The Day After.....

T’was the night of Thanksgiving,

But I just couldn’t sleep.

I tried counting backwards,

I tried counting sheep.

The leftovers beckoned,

The dark meat and white.

But I fought the temptation,

With all of my might.

Tossing and turning,

with anticipation.

The thought of a snack

became infatuation.

So I raced to the kitchen,

Flung open the door,

And gazed at the fridge,

Full of goodies galore.

I gobbled up turkey,

And buttered potatoes,

Pickles and carrots,

Beans and tomatoes.

I felt myself swelling,

So plump and so round.

‘til all of a sudden,

I rose off the ground.

I crashed through the ceiling,

Floating into the sky,

With a mouthful of pudding,

And a handful of pie.

But I managed to yell

As I soared past the trees

Happy eating to all,

Pass the cranberries, please!!

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey be plump.

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious,

May your pies take the prize

And May your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off of your thighs!

by Lauren

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving

The year has turned its circle,

The seasons come and go.

The harvest all is gathered in

And chilly north winds blow.

Orchards have shared their treasures,

The fields, their yellow grain,

So open wide the doorway ---

Thanksgiving comes again!

~Old Rhyme.

Arid Amidst Rain

Though the weather outside is stormy,

The air inside is cracklin',

The moisture's been all sucked out,

Let it mist, let is mist, let it mist!

On a pellet stove a pot of water,

Won't heat up to make condensation,

And my hair flies straight away,

Let it mist, let it mist, let it mist!

The solution is an humidifier,

It spews both day and night,

My skin's no longer flaking off,

Let it mist, let it mist. let it mist!

~Beanball

Watch Cat

Bagheera has a new favorite bench to perch on and keep watch down the driveway for any unwanted intruders. Should she spy something unusual, her job description then demands she skitter over to the non-watch dog sound asleep on the porch, rudely awaken him by whatever means it takes, and take off down the driveway, causing Scout to chase after her, thus insuring the frightening off of the unfortunate visitor!

And the Winner(s).....

I had 5 individuals comment on one of their favorite childhood memories, and they were fun to read. So thanks! My dear espouso was one of the commenters, and wouldn't you know, his was the name I drew! I knew he would not use the gift I made up, so here is what I decided: I will find another appropriate prize for him, and for the rest of you, I made up a set of these cards as a gesture of thanks! Those gals are mimamama, Beth and Nancy. Amberlynne, due to the cost of sending packages to you, I think I will count the pumpkin seeds I put in the tube with the ferns as your prize :-) Did you ever receive it?

More Amazing Fungi

The woods in our yard continue to surprise us with amazing fungi. How could we not have seen any of these before?!?!

As you can see, this one measured in at 8" across! Pushing up through the surface of the forest floor, the cluster of three were full of dirt and pine needles captured in the flared infundibuliform caps as they emerged.The stipe was fairly short, but incredibly thick and fleshy. I believe this one is identified as a Russula brevipes.

Transparent and grayish, these toadstools were slimy and sticky, and produced a medium brown spore print. I haven't identified it yet.

I have never noticed these false morels around here before! Maybe I just wasn't looking, though. Darrell seems to be the one who brings them to my attention! The browned-topped one is an elfin saddle (in the family of false morels). The stipes are deeply furrowed, with longitudinal ridges and pits, and chambered within. They are all identified as helvella lacunosa. According to my mushroom book, the white topped ones are the same thing, but infected with hypomyces cervinigenus. I am not sure if the white eventually turns to black, or if the black topped fellows are something else.

I found this Chlorophyllum olivieri out by the chicken coop. The cap is large, umbonate and broken into concentric scales. There is a distinct ring on a smooth stipe. The spore print shows abundant white spores. They like to grow by compost, so what better place to call home than right outside the chicken coop?

I hope you find some little tidbit of interest in this uneducated babble about fungi. I am brand new to mycology, so I may have incorrectly identified some of them, too. Just don't eat any, and you shall be safe :-)

Camouflage

I am presently completely fascinated with mushrooms and spiders that I am finding in the yard! We have such a variety in the woods...... amazing! This was a small, white spider with some red on its body that I came across while cutting down the summer growth in a wine barrel. As soon as Little Whitie realized she was in danger, she curled up into a little ball, and looked exactly like the white perolite (or whatever it is) that was surrounding her in the dirt.

All creatures great and small,

The Lord God made them all!

Winter's Nap

Just my Leo the Leopard Gecko takin' a little nap under the warming lamp :-) Isn't he so cute?

Lingonberries

In my garden are 9 lingonberry bushes that I planted several years ago. I have been crippling them along over the years. They aren't flourishing, but seem to produce straggling berries throughout the summer and fall.

This was the first year I had enough berries to make about 2 cups of lingonberry jelly.

Might be a nice addition to the Thanksgiving table this year :-)

New Walkway

This is for real the last project for this year, right? I hope so....... too cold and wet or snowy to be working outside anymore until spring.

Darrell has done a few more projects the last couple of weekends: 1) Put up another garage shed for the truck (the tarp kind on poles) to take the place of the one the snow collapsed last year, totaling the truck, though it is still fine to drive, 2) Built a little house/cover for the new generator we bought for when the power goes out. The old generator gave up the ghost, and since we have a pellet stove now for heating the house, we need power to run it, and 3) put in this great walkway around the front of the house. What a burst of productive energy! Thanks, hon!

Lazy Sunday Daze of Long Ago

A snapshot of my siblings and me in our Sunday-going-to-meetin' clothes, taken 56 years ago! Those were the days! As we grew up, we almost always arrived home from church to the aroma of a roast baking in the oven. My mother had a top of the line, double oven range that had the then new technology of programing it to come on while we were yet at church! Once home, we kids would go play while she peeled and boiled potatoes for mashing, and she would make perfect gravy from the roast juices to serve with them...... no one can top her gravy! NO ONE!!! She would also make a jello, usually strawberry-banana, and when it was half set, add sliced bananas. That, believe it or not, served not as a dessert, but as our salad! To this day, I still refuse to call jello a dessert! Of course, she always added a vegetable to the meal, much to our chagrin as children. It was usually corn, green beans (french-sliced), mixed medley, or peas. If it was peas, I found I could mix them into the potatoes for easier downing :-)

What are some of your favorite childhood memories? Post them in the comment section, and I will draw a name from all who posted, for a prize.......

Early Christmas Tweet

We have had our first official snow fall at home this year. It began last evening. I took the last of the raspberries that I had picked beforehand and made an early Christmas treat for my feathered friends today. They are chirping and singing and loving it :-)

Butternut Squash Risotto

Given to me by my gourmet cooking friend, this recipe is a winner!

Butternut Squash Risotto

1 small butternut squash

1 3/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup water

1 small onion, chopped

1 large garlic clove, sliced thin

1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

3 Tbs unsalted butter

1/2 cup Arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 Tbs chopped fresh chives

Grated fresh Parmesan cheese for garnish

Halve squash lengthwise and discard seeds and fibers. Peel one half and cut into 1/4-1/2 inch cubes. Put remaining half, cut side down, in an oiled shallow baking pan with diced squash and season with salt and pepper. Bake in middle of 450 degree oven, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly browned, 15-20 minutes. Scoop out the meat of the squash half and coarsely chop.


This is Arborio rice, found in the grocery store where you find the packaged rice boxes and couscous.

Bring broth and water to a boil in a saucepan and keep at a bare simmer (important).

In a deep skillet, cook the onion, garlic and ginger root in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring until softened.

Stir in rice and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, about 1 minute.

Add wine and cook, stirring, until absorbed.

Stir in 1/4 cup of the broth and cook, stirring constantly, and keeping at a simmer throughout, until absorbed.

Continue adding broth 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly after each new addition and letting it absorb before adding the next, until half the broth has been added. It will begin to have a creamy look to it.

At this point, stir in the coarsely chopped squash (I prefer to add the diced squash toward the end so it doesn't mush up to much).

Continue adding the remaining broth 1/4 cup at a time same as before, until it is creamy looking, yet still all dente, about 18 minutes. Add remaining squash before you are finished. Stir in chives and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with fresh Parmesan Cheese on top.

Definition

Risotto: (n) a kind of pottage

Salmon Hatchery

Last Friday I had the opportunity to accompany my son's 5th grade class on a field trip to a Salmon Hatchery.

We rode on a school bus up to the Goldbar area, where, as it turned out, there were several bus loads of students.

The kids got to examine some insects the fish feed on with magnifying glasses, and see the various stages of a baby salmon's life cycle. Do you know what a sack fry is? How about a button-up fry?

The main highlight was watching them split open a male and a female fish and seeing the 3000 eggs spill out of the female, and milking the milt from the male! It was a totally hands-on experience! Did you know that of those 3000 eggs, only 1500 hatch, and only 300 make it to sea? Of those 300, only 2 make it back to spawn again!

Actually, probably the most excitement the kids showed was when they were given fish food to feed the baby salmon that has already hatched! They sparked to life for that!

I had a good time anyway!

Amazing Kites!

Check out these phenomenal kites that my daughter posted from Guatemala!!! Amazing!

http://aventuraodesventura.blogspot.com/2009/11/kites-kites-everywhere.html

Debating Granddaughter!

My eldest granddaughter was up this weekend for an all-day debating match Saturday right here in Monroe........ this is what she has metamorphosed into!
Whatever happened to the sweet little girl?!?! Wow! What a debutante! She is such a go-getter....... kind of an over-achiever...... reminds me of my daughter!

Stuffed Pork Chops with Apples and Sweet Potatoes

Pork is not a food we often partake of in this house. That being said, when I flipped to a page in one of my Susan Branch cookbooks and espied this recipe, I knew in my heart and stomach that we needed to experience first hand this savory fall dinner :-) And it was delicious!

To make this you will need one thick pork chop, one tart apple and one small sweet potato per person.

Brown both sides of each chop in a bit of oil and remove from pan. Make a slit in the side of the chops and stuff with a stuffing made of chopped onions and celery browned in butter. Add a bit of parsley and bread crumbs, added more butter if needed to make a semi-moist stuffing. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into large chunks and boil until they are about half done.

Peel apples, cut into halves and core. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Put the stuffed chops in a roasting pan along with the apples and sweet potatoes. Sprinkle a handful of golden raisins over all. Cover and bake at 400 degrees until chops and apples are tender (about 50 minutes).

Wilbur's food is your food; therefore Wilbur's destiny and your destiny are closely linked. If Wilbur is killed and his trough stands empty day after day, you'll grow so thin we can look right through your stomach and see objects on the other side. ~Charlotte

I wonder how many destinies I cut short by eating a piece of Wilbur? :-(

Will Rogers

November 4, 1879 marks the date that Will Rogers arrived from his mother's womb, the last of 8 children to be born to Clem and Mary Rogers. Both parents were 1/4 Cherokee Indian and cleared out before the infamous, enforced Trail of Tears. Clem started the first ranch in the Cooweescoowee district of Indian Territory. Will dropped out of school in his junior year, feeling he needed no further education as his only wanted to be a cowboy. He tried running his own ranch, then the family ranch, then went to Argentina to be a cowboy. But his skills were not crafted enough for that. SO he came home, caught a boat taking a load of cattle to Africa, and it was there he was hired to be a part of the Wild West Show (Texas Jack was there running the show at the time). He was hired as "The Cherokee Kid, World's Champion Lassoer". He became the most popular and highest paid entertainer in the world, starring even in the Ziegfeld Follies. He started doing witty commentaries on current events on stage, then writing for newspapers, poking fun at politicians, businessmen, lawyers, doctors and anybody else he thought was out of line. Then came the radio, and he was such a popular personality that folks stopped whatever they were doing to hear his show. Of course, the next step was the silent movies, then movie films with sound, making over a million dollars for Fox Studios for each one! Think how much that was back then! For 3 years, he was the #1 box office attraction, until his untimely death in a plane crash in 1935. I think it fitting that my husband came home from work with this cookbook yesterday, given to him by a fellow co-worker. I am sure neither of them realized that it was the birthday of this famous man! Did Will Rogers like to cook? No, not really. But he liked to eat. This cookbook was created to honor the memory of this beloved man. Some of the recipes hail from the Rogers family, however. In it you will find such dishes as Cowboy Guinea Grinder, Route 66 Burgers, Roper's Macaroni Dinner, Stampede Sandwich and Ranch Company Casserole. Can't wait to have Darrell whip some of these dishes out!


The most remarkable accomplishment of this man that stands out to me? He stayed married to the same woman throughout his adulthood! If only that was something folks would hold up to emulate!


Only a fool argues with a skuck, a mule or a cook. ~Will Rogers

Ghosts of Halloween

I know. I am a bit late with this. Five days late, to be exact. Ah well, hope you had a Happy Halloween, even if some of you do think it quite pagan to celebrate. This picture was snapped in 1956 of myself and my siblings all dressed up and ready to head out for some trick-or-treating! That pirate costume my brother is sporting is pretty dang neat-o! I am Little Red Riding Hood, and my sister appears to be some kind of princess. We used to head down Linda Avenue to knock on doors. There wasn't many houses, maybe 10 or so, but we almost always came away with a full-size candy bar! A couple of the houses actually invited us in for a Carmel apple, or some hot chocolate or some other home-baked goody. Then there was a delapitated house or two whose yards were always unkempt and who never had their porch lights on to welcome the treasure seekers. They were spooky. I have good memories of those early years of trick-or-treating. As we grew older, we dressed up mainly as hobos, with wigs my mother made out of yarn, old flannel shirts, jeans with patches on the knees, plastic black hats, corn cob pipes, black soot smeared on our faces and of course, the proverbial stick with a bandana tied on the end.

What is your favorite costume memory?

Birthday of Years Past

This is snapshot of my brother Ken's birthday, guessing somewhere around 1958. His birthday falls in mid November, on the 13th. It obviously was just a family party. I remember very well many cakes like this one on our birthdays! My mom made them from scratch, frosted them and placed a few mini marshmallows on them. Usually chocolate. Can you believe what is in the box on the table? A white dress shirt complete with a bow tie! Now a days you will rarely see something so practical as Sunday clothes for gifts. What kid would want that?!?! But back then, it was the norm, and what we kids often expected. However, look at that chemistry set he is opening! My sister and I look a bit leery about it. Would he burn the house down with an explosion? Yikes! I remember that set over the years, and the little bottles of chemical solutions it contained. I don't believe the unthinkable ever happened, but I sure envied him that set! Instead of chemical solutions, Ginny and I would take to the bathroom drawers and cupboards to make our magical potions, using anything from perfume to hair products we could find. They didn't create quite the bang that Ken's chemistry set did, but it served our purpose for a bit of fun! Afterwards, we always went to the kitchen for a snack of graham crackers dipped in koolaid! Oh, and BTW, my mother was never home when we indulged in this kind of play ;-) Must have been forbidden! Happy forthcoming birthday, Bro. Not that he reads my blog.

Mycology

Main Entry: my·col·o·gy
Pronunciation: \mī-ˈkä-lə-jē\
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin mycologia, from myc- + Latin -logia -logy
Date: 1836
1 : a branch of biology dealing with fungi
2 : fungal life

I made good on my commitment and checked out two books on mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest from our library! How 'bout them cookies? The more I read and try to identify specific mushrooms, the more I find that I do not understand yet about fungi. I am taking notes, as they recommend, and slicing, and examining and taking spore prints! I am learning vocabulary like campanulate, and universal and partial veil. Or how about infundibuliform or scrobiculate or alliaceous or gleba? Mycology has an entire language of its own, and unless you understand the terms, it is difficult to identify your mushroom in hand. It will be a long process of learning for me, but I have commenced with my studies :-)

Remember this big mushroom (top left) from my last mushroom blog? As it matured, the cap (margins) raised up and it turned a tannish-brown color. This was my first spore print I took. See the upper right photo in the first picture board? To take a spore print you cut the stipe (base) of a gilled mushroom off, then put it upside down on a piece of white cardstock, cover with a bowl (to prevent drying out too rapidly) and leave it for several hours or overnight. Pretty fun! This print shows cinnamon-colored spores. The color of the spores help in the identification process.

Here is another species I am working with. I found them on the barked path to the garden. These spores were black-brown.

While I was dragging brush debris to the burn pile, I came upon these beauties on the well road. The tops were shiny, sticky and slimy! They grew in clusters, and the spores were a medium brown.

These photos are mostly the dried up mature ones from the picture on the top left of this picture board. They are weird. I think it is considered to have a universal veil. They are soft like a puffy marshmallow. Inside are fibers that house prolific brown dust-like spores that literally fumigate the surrounding area!

I found this blue-green beauty today while cutting down the Japanese anemones! I love the color! The bottom left picture is of a more mature one. Looks like a fried egg to me! It, too, was shiny, sticky and slimy. Interesting to find the stipe hollow inside. I am still collecting a spore print on it. Like finger printing, but takes longer!

The first photo shows an example of a cup-fungi (discomycetes). Their shapes are more or less cup-like. It was nesting close to the house, on some bark. The next ones are quite common around the yard, especially in the grassy areas.

And remember this one? It is the only one I have tentatively identified as a Coprinus comatus, otherwise known as Shaggy Mane. If you look closely, you will see a drip of something like black ink oozing from the cap. It is described as being tall and stately! So true!

That was my fun for this past weekend. I have much to do in identifying all these species yet. Meantime, every time I go outside, I seem to stumble upon yet another variety!



Falling in love is like eating mushrooms, you never know if it's the real thing until it's too late.
~Bill Balance

If only one could tell true love from false love as one can tell mushrooms from toadstools. ~Katherine Mansfield

Question for a prize to the first who answers correctly: What is the difference between a mushroom and a toadstool?

Past and Future Meal

Andra served Sun-Dried Tomato Capered Chicken served over a bed of fettuccini at our August Sisterhood meeting. It was mucho delicioso! I had forgotten all about it until I was cleaning up some of my photography folders today. Now I am planning on preparing it for mi espouso y me for a dinner this week. I won't have quite the elegant summer table that Andra set, but maybe something fallish instead :-)

My friend also made a perfect shortbread cookie pie, and we nibbled it with a rich vanilla ice cream topped with a scoop of fresh peaches! Boy, wouldn't I love some of that now, on this chilly November day.........

3rd Grade Pumpkin Mash

Remember the sugar pumpkin from this summer's garden that I scrawled "Mrs. Harmon's Classroom" on? It grew to be a lovely orange pumpkin, just right for baking a pie out of.
Bethany took it to school to show her kids. They were so excited to know that they would be making a pie from it themselves! She took it home, baked the pumpkin and brought it back to class on Friday. I was invited to partake in this industrious endeavor.

She showed the kids what the baked pumpkin looked like on the overhead projector. Every child had a task card that they were assigned.

After two kids scooped the pumpkin out of its skin, each student took a turn at mashing it. Then in went the eggs......

.....and spices..... cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.....

.....and all throughout we had much stirring!

In the end, they produced a beautiful pumpkin pie!

A few of the girls (and Bethany and I) brought aprons to wear!

What fun we had!