We have returned from our weeks long trip to Oregon!
We have landed big sister back into school and are now trying to gather the pieces of life left strewn in our wake and get some routines going again. I look forward to this settling in and, though we're hovering near 100 degree days right now, a turn toward the home and its warmth and remembrance.
More from our trip and our summer coming soon!
FOR TODAY
Outside my window...is the view from my parents' house out across the hillsHere is picture for thought I am sharing...
More from The Simple Woman's Daybook
A few nights ago we got to go out to a movie! Just Papa and I together. It was lovely and he even brought me flowers. And, even better, our lovely friend Anise came over to spend time with baby girl and took this lovely lot of photos.
It was so inspiring and sweet to see our life through the eyes of another. Like a sweet, gentle hug. Thank you for this and for the time away from all this sweetness~
I just dove into a large offering of Panne Cotta and I have to say, Ms. Garten, that this was really easy (mix two, heat three, add bean seeds and mix all together) but it tastes just like the Brown Cow Vanilla Yogurt with cream on top which I buy at Whole Foods for the girls.
Is it me or should it taste like fancy yogurt? And now that I have about 2 quarts of the stuff, who is going to come over and help us eat it?!!
The real trouble here is that I think the Panne Cotta has got the yogurt beat in the calorie department by about 10 to 1. This stuff is just BEGGING to jump onto my hips!!
A few weeks ago, we had some nice friends and neighbors over for a little get together. I've mentioned already the oysters, the beer and the pizza. For my next trick, I will show you the kale chips. And what I have learned.
Choosing the freshest of kale is always best, but if you don't have access to kale in your front yard, find some nice quality stuff at the store. My mantra is local-is-better, so better yet, find some at the farmers market. Maybe it will still have the secret ingredient in it, too. Only you will know!
Unlike the Bon Appetit recipe, and the one that I so joyfully repeated (drunken style, sorry folks!) several times during the party, YOU SHOULD REMOVE THE RIBS BEFORE COOKING! Take a look:
Tuscan blue kale~Ribbed
As you are removing the ribs, you may notice, depending upon where you purchased/harvested you kale, that there might possibly maybe perhaps be some spiders and or aphids on your kale. I took a look at this and saw each and every leaf had A LOT of small spider eggs and usually a big fat spider, tucked within the folds. I left them all there. I figured that they will add a small dose of protein to our diet because I'd be wasting gallons of water trying to remove them before cooking. And yes, I did the same thing for the party kale, so if you came and ate some there, you did eat bugs. If anyone happens to notice this, just tell them it's pepper!
After you have removed the ribs from the kale and given it a good rinse, set it on the largest cookie sheet you have. You will notice that some of the leaves still have their ribs. This is just on the most tender small leaves. If you leave the ribs on the big leaves, you will be happily munching along and suddenly the dry rib will get stuck in your craw (you'll know it when it happens) and you will curse me for not telling you to remove the ribs. Don't blame me if you skip this step~you've been warned.
Tuscan kale~ribless
After you have dutifully removed the ribs, you are going to add some olive oil. This is entirely dependent on how much oil your diet can afford and/or the amount of oil your doctor has recently told you to stop adding to your cooking. I put the whole lot of leaves on the largest baking sheet I have, add the oil and then give it a good massage.
Tuscan kale~with olive oil
Final touch~sprinkle on some pepper and a doctor approved amount of salt and put in the oven. In my Wanda Wedgewood, it is taking about 25 minutes for this kale to cook and we're going at about 400 degrees. Do watch this carefully, it can burn!
Enjoy! We eat ours straight up (with bugs) and it's delicious. You can search around or create your own special spice topping to add, but the flavor is going to be outstanding on it's own. They do make good appetizers, though they also leave a bit in the teeth, so watch for that or just ignore it when you see another guest looking a little green in the tooth.
*as I am posting this, I am sending apologies to the lovely Rebecca over at Girl's Gone Child. A few days ago she posted a similar recipe for kale and I took one look and saw "how many photos! how much verbiage! This is the simplest damn thing ever to make! Cut it shorter, girl!" And yet here I am, doing the same thing. My apologies. If you need a better recipe, though, one where the kale is tenderly dried before baking and not just thrown onto the pan, do visit her site. She is much more mannerly about this process than I am.
*I'm just going to add a silent comment here about Kipper. I cannot actually express what I am thinking about this show, not for lack of words but with the realization that someone somewhere might take my thoughts out of context and sue me use them in the wrong way. So, I've not said what I'm thinking but years down the road I'll still wonder if Kipper ever grows up and gets married or if he goes off stage left and hangs out with the otters from Bear in the Big Blue House.
FOR TODAY
Outside my window...I see my Eden climber & Sally Holmes roses bloomingMore from The Simple Woman's Daybook
this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
this is the small child who is not small anymore and has a birthday to celebrate very soon!
This weekend we decided to tackle a bit of window installation. We have been planning this for months and have been waylaid by rain, rain, more rain and finally the busy of summer. This weekend went by fairly unprovoked, with Papa getting on the well side of strep throat but not much else.
There were several things standing in the way of the actual project as well, not the least of which neither of us has ever installed a window *nor seen it done*. To further the troubles, we had a lot of information on the internets available, but that is all it was. Information. Very FEW pictures. This was a visual project and we needed more information. We didn't get it and so puzzled our way through.
There was an aluminum frame to wrestle with. This was the trickiest part of the whole operation. We removed the glass from the framing and then cut the frame in half at the bottom with the sawzall.
After that, we had to puzzle out how much of the wood trim surrounding the window had to come out before the new window would fit in. This was tricky in the sense that once it was done, it was done. We weren't really going to be able to put that wood back in if we messed up.
But we didn't! And...this is what we ended up with:
Okay, no. We didn't chop down the tree you just saw in the first photo. I just took a photo of the *other* window in the room to illustrate what was in there. But in case you are wondering, that tree probably should be chopped down before it strangles our plumbing!
Now, without further ado I need to go and water the yard. After a few weeks of waiting, two more windows will arrive at the HD and we'll have new windows in our bedroom! The better to see all of this with~
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