Gargoyle At Chartres Cathedral

Crying out for rain and cooler temperatures! What a hellish summer we are experiencing yet again.  All of the new three year old blueberry plants I recently planted are scorched.  My new baby apple trees are losing leaves.  The new growth on my recently purchased avocado tree is toast and our grass is like the kind you find in easter baskets.  I could go on and on.  Did I mention that I am constantly watering?

This gargoyle photo was taken at Chartres Cathedral on a day-long foray into the Loire Valley; a two hour drive from Paris.  Decorative, yet functional, the rain spouts would be a welcome sight functioning around here.

Long Island Then and Now

Found this old oil painting at a flea market years ago.  On the back is a stamp Salamagundi Club, 1956, the annual exhibition of oil paintings.  The painting is by Otto J. Kurth.  It was painted on Long Island at Mattituck.  He titled it Sundown On Tutthull's Farm.  I've heard the light on Long Island is the best for painting.  I wonder if the old farm is still standing or replaced by mansions.  The soil there is also supposedly wonderful for farming.

Williams Sonoma's New Pitch

Williams Sonoma is pushing the home garden and canning movement.  I think it is great.  They are selling seed packets, the Beekman Farm included, and twelve different kinds of canning jars.  I am not familiar with the Kilner brand from France, but have used the German Weck jars before. Having recently had to look for the regular Ball and Kerr jars, I assume many more people are canning now.  If you don't garden, go to your farmer's market and get started.  It's a very good thing.

Crab Apple Juice

What do you do when you've got gallons of crab apples and can't bear to let them go to waste?  If you remember, I have made liqueurs with them and jelly.  This time I decided to gather them and make crab apple juice.  It turned out good.  I froze the juice for later use.  I could have put more sugar in it, but it is sweet enough as it is. If truth be known, I don't think I added the sugar as it was just right, but the recipe did call for it. 

CRAB APPLE JUICE

8 quarts crab apples

10 quarts water

4 cups sugar

4 tsp. cream of tartar

Wash crab apples and cut into quarters or chop up.  Bring water to a boil then add cream of tartar.  Pour over crab apples.  Let sit over night.  Next day, drain liquid through cheesecloth.  Add sugar.  Water bath, can or freeze juice.  This made a lot of juice.  Oh, and the cute kitty and birds glass came from Anthropologie.

The Sparkle In My Eyes

My angels, Isobel and Oliver, came to stay with their Nonna last weekend and we had a ball.  They are usually in bed by 8:30 sharp, but we stayed up till midnight, if that tells you anything.  I love them so much.  Ollie, now don't squirt my camera...

Peach Time At The Farm

Peaches have ripened, been picked and frozen for later.  Just had to keep out enough for some homemade peach ice cream.  I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker from Williams Sonoma, but the old fashioned crank ones work just as well. Here is a surefire recipe for your basic vanilla base.  You can add whatever else you want. This recipe makes the best homemade vanilla ice cream ever.The only caveat, you, your family and friends need to eat  all of it. The reason is, after freezing any leftover ice cream, it will be hard as a rock to scoop out.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

3 cans Eagle Brand Condensed Milk

3 cans water

1 tsp. vanilla 

pinch of salt

enough whole milk to fill up the gallon container to the fill line

Freeze according to your ice cream maker instructions.  By the way, this recipe is for one gallon.

A Kind Man

He now helps me garden; knows I am unable to get down in the dirt with my Judas knees.  He has put up with me for 40 years now.  He is the rock of our family, a good father to our children.  Happy Father's Day my sweet T.

Kind hearts are the gardens.  Kind thoughts are the roots.  Kind words are the flowers.  Kind deeds are the fruits.  Take care of your garden and keep out the weeds.  Fill it with sunshine, kind words and kind deeds.  

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Parisian Swan

Another Parisian door handle.

Paris Door

A beautiful door handle/pull in Paris.

Holiday

Time to plan another trip?  Sail with the junks?  No, it's too far.  Too far.  I'll just dream about the places people visit my blog from.  Moscow, Cairo? Very exotic to me.

Summertime

Early each summer, the onions are ready to harvest.  These early onions are the sweetest ones, you won't have to make sure everybody is eating them, you know, like garlic. 

 Allium cepa, or onions, have been traced back to 5000BC, the remnants found alongside dates and figs.  The Egyptians cultivated them 2000 years later and fed them, along with radishes, to the workers building the pyramids.  They have been an important food source and potent medicinal plant since then.  Quercertin, found in onions, is being touted today as an anti-inflammatory and cancer fighter.  Christopher Columbus brought them aboard the Hispanola to the New World, but found they were already being eaten in wild form by the Native Americans.

 They are easy to grow and when the tops dry, pluck them from the earth and let them cure for a couple of days.  Bunch and hang them in a shady spot.  It would be perfect to store them in a root cellar but mine hang  by old baskets in my garage.  They will still be edible by Thanksgiving if I have any left.

Most importantly, if you cry while slicing an onion, if your eyes nearly burn out of their sockets, hold them under running water or submerged in a basin of water while slicing.  Also, chill beforehand.

Wilding

Looking for wild edibles has never been more popular than it is now.  Even the hoity-toity TOWN AND COUNTRY magazine recently published a spread about it.  The bible for those whom like to find wild edibles is STALKING THE WILD ASPARAGUS.  Euell Gibbons was definitely before his time.  For instance, did you know that all parts of the day lily are edible?  More about this at the bottom, for it is very important for our children and grandchildren.

I found these beautiful mushrooms out by the woods yesterday.  They were various sizes, but these two beauties were at least 10 inches across.  I have never seen these around here before.  Upon further examination, I tore one apart.  Though there are gills, they are not seen from the underside of the fungi.

The underneath side was covered in pores.  

The entire mushroom looked like a giant hamburger bun.

I researched these fungi on Google and videos on youtube and have decided it is a King Bolete mushroom.  These are (besides truffles) the most desirable wild mushrooms out there.  They are hunted worldwide for their flavor and rarity.  So, did I cook it and eat it.  No!  You should never eat a mushroom that you are not 100% certain about.  As an aside, Euell Gibbons says that native Americans didn't eat wild mushrooms, probably because they knew of the possibility of poisonings.

Time to segue into why the whole wild edible thing is important for your children and grandchildren.  In just a generation, we have lost the ability to discern what is edible in nature.  If you read the MIT study a couple of weeks ago (Massachusetts Institute of Technology - and they don't come any smarter than they are), about the coming global economic collapse by 2030 and the depletion of the world's natural resources, i.e. energy, water etc. They even talk of millions dying, but I won't get into that. 2030 is 17 years away, that is unless there is the perfect storm; a trifecta of pandemic, natural disaster and/or war, which could make it happen sooner.  I don't even want to see what a super great depression would be like.  But, I am going to start making some changes; preparing as I am able.  Not like the nuts on National Geographic channel prepping for whatever. I do think it would be prudent to plant gardens, fruit and nut trees.  What do you think? Little Red Hen?   Look at Greece right now, the run on banks and if you have a 401K, it is going to be affected. Texas and the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations are suing the state of Oklahoma right now over water rights. The rumblings are there and it would be foolish to ignore them.

Spring Potatoes

Dug around in the potato bed today and voila!  I bet I planted 10 different varieties and have no idea what kind these specimens are.  I plan on canning the small ones when they are ready to be dug in June.  As large as some of these are, I'm afraid to wait until June.  My husband has requested new potatoes in cream sauce for these first ones.  

Papillon in Paris

As I usually gravitate to nature and all things animal, butterfly specimens beautifully mounted and  framed, were in abundance at the Paris flea and antique markets.  This white beauty was at least 6 inches across. 

A Day In A Life

 Today I looked for mushrooms in the woods and planted daylilies, fed the animals, picked asparagus, found two quarter-sized baby turtles brought home by the cats and rescued from the dogs, shopped in town, and made iced sugar cookie eggs for the grandkids who are coming this Easter weekend.  A worthwhile day in the life?  Maybe, maybe not.

April Fools

Anyone out there notice that blogger is getting ready to change "the look" of blogger in April? Perhaps fooling with us?  I wish.   I went through something akin to this last month and the" new look" totally changed everything. They said my browser would no longer work (Windows internet explorer) and I had to download a new one, Google Chrome, which wouldn't work. This went on and on; need I say more.  I finally found my way back to the old blogger format and now they are changing it.  Good luck to all of us that don't want to learn how to do new things to blog.  It takes me days to find out how to do things on the computer whereas it only takes seconds for the computer geeks. 

Hosannah, aka Gracie, is now mine; I bought her last week.  We are soon going to have new fencing and a stable installed for her and that is no foolin'!

Mike The Headless Chicken

Poor Mike!  Yes, it's true.  Mike the headless chicken, lived for a long time after having his head chopped off.  It was said that Mike even scratched around on the ground as though trying to uncover a bug. The owners took him to fairs and shows, but alas, after a feeding in a motel room, they left Mike alone and he choked to death.

Makes me never want to eat chicken again.

Allium Time

It's time to plant your allium bulbs.  They look like a plant from another planet and are so sculpturally beautiful. They return each spring to greet you and the butterflies love them.  What's not to love?

Hot Magazine

In case you wondered, there is a magazine getting a lot of press lately.  I went in search of it at Barnes and Noble.  At first glance, I thought this is a guy's magazine.  Remind you, this is my first issue, so I really didn't know what to expect.  Bars, drinks and more bars - not exactly my cup of tea.  Turkey hunting; I'd rather see hunting with a camera.  Then, I came across an article about Rachel Aswell's growing empire and a spread about her new place in Round Top, Texas and a feature about decorating some old cabins. Hmmmm.... Another article that caught my eye was an article about Morgan Freeman. 

There was an article about Houston, a place I'm interested in because I lived there for eleven years before moving to the farm.  Also, an article about a famous landscape architect, Charles Stick. 

So, why all the buzz?  I'll have to get another copy of GARDEN & GUN to find out.

Edith Wharton's 150th Anniversary

Edith Wharton was a famous and gifted American writer and the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Some of her most famous writings were THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, ETHAN FROME and THE HOUSE OF MIRTH. Edith loved art, science, architecture, design and gardens. She traveled extensively and lived in many different countries. She was really a character. I would have loved to have known her. Her concise observations of human nature were things she wrote about...and the pursuit of happiness. From time to time, I think about this piece she wrote. It haunts me.

"I have sometimes thought that a woman's nature is like a great house full of rooms. There is the hall, through which everyone passes in going in and out; the drawing room, where one receives formal visits; the sitting room, where members of the family come and go as they list. But beyond that, far beyond, are other rooms, the handles to whose doors perhaps are never turned: no one knows the way to them; no one knows whither they lead; and in the innermost room, the holy of holies, the soul sits alone and waits for a footstep that never comes."


Previously posted in 2010

President's Day

In honor of the holiday, George the Washington's favorite cherry pie.  The easiest to make, the rustic tart, versus the lattice pies.  The grand kids were happy for their little ones.  I think I'll make one Monday.  Hear that Sis?  Type in cherry pie for the recipe.

New Chic Countertop

The new tin foil counter top is tres chic.  Matches all the new silver furniture and wall decorating I am seeing in magazines - a fad I think will be over before it started.  Nevertheless, I am trying it out - on my kitty cats.  Five now call my home their home and come and go through the doggie door tracking in little dirty paw prints and enough hair to stuff a couch.  I heard this would work to discourage them from getting on the kitchen counters as I am at wits end.  Short of shaving them bald, I'm giving it a try.  So far, I don't see one hair on the kitchen counter.  How do they even know it's there or that they don't like it?  They can't see up there from the floor.  Even so, the bad little kitties haven't set foot upon it.  Perhaps my cats are genius cats or super cats, or are in fact, reading my mind! Please give me some helpful hints before I shave them bald or sew them up into pillow cases, cut out holes for arms and legs and fashion little cat suits for them.  With spring coming, Teddy, Midge, Mean Mom, Boo and Buzzy are already starting to shed.  I read that Martha Stewart puts clean towels on her furniture daily to combat pet hair, but never read what she does to keep them off her kitchen counters.  PS ~ her cats have hair about three times as long as mine!

Unmentionables In Paris

This shop was the first one to sell brassieres in Paris.  Don't remember the date it opened, but the shop is so small, only about 3 or 4 customers could fit inside.   I spent about two seconds in there as I don't buy seductive underwear anymore and thank the lord I was way past wearing those thong things.

It's crisp white cotton granny panties from here on out! 

Baby Meyer Lemons

Already have a new crop of Meyer lemons growing.  Some have asked how I can grow such a large crop of lemons; this is just one little tip of a branch on one tree; multiply this by nearly 20 trees, voila.  This tree is covered in flowers and baby lemons.  Needless to say, I will have a large lemon crop next year too.  Now, if I can just use up last years juice and the year before...

Tulips In Paris

Passed by these green and white parrot tulips in a window in St. Germain des Pres one night - the most beautiful tulips I have ever seen.  The wild jonquils are blooming along the roadside around here.  My tulips are above the ground.  Spring will be here before we know it.

Lemon As Medicine

Some of my lemons for this past year.  Meyer is what I grow the most of, but I also grow softball-sized Ponderosa and football-sized Etrog (the nubby one in the bottom right picture).  I recently happened across a spot on tv where a man who makes healthy juice concoctions on the streets of Jerusalem said the most important juice of all was that of the Etrog so I researched it.  Appears that the Etrog, aka the Persian Apple, is prized in the mid-east for its medicinal qualities.  With over 70 medicinal chemicals, it is used for its juice and zest in cooking.  Cultivated back in 4000 BC, it was also known as the Paradise Apple as it was believed to be the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.  Today, it is used in the Jewish festival of Sukkot.  I know very little about keeping kosher, but in reading about Etrog (pronounced atrog) the fruit has to be unblemished, grown from actual tree, not a seed or cutting, and in fields that are watched over under strict observation by rabbis.  The lemon therefore must be used from a tree called/considered Hadar, named in the Torah from the days of Moses.  Wow!

Known for an antidote for snakebite, a cure for seasickness, and used as an antibiotic in times past, some other lemon remedies are used for:

Constipation

Reduction of body fat

mouth ulcers and throat infections

stomach upsets

cold relief

Lemons have also proved to be a blessing for  mountaineers.  In the case of insufficient oxygen or difficulty  in breathing, lemon comes to the rescue. Sir Edmund Hillary has admitted that his victory over Mount Everest was greatly due to lemon.

I think I'll grow more Etrogs this year.

Keith Jarrett - I Loves You Porgy

Keith Jarrett is a living legend.  No one does improvisation like he does.  You gotta watch Keith, not only for this tune but also to watch how he plays. From slow and low (like this piece) to something akin to musical chaos, Keith can't sit still; he becomes the instrument, becomes the music, levitates and cries out at times in ecstacy.  I saw the movie Porgy and Bess when I was young and never forgot this song. The piece was from his 100th performance in Tokyo.  His Sun Bear concert recorded in Japan is where I first heard of him in the 1970's.  Also heard him on Pacifica radio then saw a PBS piece that used his music. His Koln concert would be a good CD to start out with. My music was never the same after hearing Keith...

Chevre

When you have a greenhouse full of lemons (nearly 175lbs. of the golden gems), what do you do?  Make everything lemony you can think of.  This year, I will be freezing most of the juice, but I am trying something new - goat cheese, or as they say in France, chevre.  It is easy to make and delicious I might add.  I used Meyer lemons in this recipe and zest shavings.  It doesn't have quite the bite or tang that some chevre has.  Though I tried it atop crackers with a savory pepper jelly, I think it would also be good on toast points with a delicious sweet jam or marmalade and of course atop salads.  I believe in France, they eat it for the dessert course.  There are so many recipes on the web to choose from, and many call for rennet (you can purchase at Whole Foods) or Junket which can be purchased at most grocery stores near the pudding section.  These are what give the cheese more tang and help it set up.  I used buttermilk since I had neither of the aforementioned.  I'll be trying feta next.

CHEVRE

1 quart goat milk (I used the pasteurized since I don't have a goat)

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

2 Tbs. buttermilk

In a large non-reactive pot (stainless), slowly warm the goat milk to 180 degrees.  Stir occasionally to prevent scorching.  Let the milk cool for 20 minutes, then add lemon juice and buttermilk.  Stir, then let the milk sit for 2 hours. 

Line a colander with several layers of cheese cloth.  Place the colander over a large bowl and pour the milk into cloth.  Let it sit for 2 hours (I actually let mine drain for 6 hours) or until the liquid whey has drained leaving the curds.  Now is the time to season with a small amount of sea salt (approx. 1/8 to 1/4 tsp).  The curds will then be placed in a mold or tin and covered with plastic wrap.  Keep chevre in refrigerator for several days, if it lasts that long.

My Day of Days

I reached a new decade back in December.  One that didn't really bother me all that much as I am not very vain.  What are you gonna do?  Nevertheless, it was the best birthday ever.  I went to lunch with my daughters and friends, got the nicest gifts and had the best time.  And, nobody said a word about my surprise birthday party that night at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, sneaky little devils.  They were all there having fun, grinning like Cheshire cats and no one had even let it slip.  I've never had a surprise party before.  It was wonderful.  All my children, husband, sister and her significant other, friends and their children were there.  I love them all.  My cake was a beautiful cake/mousse concoction covered in cherry blossoms ( this because my daughter knew how much I was moved by the movie) and I got a copy of the movie too.  My daughter had even sent out printed invitations with cherry blossoms inscribed and on the back a picture of me in the field and a line from the poem THE ROAD NOT TAKEN by Robert Frost that I quote from time to time.  My friends and family are so thoughtful, so wonderful.  I adore them. It was the best day and night.  "someday I shall be telling this tale ages and ages hence, two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."  I, I took the one less traveled by and now I'm lost on the farm.

It's Chili Time

It was a balmy 61 degrees yesterday and a winter killing 18 degrees this morning.  So, it is chili time.  Not just another bowl of chili, mind you.  This chili recipe is the best chili ever.  But, don't just take my word.  Capital Punishment Chili won the 1980 world championship chili.   Bill Pfeiffer, a native Texan, won a $20,000 first prize at the International Chili Society's 14th annual cook-off in LA.  As all of you serious cooks know, your riffs on recipes is what makes them sensational.  A word of caution here - for the first time you cook this,  I suggest you use the original recipe so you know what it is supposed to taste like. 

Texans don't mess around with their chili.  I have heard of ashes, cocoa and other exotic ingredients in their chili recipes.  If memory serves me well, I believe beans and even tomatoes are banned ingredients in Texas chili.  Having said that, beans are in mine and tomatoes.  I also love it topped with fritos, cheese and a dollop of sour cream.  My riff on Capital Punishment Chili is cornbread dumplings cooked on top during the last 20 minutes of cooking.  I think that back in 1980, the meats used were very inexpensive.  Imagine my surprise when I made this recently.  Enjoy!

Capital Punishment Chili

4 lbs. extra lean chuck, flank or round steak, coarsely ground (chili grind)

1 lb.  extra lean sirloin, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

2 lbs. pork loin, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

2 large onions, finely chopped

8 to 10 cloves garlic, finely chopped

7 heaping tablespoons chili powder (new bottle as spices only last 6 months)

4 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground oregano

2 tablespoons paprika (Yes, I bought all new jars of spices and herbs)

2 tablespoons flavor enhancer

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon mole powder (I omit this)

1 or 2 tablespoons flaked chili peppers

1 6oz. can tomatoe sauce (I used a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes)

2 cans beef broth

2 cans beer

1 tablespoon masa harina (corn flour)

Brown meat and onions in large stock pot.  Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, flavor enhancer, sugar, mole powder, and pepper flakes.  Mix well.  Add tomato sauce, broth and beer.  Mix well and simmer 2 hours.  Mix masa with enough hot water to make a light paste and add to chili 30 minutes before serving to thicken.  At this point, I also added a tablespoon of salt, but you can add as much as you want.  I also added canned beans.  This really is the best chili ever.

Just Thinking

Birdie and I are sitting in front of the monitor, drinking orange juice, just thinking about life and nearly everything else under the sun.  I've told my family that my epitaph should read, she thought too much - perfect for me.  I think maybe the old saying, ignorance is bliss, would be a preferable one.

Happy New Year to all my friends out there.  I have so enjoyed your thoughts and dreams in 2011 and look forward to another year of reading your blogs.

This photo was taken at the rear of the Rodin Museum in Paris.

Dragees

I've posted about dragees before, so type in dragees in the upper corner to find out more about them.  Once, I could only find the silver ones of my childhood, but now I think they make all sizes and colors.  I love them during cookie baking and decorating, but they really aren't so toothsome to bite into.  Anyway, you'll find my recipe for sugar cookies by digging into my past blogs.  Again, upper corner.  Hey, I'm still recovering so I'm borrowing from the old stash. 

Flu Who?

Here's a story.  There is this lady who hardly ever gets sick - never even gotten a flu shot.  A friend developed Guillaume Barre Syndrome after a flu shot, so she decides never to get one.  Then she gets bit by a flu bug and 15 days later is still having symptoms (mouth is raw, can't hear).  She was so sick in fact, twice, she thought she was minutes away from death.  She watched the news, certain they would come across the screen with an announcement that an epidemic had begun with a new terrible strain of flu.  No such pronouncements.  Ebola or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever thrown in with this new strain...  Moral of this story, she will be getting an annual flu shot from now on.