. It’ll “burn off” by noon, and be in the 70’s until dark, then back with the fog, our natural air-conditioning.

Instead of spending hours on the web, reading the news and political blogs (Firedoglake is my first destination every morning) and then sending emails to everyone I know trying to wake them up to the mess in the world, these days I am taking a Photoshop Class and playing with editing the many pictures from my daughter’s recent wedding, or being an artist, I am spending hours every day at my easel, listening to books on tape, usually mysteries.

My new favorite flavor of the summer is Vietnamese Coriander. In my area I can only grow it as an annual. It has a intense, fresh flavor, reminds me of a strong cucumber.

The aroma is intoxicating, and it works well across the board. Fresh in salsa, great wrapping it around cubes of meat and grilling in kabob baskets, fruit salads with ginger and pineapple sage, and grilled cheese.

You know what one of my favorite lunches is, especially in hot weather? Just a good ol’ Fuji apple, quartered, cored, and slathered with peanut butter. Such a nice dance of texture and flavor, and it holds me all the way to suppertime. Who’d a-thunk?

Good luck with Photshop Linda B. It’s the most creative tool I’ve ever worked with.

As solace for the hot and humid weather here (this morning it was 72 degrees at 6:15am with 97% humidity; 80 degrees now with 80% humidity), each morning this week I’ve been enjoying a handful of blackberries straight off the bush. This is my first summer at this new home and the plethora of berries is an unexpected blessing. Even better, the many birds have plenty of insects to eat so they haven’t even touched the berries yet!

scory 60

Yes. I guess I figured it was ‘universal’ knowledge. The link I slapped up in reply to lotus is in fact “Bull Durham.”

Kludge’s are renowned for sloppy results. Not intentionally misleading…

Lotus, it sounds like your friend is having it bad. Withdrawing and feeling blue is one thing, but leaving legal cases hanging is very serious.

Depression is not well understood — it’s a psychological process that triggers significant changes in brain chemistry, which is why drug interventions can often be effective. But the interplay of mental health and neuro-transmitters is not well understood, and the effects of the SSRI’s and other drugs even less so.

A friend recently reached a conclusion of a legal nightmare — he was sued for divorce, even though he wasn’t married. He won the case, but it was very stressful. He took Wellbutrin for a while, and was very pleased with the results. This is a SDRI (selective dopamine reuptake inhibitor), which affects the brain differently than SSRI’s (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). Another non prescription option is 5-HTP, a precursor chemical for serotonin. Wikipedia has really comprehensive entries on all of these things.

Back to the psychological basis seratonin levels. On the NewsHour some years ago Paul Solman reported that Alpha CEO’s will have twice the serotonin levels of Beta Junior Executives. But the individuals with the highest seratonin levels are Eastern Yogis in meditation. This is a round about validation of the power of prayer, and the value of religion. Feeling powerless brings on depression; feeling powerful and in control energizes us; feeling connected to the higher powers in the universe maximizes our potential.

Sorry to disrupt this reverie, but I do think that After The Hamdan Decision…What To Watch For In The Capitol is a fascinating DailyKos diary on a seminar yesterday with

Admiral Stansfield Turner, former Director of the CIA

Mike Posner, the President of Human Rights First

David Cole, Professor, Georgetown Law Center, Legal Affairs correspondent of the Nation

David Wise, author, “The Invisible Government,” and many other books on intelligence.

Pssst! Over here! It’s me, al-Scooter.

We’re on our weekender. When my wife found out we had internets access from our room, she forbade me to bring my laptop so I wouldn’t spend the whole trip pounding the Refresh Comments button. She’s in the shower now, so I sneaked down to the hotel business center to check FDL.

Unbelievably great stuff from you on Plamesuit and from Jane about Ned!!

I caught some of the sound bites of Valerie Wilson on CBS Radio News while we were driving yesterday. Articulate, self-possessed and perfectly clear, she is. I pity the fool that crosses her.

Goota get back to the room before I’m missed. Hope this works again tomorrow for Sunday bird blogging. Let’s hope Democracy Boy doesn’t blow the world up before then.

Thanks, -ck-. You’ve detailed why FDL is hands-down the best anti-depressant I’ve ever encountered (and that’s most of them). How I wish I could get my friend S here.

Good Morning all…

My hobby is making synthetic furballs for ceramic cats.

Balsamic vinegars of every type are crowding supermarket shelves but what to choose? Wish there a lick version of scratch & sniff so I wouldn’t waste money. I’d love some tips from making your own or purchased brand suggestions.

See? Even undepressed al-Scooter proves the point.

I don’t own any land so I don’t have a prayer of gardening anything. But I got a catalog for fruit trees and bushes in the mail and I drool over that.

I’m not much for annual flowers. I figure that if I’m going to plant, fertilize and weed something that’s going to die anyway, it better throw down some food.

I read somewhere that some poor woman tried to put a garden and a couple fruit trees in the back yard of their developer-community McMansion and the HOA wouldn’t let them! That’s so…well, American, actually. :-(

Good cookbooks to take out of the library: The America’s Test Kitchen (Cook’s Illustrated) cookbooks. They don’t have lots of recipes; they focus on making a few recipes very well. I just copy what I want.

Let’s hope Democracy Boy doesn’t blow the world

hmmm . . . Democracy is like frogs; young democracies are like frog eggs and tadpoles.

and contrary to what Democracy Boy thinks, spreading frogs around with firecrakers does not make them thrive and prosper.

Hey there, ofg! Been meaning to tell you that your description yestiddy of your socks rolling up and down on their own as you first tasted cappucino sent me over the back of th’ chair again. Another 707 moment, yessirree-bob!

I’ve been lurking here for over a year but the past few Saturdays have been a siren song luring me out of the closet; mention of the Chelsea Show, Harry Chapin, gardening, good food & good fellowship are just too strong to resist.

How ‘bout I call myself “Waccamaw” in homage to FDL & a lovely dark lake & river in southeastern NC near where I was reared. Have absolutely no idea whether this will get thru’ due to never having done it before but, what the who!

Christy – I had the awesome joy to visit the CFS last year & it will be one of the best memories of my life. After seeing the David Austin Roses booth that covered a huge area I ordered four bushes from their Texas branch to plant at the beach. Followed their suggestions re. selections but they are having a bit of a fight against salt laden ocean winds & deer munching. Your recipe for Chocolate Zucchini cake is totally yum; have been munching on a batch for the last week – wonder what it would be like with a bit of ground ginger thrown in? So much for my diet, thank you very much!

Re. music – Harry Chapin’s daughter Jen is playing an outdoor concert in a small, nearby town tomorrow nite which I wouldn’t miss. FDL & its readers bring to mind one of my favorite Carrie Newcomer songs “Festival of Friends”. For books, have you ever read the “3000 Mile Garden” about the correspondence between two American & English authors/gardeners? A wonderful read.

‘Ta for all you do to help bring a little sanity into a world that seems sadly lacking in that precious commodity at the moment.

Needing cheering up (unfortunately) seems a common theme these days.

Well,

“I am he as you are me and we are all together”
re: depression and connectedness/power

and

“Sitting in an English Garden waiting for the sun”
re: topic photo
—–
I Am the Walrus
J. Lennon
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/beatles/i am the walrus_10026521.html

Morning, all…

Since I’ve been going to the gym regularly, to get off the 60-some pounds that Zoloft packed onto me in a three year period (gives new meaning to the phrase “fat and happy” – or, my take, which was, it’s a good thing this stuff works on depression, ’cause being fat IS depressing), I’ve gotten hooked on HGTV’s Landscaper’s Challenge – so many great ideas (none of which I have implemented, but still…).

We live on almost 6 acres, about half of which is wooded. Right now, the wild raspberries are bursting with fruit. I spent about an hour last evening picking, and it was only the drenching humidity and heat that made me stop. Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday, so we’re having her up to celebrate, and I think I am going to do a raspberry tart. If the blueberries are plentiful enough, I may make it a raspberry/blueberry tart.

Our labs love blueberries, and will eat the low-hanging ones right off the bush. Who knew dogs liked blueberries???

With a wedding being planned for next May, which my daughter wants to have here at home, outside, I am obsessing about the landscaping. We’ve never been big on a lot of formal garden-type stuff, preferring to do nore natural stuff, but now I have to think about this in a whole new way. Was lying in bed this morning, thinking about how we could arrange tents, etc.

Love this Saturday morning post – what an inspired idea!

Christy – congrats on the weight loss! I’m making good progress on my own excess poundage, and now, with the prospect of a mother-of-the-bride dress to buy, and pictures to last for all eternity, I am inspired to work, work, work on that last 25 pounds!!

Just back from being walked by the spaniels, we’re expecting triple digits in Fargo today so–for us–an early start.

Flower gardens range from lush to stunted…dry, dry, dry around here. Our old neighborhood is blessed with tall trees, so my garden’s mostly hostas these days, with annuals for color. And herbs. The oregano has faithfully grown back season after season. Maybe because the winters are getting less and less cold?

Right now, I’m in love with basil, for all the obvious reasons. And tarragon. Sprinkled over an organic chicken I’ve spritzed with olive oil, add in new potatoes and baby carrots and slow cook.

Christy, I love cookbooks full of story, too. Because we do our Christmas Eve ethnic dinner every year, I’ve acquired cookbooks for virtually every country in Europe with a few from SA and North Africa/Middle East. Part of the fun.

al-Scooter needs a shoephone!
(but don’t tell his wife) ;->

lotus –

I’ll bet your friends new beau has something to do with her issues. Even if he is the best boyfriend in the world, anticipation is a serotonin enhancer, which is followed by a serotonin reduction when the little disappointments start to accumulate.

It’s kind of a psychological Doppler Effect — building up to an event is energizing, dealing with the after effects is exhausting.

food for thought . . .

A fun bulb to plant are caladiums. I live in the Caladium Capital of the World, or so the guide books say. There are so many different colors and varieties. Easy to plant and so colorful in the garden. And, the best part, is that they do not need a lot of water.

I just posted some pics of Caladium fields by my house….
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97676043@N00/

Waccamaw at 86 — oh man, going to the CFS is one of my dream trips. Although it will have to be on my own, I think, because Mr. ReddHedd would be comatose in minutes. lol But one of these days, I’m going to the show and on some tour of the Jekyll gardening masterpieces…and feel mighty inadequate as a garder, but fill up on lots and lots of ideas to muck up for years to come. :)

ironranger 81
Can you get to an Asian market in your area? If you can, see if they have coconut vinegar or sugar cane vinegar if you want a variety of vinegars. The coconut vinegar is a very mild, semi-sweet, cloudy white vinegar. The sugar cane vinegar is a sweeter, milder version of balsamic without the acidic bite.

They are products of the Philippines. The coconut vinegar is very light, with either grapeseed oil, or canola oil, and little fresh orange juice and your favorite herbs, you have a great dressing for salads or vegetables.

Since I’ve found these two types, I’ve retired the balsamic.

Kludge @ 74

Not a problem — that speech is my favorite part of the movie. Just wanted to provide context.

OK, now on to the real problems of the world — vacuuming and doing two week’s worth of laundry. :)

Hey, ironranger, I agree! We need our sanctuary time and sanctuary places. For me the place is a lake cabin in the northern Minn tall timber. But also my in-town back yard.

Sarah Susanka’s series on The Not-So-Big-House suits my architectural tastes…especially her designing-in what she calls away space. When we remodeled the cabin, building in away space was an essential.

She has a new book out now on the outside portion of not-so-big-houses that I can’t wait to delve into. Christy, I’m like you, when it’s cold, wintery, gardening and landscaping books are what help sustain me.

You know, for all the weight loss questions, we’ve been doing a sort of modified South Beach/Sonoma Diet (based on recommendations of friends and some folks at FDL), and it is working out well. Basically we’ve cut back on all things sugar and refined/pre-packaged foods, and are eating healthy, whole grain, lots of veggies, and lean protein. And it has made a huge difference, even for my joint issues. Now I need to find a way to work in some exercise in my ever-shrinking spare time…

Morning everyone; another hot sunny day here and after torrents of rain, lush.

Christy I love the English garden thing too – the cottage garden. I’m convinced it’s a state of mind, letting the garden shape itself. That and a willingness to move things around repeatedly when they don’t turn out like you thought.

Will be hot and sunny here today in this part of the Great Lakes; too hot to do gardening unless I dash out now and do it next to the shady part of the house. It’s headed your way, east coasters, enjoy the rain, do your weeding while it’s still moist and cool.

In regards to mediterranean cooking: love anything by Paula Wolfert, although I prefer most of her recipes in the winter months.

The surprising best source for mediterranean summer recipes is Madhur Jaffrey’s World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking. (Probably out of print, check for it at alibris.com.) Many mediterranean and Eurasian recipes, all yummy, many require little cooking so no extra heat in the kitchen. Three of our summer favorites are Chickpeas with Tahini (it’s hummus, Madhur doesn’t call it that, though), Yogurt with Garlic and Yogurt with Cucumber and Mint; we serve them with fresh flat bread for dipping, or as a sauce for grilled chicken or salmon. Delectable and refreshing.

My daughter’s favorite summer treat is Greek tzatziki, another yogurt and cucumber dish very similar to the one in Jaffrey’s cookbook. Very easy, quick, and can easily be made by school-aged children.

Tzatziki

1 carton(16 ounces) plain lowfat yogurt (Greek yogurt is great; if you don’t have it, but like this dish thicker, strain the yogurt first.)
1 peeled fresh cucumber, grated
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper (or substitute finely grated lemon rind and coarse ground black pepper)
1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced finely (to taste, we love more)
1 tablespoon chopped dill (you can mix/match/substitute mint and oregano, too; dry is okay, but use less. Fresh is always better.)
1-2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

(To strain yogurt, begin previous evening by spooning yogurt into a paper coffee filter in a funnel and cover this with plastic wrap, put in fridge overnight. Allow excess moisture to drain out, discard fluid.)

Sprinkle the salt over the cucumber and toss gently. Allow cucumber to rest for 30-60 minutes, then squeeze out all excess liquid from cucumber. Stirred drained cuke into yogurt.

Add remaining ingredients and allow to “ripen” in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. Opa!!!

OFG: Do you do Ceramics? I had two kilns for years and loved doing all of that stuff. I poured my own molds and had all the kids in the neighborhood painting when my son was young. They loved it. Last year I donated all of it to the local high school because their kiln broke and they wouldn’t get them another, and I hadn’t been spending too much time anyway with it all. There were shelves full of unfinished bowls and ashtrays….of course, it took them another two months to allow them to plug them in.

ironranger–

I personally love Ca D’Este Balsamic vinegar– pricey, but omg. When I use balsamics to reduce, I use a nice one off the supermarket shelf (made in Italy.)

Lotus, I hope your friend gets the help she needs and you get her back in your life.

SCORY AT 49,
I always do asparagus that way, for ordinary dinners! Its my favorite way, too, though I tend to cook too much and it doesn’t hold over well. It makes a wonderful salad with strips of parmsan or romano over arugula or wild greens.

I’m a cookbook adict too, though as we try to put away everything for a house remodel I find that I don’t use many of them, just read them.
aimai

p.s. for those of us avoiding simple carbohydrates, try the tzatziki as a vegetable dip. Delish!

This diet sounds crazy but I swear it works for losing 10 pounds in a 2 weeks. I call it the rice diet. Rice, tea and water.

Make yourself a big pot of rice and keep it in the frig. For two weeks, heat it up in the micro for breakfast lunch and dinner. You can put salt on it or pepper, it don’t matter. Wash it down with hot or cold tea (Sweet n’ Low) or bottled water. It’s cheap and it works for me and many of my family members. My parents did it for years before they were going on vacation or after they got back from a cruise.

-ck-, of course I wonder about that angle too, but with so little to go on, I really haven’t developed much a theory of this case. As I said, my pal has a very healthy ego (verging on the “too much”), and has had a number of beaux who last for a few years without much impact on her (as far as we bystanders can tell, she just considers ‘em boy-toys/man-servants. But perhaps that’s all finally caught up with her in her mid-40’s? Dunno. Just dunno nuffink).

Ooo, cc, how I do love me some caladiums, especially the whites and deep reds, in a shady yard! One of the bestes’ things about the south of the South, sez I.

Hi Egregious @6:19.
Walking is excellent, for body and mind. I also find that it’s very calming to find a quiet place outside, a natural place; and simply sit on the ground. It’s important not to be inside, or on a chair, but just down on the ground. The floor of a forest is wonderful, a field, bank of a river, somewhere where you can be in nature, not a man made environment. It is so incredibly grounding just to feel the earth. Immediate perspective.

Thanks, angie!

Rayne, isn’t tzatziki one of the suggestions of divinity?! Opa indeed.

Hi friends,

Sorry, I have been very busy with my very busy son this morning — his current plan de moment is to build a jeep with a trailor that can go around and pick up hurt animals and take them to an animal doctor. One detaiol was that we would carry plastic grocery bags so that if we found a hurt skunk, we could put its bottom in the grocery bag so the skunk would not squirt us….

Anyway, I am asking for help from all you wonderful people (actually on behalf of a friend of mine in San Francisco). My friend, Basil (OK, there is a bit of a food referrence), is preparing a performance piece for the Burning Man Project: http://www.burningman.com/

He wants to collect stories of personal events (maybe like Lotus’ about her friend who has sorta dropped out) and he will distribute them in the desert…. It sounds like a very interesting project and here is his description (slightly edited):

I am creating a message-forwarding performance art piece for Burning Man. I will roam the city, forwarding on messages gleaned from respondents to this message. Basically, I’ll be giving them to people that I come into contact with over the time that I’m there. Messages of despair and redemption are very mportant. Many of us, regardless of gender, race, creed, color or political affiliations are all feeling the same emotions, driven by the same aspirations. I will, in my small way, bring this message to the desert.

I am asking everyone to tell your story. Your story may involve the loss of a loved one, a chance meeting or event that changed your life, a breakthrough moment in your life (or of your country, for that matter), anything that is likely to strike a cord in a fellow human being. There are no constraints to the message you supply.

There is no word limit. If you could please take the time to tell your story, you will in
turn become just a little more engaged in the world. The annual attendance at Burning Man is around 35,000 people, making it the fifth
largest city in Nevada during the course of the event. You can check it out at http://www.burningman.com.

The recipients will receive a message purely by chance, as the envelopes that the stories are in will be unmarked. Synchronicity is a
very important element of this project.

Once again, thanks very much for taking time out of your day to share with me (and those that I will meet in a month’s time. Your words and story are sacred, and I will not share your identity unless you wish to.

If you so wish, you are more than welcome to provide your return address information however it is BY NO MEANS necessary. My reasoning for this is that some of the respondents may indeed want to engage in
a dialogue regarding their circumstances. Please note that by providing your return address information, it in no way guarantees a
response. This is purely a question of chance, based on who receives your message. Also, please note that I will NOT forward your address to any person or organization.

–
Basil Racuk
basil dot racuk at gmail dot com)

Help him out if you can!! I see so many fabulous stories here, that I thought about just linking him to th epast pages. But that would ruin the nature of the voluntary aspect of the project.

CHS,

Thanks for this. It is like an early morning mouthwash to rid the foul taste left by harbingers of horror and the dealers of doom getting fat on misery.

PS. Got in some gardening this morning:

Tomatoes (five types), Green Beans, basil, cucumbers, jalapenos, bell peppers, serranos, anaheim peppers, lemon grass, cabbage, lettuce, cauliflower and lots of herbs (bay laurel, oregano, mint, thyme) and some other stuff — two weeks to blueberries!

The Japanese Beetles have ruined the broccoli and also have taken nips out of several basil plants. I wish there were stricter immigration policies in this country.

lotus –

To me, depression is triggered by those what’s the use? helpless hopeless kind of thoughts. I’m exhausted after six years of fighting BushCo — it feels like throwing sand at a 747. Finding opportunities to make a difference (Ned Lamont, Jon Tester) is so important. Our team needs victories, and these will be the best medicine we can find.

As far as your friend is concerned, it could be stress or exhaustion or whatever catching up with her. A strong ego me-against-the-world is a potent force; but when it starts to crumble, watch out — such individuals are not well equipped with coping mechanisms.

Sort of a funny/not so funny description of depression: the performance artist (first? performance artist?) Jack Smith once said:

“Why should I shave in the morning when I can’t think of a good reason for living?”

Amen, -ck-, amen.

I’m fond of yogurt and cucumber myself. It’s a wonderful summer salad. Try it with dillweed (the leaves of dill, not the seeds) instead of garlic, or even (live dangerously) in addition to the garlic.

I ahve a 1943 ‘Good Housekeeping Cook BOok’ with all the substitutions for unavailable (or rationed) ingredients. It comes in handy when you are, for example, short on brown sugar.

It’s climbing past 80 degrees in the San Fernando Valley, and I heard the mayor thinks people should stay inside this afternoon. Nice for him: he doesn’t have to go to the market for groceries for the next week. Why I grow things like cactus: they can handle summer far better than me.

Christy I found that switching to organic and whole foods whenever possible went along way towards helping my joints. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. If you have RA, nightshade vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and eggplants are triggers in some people.

I love eggplant, and once night I had a eggplant parm sandwich and fries. That night I had a real bad reaction, the next day, a coworker at the time had a nutritional healing book at her desk. Imagine my surprise to see these vegetables as possible triggers. I had just found out that I had RA, and eliminated them completely from my diet. As I got more control over RA, I tried adding them back into my diet. I still can’t eat eggplant, the rest I can have in small doses, with a 3-4 day interval between each serving.

Being Italian it was so hard to give up tomato sauce. I was raised on it. My Mom canned fresh tomatoes every year. However given the choice of using my hands or eating pasta, the choice was clear.

Christy at 98, having struggled with the weight thing myself, I can attest that the exercise part is CRUCIAL. You are like all the moms I know; not enough hours in the day to squeeze in a meaningful amount of exercise on top of all your other obligations. My suggestion is to make the peanut a part of your exercise routine, thereby killing two birds with one stone (exercise plus time with kid): chasing her around the yard/park/house (in a more concentrated way than you do already, lol), or a bike with a child seat on back. As an added bonus, the peanut will be nagging you for the activity, keeping you on the staight and narrow. Continued success! :>)

I so envy those of you who live in watery places. By “watery” I mean it rains every week, at least.

Here in Texas, we’ve reached the dreaded summer drought days. No rain for the last 10 days, temps 95 and no rain in the forecast.

I believe you can judge the hand of the Texas gardener by looking at his/her garden on the first of Sept. If there’s anything growing at all, the thumb is at least greenish. And too. when anyone praises my gardening efforts I tell them that “dead plants can’t talk” so no one can take measure of my failures.

I hate grass so I had my front and back yards ripped up and now grow only native or adapted plants. These infernal summer months find me only watering. And I have to water about every 10 days. That’s it. I call it “No Mo’ Grass”.

I have to run out now for dance class – one of these Saturday mornings I’ll show up early enough to describe the tenacious surviors in my little patch of paradise here in parched central Texas. Oh, the butterflies have been a glory!

Hope ya’ll have a lovely Saturday —

Hilde –
Here are the plants /trees I miss the most from leaving Texas:
Mountain Laurel, Desert Willow, Crepe Myrtle, Celeste Fig trees, and Esperanza.

All so lovely in their moments.

Ohhh . . . Burning Man!!!

I’ve never been (and frankly, the Nevada desert in August is not appealing) but have always been drawn to those kind of events.

Years ago, some friends did street performance in Mudman costume — inspired by the dream sequence in The Valley, Obscured by Clouds.

Recently, some locals get dressed (or undressed) in wild costumes, and tour the art galleries on first Fridays in the Disturbia Bus. Very cool, very entertaining — I think they drove the bus (a silver painted school bus) to Burning Man.

Morning CHS, firepups. :~)

Thanks for the heads up on Howie and Coleen Rowley,
Agent for Change!

I missed Howie last week, being on the road (bombed back and forth from Ohio to D.C., with stopover in Berkeley Springs, W.V.). I got a nice thank you note from John Laesch, from the week before.

Anyways, I’ve got to go into the office now (thanks to spending too much time on FDL and not enough on the job this week), but I’ll be sure to show up for Coleen. (And to show some belated appreciation for Rick Penberthy.)

Cyulaters!

Interesting about Jekyll, I’d never heard of her before.

My favorite cookbooks (most actually used):
World of the East by Madhur Jaffrey
Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells
The Joy of Japanese Cooking by Kuwako Takahashi
Classic Indian Cuisine by Julie Sahni

I’ve many more which are fun to read and have great pictures, but I don’t seem to cook the recipes that much.

Christy,
So wonderful to see you are a Jekyll devotee. Her brilliance comes mostly from her artist’s eye for form and color married to a strict disciple of placement. She would never, for example, abruptly move from white to red in a border without passing thorough a series of pinks. This hidden structure is what distinguishes her gardens from true cottage gardens whose order arises simply from having a small enclosed plot of land.

Most American suburban gardens lack the kind of boundaries needed to make either a cottage garden (usually too large) or a Jekyllesque garden (usually lacking substantial hedging and, sadly, a somewhat anemic use of mass planting). Anyone who wants to get close to the loveliness of an English garden should take Jekyll’s advise and use the unsurpassable Rosa rugosa ‘alba’ whenever possible. It can be used to give the garden ‘bones’ as a structural plant and boundary hedge. It blooms all summer and has brilliant hips in winter.

Good morning, eminent Firepups.

I’m almost afraid to turn on the TV news.

I don’t mind introducing a headline here, when it’s a hopeful one:

Barbaro Has Good Night, Remains Stable

Christy — try planting a lot of herbs and the new perennials that they’re developing now. People like Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery are finding new plants all the time in Asia and elsewhere that work better in our climate (and if you order one of their catalogs, you’ll split your sides at their cartoon covers).

Traditional English garden flowers just don’t make it here in Williamsburg — it’s too hot and too humid — but I’ve had great success with monarda and echinacea and lambs’ ears and David phlox and hydrangeas — and there are even some new Knockout roses that can take it and keep on blooming.

One thing that helped was that I put loads of compost and manure in my garden when I first dug it. It makes a huge difference in how well they survive.

In terms of plants: I usually buy one of something and try to figure a place to put it — and then wait a couple of years to see if it takes. If it does, then it’s in a good place, and I’ll have plenty to split up and plant elsewhere (probably enough to share with the neighborhood) — if not, I can try again maybe in another spot, and I’m only out the cost of a single plant. (Plus I try to plant a whole lot of stuff cheek by jowl because I hate to weed. I’d rather just let the good stuff shade out the bad.)

I love my garden because it’s so physical — I can take out a lot of frustration in digging — but it also feeds my senses — and renews my hope that things will get better. There’s always, thank God, another spring.

Why Yes, TWolf, it does. There is a wonderful radio theatre play about the Old Sow written by Cape Cod Radio Theatre which is where I heard about it.

Ah yes, the gardens.

When I lived in the Portland area I used to spend a LOT of time at the Japanese Garden, one of the most beautiful serene places on earth IMO. Since moving to the other coast, I spend time at Tower Hill well west of Boston, in the Worcester area. It is a haven for weary souls.

Kludge,

Always loved that opening monologue from Bull Durham. I’ve even used it in sermons. It speaks to me, having been a Cub fan since I was 10 (when Ernie Banks was Mr. Cub) For whatever reasons, I have totally tuned them out this summer, I think it’s because I’m spending ALL of my time here or doing something else political.

Christy

Martha Schulman used to live here (Austin) I think, and wrote a vegetarian recipe piece for the Statesman every week.

I believe she moved to Paris, wrote a couple of cookbooks, and then I didn’t see her column any more.

She was always captured the color of wherever she was writing about.

It’s nice to be reminded of her.

lotus at 8:27 -
ah, that poor horse. I’m wishing him lush green paddocks and fillies on the horizon.

Christy: Congrats on the weight loss! Planning my garden during the cold months is what gets me through them. Too bad my ideas don’t seem to translate! :) This year my flower garden’s a cross between “abandoned English” and “wildflower meadow”. There just isn’t enough time to deal with it properly.

My daughter and I getting ready for the 29th annual Fairchild Ladies Garden Tea. About 50 female relatives expected this year. We all dress up in ‘floaty’ white dresses and spend some wonderful hours nibbling savory finger sandwiches and delicate little cakes.

Anyway…this is my contribution for today’s party. A 1/4 tsp of the syrup is also a nice addition to hot tea.

Minted Lemonade:

1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup fresh mint leaves
juice of 2 oranges
juice of 6 lemons
4 teaspoons grated orange peel

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil and boil 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Place mint leaves in a small bowl; add sugar syrup, orange juice, lemon juice, and grated orange peel. Cover and let steep for 1 hour. Strain into a 1-quart container; cover and keep refrigerated.

To serve:
Mix 1 part lemon mint mixture with 2 parts water. Serve over ice and garnish with lemon or orange slices and sprigs of mint if desired.

Makes about 1 quart syrup/ 3 quarts of lemonade. Use fresh orange or lemon slices and sprigs of mint for garnish. Substitute 2 quarts sun-brewed tea for a unique iced tea.

new thread — digging through Bivens!

Here in the Northwest gardening is made a lot easier and the English look is all around. Lush, green and each season bringing up some amazing things planted no doubt by some foreward thinking gardener who may or may not see the results of their hard work.
I’m thinking the thing missing from our English garden fantasies however, is the stone cottage with the thatched roof and the hand made willow branch fencing. You could put fill the garden with rocks (okay a slight exaggeration) and it would still look wonderful. The gnomes help too.
But every gardener knows it’s a plant plant plant, wait wait wait, yank out yank out yank out and move it over there game. And they are NEVER finished. Those evil folk at Whiteflower Farm and Thompson and Morgan refuse to stop coming out with new stuff.

Sunflowers.okay. The backs of the buds go to the sun. That’s what they do. Over the course of the day they will turn to follow the sun. It’s fun to watch. Enjoy.

RevDeb -

Indeedy.

Hello Christy,

I don’t have a comment about this particular post, but I would like to say how much I enjoy reading Firedoglake. I check in a couple time a day to see what’s on your mind. In my opinion, your website is the best combination of substance and style in liberal circles.

I am a 64-year-old technical writer who lives in western Oregon near Eugene. While my political views are similar to yours, I’m finding I really enjoy your comments about non-political topics as well. Especially about birds. The Willamette Valley is a bird-watchers paradise. I moved here at the beginning of 2005. Until then, I had little interest in birds–now I can’t get enough of them.

I was particularly touched by your post of June 4th about the swan who lost his mate, but came back to the pond every year anyway. I laughed when you talked about trying to fix him up with a new mate. He may have looked lonely, but there is no way we can know for sure. The real story is how we humans react to our fellow creatures.

Anyway, I wrote a poem about that swan. The poetic form is the tanka, an ancient Japanese form (5-7-5-7-7 Japanese onji, or syllables). Formerly known as the uta, the tanka is about a thousand years older than the more familiar haiku form.

Thank you for your inspiration, and keep up the good work.

despite the death
of his mate, the swan returns
this year
no less serene–
is she with him still?

Dave Baldwin
President, Oregon Haiku and Tanka Society

Christy, I have had amazing results in my
garden using perennial plant stock from
http://www.mowildflowers.com. Glad to help!!

Flydog

Barbaro AP story, without NYT firewall.

Barbaro Has Good Night, Remains Stable

Anne 89 SO! I don’t have to blame myself, totally, for the xtra 60#?!?!?!
That guilt spiral thingie is wicked, whew. Thanks, more than you know, for perhaps inadvertant, nevertheless inspiring encouragement. Gonna start that xrcse bike for real today. ;->

Christy: You sure have wonderful ways to make all us mopeypups feel better & pull up our own bootstraps at the same time. Thanks! I should only lurk, on serious-topic days (no law training, just bio-science, hands-on animal training, & some serious veggie gardening), but I’m there every day, 1st thing.

zennurse is right, if she’ll permit some paraphrasing: Turn off the tv, & turn to FDL for the news u can use! I get all sorts of inspiration and ammunition, links & sundries, as well as preserving what’s left of my sanity, with my daily dose of FDL. Then I go-est forth to spread the seeds in our corner of the world.

Now to this year’s garden experiment. Bear with me, please, or skip on to “something important” instead. nobigdeal.

For several years, now, we’ve had an upside-down US flag displayed on our roadside signpost, and a big yellow ribbon on the post between the flag and the road. Whether it’s the ribbon, my gray hair, dunno, but that flag’s never been touched, except by me. (I do change to fresh flag regularly, ditto ribbon.)

I’ve quietly let our friends & acquaintances in the neighborhood, delivery truck drivers, mailman, meter-readers, etc. know the meaning of the flag. Most of you probably know. The rest will find its meaning under “US Flag Code” in any almanac, many dictionaries, etc. When giving my little ’speech’, I always assure the listener this is an official signal use of the flag, & means no disrespect to the flag or the country.

I do think the word has spread. Not to belabor the point, but the thing’s been there several yrs., at the end of a long driveway out of sight of our house, on a semi-rural road, & it’s never been harmed(!)

On to the “garden”: This year I made a tall teepee-shaped “thingie” out of some of our bamboo, set it up along one side of the post, and planted a few flowers around & amongst. So far, all that have bloomed are oxeye daisies and a blue-flowered ground cover. But there’s a secret race taking place up that teepee, tw’ a Heavenly Blue Morning Glory, and a blindingly scarlet-flowered Cardinal Climber. If it works, those sneaky vines (racing up past 6′ now, & still not blooming, but thoroughly entwined with eachother) should burst forth later this summer. Oh. And there’s a late-flowering low thingy that’ll be purple, and a couple bright orange, just for ‘rainbow’ meanness.

If it “works” I’ll send a picture.

Oh, and just have to share, Monday is our 41st anniversary. Love is absolutely grand, especially when y’re married to yer best buddy! (he’s an over-the-shoulder FDL fan who also appreciates you all!) Thanks for lifting both our spirits in these difficult times.

((((PEACE))))

Good morning all,

This site is such a feel good spot. Just finished making snickerdoodle cookies to send to my nephew in Iraq. The ones I sent to my grandson arrived recognizable as cookies. My granddaughter gave me a cookbook for Mother’s day entitled “Great Grillin’” by Annette Yates. I have tried 2 recipes that are so good that I had to plant more rosemary so I could make these frequently.

Barbeque-roasted Potatoes with Onion and Olives

1 1/2 # potatoes, thinly sliced, (don’t peel)
1 lg onion thinly sliced
3 T. olive oil
1 T white wine vinegar
3 T. fresh thyme or rosemary,chopped
salt and pepper
16 sliced pitted olives

Put pot. and onions in lg bowl. Mix vine.& oil and drizzle over pot.Mix well. Add seasonings and mix again. Divide into 5-6 portions on lg squares of foil.Slice the olives evenly over pot.mixture. Close the packets securing seams well. Cook on grill over med. heat for 30 min. turning occasionally until tender.

I adjust this recipe easily for cooking for one. The first time I made it I just used one baking pot. and lots of videlia onions as I love them and divided into 2 packets thinking I would have 1/2 for a second meal. It was so good I ate both.

Corn on cob with shallots and herb butter

4 ears of corn, husks removed
1/2 c. marg.
4 shallots, thinly sliced into rings
2 T chopped fresh parsley
4 sprigs of rosemary each about 5 inches long
salt and pepper

Place each ear on thick foil. Spread 1/4 of marg over each ear. Scatter shallots and parsley over ears and add rosemary and s & p.
Close the packet securely and grill over medium heat for about 30 min. turning often.

I used vidalia onions again for this as it is what I had.

Well, off to post office to send these cookies on with a hug and a prayer for all those not able to enjoy our birds, flower gardens and lingering over our papers and tea. I live in a townhome with just a small patio but I enjoy growing lots of basil and rosemary and hostas. I made a little fountain so it is a peaceful place to reflect. Unfortunately it is so hot now I just have to enjoy it from the window most of the day.

I’m taking the goldens ( 3 Golden Retrievers)for a swim in the Russian River later today. Best therapy known to man. Goldens are the happiest creatures on earth. Sure cure for what ails ya.

Thinking about English gardens I am reminded how mad for gardening the English can be. I know a dear lady, a friend of my father, who nurtures poison ivy vines for autumn color. Not an easy task in the north of England but thrilling to see in all its crimson glory.

Lotus 42

Did you say a new boyfriend was coincident with your friend’s withdrawal?

Not to be dark, but if there is no apparent other reason, don’t overlook some kind of malevolent control from the BF.

It can be drugs, drugging (unknown to the victim), or plain old control crap from a more dominant person.

Your description scares me, and if she is in a depression that the BF won’t acknowledge or is using to his advantage , she may need to be sprung from her present envioronment.

This worries me.

Thanks for balsamic vinegar tips..keep em coming. I am giggling about the asian market thought. NE Minn isn’t exactly a hot bed of multi cultural markets (this is “hotdish” country) but will check out local whole food coop.
Prairie sunshine: we don’t get to the family lake cabin much but living in the country only 6 miles from work (no city commute nightmare for us) is great. We still calculate travel time in miles vs time here. I can feel the stress leaving me (most of the time) as soon as I turn in our driveway, blessed to be surrounded by gorgeous country here & lots of wildlife. I am a little nervous at the local cougar sightings though. Someone called a close neighbor saying there was a dead deer in his driveway. However, when the neighbor looked out his window it wasn’t a deer but a cougar taking a nap in driveway in broad daylight. We have been woken up by some hair-raising screams similar to cats fighting. Yikes.
Gardening: Over a few years of spreading seeds, several hundred feet of the roadsides on either side of our driveway now bloom with countless lupines in June. Need lupine seeds? I collect bags & bags. Another wildflower that I have been working on spreading is the Blue Bottle Gentian (late summer/early fall flowers). It’s native but hard to find.

New thread

I love Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbooks. Years ago, I spent the summer in New Zealand, and her BBC show was on the TV. I had to special order the cookbook that went with it (no copies in NZ) and still have it. There’s a new expanded hardcover edition. Anyway, from her Indian Cooking, this one’s for the yogurt fans (and especially for twolf1, who is growing hot peppers and cilantro):
Yoghurt with walnuts and fresh coriander (which is cilantro, FYI)
2 2/3 cups plain yoghurt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
1/2 fresh hot green chilli, very finely chopped (editor’s note: these are the 2-4 inch long skinny chiles, not jalapeno. Very hot, so wash your hands right away, and remove the seeds before you chop)
About 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper (ed. note: no amount specified; I’d say just a dusting, then you can add more if you want)
1 scallion (green onion) very finely sliced
1/2 cup shelled walnuts, broken up, roughly, into 1/3 – 1/2 inch piece

Put the yoghurt in a bowl. Beat lightly with a fork or whisk until it is smooth and creamy. Add all the other ingredients. Stir to mix.

I serve this with Indian meals, but it’s very good all by itself.

Something completely OT but kinda funny — an AllPar.com thread on anthropomorphic names for cars.

http://www.allpar.com/forums/i…..opic=80174

-ck- your 138

Thanks for Barbaro update(s).
Lost my own horse to same sorta freak accident a bunch a years ago – just a misstep while running-for-fun in the pasture.
At least she had good people available promptly, to do the humane thing ASAP.
Barbaro has highest class of care imagineable, so I suppose there’s hope.
Hard to be optimistic, but can’t look away…
-so– thanks ;->

EPU’d no doubt, but a word to all you gardeners out there. Find your state’s native plant society (especially Floridians!), which can give you priceless information about gardening with nature, not against her. CCMask is talking about weeds and planting Johnny-jump-ups in Florida in the summer. O dear. And CC, I’d kill to have your place, “weeds” and all. Pic is not close enough for me to ID the emergent stuff, but I’ll guarantee it’s home to myriad small fish and other critters that support the birds, gators, turtles, and other wildlife. What so many people do not understand is that water bodies without vegetation offer no opportunities for wild things to make a living.
/eco rant

Starting in the mid 1980s, I’ve conducted student groups to England. The students are majors in Historic Preservation and as part of their program they compare architectural and landscape conservation techniques in the U.K. with those in the U.S.A. We always see a number of Jekyll gardens when we’re over there. If one is touring in Surrey especially, one can hardly miss them. Students who think only buildings are important and interesting quickly change their minds.

She collaborated often with Edwin Lutyens. Lutyens’ biographer, the late Roderick Gradidge, himself an architect of note, was a friend and vital contributor to our program. For Gertrude Jekyll’s own house, Munstead Wood (a Lutyens creation) visit http://www.astoft2.co.uk/munstead_wood.htm. To learn a bit about Lutyens, whose houses were perfect foils for Jekyll’s gardens, visit http://www.lutyenstrust.org.uk/frameset.html.
Gradidge was a working architect as well as a historian and defender of historic buildings and landscapes. He was an eccentric, a true original. Alas, he died before most UK newspapers were digitized. A bit of flavor about him can be found at http://myweb.lsbu.ac.uk/staffl…..didge.html

My sister made this soup from Patricia Wells’ cookbook during our vacation in Joucas (Provence) – it is wonderful,esp. the 2nd day.
http://www.marthastewart.com/p…..recipe2916

Dave Baldwin, that is a lovely poem.

Hypatia at 149

Thanks for your comments!

We both may be EPU’d, but I for one would be thrilled if you introduced such expertise into discussions whenever you have a chance.

Extraneous background: we’ve got a conservation easement on our little corner of the world – 10 little acres in neOH – surrounded by swarm-urbia, and yet it’s teaming with normal resident & migrant wildlife, most of which are ridiculously tame. Been working slowly & steadily over many years, trying to stay within the ‘natural’ state over most of the property. And I think it’s working, at least in some small measure.

People used to sneer at our ‘overgrown’, eclectic mixture of stuff amidst other folks’ acres & acres of perfectly mowed & sprayed, monocrop lawns & exotic [things]. Now they openly envy our little eden even though it, of course, remains under threat from what’s going on all around us. We and our land conservancy acquaintances keep trying to spread the word.

Don’t be shy. /eco rant – friendlies abound in cyberland ;->

While we’re being homey and nostalgic, may I make a few practical suggestion?

Those boxes of Prof’s memories made me think of this.

1. Quit putting off having your family movies or videos put on DVD. I mean it. Do it now.

2. Store your photos near the front or back door. In a fire, the second wave of firemen will try to save your pictures – albums and boxes. Don’t make them risk their lives by having to penetrate the nether regions of your house.

3. This weekend, take your video camera (or borrow one) and do the audio/video tour of your home and outbuildings. You only think you know what you have. Film inside closets and drawers, too.

Five years later, we are still remembering things we lost in the fire. Don’t wait until your house is clean to do this. This isn’t about art or history, it’s about insurance, so just do it.

And don’t store the video of your house tour in your house.

4. Find a separate place to store your negatives, so they aren’t in the same box with your snapshots. Maybe take your negatives to the office or some other place not connected to your house.

5. Where possible, store papers and documents as well as Christmas decorations, bedding and clothes, in those giant Ziploc bags (XXL and XL). If you like boxes, you can put the bags into the boxes. Had my friend from New Orleans put any of her stuff in plastic bags, she wouldn’t have lost every. single. thing. she owned – - except her silver service and, miraculously, her ceramic Golden Retriever cookie jar. :)

Don’t live in a flood zone? Senility will take care of that. Two days before Mr. Little Dog left for Y-Kos, I waltzed away to town for eight hours, leaving the water running in a basin of delicates I was washing in the bathroom. You don’t even want to know, except that Mr. LD was quite understanding about it, and got all the carpet in our bedroom pulled up and out (do you know how much wet carpet weighs?) and set all the stuff from both rooms and closet to drying in unaffected parts of the house.

If you don’t want to interrupt this lovely weekend with chores, please, please, please cut and paste my suggestions onto a stickie or print them out for later.

If Dick Cheney can take us to war on the One Percent Doctrine, then you can help preserve your heritage on the One Percent (or less) chance that your house will burn down or flood.

Now back to the flowers and food.

Luv,
Your Auntie Little Dog

- uh – [teaming] = teeming – d’oh

I began to conduct student study tours in the UK in the early 1980s. The students were majoring in Historic Preservation, and I took them to England for a comparative study of Architectural and Landscape Conservation techniques. A Jekyll garden or two were always on the itinerary. Frequently we went to Munstead Wood, Jekyll’s own house, designed by the architect Edwin Lutyens with whom she coordinated. Our guide and mentor was the late Roderick Gradidge, Past Master of the Art Workers Guild, Edwin Lutyens’ Biographer, and an architect in his own right, designing everything from pubs to an entrance for the National Portrait Gallery, which was scandalously demolished a few years later. For more about Munstead Wood see http://http://www.astoft2.co.uk/munstead_wood.htm. Lutyens information is here: http://www.lutyenstrust.org.uk/ and for a little taste of Gradidge, a true eccentric, click here: http://myweb.lsbu.ac.uk/staffl…..idge.html. Gradidge’s remains are in the columbarian at St. Mary’s, Bourne Street, in London, which he designed a couple of years before he died. http://ship-of-fools.com/Myste…..stery.html

I just love this site! We were in Boulder last week and for some reason, I couldn’t get either Crooks and Liars or Firedoglake in our hotel room (very strange!). Anyway, I thought I would go crazy – Christy and Jane – you’re addicting!

Patricia Wells, in her “At Home in Provence” cookbook has a lovely summer appetizer:

Annie’s Goat Cheese Gratin

10 oz soft goat cheese cubed
2 tsp fresh hyssop leaves (optional)
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
2 tsp minced fresh oregano
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh tomato sauce at room temperature
24 black olives (French Nyons)

Preheat the broiler.
Scatter the cheese on the bottom of the baking dish. (I use a Provencal tien that I got when we were in Isle sur le Sorgue to make it feel more Provencal. )
Sprinkle with half of the herbs.
Spoon on just enough tomato sauce to evenly coat the cheese.
Sprinkle with the remaining herbs and olives.
Place under the broiler about 3 inches from the heat and broil until the cheese is melted and fragrant and the sauce sizzles (about 3 minutes).

Put a Provencal tablecloth on your table, open the Pastis or ros and serve with French bread! MMMMM….

Bon Appetit!

Anne @ #89 — An off-label use of low-dosage of Topomax is appetite suppresant. Ask you meds person as it may help with Zolof side-effects.Your blueberry comments is timely. I found out today that the dog loves blackberries!

Auntie: Good advice! Mine is keep copies of all important papers, (insurance policies, mortgage, vehicle titles, etc.) or the papers themselves, along with a list/video of all possessions in a safety-deposit box.

Also – plan, plan, plan! Have three or more escape routes, depending on where the fire is. Have fire-drills often (every other month or so). In the average house fire, you have roughly 5 minutes to get out after your smoke detector begins sounding.

Drilling is especially important if you have young kids. Kids act like cats during scary events (they hide). If you can familiarize them with drills, it’ll become second-nature to follow the escape route instead of retreating to a closet or under a bed.

ARRGH!

I was in a rush this morning, to get to the first session of my conference, and conflated two different recipes.

For the grilled salmon @ 8, don’t use foil. Instead, wrap the salmon in two sheets of newspaper (or four, if it’s large). Fill it as describes, then wrap it up and tie it all together with string. Moisten the newspaper all around right before you put it on the grill, and the moisture in the paper will give the salmon a slightly smoky flavor and keep the paper from burning.

Sorry for the glitch – and if a moderator wants to go up and correct the recipe above, I’d be forever grateful. :)

CYN2….where you from in Maine?

ironranger–would love to spread the lupine love to another part of northern Minn. You can email me at PrairieSunshine at msn dot com for snailmail info.

Peterr — here’s another version of the same recipe for paper-wrapped fish from Epicurious.com, should persuade those folks who might have doubts about your method that it is workable and tasty.

http://www.epicurious.com/reci…..ews/234644

This particular recipe is called “Smoked Black Bass”, but I’m certain it would work for any firm fleshed fish that is neither too oily or too delicate in flavor and texture. Like a salmon or lake trout — remove belly fat from salmon.

What a nice post to find after coming in from watering the front yard garden! Whatever spare time I have is spent in the garden. I’m a learn-by doing/trial-by-error type, and gardening has really fulfilled my love of creating and also helped me learn patience. You can’t build a garden each year without equal doses of both. And living in Seattle is great because we get ample amounts of sun (really), rain, and temperatures that rarely venture into extremes. Lots of folks here have wonderful English gardens. Some day I’ll learn to do one.

Since most everything is already in full bloom, today I’ll be adding small touches to beds that boast dahlias, tall snapdragons, echinacea, sweetpeas, celosias and four kinds of roses. And I finally got the herb garden on the south side of the house going with tarragon, lemon thyme, oregano, Genovese and Thai Basil, and a peppermint bush I’m afraid may soon crowd everybody else out! But it smells so good…I love being able to just snip cooking herbs right outside the back door!

I’m also a big pots person. I’d recommend that for anyone who lives in a place without yard space, or if you just want to make your gardening life easier. There are so many wonderful plants and flowers that work well in pots.

But whether it’s in the ground or in a pot, I’ve found that choosing plants that attract bees, butterflies and humming birds are good for the soul. Because the beauty of nature is seeing how all her elements live together.

ironranger, Blue Gentian! Boy, I’d love some seeds. I haven’t seen any for many years.

Christy, I have found that if I don’t eat potatoes I don’t crave carbohydrates. If I eat them, I eat more of everything and gain.

ironranger –

are you an ironranger? my mother grew up on a farm a few miles west of Zim.

There is fresh boc choi,hot and spicey korean garlic eating size,the green beans have flowered and are setting.Handfulls of raspberries every trip,and the first cukes are here.This year I am trying a new plant from south america,called Yakon,with sweet tubers {grows like a dahlia}the 4 zuchinies[sp] are burying me in gold squash…and the umbileen pear is loaded,as is the bosc,the asian pears have fruit the size of a walnut……good harvest in store!

For over 16 years I have been trying to develop the ability to visualize, and then create, my perfect garden. Somehow I just can’t picture how plants would look together as they mature.
Trial and (an abundance of) error along with endless reading about landscaping and plants have not helped me overcome my lack. Coming up against one’s limitations time and time again will , hopefully, help one remember that it is the journey that matters…
Although I keep trying, the plants themselves have brought unexpected pleasure. It seems that I fall in love with one tree, shrub or daylily after another. While some may be excited about meeting a celebrity, I seem to respond the same way to finally seeing a tree that I have only read about.

Time spent thinking about and in my garden also makes me feel closer to my Grandmothers and to their lives. Doesn’t it have the same effect on you? Such a blessing.

Here in Northeast Georgia we have had little rain and the blooms on my Juliet plum tomato plant seem to disappear into thin air.

ember – I think you’re right, it really is all about the journey. Because we don’t control nature. Sorry about your tomatoes. Last August we had two weeks of rain in Seattle that ruined my romas. So, this year I’m not growing any. There is nothing like a homegrown tomato, and when they don’t work out it sort of breaks my heart.

Count me in among the part-time Chauncey Gardners of the world, seeking to withdraw from its various troubles into the simple pleasures of gardening from time to time. With all that’s going on these days, everyone needs an emotional safe haven to stay sane and hopeful, and be reminded that there are still things to smile about and take pleasure in, in a world that is or appears to be increasingly going mad.

shoephone – mine too. Although I planted the roma on May 1st, the poor thing is only knee high. My attention has been focused on tending the plants that could never be replaced. If only I had spread my attentions more widely…. ole hindsight.

When dreaming about the garden I could have if I shared your Pacific NW rainforest, I hadn’t considered too much rain… Hopefully we will all find some homegrown tomatoes this season.

I’ve learned how to make Thai iced tea & iced coffee and have been sucking them down by the pitcher. It’s a triumph, I tell ya:

Thai iced coffee / tea

1/4 c. Thai coffee “Olieng” blend OR 1/2 c. Thai tea

5 c. water

Add coffee / tea to strainer basket of drip coffee maker, brew.

Add 3/4 c. sugar, chill.

Mix in: 14.5 oz can of skim evaporated milk.

Serve over ice.

ember – my big fantasy is to build a greenhouse…

I’m way late joining this thread today, what with watering, weeding, and replenishing the bird feeders (the doves have relatives visiting and what voracious eaters they are!). I echo your feelings about gardening Christie. While I’m not very good or succesful at it, I keep trying and I enjoy my moderate success. It brings a little calm to my troubled soul and momentary escape from the distressing news of the world.

It’s supposed to be 103 here today, so it’s going to be a no-cook kind of day.

shoephone – that would be wonderful. When I was little we spent three weeks in April in England. My stepfather’s parents had a greenhouse and the greenest garden I have ever seen (or at least that is the memory…). Ever since, the greenhouse has held such allure.

I think that it would be impossible to be stressed out or depressed in a greenhouse. Growing up in Chicago, there was a wonderful greenhouse near our house. Sometimes I would go there and hang out with the plants.

My psychologist sister would tell me it is the physiological function of/response to the light…related to serotonin.

I hope that your fantasy will become a reality.

bekkieann- one of the great things about our Saturday am ‘pull up a chair’ threads is that that they are never really EPUed. It does seem that as we move deeper into Summer, the recipes come more slowly. More dreaming, less cooking for me.

Late as usual, sorry I missed the party.

Hey Blank Kludge, my first trip to Fenway was with my dad too.

I distinctly remember, it was 1967, and I had a major crush on Reggie Smith.

Also there are 108 beads on a string of japa beads. They’re used by Vaisnavas for meditation and prayer. That’s odd.

This year my garden is in containers. We moved into a new house in the winter and haven’t decided where to place the garden. It has to be fenced, which is too bad, but the rabbits and deer are voracious.
My tomatoes are a sorry lot. Barely showing any fruit.

Before we moved we lived in a house in town, where my garden was lush and fruitful. (it’s a lot colder up here in the woods). I was fortunate to have one of societies great domestic doyenne’s head gardener living in my house for a few years. I learned so much from him. There is nothing quite like putting a few seeds into rich earth, nurturing them, and watching as they become something as lovely as arugula, basil, zinnias, or actually any one of the many things that those tiny jewels become.

Oh shoephone, I’m so happy for you! What delights you describe… maybe next year …

I want to build a green house too. After the outdoor sauna!

Since moving up here to the woods, I have become obsessed with shade plants. Epimediums are my current passion

Is anyone still here?

Just woke up in NZ; got back from 10 days in Australia last night. Some observations: I didn’t even see a poisonous snake, spider, or jellyfish, which is amazing after reading Bill Bryson on Australia. Melbourne has one of the strangest traffic moves ever seen – to turn right (remember, we’re driving on the other side of the road) one pulls far left, waits until the light turns red, then sharply wheels across all lanes and sprints right. Deserted, beautiful beaches. Thirty grey kangaroos on a golf course in Eden, Australia.

But the best observations of all and one for everyone’s hope chest: we went to see good friends we had last seen 12 years ago. They are from Sarajevo and we became friends when they were stranded in the US by the war there in the early 90’s. We knew them in their grief at seeing her parent’s apartment building bombarded and burning on the evening news, with no word from her parents. We were with them the night of the bread line bombing. So we saw them in their terror and their grief. They moved to Australia 12 years ago.

Now, they have a sun filled home in Sydney, a beautiful garden, two children (10 and 8) and her parents, who survived the horror and also emigrated, within 3 km. The grandmother is teaching the granddaughter to bake and cook and there is love and laughter in their lives. The son cheers for the Australian Sockeroos and the father says that this is their new country, away from the hatred and manipulation of the old country.

It may be on a person to person scale, but there is hope, ah such richness of laughter and sunlight.

Hi NZ expat,

Australia sounds wonderful. A good friend spends his winter (your summer) in Australia and NZ. Maybe someday I will make the trip. I really don’t like flying, so it would’nt be easy for me.

Happy and sad for your friends from Sarajevo. How does one, and does one ever, fully recover from such grief? I am glad that their family survives and have come together there. A close cousin moved to Bosnia in the nineties to work for an NGO. He is still there. Sadly, I rarely see him now as his immediate family lives in Canada. But he fell in love with the people, and the place and it is now his home.

please don’t all be gone . . . this is such a happy thread.

Anyone who has just a crap little yard will be surprised with my summer project, under $50. I have a really small mobile home w/add on and the back yard is 3′ x 30′. I decided to break mirrors and glue shards in a mosaic pattern to the ugly wooden back fence. The top of the dog ear fence is now painted with all of my leftover paints in a rainbow repetition.

Next phase is to secure 4′ x 8′ wire grid (4×4) above this fence – to existing upright posts and/or rebar attached to fence. This wire grid is oxidized and I am going to attach cans all of the fence (recycled). I will be planting vines, herbs, flowers, etc, in the cans. This will block my view of neighbors.

The ground is covered in pavers painted in a black and white checkerboard. (Huge Pine trees overhead drop needles all day.) This is really opening up my own secret garden sanctuary. I look forward to planting California native things and my biggest dream of all . . .

GREEN ROOF! I vow to myself I will build a green roof over my home and plant it with succulents and CA native grasses.

Difficult to stop myself. . . Christy, I wanted to ask if you have ever seen any of Diarmuid Gavin’s garden designs? Exciting stuff from an Irish landscape designer whose controverial contemporary designs have rocked the CFS.

Just got back. Had to do some heavy duty garden watering…dry, dry, dry..think it was close to 95 today which is not the norm (whatever that is anymore) for this area. I still prefer the mercury thermometer vs satellite. AND fill in AGAIN a couple of flower bed spots that one very, very hairy dog keeps digging up looking for cool spots. Sigh. I give up trying to replant this year.
prairiesunshine: I will contact you when seeds are ready. Lupines are one of my favorites. They are related to the pea family w/seed pods. The 1st year I collected seeds, I had paper grocery store bags full sitting in my dining room waiting for me to do something with them. On a sunny day I heard this noise like popping corn that I couldn’t figure out the cause at first. When the seeds got warm in the sun, the pods just start popping open & I had seeds scattered all around. Hilarious mother nature. The plant has long taproot just like a carrot.
Margot: I’m still working on getting a nice spread of gentians established so won’t have much for seeds yet. I need to check w/ the gal that gave me seeds originally to see if her field still has gentians.
ck: ironranger is an ironranger from near Lake Vermilion so I know where Zim is.. I’m sure we went to t-ball & peewee baseball games there when our kids doing that..that time is a blur..marathon practice & game running.

Hi katecontinued, I had never heard of Diarmuid Gavin. Thanks for the tip.

I hope you build your green roof ! It sounds very ambitious. If I had had a green roof this spring it would have ended up quite a soggy sorry mess. This being Maine. I suppose such things work out much better in Southern California.

What is the CFS?

susan, CFS = Chelsea Flower Show.

What a thread this is — pleasure everywhere! Boy, do we need it today. Thank you, everybody.

Christie, Jane and the Peanut.. For those down days:) FDL is a garden of your creation and all who visit are enriched by the experience. Lots of hugs for the peanut…

Thanks for your comments, Susan. Is Maine one of those states that give you credit for a rain barrel? I have lately heard of these being used in Illinois for yards. Did you know that 30% or more of our water use is for lawncare? Wow

I need to find out more about this in California.

Yummy summer breakfast (and sometimes lunch):

Fresh blueberries, plain or frozen, for those really hot days
Sliced strawberries, peaches, nectarines or other fruit or berries
Favorite cereal – mine is Kashi Strawberry Fields or Special K Red Berries
Plain yogurt
Honey

Stir. Or not. Enjoy.

Is Lotus around?

L, are you saying your friend’s SISTER doesn’t even know where she is? Time to call in the law in that case.

What a lovely thread, people! I’m doing my usual showing up late after work, but just wanted to pass along a delicous Spanish tapa. I had it in a lovely Spanish restaurant and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. It’s a Pear and Bocorones Salad. Delicious if you like this sort of thing.
Bocorones are fresh white unsalted anchovies marinated in oil with a bit of vinegar. I find them here at a local cheese shop, and I know they’re available at fine grocers as well.
This isn’t really a recipe per se, but rather a list of ingredients for you to play with. Vary the amount of each ingredient according to your own palate.

Bocorones and Fresh Pear Salad

arugula or watercress or field greens
fresh comice pear, sliced
white onion, very thinly sliced
parmesan or manchego or parrano, shaved
bocorones
olive oil
rice wine vinegar

Fix a nice plate – beginning with the fresh greens, start stacking a tight little nest with the remaining ingredients. Drizzle with olive oil and rice wine vinegar. Season to taste.
Delicious with a white Rioja.

I think my garden is worth about 10 points on my blood pressure levels. But this year, in the swampy Northeast, it has been too hot and too rainy to do much, and I am behind the curve.

Morning All,

I know this is the day after, but I wanted to thank everyone for sharing ideas, poems, books, recipes, and joy !

Thank you Christy, I love this Saturday thread.

And thankyou carolyn urban for reminding me to put butt to earth.