Summer Moments: I'm Not Dead Yet!

Despite my virtual absence... and hem-hawyness concerning this blog...I've actually been out and about.

A retrospective: 


Aunt D and Me at the Komen's Survivors Luncheon!
Not once, did they play "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gynor,
but it was a fantastic experience.  Breathtaking...to be
in a room of so many survivors.
"At first I was afraid, I was petrified..."
Bops head, walks away.



Meeting Josh Groban. Backstage passes!  Giddy like a
school girl! 




I considered briefly, leaving Brett for little Joshy-poo.
But I figured with all his traveling and stuff,
we'd never get to see each other.  And really,
that's no way to build a relationship.




So instead, I hung out with Brett that night and enjoyed
a free concert (luckiest boy in the world, won tickets).




Is it opera?  Is it rock and roll?  You JUST CAN'T TELL!
Josh Groban has a new fan. 

  

The rarely seen Dikdik.  Too. Many. Jokes...

 


The East African Crowned Crane....head.




Girl Cheetah.  You can't see it, but I'm curled up
behind her.  Just chillin'.



Baby Rhino and Mama Rhino.
I can actually hear the collective... "Awwwwww."



Fourth of July. Weird eye follows me everywhere.





"I wanna be, where the people are..."
Name that sad-sack tune, and I'll send you a
five dollar bill in the mail.




Mammy and Pappy at the ol' watering hole for a
Birthday celebration!




The two Birthday Gals! Aunt D turning 60 and
my Mother turning... ouch! That hurt.




I'm so artsy and stuff.  Dude.




The Thompson siblings...
Aunt D, Uncle D, Dad D, & Aunt D.
Really, I'm not kidding... they're related.




But of course...

Canned some pickled peppers.
Like seventeen, 1/2 pint jars worth.

What you'll need:
1/2 Pound jalapeno and
banana pepper mix
2 Cups white vinegar
2/3 Cups sugar
1/2 Teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 Teaspoon celery seed

Sterilize jars, warm lids, etc. Bring
vinegar, sugar, and spices to a rolling
boil.  Fill hot jars with peppers.
Pour hot pickling juice over peppers
leaving 1/2 inch head space.
Wipe rim of jar.  Place lids and
screw on band until finger-tip
tight.  Leave untouched for two weeks.



With My Bare Hands

I did that.

Yep... that tortilla chip of goodness was all from my own making. Planted, grown, harvested, chopped and eaten. All by me. With my bare hands.

I'm thinking that kind of attitude might have been one of the things that got Adam and Eve in trouble.

Eve was all like, "See that tree over there, that I watered all winter long... you know, the one with the wonderfully red fruit... I did that!"

And Adam's all like, "Oh yeah, well see that freshly baked pie with the homemade crust and intricate lattice work, sitting on the hut-sill? I, did that."

There was bickering and eye-rolling and Adam spent two nights sleeping on a rock...

And then God stepped in, saw that it was good... or at the very least, entertaining... and decided to make that, our plight in life.

Yes. I am aware that sometimes, I shouldn't write out what my mind is thinking.

What you'll need:
3-5 Tomatoes
3-4 Jalapenos
1 Small white onion
1 Hearty handful of cilantro
1 Dash of olive oil
2 Tablespoons of lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste

I use a variety of 'maters: some small and beefy like Danny DiVito (otherwise known as the Roma tomato). Others that are beautiful and all pink and white like Dakota Fanning before she went all vampire-ish (otherwise known as Pink Lady's). And I'll throw in at least one good and plump one like... well, me (again, also known as Better Boy). Chop them all up and mix them together. Then mince the jalapeno and onion. Tear off a hearty handful of cilantro and chop that up too (stems and all). Add a dash of olive oil (and I really mean, just a dash), the lime juice, seasonings, and mix the whole mess together. Let it sit in the fridge for up to four hours.

Sweat, love, and dirty fingernails managed to produce a "pico" hot enough to make you reconsider your love for dairy products. And for your significant other. Especially when he does all of the weed eating in the garden.

Again... you don't have to say a word.

We both give it a solid A-.

"Koman ou ye?" and Other Tuesday Things

"Koman ou ye?"

That's Haitian Creole for "How are you today?"

Well, to start with... I'm a little wired. I just made coffee. I knew I needed half of what I normally prepare... so, as I stumbled from coffee pot to sink and back, in a sleepy stupor, I told myself over and over again... "only five cups of water." What I really should have been saying was, "only five scoops of coffee," because I ended up making coffee with 10 scoops of grinds and five cups of water. WHHOOOOOOOO-WEE! When the hand tremors and overall body shaking stops, I'm gonna get a lot done!

Which is good... because this pretty much sums up my night:

Disheveled.

For weeks, I've been counting down the days until I got to sleep alone. No elbow in my side, no "taking up space that is rightfully mine," no soft nudges throughout the night to silence the snoring... just peace. Smack dab in the middle of the bed, peace.

But things did not go as planned last night. Everything was wrong. The sheets were bunched (he's a "sheets must be tucked in before we go to bed" kind of guy and I, being the free spirit, require that my feet are able to come and go as they please), the temperature was all off, sleeping in the middle wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and as it turns out, I'm the one that's been doing all the snoring. (That's a joke, by the way.)

So the coffee will come in handy this morning. Three cups down...

It's not a bad thing, when your eye twitches, is it?

***********************
Oh the caffeine crash. It'll get cha'.

Mine hit at 11:34, just as I was contemplating doing a load of laundry (funny, how those two things coincided). I was literally half-way down the stairs with an overstuffed basket, when I felt like I simply couldn't move another muscle. My eyes got droopy and I started considering weather or not I could actually fit into the laundry basket I was holding. Suddenly, resting my head on Brett's three day old dress shirt seemed like a pretty decent idea.

And then trouble hit. A "brother" had come, to avenge the sour-cream-and-onion death.

Yesterday's Lara Croft moment suddenly seemed foolish. I began considering my options. And realized, I'm fresh out of Pringles tubes. This is bad. Real bad. I love Pringles.... and I've got a lot of comfort eating to do over the next two weeks. Hummm.

***********************

I spent the rest of the early evening, making up for my sloth-like nature, by planting some pepper plants. After the alleged murder of Banana... well, I just hadn't had the strength to face the others. Today seemed a perfect day... windy but sunny, with a rain barrel full to it's brim.

If you were to revisit the Banana murder/saga... you would notice that I've been quite sympathetic to Jalapeno... I've always given him the benefit of the doubt, assumed he needed to grieve, used the language barrier as my out.

That was a rookie (gardener) mistake. It won't happen again.

I have reason now, to suspect that Jalapeno is responsible not only for Banana's death, but possibly, Bell's too! The appropriate authorities are looking into it....

Here's how it all went down.

So like I said, it's a delightful day. Sunny and windy, but the ground is still moist and the worms are working overtime. I threw on my flip flops, lathered on the sunscreen lip balm, and headed out to the porch to choose the lucky recipients of today's gardening fervor.

The peppers all raised their pretty little leaves and one by one, I gathered all six plants... carried them out to the garden, and lined them up in the order that they would be planted. It didn't take long for me to notice something curious... there were FIVE jalapeno plants! And honest to goodness, (if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it either) Jalapeno PUSHED Red Bell. Red Bell took quite a tumble but was unscathed.

Bullying aside (though it should be noted, I run a "no tolerance" garden), I was perplexed by the sheer number of jalapenos. Where did they all come from? Is this some sort of conspiracy? Knock off Bell and Banana, so that Jalapeno and his co-horts can rule the rows? Or is it bigger than that? I just don't know... but until I figure it out... Jalapeno and his friends got planted. WITHOUT compost. (Teach them a lesson.)

He doesn't look so bad, does he? (Always a jalapeno sympathizer. *sigh*)

***********************

Well... I started this day, asking "Koman ou ye?" In a nutshell, I tried to OD on caffeine, I have a family of spiders mad at me, and there are killer jalapenos in my garden. How do you think I'm doing?

On a good note, I received my first email from Brett today:

"we got here, all is well and already it has been a meaningful trip for the whole team..."

He's so good with the words.

Murder, Lies, and Banana Peppers

Several days ago, I touched briefly on Silly Cardinal love. I will revisit that sordid tale of unrequited affection, on a later date. For now, I must speak of this:













That's Bell. This was last Wednesday.

He jumped.

Word on the street (and by street, I mean the porch) is that the pressure got to be too much for Bell. I only wish someone had let Bell know, that there are other options. People who will listen... plants who will love you no matter what. But sometimes even that reassurance, doesn't matter. At the end of the day, all I know is that he was so young, so full of promise and well...Bell, will be missed.

Then, just as I was working through this fresh grief, yesterday, in an ill fated attempt at solidarity, Banana jumped as well. I arrived home several hours after the fact, to find this:













Another jumper?

Maybe?

But my instinct tells me otherwise.

And my instinct thinks Banana was pushed.

But no one's talking. I sort of expected Squash to point some fingers (because everyone knows what a pushover Squash is). I've bribed Cucumber and Okra with extra waterings and promises of sunny days ahead. Nothin'. I got rough with Bean and Tomato... neither waivered.

I haven't had the heart to ask Jalapeno. It just seems cruel. But I think Jalapeno knows something. Unfortunately, there's a bit of a language barrier.

None-the-less, I'm determined to get to the bottom of this. Banana will not have died in vain. But until then, may Bell and Banana rest in peace. And eat cake. So here's your Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting. (Get it? Banana pepper...banana cake? See the connection. No?)

What you'll need:
3 Bananas, mashed
1/2 Cup butter, room temperature
1 Cup brown sugar
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup peanut butter plus 3 tablespoons, divided
1 Teaspoon vanilla
2 Cups ap flour
2 Teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoon milk
2-2 1/2 Cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to *350. Beat butter, 'nanners (save out 1/2 of a banana for your frosting), and sugars in a large bowl. Add the eggs and 3 tablespoons of the peanut butter too. Gradually add the flour and baking powder. Pour mixture in a greased 9x9 or 13x9 in pan and pop it in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

When the cake has cooled, beat your remaining nanner, peanut butter and milk until smooth. Add powdered sugar until smooth. Frost your cake and call it good.

If I were a detective on tv, I'd hand you my card, and tell you to "call me if you think of anything else you wanna share." But instead I'll grab my print dusting kit, and be on my way. And would welcome any theory you might have...

Bird Lovin' and Other Things That Scream Spring

Bird lovin' is in the air. Just outside my window. At 4:30 in the morning.

We have a Boy and a Girl Cardinal in our back yard... and they MUST get together. Seriously, I'm about to set up a Match.com profile for one of them, just to get the ball rolling. Boy Cardinal screams and squawks and flutters around like she's the last Girl Cardinal on the planet. And the Girl Cardinal coyly twitters and giggles in the bows of the overgrown willow tree in our back yard. Flipping her tail feathers, batting her eyelashes, and playing hard to get. I swear... she's been reading too many teenage romance novels.

And Boy Cardinal is chatty. I mean, REALLY freakin' chatty. All day long... starting at the crack of dawn and quiting sometime after the sun goes down. And I'm about to go insane. Think Cathy Bates in Misery, insane. I'm plotting things in my head, that no good human being should be plotting. In might involve BBguns or major explosives... I haven't decided yet. It really just depends on what's legal.

Lack of sleep, has made me a very cranky girl.

But all that's to say, with Spring most certainly in the air... and one more pumpkin recipe to go... I needed a new project (that didn't include the demise of woodland creatures). And so I've started our garden. And I "may" have gone a little overboard. But I have it in my head, that I'm going to CAN this year!

*Hey, wipe that smirk off your face!*

We've been nurturing the compost for a full year now... and have planted every bloomin' seed in northern Missouri... so we feel really equipped. Despite the fact that we can't agree where the garden should go. Or that we lack the tools of harvest. Or canning. Or that, come July, I will despise every livin' minute out in the heat. But otherwise, we're good to go.

I've named that one on the left, Hope... and the one on the right, Promise. Brett has named them Ha, and Ha. We'll see if he gets to eat any of my canned Squash Butter, on those long winter nights...

So, here's to minor strains of botulism and a new lease on my blogging-life.

And in the biggest stretch ever, to relate a recipe to what I've just blogged about... here are Compost Cookies! Now that Christmas, New Years, Earth Day, and Easter are all over with... it's a great way to get rid of all the leftovers. And now that Brett's triglycerides are twice what they should be... it's a good way to get all the junk out of our house.

Here's what you'll need:

1 Cup butter

1 Cup sugar

3/4 Cup light brown sugar

1 Tablespoon corn syrup

1 Teaspoon vanilla

2 Eggs

1 3/4 Cup all purpose flour

2 Teaspoons baking powder

1 Teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 Cups baking leftovers (I used white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, toffee pieces, and bittersweet chocolate. I wish I had put some coconut in them.)

1 1/2 Cups snack foods (I used pretzels, almonds, and whoppers. David Lebovitz suggests using potato chips. Your call.)

Cream the sugars and butter together for about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and eggs, and no joke, cream those guys for 10 minutes. I literally ran an errand while they were creaming. Add the flour, soda and powder and just barely incorporate. Fold in all the goodies.

Refrigerate the whole mess for at least 1 hour (and up to, a week). Preheat oven to 400*. Ball and bake for 7-10 minutes. Cool completely on the pan, before removing them.

They were okay... they're flat, chewy little things, with lots of stuff. I don't really ask for much, when it comes to my cookies... sugar cookies with a little icing are money for me... so these were a little over the top. I'd give them a B. Good enough to give to someone you're trying to impress, but maybe not so good, that there'll be any expectations later.

May you find love this beautiful Spring day... just please... don't do it outside my bedroom window.