Snapshots: Shoulder Season Flowers

I was somewhat surprised when I took a walk on Tuesday and found that the sunflowers have almost entirely given up the ghost. I feel like that happened very quickly this year.

Seed heads in the morning light.

I managed to find a couple sunflowers that were in good enough shape for the table. The flowers on the table are now joined by candles, because it's dark when the kids eat breakfast before school, and candlelight makes them happy.

As happy as they're going to be at 6:35 a.m. on a school day, anyway.

The calendula is still bravely blooming despite the ravages of weather and grasshoppers.

I have some hope it might even set seeds.

Oh look, more early-morning walk photos.

Good morning, schoolhouse.

And a shadow self-portrait in the school bus door.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Bull and Sheep

Friday 

Short version: Pork tacos with homemade corn tortillas

Long version: This was the night of the school play. The kids were all there rehearsing and getting ready all afternoon, and they're fed dinner at school. So I just had A. and I and my parents to feed. This meant I could make corn tortillas without standing over the blazing hot griddle pan for an hour.

So I did.

After I made the tortillas, I fried the leftover pork on there with cumin and chile powder, and then put out all the toppings we had--onion, jalapenos, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese. 

And then when we got home from the play at 8 p.m., all the children were starving and had leftover spaghetti before bed. I have learned to have food on hand for them after the play, because they always seem to be hungry when they get home. Performing burns a lot of calories, I guess.

Saturday

Short version: Sorta beef stroganoff, mashed potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream

Long version: I don't think I've ever made a proper beef stroganoff, but this had beef (sirloin steak strips), mushrooms, and sour cream in it, so I called it close enough. It also used up the last of the pork liquid from cooking the picnic roast, which is always a flavorful addition,

The chocolate cake was one my mom bought at the silent auction bake sale we always have at school before the play. It was chocolate cake with white frosting, and it was pretty good. We already had the ice cream.

I spent most of the morning making and canning roasted tomato puree and applesauce. 

Round and round and round it goes, when it stops . . . applesauce!

Sunday

Short version: Sheep loaf, roasted potatoes, green peas, peanut butter cookies

Long version: Oops. When I originally posted this, I forgot to even write a long version. Here we go, a little late!

I made meatloaf with a bag of the ground sheep, which I flavored with some of the pureed roasted tomatoes I had in the refrigerator, zaatar, onion, etc. It was pretty good, but you could definitely tell it was not beef.

Monday

Short version: Lotta leftovers, bread and butter, raw cabbage

Long version: Two kids had the last of the sheep spaghetti, one had a hot dog leftover from the hot dog cookout the school did for families before the play, one had a hot dog and some sheep loaf, A. had sheep loaf and mashed potatoes, and I had a salad.

And then everyone looked at what his or her sibling had and asked why they couldn't have that. Because that's usually what happens on a day of apportioned leftovers. But they all ate what they had, because that is also what usually happens on a day of apportioned leftovers.

Tuesday

Short version: Chicken curry, rice

Long version: In my continuing efforts for Make-Ahead Tuesdays, I poached three giant chicken breasts, pulled off the meat from about half of it, and used that to make a curry. It also had onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and potatoes in it. Forgot the peas. Oh, and also some sour cream, because I think all curry is better with dairy. 

Actually, I think almost all foods are better with dairy. 

I actually used the curry powder leftover from dying Easter eggs to flavor it. This has been sitting in a jar in the back of the refrigerator since Easter, and it was fine. I should have used all of it, though, because the curry was a bit bland. Oh well. Still tasty enough.

Wednesday

Short version: Bull and sheep chili, sourdough rolls, cantaloupe

Long version: I made the chili the day before with about two pounds of ground bull meat, one pound of ground sheep,a jar of pressure-canned beans, the rest of the tomato puree that didn't fit in the canner, onion, garlic, and spices. I left it right in the pot and just heated it up when I got home from work.

This is 25 pounds of sheep meat, in case you were curious about what that looks like.

The rolls I had made when I last baked bread, which was the previous Friday. They were a bit hard, but fine for dunking in chili.

We got four cantaloupes from the lady who delivers the commodities food. I cut up two of them for dessert. They were very sweet, but still not soft enough. They were still eaten, however.

Thursday

Short version: Chicken fried rice

Long version: I was subbing for our school secretary, so I was planning on leftovers. Then I got home and saw the container of plain chicken I had pulled off those chicken breasts I poached on Tuesday. There was also still rice left, so I used those with onions from the freezer, frozen peas, eggs, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic powder, and ginger to make the fried rice.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

Growing Food: Finally Harvesting

Look what I pulled out of the garden today!

One calabacita, four Stupice tomatoes, two Roma tomatoes (including a green one that fell off when I was checking the vines), and exactly six and a half green beans.

Of course, this is what I'm supposed to be harvesting in early July, not late September. But this year, I take what I can get. And I can get a skillet of vegetables for a side dish today. Hooray.

 

Snapshots: Must Be Fall

The First Day of Fall was all over the place online yesterday. For many people, that seems to mean pumpkin spice, fall decor, and cozy blankets. For me, it means an excess of tomatoes and apples.

And there they are, right on cue!

Of course, this year, neither of those are from my own property. My parents brought me the tomatoes, which I think they bought in bulk at Whole Foods. The apples came from a lady down the hill who brought us apples last year. She's a friend of our neighbor Miss Amelia's daughter, so I don't even really know her at all, but I sure do appreciate the apples from her trees.

I had a helper to make applesauce, of course:

No child can resist a Foley food mill.

After a couple of rounds of roasting and pureeing for the tomatoes, I was left with this:

Full jars always make me happy.

Let's see what else I have . . .

Sunflowers and the rising sun.

Sunflowers reflecting the rising sun.

And sunflowers on my table. Along with two computers, because I was teaching online when I was home sick on Monday, which requires one computer for my Zoom meeting and one so I can navigate around the texts we're discussing.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Fast Food

Friday 

Short version: Smoked sausage, rice, green salad with vinaigrette

Long version: I went all the way to the grocery store by myself this day, and while I was there, I took a look at the sausage selection. I can never resist looking for sausage, even though it's usually not very good.

This time I got some smoked pork sausage, which was almost exactly like giant hot dogs. The kids liked it, of course. It wasn't bad. It wasn't really good either, but it was okay.

Saturday

Short version: Pizza, green salad with ranch dressing

Long version: Making bread, making pizza. And this time I didn't screw up my dough, so the crust was delicious. Yay, me. I also got pepperoni at the grocery store, and I got the fancier Dietz and Watson pepperoni that was near the deli, instead of the Hormel or whatever we typically get. It was a lot better than the cheaper stuff. I don't like pepperoni, but this I could actually eat.

Sunday

Short version: Leftover pizza, sausage and rice skillet, chocolate ice cream

Long version: I started feeling a cold coming on this day, so I didn't really want to cook. Unfortunately, some children got into the leftover pizza while I was resting during the day, so there wasn't enough for everyone. There was, however, leftover rice and leftover sausage, and those two things, along with the sauteed diced onions I had stashed in the freezer and frozen peas, became a skillet offering to fill out the pizza.

Fast food, my way.

Monday

Short version: Mexican bull casserole, raw cabbage

Long version: I was still not feeling well, and I stayed home from work. I had a period of slight improvement in the late morning that allowed me to put together the casserole--processed bull meat, black beans. corn tortillas, cheese, and a kind of enchilada sauce I made by pureeing a can of whole tomatoes and cooking it down some with chile powder, garlic, onions, cumin, and paprika.

That was a good idea, since by dinner time about all I felt capable of doing was shoving the casserole in the oven and whacking some chunks off a head of cabbage.

Tuesday

Short version: Spaghetti with sheep sauce, raw broccoli with ranch dip

Long version: We had a ewe literally kill herself with greed on Sunday by eating too much alfalfa hay. Since she didn't die of anything nasty and we found her shortly after she died, we could butcher her. So we did.

The meat has to age for at least a couple of days, which much improves its taste and texture. Because it was too warm to hang it outside--flies were an issue as well--A. quartered it and put the pieces in our big cooler with blocks of ice we made by freezing water in gallon ice cream buckets. 

Meat just chillin'.

We did all the cutting up, grinding, and packaging this day.

I used some of the ground sheep meat to make spaghetti sauce. Very good sauce it was, too.

Wednesday

Short version: Leftovers, cucumbers with ranch dip

Long version: Spaghetti with sheep sauce for the kids, Mexican bull casserole for A., salad for me.

So much for the long version, huh?

Thursday

Short version: Pork, garlic bread, sauerkraut, steamed carrots and broccoli

Long version: I cooked a big pork picnic roast in the morning, which I then pulled apart and broiled in some of its own rendered fat. I flavored it with mustard and maple syrup, which is an excellent combination for pork.

Garlic bread because I was making bread, and I had just made pizza.

Sauerkraut because I love it with pork. I only canned about four pints with the spring cabbages, but my parents were visiting and my father also loves sauerkraut, so I decided the time had come to use one of those precious pints.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

Growing Food: The Brave Little Basil

I grow basil every year, and always have. It doesn't do as well here as it did in New York, but I always get enough for tomato sauce, tomato salad, pizza, and to make and freeze pesto for the coming winter.

This year, however, was a rough one for the basil. (And everything else.)

There was a point a month or so ago that I thought the basil was done for. I had originally planted out 13 plants. There had been some attrition, but I still had some. Then the hail came. And then the drought. I lost more and more plants, and the few basil plants looked like they were goners.

I counted it out too soon, though. Three of the plants managed to hang on, and they are finally looking like they're going to give me some usable basil.

I am reminded of a Destiny's Child song . . .

I should have enough to make pesto at least once, which I haven't managed yet this year. I've mostly been hoarding the basil for roasted tomato sauce, assuming the many tomatoes on the plants make it to harvest.

As a bonus inspirational plant story, allow me to show you my dianthus.

This is growing, but it's not food.

One of my children brought that home for me for Mother's Day last year. His teacher is a big flower gardener, so she divided the plants from her own garden. This is the best way to get plants, because it means they are guaranteed to grow in my area. 

I didn't have a place in mind for the plant, so I just put it in a pot. I put the pot on top of the wall dividing my vegetable garden, figuring that way I would remember to water it.

I did, and it bloomed continuously for months. I was so pleased with it. Then it got hot. And it wasn't getting enough water. And I thought maybe I had killed it.

However! We got several days of cool weather with a bit of rain, and there are the flowers again. Yay! I really need to put it in the ground. I think in a pot like that it would have to be watered every day, and that's not something I'm going to be doing.

So there you have it. Plants with a will to survive. Let them be a lesson to all of us as we go forth into our Tuesday. 

Onward.

Snapshots: Hair Bows and Sunflowers

I truly wish I could share with you all the photos of the eleven adorable little girls that comprise our elementary cheer squad. Alas for the insane Internet and the inadvisability of posting photos of little girls on it. However! I got a sneak shot of one of them and her giant bow. 

"The bigger the bow, the better," said their cheer coach. I think she's right. But only tiny cheerleaders can pull off a bow this big.

Luckily, I can show you allll the sunflowers on the road right outside our gate.

They're the same color as the giant bows, now that I think about it.

We got a sudden and saturating rain storm that dumped half an inch of rain in about 40 minutes.

Adventure Van bore the downpour stoically, of course.

And last, I took a trip to a Walmart entirely by myself on Saturday. It's been . . . well, I'm not sure, but definitely months, if not actually a year, since I went to a grocery store by myself. It was very exciting. Although staring at this for 180 miles to get there and back sort of puts a damper on the excitement.

At least I don't have to battle traffic. Unless you count the birds that seem intent on kamikaze-ing into the front of the van.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.