THIS WEEK IN FOOD

MONDAY:

National Tortellini Day


AND

National "Eat Italian Food" Day


TUESDAY:

National Cream Filled Chocolates


WEDNESDAY:

National Gumdrop Day


AND

National Chewing Gum Day


THURSDAY:

National Almond Day


FRIDAY:

National Indian Pudding Day


AND

National Cafe' Au Lait Day


SATURDAY:

National "Drink Wine" Day


SUNDAY:

National Chocolate Mint Day




ENJOY YOUR WEEK OF EATING!!

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY

Vintage Poster - Join The Women's Land Army

Last week, I posted an image from the US Crop Corps.  The other day, while researching online, I found this one that is related to the same department/organization during the "Victory Garden" campaign of WWII.

Apparently they targeted women as well, to get them to join and "pitch in and help", presumably while so many men were off to war.  There weren't as many people to help harvest the country's important food crops so they needed everyone they could get.

The graphics on this poster are really nice, and I'd love to see it in person.  This image comes courtesy of the National Archives...you just know that they have some awesome posters stored away!


Enjoy and as always, click on the history button to see other posters I shared.

GOODBYE WHITNEY HOUSTON

I don't often put current events on my blog, because that's not what it's supposed to be about, but when I heard this tonight after I got back from the farm, I felt I needed to.

Whitney Houston was the soundtrack of my youth, from high school and into college and thereafter, her music was always there in the background.  I fondly remember the very first CD player I ever owned, I asked for it for Christmas from my parents because I wanted to have her album on CD so badly

(remember, it was a new fangled gadget at the time, ha).


Another fun memory I had was when she came to Houston for a concert.  I saved up for weeks to buy an 'almost' front row seat.  She was singing "Greatest Love of All" and was just finishing the song.  As soon as there was a lull in the music, I stood up and shouted
"I love you Whitney!" and she replied back "I love you too baby...."

I know she had a troubled life in later years, and I truly hope she finds the rest and peace that seemed so elusive to her.  Her music will live on forever and I know that it will make smile the next time I listen to one her songs...speaking of, I think I need to go do that.

MASON JARS WITH NUMBERS

Photo courtesy of: Pottery Barn

This is one of those pics that I saved when I saw it because it just looked so neat.  I figured a stencil and some paint, it can't be too hard to accomplish.

Now the big question, how to use it?

In the picture, I think it's just sort of random, but I was thinking they could be really nice as table markers if you had a large gathering?  Or maybe individual place settings at the table?  Perhaps you could use letters and organize your pantry with some sort of code system?  We'd love to do this as soon as we get settled into a routine.  Now I just need to come up with a great use for them.

What do you think?  Any ideas?

HUNGRY BUNNY, FRIDAY FUNNY

Image courtesy of www.icanhascheezburger.com

Too funny....and maybe very relavent to my blogger friends who fight the battle of the bunnies all the time (bluestem?).

There are some out there at the farm, but I have yet to see them.  2nd Family's daughter tells me she has seen quite a few out there, so I suppose time will tell.

I just hope I'm not being too prophetic with our own gardens when we get them done, ha.  We don't see them now, but if I build it, will they come???

Enjoy!

INSPIRATION THURSDAY, CEMENT BENCH AND ALYSSUM

Bench and flowers, photo courtesy of SugarCreek Gardens

The picture I found online for today is very inspiring to our garden.  You see, when "Ma" moved out, she left a concrete bench, very much like this one.  Only it has squirrels on each end instead of lions.  But there is a spot in the yard where I cleared some trees and it left a perfect little half circle of trees.

I'm thinking the bench, in that spot of trees, and planted with some Sweet Alyssum all around it, would give us the exact same look.

That's why I post these every Thursday.  They are pictures that inspire us to create something, and after all, that's what inspiration is all about right?

Today is my blog day off, so I'll see you back here tomorrow!

Have a great day!

OUR BACKYARD CAT GIGI

This is a sweet feral kitty that lives in our backyard in the city.  She came to us in a litter of four.  For a period of time, all four of them hung out in the backyard.  Two of them disappeared (only to find out years later someone across the street adopted one of them), another still comes and goes, he's far too feral to anyone to be captured, and so that leaves this pretty girl.  We used to call her "good girl", every time we saw her.  After calling her that so many times we shortened it to GiGi (GG, get it?  ha).  We wanted to take her inside, but after so much time outside, and since our other cats are indoor only, we figured it wouldn't be fair to her to lock her inside when she's used to having her freedom outside, and it would be too hard to keep the other cats from wanting to go out.

She's a tiny thing, probably weighs 2 or 3 lbs at the most.  We took her in to be spayed and have her shots when she was old enough (hence the clipped ear, in case she ever got picked up again they would know) and since then, she's stayed in our yard and never leaves, doesn't even go across the street.

She is turning 11 this year.  That's old for a feral cat.  We can pick her up, kiss her, love onto her, I even carry her around when I'm walking around the yard.  But if anyone else comes near, she's gone, under the house.  She's a sweet little girl and I wanted to make sure I blogged about her since she is just as important to us as Sydney, Brisbane, and Hobart.

FUTURE OUTDOOR DINING AREA

As many of you who have followed the blog know, we have this awesome, old, Mesquite tree, that we've called the "party tree".  2nd Family has a similar tree and it becomes the gathering place at parties, you know, just like the kitchen in your house becomes the gathering place.  So they started calling it the party tree and now we do the same (even though we haven't had a party yet).

Recently, we got the area around it all cleared out so we could see what we have to work with later this Spring...

Here is the area looking from the front porch.  You can see the spot back under there where we would like to make a dining area.  There is also room for a lot more to happen "around" the tree, now that we have it cleared, my mind races at the thought of possibilities.  Maybe we should call it the dining tree?

Here, I am standing in the spot where we'd like to put an outdoor dining table (as indicated in red by my lifelike graphics skills).  This is looking toward the back area behind the tree and the property behind ours.  As you can see, we I still have more stuff to clear out back there, including small trees and vines and other things popping up.  You can also see that grass doesn't grow, because it's pretty much shaded all the time.  Does anyone have an idea for a good ground cover that would work like a "carpet" under the table?  Something to walk on, that would hold up to foot traffic but not get too tall?

Here is the view in the same spot, looking back toward the house.(see, the table is still there, beautiful huh?)   I wish I could have a picture of how nice it is underneath there.  It's shaded, and cool, and tall, and very peaceful underneath the branches.  There are none that are too low, it's just perfect for walking around.  There are even a couple of branches that would be perfect for holding a light fixture of some sort.  Candles?  Lanterns?  Electric lights?

Planning is half the fun!

So any suggestions for plants?  Table/chair ideas?  Other things?

 

FRUIT TREE BLOOMING IN FEBRUARY

Last Fall, I bought several fruit trees that I blogged about HERE.

We have kept them in the city until the time is right to plant them out at the farm.  Today when I left for work, I looked and to my surprise, the pear tree has already started budding out and putting on flowers...so much for that groundhog!

Of course, none of the trees  are in the ground yet, and we're only in early February.  A freeze is definitely still possible.  Somewhere deep down in its genetic makeup, this tree thinks it is time to bud out.  I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do at this point?  If we do get a freeze, should I cover it and protect this new growth?  Not worry about it?  Any suggestions?

THIS WEEK IN FOOD

I don't know WHAT is up with blogger.  Ugh.  Here is this week's food holidays,

better late than never!

MONDAY:

National Chopstix Day

TUESDAY:

National Fettuccine Alfredo Day

WEDNESDAY:

National Molasses Bar Day

AND

National Potato Lover's Day

THURSDAY:

National Bagels and Lox Day

FRIDAY:

National Cream Cheese Brownie Day

AND

National "Have a Brownie" Day

SATURDAY:

OOOPS!  I think they meant this one...

National Peppermint Patty Day

SUNDAY:

National Plum Pudding Day

AND

National PB&J Day

ENJOY YOUR WEEK OF EATING!!!

ROASTED CHICKPEAS RECIPE

  

Here are the ingredients pulled out and ready to go:
2 cans of Garbanzo beans
(aka Chickpeas)
 3 Tbsp olive oil
 1 tsp garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
 1/2 tsp cayenne (more/less to taste)
 3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Put all ingredients except the chickpeas, into a bowl...

...and stir them together until it's just a smooth sauce.  This will be the coating for the chickpeas.

...Empty the can of chickpeas into a colander, drain and rinse under running water.  I missed a picture of this next part, but after they are rinsed, you put them in your bowl of sauce, and stir them around until they are well coated...

...Once coated, as they are here, put them on a parchment lined baking sheet (this keeps cleanup to a minimum) and then pop them into a 425 degree oven and roast...

...and turn and roast some more, and turn again and roast some more.  You'll have to do this several times, maybe once every 10 minutes or so.  You want to get all the moisture out of them.  It took me about 40 minutes to get them to this point. 

...here is the finished result; brown, seasoned, and crunchy.  That's what you want, they need to be baked until they are crunchy and most of the moisture has dried out...you can double or triple this recipe as needed.

...you can tell we didn't like it, right?  They are delicious and good for you too!  Try it, we think you'll like it.


Enjoy!

100,000 PAGE VIEWS MILESTONE

WOW...how do we even thank everyone for this?

In the last week, our blog has grown exponentially each day with more and more page views.

We have 68 followers,
there have been 669 posts,

over 1200 comments,

and as of this morning, we passed 100,000 page views.

Thank you for visiting, and reading our thoughts, plans and ideas.


Here's to the next 100,000!

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY

Vintage Poster, Join The US Crop Corps

Wow!  How about this one?

I had NO idea there was a United States Crop Corps?

"Work on a farm this Summer..." shouts the banner at the top of the poster.  During the war years, about 1941-1945, Congress set up a fund to create a Farm Labor Service in order to put laborers into the fields and orchards to get crops harvested.  The reason?  So many people were off to war, there was a shortage of workers to harvest the food for the country.  The timely harvest of vegetables, fruits and other farm products such as cotton, was a National priority in order to prevent waste and spoilage.


Very cool.  Love the graphics on this one.  I'd love to have this poster hanging on the wall, it's pretty cool.  Plus maybe visitors to the farm could join our crop corps, lol.  Hey, I suppose it never hurts to ask right?  Ha.

REFRIGERATOR DISHES, THRIFT STORE FIND

Refrigerator Dishes

Over the last few weeks, I've been searching thrift stores for these old style refrigerator dishes.  We had a couple of small ones, but we thought we needed some more, especially in different sizes, for storing leftovers (whenever we have them, ha) in the fridge.  Glass is so much nicer than plastic, not to mention it's got a great 'retro' look to it.

So this is the collection I've found so far.  A few pieces are in the pattern called "hazel atlas crisscross".  It's amazing what you can find once you start looking for something specific.  No telling how many of these I've passed by over the years.  Wouldn't mind having a few more, but this will be a good start.

Here they are, we washed them and put them in the fridge, you know, just to try them out and see how we'd like them, ha.

I couldn't resist sharing this find.  It's the same "crisscross pattern", in a one pound glass butter dish.  It fits perfectly in the butter compartment.  Now if only I could find a glass egg holder of some sort.  Hmm, I wonder if they made those?

NEW PURPLE TOMATOES CREATED

Purple Tomatoes

Hmm...not sure what to think about this.  Oregon State University researchers have developed a new tomato:  It's purple, deep, deep purple, and is being called "Indigo Rose".  It will be available through several seed catalogs as well as appearing soon in a store near you.  The purple color comes from anthocyanins.  It was bred to contain high levels of this, because it is a great antioxidant...and where does this come from?  It's the same antioxidant in blueberries, and is what gives that fruit their deep blue/purple hue.

You can read about it by CLICKING HERE.

Why create a tomato with the same thing when you could just eat blueberries?  Apparently it's because it's so healthy and good for us, they figured it needed to be bred into something that is so widely eaten...like tomatoes.  I'm not sure how many people will switch out red tomatoes for purple ones in their salads but it's definitely interesting.

No word on taste or how much they will cost...

Purple Tomato, Photo Courtesy of:
Thomas Patterson/SMJOU Statesman Journal via AP

Near as I can tell, they aren't genetically modified, or engineered, they are bred using cross pollination with other wild varieties.  Still, not sure what I think about  these types of 'experiments'.  I'm 110% against anything genetically modified, but if we create something using cross pollination, albeit over and over until we get the traits we want, is that right?

KASSETT STORAGE BOXES FROM IKEA

Have you ever seen these?  If you have an IKEA near you, you should check these out.  We love them. 

It is called the Kassett storage box system and this size is the "magazine box".  They come packaged just like this, with two together, for $10.  That makes them only $5 each.

Yes, they are made of cardboard, but they are surprisingly durable.  They go together very easily, just some folding and then you put these simple little bolt and nut type fasteners through the pre-punched holes, three on each side.

The lids come pre-assembled so once the boxes are put together, the lid just fits right on top and they are ready to be used and they have holes on each end, trimmed with metal, to make it easy to lift and carry them.  There is even a little plate where you can put a label to identify the contents.  Sure, they won't hold cast iron pans, but they make for nice, discreet storage of lighter weight things, or stuff you want to keep together in one spot, like for example, craft supplies.

As you can see here, they are in their new home (the one on the end is turned around the wrong direction, ha).  We figured since the ceiling slopes in the mudroom, it would make sense to have these along the top of the shelving to maximize that space.  There are two more on the other side of the "L-shaped" shelving unit so we now have six total.  Can't wait to fill them up with stuff!