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A Twitter friend made this. Enjoy – if you can figure out who is really running!
>Complicated? That’s Wisconsin.
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Monthly Archives: June 2011
>The best seats in the house – er, ballpark
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We had the best seats in the house in many ways. We had a good parking place with a direct walking lane to the stadium. Miller Park is creative with its safety barricades. This baseball is solid concrete. That’s Amigo checking it out.
We had special club passes and indoor seats next to the window for lunch. See Bernie Brewer’s slide? We were on level three, second table over from the end of Bernie’s slide. When his fireworks went off – wow. Good food, too.
The club wasn’t crowded, so the staff offered us the opportunity to stay there for the entire game. We opted out, however, because seats in the section behind home plate awaited us. We were in row 17. How close is that? Take a look at this; we were this close to the sausage races. The Italian, by the way, came from behind to win it.
The Brewers also came from behind (0-1 in the first inning) to win over the Twins 6-2. Go True Blue Brew Crew!! >Strawberry Season!
>Part of pursuing the locavore philosophy means serving the same fresh ingredients for a period of time. Nature is convenient this way. When we start getting tired of a certain food, it’ll be out of season and something else will start ripening and taking over the Farmers’ Market stalls. Last night’s supper was salmon (frozen), asparagus, rice, and for dessert, strawberry ice cream and strawberry dump cake. The ice cream was a basic vanilla with strawberry “juices” added. I made the juicy flavor additive by mashing ripe strawberries through a strainer. The juice went into the ice cream; the leftover mush went into this basic dump cake. I posted this last summer, but it’s so simple that it’s worth posting again.
Strawberry Dump Cake
Fill the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole pan with 4-6 cups clean, sliced strawberries. Leftover mush from the ice cream process works here, too.
Top with ½ cup butter, cut into slices. Sure, you could use margarine. But butter tastes so much better.
Dump one plain yellow cake mix on top. I keep a boxed mix in the pantry as a staple for times like this.
Top THAT with another ½ cup of butter cut into slices. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
Serve with ice cream (homemade, if you can) or whipped cream. Coffee on the side, of course.
>The Gated Community – er, garden
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Last summer we tried. We had good intentions. But I was sick, Chuck had craziness at work, and we never got around to fencing in the newest garden plot. As a result, the neighborhood wild bunnies ate my broccoli.
Yesterday I came home from a baseball game with Amigo and found the wire fence had been tightened up, a gate installed, and my garden safe from bunnies! And when I say gate, I’m not kidding. I don’t know where Chuck found this one, but it’s very sturdy. Cute, too.
He was a little concerned about one of the tomato plants that had been squashed during the building process and the stem broken. I trimmed it, cut it back, and I think it’ll be okay. If not, I have at least one other plant of the same kind.
The back view, behind the new gate, looks pretty good. It’s no-till, so it’s not gorgeous, but everything is growing nicely. If we don’t get rain today, I’ll use the rain barrel supply to water everything tonight. By the way, I harvested spinach today, too. Anyone want some?
>Summertime, and the Farmers’ Market is back!
>It’s too easy to spend money at the Downtown Farmers’ Market. Here you see the bounty of week one. Strawberries, lettuce, cheese curds (freshly made that morning!), asparagus, etc. etc. etc. Most of it fit in my big bag on wheels, but the two boxes of strawberries required two of us to carry.
The strawberries became jam, cereal toppers, and desserts. The bread from the Amish bakery became toast and PBJs. Lettuce was salads and bunny food. Asparagus is one of the rare vegetables that the entire family will eat. I’m buying it every week as long as it’s in season!
I didn’t buy as much the second week. Lettuce as usual, breads, and whatever is in season. It seemed like almost every vendor had strawberries this time. I didn’t buy a whole flat, but I bought a lot! Some of these will be frozen for future jams and future desserts, and some will top cereal and ice cream this week. 
It felt right, though. I didn’t need a lot. The spinach in my garden is still growing like crazy, and my lettuces are coming up, too. We’ll need very little lettuce next week. Shopping a farmers’ market isn’t just about buying food. To me, it’s also about getting fresh food in season, spending my money locally, and getting food that’s grown in a local range, too. One little red pickup truck had Georgia peaches. As delicious as they might have been, I took a pass and bought local strawberries instead. We’ll eat peaches in the fall when they’re ripe around here.
>Friday, Friday updates
>Let’s see:
- The rain barrels are full.
- Lake Okaybyme has reappeared in the backyard.
- I squished across a grassy swamp to get to the compost bin last night. My shoes are still damp.
- Sun mixed with clouds today – I hope the scattered showers scatter far away from here.
- I’m on my third cup of coffee.
- A chipmunk is running across the deck again and again, almost like doing laps.
- Amigo and I might go to Cars 2 this afternoon.
- Birds are hopping in and out of my garden enjoying the worm feast. The old CDs as scarecrows turned out to be a failed experiment. Darn.
- Hey – how did that chipmunk get in by the tomatoes? Did it float? Build a small ark?
- Young wild bunny definitely lives under or near our deck. That’s fine with me, but I wish the small furry creature would stop eating my mums.
- Someone in the neighborhood is mowing their lawn. I can’t imagine the grass is dry enough. Ours certainly isn’t. By the time it’s dry, the grass may be a foot tall!
All in all, it’s a typical day in the neighborhood. I’ll take it. Life is wet, but life is good.
>Beside Still Waters book review
>It started with tragedy and ended with a question: will she or won’t she?
Marianna Sommers is nineteen years old and facing the usual challenges of being an Amish teen. Should she experiment with the outside world, the Englisch? Or should she stay within her boundaries, follow the guidelines of Amish life, and formally join her church? It’s no spoiler to say that Marianna is very devout and has no desire to stray from the Amish way. She has other constraints, though. Born on the day of a terrible accident, she feels pressured to be all things to all people, to make up for the losses her family suffered the day she entered the world.
Marianna, wrapped up in the courting rituals of a young man in the community, doesn’t realize that her parents are also suffering. Their solution is a major change: a move from Indiana to a smaller, more intimate Amish group in Montana. Marianna breaks out of her usual quiet to beg to be left in Indiana, finally agreeing to stay in Montana for at least six months to give the move a fair chance. After six months, she may return to Indiana and the man she’s loved for most of her life.
The family finds many differences not limited to the landscape. Montana Amish are less bound by the traditions and rules of the church, often by necessity. They befriend outside of their faith, working and socializing with Englisch people. It takes Marianna a while to adjust to interacting with people who do not follow the Amish way, but she finds her skills as baker and quilt-maker to be useful in both cultures. She also finds peace in Montana in the mountains, in the woods, and beside the still waters of a beaver-made pond.
Author Tricia Goyer did her homework before writing Beside Still Waters. The Sommers family is true to the faith and culture. Bits of Pennsylvania Dutch language are sprinkled in, as are Amish methods of farming and cooking and completing basic household chores. The family isn’t perfect; each member, from parents to the youngest child, has faults and doubts to confront. Goyer takes readers inside the thoughts and emotions of Marianna, especially, as she reaches adulthood and faces difficult decisions.
Beside Still Waters is only the first. Goyer plans more novels to follow Marianna, her friends, and her family. To follow Tricia Goyer on Twitter, look for @triciagoyer.
I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of the Beside Still Waters Campaign and received a copy of the book and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.
>Spinach Pasta Toss
>It’s that time again – time to look for seasonal recipes. Right now I’ve got spinach coming up like a weed. It matures so quickly I almost can’t keep up with the harvest. I served this as a side dish. With a source of protein like broccoli, it could be a vegetarian main dish. Anything canned or commercially packaged can, of course, be replaced with ingredients from the garden or the home-canned pantry.
Spinach Pasta Toss
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced or stewed tomatoes, undrained
2 cups pasta, uncooked – penne pasta or rotini or similar
1 cup water
1 package (9 oz.) baby spinach leaves (7 cups)
1/2 cup shredded cheese (Italian blends are good, and so is feta)
Bring tomatoes, pasta, and water to a boil in a large saucepan; stir. Cover; simmer on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or just until pasta is tender.
add 1/2 of spinach; simmer, covered, for 2 minutes or just until spinach is wilted. Stir. Repeat with remaining spinach.
Serve topped with shredded cheese.
I wonder what this would be like with a little jalapeno pepper? It would change the whole flavor. Jalapeno pepper and Mexican style cheese, perhaps. Yum.
>Mom’s playing in the dirt again! Weeding, reprise
>Finally, the plants are maturing enough that I can see what belongs and what doesn’t. That means it’s time to start weeding!
Readers, did you notice I didn’t complain? Weeding is productive and therapeutic and even enjoyable. I searched through old posts and found out that I’ve discussed the positives of weeding in the past.
Here’s one from June, 2007.
I enjoy weeding because I can see progress. My garden is divided into small sections, set apart by my stepping “stones” made from old deck and fence pieces. I set a goal of weeding one section at a time. When that’s done, I can quit weeding or choose to finish another section. This is a managable goal; I feel productive when I can see the results in one part of the plot. It spares me the frustration of not “finishing” the whole thing, which is of course an impossible goal. Today I chose one triangular section of the garden and weeded out the many mini maples that flew in from the lot behind ours. If I ever abandon this small plot of ground behind my garage, I predict the mini maples will take over, leaving room for a blanket of clover underneath. But for now, look out maples! I have garden gloves and I know how to use them.
Here’s an older post from July, 2006.
Weeding feels good because:
- Digging in the dirt is fun.
I heard a garden expert on the radio recommend that serious gardeners spend about 30 minutes a day weeding and maintaining. I don’t come near that, so I guess I’m not “serious” by his standards. I do keep it up, though, and get my hands dirty and produce good things to eat. My garden makes me happy. Isn’t that enough?
>Peanut Butter Cookies
>I’m a little off the beaten path today. Recipe Lion’s Blog Hop asked for Father’s Day recipes. Instead of re-posting Great Grandma’s German Potato Salad or sharing standard grill fare, I’m sharing a simple summer dessert – slash – snack. The best part about these cookies: the texture is perfect. They’re not too soft, not too crispy. Take them out of the oven when they’re still slightly soft and let them cool for a moment. Trust me: yum.
Peanut Butter Cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
Beat together butter, sugars, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir the flour mixture into the bowl and blend thoroughly.
Shape the dough into 2 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Use a fork dipped in sugar to make a crisscross pattern.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 350, until golden brown. Do not over bake!
Let stand for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack for the final cooling process.
Serve – well, let family and friends dive in.
Tips:
- I really like my small scoop. It’s the perfect size for cookies like this.
- Teens love these. If your home is the hangout for your teen and his/her friends, keep these in stock.
- Peanut butter is a good source of iron (says the no-longer anemic Daisy).