Happy 2012!

Be at war with your vices,

Friends with your neighbors,

And let every New Year find you a better man person…

Ben Franklin

(edit: ha ha ha! I guess my friends take me very literally!! I do not mean to look for a better man. I look to BE a better person. How's that!!?)

You Know You're An Obsessed Gardener When:

No vacation is complete without visiting at least one garden. 
A dead plant means an opportunity to replace it with something new. 
You hang out with people who converse in Latin outside of church. 
The nicest thing about December 21 is that winter sowing begins.. 
You frequently risk a broken axle, strained back, or perhaps incarceration to take home an irresistable rock/boulder you find at the side of the road or at construction sites. 
When it rains too hard to work outdoors, you read a garden book. 
When you and your plants are thirsty, THEY get a drink first. 
You have more than ten species or cultivars of any one genus, and you want more. 
You spend more money on your garden than on clothes. 
When shopping for a house, you look at the land before the kitchen. 
You have the urge to water those wilting, neglected plants in the supermarket. 
For at least six months a year, a manicure would be a complete waste of money. 
You take great pride in your compost pile. You even show it off to visitors. 
You start gardening in the rights of way in front of, behind, or to the sides of the property you own

Saw that on a forum I read and had to share it! Some of them are so true!
I had lunch with a dear friend at a pizza place that is about halfway between our homes. I've always enjoyed the food there, but today there was a fight in the parking lot over a parking spot and it just made me think there must be a better place
Anyways, as were went into our 2nd hour of chatting about trial gardens and new cultivars and making plans for the Chicago Flower Show, it dawned on me that I don't have any other pals that spoke about plants as much as Rose does. I wish I had more gardening friends, but my most of my friends don't have any interest until something bad happens, like the beetles eating the foliage or why their lilacs won't bloom when they prune them every April....
I have to start going to the local garden club, or something. Rose lives 2 hours away!!! It doesn't stop us from getting together, but it is too far to get together as much as we'd like!

Do you have a garden pal that lives near you? 

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve, I threw together a simple egg dish for Christmas morning.

Oven baked ham and cheese omelet with whole wheat English muffins. This was out of this world. I don't like the one with the bread or the croutons. They are more like a strata. This is more like an omelette. Delicious!

Baked Oven Omelet

adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 3 ounces cooked ham, diced
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 8x8 inch casserole dish and set aside.
2. Beat together the eggs and milk. Add seasoning salt, ham, Cheddar cheese, Mozzarella cheese and minced onion. Pour into prepared casserole dish.
3. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 to 45 minutes.

Also served Fruit Salsa. No recipe, just chopped fruit, served with 

Gingerbread shaped cinnamon sugar tortilla chips! Sooo Cute!!

hello, yummy guy!

Also served Festive Slush, Warm Parmesan Crab Dip and gluten free crackers.

Of course, we all ate too many appetizers, but were so happy to see the Prime Rib come out like this:

Garlic Prime Rib

adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 (10 pound) prime rib roast
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme

Directions

1. Place the roast in a roasting pan with the fatty side up. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Spread the mixture over the fatty layer of the roast, and let the roast sit out until it is at room temperature, no longer than 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
3. Bake the roast for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C), and continue roasting for an additional 60 to 75 minutes. The internal temperature of the roast should be at 145 degrees F (53 degrees C) for medium rare.
4. Allow the roast to rest for 10 or 15 minutes before carving so the meat can retain its juices.

In the end, we had a great family celebration. 

We used the good china and silver and crystal. It made for a lovely table. Something about the good stuff makes it a special day!

here I am with my mother-in-law!

Gracie and Cass feelin festive

Nick and Grama laughing together

here's my boy

the table looks so great, with the sun streaming on it. I wished I would've gotten a shot with the crystal on it!

Christmas in the Country

We had a wonderful Christmas.
Very small, but wonderful.

On Christmas Eve, we attend the evening church service. Hubs sings in the choir and plays guitar, so he goes to the evening and the Midnight service. The church we attend is 30 miles away. In the past, I've struggled to make the perfect Christmas Eve dinner, trying to set the oven/'s timer to cook a roast or a turkey so that I can rush back and finish dinner. I didn't always have good results....

This year, I made homemade bread with lasagna. I set the oven to turn on 350 at 7:30. While we were chatting with friends after the service, I caught the time on a friend's watch. 

8:30!!!

We were still 45 minutes away from home! I rushed home and threw open the door and was greeted with smoke and the smell of burning food. My heart sank.

I ran to the oven and slowly opened it....

What a relief to find the lasagna had spilled over its pan and was dropping sauce on the oven floor. 

Lasagna was fine. 

More than fine, it was wonderful!

I normally just float my way thru the lasagna, but this time, I followed a recipe.

This was the best lasagna I've ever tasted, I promise you. But it was also so darn good looking! Normally, it falls together and slimes its way all over the plate, but this guy stood up straight and tall and proudly showed off the cheesy layers. Yum.

World's Best Lasagna Recipe

adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

I also made homemade French bread, just because there wasn't enough going on!!!

It was wonderful!
French Bread Recipe
allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Stir in 2 cups warm water, and beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
2. On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes total. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn once. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled.
3. Punch dough down, and divide in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into large rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side. Moisten edge with water and seal. Taper ends.
4. Grease a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush on. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until nearly doubled, 35 to 40 minutes.
5. With a very sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until bread tests done. If necessary, cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack.

Our Christmas Eve dinner was better than ever.I would definitely do lasagna again. Although I would set the oven to go on about 8pm, next time! No mad dash home, worried about burning down the house!

It Can't Be Me, Can It???

ok, ok....several weeks ago, I blogged about hating the winter, snow and all. It seems that some of my pals think that post might have put the snow kibosh on the midwest. I would be ok with temps near 50 all winter, but I realize that it might be disastrous to the plants that need a good chill, the water table that needs the 3 feet of snow and the economy of places that cater to the snow loving public.
So, in an effort to make things right:

Just don't blame me if we get hit with a blizzard for the ages!

A Touching Story

This story was on several of the blogs I follow and I was touched by it, so I thought I would share it as well. I looked and looked, but I could not find a source for this story!

THE GOLD WRAPPING PAPER - An Inspiring Christmas Story
Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family's only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.
As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten the money to buy what was in the shoebox.
Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!"
As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her.
But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young lady," he said harshly, "when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside the package!"
The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full."
The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

Merry Christmas

Peace on Earth. May Peace reign in our 

hearts and our minds, this Christmas and always...

Happy hummus

For my birthday lunch, my family took me out to middle eastern restaurant!
Pictured are tabouleh, hummus and gyro salad.
Also picked up a new gadget from which I am sending this post!

Pest Invasion

A little town on I90, Genoa Illinois, will be cutting down 11% of the city's trees. The Emerald Ash Borer has been confirmed in their town. Genoa is the 80th community to confirm the existence of the tree killer. 

Some of the smaller ash trees will be removed, even before they are effected by the borer. The ash borer was first discovered in southeast Michigan and in Windsor, Canada. A tiny town east of me about 40 minutes, Lily Lake was the first confirmed place to have the Ash Borer in Illinois. 

I am convinced I had the EAB, remember this post from September, 2007?

 

Thinning at the top of the ash tree indicates trouble inside!! 

I had all the signs, every symptom. But the Extension says it was the native borer. OOOkkkkkk....but I cut it down, anyways. I guess the subdivision has some kind of rules that say every home must have 2 trees in the front yard, so a week after it went down, the maintenance guy came and planted the tree that remains there, still: 

October Glory

I respect what Genoa is doing, cutting down trees even though they aren't infected by the borer yet. It stops the spread and removes food from the chain, isolating the EAB where they found it. That's why it is so important not to purchase firewood where you camp and bring it home. Nor is it wise to cut wood at home and bring it elsewhere. Even if you don't see a borer, you could be giving the hidden eggs a round trip to a vacation destination where it will be free to roam and destroy ash trees. It is now illegal to bring firewood in or out of Illinois. 

Like so many of the invasive species we suffer with, the EAB is an Asian pest. Our native woodpecker loves the Emerald Ash Borer larvae, which is good and bad. The woodpeckers can do some extensive damage to the tree, going after the larvae, but if the tree is hosting the EAB larvae, it is in trouble, anyways. 

Hey, I have to get up and get going. The tshirt shop is closed for a while, but that doesn't mean I can sit around and be lazy! 

I've got tons to do! The church we attend is 30 miles from us. (we pass 4 other Lutheran churches to get there, don't ask me why!!) Making a nice dinner on Christmas Eve used to be such a pain that I would be so stressed out over the roast over cooking or the turkey drying out. No more. Now I'm making the big deal dinner on Christmas Day and trying to whip up something that is easy peasy for Christmas Eve. 

My solution??? Lasagna! I can put the Lasagna together tomorrow, put it in the fridge and be done! I always sneak some chopped spinach into my lasagna, but the boy has has declared he no longer will eat cooked spinach, of course, I need to figure out if he will be able to tell it is in there!

One of the most important ingredients in any lasagna is the cheese. Having 2 men with chemical backgrounds in the house has helped me figure out an issue I've been dealing with in cooking.

When I make macaroni and cheese or cheese soup or even lasagna, I struggled to get a creamy texture and not a chunky, chewy, stringy thing. 

Guess what? Pre-grated cheese is coated with an anti-clumping agent which prevents it from sticking into 1 giant cheese ball in the store. Ok, let me figure this out. If the shreds are coated with an anti-caking goo, how are they going to come together in my recipe?? They aren't. 

If you are cooking and your recipe calls for grated cheese for melting, do yourself a favor and grate the cheese yourself. Pre-grated doesn't want to come together to make a nice meal!

Alright, I'm off for a busy day. I hope you all have a good one!

Warm Enough For Ya?

Today the plains states are getting hammered with a blizzard, but here in the Midwest, we are warmer than normal! The precipitation is all rain, because the temperatures are so warm. 

Many folks are complaining about the lack of snow, something you will never hear from me. I was interested to see how far behind we actually are. 

Part of the reason we are low on snow are the warm temperatures. How warm? Yesterday marked the 16th day of above normal temperatures for December. To date-December 2011 is 15 degrees warmer than last year's temperatures. The experts have been keeping track of December's temperatures since 1871 and 2011 falls in the top 20% of the 141 years.

All the warmth and rain is just fine with me, but I wanted to know exactly how much snow this area normally sees this time of year. I went to the National Snow Analyses sight. (Did you know there was one???!)

Snow Depth, 2009

2010 Snow Depth

Current Snow Depth

Wow. What a difference. Yesterday, it was 50 degrees.

Wonderful, but I am not naive enough to think this balmy weather will last all winter. It will snow, sooner or later!

Product Description

This Inflatable Turkey looks so delicious you can almost smell the stuffing. But keep the carving knives away, because this bird is strictly for show! Each 16" (40.6 cm) long, vinyl turkey is perfect for staging your Thanksgiving table while the real turkey is roasting, or batting around on a sunny day at the beach. Comes deflated in a 4-1/4" x 2-3/4" x 2-7/8" (10.8 cm x 7 cm x 7.3 cm) illustrated tin.

Why would anyone need an inflatable turkey-is beyond me, but some of these reviews cracked me up! On the bottom of the page, Amazon also thought I would enjoy the Yodelling Pickle or the inflatable Chicken. SHESSH!

Bit o' Honey

Very little that has anything interesting about it is going on around here. The weather is fabulous, though. Today is December 18th and it was over 40! We got about an inch of snow on Friday night, but it is long gone, now. There are presents to be wrapped and cookies to be made. I have invited mother-in-law over for Christmas Day dinner, but we don't have any parties planned. 

On Monday, I found a bag of bulbs my boss had purchased but not planted. So, I got the shovel and took a minute to plop them in the ground. I didn't have the luxury of time or planning, but she had purchase 8 bags at Wally for $1 per bag and they were starting to sprout! So, I dug a long trench and tossed them in. Tulip and daffs. Hopefully, they'll come up!

This summer, I hope to have Nakkid Lady Lilies! Remember those? I rescued them from a lot in Joplin, in August. I am worried that they may not be hardy enough, so I placed them next to the foundation of the house, hoping the residual warmth from the concrete will help. 

The Southerners I knew called them Nakkid Lady lilies because the foliage comes up in a rain storm in June, then it dies down. Suddenly, in August, the lily stalk comes up and they bloom without foliage! Thus, Nakkid Ladies!

We did have a bit of good news! Hubs has been working the graveyard shift since taking this new job, and it is rough. He is exhausted all the time and has moved downstairs to sleep on a temporary futon bed because he cannot sleep upstairs during the day-it is just too bright. The boss told hubs that they've hired his replacement and they want to move him to days sometime in January! What a relief!

Another bright spot-my winter boss, where I make the t-shirts, does not want me to go away for the summer, so she's made this job VERY appealing. The way my job with the grower ended up, I can not go back to them, anyways. Their company is a train wreck.

This is good news for the tomato lovers in my family. You see, prime tomato planting time is also the time where I am working over 60 hours a week. This leaves very little daylight or energy to plant tomatoes. Normally, they go in around Father's Day. Working the regular job will allow more time to tend to the veggie garden. The prospects of good tomatoes are looking good!

For dinner tonite, I have made the Mexican Pork. This stuff is wonderful. It couldn't be easier, either. Cube a pork loin, toss it in the crock pot with a can of chopped green chilies, a couple chilies in adobo, and garlic. Simmer on low for 7 hours. So easy and so good! I serve it with lime and cilantro and cheese on long grain rice cooked with lime juice and cilantro. 

I never know what to do with the leftovers from those little cans of chilies. They are quite spicy, so one or two per crock pot is plenty for my family. Using both the chipotle in adobo and the green chilies, I didn't use the entire can of either, otherwise it would be too spicy! So, I did this:

I sprayed the ice cube tray with non stick and dumped the remaining chilies in there. It is my hope that they come right out, and I can pop them into a ziplock! We shall see....

I have had so many folks ask about the granola. I make it every Sunday and did so again, today. 

I know Cher thought this amount is extreme, but 3 of us eat this every day, sometimes I have it for lunch and breakfast. It is not an extreme amount if you are eating 3 cups per day. Either way, I truly don't think granola can be messed up. I started with whole old fashioned oats as a foundation and added from there. We are not eating white sugar, so I took that into account and made a delicious wholesome granola!

6 cups whole oats

1 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)

1 cup sunflower kernels

1/2 c slivered almonds

1/2 c walnuts

1/4 cup flax meal

1/3 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup organic honey

1/2 cup real maple syrup

2/3 extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt, (important as salt amplifies sweet!)

Mix thoroughly and allow to set for a few minutes to allow the liquid to be absorbed in the dry. Spread onto lined and sprayed cookie sheets (honey sticks and burns!). I then sprinkle both trays with 1/2 packet of Truvia sweetener.  

Bake @ 300 for 45 mins, stirring every 15 mins. 

While warm, toss in some dried fruit if you like! I add 1/3 cup dates, cranberries, and raisins.

Granola, non fat vanilla yogurt and no sugar added frozen berries = 13 lbs GONE from Sissy!

We've decided that we will indulge a few times during the holidays, cookies, Prime Rib, and some other goodies, and go back to Phase 1 for January. 

Soon, I will start to plan the whole Winter Sowing thing. I begged Sue for the trays that she uses to sow, (have you seen Sue's gardens???) and I just know it will work for me. 

A box arrived from Sue and I placed it in the closet, so I didn't get it strewn all over the place and lose the trays before Winter Sowing time. I almost wrapped it as a gift, the other day! 

Soon it will be time to concentrate on growing, again!