MFFM---Mid-February Friday Miscellany

Happy Friday! Oh the wind is howling, my deck table and chair and pots broke free of their bungees and skittered away, hit the railings hard. Mo was intrigued.

Indoors is sunny and we are looking for mood lifters, while dreading the afternoon walk that looms. Nothing says spring [faux-spring] like tiny daffodils and plump red radishes!

I like to crisp my radishes with an inch of spring green stem left ''for pretty".

Indoor bulb update, week three ends Sunday. The amaryllis has bloomed in all its glory. 

I am so thrilled, especially as I made a bit of a mistake in my re-growing protocol this year. Yet it carries on, so rewarding.

at least four giant lilies!

These are my Trader Joe's mini daffs. Gorgeous!

Happy!

My paperwhites on the other hand are very disappointing this year.

Only two bulbs shot right up--gangly and ugly.

They are blooming, but the flowers are SO teeny tiny, smaller than a quarter. These were the expensive nursery Holland bulbs. Amazon cheap bulbs do much better. 

Tomorrow I'll clip the flowers and remove these huge stalks, put the non-growing bulbs into the smaller Costco vase. They have not budged tho, probably a fail. I'll be patient though.

And these are my Clorox hydrangeas. I love them, though maybe it is past hydrangea time now as March begins. Too bad they're so fragile and cannot easily be stored.

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My friend L is back from warm sunny Florida, poor thing. We didn't feel up to the farmers market, that long cold hike from the car is a deterrent. So we did the funny little fresh veg stand by the railroad tracks instead. Both of us are craving lots of fresh veggies.

Radishes!

First asparagus.

And what the heck are these. They always have something new to tempt us, but NO to sour melons, lol. That is one really ugly fruit, isn't it. Bitter melon HERE

My cooking project this week is a beef and bacon stew with red wine and [optional] cognac, with dumplings. I got lovely root veggies to add. It could be a slow cooker recipe but I think I want to use my dutch oven and warm the house using my oven instead. I will let you all know if it's a success.

Even a turnip can be pretty!

I am very excited today because I have house cleaners here to do a big spring cleaning. First professional cleaning since before Covid began, the  house is a dusty dog hairy mess. It is 3 PM and the crew just arrived. I fear the bedrooms will not get attention this week, but just having the house nice enough for those fantasy visitors who may come is wonderful. The head cleaner says she may know someone to do some much needed spruce up and painting chores too. Workers in my house give me the heebie jeebies but a clean home is so welcoming and peaceful, it will be well worth the agita. And cost.

Hope your weekend is good and storm-free. Did you notice it is light much later now. Oh the joy as light evenings reappear.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

Food is Love ~ Happy Valentines Day

 

Good morning! Happy Valentines Day. This sweet vintage tea towel reminds me of the cute Valentines we shared as children. How I loved that big "mailbox'' set up in Mrs Hull's second grade classroom.

Blog friend Kit was making snickerdoodles the other day from her vintage Betty Crocker cookbook. It is very similar to this children's version my mom gave me when I was about 7. 

Very ''mid-century'', 1950s design, one of her flea market cookbook finds, I think. 

I loved the heart cake! We made it every year for Valentines Day.

I learned to cook from this funny little book. It is all about using Betty Crocker mixes, something I still do. 

I made her every year for my birthday! Though I used a canned pear. It didn't ''go'' with my dinner choice of my mom's lasagna but she was okay with my choices always.

Some other favorites, still in use, if simplified [no sails on our baked potatoes these days, lol].

aka "Toad in the Hole"

My friend brought me these fun Valentines from Trader Joe's!

Heart shaped cheese! So creative of TJ's.

We had more snow! Mo is all dressed up in his stylish grey Valentine sweater!

We both send Happy Valentine wishes to you all!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

winter hydrangeas

Making Soup

 

Hi everyone! I am still in a post surgical limbo or fog, but I thought I better show my face. I did a lot of food prep before the big snowstorm and my procedure, but this week I was inspired by a couple of lovely soups being made on Instagram. I am not a huge fan of soup but it's been so very cold lately that the idea of hot soup really appealed to me.

My soup is one on my make-do recipes, not chicken soup from scratch, I admit. My mother in law was the reigning queen of perfect homemade chicken soup. When I was married I often made her soup for my husband who expected soup every night before his salad and main course, except on the hottest days of summer. [Of course my soup wasn't as good as MIL's, only to be expected! But I tried.]

One of the IG soups added fresh kale to the classic chicken soup, which was the attraction for me. 

I sautéed  half a Vidalia white onion, half a diced XL carrot in butter. Then the scallions added for just a quick stir and wilt, two minutes max.

Added 6+ Cups of premade chicken broth. Brought to a boil, then a low simmer. Added big handfuls of roughly  chopped kale, well rinsed and de-stemmed. Kale was about 2" squares. Lots of black pepper, a bit of salt.

The other IG recipe had---wow!---homemade noodles! I can't wait to try making them, have not made noodles in years. I had half a package of fine egg noodles in my pantry, used them instead, pre-cooked the noodle al dente. But I did then put them in the soup as it simmered. My MIL would put the noodles or rice straight in to the bowls, not in the soup, as they soak up and ''waste'' the broth. [you decide!]

Served very hot with minced fresh scallions on top. Very fresh and delightful with cold roast beef salad and another odd baguette included in my groceries last week.

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Mo came home Sunday evening. He was not thrilled. And let me know by peeing in the house on Monday morning while we waited for the dogwalker.

Later, after the sleet and ice storm cleared, we went out to hunt for signs of spring. A few daffs are barely peeping out, so late---as the snow melts.

We also saw Mr Mockingbird, who seemed interested in Mo's treats! But then realised he likes the bayberries in the shrubbery. We were standing next to the bayberry hedge, in the way of his dinner. The fairy garden bowls are flooded with melting snow, but the reflections of the trees above are interesting.

Have you seen any signs of spring? Too early, really, isn't it.

have a good weekend!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach..

another winter/ beach walk....