Spring Flowers and Charoset Ball Recipe
Posted by admin in Flowers, Plants and Gardening, Recipes and Cooking on April 4th, 2010
Two things are on my mind. First, the remarkable flowers that are in my yard, and second, the incredibly yummy charoset balls I made last night. First the flowers..
You all know I love to garden. Today I planted a forsythia bush and an almond bush (a very cool ornamental shrub), as well as a few annuals. I also transplanted a couple of columbines from last year and basically just dug in the dirt all day. Literally. I even helped my neighbors gather worms for a fishing trip (thus, productive dirt digging). Either way, I wanted to blog about it. I also took some pictures of some of my bulbs which are finally coming up and apparently, when you plant bulbs ,you are supposed to plant them in clumps as so they look more natural (three or four bulbs in the same hole). I, of course, didn’t know this. They are still beautiful, but as you can see from the mailbox picture below, not necessarily natural. I’ve been told that next year they will multiply, so Im cool with that. I’ve also included some other random pictures so here it is: Spring Flowers.
Now for the Charoset Balls.
I am Jewish. This year I didn’t do anything for Passover, which would have been really upsetting if I had NOT been invited to a ‘post’ passover dinner with friends! It really was such a nice time and I wasn’t quite sure what to bring so I consulted with my sister, Lauren, who is just amazing. Of COURSE, she had the best idea ever. I originally offered to bring traditional ashkenazic charoset, which would have been fine (the host was making kugel and other traditional passover foods), but my sister suggested I try charoset balls. These are kind of a play off of the sephardic version of charoset, which is with dates, raisins, etc (whereas the ashkenazic version is with apples, walnuts, etc). Anyway, I tried my sister’s recipe and it was INCREDIBLE. Actually, they were just perfect for desert and taste great accompanied by a glass of red wine. Here is a pic of my ‘balls’ as well as the recipe. Its so easy, and so good. Enjoy!
2 cups pitted dates, 1/2 cup of golden raisins, 1/2 cup of dark raisins, 1/2 cup of walnuts, 2 tbs of red wine, and a touch of cinnamon (6 ingredients, how easy is THAT?).
Process the dates, raisins, walnuts and wine in a food processor until the mixture is finely chopped and sticks together. Then line a baking sheet with waxed paper and make small balls of the mixture (you will want to dip your fingers in water so it doesn’t stick, and you’ll also also want to finely chop some additional walnuts to roll the balls in, so they are easy to pick up). After you make the balls, roll them in the finely chopped walnuts and place them in the fridge to cool. Refrigerate for about 3 hours until firm. Serve on a plate. Eat slowly. Enjoy.
Springtime Gardening
Posted by admin in Flowers, Plants and Gardening on March 23rd, 2010
I love the Spring. In fact, I didn’t realize how MUCH I love the Spring until last weekend. I don’t know about any of you, but this past Winter was brutal. Snowfall after snowfall. The first few were fun, but after a while it was just too much.
So, as you all know In a former life I was a landscaper. I still consider working in the yard as my form of therapy and this past weekend it was time to cut down the decorative grass in the front yard. Thankfully, I remembered an article I read in one of my gardening magazines that suggested an easy way to cut down what can sometimes be terribly difficult grass (when its dead and spreading seeds it really can be a terrible mess!). Well, I went ahead and did what my magazine suggested and wrapped my grass in duct tape and took some electric cutters and whacked it at the root. Effin brilliant. I wish I took a before and after picture, but instead all I got was an ‘in progress’ picture. Since Im the geek that I am, I just thought I’d share:
In addition to cutting down my pampas grass, I decided to experiment with hanging baskets. Apparently, people do this all the time. I, on the other hand, tend to just see a hanging basket I like and say, ‘how much?’. This Spring though, I decided to try my hand in basketry. Typically, elaborate hanging baskets can run you from $25 and up, so I thought by doing my own it would be fun AND save money. Well, one thing for sure. I really did have a great time. Didn’t save much money, but I will never buy another hanging basket again. I hate to admit how much I enjoyed perusing Strange’s Florist (which, although semi-corporate, I ADORE), and just taking in all the different kinds of plants and flowers. I tried to pick as many varieties as I could for my baskets and when I got home, I spread a tarp in the front yard, pulled out my bag of dirt and went to town planting away. I’ve taken a few pictures so you can see for yourself. Hopefully, these will live and grow to cascade down and around the pot (I specifially picked creeping varieties because I dig things that cascade). Either way, this was my weekend and it was wonderful.
Music, Pottery and Whatnot
Posted by admin in Life and Whatnot on March 9th, 2010
I’m still learning to play the mandolin. It’s been slow going, but I haven’t given up yet. What I find MOST interesting is that there are so many people out there who play some kind of instrument but you’d never know it if you didn’t ask. I continue to be amazed by musicians, artists and the like who seem to just naturally KNOW how to play music, create art, write, etc. It really is a gift. What I’ve also discovered, and continue to realize, is that even if you are not naturally talented or gifted, it really doesn’t matter. The more you practice and just continue to DO what you enjoy, the better you will become at it. The key here is ‘enjoy’. Once you stop enjoying something, really, what’s the point?
I’ve taken a whack at just about everything. Last summer it was a writing class, and for a few summer’s before that it was Pottery (wheel throwing). I really loved pottery, and will probably do it again. I enjoyed the writing class but honestly, felt a bit out of place. I write because I enjoy writing, but I am admittedly not a big reader and because of this I wasn’t able to participate in most of the banter the class liked to engage in. It was still enjoyable, I just felt like a poser.
As for pottery. That’s just fun. I took wheel throwing while I was in college and loved returning to the ‘mud’. They offer fantastic classes at the Visual Arts Center downtown (formally known as the Hand Workshop). One day I’d love to teach an art class, or really, anything that inspires.
Here is a pic of some of my pottery. I have a few more pieces here and there, but you can see just about how far I got with it. Variations on a theme, really.
Squat and round.
Two Rock Songs
Music moves me. Always has, always will. These days, there are two particular songs that really move me. Thing is, Im not sure why so the way I figure, this is something meant for my blog. The first song is from a band named Muse. Most of you may know this band, but I only recently learned of their existence. In fact, a 14 year old boy introduced me. Yes, that’s right. A dear friend of mine’s son introduced me to this band and I have to say, I love them. Not sure what that says about me, other than I dig a band meant for 14 year olds. Either way, here’s the song (not the greatest video, but a GREAT song):
So why do I like this song? It’s inspirational, that’s why. It’s a fighting song, a ‘You Can Not Hold Us Back’ song, a revolutionary song. I dig it.
The second song is totally opposite – but really rocks. BIG time. Im obviously exposing how pathetic I am. I found out about this band on Saturday Night Live. You’d think I don’t get out of the house much, eh? The band is called Them Crooked Vultures and they are what is called a ‘Rock Supergroup’. They are called this because this band is made up of members from other bands that Rocked, so they are Super Rockers. And I mean, SUPER Rockers. The bassist, John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), the drummer, Dave Grohl (Nirvana), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and Alain Johannes (Unkle). See for yourself. It’s really something to appreciate if you can:
Well, that’s that. Two Rock Songs.
Super Easy, Crazy Good Vegetarian Chili w/ Shmeet
Posted by admin in Recipes and Cooking on February 7th, 2010
This is the best vegetarian chili recipe, ever. Well, at least we think so.
The best thing about it is that it’s really, really super easy. The ‘Spice Pack’ comes from Moosewood Cookbook’s Vegetarian Chili recipe but other than that, it’s just a bit of this and a bit of that. We like our vegetarian chili with Shmeet (fake meat) so I thought I’d share our recipe as I’m making a big ole batch right now.
Ingredients:
1 pack of Quorn Meatless and Soy Free Grounds OR Morning Star Meal Starters (Sausage style or Regular)
1 Medium/Large Onion (chopped)
5/6 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 package of Mushrooms (sliced or chopped)
1 big can of Diced Tomatoes (28 oz)
1 can of Tomato Paste (6 oz)
1 can of RoTel diced tomatoes and green chilies (10 oz) -this is optional. Actually everything is optional.
Spice Pack (combine the following): 2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp dried basil, 2 tsp chili powder (more to taste), 1 tsp of kosher salt (more/less to taste – I usually go for less)
1-2 tsp of olive oil
1 cup of water (more or less as you wish)
*We don’t add beans, but if you want to, feel free. Also, feel free to add other vegetables during the onion/mushroom/garlic stage. You can really play around a lot with this recipe.
First Thing:
Throw your chopped onion and garlic in a pot and sauté w/ olive oil for about 5 minutes. Throw in your mushrooms and the ‘spice pack’ and sauté for a few more minutes so everyone gets all spiced up.
Second Thing:
Add your package of Shmeet (the fake meat of your choice- it doesn’t matter if it is frozen or defrosted). Mix this up with your spiced up onion/garlic/mushroom mix and cook that for about 3 minutes (just enough to soak up the flavor).
Third Thing:
Add your tomatoes (all three cans) and mix everything up. At this point, I usually add a little bit of water if it’s too thick, but you can do whatever you want. At minimum, let this simmer for about 25-30 minutes, but an hour or more is best.
Fourth Thing:
Heat up some dippin’ bread (6-7 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees), dish out your chili, and go to town. A dollop of sour cream or a bit of cheddar cheese on top is really yummy and if your anything like Pete, throw in a few drops of something that makes you sweat (Dave’s Insanity Sauce or Blair’s After Death Hot Sauce are favorites – but be warned, less is best. Seriously).
Bon Appetite!
I Love This Plant
Posted by admin in Flowers, Plants and Gardening on January 30th, 2010
I adore plants. Absolutely love them.
I’m not sure where this ‘plant appreciation’ of mine came from, but it’s there. In fact, when I was in high school, my summer job was landscaping. I worked for a small, women owned landscaping company called Maywood Lawn and Landscaping. During my time at Maywood, I cut grass, trimmed hedges, pulled weeds, ‘whacked’ weeds, planted plants, removed plants, sprayed herbicide (not my favorite part), shoveled mulched, spread mulch, loaded trucks, emptied trucks, drove trucks and backed up trailers that made me proud (if you’ve ever had to reverse a truck with a full size trailer, and turn it to the left or right, or both – you know what Im talking about). It was good. It built my confidence, provided an ‘honest’ day of work, and led me to my career behind a desk, since I SWORE I would find myself a job that included air conditioning and DIDN’T include a fear of posion ivy, hornets, sunburn and dehydration. My time in the sun served me well.
Now, I garden for fun, on MY time and not at 5AM or 3:00 PM (when the sun is nothing more than pain). I also have a ton of houseplants, which I love. You can even ask my husband. I know its strange but I regularly walk by one of my plants, hold up a leaf and say to him, ‘Isn’t this amazing? I mean look at this! Seriously, come look at this!’. 
I’m just amazed by natural diversity. Here is a picture of my newest plant. Im not sure the name (I’ll get back to you with that) but the leafs are just beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I love this plant.
Wildflowers Don’t Care Where They Grow
So true, isn’t it?
This is another one of my favorite songs. Dolly Parton sings this and its absolutely beautiful. I tried to find her singing it and this is all I found. I wish it was just her singing, but apparently its a movie clip. Either way, you can see how beautiful this song is and of course, Dolly is amazing.
Listen closely to the lyrics. Beautiful.
So, Im trying to learn to play this on the mandolin. It might do better on a guitar and/or the instrument she is playing (which Im not yet sure what that is), but for now, Im going to try to learn on the mandolin. Im slightly embarassed to have myself singing so closely after Dolly, but we all have to aspire towards something, right? Minus the plastic surgery, of course. (Dolly, no disrespect. Im one of your biggest fans).
Now here is me. Desperately trying to figure out how to play the mandolin so it doesn’t hurt the ears. The one thing Im struggling with is strumming. If anyone out there reading this knows anything about the mandolin, or has any helpful hints when it comes to strumming, please let me know! Im finding that every song I play ends up sounding like Wagon Wheel. Im also considering taking up the Guitar. Hell, why not?
Birds, Birds, Birds
I love birds. So, I’ve decided to be come a more informed bird watcher.
To start my journey, I purchased a copy of Stokes Field Guide to Birds and started spending all of my spare time watching these beautiful little creatures- and trying to figure out who’s who. I’ve actually been quite amazed. I had no idea there was such a variety of birds right in my back yard . When you take the time to just watch and listen, you’ll see a whole world you may have never even noticed. I only wish I had paid attention sooner. They are just the most gentle, beautiful things.
In addition to just watching, I’ve also been video taping my fine feathered friends. Right now Im trying to pull together a video clip so you can see them in action, but in the meantime, here are a few pictures of the birds that frequent my feeders. To attract the buggers I simply placed a few dishes of bird seed on my deck, kicked back, and waited for the party to begin. A bird party.
Below is a sample of who showed up. There is one bird I’m not 100% sure of (the starling) and a few others were hard to identify. Older birds look different than younger birds, some birds look different in the winter than in the summer, etc. But for now, here are the ones I could make a positive ID. A taste of Jana’s Wild Kingdom (video coming soon):
1. The Tufted Titmouse. I LOVE this bird. These guys are so cute its ridiculous.
2. The Cardinal, of course. Here is a pic of a female. I have males come to visit as well but mostly, Im seeing females. As you all know, the males are bright red, and a beautiful sight.
3. The House Finch. These guys are on my deck all the time, in pairs for the most part which I find interesting. I rarely see a female without a male, or male without a female. They are a pair, for sure (the male has red on his chest).
4. The Dark Eyed Junco. I just dig it’s name. Junco.
5. The Blue Jay. Let me say a word or two about the blue jay. Compared to my other fine feathered friends, the blue jay is a MONSTER bird. They are what I like to call my ‘big boys’ and when they are in town, everyone backs down. I always knew the blue jay as those birds that like to harass cats (if you’ve ever had an outdoor cat, you know what Im talking about). But now I see them as big ole lugs with beautiful tail feathers. 
6. Song Sparrow. When this one first showed up on the scene, I thought it was a finch, but lo.. it was a sparrow. A beautiful, lovely sparrow.
7. The Starling. This one I’m still not 100% sure about. I have him on video. He made a brief appearance and I had no idea what he was. His feathers were spotted and his beak was black, which makes me think he is a junior starling. The picture I found on line isn’t exactly what he looks like (I have him on video). I’ll have to double check on this one. I don’t think it was a blackbird, and certainly not a crow. It was just a very cool looking black bird with spots. 
8. And last but not least, this morning I saw an American Goldfinch. It was adorable. At first I thought it was a house bird that managed to escape it’s cage. This morning was the first time I’ve seen a goldfinch. I hope to see her again.
The James River and Steve Miller Band
Some of my fondest memories are of Summer days spent on the James River with my friend Cathleen. I met Cathy when I was 15 years old. Hard to believe its been 22 years, but it has. Cathy lived right down the road from me and we instantly became best friends. I can’t tell you how many times we went to the James and spent hours sunning ourselves, exploring the river and singing to the fish. Yes, singing to the fish.
For those of you who are not familiar with the James River, the James is a river that runs through Richmond and back in the day, the river was where it was at. We spent all of our time there, hanging out, just doing what teenagers do. Here is a picture I found of the James River Rocks so you get the idea..
Cathy and I used to go to a cluster of rocks we called the Bread Basket down at the 43rd Street entrance. It was kind of hard to get to, so only on a rare occasion would we find that someone else had taken over our rock. We would come equipped with towels, sun tan lotion, river shoes (if you’ve been to the James, you know what I mean) snacks, a battery powered ‘boom box’, diet coke and/or beer if we were lucky, and cigarettes in a ziplock bag. We had so much fun on those rocks.
One of our favorite things to do was to sing to the fish. I know it sounds strange, but Cathy and I often listened to Steve Miller Band and loved to harmonize to the song Dance, Dance, Dance. One day we thought we’d hang on the side of the rock and start singing and sure enough, all these little fish swam up to us and just stayed there while we sang! We did this all the time and ever time we started singing, fish would appear. Mostly guppies, but fish none the less. It was pretty cool.
For those of you that know, I recently started taking Mandolin lessons. During my last lesson I asked my teacher to show me how to play Steve Miller Band’s Dance, Dance, Dance, and here it is. My dedication to all those wonderful days on the James. I told Cathy that the next time I see her we are going to record us harmonizing it together. She doesn’t think Im serious.
Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody is easily one of my favorite songs, ever. Just the other day, a friend of mine sent me a video of the Muppets singing Bohemian Rhapsody.
I laughed. I cried.
I hope you do too.
