Chocolate Covered Pubby

Dinner, and dessert

2012-02-11T21:15:00.001-05:00

Pizza with green peppers and red onions.

St. Bittman's free form tart - an experiment with almond extract in the dough and cherries, with a bit of apricot jam.

Orange Azaleas

2012-02-07T16:07:00.001-05:00

Fat buds on the new orange azaleas.

I'd love to pair them with a magenta and white azalea.

Kitchen Mini-Herb Garden

2012-01-31T10:01:00.001-05:00

We don't have a lack of plants in our house, but after I bought a mini-herb garden in a basket from Whole Kibble as a gift for a friend, I wanted one for myself.

I didn't act on this urge until I saw small potted herbs at Trader Joe's. I bought lemon thyme, thyme, and rosemary. We have lemon thyme in the garden and I never use it because it's very lemony, but the scale of the thyme leaves seemed perfect for a mini garden. I also bought lavender to have two thyme plants and two needle-y plants, but my pot couldn't fit a fourth plant and I knew Mr. Pubby would confuse the lavender and rosemary if called on to snip it for a recipe.

The inspiration gift basket had parsley and sage which provided both a change of color and of texture. I dislike parsley, but probably should have had it for the texture contrast.

I love the lavender's terra cotta pot, I got it in a plant store in Maine. It seems like the perfect plant pot.

Buttermilk French toast

2012-01-17T19:46:00.001-05:00

First time replacing milk with (full fat) buttermilk. Verdict: better flavor, chewier.

If we have leftover buttermilk this will go on the list of recipes to use it up.

Chocolate cake

2012-01-09T18:48:00.001-05:00

Making chocolate cake. Just wanted some cakey chocolately goodness.

Hiking with Jack

2012-01-06T19:18:00.001-05:00

Dinner

2012-01-06T19:07:00.001-05:00

Use-it-up pizza, to go with use-it-up vegetable soup.

Extraordinary Sky Over the West

2012-01-06T08:40:00.001-05:00

From my morning commute.

Good soup recipes?

2012-01-05T15:55:00.001-05:00

I'm in need of good soup recipes. Preferably vegetarian and good for freezing.

And this photo of Molly Dogg has nothing to do with soup, I just miss her, and my dad.

Wooden Spoons Spa Day

2012-01-02T15:30:00.001-05:00

My long winter holiday is almost over. We had a quiet, restorative, week, but I'm ready to go back to work fully for the first time in more than a month.

To celebrate the New Year I conditioned our wooden spoons and cutting board with spoon oil. It's simple to do and makes a big difference in the feeling of the spoons.

I used the recipe from 3191 (http://3191.visualblogging.com/archives/11518_1443007713/341676) (I made several batches of this last year for gifts, but still have a couple of jars). I love looking at this collection of wooden spoons so much I created a board of wooden spoon photos on Pinterest (http://m.pinterest.com/pomme/wooden-spoons/).

A crumbly start to 2012

2012-01-01T12:47:00.001-05:00

I wanted to start 2012 off right, so I made blueberry crumble.

I also made some resolutions:

Make new recipes, not just the ones I always make.
Plant a raspbery or blueberry bush in the backyard.
Make a blueberry pie this summer in Maine.

Granola (in jars)

2011-12-30T19:57:00.001-05:00

So we can get on the healthy food train for the new year, I decided to make granola today. A friend sent us a very tasty tray of dried fruit and we had lots of nuts from spice nuts factory, so the granola is studded with yummy dried red plums, apricots, white and yellow peaches, dried cherries, and pecans/almonds/walnuts.

The recipe is from St. Bittman, of course.
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/recipe-of-the-day-crunchy-granola/

Sugar and cardamom cookies redux

2011-12-25T21:00:00.001-05:00

My hardworking SiL requested more cardamom cookies (http://www.williams-sonoma.com/m/products/2210680/) , so I made a batch of those and the "scrabble letter" sugar cookies yesterday.

My innovation was to use some vintage "aspic and hors d'oeuvres" mini cutters to make "playing card" cookies and bake the little insides into cookie croutons.

Totally going to eat them with softened vanilla ice cream.

Please note higher quality 4Gs photos!

Spiced nuts for Gifts

2011-12-22T08:43:00.001-05:00

Cookie Factory is proud to announce the founding of Spiced Nuts Factory, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cookie Factory. This is a "pop-up" factory, here only between November and December.

I am either efficient this year with work gifts, or 363 days late, as I had this idea last year and never acted on it.

I made four batches of nuts last night and packaged them this morning in recycled glass jars (hello molasses jars from last year's gingerbread housing development adventure!), wrapped in recycled tissue paper and ribbon.

They make me happy just to look at them.

Spiced Nuts recipe
Makes 4 cups
These sweet, spicy, slightly salty nuts make a great snack, appetizer and garnish for salads and desserts. Once cooled, they'll keep in an airtight container for a week or two.

Ingredients
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 egg white
4 cups mixed nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds and cashews)

Method
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk sugar, salt and spices in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk egg white until light and frothy. Add nuts and toss until evenly coated with egg white. Sprinkle sugar and spice mixture over nuts and toss to combine well. Spread nuts in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake until dry, 40 to 50 minutes, stirring once or twice. Cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container.

From Epicurious? The internets, via Alexis Stewart's old blog.

Christmas Lap Terrier

2011-12-21T07:53:00.001-05:00

Jack now refuses to sit anywhere else in the car but in my lap. Heated seat for him I guess.

Assorted Christmas Cookie Cutters

2011-12-10T11:27:00.001-05:00

Two sets of vintage cookies cutters. The one of the left was a Christmas gift and I think it was for bridge and card parties, to make little tea sandwiches. The one on the right are small aspic cutters, and are great for cutting out the centers of cookies.

The post-cookie clean up. I think I used almost all the cookies cutters, at least once.

Cookie Factory, Decorations!

2011-12-09T19:39:00.001-05:00

We made a set of sugar cookie "Scrabble Letters" for my mom, I got the Recipe from kitchengifts.com. The site sells THE most amazing cookie cutters, and I figured their recipe would be good. It was perfect to roll out, it tastes good, and it made 100 letters and two blanks!

My brother's girlfriend is an artist and taught me how to marble the frosting. I make no claims that these are Martha worthy!

This is one of my favorites.

I love the hearts.

Set.

These remind me of thick crewelwork embroidery.

Cookie Factory, the Process

2011-12-09T17:40:00.001-05:00

I used a vintage aspic cutter to make the holes. Perfect size.

Aunt Elaine's Linzer Tarts Recipe

Union clean up supervisor. He did a very thorough job.

First bless the cookie dough.

The sugar cookie recipe was a dream to roll out and bake.

Jacques Torres's Spiral Cookies, Recipe

They came together well, and are really good.

Persian Apricot Slices. Much easier to make than I thought. But I would advise using unsalted pistachios and high quality apricot jam. (Damn that I apparently ate all my homemade apricot jam!)

Jack channels Sir Edmund Hillary

2011-12-05T08:36:00.001-05:00

Intrepid automobile mountaineer.

A lap warmer for those cold mornings

2011-12-04T09:59:00.001-05:00

This is all Kimberly's fault.

Shane Confectionery

2011-12-03T18:01:00.001-05:00

Some of my favorite Easter and Christmas memories are of going to Shane Candies with my dad and buying intricate chocolate rabbits and old fashioned candy for our stockings.

A couple of years ago the owners of the Franklin Fountain (the tasty ice cream shop next door at 116 Market) bought Shane's. They spent two years re-doing every inch of the building and just reopened on December 5th. It's shiny and sparkly and looks like a magical candy place.

The shop looks like it did in 1911, as do the salespeople. It's truly a lovely place to go to get candy, but also to create very special memories.

http://shanecandies.com/

http://www.franklinfountain.com/

How much is that doggy in the window?

2011-12-03T10:33:00.001-05:00

The one with the cute little coat?

(Mr. Chops waiting for me at BJ's)

Cookies 2011

2011-12-02T21:24:00.001-05:00

Cookies for the 2011 Holiday season of Cookie Factory

Rose Levy Beranbaum's Gingerbread people, from Rose's Christmas Cookies
Recipe

Aunt Elaine's Linzer Tarts
Recipe (from 2009 Cookie factory shareholder report)

Martha Stewart's Chocolate Ginger cookies, from Cookies
Recipe

King Arthur's Thin and Crisp Wheat Cookies, from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

King Arthur's Chewy Oatmeal Decorating Cookies, from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking
Recipe

Jacques Torres's Spiral Cookies, from Dessert Circus, via the New York Times
These cookies gave me conniptions, with the half a vanilla bean here and 4 egg yolks there. These better be really good!
Recipe

Sugar cookies, from kitchengifts.com. A lot of blogs talk about their "perfect sugar cookie recipe" or their "perfect vanilla cupcake recipe." This website has some amazing cookie cutters, and the recipe makes a lot of cookies. I printed it out 7 years ago so I needed to try the recipe or chuck it.
Recipe

Persian Apricot Slices - my dad makes these, this is the first time I'll have made them. They are really delicious, but I just realized I used a 1/4 CUP of butter, not a 1/4 LB. Argh.

from Kathleen Epperson's The Christmas Cook Book
8 T butter (1/4 lb), softened
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sour cream
2/3 cup softened apricot jam
2/3 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup finely chopped pistachio nuts
confectioners sugar

Place the butter, flour, and sour cream in a bowl and mix with your hands until dough is smooth. Chill in freezer for 2 hours, or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll out half the dough on a lightly floured board to a 9"x12" rectangle. Spread half the jam over the surface of the dough, leaving a margin of dough uncovered. Sprinkle with half the coconut and half the pistachio. Bend the 9" margins toward the center so the filling cannot leak out.

Starting from the 12" side, roll the dough as for a jelly roll. Stretch roll to a length of 14" and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough and filling. Make 14 evenly spaced indentations across each roll with side of a wooden spoon.

Bake for 40 minutes. Carefully remove rolls to a board and cut each roll into slices where indicated by indentations. Cool and dust generously with confectioners sugar. Makes 32 cookies.

Cookie Factory

2011-12-01T19:36:00.001-05:00

Cookie Factory 2011 is about to re-open.

I'm sitting in front of the fireplace with a multicolored fire going, listening to Billy Joel "Piano Man" WMMR Live session, with a glass of wine, ready to tear through the cookbooks below.

I swear I'm going to try new recipes. And at least a few old ones.

Cookie Factory 2011

2011-11-27T21:30:00.001-05:00

A test run of cookie factory.

Cardamom stars.

Bribing the dog

2011-11-27T10:27:00.001-05:00

I came to the realization that the quality of the dog's toy box matters. We went to a friend's house and her dog had the best toys (of course HER dog doesn't destroy his toys). Jack systematically emptied the toy box and ate all the raw hide.

Jack's toy box consists of t-shirts and skinned kong tennis balls. Very meager.

So I spent all our Amazon points on squeaky dog toys. Jack was really happy.

Test of blogger app

2011-11-26T20:06:00.001-05:00

Heh. Doggy muzzle pooches.

Beautiful weather

2011-07-09T15:14:00.000-04:00

I totally staged this to show off the tablecloth

But it was so nice we brought out cheese and fruit

And I did some embroidery.

Color advice is needed!

2011-04-10T14:02:00.001-04:00

I trash picked two of these tables. One needs to be stripped and one is painted a hideous pinky-mauve. I plan on repainting them. I need color advice or links to inspiration photos!

Ferns

2011-04-05T20:24:00.001-04:00

This is the fern I want.

Meow meow!

2011-03-31T18:41:00.001-04:00

The best blueberry crumble

2011-03-29T19:45:00.002-04:00

Blueberry Crumble
Dough
4 Tablespoons Butter at room temperature
¾ Cup sugar
1 Egg at room Temperature
½ Cup milk
2 Cups flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 Cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Topping
½ Cup sugar
1/4 Cup flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
4 Tablespoons butter, cold, cut in pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9" square baking dish.

Cream butter with sugar, add the egg, then mix in milk. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt to blend the ingredients. Add to sugar egg mixture. Gently add blueberries (do not defrost frozen blueberries). Transfer to the baking dish.

For the topping place the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter in a bowl. Cut with a pastry cutter or two knives until crumbly.

Sprinkle topping over batter. Bake 45 minutes until tester comes out clean.

Easter rabbits

2011-03-28T21:53:00.000-04:00

This year, of all years, I wish we could buy our Easter candy at Shane candies.

Warm weather cake

2011-03-12T16:35:00.000-05:00

JoC buttermilk cake with jam and powdered sugar.

Cabinets are in

2011-01-26T08:21:00.002-05:00

The kitchen renovation has hit a major completion point - almost all the cabinets are in.

Now that the wall is gone and the to-the-ceiling cabinets are in place, my two major concerns, would the cabinets overwhelm the space, and would the kitchen look bigger without the wall, are relieved.

The cabinets look fine, in fact the tall cabinets make the ceiling look taller and help to fill the space. I think short cabinets would have looked skimpy.

Removing the wall was the best part of the renovation - it unified the two rooms and made it feel like a real kitchen. The remaining bit of wall adds some structure to the space, and makes a place for the breakfast table.

Next is beadboard wainscoting in the breakfast room.

Done, and to be done

2010-11-20T17:21:00.000-05:00

Status report:

Done:
Spiced nuts
Spinach onion dip
Herb cheese palmiers
Creamy chive cucumber cups (need to assemble)
Curried butternut squash soup
1 stuffing
Mashed potatoes peeled and cubes
Sweet potatoes boiled
Butternut squash peeled and cubes or risotto
Cranberry sauce and another stuffing being made by others

To do:
Turkey
Finish mashed Potatoes
Finish sweet potatoes
Cooks asparagus
Spoon bread
Butternut squash risotto with kale

Ingredients are prepped for apple slump and Indian pudding, need to assemble and bake.

Oh nuts!

2010-11-19T19:28:00.000-05:00

Appetizers:
Spiced nuts from Martha (I think)

this is exciting!

2010-11-08T21:38:00.001-05:00

The Pubby household will be holding it's first Fakesgiving meal (this is usually defined as any meal prior to Thanksgiving that consists of Thanksgiving foods. It was Molly Dogg's favorite holiday).

This primarily means we get to pull out the heavy white tablecloths and the vintage monogrammed napkins and the ruby red wineglasses and set the table!

Mr. Pubby asked me what we were going to make and I said I'm not sure but I know how I want to set the table.

That said, I've started preparing for this meal like I'm studying for a test and I've actually found myself pulling old Martha Stewart Living magazines from 1995 to see what she suggests.

So far, the kibble list consists of:
Turkey
Stuffing
Cranberry sauce
Mashed potatoes
Candied sweet potatoes
Brussels sprouts
Cauliflower au gratin

This is getting fun

2010-10-23T19:34:00.001-04:00

So we need advice.

Tea

2010-10-04T18:10:00.000-04:00

Direct influence of "Foyle's War" and "The Little Stranger" and British twitterers is a craving for tea.

Tarts!

2010-10-03T16:49:00.000-04:00

Favor?

2010-08-26T16:36:00.001-04:00

From my, like, five blog readers?

Can you save me glass jars with lids? I'm thinking jam jar sized. I'd like wide mouthed jars, like Bonne Maman, but Smuckers would work too.

And, done!

2010-08-26T09:23:00.002-04:00

I made a sample of the spoon oil last night - it's great! Easier to use than straight mineral oil and it smells faintly of beeswax. The spoons and cutting boards looked happy and conditioned. I am now thinking longingly of other people's wooden cutlery. Let me know if you want to try some of the spoon oil.

(apologies for the lack of a faux-rustic photo with all the spoons in nice lighting, the iphone decided to reject the photo)

Rummaging for ideas

2010-08-25T10:20:00.000-04:00

From 3191 Miles Apart

From Geninne's Art Blog

I think it's time to revitalize our wooden spoons and cutting boards. I'm inspired by this recipe for spoon oil on 3191 Miles Apart.

Question is, will I photograph all our wooden implements in great light, looking all rustic, as seems to be de riguer?

need to get sewing

2010-08-24T09:33:00.001-04:00

I need to get out of my funk and start sewing or there will be some cold babies come winter!

Jane Austen has just stolen any energy I have.

At least my excuse is educational . . .

7.5 lbs of tomatoes used up in a flash!

2010-08-09T10:13:00.002-04:00

Tomato soup!

Between our CSA share and Mr. pubby's grandmother's backyard tomoatoes, we had 7 1/2 pounds of tomatoes in our kitchen. We used them up in one delicious recipe.

Whole Roasted Tomatoes, from Everyday Food, April 2010

Spiced Tomato Soup, from Everyday Food, April 2010

The croutons are from the tail end of a loaf of bread we made on Friday, cubed and browned with a bit of butter and salt in a frying pan.

White Sandwich Bread, King Arthur flour

Oregano

2010-08-09T09:47:00.002-04:00

Bolted oregano and mint from the garden.

Can't really take credit for this, saw the exact same shot on a blog and thought, "I can do that!"

Finally started sewing

2010-08-07T21:54:00.001-04:00

Slowly. While the phillies lost to the mets. Bah.

Cherry pie!!

2010-07-03T10:54:00.001-04:00

I made my first sour cherry pie today. If I do say so myself it looks perfect.

I've reserved 50% for me and 49% for Mr. Pubby. 1% is for the dog tax.

So excited!!!!

OMG, Pubby got a prize!

2010-06-30T11:34:00.002-04:00

I won second place in my office's dessert contest! I added fresh sour cherries to the JoC's 1-2-3-4 cake, and used almond flavoring rather than all vanilla.

Despite the fact that the 90+ degree heat did not help the bundt cake release cleanly, the cake tatsed great!

Picnic with the Phillies Red and White Cake

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 8”x2”, three 9”x2” round pans, or a bundt pan.

Ingredients:
2 2/3 cups sifted cake flour
2 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup Milk
1teaspoon almond extract and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ pound butter (2 8 oz. sticks) unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sugar, divided
4 large eggs, divided
Scant ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
Approximately 1 cup fresh sour cherries

Sauce: Combine approximately 1 cup fresh sour cherries with 3 Tablespoons sugar, cook for 5 minutes.

Instructions:

1. Sift together twice the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Combine milk and extracts in another bowl.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy, 30 seconds.
4. Gradually add 1 ¼ cup sugar and beat on high speed 3-5 minutes.
5. Beat in egg yolks one at a time.
6. Add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with milk mixture in two parts, beating on low speed until smooth.
7. In another large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add ¼ cup sugar beating on high speed until stiff but not dry. Fold in ¼ of egg whites mixture at a time into rest of batter.
8. Pour 1/3 of the batter into prepared bundt pan and scatter cherries on top. Pour remaining batter in pan.
9. Cook 24-25 minutes for round pans, 40-45 minutes or until done for Bundt pan. Cool 10 minutes.

Adapted from “1-2-3-4 Yellow Cake” From the New Joy of Cooking

Oooh, coupons

2010-06-18T21:12:00.001-04:00

So on all these blogs I read, the fabulous women quilters are always like "I use XYZ fabric, but I buy it at Jo-Ann's when I have a coupon."

And I was always jealous of their coupons.

BUT. I got myself a coupon, so I bought 10 yards of "Kona white," 50% off. woot. And since I was short on orange I bought a few yards of sale orange fabrics.

Progress on the Quilt Front

2010-06-17T10:46:00.001-04:00

The inspiration fabric for my quilt:

Seven Islands
Goldfish Seersucker
Blue 2040-2c

Other fabrics in the quilt:

Windham Fabrics
Feedsack VI
Blue Cream Flowers 30914-6

Blue Flowers on Leaves 30910-6

I washed and ironed my fabric for my quilt, and started cutting 6" strips. I should probably measure a queen sized blanket and figure out how many squares I'll need, but right now I'm going to wing it.

I'm trying to use up older blue material (I don't have much orange) to round out the newer fabric.

So far my white fabric is coming from old sheets and pillowcases, but I'm going to need to buy more.

I finally went to Purl!

2010-06-08T17:24:00.001-04:00

Walking into Purl was almost like walking into a Martha set. Everything was arranged just.so.

I've wanted to visit this shop for a while and it was worth it. Such beautiful fabrics and yarn (made me wish I could knit and not just drop stitches). I wound up spending a bundle. Well, three bundles to be precise. With the quilts below in my mind as inspiration I bought three bundles of fat quarters. One is a bundle of printed fabrics in shades of white, blue, and orange, and two are spectrum bundles in orange and blue.

So. This is nice fabric, and it cost me money, and I'd like to make something beautiful with it. I'm leaning toward the hourglass quilt below, but the more colorful quilt also caught my eye.

They are both from the same blog, Red Pepper Quilts, and she sells several of her patterns on etsy.

Red Pepper Quilts Quilt Patterns

Any advice?

From Red Pepper Quilts

http://www.redpepperquilts.com/2010/05/remember-hour-glass-quilt.html

From Red Pepper Quilts

http://www.redpepperquilts.com/2010/05/hst-overload.html

Reunion treats

2010-06-04T20:51:00.000-04:00

Yum?

Oatmeal with toppings

2010-06-03T07:32:00.000-04:00

CSA strawberries and mulberries.

Molly's annual Atlantic dip

2010-05-29T21:51:00.001-04:00

Travels with Molly Dogg

2010-05-28T15:18:00.001-04:00

Molly's in clover, literally.

Enjoying a snack from veterans assoc

My snack - Stew leonards strawberry rhubarb pie from reststop from veterans assoc. Yummy!

Molly Dogg goes to Twistee Treat

2010-05-23T16:48:00.001-04:00

If you live in my city and know "where the Sears building used to be" you might know the Twistee Treat shop. It's a giant pink soft serve cone and we went there last night.

Someone got some vanilla softserve.

Almost gone.

Checking both sides.

Then someone else gave someone his cone end.

Chomp. Best part of the cone IMHO.

Dinner

2010-05-23T16:40:00.001-04:00

Since we're going to watch the eighteen billion hours of Lost tonight, dinner is early.

I will probably never get Mr. Pubby as good a gift as The Weber.

Spicy shrimp from St. Bittman.

First grilled zucchini.

A Martha Day

2010-05-22T11:48:00.001-04:00

We made a frittata today for breakfast, from February 2010 MSL.

Potatoes, onions, and a crazy amount of eggs. It was very tasty and came out perfectly.

I'm also making multi-grain bread from the same issue.

And iced tea.

And I'm going to plant my new Rosemary today.

Thai coffee

2010-05-21T18:07:00.000-04:00

Is my new obsession.

Sweetened condensed milk

Can you see the steam from the expresso?

Roses, redux

2010-05-20T18:52:00.001-04:00

So. Rosa yellow submarine just did not survive.

Rosa bonica is doing well.

White Flower Farm is going to send a replacement rose, Graham Thomas.

A little concerned about climbing tendancies, but I like the color and fragrance.

Dogs eye view

2010-05-20T18:43:00.000-04:00

Transplanted

2010-05-20T09:55:00.004-04:00

Planted the shrubbery last night. Mr. pubby and I debated where to put it, but since the Redbud seems determined to die off, we need to plan for its absence.

It's sort of in the middle of the yard, just beyond the current edge of the planting bed. If we extend the planting bed (which is our summer project) the shrubbery would be part of the bed.

Ideally it would've been further back, but the leaf compost pile is behind it and we have no good place to move the pile. Maybe it stays there and is hidden by the shrubbery.

More plants!

2010-05-19T20:52:00.001-04:00

My office complex is being renovated and the center courtyard space will be torn up and replanted when the new building is complete.

I had my eye on some shrubbery (that must be said in a Monty python voice) directly in the path of distruction.

Unfortunately the space was too tight (they were squeezed between the building an a bench) and my time was limited. I was resigned to writing a plant FAIL blog entry ...

BUT there were other self described plant geeks there and they kindly dug up my shrub.

I planted it in the back yard tonight. I hope it likes its new home!

(thanks is given to my office and the far sighted administrators. I hope this helps with our LEED certification!)

Lovely little park

2010-05-15T14:04:00.001-04:00

With a stream

And a dog

Potatoes AND rice?!

2010-05-14T19:40:00.001-04:00

Sign me up!

Curry chicken and potatoes with rice. Yummmmers!

Mr. Pubby showing his 'sticks skills.

Note to self

2010-05-13T19:42:00.001-04:00

One whole hot pepper is way too frigging hot for 3/4 of a cabbage slaw.

Mouth. Burning. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Haul from yard sales

2010-05-08T20:55:00.001-04:00

Today was my borough's yard sale. Great stuff was found and lots of fun was had.

I went with three friends who were on the lookout for baby stuff, which considering that 76% of yard sale items are baby related made hunting much more satisfying since we could actually contemplate buying things.

My yard sale lookout list (which overlaps with my trashpicking list) includes:

Vintage tablecloths, linens, and fabric
Vintage 1940-1960 platters
Useful vintage Tupperware
Vintage christmas ornaments (I've found three sizable trashpicked stashes)
Anything ceramic in that light greenish Martha color
Vintage canisters

I have enough of all these things that I'm pretty picky and I don't buy everything I find.

Except platters. I'll buy those as long as they suit me. (see below)

I may have a minor addiction to vintage Christmas ornaments. All for $2

Pair of lamps in need of TLC $2

Vintage planters. I've always been attracted to these types of planters but never bought any. I sense a new item to add to my look out list. $2

Three more vintage platters. Small and large dogwood blossom platters and one with pink/ blue abstract flowers.

Not pictured:
pasta roller $2 - I figured for two bucks I could try it. And Mr. Pubby expressed an interest in making pasta.

Pre yard sale breakfast

2010-05-08T09:46:00.000-04:00

As styled by Mr. Pubby

Best husband

2010-05-06T20:40:00.001-04:00

After a long day at work I came home to grilled salmon burgers with basil dill sauce, roasted potatoes, and purple cabbage slaw.

Oh yeah, and homemade iced tea.

Mr. Pubby rocks.

Quick wedding post

2010-05-01T21:49:00.001-04:00

Quick post from the wedding in NC

White peonies

Shane! (Mr. Pubby in a Victorino shirt)

Excellent

Three words fried.green.tomatoes.

Banana pudding

We found the farmers market and the strawberry festival in Durham.

Excellent

Coconut cake. V good

Milkshake. Taking the catering world by storm. First time I've had it in a real event. V good and an excellent idea.

Dessert

2010-04-30T21:27:00.001-04:00

Puddin'

Fried green tomatoes=awesome

2010-04-30T20:22:00.001-04:00

First asparagus of spring

2010-04-29T20:11:00.001-04:00

Straight from the CSA!!

And into

Molly dogg's

Belly!

Coffee

2010-04-29T20:06:00.000-04:00

And memories

A tale of two breakfasts

2010-04-29T08:35:00.001-04:00

Us: eggs, hash browns, biscuits, coffee

Molly: cantaloupe, broccoli stems, kibble, in that order.

She is by far the healthier pubby!

Molly breakfast

2010-04-28T07:46:00.001-04:00

Oatmeal and cantaloupe.

Those damned rabbits

2010-04-13T21:09:00.001-04:00

I

Hate

Rabbits!!!!!!
() ()
(**)
(^^)@

But I

Love

These Spring flowers!

Straawberry

2010-04-09T21:39:00.001-04:00

Garden Progress Report

2010-04-08T20:50:00.001-04:00

I love ruffled daffodils

Hydrangea

Hydrangea II

Bleeding heart

Vinca minor

Planted Roses

2010-04-08T20:43:00.001-04:00

The roses arrived two days ago. One was bare root and one was in a pot. Since they needed to be planted within five days, and because this weekend is going to be happily busy, my goal was to plant them today.

I have to admit I'm anxious about raising roses. My lack of garden planning knowledge means that every plant placement is fraught with second thoughts. I feel like most people in my neighborhood plant shade plants in the sun and sun plants in the shade, and everything too close to the foundation of their houses, but their gardens thrive. Whereas I try and match everything I can and respect the plants personal space and I still have massive plant jealousy.

Mr. Pubby says that the evil demon rabbits love the daffodil buds so much because the plants are so happy and well fed with compost. Hrm.

To increase the roses' chance in life I scooped out some lovely worm eaten compost and mixed it with the clay based soil and peat moss. Filled the holes with this mix and planted them in the sunniest unoccupied spot I could find.

So cross your fingers.

Vinca minor with "minnow" daffodils

Chinese poppy, azalea, bleeding heart.

Chinese poppy growing like mad

Signs of Spring in my neighborhood

2010-04-03T07:39:00.001-04:00

Or, daffodils I wish I had.

Ok guys I'm ready to go!

2010-04-02T18:24:00.001-04:00

DumplingsDinner

2010-03-30T19:17:00.001-04:00

Yummers.

perfect hash browns

2010-03-29T15:38:00.001-04:00

The Pubbies love hash browns. But the Pubbies inevitably use the wrong potatoes and then also not cook them properly and wind up with burned AND raw potatoes. ick.

The NYT column, The Cheat (which is fast becoming my favorite food column: fish tacos, pizza dough, and cider brined pork chops!!) had a recipe for hash browns last week. It explained how to get rid of all of those problems. Yellow potatoes. Boiled first, then grated. Clarified butter, and lots of it. Properly seasoned cast iron pan. ahhh.

The Pubbies even learned patience, to allow the potatoes to brown and not try and flip them too early.

The Pubbies followed every step religiously (only squabbling over skimming the butter) and wound up with perfect, browned, not burnt, cooked all the way through, hash browns. Along with a poached egg (Ms. Pubby) and a scrambled egg (Mr. Pubby) it formed part of a perfect Sunday night dinner.

Mr. Pubby makes chicken pot pie

2010-03-21T18:47:00.001-04:00

And it is delicious.

Spring!

2010-03-21T10:37:00.001-04:00

Roses!

2010-03-18T09:27:00.001-04:00

Punked out on the raspberries, it was a mix of 6 plants, way too much for our garden space, unless we rearranged everything.

But I ordered:

Rosa Bonica

http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/66660-product.html

Rosa Easy Elegance Yellow Submarine

http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/66652-product.html

Let's hope we can grow roses . . .

Yogurt and granola

2010-03-17T07:43:00.001-04:00

Crunchy!

Burst of creativity

2010-03-16T21:13:00.001-04:00

Decision time - garden

2010-03-16T08:29:00.000-04:00

Ok. Since my garden design skills are limited to buying plants, estimating how big they will get and how much sun they will need, and then sticking them in the ground, I should stop debating what to get from white flower farm and just buy something.

I'm going to buy the Bonica rose Helen suggested and some raspberries. Two things I've wanted for a while now and two things I have NO idea where to put, sun not being a huge part of our yard.

This may turn out to be a foolish choice!

First time granola

2010-03-15T20:15:00.001-04:00

Via Alexis Stewart's blog via nyt

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/dining/101mrex.html

http://www.whateverradio.com/website/blogs.php?id=1201

Progress!

2010-03-14T15:08:00.001-04:00

Lawn, lawn, flower bed.

2nd to bloom

2010-03-13T12:54:00.001-05:00

Crack'n'mac'n'cheese

2010-03-13T12:53:00.001-05:00

YUMMERS.

Mac'n'cheese

2010-03-13T11:12:00.001-05:00

Making martha's mac and cheese.

Hurrah for the cuisinart!!

How does your garden grow?

2010-03-12T15:31:00.001-05:00

I have a $50 gift card to White Flower Farm

But I can't figure out what to buy.

I'm thinking of:

English Musk Rose

Raspberries

Some kind of iris

Some sort of floofty cone flower?

or poppies?

It just has to be a perennial. No more annuals.

Shade is good

(Bleeding) burning heart

A letter to our garden

2010-03-11T17:38:00.001-05:00

Dear bulbs,

I know you're there. I planted 300+ of you. Could you please start coming up faster?

Everyone else's crocuses are blooming. I'd like a hit of spring!

Kthxbai,
Pubbs

Baking

2010-03-09T20:53:00.001-05:00

Making my third apple cake in as many weeks. Yum.

This one is just for me (us).

Homemade dumplings for dinner with a glass of wine.

And some senior kibbles.