>prepping the produce for the freezer

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>I had great plans. I was going to use my big, bold food processor to dice the fresh chives from the garden and then freeze a few jars for winter use. Great idea, right? Wrong. I tried three different blades, and none of them diced the chives evenly. This is what I got.

So…. I diced the pile by hand with a sharp knife, dropped the results into two small glass jars, labeled the jars, and placed the jars in the freezer. The good news: chives were done. The bad news: I still had a batch of green onions waiting for me.

I did these by hand.

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>Shopping ’till your husband drops

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>Shoe shopping. I enjoy it, La Petite loves it. Husband tolerates it; Amigo hates it. I handled shoe shopping with both boys recently. With Amigo it was enter the store, go directly to the dept., try on two pair, choose the best, checkout, leave. Immediately. Grumpy teenager and tolerant- going-on-grumpy mom survived again.

Husband was similar. He tried on a few pair, chose the pair that worked and fit, then got ready to check out. I managed to walk him through another department so I could get some cloth napkins on sale, and then we checked out. We had success on both counts: picture below.


Imagine my surprise when we were in a Nordstrom Rack store looking for a wallet and he voluntarily walked into the shoe department and picked up a colorful pair of Converse All Star sneakers! La Petite is a connoisseur of Chuck Taylor (“chucks” in her words), and he thought it might be fun to wear “cool” shoes.

Husband? Trying on shoes? Voluntarily? By choice? I had to sit down. Then I pulled out the camera to document the occasion. Maybe I should stop calling him Husband and rename him – Chuck! What do you think, dear?


He bought them. Yes, she was surprised. She was a little impressed, too. She should be: at 22, she’s influenced her father’s wardrobe! Now if I can keep her from nominating me for What Not to Wear….

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>Packing lists

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As the A-list bloggers post the adventures of their trip to BlogHer in Chicago, I’ll post the adventures of our train trip. Husband and I set off to celebrate our anniversary (25 years!) by ourselves while Amigo was at summer school and La Petite was available to watch the house and feed the bunnies.

There wasn’t much space to spare in our roomette on Amtrak, so the carry-on luggage had to be planned well. You can see the camera case (it’s tiny), reading material, empty water bottle, drink mixes (for water bottle), lumbar pillow (orange squishy thingie), and address book for postcards, stamps tucked inside cover. In the bag itself are a change of clothes, toiletries, and basic daily medications.

The sweater was a bargain. La Petite talked me into going shopping with her (she twisted my arm, really), and I found this. It’s perfect for an airconditioned train; I’ll just take it off or unbutton it when the temperatures are higher or when we take outside breaks at stations.

Packing? I’m getting good at this. Actually, the 22-year-old is getting good at it and I let her advise me. These kids of ours; they do grow up, and it’s fun to have them around.

There it is, hanging on the wall beside Husband’s seat where I could reach it whenever I needed it. The camera moved into my purse for the duration of the trip, but the rest was just right in the duffel.

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>animal, vegetable, locavore?

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>I was reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in our Seattle hotel room and I thought about how difficult it was at times to remain true to a locavore philosophy. We were fortunate to be near a fantastic source for both tourists and locals: Seattle’s Pike Place Public Market.

At lunch on our first full day, I sat down to a sandwich with locally made sausage and potato salad on the side. Husband ordered a local beer and picked up a halibut sandwich and coleslaw. The coleslaw surprised him. Rather than the creamy or the tart styles we get in the Midwest, it was made with red cabbage and had a delicious sweet-tart tang.

We continued to focus mainly on local specialties. We looked for fish of all kinds, locally made baked goods, and (you know me well) coffee. We were in Seattle, people, home of Starbucks and more!

One night Husband asked the waitress where he could buy the unique raspberry lambic beer he’d had with his meal. It wasn’t one of the restaurant’s own brews, so she directed us to a store a few blocks away. On the walk there we decided to pick up supplies for an evening snack on the hotel deck. We gathered cheese, salami, crackers and the fruity brew, and then brought out a container of fresh cherries we’d picked up at the Public Market earlier in the day. It was a perfect evening treat. The sky was clear, the sun going down behind the Olympic Mountains, and Mt. Ranier was making an appearance in the distant sky.

Less expensive than the hotel’s minibar, more relaxing than going out, we had the perfect combination of food and drink and ambiance.

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>Applying the lessons of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

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>I read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle recently. It is an amazing book, fitting my sensibilities and interests well. Kingsolver and her family dedicated a full year to feeding their family on local foods. The backstories describing her reasoning and the supplemental stories describing her disasters and successes make this a great story. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an easy and fascinating read.

Implementing her advice is more challenging. Kingsolver addresses this, facing the fact that not everyone has a large garden space like hers or the opportunity to raise chickens, turkeys, or other meat animals. She spends a significant amount of space on suggestions for folks like me, people who would like to move toward a more locavore philosophy but face stumbling blocks on the way.

My garden is coming into its season now. I’ve been gathering spinach and lettuce already, and I found the first handful of beans when we came home from vacation. Pea pods look good, too. This is the first year I’ve successfully grown peas, so I’ll have to look them over carefully to make sure I only pick those that are truly ripe! There are at least three zucchini appearing from the blossoms, and I see flowers on the tomato plants at last.

Here in the Northern zones, we don’t get as much food for as long as Kingsolver does on her small Virginia farm. I can use what I have, though, and pick up more local goodies at the farmers’ market every Saturday until October. For now, at least, I’ll put delicious and local foods on the table. Next year’s goal: learn to can. Maybe. We’ll see.

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>Some pictures, well, just don’t turn out.

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Top: Husband outside during a train stop

Next: Rocky Mountains. Really, they were sitting still and smiling. I wasn’t. Sitting still, that is. I’m sure I was smiling!

Right, Below: It seemed like every time I got the camera ready and clicked, a tree jumped in front of the train window. Do the trees practice this? “Hey, I’ll wreck this picture if you get in the way of the next one.”

Husband got a few blurry tree shots, too, but he had enough sense to go outside at the various stops to look around and take pictures on solid ground. If only he’d stood still a little longer, I might have had a decent picture of him, too!

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>Honey Grilled Chicken with Garlic

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>Original recipe from Cubmaster Joe, a Plurk buddy

Sauce/ marinade:
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup honey
3 tablespoons lemon juice

12 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Preheat a grill for medium heat.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in honey and lemon juice. Reserve half for basting, and brush the other half onto the chicken breasts.

Lightly oil the grill grate, and place chicken on the grill. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes per side, turning frequently. Baste often during the last 5 minutes. Chicken is done when the meat is firm, and juices run clear.

This was a hit. Thanks, Iron Chef Joe!

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>Onion Surprise

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>Welcome to the jungle at the back of my yard! The wood piles belong to the neighbor behind us. The wildness in the foreground is ours.

We planted very little of this. Most was here fourteen years ago when we bought the house. The jungle growth is stubborn, too. We’ve cut back on the ferns – cut them out almost completely, and they still come back. In small quantities, they’re nice.

Some time in the distant past, someone put in an herb garden. The evidence remains: green onions. I call them walking onions (is that correct? help me out, readers!) because they sprout the tiny bulbs on top that eventually weigh down the stalk. Those bulbs find a home on the soil, send out roots, and start all over again in a new location – hence the “walking” moniker.

Sometimes they get rather large before I find them and harvest. They’re very determined plants – survivors in a rather unfriendly place. They’ll reach for the sun, even when surrounded by backyard jungle cover.

Once in a while I’ll realize I need a little onion for cooking and I’ll remember that I’ve neglected the “crop” back in the jungle. Then it’ll be time to dice these lovely greens and store them in jars in the freezer so I can have fresh(like) seasoning all winter long. Leave the expensive scallions in the grocery store’s produce department; we grow our own, albeit accidentally.

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>Eat in, Cook local

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>My Daily Action Plan email from Going Green Today suggested, “Eat in, cook seasonal.” The focus was on preparing a dinner that highlights the flavors of local and seasonal ingredients. Requirements: local produce, a creative mind and some good seasonings.

I have ideas already: Strawberry Rhubarb bars, chicken-tomato-spinach stew, egg salad sandwiches, to name a few.

Local ingredients in Egg Salad Sandwiches:
Fresh eggs (organic, free range)
Garden lettuce
Homemade bread or local bakery buns/bread

Local ingredients in stew:
Tomatoes from Farmers’ Market (I’ll have my own later in the summer!)
Spinach from garden
Herbs from garden

Local ingredients in bars:
Strawberries from Farmers’ Market
Rhubarb from garden

Did you notice that I didn’t obsess with making every part of each dish local or organic? It would be great, but it’s not realistic in my crazy-busy life. These ideas meet the goal of eating local, put a little more nutrition into the family diet, they’re simple to make, and each one tastes good, too. The bonus was this: I made the egg salad and the bars during our rummage sale. Having something good to eat and easy to make kept us from wasting our time and money on fast food on those busy days.

If you’re interested in a personalized action plan, look to Going Green Today.

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>Sullivan’s Island: what a difference!

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>When I knew I would be reading Return to Sullivan’s Island, I put in a request on paperbackswap for Sullivan’s Island, the first book in the series and Dorthea Benton Franks’ inaugural novel. I didn’t enjoy Return. With a little trepidation and more than a little curiousity, I picked up the other.

Sullivan’s Island is much, much better than its sequel.

As the title suggests, the setting is in itself a major character. The heat, the salty air, the tides, the beach — all are integral to the plot. Through the eyes of Susan, the second daughter in a large Catholic family, a rather sheltered group of siblings comes to grips with complex relationships between their kin and their neighbors. Their housekeeper is as much family as the uncle and aunt, in fact is more beloved by the children. Susan comes to grips with her conflicted past and calls on her strengths to face a murky and challenging future, one that presents surprises at every page turn.

By moving the timeline from 1999 to 1963 and back again, the author lets Susan’s story unfold with details not always possible in a pure chronological piece. These time switches are clean and clear. Each chapter is labeled, Susan’s thoughts in the present day lead logically to her memories and vice versa, and the first person perspective fills in her past to set up her reasoning in her present.

I can’t apologize for my negative review of Return to Sullivan’s Island. The book was awful. But Sullivan’s Island feels as though it were written by an entirely different author. What happened? I don’t really want an answer. I do want to recommend Sullivan’s Island as a great beach read, a story that will transport its readers from wherever they are to the hot and steamy islands of South Carolina.

No paperbacks were harmed in the making of this review. In fact, I didn’t get a complimentary copy, either. Go ahead: find it in a bookstore or on Paperbackswap. Just don’t bother with the sequel.

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