Hey, You Guyyyyys!

This is the best news! 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/arts/television/12elec.html_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

PBS is bringing back The Electric Company!

Second (and Almost a Third) Flower

Yay!  The flowers are really starting.  Finally!  We are about two weeks behind normal schedule here.  The lilacs have been in bloom for every single Mother’s Day since I have lived here.  Not this year.  Nary a bud, not even close!

But the phlox has started.  This is a variety called Candy Stick and always blooms first.  When I started this plant three years ago it was just one little stick of a plant.  It has now grown to over twelve inches across.  I’m sure I’ll post another picture when the whole thing is in bloom.

And the almost in bloom plant.  I can’t remember what this one is called.  I saw it at the nursery today, but I’ll have to make sure and write the name down next time.

And how about a good starting picture for the garden.  We have almost finished turning all the soil — by hand.  We decided maybe the tiller was spreading more of the quack grass and tried to limit the spread by turning the soil by hand and removing all the quack grass roots.  Every time the long roots of the grass breaks — a new plant grows.  So it is really important to try to get out even the littlest pieces of root. 

First is our garden, taken from our yard looking toward the neighbor’s fence.  Open field/farm to the left.  Compost bins behind the rhubarb and shed that needs to be fixed on the right.

And from the garden looking out toward the gate.  Planted so far — carrots, beets, fennel and radishes on the left and snow peas and sugar beans on the right.  I bought the sugar bean seeds on ebay, supposed to be a heirloom pole bean that makes a good soup bean. 

More seeds arrived today, so I think this will be planting week.  I’ll take some pictures of the community garden spot too, so I can track progress through the summer.

 

New (to me) Recipe

I’ve really been working on feeding my family on a budget, but also still try new recipes that keep me interested.  I wanted to see how this one went over because it is inexpensive, but is also a great pantry type dinner.  Besides the sardines, I would always have breadcrumbs and pasta in the cupboard, plus the spices make this an easy meal.  And the sardines were a great price.  $2.79 for a tin and they will be easy to add to a pantry stock list.  I also think this would be a great camping meal.  Easy to have the ingredients on hand in case we didn’t catch any real fish.  The kids devoured this and actually ate all the leftovers for dinner last night.  Even with my adventurous eaters I was hesitant to have them try sardines — but they loved it!

Sicilian-Style Sardine Pasta with Bread Crumbs Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray 
 
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cups flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Coarse salt and coarse black pepper
2 tins sardines, 4 ounces each, drained, boned and chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound linguini, fresh or dried, your choice, cooked to al dente in salted water

To a large skillet preheated over medium heat, add 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 4 turns of the pan, and chopped garlic. When the garlic speaks by sizzling in oil add bread crumbs. Stir bread crumbs until deeply golden in color. Add parsley and a liberal amount of salt and pepper, about 1 teaspoon of each. Transfer bread crumbs to a dish and reserve.

Return skillet to heat and add 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan. Add sardines and red pepper flakes to the pan and saute over medium heat 2 or 3 minutes. Add hot, cooked pasta to the skillet and toss with sardines. Add bread crumbs to the pot and toss thoroughly to combine and evenly distribute the mixture. Taste, to adjust seasonings, and serve.
 

First Flower

As Margaret so kindly pointed out, my yard is now free of snow.  Has been for quite a while now, but it has definitely been a slow spring.  In my yard, our first flower is the Pasque flower.  I was quite surprised this year to find that it is up and sprouting in several areas nearby — love it when perennials spread.

And another thought

The more I think about the green movement and the spend less/simplicity movement the more irked I get that the government is sending us checks that they are urging us to spend.  I’m happy to get the check, but don’t tell me how to spend it.

And a great read for this morning:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/globalfoodcrisis/  Which also bothers me that our local news channel is telling us how to have a green wedding instead of informing us of the food crisis that is knocking on our doors.  Maybe we don’t want to be bothered thinking about wheat prices since we’ve never had to worry about whether or not there is flour on the shelves. 

Okay… enough for today.  How about a lovely picture of the kids in the garden?  I couldn’t find them in the house at 8 am — and they were out in the yard checking to see if the peas were up — they weren’t.

Things I’m tired of hearing about

I’m really done with the whole news spin on your carbon footprint.  There was a story on the news last night about the latest in green weddings and how much weddings can inpact the earth.  Really?  a wedding?  this is the worse we are doing in terms of polluting and using the resources of the earth?  The story went on to rave about the green wedding movement and how people are having a great celebration by having the wedding outside and not overdoing.  The bride even wore a (gasp) sundress instead off a traditional wedding dress. Huh… I didn’t even know I was having a green wedding, I thought my pre-worn dress purchased at a consignment shop was just me on a budget.  Guess I could have realized I was saving the earth while having a reception outside.

But I think what bothered me the most was the fact that the news story mentioned carbon footprint 80 bizillion times during the story.  I think they use this term wihout really understanding what the heck it means.  It is a term that is so overused right now and I’m really done.

 

New Skirt

Little T has never been a huge fan of dresses, but she does love a skirt.  Of course, there is always a pair of leggings under the skirt, but she looks darn cute.  She is in that fun age that picks out her own outfits and comes up with some great combinations.  This outfit was chosen because each component had flowers — so of course it matched.

The new skirt was a gift from Aunt Mandy (and I’m sure Uncle John, Mary and Harriet).  She loves it.

Thanks for the great birthday gift!

 

 

Happy Birthday Mary!

My neice Mary turns five today! 

I hope you have a very special day Mary!  I love you very much and can’t wait to see you again!

More Photos

Maybe I shouldn’t have even started to play around with this program — too much time has been spent just playing with layers and filters and unsharp mask.