Saturday, October 29, 2016

Saturday Sally/October 29

Sally: a brief journey; an excursion or trip.

I said to Tom this afternoon that I bet I hadn’t done a Saturday Sally since Hazel Nina was born. I checked, and that’s exactly right. The last one was in May 2013. I’m going to try and do a Saturday Sally post on the Saturdays I don’t participate in Weekend Cooking.
You don’t even have to get up out of your chair to take this little trip. You need only click the links.

The first one is a terrific radio show called Outside/In. Here is the website
You may click on any of the episodes here to listen, or you may subscribe to the podcast. You may read about Sam Evans-Brown here. The show is so interesting and so much fun no matter what the subject matter happens to be. I love it, and I think you will, too.

Though, most sadly, Roger Ebert has died, his website lives on, and it is full of movie info. The site offers his old reviews, and current ones by new people. It will be appreciated by all movie fans. 

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

In a week's time

If you've been to visit in the last week, you will have seen this photo as the blog header.


Today I took a picture of the same view, and it is now the blog header. Seven days and such a change. We're now in the second month of fall, the Scorpio month, when the leaves all depart the trees, the first snows come, and the darkness comes earlier and earlier in the evening. I love all phases of the autumn. Each one has its own particular beauty.

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Today's video/Carpool Karaoke with Michelle Obama

Oh my gosh, this is SO much fun! What a great First Lady. You will love this no matter your politics.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Today's picture/Walking

"Walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme."
Leonard Cohen

Friday, October 14, 2016

Moondance

Can you see this amazing almost full moon (officially 12.23 am eastern time on Sunday) this evening? Wish I had a great camera to capture it.


Of course the song that comes to mind is Van's Moondance. This is from 1979. Though it says Belfast, the notes say it was really in Dublin. Just the best, best song.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

What I Learned from TV - October 12


Each time I do a post about What I Learned From TV, I’ll begin with the explanation from the first posting:

Now that my kids are grown, and Tom has retired, I’ve been able to go back to my natural sleep pattern which is to stay up late and get up late. Tom’s natural rhythm is just the opposite. So, he’s the lark and I’m the owl. 

And what this owl does in the late hours is watch television- not in the traditional way but through Acorn TV, Hulu, Netflix, TunnelBear, and my own DVDs. Most of the shows are British, though I am a great fan of a few American television shows, and have been watching a few from other countries now that we have TunnelBear. Some of these shows Tom will watch in the mornings, but many of them are all mine. So, when I hear a great quote from a show I know he’s not going to watch, I’ll leave him little post-it notes near the computer keyboard. I had a notion this morning to begin a new ‘letter topic’ called What I Learned From TV so I can put up some virtual post-its for you to read and, hopefully, enjoy. Some are funny, some are educational, some are wise.


Pouring some salt in a candle makes it burn longer (2 hours, I think it said). I haven’t tried this, but plan to do so.

From the movie The Missing Postman:
Make notes of what you want to do around the house and garden, and put them in a jar. Draw one out and do it!

From The Coroner
“Never trust a man in socks and sandals.” 

Lewis: “Life born of fire. I bet that means something in Latin."
Hathaway: “What makes you say that?”
Lewis: “This is Oxford. Everything always means something in Latin.”

From the movie Another Year which I wrote about here:
“and then there are the big corporations who keep their lights on all night in empty office buildings while we’re all expected to do our bit with eco bulbs."

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Today's video/Corinne Bailey Rae on Tiny Desk Concerts

I am so happy that Corinne Bailey Rae has a new album. Her first one came out the year I began writing this blog and I listened to it all the time. Then her husband died, and the next album dealt with her grief. She has now remarried, and The Heart Speaks in Whispers is full of the joy of new life, new hope.

Friday, October 7, 2016

Today's poem by Susan Moorhead

The Botanical Gardens Gift Shop

We all wear the same things, bright scarves, artful earrings,
shoulder-length or cropped graying hair. Groomed yet
somehow vaguely askew, our reading glasses perched
on top of our heads, forgetting to wear them as we squint
at the narrow lines of print in a gardening book, in a collection

of meaningful quotes. You in the linen jacket, you in that apricot
cardigan wrap, the woman on line who shares a rueful smile
with me, a stack of blue and green cotton napkins in her arms
and another book she doesn't need. The wave of affection
I feel for these women surprises me at first until I realize,

oh, I know you. These fine lines on our brows etching proof
of worries and years of smiling, facing things that have blessed
or shattered us. I have seen you put on your brave face at the
doctors, or the nursing home, at the hospice, or the funeral
parlor as you rise to greet the next person and the next moment,

and the moment after that one, all hard. I know the effort made
to achieve that polite public response, yes, I'm fine, thank you
for asking. I know the moments you have failed, the private
breakdowns, the pointless arguments with God, of being so
tremendously alone you cannot take your next breath. But

then you do. I know how you chin up and try again. How
you reapply your lipstick with a shaking hand and then open
the door, shoulders back, and enter the world. To some,
your actions might look like small things, inconsequential.
I see you choose a child's book on gardening for perhaps a
grandchild or a niece or nephew, because one is never
too young to learn how to rise up each year and bloom.

Susan Moorhead

from The Night Ghost

Another poem by her on the blog here.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Today's picture/Chipmunk

Today's pictures will win no prizes except for adorable-ness. The tomatoes have pretty much gone by though we still get a few to eat each day so we haven't cut them down yet.

We have a little friend who has been sharing them with us. Note the partly smooshed ones on the patio.


Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Autumn Colors at Windy Poplars Farm

Peak foliage color here is almost always the end of September, beginning of October. It takes my breath away every single year. I feel so lucky that I don't have to travel to see it. I don't even need to leave my home. It is all around me every day and I look, and look, and look and can't believe such beauty.

I took these pictures at a couple different times today - afternoon and early evening. I've never seen any photos, even in magazines, that can completely capture the colors, but these will at least give you an idea.







And while I was taking some pictures down here, Tom had taken Lucy for a wheeler ride up into the woods, and he took this photo


My first panorama shot


Monday, October 3, 2016

Fruits and Vegetables


Do you eat this many fruits and vegetables a day?? I think that I eat quite well, but I don't often have this many. I found the photo here. The site tells exactly how much is a serving. A banana is one serving. A small bell pepper is half a serving.

I've been telling myself that I need to shop for fresh food twice a week, but sometimes I don't get to the store even once a week. I remember reading an MFK Fisher book where she mentions getting food every single day and eating it that day. I think she was in France at the time. That would of course be the dream. If I lived in an apartment with a market right out front I could easily shop every day. But most of us don't. I live eight miles away from my local co-op.There's a little market in town but even that is three miles away, and the store is pretty minimal. And then there are places in the US that are deemed 'food deserts' because the only stores don't offer any 'real' food, just packaged goods.

It isn't easy eating well. And all too often it is those with money who are best able to do it. But even when we can afford organic, fresh foods we are often too busy or tired to get to the stores as often as we should. Many people's medicine cabinets are full, and they have lots of doctor's appointments. Perhaps if we took the time and money to feed ourselves well we wouldn't need doctors and hospitals as we do now. This is a huge problem, and may well be at the root of many physical, emotional, and psychological ills.

I'm heading out to the store today!

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Amish Apple Grunt

I had never heard the term "grunt" used in a recipe so I looked it up and found:

US.  a dessert made of fruit topped with dough: blueberry grunt.

Amish Apple Grunt has been in my email recipe folder since 2002 when I was on an email baking list. I thought it was about time to give it a try! When I went to King Arthur Flour the other day, I, of course, went shopping in the wonderful store. Here's a picture from the website.


I bought two pans:

the big one was called a coffeecake pan which holds 12 cups, 


and the smaller one a bundt pan which holds 10 cups. 


This old recipe didn't specify what kind of a baking dish, so I decided to use the  bundt pan. It is a fleur-de-lis pattern.

Amish Apple Grunt

Cream together:
2 tablespoons soft butter and 1/2 cup sugar.
Add:
1 egg 

In another bowl mix together:
1 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry, but any flour will do)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Mix together in a separate container:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add dry mixture and buttermilk mixture to the butter, sugar, and egg, and mix well. Add 2 cups of sliced apples.

Pour into pan greased with cooking spray.

In a little bowl, mix together:
6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
Sprinkle over the apple batter.


Bake in preheated 375 F. oven for 35-40 minutes.
Cool and remove from pan. 
There are differing opinions on how long to cool it before taking it out. Some say a short time, others a longer time. I left it about 10 minutes, and a little bit stuck to the pan.

This was really delicious, though I tasted only a little bit. Tom and Matt ate most all of it! Tom said it is the best fruit dessert I've ever made. I'll be making it again soon so Margaret and Hazel and I can have some!



Please do visit Beth Fish Reads for other food related postings.