Trip to Hendersonville NC

I just got back from a week in Hendersonville to visit my Uncle and Aunt who live there.  I had a great time.  Both are so generous.  Got to spend time working with my Uncle in his wood shop and also enjoyed my Aunt's great cooking.  Hendersonville NC is absolutely beautiful and the azaleas were all in bloom.  This is how I remember spring in the Carolinas.  We won't have leaves on the trees here for another month.  My Uncle and I sorted through all these amazing family photos of my Grandparents and my family and thought I would post some of them here.  Incredible pics from the turn of the century of my Great - Grandfather who was mayor of Hickory and owned several businesses including a furniture store, and a funeral home.  Wonderful pics of my grandparents and some surprise pics of me and my brother that my mother had sent him years ago that I had never seen.  It was a great trip and I can't wait to go down again.

Travel Warnings

So,  I call my mother to tell her that she was right about the Brazilian cannibals and read the article to her over the phone.

"See",  she says, "you never believe me."

I proceed to tell her that she has a history of terrorizing me with travel warnings.  I remind her of her inappropriate warnings starting at the age of 5 when we lived in the Philippines.

"Mom, you used to tell me that the Filipinos liked to kidnap little American boys with blue eyes. I never put my arms out the car windows because I was afraid of being ripped out of the them if I was seen. When I would get home from Kindergarten, I would freak out if you weren't home and our maid, Beth, would take me and Chris down the street for soda pop.  I would hold onto my 2 year old brother's hand for dear life knowing that I was going to be sold into white slavery at any moment."  

My mother corrects me that she isn't terrorizing me

"Was I right about the car bomb on your street? Was I right about the guy who jumped out of your building trying to commit suicide?  Was I right about the tornados in Westchester?  Was I right about the cannibals?"

Hmmm...I suddenly realize that I may have to start watching Fox News.

Beware of the Empanadas

I had another one of those classic conversations with my mother this morning.  I am in the cab on the way to work and she calls me to warn me about travel to Brazil.  We leave in a couple weeks for Rio for vacation.  She proceeds to tell me that there is a religious cult in Brazil that was just arrested for kidnapping people and eating them.  I guffawed and asked her - "where do you get this stuff?"  My mother is notorious for knowing more about what is going on around me then I do.  Remember the story about our neighbor below us jumping out his window?  I told her she was crazy and to stop watching Fox News.  I get to the office and call Tim to tell him and have a laugh.  As we are talking, I google "Brazil cannibals" and sure enough she is right!  A total Sweeney Todd moment down there.  Making empanadas out of the victims apparently?  I told Tim, we won't be eating local while we are down there! http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_cannibals-arrested-for-killing-women-and-cooking-their-flesh_1676543

Curried Chick Pea Salad

Tim made this salad along with chicken and onion soup and it was excellent.

CURRIED CHICK PEA SALAD
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, or more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder, or more to taste
2 scallions, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup coconut milk, or more to taste
4 cups cooked or drained canned chickpeas
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup fresh or thawed frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Combine the lime juice, curry powder, scallions, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Stir in the coconut milk.
2 Add the chickpeas, bell pepper, and peas to the bowl and toss gently until everything is coated with dressing , adding more coconut milk 1 tablespoon at a time if the salad seems dry.
3. Let the salad sit for a least 30 minutes, stirring once or twice to redistribute the dressing. (Or refrigerate for up to 5 days.) When you're ready to eat, stir in the cilantro.  Taste and adjust the seasoning and moisture, adding more lime juice, coconut milk, or curry powder if you like.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

Carmelized Onion Soup

We took a weekend off from experimenting with casserole recipes for the contest this summer and tried a couple new recipes.  Tim made our tried and true Buttermilk Garlic marinated chicken along with onion soup and a new chick pea salad which were both delicious.

CARAMELIZED ONION SOUP
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving.
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 to 6 large yellow onions, thinly sliced (about 9 cups)
1 teaspoon sugar
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 sprigs thyme
1 dried bay leaf
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sherry, white wine, or brandy
4 cups beef broth
toasted stale rustic bread
1 garlic clove, peeled
Fresh Parsley
1/4 cup grated jack cheese

1. In a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat oil and 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high.  Add onions, sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, thyme, and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently to scrape up any browned bits, until onions are deep golden brown and have a jam-like consistency, about 1 hour.  If onions begin to stick, reduce heat and stir in 1 tablespoon water.

2. Discard herbs, Reserve 1/2 cup onions ( leaving 1 3/4 cups in pot).  Stir in 1 tablespoon butter, flour, and sherry and cook until butter is melted, 30 seconds.  Add broth, increase heat, and simmer 15 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Rub bread with garlic, then place in bowls and ladle soup on top.  Grate and sprinkle cheese on top.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with parsley.

DIY Concrete

When I was a kid, I used to call my dad the Concrete King - a title bequeathed to him by my mother.  Give dad a bag of concrete and a bare area in the yard and he would be adding a patio, sidewalk, terraced garden, retainer wall, you name it - it got concrete.  He even made us a time capsule and buried it in one of his concrete walls which is still there I think. I never understood this strange  obsession until I got this book this year.  We grow stone around here but we still need a lot more pavers and walls then we can dig up or buy.  I bought paver molds and patio concrete molds to use this summer but found this book and now I have all sorts of projects to complete.  It's going to be a concrete summer.  I called my dad when I got the book and told him I had a new obsession and he just laughed and said " now, you know."  My mother just rolled her eyes.

I started making pavers and am going to build a patio and grilling area with concrete tables and lots of concrete containers for annuals.  I poured my first pot this weekend using old plastic nursery containers we recycle.  I can't wait to see if it works which will mean I will be making planters all summer long.  We can't use terra cotta pots because the snow just destroys them if they are left outside.  Very excited. My dad will be so proud.

Busy Weekend

 We had a project filled weekend. Although it makes us nervous to start planting before Memorial Day up here, we couldn't help but want to take advantage of the unusual warm weather this weekend - 70 and 80 degrees when we would potentially still have snow on the ground.

After spending the last two years creating all the beds around the house and planting trees and foundation shrubs - we are now filling in with smaller shrubs and lots of perennials. The perennial nursery that we like to go to in Walton won't open for another couple weeks so we picked up shrubs from Lowes on the

commute upstate.  I planted Blue Star Juniper and King's Gold Cypress and  Rhododendron  and then weeded for hours while Tim started another raised stone bed.

Tim has been building raised stone beds along the driveway for the vegetable gardens.  The area gets direct sunlight all day and we have stone everywhere so although it's a lot of work - we have plenty of it and we just have to have manure and mulch delivered and dumped so we can fill the beds.  We will line the beds with recycled newspaper, catalogs and magazines and then fill with soil.  We used the cattle metal fencing last year for climbing beans and tomatoes and they are sturdy and easy to use.  Plus, the birds love to sit on top of the metal fencing all summer. We will continue to build the beds along the driveway and then our next big project is two large sloped areas that we need to terrace with stone as well.  

The Swallows of Coulter Brook

Birds are nesting everywhere already. Swallows love to make nest in eaves of barns and around human shelters.  We have to keep them away from one of our garden sheds which has a large gabled porch because they cause a huge mess with the mud and nesting materials that they collect to build their nests in the eave of the porch.

However, we have a family of swallows that comes back to nest every year in a birdhouse that sits on a pole elevated above one of our large round vegetable beds. They have been nesting there for the last 4 years.  It's very early this year but as we were weeding and prepping the bed we noticed that there were a couple of swallows swooping and diving near us.  We thought they might be fighting but it turns out that they have already laid their eggs almost 2 months earlier then normal. They were upset with us because we were weeding below the birdhouse.  I caught one of them sitting on top of the ring of the rooftop of the birdhouse.

Composting Ideas

We have so much to compost with all the property debris, cooking refuse and garden detritus that we have to step up our composting efforts.  We started with building new compost bins this past weekend but we were looking for some additional ideas and we thought these were interesting.

We like the idea of burying the trash/compost bins in the ground.  It reminded me of living in Montana and that is what we had to do with our garbage cans.  It is less obtrusive and would keep the pests away.  We love using bales of hay because they would biodegrade as well but we read where someone used baled newspapers as well - interesting!

New Ideas For The Garden 3

Tim is finally going to indulge my chicken wire topiary sculpture fetish for the garden.  When I showed him this pic, he fell in love with the idea.  I think the elephants would be a little exotic but maybe we will stick with cows or sheep in the meadow?  Love It.

New Ideas For The Garden 2

We are obsessed with Vertical Wall Gardens at the moment.  With the family joining us for July 4th week, we are looking for some projects that everyone can join in on.  We have a kitchen herb garden right outside our back door but adding a vertical element would be great.  I wish we had the climate to keep bromeliads and elephant ear plant outside but we will just have to substitute with bright annuals I suppose. Great Stuff!

New Ideas For The Garden

I love to google search images for the garden as well as peruse internet sites for new ideas for our garden.  The four corners of our perennial garden are anchored with these sapling towers and I came across this image on how to suspend pots from the towers filled with annuals or ferns.  I like the watering cans but like the idea of more hanging potted plants better.   Great Idea!

Easter Weekend

Very busy Easter weekend.

*Built new compost bin.
*Built new Trellis.
*Baked Devilsfood with Swiss Meringue icing Ladybug cupcakes for Easter.
*Iced Butterfly sugar cookies for Easter.
*Tim made great dinner see below post.
*We went for a run on Friday -gorgeous day!
*Filled new compost bin with lots of debris cleaning out garden beds - will have to build another one next weekend.
* Have Carpel tunnel in hand from building new trellis and new compost bin.
* Bruised right side of right foot from gorgeous run on Friday.
*Disaster icing cookies and cupcakes after too many cocktails after exhausting run on Friday.
*Thank God for amazing Easter dinner at Tim's parents because I hurt like Hell.

I love Spring.

Short Rib Pot Pie

           

              Tim and I continued our casserole experimentation and we had seen this recipe in MS Living and wanted to try it.  It was delicious however with lots of modifications.  It is not a candidate for us for the contest but definitely worth re-visiting.  Recommendations: it could use some vegetables in the pie or the potatoes could be sauteed first and then layered and browned?  Also a little gratin couldn't help.

INGREDIENTS:

 For The Filling

            4 pounds boneless short ribs, cut into 2-inch pieces

            Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

            1/3 cup all-purpose flour

            3 tablespoons safflower oil

            1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

            5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

            2 bottles (12 ounces) stout, preferably Guinness (3 cups)

            2 rosemary sprigs

            1 pound cipollini onions, peeled

           

            For The Topping

            6 medium russet potatoes (3 1/2 pounds)

            Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing

            Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

           

Directions

.                 Make the filling: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Season short ribs with salt and pepper. Dredge short ribs in flour, coating all sides. Transfer to a large plate. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Working in batches, brown short ribs, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a large plate using kitchen tongs.

.                 Reduce heat to medium. Add yellow onion to Dutch oven, and cook until golden, about 8 minutes. Add garlic. Cook for 2 minutes. Return meat to Dutch oven. Add stout and rosemary. Bring to a simmer. Cover, and transfer to oven. Bake for 2 1/2 hours.

.                 Remove Dutch oven from oven, and add cipollini onions. Braise until meat is tender and onions are cooked through, about 30 minutes. Shred meat using 2 forks. Season with salt and pepper. Divide filling among eight mini (1-cup) pie plates, or transfer to a 12-inch (8-cup) gratin dish.

.                 Make the topping: Raise oven temperature to 375 degrees. Peel potatoes, and very thinly slice each (preferably on a mandoline). Arrange potatoes over meat to form tight concentric circles, working around the edge and overlapping each potato by three-quarters. Brush with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until topping is golden and filling is bubbling, about 45 minutes for mini potpies (1 hour for large potpie).