Category Archives: garden

This is the best pumpkin I’ve got right now. One of two. The rest of the vines are going crazy with blossoms but I don’t see any pumpkins forming. The one in the photo is bigger than a softball but smaller than a soccer ball. I can’t think of a ball that it’s the size of.

The cucumber vines are going crazy with little cucumbers. In a couple of weeks I will be weeping about the over-abundance of cucumbers I have. I can’t wait.

I realized this afternoon that I haven’t made ice cream once this summer. Probably because it was only hot for about 5 days. I might make some next weekend just so I can say that I did. I have a lemon buttermilk recipe that’s delicious. I can’t the proper link right now.

I’ve taken a half dozen photos of this particular dahlia trying to capture the amazing color. This photo isn’t doing it either. The flowers are an amazing deep purple color with smoke on the water overtones.

My cooking magazine had a two page spread on “fool proof” pie dough.

Making pie dough is like trying to lose weight. You think every “fool proof” article is going to have the answer but after all is said and done, you have to do it right or it doesn’t work. This article didn’t have anything I haven’t heard before and the “trouble-shooting” section didn’t include any of my troubles.

“My pie dough is like sand no matter how carefully I measure everything and think good thoughts.”

My new dinner-plate dahlias are finally blooming. I don’t usually love the ones that look manufactured — but these are bigger than my head. It’s tough not to be impressed.

I’m working on the home projects. I’m fixing the wall in the shop so I can re-hang the shelf that fell down. It’s been really nice to hang out with my putty knife again. I wish all of life’s problems could be fixed with putty and a little sanding.

I bought some titanium anchor-tanker toggle whatsits that are supposed hold elephants if you use them to bolt your shelf to the wall. I think our wall is made of toilet paper and spit so it probably won’t work but I’m going to try anyway.

The big news is our amazing dinner we made tonight:

We grilled corn using Mark Bittman’s tips and couldn’t believe we’d never had such delicious corn before.

The other score was the Berriyaki Sauce we discovered at the market this morning. We were doing the rounds figuring out what we wanted to buy when Bob stopped at the River Wave Foods which we’d never been to before. She explained their products including this yummy sauce perfect for brushing on grilled salmon: our menu plan for tonight. We bought a jar.

It was so delicious it should have its own national holiday. Not too sweet, not too salty. Really amazing. I know what people are getting for xmas this year.

This represents 25% of my lemon cucumber crop this year. I don’t understand what went wrong. I had tons of vines going everywhere with lots of blossoms.

I have a ton of notes jotted down here that don’t go together. I’m just going to type for a bit and see how it all comes out.

Yesterday was the first crockpot meal of the season. My crockpot is desperately underused. I’m always looking at crockpot websites and cookbooks and they always seem to have ridiculous recipes like apple cider. Why would I dig my crockpot out from its spot in the back of the cupboard so I can heat up apple cider?

Yesterday I had a bean soup recipe and I realized I was going to be out for most of the afternoon and there wouldn’t be enough time for it to cook when I got home. So I tossed everything in Mr. Crockpot and fired him up and when I got home, dinner was done.

Today is my first cocoa of the season.

Later in the day I need to find my seasonal clothes box and get all the fuzzy wool stuff out and put away all the shorts and tanktops. I finally accept that summer is over.

Co-worker’s Dad sent him a box of goodies from WY — very securely packed with Dora the Explorer diapers and duct tape. You have to admire his ingenuity.

Bob and I have been fans of At The Movies forever. I remember watching it together in our very first apartment. At that time it was still Siskel & Ebert. We’ve stuck with it through all the changes up until last year when there was some sort of dispute with Ebert. The show was taken over by dark overlord entertainment channel people and was hosted by two discoheads with shiny teeth that talked like game show hosts. It was so awful Bob and I didn’t even last to the first commercial break. I realize it’s unfair of me to give such a terrible rating to a show that I watched for less than 10 minutes but I’m confident in my assessment.

One of the things we liked about the show is that the reviewers were intelligent with a huge knowledge of film. They weren’t there to pimp product they wanted to talk about movies. And they reviewed mainstream stuff and independent stuff. And when they found some undiscovered gem they would do as much as they could to get the word out.

This year the show dumped the phonies and returned with film nerds A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips who were often seen on the previous version. We’re so happy. Every time they make an obscure reference I get all shivery.

Peaches and chokecherry jelly from WY. I told co-worker he should tell his Dad I was putting this online and he could read my blog. Co-worker’s response: That would require teaching him to use a computer.

Last week I got an email that made me so angry I had to sit on my hands to keep from jetting off a nasty reply. Unfortunately it wouldn’t be cool to elaborate but I will say that is wasn’t a home email.

I’m almost always good about not responding to email that makes me mad or annoyed. There have been a few incidences when I failed to do that and even as I was whomping on the keyboard setting that person straight, I knew it was a bad idea but sent it anyway. I can think of one occasion where that turned into a disaster.

I don’t know what it was about this one that unhinged me. As the day went on I’d find myself trying to construct a perfect reply. One that would professionally but not passive-aggressively inform this business entity what a bunch of worthless patronizing morons they were. Dummies.

On that note, I’m going to wrap up. I have a few other items on my list but maybe I’ll write more tomorrow.