Summer remembered

West Waterfall-Nishi No Taki

 

 

 

 

“In our hectic and stressful world, Anderson Japanese Gardens opens minds to a different culture while offering guests a place of peace and tranquility where they will find healing, renewal, inspiration, and a re-energized soul"

 

How can it be that I have lived an hours drive from Anderson Japanese Gardens and I had never been there?  It certainly lives up to their mission statement that I quoted above.  The whispers created by the breeze through the leaves of the trees, the crackle of the gravel beneath your feet, the soft and loud sounds of water created by water basins, streams and waterfalls all create a beautifully peaceful and contemplative environment.  Sitting there for hours could be an easy thing to do.  We couldn't believe we had already been there two hours when we checked the time.

 I am missing these sights and sounds of summer in not only the Anderson Japanese Gardens but my own. I thought you might enjoy reliving some summer moments about now too.

 

I come bearing gifts...of beer?

 

 

 

I went to Lake Geneva last week with friends to shop, lunch, eat ice cream and go to Wal-Mart for beer.   I don't even drink beer but the good husband does.   You can't get beer from New Glarus Brewing Company in our state so I guess I was buying it just because I could.  I haven't been to New Glarus for the brewery tour but I have heard it is a good one.  That recommendation comes from a beer drinker.  Not being a beer drinker, any kind of beer tour seems a bit ridiculous.  What do I drink at the end?  A glass of water?  The worst thing being that I would end up smelling like beer.  No, I will bring beer home to him to save me from a brewery tour.  The good husband accepted my beer gift graciously but was a bit(OK, a lot) confused by my Girls Day Out purchase!  I think he liked it better than...well, another pair of shoes for myself!?!  The prospect of going out with the girls to shop will be more appealing to the good husband if I keep up this new habit of bringing him beer.  I will need to bring a case or more home if I shop with Nancy!

Pig Minds Revisited

We had our second visit to Pig Mind Brewing this past weekend.  You can read about my first visit there in a previous post, Who would have thought, a vegan restaurant/ brewery?  We think about going to eat here frequently but since it is an hour away we never seem to get there and when we are travelling north to see family we do not seem to be passing by at the same time the belly is growling for food. Planning a day of activities in that area on Sunday made it an easy decision where we were going to eat.

 

I am not a beer drinker but since the good husband ordered the blueberry one I thought I would give it a try. I was not impressed which was not a shock.  I did eat a couple of blueberries that were not yet beer logged.  That was the best part.

My choice for the day was the Seoul Food Korean BBQ Taco.  I do not profess a love for fake meat but I keep trying and when it is done right I do like it.  This was done right and so the Soy Curl Korean BBQ "Chikin" served in corn tortillas with fresh salsa,  kimchi, cilantro, lime and sour "white stuff" was delicious. 

The good husband ordered The Pig Mind Black Bean Burger.  It was not really a walk on the wild side being a black-bean burger served with lettuce, tomato, caramelized onion, guacamole, and chipotle mayo but the side of spicy coleslaw is not for the faint of heart!  As you can see, he was anxious to get going on his burger!  I had a taste and it was a great bean burger.

 

 

We(as in I) needed to taste the Pumpkin Carrot Cupcake this visit.  Good choice, really good choice!  Next visit I have already decided to eat salad and the cupcake again....hmmm, or maybe the brownie.  It had really nice flavor and was definitely big enough for two to share.  
The “cream cheese style” frosting is amazingly good and the candied walnuts are a good enough reason to order it!  I needed dessert so I would have enough energy to go do this......


 

 

 

 

I love a good "competitive" game of miniature golf even when I am robbed and lose by 2 strokes. 

At least my ball and shoelaces matched!

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Let Me Sleep

5 o'clock on a Sunday morning with the windows wide open.  What kind of loud bird is out there making the noise that sounds to me like groovy, groovy, groovy?  Annoys the heck out of me when I stayed up too late and want to sleep.  Groovy, groovy, groovy, really?  Are you a bird from the 60's?  Please fly to another tree where the memories of rose colored glasses, long hair, headbands, flowers, peasant dresses, ponchos, bodysuits, patchwork and paisley will make someone happy.  The only thing you are doing here is interrupting my sleep.

A Morning Garden Walk

I took advantage of another beautiful morning with our wonderfully cool August temperatures to take a turn around the yard.  Still in my pajamas I only walked around the deck but that was quite enough to capture some of my favorite plants dressed up in my favorite colors of pale and bright greens.  The yard is still looking so perky with the rain and cool air we have had.  Usually by this time every little thing is looking pretty tired.  Thank you, Mother Nature, we are happy with what you are giving us this year.

Sweet potato vine needs a little heat!

I added two Little Lime Hydrangeas this year and am so happy I did.  I love the petite size and the color is delicious!

Bride's Blush Hydrangea popping in between the now greening Annabelle Hydrangeas.

Bride's Blush is just starting to get its pink coloring.

Can you have too many hydrangeas?  Never!

If I had a nice camera you would be able to see how pretty the yellow rose is.

The elephant ears live up to their name this year!

Just one more thing in pretty bright green, I love it in the garden just like my dad did.  Makes everything else pop!

A little growing nosegay in memory of my mom.  She loved a yellow rose.

So When Did You Become Dr. Doolittle?

 

One Beautiful Owl

I learned this afternoon that I need to do a little bit of explaining when I say I have been feeding and caring for a dozen varieties of birds, small and large opossums, ground hogs, raccoons, coyotes, squirrels, geese, ducks, turtles and several other miscellaneous animals this summer.  A neighbor I seldom talk to was under the impression I was doing all of that in my backyard!  I know I had mentioned I was volunteering at the Fox Valley Wildlife Center this summer but I guess she didn't hear that part.  We were talking about her need to have someone watch her dogs and I was simply pointing out I was already feeding neighbor's cats, turtle and fish this weekend and was capable of handling a whole variety of animals including my own cats' strange eating patterns and need for an asthma inhaler.  Pretty certain she isn't going to be calling me.  I can just hear it, "That woman is crazier than I ever thought she was!"



Baby Oppossum

She isn't the first person I have told about my volunteer job that has thought it a peculiar thing to do.  I never really gave it a thought that anyone would think it unusual to help an animal in distress from being injured or orphaned.  Some people are particularly uncomfortable with the help we provide coyotes.  I don't judge them!  The people or the coyotes.  Most people have been supportive and very interested in what I have been up to.  One friend simply inquired, "When did you become Dr. Doolittle?",  after seeing some of my pictures.  Clever guy! There has been so much to learn, although as a volunteer, all the really cool fun stuff is left for the staff and interns to do. My definition of cool and fun may differ from what a normal person may consider cool and fun in this situation!  I have  had a great time hand feeding the babies with syringes, tubes and droppers. We are not supposed to have much eye contact with them and are not supposed to coo and talk in an attempt to prevent them from imprinting on humans.  If they become too attached to people they will not adapt to their release back into the wild.  When a baby raccoon is looking you in the eye and using one of their many cute voices it is extremely difficult to ignore.  You kind of want to bring them home but then you clean the cages and decide they stink much more than your high school football player did after doubles on a very hot day ever did. You don't smuggle out the raccoon and the smell stays in your nose for 12 hours....really, it does!  I did an informal survey and everyone agreed.




Your cage is stinky but you are cute!

 

 

There once were two kittens named Twinkle and Boo....

This is the book that started it all.  My love affair with kittens started when I was 6 and received this book for Christmas with my name and the date inscribed in my dad's unmistakable printing inside the front cover.  I'm not sure how long it took me to memorize every word of my treasured book but once I did and I must have read it to myself a thousand times.  I didn't often get a book of my own when I was the youngest of seven children.  This was my book and my book alone, and I have cherished it all these years!  I'm not sure I even shared it much with my own children, not for them to have read unsupervised anyway.  It is one of the few things I have from my early childhood.  As I pulled it off my closet shelf this morning I was 'reading' it before I even opened the taped and tattered cover. I am getting it out, dusting it off and putting it on the bookshelf in the room we have made for our new granddaughter(and other grandchildren who will follow:).  She will grow up with pups at her own house but Gramma Cat will try to foster a love of cats when she visits here.  It shouldn't be difficult since my cats are pretty irresistible to the little ones that come to visit.  I think I will just sit back and begin memorizing the words over again and I believe the book ends with a catnap for the mischievous kittens and maybe even myself.

 

 

 

Scotties and Scottish Shortbread

This post came about because of a white Scotty dog cookie jar.  What exactly is the woman dubbed the Crazy Cat Lady at the End of the Street doing with a dog cookie jar?  Good question, very good question!  My sister gave it to me when I was in Wisconsin visiting in the spring.  It came as a surprise to me and the extra surprise was when I discovered there were cookies included.  Admittedly by my sister they were not homemade and might taste more like dog treats. Hey ,they were iced in chocolate so I ate them, both packages!  No, not as good as homemade but did I mention the chocolate?  OK, not even good chocolate but if you have a chocolate addiction they will do.  Anyway, the white Scotty dog to me is a symbol of goodness, kindness and health!  The Scotty dog story is a long one but the simplified version is that the nurses at the hospital where I spent a long time recovering from spinal meningitis as a first grader gave me a stuffed white Scotty dog that I still have today.  My sister gave me a little white Scotty during my bout with cancer last year and she saw this cookie jar and couldn't resist.  He is cute and it says a lot about my sister just by the gesture.

I knew Scotty deserved some really good Scottish shortbread to put in his belly. I did too!  Never made it before.  Did not have a recipe. Hmm.  Take to the internet, of course.  I must have found the best recipe on earth or it was just so much better than the packaged cookies that came with the dog that I think so.  No, they really were good.  I will just give the link because the video was helpful to watch for making a perfect shortbread.  I will just show you my pictures.  These were the kind of thing I wanted to just hide and save for myself and I mean all of them but I did share with the good husband and sons 2&3.  I really wanted son 2 to know I can make something really REALLY good and remind him that he gets much of his skill in cooking and baking from me.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/shortbreads/ScottishShortbreadCookies.html
 

SCOTTY!

Dreaming in the Yard

"A GARDEN IS A GRAND TEACHER.  IT TEACHES PATIENCE AND CAREFUL WATCHFULNESS;  IT TEACHES INDUSTRY AND THRIFT;  ABOVE ALL IT TEACHES ENTIRE TRUST"----Gertrude Jekyll

 

 

 

 

You could probably call me a homebody.  An even better description may be that I am a yardbody. There are few places that I would rather be than in my yard.  I am pretty sure my neighbors and others wonder what I am doing out there, often gazing into the treetops.  It's not that I am always working on something, not physically anyway.  There is a lot of mind work that goes into gardening.   I realize I come by this naturally from my dad and have passed it onto at least one son.  We spend a great deal of time thinking about the possibilities before we ever put hand to spade.  What would a tree look like there?  How do I camouflage that eyesore?  What color, shape, size or variety would be best in the sun or shade?  What limbs are in need of pruning?  We are garden dreamers and though there is never time or energy to do all of it, I sure do like to sit outside and think about it.  The possibilities are great but right now I will just sit and enjoy what is already here.  I will listen to the breeze through the leaves, I will lean in to hear the rustle of critters tiny and small who have taken up residence and I will take in the colors, aromas and play of light that only my garden gives me.  Go where you will, but for me, today, I will sit and I will ponder.  I will think of my dad, I will think of my son, and I will think about his little baby girl and wonder if she will inherit the love of it all like her daddy, like I did from mine.  I hope they will be able to sit outside in their yard, listen to the trees and birds and feel that unspoken connection to all that is growing and living there.  Will she follow him around as he talks about and touches the leaves of what he has planted?  Are there things about outside she will learn to love because he takes the time to show her?  I think she will, she will be my "Little Dove" and her daddy's "Little Sprout"!  She will make daydreaming in the garden even better when she is there with us! 

 

 

 

 

 

Jalapenos coming out my ears!

Suffice it to say that one jalapeno plant always gives me far more of those little green gems than I ever need in a summer.  I offer them to everyone but no one ever takes more than one for a batch of salsa. My unsuspecting neighbor asked for one today but received five or six.  She is going to a family reunion this weekend by Lake Superior so they need to keep warm in the unusually chilly August we are experiencing.  I have made several different versions of jalapeno poppers over the years but feeling a bit lazy I decided to make a popper dip instead.  In my opinion, this dip is not as good as real poppers and it doesn't use nearly enough of my peppers!  It is very good if you are looking for a much easier alternative.  My peppers are not nearly as hot as I have had in past years when gloves were an absolute requirement and choking and coughing from the fumes nearly doubled me over on the kitchen floor!  That being said, the only change I would make to the recipe would be to add more seeds since we expected a little more fire in the mouth with our popper dip.

Jalapeno Popper Dip


2-8 ounce packages cream cheese(reduced fat is what I used)
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2-3 large chopped jalapeno peppers(seeds to suit your fire level)
***I threw in 1/2 chopped Anaheim pepper since I had one to use***
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese(or cheddar, co-jack)


1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup butter, melted

6 slices cooked and crumbled bacon(optional)

 

 

 

 

Place first 5 ingredients in food processor and process until combined.  Place this mixture in slightly greased 2 quart baking dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 Another time saving and easy clean-up trick is to make your bacon in the oven.  Foil line a cookie sheet and place bacon in a cold oven, heat to 375 degrees and bake for around 15-17 minutes.  Why make it any other way, really?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Combine crumbs, cheese and butter until well blended and spread evenly on top of cheese layer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until lightly browned, remove from oven and toss bacon on top if you are using it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serve with tortilla chips, baguette slices or crackers.  It is equally good the next day when it is cold.

 

 

 

Put the Lime in the Coconut Granola

On one of our recent regular Saturday morning walks to downtown we decided to go into a few stores that we don't normally go in but I often comment that we should.    I think the Galena Garlic Company has been in town for three years so it was about time I darkened their door.  We received a nice tour of the store and taste tested a few oils, vinegars and seasonings but didn't buy anything since my plan did not include carrying bottles of oil for two miles back home.  We did return later in the day and after I was offered a taste of the coconut balsamic oil and the lime olive oil mixed together I decided it tasted like summer and I needed to get it.  I made a good basic oil and vinegar salad dressing for a lettuce and avocado tossed salad that night but wondered what else I could do with it.  I needed a granola jar refill but didn't really think there would be a recipe using the oil and vinegar!  I was pretty surprised that there was a recipe and I was even more surprised I even thought of looking for one. The same basic recipe showed up on a variety of olive oil websites which makes me wonder, are all these oils exactly the same and sold under different names?  Probably. This is a great granola recipe if you are looking for one without refined sugar.  I really liked this recipe so next time I am trying it with raspberry balsamic vinegar and walnut oil. Granola really is my addiction...

Ingredients:

• 4 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries, cherries or blueberries(I think dried tropical fruit would be good in this recipe)
• 1 cup sliced almonds(I think cashews would be good)
• 1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut(I used sweetened :)
• 1/2 cup  Lime Olive Oil
• 2/3 cup Coconut White Balsamic, gently reduced by half and cooled or 1/3 cup honey
• How to reduce balsamic vinegar

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.  In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil and balsamic reduction or honey until thoroughly combined.  In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients except the cranberries.  Pour the olive oil balsamic mixture over the oats and mix very well until all the oats and dry ingredients are completely coated with the mixture.  Spread the granola out on to a baking sheet covered in parchment and bake for approximately 1 hour until golden brown and fragrant, stirring every 15 minutes.  Cool completely and then mix in the dried cranberries.  Store in a sealed container for up to one month.

Adapted from Oliana Oil recipe for Cranberry, Coconut, Cashew Granola with Lime Oil and Coconut

Beth's Best Granola

A friend has been requesting my tried and true granola recipe for about three months so I am finally getting around to fulfilling her request.  She has been using my Beth's Burnt Granola recipe with success and she says she has given a lot of it away to other people.  She is a wonderful homemade baked goods gift giver!  I was the recipient of her wonderful homemade biscotti and breads lovingly given as 'Front Door Deliveries' for many months during my recovery process last year.  If my memory serves me correctly I told her after one such delivery that I was pretty sure I loved her biscotti more than the Good Husband!  I need to tackle making biscotti again.  I made it once but it was not as good as hers.  Back to granola...  The burned granola recipe is actually good as long as you check on it while it is baking in the oven!  I was just mad I burned it so have not used it again. Using the following recipe all the time doesn't really get boring because I always change up the kind of nuts and fruit.  The batch shown has the mixed blueberries and cherries.  You can use golden raisins, dried cranberries, dates, or tropical fruits.  I tend to sprinkle in chia seeds and wheat bran because I always have it on hand.  I use almonds, walnuts, pecans and occasionally sunflower seeds.  I often forget the cinnamon but I think the Good Husband likes it better when I remember it.  I usually eat granola for breakfast but I think I might make this sometime with cashews and chocolate chips for a snacking granola.  That one wouldn't even last the whole week.

 

Next granola posting is a little different from the ordinary but I loved it......stay tuned!  "Put the lime in the coconut..."  

 

 

Ingredients

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup rough chopped walnuts 
• 3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon(optional)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
Combine the oats, nuts, coconut, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 parchment covered cookie sheets with rims. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve a nice toasty color.
Remove from oven and transfer back into your large bowl. Add raisins and mix.

Mine never lasts for more than a week but I think it would stay fresh for longer than that.

Growing Snowballs

The only thing growing in my yard at this time of year is a snowball!

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I would spread a little spring fever with these beautiful dahlia photos.

 

 

 

 

 

These were flourishing in the chill October air on a recent trip to Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

We jumped on a Big Pink Hop on Hop off Bus in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.  A portion of the proceeds from these tours is donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  As they say in their brochure, "never enough PINK until there is a cure"!  I would have to agree.

 

 

 

 

 

We jumped off at the Halifax Public Gardens on Spring Garden Road not knowing quite what to expect.

 

 

 

 

 

Just seeing the beds of dahlias exceeded my expectations! There is so much more to the garden that I will be sure to revisit it on this blog on another day.  It was truly a surprise to see such a lovely city garden. 

 

 

 

 

 

The flowers were still dripping with raindrops from a morning rain shower which made them twinkle in the clearing morning sky.

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot profess to be very knowledgeable about dahlias so I could only marvel at their beauty, their size (some of them the size of a dinner plate) and their diversity of color and shape.  I vowed then that I need to learn a little more about them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since spring doesn't seem to be coming to my yard soon enough I hope you enjoyed a vision of what is to come....at least in Halifax!