A little birdie told me to make these, so I threw two as a prototype. They aren't glazed yet, but I think they turned out well.
What are they?
Why...sponge holders, of course!
On Reading and Recipes 2011
15 years ago
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Seniors Do Leftovers
What to have for dinner after you have spent four hours enriching and rototilling the vegetable garden? Well, we had some leftover round steak. We searched Kitchen Stadium and took it from there. We created:
Huevos Rancheros Pizza
With a wheat Boboli crust, we spread just a bit of organic tomato paste, then topped that with Newman's Own Black Bean Salsa (Medium Hot). We chopped the leftover roundstead by hand into a fine chop, and spread it on the pizza. We sauteed chopped onion, mushroom, tomato and spices, and when the onion was transparent, we added four organic farm eggs and cooked that mixture until 'almost done'. The veggie and egg mixture was spread onto the pizza next, and topped with four different cheeses. We cooked the pizza for about 12". What a way to do leftover round steak!
Life and food are fun! Use your imagination!
The Seniors Rototill the Garden
Oh, Boy! What a day! We actually got the vegetable garden rototilled this afternoon. First, we dumped a load of sand and spread that around. Then, we dumped about 280# of Composted Manure on the garden and the sand, and spread that around. THEN, we opened four huge bags of Peat Moss, and spread that atop everything else, and started the rototiller to work all the 'goodies' into the ground. We are done, and we will be planting as the weather permits. Can't wait for all the GREAT veggies to come.
The asparagus continues in super fashion, the strawberries are in bloom, and...check out the photo...we have harvested our FIRST stalks of rhubarb!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Today, my DIL (at her house) and I (at mine) both battled Dandelions.
It's not an easy battle. I have actually set aside a 'sanctuary' where they can grow (birds like to pick at them and their seeds). The sanctuary is in my 'wild garden'. But they do NOT stay there. I do the usual: Weed N Feed, Scott's Step 1, 2, 3, 4...but they creep over from other areas. So today, I went out, trowel in hand, and waged a battle.
Years ago, I wrote the following poem to Dandelions. Hope you enjoy it:
Dandelion
Call me common.
Curse me, step on me, poison me,
label me a weed unwanted!
I’ll return.
I am your yellow reality.
© Phyllis A. Natanek
Bartlett, May 2002
published Moon Journal, Spring/Summer 2003, pg. 10
Call me common.
Curse me, step on me, poison me,
label me a weed unwanted!
I’ll return.
I am your yellow reality.
© Phyllis A. Natanek
Bartlett, May 2002
published Moon Journal, Spring/Summer 2003, pg. 10
Spring Frenzy
It's Spring in full swing, and we are trying to 'get 'er done' in between the raindrops. The hawthorn trees are in full bloom, and so is our beautiful, delicate serviceberry. In the woods garden, the Virginia bluebells are making a BIG statement in this, their third year.
All the cabbage babies have been transplanted to containers on our upper deck, as has the cilantro. Everyone did great! The tomato and basil babies are growing like weeds in the greenhouse, but they will have to wait just a bit before going outside.
More pictures will be posted this week.
All the cabbage babies have been transplanted to containers on our upper deck, as has the cilantro. Everyone did great! The tomato and basil babies are growing like weeds in the greenhouse, but they will have to wait just a bit before going outside.
More pictures will be posted this week.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The Seniors Do Friday
Friday, April 24th, 2009
7 am. Up a bit early. No Pooping Raccoon last night. Life is good. Usual breakfast...yada, yada and Benefiber.
It's SUCH a great day! We had a lot of thunderstorms last night, but today the sun is shining and it is WARM. We have our tee time for 10 am, and we are resting in the Great Room when the phone rings at 8:15. It's our Golf Club! We can't golf today because the course is too wet! R promptly makes another tee time for Saturday at 10:40, and we take five to dream up a Plan B for this morning. Weather happens.
P cleans up the house a bit while thinking. Then we both go down to the Studio to glaze some pots, before P heads up to the deck, and plants the cabbages and cilantro. Those babies are ready to be outside now. The tomato and basil babies need to be in the greenhouse a bit longer.
(Factoid: when to plant tomatoes outdoors. Old farmer mom used to sit on the ground. If her derriere stayed warm and dry, it was time...).
The decision comes to us like a bolt of lightening: it's time to go to Ganz's Greenhouse in nearby Marseilles! A quick call to our friend Kathie (we promised to call her if we were going there this week) and we're off. Almost. First we stop at the other place to check the asparagus bed. The first shoots are READY! P gleefully harvests just enough for the weekend, and we both look forward to an orgy of asparagus this Spring.
A few minutes later, we get to Ganz's Greenhouse, and Kathie is there to meet us. We are all three Morris Garden Club members, and this trip is like a Spring Rite of Passage. Ganz's has been in business since heaven knows when. It's a set of greenhouses on Route 6 where they have been spending all Winter planting and starting their own veggies and flowers! They are only open from April to June. And...if you don't get there early, the best goes fast! The three gardeners saunter through the many aisles, and we all come up with a plethora of plants for our gardens.
We have: broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, big tomatoes, sweet peppers, and annuals. Kathie has overdosed on basil, tomatoes, and annuals. We all leave, happy.
Once home, we place our new plants in the garage until tomorrow. Many of them will go into the greenhouse until they can safely go outside. And right now...we have to go to work selling our pots at Starved Rock.
Off to Starved Rock State Park! We are participating in the IVAR fundraiser (Illinois Valley Animal Rescue), and we hope to sell some pottery as part of the Arts exhibit. 6 other artists, all fellow members of Ottawa Art League, have chosen to participate in the event, too. And there are booths of dog and cat specific all around the Starved Rock Room. It's a nice show, and the dinner is good. IVAR makes some money toward their new building, and we are breaking down the booth at 9 pm...right on schedule.
Home by 10. The totes are placed in the garage, and we head upstairs to the Great Room to have a glass of red wine, relax, and ... then to bed.
That was Friday!
7 am. Up a bit early. No Pooping Raccoon last night. Life is good. Usual breakfast...yada, yada and Benefiber.
It's SUCH a great day! We had a lot of thunderstorms last night, but today the sun is shining and it is WARM. We have our tee time for 10 am, and we are resting in the Great Room when the phone rings at 8:15. It's our Golf Club! We can't golf today because the course is too wet! R promptly makes another tee time for Saturday at 10:40, and we take five to dream up a Plan B for this morning. Weather happens.
P cleans up the house a bit while thinking. Then we both go down to the Studio to glaze some pots, before P heads up to the deck, and plants the cabbages and cilantro. Those babies are ready to be outside now. The tomato and basil babies need to be in the greenhouse a bit longer.
(Factoid: when to plant tomatoes outdoors. Old farmer mom used to sit on the ground. If her derriere stayed warm and dry, it was time...).
The decision comes to us like a bolt of lightening: it's time to go to Ganz's Greenhouse in nearby Marseilles! A quick call to our friend Kathie (we promised to call her if we were going there this week) and we're off. Almost. First we stop at the other place to check the asparagus bed. The first shoots are READY! P gleefully harvests just enough for the weekend, and we both look forward to an orgy of asparagus this Spring.
A few minutes later, we get to Ganz's Greenhouse, and Kathie is there to meet us. We are all three Morris Garden Club members, and this trip is like a Spring Rite of Passage. Ganz's has been in business since heaven knows when. It's a set of greenhouses on Route 6 where they have been spending all Winter planting and starting their own veggies and flowers! They are only open from April to June. And...if you don't get there early, the best goes fast! The three gardeners saunter through the many aisles, and we all come up with a plethora of plants for our gardens.
We have: broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, big tomatoes, sweet peppers, and annuals. Kathie has overdosed on basil, tomatoes, and annuals. We all leave, happy.
Once home, we place our new plants in the garage until tomorrow. Many of them will go into the greenhouse until they can safely go outside. And right now...we have to go to work selling our pots at Starved Rock.
Off to Starved Rock State Park! We are participating in the IVAR fundraiser (Illinois Valley Animal Rescue), and we hope to sell some pottery as part of the Arts exhibit. 6 other artists, all fellow members of Ottawa Art League, have chosen to participate in the event, too. And there are booths of dog and cat specific all around the Starved Rock Room. It's a nice show, and the dinner is good. IVAR makes some money toward their new building, and we are breaking down the booth at 9 pm...right on schedule.
Home by 10. The totes are placed in the garage, and we head upstairs to the Great Room to have a glass of red wine, relax, and ... then to bed.
That was Friday!
Oh....look! It's the first asparagus of 2009! Yum!
Don't the stalks look perfect?
And, you know why? This asparagus was given to us by our dear DIL (and son, but we know she's the one who thought of it!) four years ago, and you should see the harvest coming up this year.
We hope we have some left to share with them, but ... well ... we have been known to be asparagus piggies before!
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