This & That

Technical Difficulties

Having some of the dreaded computer issues, so I'm on hiatus until we get those figured out.

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

I started picking the peas. There weren't quite as many ready as I thought there'd be, but I got a nice handful. Please tell me you break open a few pods like this and eat them raw. Just so sweet and tasty, and in a lot of ways better than cooking them.

I'll probably be out here every morning picking as they come ripe.

Good stuff. I'm a fan.

Also out in the garden, I planted a few sunflowers as a surprise for the grandkids. It will be fun for them to see how tall they get, I hope. They got a little battered by the hail, but some managed to struggle on.

Evan, Eric and my daughter are joining their dad on his adventure for a few days. You like Eric's Dr. Fauci mask?

These came. Good timing on my husband's part.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, Evan took his family camping.

They pitched their tent and spent a night. 

From Collin's family I got this picture of my boy and his boys on Father's Day.

I also got this one from Alison saying that in just the right light there's a little strawberry going on in John's hair. :)

Marc sent this picture with the caption, "Happy Father's Day to me." This doesn't in any way resemble elk, or deer, or buffalo, so I'm wondering where he got a cow and didn't tell us.

Jude's mama sent this one saying that he likes to wear his hats backwards....cool kid.

The Outside

Walking around the place this week what I saw was...

The patio pots are doing really well. I purposefully chose very bright colors this year.

Not for any specific reason, really, it was just what my eye was drawn to. I tried some DIY plant food which I'm crediting with helping the pots along. I used the liquid recipe. I'm not grinding up banana peels, and I don't have an aquarium.

My delphinium are blooming. Not something I've spotlighted before. The picture is a little deceiving because these flower stalks are about 7 feet high. One of the jobs I wanted my husband to help me with before he headed off on his adventure was to tie up or stake them somehow so they wouldn't just flop over like they have every other year. They get a little top heavy with all the blossoms.

The lettuce still looks good. It survived the hail really well.

And so did the peas. They'll be ready for picking really soon.

There are baby apples on the trees...

...and some baby peaches. I don't think there will be a bumper crop, but we'll have some to eat fresh, and I'm really hoping for some to bottle. Yes, I also know this tree needs iron, and I've put some granular stuff down, but I'm not seeing a whole lot of improvement just yet.

Roaming

Eric's family went roaming last week.

If you ever want to know what our neck of the woods looks like here in the high desert,

....this is pretty much it.

Yes you can get to the mountains in fairly short order, but sage brush and lava rock formations are what dominate the immediate area where we live.

It's kind of desolate-looking, but every once in a while you find pretty little surprises,

...especially in the spring.

The kids enjoyed the wander,

...and even found a friend while they were out. Gramma Honey was glad it wasn't a rattlesnake. 

Large Batch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

In the kitchen this week there hasn't been a huge amount going on, mostly because there were a lot of leftovers to use, and also because my husband has been on an adventure....one of his once in a lifetime annual adventures.

 

I did make this very large pan of cookie bars, some of which I took to Sunday dinner with Elisa and the kids while Eric is also adventuring.

 

Since I have lots of grandkids close these days, I decided it's a good idea to have some homemade treats in the freezer...magic cookies, if you will. These are so good...moist and chewy on the inside. You could vary both the type of chocolate chip you use, substituting white chocolate or peanut butter chips for all or part of the chocolate chips. You could also use any kind of seasonal M&M color to adapt them for holidays.

 

Now, when my whole family gets together, they can make quick work of a pan of these, but in normal life, I'll divide the pan up and freeze it in 1 dozen quantities. I found the recipe here, and they freeze beautifully.

 

 

Large Batch Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

• 1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
• 2 cups M&Ms

Preheat your oven to 325°.

Place butter into a large glass bowl. Melt in the microwave. Add the sugars and stir to combine. Then add the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Whisk it together until well combined.

In a separate bowl combine flour, salt and baking soda. Stir the dry mixture into the sugar mixture. Don't mix it in all the way. The trick to making these bars nice and soft on the inside is not to over mix and not to over bake. So, at this stage...leave a bit of the flour showing. It will incorporate nicely for you as you stir in the chocolate.

Add chocolate chips and M&M's. You can use any kind of chocolate chips. Stir the chocolate in to combine.

Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray (mine is 12 x 17). Press the dough evenly into the pan. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the outside is slightly golden. You want to be sure not to over bake. They are much better if the inside is nice and soft.

Allow them to cool for a while, then cut into bars. Makes 48-70 bars, depending on how large (or small) you cut them.

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

It's the first official day of summer and I might be in mourning about that.

It was time for my semi-annual leg circulation check, so I started out my week here.

I showed off my non-pedicured feet and my stylish compression socks.

My daughter made a very quick overnight trip. We picked the strawberries and watched "Kate & Leopold." No power struggles over movie choices when it's just us girls.

I did another cutting of lettuce for salad eating.

I also dead-headed my roses, and grabbed a few for inside the house.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, Eric's kids have spent some nights sleeping out on the deck.

Eric has been doing a Great Courses master class just for fun. Anyone want to guess what it is? A Gordon Ramsey cooking class, and here he is last weekend cooking Chef Ramsey's version of scrambled eggs. Mis en place in place and everything.

From Collin, there were a couple of pictures of Baby John. There was ice cream on the porch,

....and this one that totally cracks me up. His mama was spraying his feet with the hose and he wasn't having any of it.

Keeping My Hands Busy

I've finished off a few projects over the past several weeks...

This wool mat comes from a recent wool subscription box.

Some fun, fancy stitches to do.

I thought it turned out nice and springy.

I also finished off the February Simon Says Stamp card kit.

I really loved most of the papers in this one.

And I worked really hard to stretch them as much as I could.

And then I stamped envelopes to match, because yes, I have a fairly matchy-matchy personality.

The last couple of week's worth of Project Life pages.

You've seen all these stories,

but I'm always just so happy when I see them in this format.

Family history....done on my phone.

Whole Grain Oatmeal Pancakes

This week in the kitchen...

There was some quiche, as we had quite a few yummy fresh eggs from Eric's chickens to use. This particular version had sautéed zucchini and onion as the vegetable component and diced ham as the meat option. It was delicious.

We also had our first take out meal since before Bryce's wedding. One of only 2 meals I haven't put together in lo these months of quarantine, the other being some pizza we ordered. And yes, it is raw fish. My husband eats raw fish....and likes it. I will only eat the cooked variety, so I'm pretty selective when it comes to Japanese food. Other meals this week included some lasagna and a Croque Monsieur sandwich. Now on to the recipe I want to share...

We are breakfast fans in this family. It might be my favorite meal, and you might remember that I inherited a hot breakfast thing from my mother. I know it's probably all in my head, but I always equated a good, hot breakfast with brain food for my kids when they were going to school. I made these one morning on a recent cabin trip and 5 times-ed the basic recipe for the crowd that was there. I may have overdone it a little, but not by much. The oatmeal and the whole wheat flour gives them just a little  heft. I found the recipe here, and we served them with the buttermilk syrup. As some of my boys would say, "They was dang good." (I have educated boys--really, I do. They just like to pretend they're not, for whatever reason.) Notes on this recipe...if you don't happen to have whole wheat flour, you can just substitute regular flour, so you'd just use a cup of all-purpose flour for the recipe.

Whole Grain Oatmeal Pancakes

• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons quick-cooking oats
  1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  1/2 teaspoon table salt
  3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional, but good--I probably use a little less)
  1 egg
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  2 tablespoons oil
  1 cup buttermilk

Preheat a griddle to medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flours, salt, sugar, and cinnamon. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, oil, and buttermilk. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Drop by 1/4 cup onto the hot griddle. When the edges are firm and the bubbles start popping and forming holes, flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the other side. Serve immediately with your favorite pancake toppings like berries, apples, bananas, yogurt, maple syrup, peanut butter, Nutella, etc. Makes 8 pancakes. 

 

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

Here's the first indoor rose bouquet of the year. You'd better believe I picked one of the smelliest roses to put right beside my bed.

I also cut some of the last of my peonies. With my husband being laid up, cutting some of the earlier bloomers sort of fell by the wayside in the frenzy of patient care. These are just so frilly and pretty and have just a faint sort of citrus aroma.

The grandkids picked the strawberries while they were here for Sunday dinner.

We had a hail storm move through here a little over a week ago and it just ripped the stuffing out of my tomatoes and peppers. 

Totally killed off half the jalapeños, I think. Just very discouraging when things were just getting started.

We celebrated Marc's birthday with burgers and root beer....and cake, during our first family Sunday dinner since quarantine.

While we were together, Quincy showed us his amazing magic trick. Seriously so cute.

There was singing....

Truly, my family is musical, but you wouldn't know it by the way they seem duty bound to massacre a simple happy birthday song.

Bat David also handed out long-distance birthday wishes.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, I got a series from Elisa showing a hike Eric's family took.

I think this place was the final goal.

Along the way there were elderberries to eat, which the kids foraged for at every opportunity.

And some milkweed to make wishes on, but I'm not sure it blows away as well as dandelion fluff.

Back east, Alison made a swing for Baby John,

...but of course all the kids had to try it out.

John thought it was great, too. So that was my week, how about yours?

Marc's Birthday

While he might not look too happy about it here in this picture, it's Marc's birthday today!

Despite his ability to glower as a kid, he was generally pretty good-natured, earning the moniker "The Happy Bald Kid." He was indeed bald until he was maybe 18 months or so.

He's a good kid who's worked really hard to get where he is now, poised to finally finish extended, extended schooling and start a career.

He's also an amazing dad and it's tremendously gratifying to me to see how my kids have grown into really great adults in spite of my parenting flaws.

We are tremendously proud of him and look forward to having him here in town. We love this boy as we love all our kiddos. Happy birthday to my Marc!