Lemony New Year

My lemon harvest this year has been the largest yet. Literally. I've been growing lemons for several years now. Mostly Meyer lemons, but this year I also harvested Etrog and Ponderosa lemons. The small lemon is about the size you'll find in grocery stores, the next size up is the baseball sized Meyer lemon. The Ponderosa lemon is soft ball sized. And, just look at the football sized Etrog. Hard to believe isn't it.

So, now you know what I'll be doing New Year's Eve. Juicing lemons. I've run out of things to do with them. Curds, strudels, limoncello and juice... Last year, I tried preserving them like they do in Morocco, but I never did use them. Ditto, the limoncello tastes good if you are a heavy drinker as it is about 1000 proof and will grow hair on your chest. And, I still have juice in the freezer from last year. Wish I could share them with all of you.

Felted Dogs

Here is a last minute gift idea for those of you (like me) that are still looking for gifts. ANTHROPOLIGIE has these little felted dog ornaments. I watched this season of MAN SHOPS GLOBE, a show on the Sundance channel, that follows the head buyer for ANTHROPOLIGIE around the world looking for the unique. An artist in Ireland makes felted dogs (larger) and they auctioned off some for charity, that went for thousands. Dog lover that I am, I had to get these. Of course, I have to keep them, so I am still shopping...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

To all my new and old friends, I wish you a very merry Christmas holiday season. I haven't been in the loop lately, and like many of you, I'm tap dancing just as fast as I can. I don't have much time, so I'm re-posting this picture of my oft requested peanut butter balls. These chocolaty goodness morsels will melt in your mouth. The best part, they require no cooking. Yes, even the kitchenophobics will be able to make these. Type in peanut butter truffles in the upper left hand corner and get the recipe. As your friends and family gather together another year, give them some of these. They'll love you for it. And again, have a blessed time with your loved ones this season.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

I've been sick. But, I am better. I didn't even feel like going near the computer. I am so behind on Christmas preparations, I probably won't get everything done this year. My priority is to get all the gifts purchased and wrapped. So, I will give you the gift of the recipe for these sugar cookies. I love re-using old posts.
My children and I used to ice sugar cookies for every holiday and woefully, I just about burned them out. I still have a little granddaughter and grandson to pass on the tradition to. I made these for a tea room for a year or so and that was too much as they take a lot of time when you are making them a hundred at a time. Nonetheless, I have quite a following and still get many requests for these - which I refuse. We used to make great works of art out of them even using paint brushes. These look like hell, but I just wasn't in the zone today, not to mention I burned an entire batch while trying to upload pics to this blog. Oh well, my sweet little grand babies enjoyed one.


Sugar Cookies


2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 cup shortening
4 TBS. milk (I use half and half)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
5 cups flour


Combine butter and shortening. Add the sugar and cream until well mixed. Next, add eggs, milk and vanilla. With a hand-held mixer, mix until all ingredients are combined. Add flour and salt and mix. Dough will be fairly stiff but sticky. Roll out dough on a heavily floured surface. Cut out designs with desired cookie cutters and transfer to an ungreased cookie sheet with sides. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes (depending on how thick and large your cookies are). Continue to roll and cut out designs until all the dough is gone.
Tip: the secret to my success in baking is that I always slightly undercook my baked goods. These cookies will melt in your mouth. Also, I roll them out to about 1/4 inch thickness. I guarantee you will get raves for these.


Sugar Cookie Icing:
In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons butter with a bag of confectioners sugar. Add enough cream to get a spreadable consistency. You can use any method you want for application. In our family, we use butter knives and toothpicks. If you want to make different colors of icing, split the batch into smaller bowls and add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl. If icing starts to become too thick, add a few drops of cream to thin. You can also use the various icing implements and flood the cookies etc. Also, you can use meringue powder if you want a stiffer icing. Royal icing works well too. These really aren't difficult to make just time consuming.




As an aside, I must tell you you can make your own cookie cutters. I used to make large cookies and couldn't find large cookie cutters. You can go to the hardware store and buy galvanized tin and/or copper and a pair of aviation snips that will cut out the strips to form cutters into whatever shape you can imagine.

Merry Christmas, every one...

Pecan Pie recipe

This recipe is different than the usual pecan pie recipes. Generally, pecan pie is caramel colored or slightly dark with a gooey, tooth cracking sweet center. Good, though a little too sweet for my tastes. In my recipe the center is lighter colored, a rich buttery yellow that looks more like a filling for a chess pie. You'll have to trust me on this one - it's really a beautiful and delectable pie.

Pastry

11/3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2c. vegetable shortening
4 - 6 TBS water
Add salt to flour, then cut in shortening with a pastry cutter until pieces are pea sized. Add water 4 TBS. first, more if you need it. Don't overwork the dough or pastry will be tough. Roll out on a floured surface. Makes one 9" single crust. TIP - you can certainly use a pate brisee for the crust. I find the shortening makes a flakier crust. (I've read that lard is even better). Tip - prick the bottom of the pie shell with a fork so it won't rise up and spill filling over the side of the pie.

Filling

4 slightly beaten eggs
1 c. Karo syrup
1/3c. sugar
pinch of salt
1 TBS white vinegar
4 TBS butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1 heaping cup (approx.) pecans

Combine eggs, sugar, syrup, salt, vinegar, butter (melted) and vanilla. Mix together thoroughly. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell. Arrange the pecans on top of the filling beginning at the outside edge of the crust and working in a circular pattern toward the center. Bake 35 - 40 min. in 350 degree oven. Don't overbake. Top with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. Guaranteed delicious.





This is how it will look when it's done. The edges will be puffed up and the center won't shake. It will fall back down flat as it cools. Sometimes it's hard to tell when the pie is done, you just don't want it to be shaking in the center like it is still liquid.

Swingin' On A Star

For those of us of a certain age, we didn't have so many toys as they do today. Skates, jacks, bicycles, jump ropes and swings were the mainstays of a little girl. Okay, dolls, mainly Barbie. I, myself, loved to swing. The swings I loved back then were so long that you could climb to great heights. I am sure they would be banned today. The fearless child that I was, I would even bail, landing on my feet and occasionally, my poor tailbone. We also spent many an hour reading books, never even having imagined reading them on electronic gadgets. I used to love A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES and the following Robert Louis Stevenson poem.

THE SWING

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside -
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown -
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

Who's This?

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you'll know that about 4 years ago, my farm became overrun with feral cats. I could not spay or neuter enough of them fast enough. And, did I say that I love every one of them, mean and not. So, after much money, time etc., I started my herd on birth control. I mix it into soft food once a week. Three times this year, a mother cat didn't come feed that day, and here is a result. I asked the vet about this and she said, "how many litters would you have had if you weren't giving them birth control?" My answer is many more. This little kitten was the only one left in the most recent litter after the raccoons found them. I could not just leave it there to be eaten that night. So... Did I mention besides the barn cats, I have four up at the house that go in and out the doggie door? They have all been fixed.

I hope this one will go to a new home at my granddaughter's house. Isobel loves it so and in fact, has named it Jasmine. I don't know if her father is going to let her have it though. Meanwhile, I am feeding it kitten formula and soft cat food and trying not to get too attached. Does anyone out there want a kitten?

Chairy And Her Footy Stool

Have you seen the new Chanel bags with patchwork and bric a brac? Kind of like Chairy and her footy stool.

I just love this chair and stool. I saw it at the Tulsa Flea Market years ago and fell in love with it. While some of the patches are upholstery fabric, some of them are from old suits. We bought a house in Tulsa a few years back so we could see more of our girls and grandchildren. Plus, my husband works in Tulsa a couple of days a week. In this house, I try to furnish it with everything old as it was built in the 1930's. Chairy and her footy stool just make me smile.

She's Still Here

Well, she is still here, hanging by a thread. It is still hot here so she has been busy. I thought you might like to see what my garden spider has been up to these last three weeks. She's just about given everything she has and senses the cold days approaching before her inevitable, final bow. What a spider!

Deep Thoughts For Your Morning Cafe

Maybe in order to understand mankind we have to look at that word itself. MANKIND. Basically, it 's made up of two separate words, "mank" and "ind." What do these words mean? It's a mystery and so is mankind.



Okay. If that didn't do it for ya, here is one more.

To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "hey, can you give me a hand," you can say, "sorry, got these sacks."

TARGET

Target has been at it again. Incredibly, they have enlisted many superstars in their different fields, to design products for them. Zac Posen recently designed a clothing line, Temple St. Clair, a very expensive jewelry designer has a jewelry collection out this month, and now, John Derrian has done a collection for them. Being the earth mother that I am, I had to have this dragonfly platter. And, the storage containers, well, I had to get some of those too. They are lined inside with the most beautiful lettering. There were many more designs; containers, dishes, mugs, frames... Very cool Target.

My Garden Spider

Every spring I look for argiope aurantia, commonly know as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider. If you don't like spiders, this variety is considered harmless to humans. With the elaborate web she weaves, I've come to enjoy watching these year after year. They start out each spring finding a spot where she will spend the rest of her days; tiny webs at first growing up to two feet across in late summer.
These Garden Spiders mate once a year, then lay their eggs at night and form a ball of silk around them. She guards her sack as long as she is able. As the fall nights cool, she becomes more frail and dies around the first hard frost. Her hatchlings, the size of a speck of dust, will exit the pod in the spring. The teenies then exude a strand of silk that gets caught by a breeze, and fly away...

The Last Emperor

I watched this movie again today and was just blown away by it. Bernardo Bertolucci's rendition of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China to the Dragon Throne, is just an incredible film. One of the best films of all time in my book. Ryuichi Sakamoto also wrote the score and won an Academy Award for best music. He also played a part in the movie. The following clip with the Chinese musicians is hauntingly beautiful.

Deep Friday Thoughts

Consider the daffodil. And, while you're doing that, I'll be over here, looking through your stuff.

Dog Days

Not much happening at the farm.

Deep Friday Thoughts

Before criticizing someone, walk a mile in their shoes. Then, when you do criticize them, you will be a mile away and have their shoes.

The Mirror

Here is the aforementioned French mirror from the previous post. The palest of blue with white; the old mirror inside in pretty good condition. I walked away, but I still covet.

I am getting all new computer equipment installed today. Don't know if and when I'll be able to figure it all out. I am such a technophobe. So, I'll see ya if and when I do.

Wandering Around My Favorite Store

I went to my favorite store last week in Tulsa to find they had a sale going on. Only, it was the last day (had been going on the month of July). I found a mirror, but left without it and couldn't get it out of my head. More later. I found these French linen panels that had to be at least 14 feet long and loved them. Now, I live on a fifty acre hilltop farm wreathed in oak trees, and don't have one curtain in my house.

But, I am such a nature girl, I just loved these panels; the flora and fauna; the caterpillars and beetles, ferns and fronds.

I dunno.

There were many more things, like this old painted chest with the red japanning inside. But, I still want my mirror. It had been 40% off during the sale. She now would take 20% off. So I walked. It will be one of those things I'll remember.

wuthering heights-Ryuichi sakamoto

wuthering heights-Ryuichi sakamoto

I am feeling somewhat guilty for that previous post, so here is a serendipitous find. I think you know I'm a huge fan of Ryuichi Sakamoto and I was happy to come across this score he did for one version of Wuthering Heights. Nevermind that one of my favorite actresses, Juliette Binoche, played Catherine. Ralph Fiennes as Heathcliff wasn't too bad either. I can't wait to watch this version. Of course, the score by Sakamoto will make this movie and soundtrack a must have.

How some artists suffer for their work.

Flylashes from Jessica Harrison on Vimeo.

I know, it's ghastly, but I just couldn't look away. If she only knew where those flies have been walking.

This Man Has the Best Job Ever

Keith Johnson does have the best job ever. He is the head buyer for Anthropologie and travels the world for iconic pieces of art, furniture, textiles and on and on. His show, MAN SHOPS GLOBE, is on Wednesday nights on the Sundance Channel at 9 central time. The things he finds are really incredible, but oftentimes, he shrugs them off (he says he's jaded) till he finds the thing that speaks to him. I love this show. If this clip won't play straight through, you can watch others at youtube. Meanwhile, don't miss tonight's show. It is that good. By the way, just heard Tulsa is getting a new Antropologie store at Utica Square. Yes!

The Scent of Heaven

I'll admit it. I love perfume. I wear it everyday. I put in on my bedding (hoping for sweet dreams to come). I must have been a French woman in another life. Yes, I know some people don't like to smell perfume, so they can plug their noses and hurry by. That is, unless I smell a certain scent on someone else and then ugggggg! Nerve gas must smell the same. Nevertheless, I used to wear Chanel 5 in junior high school. Then Shalimar in high school and no, I'm not proud that I wore these, there just weren't very many options in my town. I have tried so many different kinds - read about different essences and perfumers. Alas, the same thing always happens. I shell out the money for a bottle, get home and gag. I can't even let my daughters have it because I don't ever want to smell it again. Then, so many years ago that I can't remember when, I read about Antonia's Flowers in a magazine. A few years passed and I found it in a Texas store. It is my all time favorite. It comes in absoluto, parfum, shower gel, lotion and the most beautiful soap I have ever seen. When I place my yearly order, I have to call the Hampton's store (factory?) and they always say, Oklahoma? Antonia Bellannca (I can't remember how to spell her last name) has been making it and selling it from the Hampton's for a long time. The top note is freesia. She also makes two or three other scents now. One, Tiempe Passatt, is a love song her grandfather wrote for her grandmother. She appears regularly on the Barefoot Contessa, with Ina Garten, on the Food Network. Ina has even showcased her products in her own home. I wish you could smell it. Perfume Nirvana. Oh, yes, the other scent I wear, is a lotion. Every time I wear it, men and women stop me and ask what fragrance I am wearing. It is Clinique's Aromatics lotion. The perfume is much too strong.

EVENING STAR

Though not really a star, the evening star is usually a planet, visible just before dark, during the gloaming or in the east just before sunrise. This is Venus watching the Moon. When I was a young Camp Fire Girl, we used to sit around a summer campfire and sing this song.

Tell me why

the stars do shine.

Tell me why

the ivy twines.

Tell me why

the ocean's blue.

And I will tell you

just why I love you...

Photo by NASA

WHITE PEACHES

Peaches are peaches say ye who've only tried the common yellow ones. For those of you lucky enough to sink your teeth into a white fleshed peach, well, no other peach compares. Sweet, sublime, peachy perfume fills the senses and once you try a ripe white peach, you can never go back.
Possibly descended from a wild cultivar in Afghanistan, the Europeans believed peaches were native of Persia. They are really from China though and were cultivated as far back as the 10th century BCE. Favored by Chinese royalty, they believed peaches conferred immortality to those who ate them. Many Chinese and Japanese artisans paint peach blossoms and branches in their works. Peaches made their way from Asia to Europe. The Spanish brought them later to the Americas in the 17th century and the native Americans spread their seeds across America. Though Asians prefer the white, delicate fleshed peach, Americans and Europeans prefer the yellow fleshed ones.

I have two white peach trees and this year have been blessed with many fruits. The past two years, the trees remained fallow because of late spring freezes. Imagine my surprise when this year, both trees were loaded; many branches split because of the weight. I have frozen bags of peaches, made jam...............and have two five gallon buckets left.............. Bellinis anyone?

Who Me?

I received an award today from Gaye. She has the most sumptuous, interesting blog - it is really incomparable. Go give her blog a look at Little Augury - littleaugury.blogspot.com. Thank you so much Little a. From time to time, I wonder who or what these friends and acquaintances we meet in cyberspace are really like. Do we gravitate toward the ones we share common interests with; maybe we are voyeurs delving into lives we wish we lived. Whatever, I am just glad to meet so many incredible and interesting people out there.

Little Augury said I should pass this award along to 6 other bloggers whose blogs I enjoy.

AUREA mary-laure.blogspot.com- Mary-Laure has a wonderful blog; reminds me of seeing life through a child's eyes.

THE ANTIQUES DIVA http://antiquesdiva.blogspot.com/- Toma is an Oklahoma girl; lives the life I want, and is becoming famous. I'm meeting her in Paris in March. Yippee!

IT'S ABOUT TIME http//bjws.blogspot.com- All I can say is Wow. (I refer to her as the Professor).

LIFE AT WILLOW MANORwillowmanor.blogspot.com - Willow has taught me so much and is great at what she does; always enjoy her posts.

SWEET REPOSE thefabricofsweetrepose.blogspot.com- Sista Sharon is a long lost twin in a parallel universe.

TALES FROM THE COOP KEEPER talefromthecoopkeeper.blogspot.com- Jayme makes me laugh.

Now, I will reveal 7 random things about moi...

Uhh, I'm not afraid of anything - (except large sharks).

When I was in my younger days, I wanted to be an internist or a volcanologist.

Sometimes, (though totally at random times) I am psychic or should I say intuitive.

I love to read encyclopedias, or did, before the computer age.

My parrot, Birdie, is trying, as I type this, to pluck my eye out. He likes to blog with me.

OMG, 2 more things. This is hard. Must be psychological. (I am married to a neuropsychologist).

I like sunny skies.

I have to tell you a little story here. The day I read that Little Augury gave this award to me in the comfort category, I had to laugh. The previous night, I couldn't fall asleep until 6AM. At 6:45, my cat came running into my bedroom with a squeaking field rat in his mouth and promptly dropped it. At that instance, my little weeny who had emergency spinal surgery in December and isn't supposed to jump off anything, flew off the bed to chase the rat around. She was screaming too, till she caught it. My husband jumped up about the same time and said "one of your dogs just peed on me." Oh yes, and I ruined a painting I had been working on for two weeks, and all that happened before noon. So, Little Augury, thank you and all of my favorite (and there are many) bloggers. You comfort me.

Postscript ~ I will figure out how to link these blogs so you can click on them asap. I am also technically challenged.

Antique Heaven

Many of you remember how not long ago, I visited my good friend Maggie's Mom. I had wanted to see her collection of antiques for some time and when it came, I ran out of space on my camera. Sue sent me a few pics, which I have tried to scan (for the first time) to show you some of the beautiful things I didn't get. Her collection of majolica is exquisite.

This big oil painting was my favorite of the antique collections. It is large and so beautiful. When Sue purchased it, she put it in the trunk of her car and when she arrived home, it had a large tear in it. She had it repaired and it is Divine.

One of her many samplers; of course I love the dog in it. I found out from Sue that if the sampler is unfinished, it means the girl that made it didn't make it (sad, but true). I will go to see these collections again and I promise next time I won't run out of memory.

The Consort- The Virgin Queen

I went to see a movie tonight called Inception. I don't know how to give it a review other than it is extremely convoluted; much like a jigsaw puzzle. I believe the germ for the movie came from a quote from Edgar Allen Poe that I read years ago. I don't know what story or poem it was from but it goes "is it all that we see or seen, but a dream within a dream." Nevertheless, one of the highlights for me was Tom Hardy. A wonderful English actor, I have seen him in several Brit movies and thought I'd show you a little of his work. This first one is one of my favorites and I recommend you rent or purchase it. It is that good. He play Robert Dudley, the lifelong love of Queen Elizabeth (played by the wonderful Anne Marie Duff).

Wuthering heights 2009-take me with you

Another Tom Hardy starring role, playing Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. He is such a versatile actor. PS ~ I don't know why this clip keeps stopping and starting, so just slide the button to the end and at the bottom of the clip some other clips will come up. You can watch those without the stopping and starting.

INCEPTION - Tom Hardy Interview

I was glad to see Tom Hardy in a big budget American film since I think we'd get to see more of his acting. As I said, I can't really critique INCEPTION, but Tom Hardy answers some questions about the film here.

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU CRABAPPLES

A beautiful, fast-growing, flowering tree, the crab apple also gives you a bounty of crab apples come summer. The fruit is about quarter-sized with a crispy clean tartness, but it is definitely appley. So what do you do with a tree full of crab apples? Well, for starters, jelly.

Gather the fruit; I had about 2 1/2 gallons.

Crab apples are hard and you can't just slice them. So, how to chop? I dug out these two old kitchen tools. Notice the acorns carved on the handle on the left. The tool on the right is older, like maybe colonial days old with its kidney bean shape. Each tool has been shaped and hammered or forged. The tool on the left worked better for this job.

Well, here is the result of all that chopping, now ready to cook down to a sauce. You will have to drain the mash in a cheesecloth to get the juice, but any jam or jelly making book will instruct you how to make the jelly.

Voila! It only took several hours . . . but here is the result. I need to make some scones now to try it.

But, if that wasn't enough and you like the occasional drinky winky, I chopped some more and am making crab apple liqueur. These recipes are all over the web. The one on the left is straight vodka and the one on the right has vodka and a little brandy in it. It is fun to play around with the flavors. When I look out to the tree that is still loaded, I am thinking juice for drink concoctions or pickled crab apples, but I don't think any in my family will eat them. Oh well, it's on to the white peaches.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Harper Lee's magnum opus, turns fifty today. I have fond memories of my young son and I, taking turns reading chapters to each other every evening one summer. We loved it, like legions before us. I have a theory about why she never wrote another tome. When you write a novel, you put most everything you have seen, heard, smelled, experienced into that first novel. While some writers like Joyce Carol Oates are prolific, for others, that's all she wrote; one has to live and experience more: she may have said all she wanted.
Nevertheless, Mockingbirds play a large part in American culture. Early in American history, Mockingbirds were once popular and kept as pets. President T. Jefferson had one named Dick. The American lullaby, Hush little baby don't say a word, mamma's gonna buy you a mockingbird... was part of the Mockingbird craze. Called the American Nightingale, Mimus polyglottos prefers to nest in maple, sweet gum and sycamore trees. As an observation, the birds are out after midnight practicing their songs. I can tell the city mockers from the farm ones. The city ones make police car and emergency vehicle calls. I think they are my favorite bird, today anyway. Postscript ~ Harper Lee's sister was on the CBS Sunday Morning show, and said the aforementioned reason I postulated, was correct.

Sakamoto Ryuichi - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Live)

This is a wonderful live performance of Ryuichi Sakamoto performing Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. I think it is from the movie of the same name starring David Bowie. Nevertheless, I believe the concert was in Rome at the Coliseum and I wish I could have been there.

Energy flow, Ryuichi Sakamoto

A small gift to all my wonderful followers and friends whom drop by to visit sometimes.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Every evening, I go to the pond to feed the creatures. It started out feeding the geese. Before I knew it, I was feeding the entire pond. Zillions of fingerlings come to the edge of the pond to eat the leftovers. They even beat the geese there now. The larger fish stay back a few feet, but make sure and get their share too. Then the turtles became bolder. There are many different species and all have distinct personalities. Who knew? This one is the boldest now. Covered in pond sediment, it swims mostly around the geese feet and the geese trip all over it. I thought the turtles might bite the geese, but it is the other way around.


















Mmmmm. Fish pellets or chili relleno?

These are the fingerlings. Now, start the Jaws theme song...
Here comes trouble. This Snapping turtle doesn't want bread or fish food. It only likes live fish - creeps closer with its long alligator tail and waits, then - SNAP. These really are ugly creatures.

Oh well, this one is too cute and decides to go back and bother the goose.
This is what I do for fun on the farm.