Steps On The Journey

walk with me a while

doors and windows, entries and exits

Posted on June 28, 2012 by heidiannie

7

I haven’t written much lately.

I had my grandson visiting for a week.

AND we were very BUSY!

Then we came down to Chincoteague Island in Virginia and met

up with my daughter in law and other grandson.

So- I’ve been preoccupied.

But part of what has kept me so busy is this-

The fence and gates and pergola in front of the house were run down by a young

man who was drinking and texting and speeding at 2 AM a couple of weeks ago.

It had looked like this.

I love this doorway- we changed the handle now and it looks even better-

Or at least I think so. It sure is easier to unlock!

And I love this window. It is an odd shape- but the Navy seal fit perfectly in the

center and since the owner of this house is a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy-

it is just right!

Tomorrow we are going to give one of the bedrooms a make over!

The grandsons are going home- so it is back to work!

Gardening– or maybe just the garden contained.

Posted on June 15, 2012 by heidiannie

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I do not have good soil- I’ve been putting in bags of peat and loads

of manure for years now and I STILL don’t have good soil. I should

have dug up the entire garden and filled it with compost and peat

and top soil- but we (as in my husband) decided that would be overkill

and so we have a heavy clay soil that is dominant and patches of peat

enhanced heavy clay soil. It is not good for growing.

So most of the time I put plants in containers.

Containers are good for flowers- especially geraniums.

And they are pretty good for lettuce…

Yesterday-

Last week… it is growing pretty well- I thinned it out some

yesterday and made a great fresh lettuce salad for dinner.

And tomatoes seem to do pretty well in containers, too.

This tomato shows a weeks growth- and the other plants

are putting on buds and small little tomatoes.

The peppers are doing all right in the containers, too.

Even the cheddar cauliflower is growing in its pot.

Which is very good, since the rabbits have eaten all the leaves

off of the ones I planted in the ground.

I think I am more of a container-pot gardener than a bounteous

bed gardener. Maybe I just don’t have green fingers- but with

the pots doing so well- I’m blaming the soil.

So- How does your garden grow?

Rhubarb-cake and custard pie!

Posted on June 11, 2012 by heidiannie

6

Rhubarb custard pie-

with a lattice top crust and sprinkled with sugar- beautiful and

the recipe is here. Delicious!

And Country Rhubarb cake with whiskey cream topping. Oh my- what

a treasure! I really don’t remember exactly where this recipe came from-

although I think it may have been a Gourmet magazine from many years

ago.

Recipe:

1 pound fresh rhubarb- 3 cups of 1” slices

1 cup light brown sugar

2 cups cake flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup + 2 TBS granulated sugar

1 stick cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2” cubes (4 oz)

1/3 cup whole milk

2 large eggs- 1 separated- save white for topping glaze

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Toss rhubarb with brown sugar- set aside.

Whisk together cake ingredients, blend in butter with pastry blender or

fingers until it resembles coarse meal. Whisk together eggs and milk, make

well in dry ingredients and stir to make soft sticky dough. Pat half of dough

into the bottom and sides of a 10”ceramic pie plate with floured hands.

Cover with rhubarb and sugar mix- make sure you get out all the juices.

Spoon last of dough on top- brush with egg white and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes- keep an eye on top- reduce heat for last 10 minutes or so that

the top doesn’t get too brown.

Whiskey cream topping-

1 cup heavy cream

2 TBS powdered (10x) sugar

1 TBS whiskey

1/2 tsp vanilla

Put cold cream into a chilled bowl- add rest of ingredients and beat until

you have stiff peaks!

Serve warm with a cloud of cream topping on top!

Enjoy!

In My Kitchen-June 2012

Posted on June 1, 2012 by heidiannie

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In my kitchen… I have one of these.

Which when filled with cupcakes becomes a

tower of delight!

In my kitchen…

I have fresh baked sourdough French bread and rolls.

A sunshine pierced texture shot. for Joanna.

In my kitchen…

there is candied orange peel and currant Irish soda bread.

In my kitchen…

there is Pineapple citrus juice with just a hint of honey.

In my kitchen…

is a lovely bouquet of coral bells, bearded Iris and mint.

In my kitchen…

is this wonderful teapot lamp I got as a gift from my son and

daughter in law- I love it because my kitchen is VERY well lit-

and first thing in the morning all the lights stab me in the eyes.

This lamp adds a wonderful ambience around 6 AM!

In my kitchen…

is this spice box that my sister Robin and her husband, John

made me many years ago. It is lovely- has hung on my wall

for quite a long time- and may be haunted. It hangs sturdily on

the wall, and mysteriously swings open from time to time.

The latch doesn’t open easily, but

the door slowly opens sometimes when I am sitting with a cup of tea.

And finally – in my kitchen…

are these woven pieces. The tea towel is made of flax/linen and is over a hundred

years old. I had one very similar – or my mother did- that my grandmother made-

this one is from a dear friend whose mother wove it in Yugoslavia.

The green table runner- I wove

when I was visiting my brother. He had his loom set up for me to try. It took

me several days to get it to any considerable length. And I discovered that he was

fixing my crooked (scalloped?) edges when I went to my hotel each night. I finally

convinced him that I wanted it to be done by me- warts, ripples, crooked edges and all-

so he left me to it!

I’m a weaver!

The two winners of last month’s give away are Glenda@ Passion Fruit Garden and

Liz, who made the following comment-

Liz says:

Wednesday, 2nd May 2012 at 1:56 am

What a lovely bouquet of flowers, columbines and bleeding hearts don’t grow well in my garden. I couldn’t live–well bake–without my scales. It’s especially good when working with recipes in weights and changing the size of the batch. I’ve never seen the lily pad covers before, so cute.

If you will leave your address on my email # – heidiannie-gmail.com – I will send you the lily pad cover! .

Thanks for stopping by- go to Celia’s blog to see some more IMK posts- http://figjamandlimecordial.com/2012/06/01/in-my-kitchen-june-2012/