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 I've been absent for a couple or three weeks but now I have a few things to tell you about.  I've been to Trader Joe's and I must tell you that his potstickers with chicken have captivated the household. One bag will not be enough for Andy, Nate, and me. Yesterday we had them again and this time, I had 4 baby bibb lettuce hearts from Kroger called artesian lettuce in the fridge. After sauteing the potstickers I laid each one in a blanket of lettuce and the hot and cold combo was amazing. One other thing I bought several bags of was stir-fried (vegetable) rice. I mostly do my own rice, but in a pinch, throw two bags of this rice in a saute pan and add whatever you like, shrimp, peas and carrots, corn, add what you like in your rice stir-fry.  It is a full meal and ready in minutes. (Joe's Langestino tails are delicious in this stir-fry.) From the frozen food section. Lightly reheat the frozen tails at the last minute.  They don't like to be overcooked and you won't like it either.) These are so good on soft buns or on Po Boys. Also, good in salads.)

Moving on to Kroger, Andy's favorite store, I like Kroger's wavy chips. These potato chips are so good and believe me, I know a good chip.  I will take potatoes no matter how they are presented so I have had a few in my time. You won't be disappointed even when you reach the bottom of the bag...use the crushed chips on your next oven casserole for a nice crunch and good taste.

Kroger has a peanut butter called honey peanut butter either crunchy or smooth.  It is my favorite.

Now that most plants are where they should be doing what they should be doing, maybe we can get back in the rhythm. Andy and I actually went to two outdoor nurseries without masks.  How daring are we?

We are having a big do July 3rd.  Lots of people are coming so I must get to prepping and advanced cooking so I too can enjoy their company.

fresh fruit

Andy and I just got back from Sam's.  I was prepared to go maskless but caught a glimpse of the crowd and they were all wearing masks. Sigh.  So I put mine on. The this and that that the government is putting out there does not match and it is very confusing. But, that is not why I am blogging. The strawberries... the first of the season from the Driscoll company, wow, they are red through and through and so beautiful. Large, juicy, and not days old, but hours old or so it seems.

Our trunk was full and I just placed the last items. Thankfully.  I always buy too much and then fret about storage. I put a slow cooker on with fresh green beans, ham, corn, and potatoes for dinner.  I have a bevy from which to choose and I want to make it all at once, as usual. I bought a nice corned beef to make for Mike to take to Matt on Saturday night.  When he lived with us, that was his favorite meal. He will soon, in December, have another mouth to feed and we are all looking forward to helping out.

Well, Andy is rested up from the trip to Sam's and we are off to buy me some loungewear, now that I have time to lounge.  Life is great. When the doctor asked how are you, I said perfect.  He said life cannot always be perfect Well, it is simply darn close to it for me. I love this time of life. The doctor has to hear a litany of sad stories day in and day out, so it is difficult for him to see a woman with a near-perfect life, but there you have it.

I think the July 3rd party here at Many Branches is a go. Let's see who will be coming.  I hope it is a crowd. The pool has had a face lift and is looking the best ever, so here's hoping there will be swim attire in the cars coming up the drive.Note: On the 3rd, we are having family from Florida and California, and Cincinnati so far. Yea.

Sprayway

 I tried A new product today that I am really happy about. It's for windows and it is a spray called Sprayway.  I love it. I have never been really satisfied with window cleaners and I read about a man who does house cleaning and has this can in his product basket that he takes with him. I ordered it online from Amazon.

The guys are installing a full house generator for us and cut the internet cable line while digging.  So we were without tv or computers last evening.  It did not kill us, but we did not like it. I went to bed at 9:00m so I am perky today. That may be due to the shot the doctor gave me in one knee. It helped so much I was walking around as I did not too long ago.

Carfagna's sells these made-in-the-store mini meatballs.  I paired them with pasta and Carfagna's jarred basil sauce yesterday and it was so good, especially with our fresh basil from the new patch. The flowers are flourishing and I think the cold spells are over for us.

JD sent us two new hanging planters just because...the nicest way to receive a gift. He and his mom and dad are planning to come from Florida for the weekend of the fourth, so my mind is planning a party, not on the actual fourth, but on the third.  So many people have plans on the 4th and scatter here and yon, so maybe they won't be tied up on the 3rd, which is a Saturday and the fourth, of course, on Sunday this year. I think a potluck for the first half and grilling for the second half of the day. I just don't want to do all the cooking this time and it is fun to eat other people's dishes too.  It gives me great ideas.

JD started a new job and has been training in Austen. He completed and closed his first week of sales with a total of $850,000 in computer software in one week making him first in his group. We are so pleased with his success.

Have a great day.

 

insanity strikes America

 I am on the war path today.  Have you heard "they" want to take the word mother out of the holiday and replace it with the birthing day? I spent 16 hours in labor with each of my children and they sure as hell will not be taking the word mother from me.  I earned that title as did ALL the mothers in the world regardless of how they became a mother.

This 'correctness', and there are a lot of names available for this crazy correctness Woke movement has just gone too far. We need to get a grip and stop pandering to these people. I intend to use the words I have used for 83 years and if they don't like it they can ignore it. I  have never wanted to take another stand on a subject, I have done that plenty of times in the past, but really...this is insane.

The flowers in all the shopping places are glorious this year regardless of the cold spells that have happened in the last two weeks. Hopefully, warmth will be around the corner and we won't lose any more plants.  Ours are doing well and today should find all the big planters and window boxes full and flourishing.

We had a chair lift put in in anticipation of staying here as long as possible and it's broken, already. Luckily neither of us happened to be riding it at the time. There is money to be made if someone in that business would devise a way to fix and beautify this product.  It is ugly, loud, unreliable, flimsy,...I could go on, but you get the idea.  No thought was put into the design to make it appealing to see while spiraling up the stairs of the home. There are many people planning to stay in the home as long as possible and looking for ways to make this happen and a stairlift is one of them. Ours is being fixed and here's hoping it is fixed for good otherwise it may shoot one of us through the house and out the door. Problem solved.

Happy post MOTHER'S DAY. MOTHER, MOTHER, MOTHER.

This and that

 I had forgotten the blog The English Kitchen and revisited it today. She posts every day and she must have gotten a new camera device because the pictures are so much better than before. She always has good common recipes that can be made by anyone who can read a recipe.  She loves potatoes and has glorious pictures and recipes featuring the potato, but do not miss her other recipes. She has a really large cookbook out with a bad index but tons of wonderful recipes.  She cooks for two but writes to do this or do that if you are serving more people.

We are planting flowers like crazy people. We are also happy with the progress of Nate's new fruit orchard.  The deer have found a new path to the creek and only appear once in a while in the back yard and we shoo them away.

The pool looks glacial and has never looked better.  Once we get things arranged I will post some pictures. I hope we can have some family here for a swim party day when it warms up and all the renovations are complete outside.  We have ordered a whole house generator to be installed.  Since we are planning to stay here in our old age, we are installing helpful items that will aid us as we age.  I hate it when the electricity goes out, so I am glad to have this device in place soon. Thank you, Mike and Nate.

Bless you, the readers here in this blog.

Where the Crawdads Sing is a movie coming out June 2022. I can't wait.  It is one of my favorite books. Don't miss this good read.

 

Cauliflower gnocchi

 Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi is a new product for me and I am putting it in an unusual stir fry; no recipe as usual, just adding and tasting as I go along.  It is pretty too until it gets overcooked which I hope doesn't happen. But I am writing this blog while it is working on a slow stove.  I have to set timers now days because I forget what is on until I smell something, hopefully, it is a good smell rather than the other kind. (I just tried a spoon full of the gnocchi--too doughy in this dish, but fried crisply might be better although I won't buy it again.) I am not knowledgeable about gnocchi, so I will leave you with that.

Note: I tried it again and again and could find no trace of cauliflower, just miniature dumplings. It is a BIG no for me.

All about beef

 OH, look, it's beef for dinner today. Beef, beef, beef! The beef will go in the slow cooker with wine potatoes and carrots...the multi-colored carrots from Trader Joe's.  Andy and I made some rounds yesterday and went to Joe's and Carfagna's. We are stocked and ready.

The ducks are back and have taken their morning swim in the new, clean pool. Bella went nuts running around and around the pool but they paid no attention to her. Finally, she realized it was breakfast time and gave up, they swam on. They have not come here for two or three years because of Winston and Posy. Those dogs were relentless in their quest to guard the property. But now they are gone, sadly, and Bella is left to protect us.  She does her best as do we all.

The rain is so gentle this morning and the air so clean. This is a favorite morning here and I appreciate having it. There is also the scent of BEEF in the air, something else to look forward to several hours down the road.

Here's the beef!

What's next?

 

Epicurious stops the publication of beef recipes... Every morning when I get up I find another pleasure has been taken away from the American people or threatened to be taken away if radicals have their way. And, their way is prevailing on many fronts. I am not sure how many people read Epicurious now days, or if ever, but it provided the means for a head shake and a what's next from me this morning. I bet the Drummond family from the Pioneer Woman franchise is nervous; cows are very important to that empire, and Ree Drummond is very important to Bravo.

Flowers are still allowed, however, maybe they will just ban the edible ones. Sigh.'

Our yard was full again yesterday with four men opening, draining, and replacing the pool liner which was supposed to last seven years and lasted seventeen and still did not have a leak. Watching paint dry and watching the pool fill equaled excitement for the day.  It will take another couple of days to get where it should be but it is looking spiffy.

We started filling the big planters yesterday.  Lowe's had the best selection but we are keeping our eyes out for the other store's offerings. I think we will go out again today because what we bought is sorted and planted.

I have to tell on Andy.  He turned the soup on high and walked away.  I came into the kitchen to steam and a ruined soup pot...my favorite one. I will forgive him if he takes me flower shopping today. We are going to have to watch that stove thing.  It is so easy to get distracted with everything that is going on in this world.  It is one distraction after another. That's why I walk around with a timer.  It keeps me alert and watchful.

Good luck today. Maybe buy some beef.

Frost and flowers

 It's Friday and Andy and I are going to run around.  We lost some flowers during the frost...surprised?  We always do, but that does not stop us from going after more. We have discovered ranunculus, a spirling circled blossom that comes back every year and is a great cut flower that lasts in water for a good length of time.  Brilliant flowers and my new favorite.  I discovered these in Paris and used to buy bouquets of them for the apartment there so that I could enjoy my stay even more. Here in Columbus they have flourished during two touches of frost and are still standing, being the only ones. The name is difficult to say and spell, so I hope I have done it justice. I will try to find a picture to show you.

I think we need to go to Trader Joe's today too, but Columbus is now on unrest mode so one has to think about where it is safe to go. We, as a nation, have lost our minds and God surely must be fed up with us.

 

In person shopping makes for a good salad result...Nice outing and we didn't get shot.

favorite products

 About once a month, Andy and I take a drive to Plain City to visit the Cheese Shop in Amish country. Each trip I find a new untried product and rekindle some that I had forgotten about.  They also have great pepper bacon, cold cuts, and cheese bread. The last time I stocked up on their hot sweet pickles which are paper-thin packed with a welcome punch.  I even use the juice from the pickles in the anti-pasta salads that I make for Andy and Beth. That's Hershburgers cannery Hot Sweet pickles. Yum.

Last time I rediscovered the mini marshmallows that are perfect to use in the Rice Krispy squares that I like to make if I know when Madeleine and McKenna are coming to visit.  I missed the mark yesterday with their surprise visit to announce a new addition is on the way...Owlett, if it is a girl or Cat Boy if it is a boy. (Madeleine's suggestions.)

Also special and in jars are delicious pickled cauliflower, sweet baby corn, and corn salsa...all good in the anti-pasta salad.  I tend to throw everything in this dish and then pour the juice from the baby corn or cauliflower over to just make enough liquid to be absorbed in a short time.  If it needs other ingredients I don't hesitate to put in cheese squares, Genoa salami chunks, and even cooked pasta rendering it not the anti-pasta salad, but still good. There are no mistakes with this salad, I think I have added just about everything I see in the fridge at one time or another.  One new addition is the fresh, raw cauliflower pearls right out of the bag.  It gives the salad a nice crunch.

All is well on Many Branches and repairs and renovations are still going on.  I try not to leave the property because when I do, Oakland Park Nursery will be my destination and it is STILL too early to plant the containers, Doris!!! Don't ask me how I know this.

  

Easily entertained

 Last night we had the most delicious Chinese take out.  I had given up on Lucky's on High Stree under new ownership.  Beth had a client that raved about Hunan Lion on Bethal Road, although if memory serves me, I think there is also one near the Sanctuary where Mike once owned a house. We had four different main dishes and each one was scrumptious. The egg rolls were a bit different and not to my liking, but the other food was wonderful and well packaged and still warm, neat, clean and we will now have a new Chinese treat to look forward to, usually on Sunday nights now days.  Gone are the Sundays when the entire Lechler family gathered for a feast after church. We are now spread all over the place.  Well, change happens and we make do.

Something exciting is happening tomorrow!  After more than 25 years of weak signals Spectrum (once Time Warner) has heard my pleas and a new system is closing down Cooke Rd. while the changes are being made.  No more fading Internet, or ribbons over a show on tv that I wanted to see, they finally realized that we were paying the same amount of money as those homes receiving good signals.  One line, the mainline, crosses Cooke Rd. from our house to the house across the street.  The squirrels treat that as their bridge and stop along the way to nibble the wires.  Now the wires are in tatters and the reception is really bad. Just add that renovation to the list from yesterday and also the still-to-be-done work around here and know that soon we will be good as new. I am a happy woman.  (Doesn't take much to entertain me now days.)