GLORIOUS DAY

What a beautiful day.  The dark cloud has passed and today has promise. I think this is Many Branches prettiest spring. I am going to like today.

This ends my week of solitude that I always have after a fury of activities which has gone on since March. I am not planning anything until Labor Day week end except for a visit from Glenda and Joe once his doctor's appointments are finished. Even then it will be a slow quiet card-playing time with good food and chats.

After yesterday's beginning, I stayed out of the kitchen until my mojo returned. I am thinking salads today so Andy has gone to the store for produce.  We had bought quite a lot of it at Sam's, but it is gone now, so I have been producing healthy meals for the last few days.  Salads are like soups, you can do anything to them and still the results are tasty.  I think we have come a long way from the iceberg lettuce standard salad even introducing the wedge variety of this poor cousin to the leaf department. Mike and Beth are fans of this wedge concoction, but to me, there is no taste when it comes to iceberg lettuce. We have now added, grains, pasta, and even mixed fruit into a lettuce base with odd combinations of dressings that many are not accustomed to, but it works. I think today I am going to make two or three salads that keep well in the refrigerator and that can be pulled out whenever the urge hits to be enjoyed without fuss. Chicken salad with grapes and pecans appeals to me today and it can be enjoyed straight from the chill.  Also that broccoli, cauliflower, and dried cherry salad that I made a few days ago keeps beautifully and even improves with age.  It disappeared very quickly, however, so I am making a big batch this time.

Andy is also bringing me coffee from Tim Hortons.  After yesterday I am still not allowed to touch the coffee maker.

Have a beautiful day.

Waaa, bad day so far

Have you ever had one of these days when you think you should hide in the closet until things improve?  Started off with a fraud voicemail from Washington DC offering to do bad things to me if I didn't do as they asked. (At least I hope it was a fraud.) It wasn't clear what they wanted or if the call was meant for me since the accent was not English.  Since I rarely answer the phone and can hardly ever find it, good luck with the threats.  Next, I came downstairs to make the coffee and was so distracted I forgot to put the filter in and I made the most noxious brew ever.  So I spent the next half an hour carrying the coffee maker outside to dump the mess and discovered there is another safe guard in there in case you have a senior moment, so all that time and effort was wasted.  Then I decided to give the coffee maker a good cleaning and by that time Andy had gotten in the car to buy me Tim Hortons before I burned down the house. The dogs were stunned at all this unnecessary activity.  They wanted fed. I have no idea what I put in their dishes, but dog food was not one of them.

Now I am sitting at the computer which should be a safe spot until Andy delivers the coffee ready made.  I will be afraid of the kitchen for the rest of the day. I hope your day started off better than mine. And, it is only 8:30, so what is the next batch of fresh hell?

posts of the past

I've written over 500 posts on this blog and have begun to read some that are archived.  To the right of each post is a long list of dates, tap a date and you can read what was going on on that day and what would be going on within the month.  I had a lot more to say and to write about through the years and maybe I am just getting lazy.  I find it fun to see the pictures of us then and now.  It covers several years and it seemed easier to get pictures on and placed where I want them and there were fewer rules for blogs.  Things tighten up through the years and people are a bit stingy about their pictures and ideas that they put out there for everyone to see but not, exactly, to share via a different blog.  I believe if you put it out there it is meant to be seen by as many people as possible and after all, they are recipes and ideas, so what is the harm of sharing.

So look back and enjoy.  I know many of the pictures will not show up because of the above reasons...even my own from my Facebook seems limited or just plain not there now.  But there is plenty to keep you busy and interested, you can't have read them all. lol (Let me know if you have.)

Many Branches looking good

It's a beautiful day at Many Branches.  Perfect.

Sundays with the Lechlers

What a weekend!  First we had the surprise party for Danny and Nancy at a country club in Zanesville.  Then we had Brooks and his girlfriend, Carly, as guests for a few days and to top that off everyone who could come enjoyed Sunday at Many Branches.  Mike got Madeleine's new kiddy pool up and running so she spent the day serving tea out of her pool and watering the flowers.  She's an outdoor girl. Steaks were grilled beautifully by Brooks and the food was plentiful, as usual.  Heather, our friend, joined us and she is always welcome.  She keeps our hair in place and looking good because she is an expert in her hairdressing field. However, she was there as a friend of the family, no hairdos today.  The weather is perfect these days and so welcome after the winter we have had although I do miss curling up with a good book and having nothing to do.  I'll try that starting Tuesday for the rest of the week.  I need a break. I always say that life is good and much better than the alternative.

Brooks and Carly hitting the road...Madeleine at work--everyone is put to work at Many Branches.

It was a surprise party!

Last night Andy, Mike, Beth and I drove to Zanesville and celebrated my niece, Nancy, and her husband, Danny's 50th wedding anniversary.  It was a big reception with over sixty people there to please them.  They were married at 19 and as she says, they grew up together in marriage. They had never had a reception and she said that no one had ever done anything like this for them in their lives.  So they were gobsmacked.  Her daughter and her partner, Carol, planned and executed the entire event at a country club in Zanesville.

We had so much fun seeing relatives and even Sarah, my high school classmate.  Our jaws were tired from laughing and reminiscing. When I was in high school I had many parties and sleep overs and Sarah was part of many of them.

Today here at Many Branches, Brooks and his girlfriend, Carley will be the center of attention as the family gathers for a cookout.  We will send them on their way in the morning but will enjoy their company for the day. Summers are so exciting, there is always something going on.  However, next week is free and we are looking forward to a bit of by-the-pool relax time. I keep looking out the windows at how good everything is looking outside.  We have this new group of guys taking care of the place and it looks spiffy.

Life is good...and certainly better than the alternative!

Endless summer and endless plans

What a wonderful start to summer.  We have broken heat records all month and now it is June.

One thing about this family, they plan ahead big time.  So far there are two weddings next year, one a year and a half away and it is a destination wedding, so we will be going to Italy.

This week end we have Brooks and his girl coming today for a few days and an event Saturday. Summers are busy for everyone and this one is no different.

I have cooked ahead because Brooks always comes hungry.  When they arrive there will be a frittata, salad, and brownies. I have chicken pot pies with puff pastry spears for sometime during the day with two different salads.  Then Sunday we have some company coming and we will grill steaks. I also have a batch of so-called 'crack' ready for the company.  (That is my form of granola from Barefoot Contessa's recipe with a twist from me.)  After trying a recipe, I can rarely leave it as is.  I start fooling with it and sometimes it gets even better.) The family named it because once tried they can't leave it alone.

 Madeleine is coming Sunday and we have a new kiddie pool with a sprinkler attached for her to enjoy.  The big pool is a bit much for her at this stage. However, the water in the big pool is just right at the moment.  I think the cottonwood and oak spores are done for the season and they were bad this year!

I hope your summer is going well.
Cheese straws for the lunch.

-1:15


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Big Discovery

I was being lazy today since everyone else is running around here doing what needs to be done.  The house bath is done and now he is starting on the apartment and the conservatory.  John has a bit of ODC and he has been here for days and is determined to get things right.  So, fine, I stay out of his way and keep him in coffee and food and we are both happy.

While I lazed my eyes fell on the bookshelves laden with cookbooks from all over America and England.  Without looking I brought out one and nearly dropped it!  I had no idea I had a Cook's Corner cookbook with recipes from 2002 in print.  WOW.  Cook's Corner is (or was) a great Wednesday morning treat.  I would grab my coffee and everything else be-damned, Cook's Corner had me for about 20 minutes. (This is a weekly section in our newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch.)  There have been great editors for this section and Sue Dawson was one of them.  This is her work and I have my day under the sun, by the pool cut out for me.

It opens with Jezebel sauce which is tart and sweet.  It is served over cream cheese or with meatballs.
1 jar pineapple, apricot or peach preserves
1 jar apple jelly
6 ounces prepared horseradish
6 ounces yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper or to taste
Mix all ingredients in a large saucepan.  Heat over medium heat until apple jelly is dissolved, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes. Cool and pour to keep in the refrigerator. Serve by pouring over softened cream cheese that has been spread on a serving place.  Serve with crackers for spreading.  Parsley garnish is nice.  Makes 5 1/2 cups.

I am off to read this cover to cover.

Many Branches gets a bath

We have TREES and when you have this many, every two or three years the house needs a bath.  The slate roof develops black streaks from the algae, I guess. Anyway to keep the place pretty I call Johnny Cantrell who has a son that is agile as a monkey and has no fear of height.  Remember when I wrote about Bubba on the roof?  A man came to put a cap on one of the chimneys bragging about how he had all of this experience...well he got on the roof, got the cap on the chimney and then refused to get down.  We had to call the fire department to get him off the roof.  You've heard of cats in a tree being rescued, well this was a man.  The firemen were not too happy about it because they were pretty sure he had pulled this once or twice before.  It is high, very high, and I don't want to do it, but then I do not profess to years of experience on a three-story house with a slate roof which gets slippery.

We have a couple more things to plan to do to this place before we can relax for the summer.  I have cut down on entertaining by not doing Memorial Day or July 4th.  We are going to take it down a notch or two and relax for the rest of the summer after all the work that has been done here so far this spring.

Today I have a large pot of green beans, potatoes and corn simmering away.  I am surprised they let me buy green bean after the tirade that I wrote about them being flaccid sides in restaurants.  For some reason that post got 150 hits in one day.  Speaking of food, we had Lucky's take out Chinese last night.  It was so good.  We had a guest and so we ate outside for the first time this season...ahhh spring.

There is John on the roof.

Gentle rain

Nothing drives me to the kitchen like the big wide open door,  the dogs alert but in a resting position while the gentle rain satisfies the new plants.  It makes me want to cook and I have not had that feeling for several days.  I made up a pasta recipe.  I am sure it has been done some place in the world, but it's my throw together Friday late lunch meal today.  I am hoping someone in this crowd has a take out idea for dinner. Andy is out in this gentle rain cleaning the newly opened pool.  It is not too bad this year but we hold our breath every spring when it opens. One never knows what has crawled under that cover and departed the world chuck full of chlorine. One year after the pool was opened and cleaned a baby deer went for a swim.  Now that was scary.  How would it get out?  Who would go in to get it? Only two people available that day; both old.  But the mother deer came back and the baby walked up the steps and out of the pool like Easter Williams. (Let's see who gets that last sentence.)

For the pasta: 
Fried pepper bacon and zesty Bob Evans sausage with lots of fresh herbs.  Drained the fat. Poured in Trader Joe's 3-cheese pasta sauce. Added more fresh herbs and put it all in the pot with thin, cooked, al dente pasta strands. Called in my hungry man and Bob's your uncle.

carlsbadcravings.com

I had forgotten how good this cooking blog was.  I ran onto it again today.
There are so many good recipes and cooking videos.  Give a look.

Looking pretty

Many Branches is looking pretty!  A contingency of workers descended on Cook Road yesterday working through a gentle rain into the bright sunlight and made the place beautiful and ready for summer.  This is to be a busy party-filled summer, but in places other than here. Nevertheless, if a venue is needed, we will be ready. We have the week-end to clean the pool which also opened yesterday.  It  is pretty ugly at the moment, but Andy will work his magic.

We used to have a big building project about every three or four years on this property.  We have not had such a project for several years but now I am eyeing the building with the cupola with some very interesting ideas. Once I get the project bug it is hard to resist.

I am totally neglecting the kitchen right now.  I am not in the mood to cook for some reason.  I will get over that probably.  I just haven't seen anything that inspires me.