The Hairbrained Idea Worked

Jun 052013
 

A couple weeks ago I introduced a recipe that Nichole shared with me for some oh-so-scrumptious-and-simple-cookies, which I later found out that my MIL has been making for years.

Seems I’m always late to the party.

Anywho, in that post I mentioned that I had a box of pistachio pudding laying around and had the harebrained idea that I was gonna pair it with Andes mint pieces and see what fantastic new taste sensation (or blunder) I would get.

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Let me just say, why can’t there be more options like this in the world?  Sure, it cost a little more for the unwrapped, broken up version of those little mints that I could eat a whole box of if given the chance, but I was on a mission for this culinary breakthrough and dished out the extra dough.

Since I was using pistachio pudding, the dough had a green tint to it so I expected the cookies to have the same green when they were done baking (which I was totally cool with and already thinking ahead to next St. Patrick’s Day when I could “ooh” and “aah” people with my culinary skills).

Well, they didn’t.  They also didn’t stay in nice lumpy cookie form like their predecessors.

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I pulled the first sheet out of the oven and wondered where I had gone wrong.

At first I thought that maybe I forget the extra 1/4 cup of flour (I was kinda excited when I made these so it was totally possible).

Then I got to thinking that maybe it was the mint that was the culprit.  Perhaps when it was baking it all just melted and made the cookie dough thinner.

I was completely heart broken until I took a bite.  And then another.  And after downing 2 cookies my heart wasn’t nearly as broken.  This, I thought, was pretty good.

But it wasn’t my judgement that was important here.  Rick is the cookie aficionado so they had to pass his refined palate to be deemed worthy of ever being made again.

The verdict:  he liked them!  He said that they tasted like chocolate mint ice cream, which I hadn’t even thought of (and is actually my favorite).

So it looks like the combination was a winner, and the next time I make them I’ll have to really pay close attention to the amount of flour I use to see if that is what caused them to flatten out so much.

And if it happens again, I can always throw some ice cream in between 2 of them and make ice cream sandwiches.

Chocolate Mint, of course.

 

The Weather Doesn’t Care What Month It Is

Jun 032013
 

It’s June, right?

I mean, my calendar is turned to the month of June but knowing my scatterbrain lately, I could be jumping the gun.

My reason for looking for confirmation is that last night we had frost warnings in the Northwoods.

Frost?  June?

No, it’s not unheard of but it’s still a punch in the gut to all of us up here who have endured the looooong Winter and have been dreaming of sunny, warm days where we can pack away our long johns, pull on T-shirts and giggle as we run through the grass in bare feet.

Or maybe that’s just me.

So as the sun dropped behind the trees last night I pulled out some sheets and headed out to the garden to cover up as much of my plants as I could.  I also prayed for a little cloud cover, a slight breeze and no frost.

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I’m not sure if any of those prayers got answered but my plants made it through the night unscathed.

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I was even tickled pink to discover some of the larger plants have developed tendrils to hold onto the cages and help the plants grow “up” since there isn’t enough room for them to spread out on the ground.

The week ahead is going to be another cool one, so I’ll have to keep those sheets handy just in case another threat presents itself.

 

Studio Update

May 302013
 

Now that we’ve gotten the necessary supplies that we ran out of, Rick is going great guns trying to finish the Studio.

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And the yard has turned into a construction zone once again, with much of the deck of the new building housing the heavy equipment.

It also provides a little shelter from the on/off rain showers we’ve been getting.

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When the first wall was put in I finally started getting excited.  It’s really hard to not go out there every five minutes and see how much has gotten done.

When I did my final walk-through on Sunday, I felt like the people on “Restaurant Impossible” when they finally get to see their remodeled restaurant.

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All four walls were completed plus the North and South gables.  The Western side of the ceiling was about half done which got me even more giddy.

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Since I know how much work was put into cutting the wood so that it would joint together and be able to move with the change in temperatures, I was almost brought to tears looking at the work in progress.

As with everything that Rick has every built, this will truly be one-of-a-kind and I can’t wait to see what he has in mind for the trim and finishing work that will be done once the ceiling is completed and the flooring is put down.

The man may be a computer geek, but he’s still a carpenter at heart.

 

All Better Now

May 272013
 

A few weeks ago I shook my head in disbelief at the amount of snow that got dumped on us and the impact that it had on the homestead.

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The garden fence in particular took quite a beating.

Since then I’ve been spending a lot of time picking up branches and twigs that have been covering our yard from the numerous storms we’ve had.  Just when I think that I’m all done, WHAM! another system comes through and I’ve got to start all over again.

Maybe this is Mother Nature’s way of giving me a warm-up workout for planting and tending the garden.

Which is exactly what I wanted to do this Memorial Day, but first I had to get that darn fence in tip top shape.

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And with the help of Rick and his muscles to pound in the new fence posts, the goal was achieved!

Now all of my plants can be safe from the marauding deer that just love to graze on the succulent plants that I tend to so hard.

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Most of the garden is going to be cucumbers of which 80 percent have grown to a hardy size.  I wish I could say the same about the basil which is staying stunted to an inch, but I’m going to plant them anyway.

Gotta show ’em who’s boss.

One surprise that I wasn’t counting on (do we ever count on surprises?  I think not, but I feel like talking stupid today) was a gift from my old boss.

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These little beauties are from squash that have not been planted for 800 years.  With less than 50 seeds left in existence I’m very nervous about my green thumb being able to successfully produce the plants that will give me a squash or two.

But I’m up for the challenge if that kind of faith has been put in me.  It will also be my first time “seed saving” so I can gift the seeds back to him to pass onto others and build up the supply.

Wish me luck and I’ll keep you posted!

 

I Guess He Does Know Me Too Well

May 222013
 

A couple weeks ago Rick went out to his folks to spend some time with his Mom (and Dad) for Mother’s Day.

On the Saturday that he left, his Mom and sisters were also having a Tea Party shindig that gets as many wayward family members together as possible to laugh, do crafts, spend time together, and of course drink Tea.

While I was sitting at my desk doing who-knows-what, I happened to look out the window and saw something large and black move around the fence towards the tree that I hang my bird feeders on (which by that time were empty and I just hadn’t taken the 2 seconds that it takes to put them away).

Thinking it was just one of the neighborhood dogs, I didn’t give it much thought and started to give my attention back to the oh-so-important-whatever thing I was doing before.

That was until the black something appeared to be getting larger.  But it really wasn’t getting larger.

It was climbing the tree.

No damage was done and I was super proud of myself for getting a somewhat acceptable photo of the little dude, so I shot it out to Facebook to share with others.

Now here’s the part where my husband knows me all to well.

Not more than 4 minutes later I get a call on my cell from my husband, and it went something like this:

Me:  Hi Honey

Rick:  Where are you at?

Me:  Umm… sitting at my desk… why?

Rick:  *breathing a sigh of relief*  Phew, I thought you were outside taking a picture of the bear.

Me:  How did you know about the bear?

Rick:  My sister was on Facebook and told me about it.

Me:  Honey, I’m not stupid enough to go outside and take a picture of a bear without you around.

Rick:  ……………

Me:  OK, I did it once, but it was pretty far away and I wasn’t in danger.  I promise I won’t go outside to take pictures of bears unless you’re with me.  Feel better?

The rest of the conversation was pretty much reminding me how I pissed off the bear who got into our garbage by it thinking I was in the mood to fight with it just because I was crouched on the deck.

Good thing he forgot about how camera happy I got with the one that was playing in the dumpsters at work.

Come to think of it, maybe he did have good cause to be worried.

 

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