Back in the Bloggin' Saddle

Time to get back in the saddle and resume "normal" blogging.  You may be wondering what else I was doing during the A-Z Challenge, since those posts were made to fit in the alphabet.  I was reading as usual, cooking and eating (though I don't think we tried any new recipes), doing a little knitting, and planning for an annual all-day seminar for the organization for which I am the now the vice president (was secretary but as of yesterday morning, I am now VP - you may address me as Madame VP, if you wish).  I compare preparing for this seminar, and for the other 3 evening meetings we also hold each year, as hosting a wedding reception, for 125-150 people every couple of months. Booking venue, choosing the food, sending the invitations and managing the RSVPs, all while arranging for different speakers for each of these events (one for each of the evening meetings and 4 for the all day seminar).  Truthfully, it is exhausting but worthwhile work which I enjoy, but am glad when it is over.  Kind of like my wedding, really - Glad I did it, and enjoyed the planning and the event, but glad when it was over.  So in addition to that...

Reading: In April I read 3 books and have read another 2 books so far in May.  First was a re-read of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg.  Many people are more familiar with the movie (Fried Green Tomatoes) but this is a delightful book as well.  Such strong, interesting women characters and really just so much going on in this story - some classic scenes where I found myself cheering for the women as they took on some people we all know in real life.  I read it last about 15 years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it again this time.  Even if the book club referred to the characters as "Jessica Tandy" and "Kathy Bates" for the actresses who played some of the main characters in the movie. 

On April 21st I finished the book club selection (Sunday night book club) Room by Emma Donahugue.  I'll admit I had to force myself to read this one at first, but I ended up really liking it.  The story is told from the point of view of five-year-old Jack, who has never seen outside the 11'x11' room he and his mother live in.  To him Room is the world, but to his mother, it is the prison where she has been held for 7 years by a man Jack refers to as Old Nick.  Sounds terrific and uplifting, right?  It is actually an amazing story of the love of a mother and child and of survival despite the depressing situation.  Great discussion for book club.

My "easy" read for April, Miss Pickerell to the Earthquake Rescue by Ellen MacGregor.  This is one I have had since I was a child, but don't remember reading it all the way through before.  Miss Pickerell was a character in an entire series which had her not only going to the rescue in an earthquake but also going to the moon, Mars, the Arctic and on many other adventures.  She is a very no-nonsense lady who knits and drives a model-T hauling a trailer with her cow and cat in it.  Fun story and made me curious about earthquakes.

The next book for discussion at Sunday night book club is another one that I didn't anticipate liking, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall.  I dislike running (anyone who knows me has heard me say that the only reason to run is if you are being chased by something that you don't want to catch you), and am possibly even less interested in reading about running than I am in actually running.  That being said, I actually enjoyed this book.  Mr. McDougall tells a captivating story and gives so many interesting back stories and side stories that all lead up to this one amazing race, that I found myself actually caring about some of the runners and cheering for them.  If you are a runner and have suffered injuries (as you very likely have), I would think you would be interested to hear what he has to say.  And if you are not a runner, you may be inspired to start.  Not that I am.  I still find the idea of running tedious.  Give me 2 wheels and pedals, please.

Most recently I finished a book called Everything by Kevin Canty.  This one I read in nearly record time, starting it one day and finishing during the middle of the night a day later (a bit of insomnia which was NOT cured by this book - darn those interesting books!).  Mr. Canty is a Montana author, and the story takes place in the western part of the state, specifically in the Bitterroot Valley, which is where my grandparents, aunts, etc., live.  I think the Amazon description captures it best and I highly recommend this novel.

"In taut, exquisite prose, Kevin Canty explores the largest themes of life—work, love, death, destruction, rebirth—in the middle of the everyday.
On the fifth of July, RL and June go down to the river with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red to commemorate Taylor’s fiftieth and last birthday. Taylor was RL’s boyhood friend and June’s husband, but after eleven years, June, a childless hospice worker, finally declares she’s “nobody’s widow anymore.” Anxious for a new beginning, June considers selling her beloved house. RL, a divorced empty-nester, faces a major change, too, when he agrees to lodge his college girlfriend, Betsy, while she undergoes chemotherapy. Caught between Betsy’s anguish and June’s hope, the cynical RL is brought face-to-face with his own sense of futility, and the longing to experience the kind of love that “knocks you down.”

Set in Montana, reflecting the beauty of its landscape and the independence of its people, Everything is a shimmering novel about unexpected redemption by a writer of deep empathy and prodigious talents." - Amazon.com

So there are 5 books for you to check out.  Tonight, Friday night book club is discussing The Testament by John Grisham which I read about 13 years ago and will try to dredge up my memories of it to discuss tonight.  It wasn't my favorite book then and I just didn't get around to re-reading it.  I would feel bad about that but since the discussion will last approximately 5 minutes, I am not too worried about it.  This book club is actually more about the gathering and the food.

Weeding: Tomorrow morning is the annual plant exchange arranged by the city.  I have gone, 2-3 times before and have gotten some good plants.  It is fun - fast and furious negotiating and trading and then hauling home the treasures.  I took today off from work, mainly to recuperate from the all-day seminar, but also to get my plants ready for the swap.  This is what I am bringing this year: lamb's ear, penstemon, monarda (aka bee balm), coreopsis, and balloon flower.  In the process of digging up some coreopsis, I disturbed a particularly large ant colony.  The ants were all over my feet and legs, some of them biting.  It reminded me of the scene from one of the Indiana Jones movies where the ants carry the bad guy away.  I took a break to read Catching Fire, eat lunch and smell the lilacs, and will divide more coreopsis once I figure out how to do it without stirring up the ants again.

Monarda (bee not included in plant swap)

Threadleaf coreopsis (apparently thrives near ants)

Penstemon (bird not included)

Balloon flower (look closely for the little "balloons")



Lovely lamb's ear, growing near hardy geranium

Until we read, and weed, again,
Hallie

Weeding:  I realized I talked about my plant swap many times before it happened.  And the day of.  But I have not yet posted about how the plant swap went.  And I know you are simply dying to know, so...

When I started planning it, the dog days of August were blazing upon us, so I was planning iced tea, lemon bars, fresh chips and salsa...summery fare, to be served on the deck surrounded by flowers.  The day of the swap turned out to be very autumnal and it was sprinkling on and off all day, so what I ended up with was hot cider and fresh from the oven apple crisp.  Served in the living room.  Where we can see the flowers if we stand up and look out the window.  That was okay though.  I like apple crisp a whole lot.

When I picked the date, I had 7, possibly 8 people coming.  Nice enough size for a swap and good balance of people with diverse selection of plants and people without plants.  Due to scheduling conflicts and last minute things, I had 4 people.  Two of whom had no plants and were there for the garden tours and camaraderie.

It worked out well, though.  I got rid of, errrr, generously gave away several plants that needed to be divided and/or thinned.  My friends got new plants to add to their collections or to start new gardens with.  I got to share my late season garden and discuss my future garden plans with friends who also like plants.  And I got some apple crisp. 

It was a lovely swap.  And we didn't even get rained on.

Reading: I am on page 126 of 644 in the Tattooed Girl book.  It reads pretty quickly but I am not wrapped up in it.  I just bought it Tuesday night.  Half of the pages I have read so far were accomplished with a night of insomnia.  If I just have another week of no sleep, I should be done by Friday when we meet.

For the Sunday night bookclub, our final selection for the year of classics is Treasure Island.  I am cool with pirates and a good adventure story.  I haven't started it yet but I have all the way until November 6th to read it.  Piece of cake, right?  First I need to get the Dragon Girl done, though.

Eating: When last I posted, the roast was coming out of the oven.  It was super tasty.  While we were eating it, we realized that when we did menu planning for the week (yes, we plan menus for a week at a time), that we had forgotten to add our favorite use of leftover pot roast.  So a little erasing and switching around on the whiteboard and, suddenly, Tuesday was Beef Pot Pie night.  Yahoo!  Here's how I make pot pie.

Beef Pot Pie (adapted from Betty Crocker - now more Weight Watchers Points friendly (old points program))
2-2 1/2 C. cut up cooked beef
about 2 C veggies (the recipe says 10oz frozen peas and carrots rinsed and drained - we use 2/3 C frozen corn along with some of the leftover potatoes, carrots, onion, etc. from the roast)
1/4 C. butter or margerine (you know which I would use...)
1/4 C. flour
pepper to taste (salt too, if needed, but with the broth/bouillion and the meat already salted when cooking, you don't really need it)
1 3/4 C beef broth (I use Orrington Farms Beef soup base - 2 tsp in 1 3/4 C hot water)
1/2 C skim milk (okay so it doesn't have to be skim, that is just what I used to get the points value down)
1 9" pie crust (make your own if you like.  I use frozen. The original recipe called for both a top and bottom crust but it really didn't add much in my mind, besides extra points/calories/carbs so I took it out)

In a 9x9x2 pan (or similar size round pan - I use Pampered Chef stoneware, naturally), spread the beef and veggies.
In a 2 quart saucepan, melt butter/margerine over medium until melted.  Stir in flour, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring constantly, until bubbly.  Stir in beef broth and milk.  Heat until boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute.  Pour over the beef and veggies.
Top the beef/veggies/sauce with the pie crust (it is okay if it doesn't reach the edge or cover everything).  Bake at 425 for 35 minutes or until golden brown.
6 servings, about 6 points each (per my calculations, and using the OLD system. It was about 9 per serving before)

You can use the same recipe for chicken pot pie (the original recipe was for chicken).  Just use chicken and chicken broth instead.  And whatever veggies you like - fresh cooked, frozen, leftover.

When I first made this recipe, I loved the sauce so much that I made it quite a bit.  I mixed it with chicken and some veggies and used it on top of biscuits, or noodles.  It is very tasty and easy.


Okay, now I need to get back to the Dragon Tattoo Girl. 
Oh, and if you missed my last post (because I am a dork and had hit "save draft" instead of "publish" last week), you can always go back and read it.  In fact you can read any of the old posts.  I was recently reading some of my posts from 2003.  I had forgotten about some of those events like the Life and Times of Mrs. Quackers. 

Until we eat again,
Hallie

Tattoos and Pizza

Reading: I will be reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by the Swedish guy who wrote it (can't think of his name right now... I am sure it will come to me eventually, or I will actually look it up because it will bug me.  Anyway...).  I have resisted reading this book for a couple of reasons.  First off, it is popular and everywhere.  That almost always turns me off a book.  Ask me if I have ever read some of the other books that "everyone" has read.  Unless it was chosen for a bookclub selection, the answer will nearly always be "no". 
Secondly, it is not my style of book.  Nothing I have heard about it has endeared me to it or made me want to read it.  Mystery/thriller kind of genre, graphic sexual violence, long descriptions and lots of character
Third of all, I don't like tattoos.  And the title always gets the Fountains of Wayne song, 'Red Dragon Tattto" in my head and then I call the book "The Girl with the Red Dragon Tattoo".  Look up the song.  It cracks me up.

Stieg Larsson.  That is his name. So anyway...

Why am I reading it?  Because one of the bookclubs wants to.  And bookclub is not all about reading only what I want to (as much as I try to sway people away from certain books...).  Maybe it will be a treasured read.  I didn't want to read Harry Potter and I ADORED that and became obsessed with the series.  I also did not want to read Twilight and HATED that and did not read any more after the first one.
We'll see.  I'll keep you posted.

Eating: When last we saw Hallie going off to cook, it was Aloha Chicken Pizza on the menu.  Did she make the pizza?  Did they enjoy it?  Will she share the recipe?  The answers are all "yes".
Aloha Chicken Pizza was truly delicious.  It may have bumped the previous favorite off the top of the list (though I must admit the top two are quite similar - the former #1 was BBQ chicken pizza).  It is a Pampered Chef recipe, though I have made my own tweaks (of course!).  First off, I made my own crust.  Second, I used rotisserie chicken instead of cooking and chopping chicken.  Thirdly, I made my own BBQ sauce.  And finally, we used green peppers instead of red, mostly because our red pepper plants barely produced one fruit, we haven't seen any at the farmers market, and the grocery store feels the need to charge up the wazoo for red peppers.  But I digress...  Here is the recipe.  Feel free to buy your own crust and BBQ sauce, and to cook your own chicken.
Aloha Chicken Pizza

Crust (from Betty Crocker, aka "Big Red") >>>>If you are using refrigerated pizza crust, it takes 2 of them.
1 package yeast (or about 2 1/4 tsp)
1 C warm water
2 1/2 C flour
2 Tbls olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt (Note: when I am making for a red sauce pizza, I add a sprinkling of Italian seasoning into the crust mixture)
Combine yeast and warm water in a medium bowl and mix until yeast dissolves.  Add remaining ingredients and beat 20 strokes (don't ask me why 20).  Let rest 5 minutes.  Roll out onto warmed pizza stone (or of course you can use another type of pizza pan or other flat pan - I always use my stone and I always preheat it with the oven when making this crust). 

BBQ Sauce (from Pampered Chef Casual Cooking)
Cook 1/4 C finely chopped onion in 2 tsp vegetable oil over medium heat (I always skip this step because someone doesn't like onions - the sauce turns out fine without onions).
Stir together in medium saucepan:
1 1/2 C ketchup
3 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbls cider vinegar
1/2 C honey
2 Tbls BBQ seasoning mix (I use the Pampered Chef BBQ rub)
1 tsp prepared mustard
(You will end up with about 2 1/3 C BBQ sauce - you only need about 3/4 C for the pizza.  The rest will refrigerate, covered, for up to 2 weeks.)

To make the pizza (as I made it - we like a thicker crust so we use the pizza stone instead of a larger pan like a cookie sheet)
Preheat oven to 425F.  Roll crust onto warmed pizza stone.  Spread 1/2 to 3/4 C BBQ sauce onto crust.  Sprinkle 2 C shredded rotisserie chicken, and 2 C well-drained pineapple tidbits over pizza (you can of course use fresh pineapple instead - it calls for 1 medium pineapple).  Top with 2 C grated mozzarella and 1/2 of a red (or yellow or green) pepper, chopped.  Bake 20minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is to your desired melted-ness and color (I like mine to be golden brown.).  YUM!  We served with Blue Hawaii drinks but would also work with Mai Tais!

Weeding: Today is the day of my plant swap and garden party.  So of course it is raining.  Sprinkling on and off, in the 60s and cloudy.  Good thing we cleaned out the garage and picked up the house too!  When I started planning this, it was August, hot and sunny.  I was thinking of summery snacks and dessert, summery drinks.  Now we are baking apple crisp and warming some cider.  We'll swap in the garage if we need to and retire to house for refreshments.  I am still looking forward to it and already thinking how I will do it differently in the spring.  Ready to swap monarda, black-eyed Susans, lambs ear, and ajuga.  And could be persuaded to dig up a few others on request.

Until we weed again,
Hallie

Eating: The ratatouille was good.  I ate a bunch of it and froze 3 quart bags of it for later when I am craving summer veggies in the fall or winter.  I have another 1/2 an eggplant this week from the CSA (the other 1/2 goes to my in-laws) so am looking for another good eggplant recipe.
This is the recipe I used last week.  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/ratatouille/detail.aspx  The chopping took a while but I like to chop, so that was okay.  Left out the 'shrooms because I am not a huge fan and also because they didn't speak "summer" to me.  And I used fresh parsley instead of dried because I have some growing on the deck.

We are on a pizza kick this month.  I have made home-made pizza (or 'Ho-made' as we call it, after a sign we saw in Door County advertising ho-made jams) for a number of years.  Simple Betty Crocker crust and sauce recipe, to which we usually add Canadian bacon and sometimes peppers if we have some.  Bake on the pizza stone from Pampered Chef (of course!) until the cheese is brown and bubbly.  A couple weeks ago, we made the pizza and E added red pepper slices from the pepper he grew, harvested and sliced thin (he has mad knife skilz).  It was perfection.  The next week (happened to be a Thursday again), we decided to try a BBQ chicken 'za since we had some leftover rotisserie chicken.  I made the BBQ sauce (with a little help from Pampered Chef for recipe and the BBQ rub) while E shredded the chicken.  A little green pepper, some red onion (on my half) and then fresh cilantro (added after it came out of the oven - otherwise it is just little burnt leaves - ask me how I know).  So tasty!  The best one yet.  This week was a Mexican pizza - instead of the red sauce we used E's fresh blender salsa, topped it with leftover taco meat, "Mexican-blend" cheese, and peppers. Fresh cilantro and crushed tortilla chips on top after baking.  Also very tasty, but not quite up there with the BBQ chicken.  Thinking of more creative ideas for the next pizza - suggestions??

Reading: I finished A Wrinkle in Time. I didn't like it as much as I remembered liking it before.  I need to think about it a little more before I discuss it.  Good thing bookclub isn't coming up real soon. 
Now I am reading Rhoda: A Life in Stories by Ellen Gilchrist.  It is a good sized volume of short stories, some of which are autobiographical, starting when Rhoda is about 7 or 8, in the '40s.  Love Rhoda's attitude and spunk.  And Gilchrist's writing style is engaging and descriptive.  I really feel like I am getting to know this character and her family.
I still need to pick a book for the Saturday bookclub.  What shall I pick for a bookclub that doesn't usually read the selection? Hmmmm....

Weeding: Date for the plant swap has been set.  I am very excited for this!  Swapping plants with my friends, snacks and beverages (of course! Can there be a gathering with out food??), tours of my garden.  I am enjoying the planning stages for that.  Also in the planning stages: E and I are hoping to build the second raised veggie garden bed on Labor Day weekend, get it filled with compost and then leaves to "cook" over the winter and be ready for spring planting.  And the gi-normous stump will hopefully be getting removed soon so we can get going on that area behing the house (plans percolating in my brain, not yet on paper though - a hedge for privacy, a fire pit, seating in the secluded area in addition to the half-log bench E made from the trunk of the tree, expanding the plants to all sides of the area, maybe a small water feature like one of those fountains that bubbles up out of a large rock, etc., etc.).  I have dubbed this "stump garden". 

Time to go cut back some of those tall flower stems on the daylilies and tie back some flopping plants. 

Until next time, happy reading, eating and weeding!

Eating:  I hope I like ratatouille.  I am at this moment baking a big casserole full of it.  We got a large eggplant in our CSA last week and the only thing I could think of to do with it was ratatouille.  I have not been a fan of the eggplant dishes I have eaten in the past.  Ratatouille seems like a good way to use up a bunch of veggies at once, if nothing else, and I have read that I can freeze it.  Freezing a few smaller portions sounds appealing to me, since E will not eat it and I might have rata-overload if I eat the entire 3 qts. myself. 
When I mention to Chef Kevin at our favorite restaurant that I was thinking of trying to make this, his helpful suggestion was to rent the movie "Ratatouille" and do exactly what the mouse told me to do.  He may have been a little tipsy when offering this advice...

Reading: Sunday bookclub is reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle this month.  We are almost done with our year of classics.  So far I have enjoyed all we have read.  We started with The Good Earth by Pearl Buck, which I had never read.  I would read it again - it reminded me in some ways to Giants in the Earth by Ole Rolvaag.  When the next person picked To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, she said it seemed like we were on a roll with classics.  Informally we decided that would be kind of fun.  We unanimously loved Mockingbird - how can you not love Scout? Next up was Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, which I enjoyed more now than I had when I read it when younger.  The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was lovely read for spring and made me want to get out in the garden.  When it was time for Beth to pick, she had been deciding between horse books (The Red Pony or Black Beauty) but settled instead on the unsettling Lord of the Flies by William Golding - so many levels to read that one on and discuss. We then read another unsettling choice: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, which provided another opportunity for great discussion.  The next book was one I had never read but had been on my "list": My Antonia by Willa Cather - I really liked this one a lot.  I look forward to reading O Pioneers someday as well.  (I am missing one of the selections in there between Mockingbird and Huckleberry - can't remember - will probably come to me at 3AM.)  I am up to pick next and am having a bit of angst about it.  I can't decide between something I have never read but probably should at some time (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen) or something I have read and remember loving, to see if I still like it (A Separate Peace by John Knowles).  Part of the fun of the year of classics has been reading things I have never read and part of it has been rediscovering things I had to read before and seeing if they struck me differently as an adult than than had when I was in high school.  What classics have you read and re-read as a child/teen and then again as a grown-up?

Weeding:  The garden is transitioning to the late summer blooms, some of the fall blooms coming early.  I am wandering the garden, deciding what needs to be divided and what is going up for the plant swap I am coordinating next month.  Looks like I have plenty of rudbekia, monarda and balloon flowers, as well as a hosta or two to divide.  Or give away completely.  I have decided I am not a fan of hosta.  They are boring to me.

That's all for today.  Need to take my ratatouille out of the oven.  It is smelling pretty tasty.