Peach thief

Andy went to the outdoor market Saturday and came home with a big basket of peaches. We didn't think they were quite ripe (they were) so we left them on the big table outside.  This morning every single plump, beautiful peach had bites out of it.  Ruined~  That starts Sunday off as bummer.  Now no produce can be left outside all summer long and the garden is producing like crazy now. 

The Pioneer Woman's pimento cheese recipe is very good.  I started out with that bases and of course, could not leave well enough alone. Every time I make it which is every other day now, I add something else to it.  The latest, slivers of pickles called hot and spicy.  We went through a jar in one week.  Once the pickles were gone I added the juice from the jar to chicken salad, pasta salad, and to slices of cucumber/onions and tomatoes.  But the best thing is this pimento cheese in a grilled cheese sandwich.  It is delicious.  I have cut the sandwich into four triangles and serve it as a side with soup, as a snack, or a party starter.  I am serving these on Labor Day when we have the family and friends party.  Yum.

Another pool day, another 90's day and another enjoy the summer day.

The pool

Oh my gosh.  That pool float is wonderful.  One could just drift away on that on a day like this. Andy and I have one cocktail a day and we had it in the pool today.  I can't wait for Beth and Mike to get home to enjoy a swim and dinner around the pool. I made several things to eat today, all easy and something to please everyone's taste.

Pools are a lot of work, but on days like this, and we will be having plenty of them, it is a lucky thing to have.

We are starting to settle into a calmer summer.  July 14th we go to Cincinnati for Andy's brother Jim's 70th birthday party at Annie and Pat's new house. Other than that, we are going to have a calm swim a day summer.

Enjoy.

Floating

As soon as I get my yellow bikini, I will be doing this.  After all, it is back to the 90-degree mark this week

Today I am experimenting with ribs.  I want a big platter of delicious ribs for Labor Day and I am determined to get it right. Practice is the key, or so they say.

I

Destination wedding

We have never been to a destination wedding but we are looking forward to Beth's daughter's wedding on October 12, 2019, in Florence, Italy.  Since it will be Andy and my 60th wedding anniversary we are planning a river cruise (like Viking) after the wedding for just five days or a week.  Everyone will be eager to get back to work, but what better way to celebrate a wedding and a wedding anniversary all at one block of time in Italy.

Meantime, back on earth, it is a beautiful day here and we are enjoying every moment of our time.  I am contemplating ribs at the moment.  Not for today, but I envision a huge platter of ribs for a big party Labor Day here at Many branches.  I have not perfected ribs, but intend to work it out before company arrives.  We are not doing July 4th--taking a break, but yes to Labor Day. 

Have a glorious day.

Laid back Saturday

This is certainly different from last Saturday which was a circus all day and all week end.  Today I look at the driveway and there are no cars and the dogs and I are alone.  It is cool today and just right for sitting outside with the computer and a good book and a cup of Beth's coffee.  Our coffee maker bit-the-dust yesterday so by way of that I discovered Beth's brew which I need to know more about.  It's at Kroger; I got that part but didn't understand the brand name.  It is delicious.  Now if anyone comes home today (Beth), I'll find out the details.

I like Saturdays. I enjoy the morning of cooking shows that are not judging, racing, yelling, competing or frenzied. Just calm,  instruction with a bit of humor.  While I watch it upstairs I do the dusting in two of the rooms which is really a good polishing of the furniture.  Normally, we don't have the TV on during the day, so it is a little treat with good lessons.

Andy has gone to Cincinnati today to meet his high school friends for a class picture and lunch.  I could have gone, but I have heard those stories so many times I can mouth the words as they are speaking.  It is his class and he does love Greenhills which he thinks had the best school experience anyone could have had.  I don't know about that; I had a really good high school experience.  He will be full of tales when he gets home later today.

I'm off to watch Pioneer Woman.

There's a bird in the dryer

One of our (set) of washers and dryers is upstairs off our bedroom in a kind of woman lair.  One morning I woke up and it sounded like there was an animal in my dryer.  There was.  She was building a nest and was bringing her cargo in through the outside vent's tiny opening. Honestly, it seems everything outside wants to live inside to bring up their offsprings.  Mike fixed the problem, but today, the Appliance Guy who was repairing one of the dishwashers, said he had just left a job where a bird had been in the dryer and the fan blade had cut off the birds head.  There was no end to problems with that happening.  He said a special group had to come in to clean the area before it could be used again.  So watch out; have a flap on your dryer's vent. (Storms sometimes blow off  flaps, so you have to keep checking.)

We had the best pork roast last night.  It was wrapped in bacon and had nice seasoning and today, thinly sliced, it is delicious with mustard on good bread.  I also have a delicious chicken salad on the ready, so today is taken care of. Oh, except I am trying peanut butter in the Rice Krispie treats that I am making for Beth's work friends.

Now that the dishwasher is fixed no other drama is lurking on the horizon.  I am settling down with a good book today.  It is overcast, so it's time to read.

Enjoy your day and check your vents.  lol

Rice Krispie treats

We have had a run on rice krispie treats for the last two weeks.  We can't seem to get enough and I can't seem to stop making them.  Marshmallows have been in other dishes for some reason too.  So when Kroger had 10 bags for ten dollars Andy bought them.  Thinking they were the small bags I approved.  Yiiikes these bags were enormous. However, we now have only 6 bags left, so you can imagine the wedges of rice that has been consumed at Many Branches and beyond.  Beth had Bible study a couple of nights ago and the ten ladies devoured a large glass dish of these tempting squares.  They are so delicious, simple to make, and pleasing to eat.  You have all made them and or eaten them, so no need for a recipe here.  Next time I am going to start adding things to the batch.  You know me, I can't leave well enough alone. Dried fruit?  Why not?  Nuts?  Sure. Peanut butter, yes, please.


My window saga continues.  When I called the man to say how awful the windows were and mostly not done at all, he sent a woman the next day to fix the bad job, forgetting to tell her the girl never even made it upstairs at all.  Sigh.  Anyway, the downstairs windows are done inside and out and they look good.  I am not going to mention upstairs to him because I can't bring myself to go through showing people who don't care about working how to open the windows, tilting them in to get both sides of the unit without going outside.  I'm worn out just writing about it... and, you are tired of reading about it.

I continue to enjoy the Facebook of Carlsbadcravings.  She shares recipes from other sites and from her own collection freely and happily. If you haven't check her out, give it a try.  I think she has a blog too, but I have not visited that for some time.

I'm loving the long hot days of summer.  I get up early just to make the day feel longer and to enjoy my coffee out by the pool before the heat takes over.  We are so lucky to be able to enjoy this wonderful country.  We are looking for a pool float for me, a chair but one where it is extended for the legs.  Then I can float around in the mornings with my coffee.  lol  What a nut!

Enjoy your life.

Sixteen year old window washer... uh huh

Madeleine was the main attraction on Father's Day.  She was the only gift Mike, her grandfather, wanted and she came to spend the day, and, to keep us all on our toes. I must say Beth, Mike's wife, is so very good with her.  Madeleine's mother had to work so we were pleased to entertain her while she entertained us. Her Father had a nice long Father's day nap and Mike got to enjoy every moment with antics.  With all the attention she gets, she does not seem too spoiled, but she does have a mind of her own.

Mike and Matt and Andy wanted simple fare: stromboli (and lots of it), pizza, and I made that shrimp recipe that I showed on Facebook Sunday.  I had made ahead of time the Pioneer Woman's pimento cheese recipe to serve with crackers while waiting for the food to arrive.  We had drinks and starters and the pools got a working out...the big pool and the baby pool.  We had to 'drink' (spill out) a lot of baby pool tea as Madeleine never tired of serving us.

I learned my lesson about hiring a 16 year old to do windows Saturday.  First, you have to actually point to each window and ask her nicely if she would mind washing this window inside and out for money. Sigh...you mean all of these windows in this whole house in one day. OMG. Yes, and the window sills too--what are sills? But, I see some dead flies and spiders. I should probably skip those and just leave them where they are.  You then have to actually fill the bucket with soapy water, test it to see if it is too hot for delicate hands present her with rags (eweww), a squeegee, what? (show her how to use it) and show her how to be safe on a step stool. And, make sure it is cool enough in the house for the princess of windows. (To say nothing of 93 degrees weather outside.) Could she have water, a coke with ice?  Do you know how hard it is to hold a phone in one hand and wash windows with the other? Please. It's true, I have no heart.  I discovered she had a fear of bushes. If there was a bush near a window, she skipped it entirely which of course meant the entire front of the house downstairs AND, to match, upstairs (which she never got to at all.) When she quit she left the bucket of dirty water, the wet rags, her coke glass and equipment (which never got used, on my living room floor for me( 80 Years old) to pick up and empty while she danced around in the backyard on the phone waiting for her hardworking uncle and crew to finish up icky yard work.

Saturday frenzy

They did the work, but I am exhausted.  There were eight workers here today (well, 7 counting the non productive window washer) and just keeping up with keeping them watered, finding equipment that they did not bring, answering questions, and running them here and there in the golf cart...to name just a few things, left me wondering how I did all of this, taught, traveled, did shows, antiqued in London and Paris, wrote books, fed the troops, kept the house myself, mowed two and a half acres....I could go on and on.  I swear it was easier than today doing the finding and suggesting and pointing and paying to be this tired at 2:00 in the afternoon.

I have a lovely pot of fish chowder, however, and peace at last.  Andy is taking a swim, we'll have a drink, the dogs will have a treat and the edges will smooth out.  I must say things are looking pretty here at Many Branches.

My niece, Pam, has broken ground on her new home.  It has been a long time coming, but I bet things will be going faster with her cracking the whip.

Hmmm, that pool is looking pretty good.  Maybe I'll just fall in, cool off and have that cocktail under the pergola.  Life is good considering the alternative.

Andy says the water is 82 degrees but still very refreshing.  Madeleine can try it out tomorrow, Father's Day.

Avocado toast

Have you had the new rage, avocado on toast?  It seemed too simple to be tasty.  However, I had it for breakfast this morning and I can hardly wait to have it again.  Luckily I bought a bag of avocados.  You know how fast they ripen, so we will simply have to deal with that by eating this delicious, simple offering on  well toasted pieces of bread.  I put a whole avocado in a bowl with lemon juice, salt and pepper. (No hot sauce but I bet that would be good.) Then I sliced colorful cherry tomatoes and mix them into this chunky beautiful stir.  Popped out the toast and put a heaping amount of avocado mixture on the warm toast and Bob's your uncle.  (It was mighty fine.  Why am I writing like this today?) Restaurants are getting big prices for this wonderful idea, but make it at home and see if I am right about this splendid offering. It's a beautiful day to have this outside with a big cup of coffee,  Yum.

Biscuit cake

I learned many things during my numerous trips to England.  I was shopping for antiques at, I think, the Chelsea Antiques Fair.  I had been several places before arriving at the show and after a quick pass through stopped for a cup of tea.  There on a cake stand stood a cake I had never seen before.  I had to try it.  I am not fond of chocolate, but I was drawn to this sublime cake.  It looked like a brownie cake texture except each slice had what I thought was like a Kit Kat bar.  (That was NOT it.  I tried a cake with that bar and it was not a success.) Okay, picture a one-tier cake, chocolate, with a long (English) cookie sandwiched between two layers of brownie mix placed so that each slice had a full biscuit (cookie) the length of the slice.  Topped then with powdered sugar for adornment. It was so delicious but I could not get the woman to part with the name of the cake or the recipe. That was years and years ago and I have not forgotten that cake.  Just this week I learned it is the favorite of the Queen of England and that she has a slice at tea time nearly every day , and, that it is called a biscuit cake! So I Googled it and there were pictures and recipes, some that were not even baked, but none having a cookie running the length of a slice. Instead, all the biscuits had been broken up and cascaded throughout the cake so that when it was sliced all the pieces had a chance to show off. I am still not satisfied, however, because I do not see the exact cake and I failed the one time I dared to try making it.

It looked a bit like this, which was Prince Williams groom's cake. (The one I saw had no icing.)