CILANTRO LIME MAYO SPREAD RECIPE

Two of my most favorite things on Earth are limes and cilantro.  I also love mayo.  And garlic.  And bacon.  And cheese.  And mushrooms.  And pasta.  And...oh, wait, I digress, so sorry.
Here is a recipe that combines some of those loves.

Cilantro Lime Mayo Spread

INGREDIENTS:


3/4 Cup Mayonnaise

1/2 Cup cilantro leaves

2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1 clove of garlic

1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce (more or less to taste)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Simply put all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth and creamy.

We love this spread on burgers, on tacos, as a dip, and with chicken and fish as well.
I've even been known to eat it with a spoon on occasion.

Enjoy!

AMAZING SUNFLOWER

When we visited 2nd family this past weekend, I got to visit her garden.  She has these HUGE Sunflowers growing.  I figured it needed it's own blog entry.

This is how tall it is.  I was literally aiming the camera up to get a shot of it.  This one was the larger of the two.  It must be at least 12 feet tall.

Here, I am putting my hand around it's "trunk".  I hate to use the word "stem" because there is no way this was a normal flower stem.  She said they have to cut it down with a saw at the base.  It can't just be pulled up at the end of the season.

As they get toward the end of their growing cycle, like this one, the weight of the flower head, now filled with seeds, begins to bend the top over. Once all the flower petals have dropped off, you can cut the head off and put it in the sun to dry.  You can harvest the seeds to eat yourself, but I believe she is going to use it to feed the birds.  She's already enjoyed the beauty of the flower for a couple of months, it's time to return it to nature.  Still, it's pretty amazing to think, something this tall, and this huge, started from one tiny seed....

DILLY BEANS RECIPE

OK, this isn't my recipe, I've never eaten dilly beans, and this isn't even a picture that I actually took!
But when my friend Kelly mentioned them, I just had to Google it and they look and sound delicious!  I'm going to try this soon, and I'll make sure I post my pictures of the results....

Here is a recipe I found online that I think I will use:

Dilly Beans in jars

• INGREDIENTS:
  
  
  2 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 8 sprigs fresh dill weed
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 
  
• Cut green beans to fit inside pint canning jars.

Place green beans in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Cook until tender but still firm, about 3 minutes. 

Plunge beans into ice water (this stops the cooking) and then drain well.

Pack the beans into four hot, sterilized pint jars. Place 1 clove garlic and 2 sprigs dill weed in each jar, against the glass.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt to each jar.

In a large saucepan over high heat, bring vinegar and water to a boil.
Pour over beans.

Put the lids and rings onto the jars and process for 10 minutes
in a boiling water bath


You can also just put these in the jars and keep them in the refrigerator without canning/processing them, they will last a few weeks, just eat them and keep them refrigerated.
____________________________________

Can't wait to try this and see how it tastes.  It certainly seems pretty easy, as canning goes.

And if I can make preserves and jams and salsa, how hard can this be?  Famous last words!

I'll keep you posted....

ANOTHER VINTAGE CANNING POSTER

I like this vintage poster's play on words.

They were urging people to can, to help the war effort.

We should can today, just to save money (and eat healthier!)

WINDOWS OPEN BEAUTIFULLY

Today we went out to the farm.  It's hot (mid 90's, heat index over 100), so we couldn't do much.  But the other day when we had the foundation fixed, the guy told me that all the windows should open just fine now.  We tried to open one and it was a little tight.  He said that wasn't because they were out of square but because they were just dried out and the springs weren't lubricated enough.  

I tried using soap, I've heard that's a great way to lubricate sliding mechanisms, but because these windows are metal framed, and have built in springs, we needed something that would penetrate the tight springs.  Of course my first thought was the old standby WD-40.  So I did a little online research and found that something called "PB Blaster" works wonders in penetrating stuck bolts and screws, so I thought, that might work best for getting down inside the springs of the window.

So we stopped off at the store on the way out there and picked up the can you see above.

When we got to the house, we tried opening all the windows.  Some opened a little easier than others, but none were really easy to open, they all took two hands to lift them.

I started in the living room, sprayed down the the upper tracks, while the windows were closed, and then squirted it down into the lower sections.  We unlatched them, lifted and closed them a few times to make sure it was throughout the tracks, and voila! 

We have windows that you can literally open and close with one finger.  The PB stuff works wonders and it states on the label that it doesn't evaporate so it should stay in there for a long time to come.  Only two downsides I noticed.  One, the smell, it's pretty strong.  I thought it smelled like Kerosene, 2nd Man thought it smelled like bug spray.  Either way I'd use in a well ventilated area.  We opened all the windows after they were lubricated, and then went down to visit 2nd Family at the other end of the property and before we left, we went back up and closed them all.  The smell was gone, it had aired out completely.  The other complaint was the lack of a tube (like that "other" brand) that would direct the spray in one concentrated area.  We managed OK, but it would have been a tad bit easier with a tube.

We're fortunate, Ma had all of the windows in the house replaced about 10 years ago, so they are still new and fully functioning.

The house has a total of 17 windows, 15 large of the same size and 2 smaller ones.  That will certainly make measuring for curtains, blinds, shades, and other window treatments very easy.

GALVANIZED BUCKET CANDLE LUMINARIAS / LUMINARIES

What a cool idea this is.  I love stumbling across neat things on the Internet that I can incorporate into our own lives and use at the farm.

I saw this idea and I have to use it out there, the buckets are so "farmhouse".

You simply take a galvanized bucket,
fill it with sand, and stick a candle in it.

It becomes a Luminaria of sorts, only metal.



Bucket Candle Luminaria

These buckets are VERY inexpensive at places like Home Depot and Lowe's, and you can buy, at the same places, bags of sand for very little as well.  A few candles and you're done, for very little cost.

When the candle is all melted down, let the wax harden, pull it out of the sand, level it off and stick another candle down in there.  Then you're ready for another evening of light.

You could use tealights, votives, even small pillars, and of course candles with colors, and even scents.

Bucket candles on steps

How pretty is this?

I can see them scattered around the property during a dinner party, or maybe on the porch steps one night relaxing with a glass of wine.

I'm going to do this easy project as soon as I can get to the store

and get some buckets and a bag of sand!

PIERS PIERS AND MORE PIERS

 Well it's done!  The piers are all redone, the house is level and we're ready to move on to phase two.
It cost a bit more than we anticipated but we're glad it was done.  The foundation is really the most important part of your home, it can affect other things more seriously later on.
This is an example of what they did.

Piers before

Above is the exterior of the mudroom portion of the house before.  Notice the big space between those two piers?  That is about 10 feet between those piers.

The best solution (and up to code) is 4-6 feet apart.

Piers after

Here it is after the extra one was added.  It literally raised the floor of the mudroom an inch, no more sag in the middle.

Here are some more random pics, showing that everything is straight and level, and if you notice under the house, all the piers now line up in a row.  As he told us, if you see one pier on any side, they should all line up in a row all the way to the other side of the house.

They didn't do that before, but they do now.  So we now have good support for the house.  The gaps that were around the windows and cracks in the wall have closed up, and just need to be filled in, sanded and painted over.  As I said, that will be phase two.

We have someone coming out next week to look at that, so we have progress happening at last!

We'll be headed out tomorrow so 2nd Man can see the foundation work, and then we want to take some measurements, do some other little things around there, and then visit with our family out there that lives at the other end of the driveway.

It should be a fun day (and I'll have new pictures to post!).

 

INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Flowers, flowers, and flowers...what's NOT inspiring about flowers.....?


I love a flower bed like this.  So pretty!

Have a great day and see you back here tomorrow!

MARGARITA GRILLED CHICKEN RECIPE

This is one of our favorite quick dishes in the summer to throw on the grill.
I got the recipe some time ago and have
tweaked it a bit over the years to suit our own taste.

MARGARITA GRILLED CHICKEN

1 can frozen Margarita mix, thawed

4 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2  tbsp tequila (optional)

2 tsp red chili flakes (can be omitted if you don't like the heat)

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp pepper
Green onions for garnish

4 boneless chicken breast halves (or chicken of your choice)

Combine all ingredients except chicken in a small bowl.  Pour most of the marinade into a large Ziploc bag, reserving some for later use as a baste (roughly 3/4 cup)

Add the chicken, seal, shake until well coated and let marinate for at about 2-6 hours in the refrigerator along with the reserved liquid.

Drain off the marinade, heat your grill to medium or broil 4" from the heat, and grill the chicken 4 to 7 minutes per side, or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees, basting frequently with the reserved liquid.  Serve on a plate, and garnish with chopped green onions.

Enjoy!

EVERYONE SHOULD TRY GROWING SOMETHING EDIBLE

We were at a friends house this past weekend for her daughter's graduation party, and they have started their own small garden in the backyard!  It's going great so far and while it's small, and they were laughing about the fact that they didn't have many vegetables yet, I reminded them that it's a start!

This isn't their garden, but I use this as an example that you can plant lots of things in a small space.

This has tomatoes, chives, basil and more growing in a container.

This is a small raised bed that someone built and it's going to produce food in a small space.

This person is growing stuff in BOTTLES!

And this is perhaps one of the most ingenious things I've seen, they are growing herbs and salad greens in gutters attached to the side of a house.

So in summary, start somewhere.  Start small.  You learn a little now, next season you add a few more veggies, and then learn some more and the season after that you plant an even bigger garden.  You just have to get started somewhere.

All plants requires is soil, water, light and a little attention and you'll be growing your own food in no time.

So I hope my friend will not be discouraged by her small garden,

and will be inspired next year to do a little more and that these photos inspire you all to do the same.

TODAY IS THE DAY

The work crew should be at the house right now prepping everything.  They are going to redo every single pier and reset them all, as well as adding a few in spots where they needed to be.  Tomorrow afternoon we should have a solid, level house, ready for the next phase to begin.
Fingers crossed all goes well!

WHAT A THOUGHTFUL SURPRISE

Yesterday, when I came home from a particularly long day at work, I had a surprise in the mailbox.  My sweet friend Kelly had sent a large envelope and I thought, "Hmm, what is this?".  I opened it and to my surprise, she had sent an issue of this great little magazine:

I had never even heard of this great magazine and now I'm going to subscribe to it.

Their website is here is you want to check it out. Great ideas on everything related to

living in the country, including cooking!

But that's not even the best part.  She also included some articles she cut out of magazines that she thought I'd like (and I do, will be sharing them here in the future), for gardening and craft ideas.

It really brightened our day and was very thoughtful.  So remember, the next time you see that cool recipe in a magazine, or that neat plant, or that awesome idea, if you have a friend that might like it, drop it in the mail, as a surprise, you might just make their day!

WHOO HOO! I THINK WE HAVE PROGRESS

OK, contract signed!  The guy was super nice, he was excited about the old house, he says he thinks of them as a challenge and he likes getting them back level again.  He's going to redo the entire house,

every pier will be reset and new ones added where they need to be.

He said that the fact that it sits high enough off the ground makes it easier than others that are

very close to the ground so that kept the price down as well, which is always a good thing.

Anyway, they start work in the morning, and will be finished Wed afternoon.  He promised me I won't recognize the house from the inside when I see it, everything will be level and tight.

The good news is his company also does other stuff such as sheetrock, painting, flooring, etc, so that could be exactly what we need to get the house finished and get to the fun part.....

...shopping for furniture and decorating!

AND SO IT BEGINS

Because of my back pain the last few weeks, we have not been able to do much of anything at the farm.

In fact, we haven't been out there in almost 4 weeks!

But after some home remedy treatments I discovered (more on that in a future post), my pain has virtually disappeared over this past weekend so it's time to get back on track with our farm plans.

So today, I am meeting the foundation people out there to see about getting the house nice and level.



For those not familiar, pier and beam homes are the kind that are not built on a concrete slab.  Typically, any older home, especially a rural one, will be pier and beam.  There are "piers" as shown above, and the "beams" of the house rest on these piers.  As ground moves and shifts, which is normal, the piers can move as well and you'll see doors that are maybe harder to shut, or tiny cracks in the walls around window frames, etc.  I know it sounds bad, but it's really not that bad.

Typically all that is required every few years is for a house leveler to come out and they determine how far it needs to be adjusted, somethings it's maybe only a quarter or half inch, and they jack it up slightly and usually insert shims between the top of the pier and the beam.

We know there needs to be some work done because we are experiencing the sticking doors and have some cracks and gaps, so before we do sheetrock and painting and buy new doors and put down flooring and things like that, the very first thing to do is to get the house level.

Fingers crossed it's all reasonable, and hopefully now things will start to happen fast!

More when I get back!

HELPFUL HOUSEHOLD TIPS

DID YOU KNOW????

Peppers that have 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. 

Peppers that have 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking. 

Easy Deviled Eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock baggie.  Seal, mash them until they are all broken up.  Add the remainder of your ingredients, reseal, and keep mashing it up until thoroughly mixed.  Then you simply cut the tip of the baggy and squeeze the mixture into the egg.  All you have to do is just throw away the bag when done.  Instant clean up.

Reheating Pizza: Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to medium low and heat until warm.  This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy pizza crust this way!

For a cool brownie treat, make your brownies as directed. Then melt Andes mints in double boiler and pour it over the warm brownies.  Let set and firm up for a delicious minty frosting.

Get rid of ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it back to their nest and because they can't digest it, it kills them.  It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it does work and you don't have to worry about pets or children being harmed.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich and delicious, add a couple spoonfuls of sour cream, stir until mixed, then cook as usual for a creamy delicious version.

I just love tips like this.  As I run across another batch, I'll be sure and share and if anyone has some cool tips like this of their own, please share!

A NEAT VICTORY GARDEN POSTER

Here's another vintage Victory Garden poster.  "Our Food is Fighting"....the government was encouraging people to grow their own food to help cut down on the food demand of the nation so that more food could go to rations for the Americans serving overseas.

I still think someone should bring back this sort of campaign, to try and get more people to grow their own food at home.

CAT, CAT AND CAT

Some of you have asked if we have pets.  We do!  We have three cats and all three of them came to us in unusual circumstances.

Sydney

This is the first and oldest one, his name is Sydney.  He came to us 16 years ago from a friend who rescued his pregnant mother from kids throwing rocks at her.  My friend gave me first pick of the litter.  Who couldn't resist that little black and white tuxedo kitty?

Brisbane

This is the second, Brisbane, he was found 10 years ago in our back yard, at two weeks old, abandoned by his mother.  We became the surrogate, bottle feeding him regularly for the next few weeks.  

No way we could give away a bottle raised baby!

Hobart

This is the third, Hobart, he was rescued by 2nd Man, 5 years ago, after being stuck, as a kitten, in a propane tank storage bin in front of a grocery store.  We brought him home, cleaned him up and were going to put him up for adoption, but it was a Friday night and we couldn't get anywhere until Monday morning.  Well, that was it, after 3 days with him, he was ours (or should that be "we were his?")

So, as you can see, we have three cats.  Are you sensing a theme in the naming?  We've always wanted to travel to Australia (it's on our bucket list) and so I named Sydney easily.  Then when the second one came along, we thought it would be neat to pick another city in Australia so we did.  Well, the third one was just predestined to be named for another city in Australia and it came down to either Melbourne or Hobart.  He just looked like a Hobart, so there he is.  If he had been a "she", Adelaide (Addie) was on the list.  

We can't any pets at the farm right now, as we won't be there long enough being just weekend residents.  But someday, when we're out there full time, we'll have pets.  We love animals too much not to have some.  It's amazing how animals enrich our lives in so many ways.

ROCKING CHAIRS

One thing I want to do (sooner rather than later!) is turn this:

White rocking chair

Into this:

Red rocking chair

We just love a red rocking chair.  It's not something you see all the time and if I can find just the right color red, I could very easily turn our white ones into red ones!  It's funny, in the city I don't really have a place outside I can paint something, but on 10 acres, I'm sure I could find a spot!

Once I start the project, I'll document the before, during and after.

I think they would look awesome on the front porch.

And if we wanted to just go buy something new, how cool would this be?

Red double rocker

One thing I've learned for sure out there,

you're never too young to enjoy a rocking chair....

MORE CREATIVE GARDENING IN THE CITY WITH RAISED BEDS

One of the things I've mentioned before is that I have to be creative when it comes to gardening in the city.  We literally have one spot of "dirt" in the back yard (the rest is a pool and concrete).  So a couple of years ago, I decided to try my hand at raised bed / square foot gardening.  I thought that today I would share the pictures of  how I did it.

This is the area I had to work with, an oddly shaped space where an old tree used to be and some bushes.  The tree has been gone for years and the bushes were OK but I wanted the space to be more productive.  As you can see, after I got everything removed, it was just a barren patch of dirt. 

Because of the old tree, there were large roots under that dirt, as well as some pool pipes, so planting directly in the ground wasn't an option. I built three raised beds in an afternoon. I measured them to work with the square foot gardening plan and put them in spots where they would be level.

I put posts on each corner and then wrapped bird netting around it to keep stray animals out of the beds.  The plastic wasn't left in there, that was to soften up the soil and kill weeds, left that down for about a week the removed it before adding soil.

Then I filled them with dirt, put up some string for the square foot gardening method, planted my plants and put down some dark brown mulch to cover the barren ground around them.  Oh, I did put down weed block cloth before the mulch just to keep it all neat looking.

By the time this picture was taken, I had removed the border of decorative stones, and planted marigolds (companion planting!) and then put up a secondary fence around the entire thing.

Clean and neat, and growing like weeds, er, vegetables!
 

Again, this is last summer, sadly, I didn't get to planting this year because I was hoping for the farm to be closed well before planting season. With all the back and forth out there every weekend,  I just didn't get enough time to do it.  So as you can see, you just have to be creative, use the space you have, and you can make it work!  I can't wait to have a HUGE garden, and when I do, it will be just like this, raised beds.  They are so much easier to work with, but I'll write about that in a future post.  Until then, enjoy!

INSPIRATION THURSDAY

I LOVE a garden pond.  That's something for the future at our farm,

in fact we have a natural pond site on the property already, so at some point,

we'll be doing something like this.

Until then, I'll live vicariously through pictures.

Back at ya tomorrow!