Oh, how I love salad! As local veggies become more available throughout the season, the salads get tastier. There are so many different directions to take a salad, and here are my Ten Things to Put in a Salad (often together!)
1. Arugula. Mixed in with a less flavorful green, it can add zip.
2. Fresh herbs. I snip in a little of whatever is growing in the garden. Right now that means mint, chives, and sage.
3. Sun-ripened tomatoes. I prefer the sweet-100s from the deck once they start ripening.
4. Pickled lemons. These bring a little sunshine to your taste buds. Dice them up and look forward to each bite!
5. Sunflower seeds. Just a sprinkle of them is enough.
6. Crumbled cheese. I like goat or feta.
7. Boiled egg. I chop the egg. Nothing like a little kick of protein in the salad.
8. Craisins. Other fruit is good, too, but since I always have these in the house, they are a year-round salad staple.
9. Cukes. I like them peeled and seeded and diced.
10. Kalamata olives. Rough chop them and toss ’em in!
As I re-read my list, I realize that this is mainly my 3/4 year salad. In the summer, I add whatever is fresh, but I still enjoy these flavors mixed in. I don’t usually dress my salads, but if I am going to make dressing, I like a mustard vinaigrette that Sara makes (it is tres French) or Penzey’s Country French vinaigrette.
Isn’t it so nice to open the door and run around outside without first needing to put on layers, coats, mittens, boots? While I have some spring allergies, I still enjoy playing outside. Here’s my list of Ten Things to Do Outdoors.
1. Hike. I live across from a big wildlife reserve (meaning lots of acreage, not large wildlife, although I do see bear tracks), and I spend a lot of time in it with the mutts.
2. Garden. I’m more of a veggie gardener (still learning so much!), and Neal is more of a flower gardener. Both mean lots of outdoors time!
3. Kayak. I enjoy being on the water. It’s super fun to watch birds, beavers, and other critters from my boat.
4. Bike. Probably my favorite warm-weather activity!
5. Nap. Once my allergy season is over, there is little more pleasant to me than spreading a quilt under the weeping cherry and hiding out from the world. I bring a book, but I usually fall right to sleep. Wouldn’t a hammock be even better?
6. Spin. I’m not sure why, but I prefer spinning on the deck to spinning inside, which means that I do way more spinning in the warm weather than any other time of year!
7. Hang laundry. Not much is better than sleeping in sheets fresh from the laundry line. After the pollen has settled down, of course. The sight of laundry flapping in the breezy sunshine makes me happy!
8. Paint. This time of year is perfect for pulling out my watercolors, setting up in front of a pretty plant, and painting.
9. Eat. Why is eating outdoors so much better than eating indoors? I don’t know, but it can’t be denied. The season for outdoor dining is so much shorter in New England than in New Mexico, which is one of many reasons I miss Albuquerque!
10. Knit. Of course! Gather some pals, or put on an audio book, and enjoy the fresh air.
This week’s list is Ten Tips for Throwing a Big Party.
I love to throw parties, and while Neal is more of a small dinner party fan, I still remember how to do it up BIG!
1. Have a theme. An off-beat holiday to celebrate, a contest (we had a smallish big party that disguised itself as a cheesecake taste testing. Loads of fun!), costumes all make a Big Party more festive.
2. Make it potluck. That doesn’t get the hostess out of doing any cooking at all, but it sure takes off the pressure. It really helps to ask guests to let you know what they’re bringing. Make them commit!
3. Accommodate different dietary needs. Since I often flaunt my own Tip #2 and fix all the food myself, and as a vegetarian, I think it is gracious to find out about such needs and provide food for different eaters, to the best of my ability.
4. Mix signature drinks. Whether you’re serving beer, wine, cocktails, or mocktails, keep the drink menu simple. Save money and effort. People tend to bring whatever they prefer to drink with them, so that’s not a way that I accommodate my guests.
5. Mix great music. How did we deal with music pre-iPod? In my salad days*, I was married to a musician, so music was never a problem; our parties usually had an on-going jam session. Now, with fewer musicians in my life, I like to mix playlists to suit the mood I want to create. Even better is when a friend with a big music collection will make the playlist!
6. Circulate. Introduce strangers to each other, and use my favorite hostess trick: figure out the intersection between the strangers, share it with them, then leave them to make scintillating conversation. “Oh, Jane, did you know that Carl recently returned from Rome? Carl, Jane was raised in Rome!” And…they are off…and they think it’s the best party ever because they made fantastic conversation! Oh, how I love to hostess.
7. Embrace your space. I have had mobs in tiny apartments. If your guests come with a good attitude, they’ll have a fantastic time, no matter what your space offers.
8. Clean up discreetly. Even better, hire someone to pick up empty plates, take out garbage, to do all the little things that take you away from your guests. High school or college students with restaurant experience are perfect.
9. Encourage dancing. At least one person at every Big Party is a good dancer. Ferret out that person, and get everyone else moving, too!
10. Have fun. If you have fun, your guests will have fun. Set the tone and enjoy the wonderful people sharing your home for the Big Party.
What is your favorite tip for throwing a Big Party? Be sure to check out the other posts via Carole’s blog!
*Neal informed me that most Americans will read “salad days” as meaning “the best years of my life”. I do not, in fact, consider the years of my former marriage the best of my life. Rather, I had Shakespeare’s Cleopatra in mind. Specifically, I used this phrase in reference to the quote “…my salad days/when I was green in judgement, cold in blood”. Apologies for any misunderstandings!
Today’s topic is Ten Favorite Birds, which couldn’t be more timely as I’ve been enjoying the avian traffic flittering through the weeping cherry tree.
Not all of my favorites are outside, though.
1. Birds of a Feather. This adorable pattern is a great entree into softies if you were thinking of taking up the acrylic and hook.
2. Blue birds. My pal Cae has created a blue bird haven in her back yard. I enjoy knitting on her screened porch with her and catching glimpses of the little darlings. They look like three-dimensional flying watercolors.
3. Indigo bunting. I saw my first one while biking last summer, and I thought I’d seen an escaped exotic bird!
4. Heron. When I commuted by train along the Hudson in my NY days, I often saw a heron (not sure what kind) just as the train pulled away from the Croton-Harmon Station. I looked for it every day and took it as a good omen when I saw it.
5. Cardinal. I like the lady cardinals best. They look like they might be nuns.
6. Eagles. When Neal and I visited Albuquerque to look for my first apartment there, we drove up Sandia Crest and were flabbergasted to see a Golden eagle. Bald eagle sightings here in Connecticut, while not common, are not unusual. Such sightings always amaze me.
7. Owls. We have a noisy owl population in the woods around our house. I love hearing them in the wee hours of the morning, even if I don’t love the dogs’ barking at them.
8. Hummingbirds. They crack me up in the summer with their angry antics.
9. Seagulls. Their cry evokes the pleasure of the beach.
10. Friendly birds. Fun to make, cheering to have around the house every spring.
Want to save money at the grocery store? Well, you probably don’t want to shop like I do, then. Still, Carole asked for Ten Ways to Save at the Grocer’s, and I’ll do my best to comply!
1. Plant a garden. If you’re a really smart gardener, you might be able to eliminate hundreds of dollars from your food bill over the course of a season.
2. Flirt with the best gardener in your neighborhood. Neal claims that I have somehow winked and smiled my way into the good graces of our retired neighbor, Mr. Excellent Gardener. I think he’s just generous with the tomatoes and zukes!
3. Learn to preserve. Each year I set a goal of preserving enough tomatoes to last through winter. I haven’t gotten there yet, but I have saved a lot of money with my canning. I won’t even talk about jams, jellies, and fruit in the freezer! Here’s one of the places I go for inspiration.
4. Bake your own treats. You can control the ingredients, you can control the quality, you can control the cost. Plus, there has to be at least a few calories burned when you stir butter and sugar, right?
5. Meal planning. Plan by the week or month or whatever works for you. Having a plan saves money because a plan means you will…
6. Make a list and stick with it. Seriously. Don’t start re-imagining your meal plan. Just get what is on the list. I sometimes imagine I’m the kitchen help (well, sometimes I feel that way!), and if I stray from the list, there will be T.R.O.U.B.L.E. Yes. Grocery shopping requires games at times.
7. Shop alone. I won’t name names, but sometimes when other people accompany me to the grocery store, they stray from the list. That is the kind of behavior that gets the kitchen help in T.R.O.U.B.L.E.!
8. Plan really carefully. If there are expensive ingredients for a meal you want to make, figure out what else you can make with those ingredients. I made an asparagus tart for Easter dinner, and I’ll use the extra asparagus for a quiche on Thursday (boy, I wish it had come from my garden instead of the store!).
9. Buy in-season produce. One hopes that means it is local, which one dreams will mean that it is less expensive.
10. Shop at a quiet time. I don’t like to be angry when I grocery shop; it keeps me from comparing prices. Crowded stores with people who don’t understand the rules and shop like they are the only people in the store and have no clue how to navigate an aisle system make me a little angsty. Okay, a lot angsty. If the store is quiet, I can be smart about my decisions without also fending off the crazies.
Notice I said nothing about coupons. I rarely use them because most of the ones I see are for products I don’t actually need or want. I’m not about to buy a bag of chips because I can get them for fifty cents off. Perhaps this is a bad tactic on my part, but I mainly shop the perimeter, which also means less coupon-prone products, and usually means, in fact, higher priced products (produce, I’m talking about you!).
What are your methods for spending less at the grocery store?
I cropped out as much snow as I could so none of us would have flashbacks to a few weeks ago. If you are still suffering with snow, I apologize for any pain this picture causes!
Carole asked for Ten Things I Love About my Family. There are so many ways to think about family that this directive gave me pause. I have my family of origin: my parents, my four older siblings, two sisters-in-law and four nieces and four nephews. There are cousins galore. I have in-laws, including two great nieces. I have friends who have become family to me; friends who play with me and help keep me strong when I sometimes don’t feel strong.
And I have my little pack, the mob of mutts who make me laugh, who snuggle up to me, who drive me a little crazy, all led by their capable alpha, Neal.
What’s the common thread, then? What do I love among all these branches of family?
1. Humor. My family likes to laugh. My in-laws like to laugh. This makes getting together fun. (I would like to register a complaint, perhaps a common one among youngest children: no one ever seems to want to play any games, though! Come on, people!)
2. Acceptance. Even though I have always been “different,” my family doesn’t hassle me about it. In a family of engineer-y, number-y type people, I was odd-girl out. I remember my mom excusing my differences as “creative” (before people indicated quotes with fingers, my mom did so with the tone of her voice). “She’s the ‘creative’ one,” mom would say. I think hearing that over and over in my childhood made me unafraid to create and experiment.
3. Storytelling. My parents are both story tellers. I have to warm them up, but it is worth it! My mom has a brilliant memory; she is able to pick up a precious object in her house and give me its history–who owned it, why it matters. My dad takes longer to get going with a story, but he has some goodies, especially from his childhood and teen years growing up in Ohio.
4. Frugality. Looking back at my youth, I realize that my parents had a few lean times. With five kids in the house, who wouldn’t? I never felt it, though. Not once. I knew better than to ask for extravagances, but that just seemed (and still does) like a right way to live. If I can’t pay cash, I don’t buy it. Living beneath means is something I admire and love about my family–not only my parents, but Neal, too.
5. Kindness. This matters more to me than almost anything else. I have a kind-hearted family, and Neal and his family are all very kind, too. I fear that our pop culture all-too-often portrays us as being a ruthless set, greedy and social climbing. Maybe I just don’t go near that type of person, but almost everyone in my life seems to live from a place of kindness.
6. Shared memory. Isn’t it one of the most vital parts of family? They know where we’ve all been. They get where we’re at now.
7. Work ethic. My parents and siblings are hard workers. I love that about them, even though a few of my siblings could use to lay off the hard work a bit (I’m not going to lecture, but balancing #7 with #1 is important!).
8. Food. There are certain foods, as in every family, that are revered in mine. Some foods I no longer eat, but the memory of them brings me back to particular joy. My father is a good cook, and sometimes on a Sunday he would make London broil with toast and garlic butter. First, I would no longer eat the meat. Next, I haven’t used garlic salt in about 20 years. I can still taste this meal, though, and it seemed quite fancy when I was a girl!
9. Dichotomy. My mom was a city girl, and my dad a country boy when they met. They raised us all in suburbia, but the dichotomy of their upbringings was evident, and I love that I feel fairly comfortable in both settings.
10. Place. Family doesn’t always have to accept what you do, no matter what. Truly, I think it is right for family to be a little critical. Really? You lied? That’s not cool. Really? You’re doing something foolish? Well, we want you to think again. Neal’s way of handling this is a little phrase that works like a charm on me: “that’s unbecoming.” I never want to hear it, nor do I ever want to see disapproval in the eyes of my parents (although every time I show my mom a new tattoo, it is there!!). This is my nature: I’m a people pleaser. But I also have an independent, somewhat rebellious streak that lies beneath my desire to please. Sometimes rebel Golightly needs a bit of a check. Place means something else to me, too: I am the youngest family member of my generation on both sides of my family. There are times when I know I’m behaving as a youngest child, and my family just dotes on me despite it.
I think I amuse them, even when I’m acting in an unbecoming way. That makes me love them even more.
How about you? What do you love about your family, how ever you define it?
Oh, I do love a snack! Carole asked for my top ten this week, so here they are:
1. Cookies! Especially dipped in a cup of hot tea.
Almost any type of cookie makes a great snack!
2. Hummus and carrots. Blog-free Spring’s recipe is my favorite, but in a pinch I like Tribe’s lemon hummus.
3. Apple and peanut butter. I like this best in the fall, when the apples are local and crisp.
4. Cheese and triscuits. Neal used to make a stack using cheddar cheese for my drive back to New York, and even sometimes when I was flying back to Albuquerque. It’s a sentimental snack for me, best on the road.
5. Pretzels. Dipped in hummus, they make a nice crunchy snack.
6. Oranges. Blood, navel; it doesn’t matter. Oranges are a fantastic snack.
Fruit!
7. Fage Greek yogurt with honey, craisins, and a few chocolate chips.
8. Tea and digestives. I got in this habit the summer I studied in Oxford, and whenever I have elevenses, it seems the perfect snack.
10. Ice! If Neal has a coke, I beg for his “coke ice”. I like cranberry, seltzer, and a squeeze of lemon over ice, mainly for the ice. I know it is bad for my teeth, but I love, love, love the crunch of ice.
Okay, maybe a few more words. I have a passionate belief that this is the Best. Song. Ever. Oh, Brandy, why did you fall for that sailor? He made it clear he couldn’t stay! C’mon girl, no harbor was his home. At least you got the locket that bears his name on that pretty braided silver chain. He never lied to you!
Want to find lists with more variety? See what’s cooking in Carole’s comments.
My librarians cull interesting books for a special shelf. I always look there first.
Oh, how I love my library! I still remember signing my first library card. What a thrill! I read everything, and I mean Every. Thing. in the children’s section of my childhood library. My mom, who had worked at the library when my oldest brother was a baby, cut a deal with the librarians, through which they would guide me through the adult section of the library, helping me to select age-appropriate books. I would take out as many as I could carry, and in the summer, sit under the tree at the bottom of the hill near the library’s parking lot and read, read, read until my mom finished running her errands and picked me up again.
Later, during my lean years in Verplanck, New York, my ex-husband and I visited our library every few days. We couldn’t afford to rent movies, but oh, how we loved watching them. Fortunately, our library had lots of new releases and plenty of classics to keep us entertained. We took out loads of cds, and of course, books.
Since the mid-90s, I’ve been part of a college/university community either as a student, staff member, or faculty member. I’m happy to have not only my fantastic public library available to me, but also an academic library. The world is at my fingertips!
I guess I’ve covered a lot of my reasons To Use the Public Library, but in case you prefer list form, here goes:
1. Books. For free!
2. Movies. For free!
3. Music. For free!
4. Audio books. For free!
5. Browsing shelves. Isn’t it fun to discover books you didn’t know existed?
6. Free wifi. I don’t use it, but it’s nice to know it’s there.
7. Computers and printers to use. There have been times when I’ve been without either or both, and it’s a comfort to know I can print documents (for a small fee) or check email if I need to.
8. Downloadable books. My pal Rae told me about this feature, and it’s been great to access books from my bed.
9. Magazines. For free! I’ve tried to cut back on subscriptions, but I still enjoy reading magazines.
10. Information about cool stuff going on. I enjoy perusing the posters and brochures near the library’s entrance. I learn about all sorts of cool events I wouldn’t otherwise hear about.
***
Oh, yes, it’s still Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, and today’s theme is all about skills. As I consider the body of my crafty work over the last year, I’m hard pressed to determine what new skills I’ve learned, but I do have one I’ve honed. I’m gaining confidence in designing hairpin lace patterns. I’ve got a number almost ready to share, and I’m super proud to have published the Picnic Mitts pattern in Craft Sanity. It feels like a real tribute to my mom and to my heritage as a crafter!
How about you? What skills in your crafting have you developed in the last year?
Yesterday was Pie Day (3.14. Get it?!), and today’s directive is a list of Ten Favorite Pies. As naughty Emma said to Miss Bates, “…there may be a difficulty. Pardon me, but you will be limited as to number…” You won’t be sore if I take some liberties, will you?
1. Pie crust. In a jiffy, this is my go-to one-pie-crust recipe, thanks to Blog-Free Kim. I hated the recipe at first. Hated! Once I started to make it directly in the pie tin, though, I grew to accept, then love it.
2. Derby Pie. The recipe is my cousin Robin’s. I woo’d Neal with this one; I used to bake Derby pie on a Thursday evening to bring with me on my weekend visit. He may have married me for my Derby pie.
3. Straight-up Rhubarb Pie. My dad’s favorite. He doesn’t go in for adding strawbs to his rhubarb pie, and I’ve gotten to prefer it this way, too.
4. Butternut Squash Galette. Sort of a pie, right? I make this a lot for holiday dinners and potlucks. Even friends who never cared for butternut squash before like this one (you know who you are, R.!) The crust in the recipe is divine, but when I’m in a rush, I use the recipe in 1.
5. Veggie pot pie. I don’t use a recipe, just add a bunch of root veggies to a pie crust and bake. Even better topped with some sort of mashed potato or yam.
6. Apple pie. I’ll try ’em all, but I don’t like ’em all. There was one, back in the early 90s that I ate in a diner off the highway along Rte. 17 in New York that has yet to be beat. Maybe I dreamed it.
7. Pineapple and spinach pizza pie. Only kind I ever order, unless it is…
