Avocado toast~

870 × 603 - californiaavocado.com

Cook's Corner came today and was startling.  Now that the food editor is gone, they are using food sections from different city's newspapers.  I guess this is cheaper than hiring an editor.  Anyway, Time magazine reported that Americans spend $900,000 a MONTH on avocado toast. Now, this seems like a misprint.  Some spend $19. a pop on a slice of toast with the avocado mixture on top. Who fools away money like that?

Here's the recipe:
1 ripe avocado, halved, seeded and peeled
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
2 slices country-style wheat bread toasted
Using a fork mash the avocado in a bowl.  Add the lemon juice, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Divide between the two pieces of toast.  REALLY???? That's it???

Oh, you can add the following cooked egg, crisp bacon, tomato, basil, salsa, smoked salmon etc.  See it isn't really a recipe at all.  It is a throw together.

chicken salad

The super market's rotisserie chicken makes life a lot easier.  It is also delicious so why fight it?  Once the meat is off the carcass, I throw it in the stew pot with lots of fresh herbs and let it simmer away to goodness.  Back to the chicken: I made a delicious chicken salad with the succulent chicken and every kind of raw vegetable from my refrigerator.  It is topped off with Chuy's dressing.  I am sure I have given you the recipe from the chain of restaurants called Chuy's.  I keep a batch ready in the fridge to put on salads, to use in Mac & cheese, to use for dips; it's an endless source of tasty pleasure. I found the copycat recipe online and it tastes the same when I make it.  I must confess I have started adding things to it because I cannot leave well enough alone. So let yourself go and enjoy.

Well, it has been ninety and over for several days in a row.  Most unusual for September.  The schools shut down at noon on Monday due to the heat.  The sissies.  I remember have over thirty students in a classroom, the room registering 110 degrees, and we did not shut down.  I have never taught in air conditioning in my life except when I had the reading van. I can still feel those hot days and the extent we went to in order to teach in those conditions.

The falling leaves are taking over as they do here at Many Branches every year.  The pool will close soon when it cools off, probably late October.  The later you cover and the earlier you uncover you will find your pool less dirty in the spring when it is opened.

All is quiet here.

All quiet on the home front

Today marked the first quiet day we have had in some time.  All the guests, known and unknown, have departed and we are in our slumming clothes and doing as we please.  The rest of September should be like this.  October will not be too busy, but look out November.

I sent a few squash home with Joe and Glenda and then made some butternut squash with brown sugar and butter.  It is tasty.
I continue to cook from what is on the property to clean out the refrigerator, some of the freezers and the pantries.  We have some good stuff in there.  While Glenda and Joe were here I cooked a lot and one of the things I made which was pretty good to welcome fall was Cincinnati chili. They had brought a couple of Grater's coffee cakes.  The pecan was delicious.  I had made ham and bean soup and sent the rest home with them.  Matt came over with Madeleine Friday night so we had steaks. (Well, she didn't but the adults did.) I have been making lots of simple salads and I am craving them for some reason.

I have met a new author introduced to me by Nancy, my niece.  I will let you know if he is a keeper.  He has done five books so far and I am on the first.

With the left over chili, I will turn it into shepherd's pie and top it with mac&cheese instead of potatoes as presented by The English Kitchen.

Dog's spa day

Hello from Many Branches.  Have a happy Fall.



Every September Dr. Nicole hosts the three Lechler dogs for the day: bath, shots, exams, and treatment for any other problems she sees during her intense exam. The dogs quiver and shake but she is so caring and gentle they start to feel at home then, look out. Before you know it they are running the place, or so they think.  They felt very sleek as they climbed the scales each having lost a pound due to their daily runs to the far corners of our acreage. Posy is twelve and Winston is eleven but they are moving very well.  

Joe and Glenda arrive Thursday to stay until Monday.  There will be cards involved (and drinks).

November plans: Our ladies trip to New Orleans is moving right along.  We have reservations and plans that sound like a really good time.  Mixing the Ohio Lechlers with the Battencourt New Orleans relatives and the Florida ladies has to be a good formula. The husbands want to go, but no, not this time. We will all be there on Friday at the Clabourn Mansion.  We will have dinner and then after 9:00 we will go to the Rock and Bowl.  There is a live band and bowling and I guess food, but we never eat there.  Drinks, of course, and it is loud!  Love it. Dancing, yea.  Saturday everyone is meeting at The Broken Egg where I am having shrimp and grits for breakfast.  I still remember that dish from the last time I was there. Yum.  Then we will visit Miss Muffet, a store with wonderful items.  There is high tea at Windsor Court with champagne and finger sandwiches and sweets.  Very elegant.  A big late dinner at some really good restaurant.  I am not sure what is up for Sunday but fun will be afoot.  We leave Monday for home. Then it is time to plan for Thanksgiving.  Love it all.

It is so quiet here with the dogs gone.  Andy and I feel ourselves whispering.  He is off to class at 11:00 and I will have the place totally to myself for a few hours.  What to do?  What to do?

Whole Foods

                            

Mike, Beth, and I went to Whole Foods to see if, indeed, the prices were slashed by 43%.  I admit some were, but others, no.  I only spent $27. but I got good buys for what I had.  I put back the brioche cream cheese coffee cake that was $8. (small one) It is usually around $5. in other stores.  I like them, but not enough to pay that.  I got some really great plums and other fruit, but the store was messy.  There were a lot of customers that Sunday evening, but the counters were sloppy, the ready food had several empty pans and the restocking was slow.  Mike got two shopping bags of vegetables for his healthy drinks and the beets that he bought were large and delicious.  That's about all the interesting vegetables, however.  Things just looked wilted.  I realize Amazon had only been in charge a couple of days, but the employees know how things are supposed to look and taste, so there are not many excuses that I could come up with even though I wanted to shop there more and more.  Now I don't. I remember going to Whole Foods the day it opened and the glorious displays and good prices caused me to go back many times until I ran onto my favorite danish that I usually paid 89 cents for one, turned into, over night, $1.89.  Everything went sky high and then the lovely French style bakery slumped into nothings and it is was down hill all the way.

We filled the window boxes yesterday with fall flowers, rusts and yellows and spikes of red.  They look nice although I am not a fan of fall flowers.

I've decided to cook only from the freezers, refrigerator and pantries until some of my stock is depleted.  I keep buying even when I am not going to use it right away.  I see it, I imagine it in a dish and I can't resist; now I must.

Joe and Glenda will be here for four days in a week or so, so they can help eat up some of these goodies.

Safe and sound

It has been quite a couple of months and I am relieved to say we have survived.  I am not in a hurry to repeat it that's for sure.  Things have slowed down even though there are many birthdays this month.  Lucky everyone has had their fill of parties for awhile.

Yet, football season is upon us but I don't have to attend the games.  Joe and Glenda are coming up for a few days and Joe and Andy will go to the game.  This week end Matt and Andy are going to the band show and the game.

My refrigerator is so full I can barely close the door.  I have to stop cooking yet the bounty from the garden draws me to the kitchen.  I am still tossing spaghetti squash on the driveway to split it and am also making butternut squash for Stacy to grind for Madeleine's considerable appetite.  She's an all healthy diet baby and thriving on the garden's gifts. Matt and Stacy are back home and settled down after their glorious wedding and cruise.  I don't know if I would like a cruise now days.  They were on the new Breakaway from Norwegian with four thousand guests. Matt said they had to pay extra all during the seven days--I think it was $28. each per day for room tipping and while you once could go to the front desk and tell them you would take care of your own tipping, it is now mandatory.  That was a big surprise.  Now more often than not the restaurants are not covered.  The general cafeteria is still included in the cost of the cruise, but most of the restaurants are not.  I don't like to be nicked all of the time on a trip.

Well Andy is back from class, so we are off to get those darn mums (can't stand them) for the window boxes.

Hurricane soup

Our son and his little family are in harms way as the hurricane rushes for the inland as well as  southern Florida.  He is prepared, but everything has shut down even in Gainsville...really? That far north? He has never seen anything like it.

So, I fret and cook.  I am wrestling with spaghetti squash at the moment and they are mean to cut open.  I have taken to slinging them on the cement to crack them open.  I've heard of the microwave method, but I don't own one nor do I trust them even now.  So slinging helps to get my frustrations out and to open this wonderful sight as the vegetable splits and offers its goodness.  I was, at the same time, stewing the last of the tomatoes with herbs and vegetables; a stock of sorts and had the idea of putting the baked spaghetti squash in the tomato soup-like stock.  It was wonderful and new to this family.  I suppose someone somewhere has thought of spaghetti squash tomato soup, so I will have to track it down.  If not, I have an original which I will never duplicate because I throw things together as it is cooking and never write down the amounts.  I am not a teaching cook, just a family provider and they get what I create...good or bad. Note:  I was right, there are dozens of soup recipes using spaghetti squash on the Internet.  Sigh. Not so original after all.

The honeymooners arrive home tomorrow night.  They were on a cruise and luckily they selected Bermuda rather than the areas of the hurricane; still I will be happy when they are on home turf and away from the water.

Good luck to everyone in harms way.

Best time in years~

I have not had so much fun in years!  Matt and Stacy's wedding was a lovely event and I danced the soles right off my shoes and had to throw them away when I got home.  I have this dress that I have worn to the last three weddings and they have all been successful.  It is twenty-three years old but looks brand new.  I bought it at this wonderful store in Columbus called The Union.  It is gone, of course, but I have several items I bought there.  One is a pin that is in the shape of a pea pod with the peas being lovely plump pearls.  I also wore a double strand of pearls from there at two of the weddings but I loaned the pearls to Laurie (this time) for her little black dress which looked great.  I bought earrings there too that I save only for weddings. You know there is a favorite dress in everyone's closet that you hope will last as long as you do. Right?  I know we have several weddings in the forecast all in different parts of the country and with different families, so once I get new shoes, I'll be ready to dance.  Gosh it was fun and so well organized and presented.  The dancing also healed my legs, well my left leg has been giving out lately and I swear there has been no leg pain since Saturday night and I have put the legs to the test several days in a row.  It's a miracle. 

We had the family here the day after the wedding and there is still so much food in our refrigerators that it is spilling out when you open the doors.  The guest even took food home, yet it keeps growing. 

You are probably tired of hearing about all of these festivities, but I just had to share the joy of Matt finding the perfect wife.

Here come the pictures!

More pictures on my Facebook.

Mike and Beth

Alyssa, Nate Lechler, Laurie (Beth's sister)

Grandfather Mike and Madeleine

Army Ranger Brooks with Madeleine

Stacy, Matt and Madeleine Lechler

Plans and roles to play

Midnight buffet with the travelers for Matt's wedding. 9/30/2017

Breakfast on the run--Friday with sleep over guests.

Andy and I went to Sam's this morning (Wednesday) before he was off to school.  He attends OSU every day now because he loves the courses and does not want to drop one.  We had Sam's to ourselves which is unusual.  I spun around in the cart and Andy was on foot and we were done with a car load in a jiffy.  We got lovely things and right now I have two crock pots burbling away one with beef stew in wine and vegetables and the other with a big pork shoulder that I have plans for in several dishes.  Everything looked good today so I made a pig of myself and bought what I thought our guest would enjoy over their stay.  And, don't forget the Cincy gang is staying over in a hotel and coming here on Sunday for a big feast. So there will be few left overs...even so, I know what to do with those as well.

In the guest rooms I have snacks and waters on a tray in each room and I will go in search of flowers to brighten things up at some point, although they only have to look out the window for flowers in great array which  are giving up their last gasp and looking lovely.

Sam's had such great meat and fish today and I am itching to get to work on those items.  The vegetables were lovely and fresh, so that's another thought.  Well, no one is home and it is quiet and that is when love to work in the kitchen.  I do take several sit down rests in between dishes and clean up because the schedule is full and I need to be on foot.

As far as the wedding attire, I bought the last thing today which is a tube of lipstick to match my dress.  I think we are all set.  Nate is a little nervous since he plays an important role as best man and get- me- to- the- church on time guy with the groom. Andy and I have no role to play, so we are happy and calm.  Beth and Mike host the rehearsal dinner Friday night. Mike is pleased to be able to bring baby Madeleine home Saturday for a night with he and Beth and to greet the company on Sunday.

Ahhh well, it will all work out and then it's done.


Nate, Matt's brother and best man going to practice and then to  rehearsal dinner.

Brooks, Beth's son, and Madeleine, his girl friend, getting ready to go to Matt and Stacy's wedding rehearsal and dinner.

Midnight buffet under the stars

Fall harvest and items for the midnight buffet center piece.

Well, it won't be a big buffet, but we are ending the summer Thursday night when over night (s) guests arrive from around the country for Matt's wedding.  I thought it would be fun, since they are coming in around midnight, to have candles outside for the last gasp of summer and to welcome guests and fall--fall is coming even if we are entering it dragging our feet. I thought port beef stew and peach cobbler straight from the oven would be well greeted along with flutes of champagne.  We will be meeting Brooks' new girl friend for the first time and enjoying the company of Alyssa and Laurie from New Orleans. Everyone is feeling excited about the wedding and seeing people we love on this special Saturday night.

Beef stew always helps me get into fall.  I love the process of this dish and it eases the stress because it is so forgiving.  It is Andy's least favorite offering, but he will just have to adjust once again.  Andy is not a great meat lover, he is not into chewing for some strange reason. Unless the beef falls apart, and even then, he is drawn to another dish rather than the beef.

I am sure there will be a salad featuring the last of the tomatoes as well. Sigh.  I will miss those rosy  (and yellow) plump, delicious garden favorites.

Did you hear Amazon bought Whole Paycheck (Whole Foods) and cut the prices 43% on the first day? Let's shop!