ALL THE BEST OF FALL IN CHICAGO & MICHIGAN

 

A-mazing Acres, Edwardsburg, MI

 

Well, hello!  Where have you been?  Last time we met up it was August!  Let's forget about that, summer has ended, I had a last hurrah at the lake for five straight weeks.  Total solitude and visits from The Husband most weekends.  I think it made up for getting up there and rolling so late in the season due to our quarantine and then hesitation to venture out.  Everything outdoors is now stored away, the house is spiffed up and there is no sign of crumbs or sand.  I'm not sure if our January sledding weekend will take place, we aren't going to take any chances of catching a cold, the flu, or the virus.  

We celebrated fall and all things fall not only in the city, but at the lake.  Emily, our designer daughter, had a "Special" in her business for fall porch styling.  She had a good number of requests and jobs.  Each and every one of the porches, of all size and shape turned out fun, festive, and reflective of the homeowner's taste.  She worked her bum off!  You can visit her website, Curate Design Studio to get a peek at what they do.  She does virtual design consultations for those who are outside Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. She's also on Instagram at Curate.Studio.Chicsgo.  I may be partial but I love her Stories!  Informative, fun, and full of hands on advice and tips anywhere from styling a shelf to creating a gallery wall.   

Diamond Lake, MI

I have never grown zinnias myself but I have memories of being very young and my grandfather leading my sisters and I around the backyard where he grew them all along a picket fence as a tall border.  

One day in early September I was taking Poppy for a walk at the lake.  I was admiring the zinnias growing around a mailbox near the road.  It may have been serendipity, but the lady who lived there happened to pull in her driveway and walked over for a meet and greet (and have Poppy maul her with sloppy kisses and tail wags!).  We chatted about the zinnias.  She told me that she let the seeds fall and they came up again the following spring.  She also kept a few seed heads to scratch into the soil and then lets  nature take its cue.  This is going to be one of my many new projects in the garden next spring- growing tall, blowzy zinnias.  And I'm going to do a raised bed for tomatoes.  We were gifted with so many tomatoes this summer that we were eating them every way possible and there was not one tomato forgotten, they were that good!  Any new ideas for your gardens next spring?

Our little Madelyn is quite the little dancer and loves to pose for the camera.  She really has a gift.  She's been modeling for a children's clothing line, Sprout and Berry.  If you have kids or grandkids, have a peek. Such cute clothing!

Sprout and Berry

This dress is so, so cute.  Mad has the modeling moves down, although this could be her reaction to being told to sit still! 😒

Fall Decorating

City House Porch, Chicago, IL

My porch, courtesy Curate Design Studio

Fall Fun!

Diamond Lake, MI

So many pumpkins, so many choices.  Pansies are my choice of flowers in the fall, they can make it past a frost or two.  I've heard they are actually called pansies because they can't stand the heat of summer!  Mums are spectacular but need a good watering every few days, if not everyday. As rainy as it might be in October, the flowers are so dense they don't get the hydration down to the roots, hence the watering. In the Midwest we simply can't grow anything until the spring bulbs pop up so there's none of those relaxing days in the garden.  Living here all my life, I'm envious of those of you in warm weather areas, but I'm very much emotionally attached to Chicago and appreciate the evergreens and the haven they provide for those bright red birds, the cardinals!

  

Cousins:  Madelyn, Elsie & Patsy

The grand girls were up for our "Fallin" weekend.  Little Lucy didn't make the cut for some of the action pics.  My daughters dressed the girls in these matching outfits and the colors really made it easy to watch them when we went to the pumpkin patch, which was  pretty much like a small county fair.  They also had cute little silk pajamas and after their bath in our big free standing tub (they used a green bath bomb and claimed they were bathing in a swamp!), Emily and Abby brushed and braided their hair and they fell into bed exhausted.  Such a memorable weekend.

                                                    Recipes

Individual Chicken Pot Pies

  I usually make these after Thanksgiving with leftover meat and there's always leftover meat!  But I recently made a whole chicken and thought I'd used the light and dark meat for these.  Puff pastry makes it super easy and fast.  Ramekins can be too small, so these crocks worked well.  Just use any type of oven proof bowl or crock you have.

2 c cooked shredded chicken

2 T butter

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 medium red or yellow potatoes, peeled and cubed small

1 1/2 c frozen peas and carrots

1/3 c flour

1 c chicken broth

3/4 c milk or cream

1 T dried thyme

1 T dried tarragon

S & P

1 sheet of puff pastry*

1 egg, beaten

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the onion.  Cook over medium heat until softened and translucent, stirring often.  Add the chopped garlic and continue to cook an additional 2 minutes.  Turn up the heat and add the flour, whisking until you have a thick roux.  Slowly add the broth and milk, stirring until bubbly.  Add the chicken, potatoes, peas and carrots, and dried herbs, and let simmer about 5 minutes.  Taste a spoonful of the mixture and add salt and pepper if needed.  While this is going on, lay out your sheet of puff pastry on a floured surface and gently roll out about an inch or so on all sides.  Using a knife or pastry wheel, cut the pastry so you have four even squares.  Ladle the chicken mixture evenly in your oven proof bowls and gently press a piece of pastry on each one, pressing down along the edges with a fork to secure in place.  Brush each one with the beaten egg and make an X with a knife in the center fo the steam to escape.  Place the bowls on a sheet pan and place in a 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is a pretty golden brown.  Enjoy!

*Please note that you need to take the puff pastry out of your freezer about 30 minutes before using.  If it's too soft it will be sticky and difficult to work with. 

 With my thoughts leaping ahead to cooler days with all the cozy scents of fall in the air, I'm dreaming of pies, muffins, chunky cookies, and quick breads, I decided I had to give you one of my favorite cookie recipes that is definitely for grownups.  I love these in the afternoon with a cup of Joe or tea, or maybe a few after dinner just for that last sweet bite for the day.  Of course you can keep them in your cookie jar for the kiddos, but if you know they're there, they might not be around long!  

This recipe comes from longtime favorite blogger, Julie Blanner, and credit for this photo goes to her as well.  I did write it out myself rather than provide a link.

Caramel Cheesecake Cookies

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 1/2 c sugar

1 t vanilla

2 c flour

1/2 c graham cracker crumbs

1 bag of caramels

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Combine  cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla.  Beat in mixer until fluffy.

Gradually add the flour and graham cracker crumbs.

Roll a somewhat large ball of dough, about the size of two cookie scoops.  Make a hole into the center with your thumb and insert a caramel.  Gently roll back into a ball.  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and continue with the rest of the dough.

Bake for 12 minutes.  Remove from oven and press each cookie with the bottom of a glass that has been buttered.  Press gently and give it a bit of a turn.  Return the pan to the oven for an additional 3 minutes.  

You can serve these warm but if you can't, 10 seconds in the microwave will work.  Yields 24 cookies.  

Happenings...  

So other than  running around pumpkin patches with the kiddo's and enjoying fall and some cozy time in the kitchen, much more goes on behind the blog.  Lots of ups and downs, but I really don't do a lot of, 

"Why me?" Not because I'm a Martyr or comparing myself constantly to others who are much more worse off, its more because I'm used to the barest of normalcy in my life--I say this with a little giggle but if we had a timeline going for the past few years, and my blog is proof positive, I'm always an accident not ready to happen--but happening!😂

In mid September I was happily plugging along, giving the lakehouse a good end-of-year cleaning, doing some additional planting and mulching in the yard, and just soaking in this pause in time, a sort of yawn if you will.  Most people leave the lake for the winter just after Labor Day, even those with year round homes so everything seems to slow down and become mellow.  I felt so much more content in enjoying my morning  coffee on the front porch with Poppy and Layla.  We took long slow walks down the quiet roads and I started making fires inside in the evenings. The three of us just sat on the couch hypnotized and peaceful.

And then one afternoon (drumroll) I walked out the service door to the garage, arms full with a dozen things, and missed the bottom step.  Down I went, it felt like slow motion.  I felt like a pretzel when I landed on the garage floor, my legs all twisted under me.  I could feel the pain in my right leg and instinct told me to get it out from under my bum and it was excruciating as I maneuvered this.  Whew!  I sat and thought for awhile, Layla was scurrying around under the boat and trailer (she was one of the things I was carrying as I was on the way to  a last minute appointment getting her into a vet).  I knew I had to get back in the house and I also knew my right leg was messed up and the pain was getting worse.  Well, I won't make this any longer...I hope.  I bumped my way up the steps on my rear end, was able to open the door, and then crawled into the kitchen.  Oh, and my good ten minutes of thinking was crucial, I dragged my purse, with my phone in with me.  I mean, I actually had a plan.  But there was no one to call, the lake people had gone home.  It was just me and the dogs.  This is beginning to sound like a screenplay for a movie.  Okay, I crawled to the fridge to get an icepack, then realized I could pull myself up by using the drawer of the freezer and the countertop just across from it.  No small feat as I couldn't put weight on my right leg. And then I thought another five minutes or so--these things need to be multi-tasked. I needed to get into the great room and then I would not be able to get anywhere else.  I grabbed the icepack, my phone, a water bottle, and a bottle of wine, and then did a hop until I could reach a dining room chair and then used that to get to the couch and collapse.  The ice pack numbed my lower leg which was like a balloon, and the wine went down really well, too. The dogs and I were able to get through the night other than me and the chair making a run to the powder room.  

 

The Husband was up the next morning.  This man has saved my butt more times than I can count.  He once had to rescue me when I was down in Key West and had a little trouble with...er, the law.  He drove form Michigan to Chicago, caught a flight to Miami, and drove two hours to Key West to bring me back home.  But that's a story for another blog post.  

So, I have a fractured tibia.  I'm growing new bone as we speak.  I am following doctor's orders to the letter, I want to dance again. And I mean that.  And run.  And play hopscotch with my grandkids.  This party ain't over yet! 🥳🥳🥳.  Oh, Layla finally made it to the vet, she had to have nine teeth pulled (and not from being flung across the garage), and to the tune of what would amount to a down payment on a new car.  

In other news, we are getting new wood floors in part of our house, this will be a fine mess.  The Husband has one more case yet to bring to a closure and he will really and truly be retired.  I consider him reeeeeeeally retired because he is underfoot every single day.  He spends most of his time researching the Civil War, just when you think there was nothing left he didn't know, his coin collection, which takes up a lot of room and seems useless to me since I can't use it as actual currency, and new properties to invest in, preferably in Tennessee where you don't have to pay property taxes and we would most likely have to take up full residency.  But he's still underfoot.

I actually deleted the last part of this post which makes for a whole new post coming soon.  I promise it won't be "all about me."  

I hope all of you are well, physically and mentally.  It's going to be a long winter, hard on those of us who want to be near family and friends but risk too much health wise.  I have been managing to get out to do my grocery shopping, the pharmacy, doctor appointments 🙄, but I sure would love a trip to Target or TJ Maxx!  That's a thing of the past with this new wave of the virus on top of flu season.  I feel my life with The Husband hasn't changed too drastically In this pandemic.  Other than family parties, get-togethers, and holidays, we have always pretty much stayed at home and chilled doing our familiar comfortable things.  We actually make popcorn and watch a movie once in awhile on a Saturday night.  I love to cook so we sit down for dinner every evening, we may order out once or twice a month.  I like to do my online shopping, in fact I'm working on Christmas already and that's a rarity!  But we have a tight budget with him retiring.  we both enjoy reading and watching the news together.  He does his thing on his iPad and I do blogging, Instagram, shopping, and Googling all my medical issues on my laptop.  We play with the dogs a lot.  

This has been a lot to read, my friends, I know.  If you made it this far you deserve a medal!  I promise to catch up on your blogs.  I reached a point after being non existent here for two months, that it would be odd to pop in on you and then you'd come back here to something you read way back when.  

I leave you with this...

Our Lucy June and her dog Rusty~~

Yuck!!!!!

Jane xxx

DECOR AT THE LAKE & RECIPES GALORE AS SUMMER WINDS DOWN

It's good to be back, friends.  I'm trying to navigate the new Legacy blogger.  It's hard to find answers, but if you fiddle around with it long enough, sometimes you find that the whole blogger thing has indeed improved.  My most latest problem is with changing the size of photos once loaded.  Any answers out there?

Jumping in here, this is my new baby(not the cabinet), an elephant bush, or known as Portulacaria afra.  I love that I'm finding so many "new to me" plants at the nursery in Michigan.  I need to find the right pot, but it looks pretty on my Hoosier cabinet.  All of my plants will be coming home with me in late fall, they need my love...☺️, and some H20. The monster jade plant will stay.  The Husband and I took it outdoors--and yes, it took both of us, for an overnight stay.  I overflowed it with water and sprayed all the leaves. I think I heard it sigh.  

I like this view from the great room at the harvest table where we share so many family and company meals.  I also fold the clothes here, use it as a desk and major clutter center, a flat and safe surface to change baby diapers, and a spot to keep Layla's basket where she can sleep peacefully away from Poppy.  Getting back to the plants, I have a topiary olive plant on the left, and a foxtail fern in the center.  I'm missing my babies.  I have a neighbor giving them love...and water, while I'm away.

 

The kids were up two weeks ago.  I should say kids and kidlets.  Always a good time.  My daughter Emily loves to fuss with everyone's decor, but seriously, she grew up in this house on the lake so as I watched TV in the loft one night, I could hear her moving things around.  And--she takes such beautiful photos, these and the following picture are hers.  Above, the foyer.  More about my favorite designer follows later.  

My shelving in the kitchen, which she rearranged gave a more minimalist feel.  I've often said that my shelves are not there to display pieces (except for perhaps that top shelf I can't reach). They take up space where cabinets could be so I have our everyday dishes and such here.  A nice thing about this is that everything gets washed frequently and I really only have to do a good cleaning a few times a year.  

The main floor powder room may not be anything I've shared before.  In a room so small it's hard to get a good shot.  But this is it!  I keep it simple, I don't like to clean bathrooms and this gets the major amount of use in a given day.

I tried to get more photos of our little guest house.  The sun wasn't cooperating. 🙄. So I have a peek of one corner.  This is the way I used to style so many spaces, sort of rustic and simple, letting the pieces speak for themselves.  I'll get more shots soon.  You have to love the screened windows, seven in all!

When we had company at the lake a few weeks ago, I really tried to stay on top of my game.  That means having delicious, easy, and casual food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  No--I never pull all of this off.  Nev-ahh!!  The best I can do is make what I can ahead of time, and keep everything fresh and ready to assemble (as in chop up those onions or the lettuce.  Do Not think it's simple and you can do it later).  Take the shortcuts.  

So this is my pulled pork for sandwiches.  I make it in the slow cooker in about 4 hours.  I refrigerate it and remove it to come to room temp about a half hour before serving.  Then it just needs to be heated up in the microwave or in a pot on the stove.  

So this is how simple it is to make.  You probably have your own recipe but this has won rave reviews.  I also make extra so I can save it in a jelly jar in the fridge for other uses. Please note my measurements are approximate.  Add or subtract and keep rating.  I find these ingredients perfect for making a sweet and spicy compliment to your pork.

Jane's Pulled Pork

2 lb. pork shoulder, trimmed of fat

1 bottle barbecue sauce of your choice

1 T Worcestershire sauce

2 T soy sauce

3 T brown sugar

1 T garlic powder

1 T onion powder

Optional:  Pinch of red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste

Place pork shoulder in slow cooker and set for 4-8 hours.  An hour before it's done, mix all of the sauce ingredients together and pour over the meat.  Begin to spread the pork with 2 large forks.  Mix the sauce in as you go along.  Let cook until all of the flavors meld.  Adjust seasonings.  I like to load the meat on Italian rolls, preferably toasted in the oven.  Serves 8

I wanted something different this summer as a side dish other than the usual potato salad.  But it's a classic and the family wouldn't hear of it.  I came up with this after tasting the great combo of sour cream and dried ranch dressing mix.  The beauty of my recipe is that you don't have to peel the potatoes, which is half the work of making potato salad.  Feel free to use fingerling potatoes, super creamy and colorful.  Also, you may want to double the recipe for a larger group.

Creamy Ranch Potato Salad

3 lbs. red potatoes 

8 oz. sour cream

2 T ranch dressing mix*

1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced

3 stalks celery, trimmed and diced

1 red pepper, diced

Fill and large pot with water and add a good tablespoon of salt.  Add the potatoes, whole and unpeeled.  Boil until just tender and you can insert a sharp knife through to the center.  Strain and let cool.

In a medium bowl stir the ranch dressing mix together with the sour cream.  Fold in the onions and celery, and peppers.  

Cut the cooled potatoes into 1 1/2 inch pieces and place in a large bowl.  Gently mix in the sour cream mixture to coat.  Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate at minimum 1 hour, but this salad deserves to have the flavors meld together for a few hours or overnight.  Serves 4-6

*You can use the reaming packet of ranch dressing mix to jazz up salads and soups, use in place of garlic on toasted bread, so, so many ways.  Seal the packet and keep it in your fridge.  

This is probably a little ridiculous to even share, but I love to invent my own pizzas.  Doesn't this look great?  It takes about 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to bake.  I have learned to simplify by taking the hard work out of making dough, stretching it and flipping out over holes.  It takes a lot of experience to toss that dough and stretch it out to perfection.  Maybe one day I'll check out a few You Tube videos.  So--I buy pizzas on sale from the grocery store, thin crust with just cheese.  Contrary to popular belief, Chicagoan's love the thin crust and although deep dish is great, not so much traditional, at least on the Southside. 🥳. 

So get yourself a thin crust frozen pizza.  Take out every veggie you have leftover in your fridge, or an over abundance of, and start chopping.  If you have any fresh herbs, chop those up.  In a small bowl mix up some delicious dried spices like garlic, onion, cayenne pepper and Italian herbs (and mix all dried ingredients together before topping the pizza so it's all an even deal).  Next, choose some meats if you like, I don't always find it necessary, but you can add leftovers, luncheon meats like ham, salami, turkey, pepperoni, prosciutto, pancetta, or bacon crumbles.  Then add cheeses, whatever you have on hand.  I like to use up the remainder of the shredded cheeses I have in my fridge drawers.  Or grate your own. Fun and unlikely additions are feta, fresh mozzarella, and cream cheese just to name a few.  You need to only plop down tablespoon sizes of these cheeses on the pizza as they really don't melt and spread.  Finally, bake at 425 degrees until the crust is super crispy, I actually like to see the edges a little burnt!!!

Oh, jeez, this was longer than a regular ol recipe!  Do try and let me know how everything turns out.  

I'm always trying to keep you up to par with my little grandkids.  I hope you don't get tired of this!  Daughter Emily is such the picture taker and she also has family albums done quite a bit by a professional photographer friend.  So here is Madelyn, as you all know very well, and little Lucy, now 9 months old.  They are so adorably good together.  They really bring me such joy!

And in ending, I wanted to share this one of Madelyn, just doing her own thing and being captured by the camera.  Please believe that one day we will all feel this way once again.  Looking out on the horizon I really feel changes are coming.  Dancing in the leaves as the sun goes down has to be God given.  Let's trust.

As a very last side note, Emily is full force back into Interior Design which makes me a happy Mama.  Those 4 years of college amounted to a lot of talent and drive.  She has started her own business and although it's Chicago based. a good part of her work is visual and online.  If you need evidence of her creative and hard work, just take a look at my home!  She has been a huge part of what I've done.  Her website is Curate Design Studio She's also on Instagram and Facebook.  Please stop by!  She's been having some giveaways for new followers.  Tell her that her mother sent you!!❤️

Stay safe and healthy.  Wash your hands and pray a lot.  

Jane x

LIFE IN COVID DOES GO ON. LIVE!

Hello friends!  Just dropping in to share some pretty garden pics, and some of my cute little granddaughters.  They were up for the 4th of July, and sometimes I'm a little slow on getting my act together, editing photos and such.

First, I have this glorious bloom.  This climbing rose has been temperamental for the last few years.  But it's a tough little gal.  I think our lawn people have weed-whacked it down to the ground several times.  I finally started tying it up the arbor and since then, I'm getting flowers.  I did a little checking on the species (more on that later), and it turns out it's not a climber at all.  Just a rose bush.  So I think I'll move it when the time is correct.  And I'll probably get that wrong.  🙄

I love the nursery/farm market at the lake.  I didn't have time to plant as much as I had bought over the 4th, so I brought it back to Chicago, where I have a lot of backyard and garden projects going on.  I love this trailing annual that you can see in this photo.  It's called Blue Mustard, despite its color.  And it's edible, supposedly tasting like mushrooms.  I'll pass.  

Our 4th of July holiday was an absolutely fun and carefree bunch of days.  The Husband's birthday is on July 2, so we always have a festive time celebrating that.  I was able to purchase a small cake at the Farm Market I mentioned.  My eldest granddaughter, Elsie and I snuck into the mudroom to put the candles on and light them.  Elsie carried the cake out to the Great room as we all sang.  I don't think The Husband even knew it was for him!  His eyes just glaze over when he looks at our grandchildren.

He did a smash up job getting the beach and toys ready for company.  Again, it was just two of my kids and their families.  Son Kevin is a single parent now and Emily takes full control of the caring and feeding of four little girls.  I'm there for the fun and games!🥳.  It makes me smile when I hear the door slam and they come in calling, "Grandma!"  They know to find me in the kitchen, always cooking and chopping and washing dishes.  Sounds like a chore but you know, sometimes I like getting out of the heat and sun, and I'm in my element in my "lab".  So---good times all around.  I know it sounds like the distant past, but please share how your holiday went. my American friends.  

I wanted to share some pottery pieces I recently purchased from an Instagram friend and her Etsy shop.  This handmade plate had me at Hello, and the mug is totally me and my love of birds.  Every morning at the lake I awake to the cooing of the mourning doves on a power line outside the balcony doors.  Love this.  I wouldn't dream of pouring a drop of anything in it.  You can visit Cindy at Fat Cow Studio.  Such great pottery pieces and her life and times on the ranch are so worth reading to get a smile. 

I was in the process of decluttering and taking photos at the same time.  Emily was here, and I'm happy to announce she is back to designing first and foremost after working as a legal assistant with The Husband for three years.  She's working on a webpage and I'll share that with you when it's completed. She styled some of my sad areas at the lakehouse one evening.  I was upstairs reading when everyone else had gone to bed.  I could hear her rattling and banging around below me.  She's amazing, she sorted through things I never realized were just taking up space. She tucked a lot of good odds and ends away so I could pull them out if and when I wanted to.  All in all, everything was more streamlined and pleasing to the eye.  She did a bang up job on my Hoosier cabinet, which had become a catchall for everything under the sun.  God, I love her!  And that's another piece from Fat Cow Studio there, a long platter with a leaf etched in before the glaze.  I can't wait to do a meat and cheese selection on it for guests.  And we have some special guests coming---more on that further down.

This is another prized piece.  This cabinet or whatever you want to call it, was found at the shop of a gal who fixes up, stains and/or paints old furniture.  She's just a town over and I swear her shop just beckons me every time I pass it.  The weight of this is unbelievable and it's solid.  What it was made for and when...I don't know.  I definitely got my money's worth.  It fits so perfectly in front of the windows of the Great room without blocking the view of the lake.  And that's Monster Jade, over thirty years old.  It's been spawning baby Jade's that I pot for my daughters and friends.  Sometimes the stems just fall off with age.  Sometimes I have to hold my breath and prune.  Overall, I think it likes me.  

I love this pic.  My oldest and youngest grandgirls.  Elsie is like a little mama at just five years old.  That was a huge help for Emily.  Little Lucy is sitting in the very same highchair that we had for Abby when we bought the house on the lake 30 years ago.  And we bought it already used at a church sale.  Abby was six months old, just like Lucy.  It's had a few coats of paint. ;-D

Patsy is Elsie's little sister, my fourth grand, and she's 3 years old now.  This is an older picture, she was in the water 99% of her time here.  Just like her daddy, my son Kevin, she's a little fish.  She definitely won her fins this summer!

Emily made the most delicious pasta salad that took us far and beyond the regular old regular summer pasta salad.  She couldn't remember where she found the recipe so we just put it together on paper to share.

Pasta with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Pesto

1 lb. rigatoni pasta  (or whatever you prefer)
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c basil pesto (available in most grocery stores)
1 T dried Italian herbs
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 c red cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 c yellow cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/4  c. sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 1/2 c fresh or buffalo mozzarella cheese, roughly chopped
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
S & P to taste


Boil pasta according to box directions.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the olive oil with the pesto, herbs, and garlic.  Drain the pasta and toss with the olive oil mixture.  Gently mix in the sun-dried tomatoes, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese.  Stir in the parmesan cheese and season with S & P to taste.  Serves 8-12 as a side dish. 

This.  Is.  A.  Keeper!

I wish I could say we ate more fish.  My husband loves salmon but I'm a little so-so about it.  I prefer sweet whitefish like cod and tilapia.  When you factor in that I've never found a creative bone in my body when it comes to preparing and cooking fish, it just doesn't happen much around here.  I did however, come upon a sale at my grocer on cod and tuna.  So I really had to put my thinking cap on and do this fish right.

So you have a little over a pound of cod.  Let's bring out the flavor (butter), and add to the flavor (a veggie, in this case spinach). To give it that extra kick, some herbs and spices, and the final touch to make it all come together, it can be anything from a sprinkle of cheese to toasted breadcrumbs to a splash of cream.  I used the juice of a lemon.

These flavors are those we find in Mediterranean cooking and it's one of my passions.  Very fresh, vibrant, and heart healthy. I hope you enjoy making this dish as much as I did putting it together.

 Mediterranean Baked Cod

1.5 lbs fresh cod fillets, cut into 4-6 pieces
5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
5 T fresh lemon juice
5 T olive oil
2 T melted butter
1/3 c flour
1 t ground coriander
3/4 t sweet paprika
3/4 t ground cumin
1+ T salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix the lemon juice, olive oil, and melted butter in a shallow bowl.  In another shallow bowl mix together the flour, spices, salt and pepper.

Pat all sides of the cod pieces dry (very important).  Dip the pieces (both sides) in the olive oil/butter mixture first followed by the flour mix.  Set aside on a plate.

Heat 2 T olive oil in a cast iron or heavy oven proof skillet over medium high heat.  Add the fish and sear on both sides until you have a golden color but not cooked through.  Off the heat and spoon the spinach over and between the cod pieces.   To the remaining lemon mixture, add the chopped garlic and swirl to mix.  Pour this over the entire dish.  

Bake the fish in the same skillet for about 10 minutes or until it flakes easily.  Finish with a good squeeze of lemon and garnish with fresh parsley if desired.  Serves 4 

Asian Style Oven Roasted Veggies

I don't really have a recipe as such for this dish.  I was in the mood for a stir fry, a great way to use up the veggies in my fridge and have a meatless dinner.  But instead of doing them in a wok or what have you on the stove, I roasted the vegetables in the oven until they had a nice crisp and blistering.  Then I gently tossed them with an Asian sauce I make a lot.  It's just a mix of olive oil, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, honey, soy sauce, minced garlic, and whatever spices you might want to add (please email me if you want quantities).  Add this while the veggies are just out of the oven and hot.  I also highly recommend white rice of the longer cooking variety.  It is moist and clumps together so perfectly...no flaky or hard pieces at all.  I add a touch of olive oil and some chopped green onion.  Chinese food minus the take-out trouble. :)

So I mentioned I had a few things to add at the end of my post.  I won't spend a lot of time, I've already droned on long enough.

First I want to share an app I use on my iPhone.  It's called Picture This. It's free. This app can identify flowers, weeds, bushes, trees...all growing things that you might not be able to identify or forgot the name of, or want to know more about.  You take a photo of said plant (or weed--love this), and your phone will show a photo of the real deal with everything you want to know about it.  Also, it will tell you how to care for the plant, or how to eradicate the weed.  It's fascinating.  I use it at the Farm Market to identify and get the facts on plants and flowers rather than look at that flimsy stick. I've been known to walk around my yard snapping pictures of trees, bushes and weeds, like Inspector  Closeau.  And it keeps your photos in a library to refer back to.  If you do use the app, let me know how you like it.  

And second, we are getting together with my longtime blogger friend, Cindy, and her husband Dan.  Doesn't sound huge but if you've followed me since the Stone Age, you'll know that I met Cindy in our blogging days 11 years ago.  I wrote to her, "Hey, you live in Wisconsin, just above Illinois.  Let's  get together."  Little did I know that she lived in Western Wisconsin, 4 hours from Chicago.  This has been a yearly tradition since...we meet up in every place or town we come up with that is between our homes. How do you maintain a long distance friendship when you have no history, see each other once a year, and have 2-3 days to catch up?  It's incredible but it works.  So this year we are getting together here at the lake.  With the pandemic, it's perfect, and they are staying 5 days.  But oh, I don't envy their drive; from Wisconsin, through Illinois, then Indiana, and finally Michigan. I'm so ready to see them tomorrow.  I'll take lots of photos!

I hope all of you are happy and healthy.  Keep up the good work of avoiding crowds, wearing your mask, washing your hands, and keeping hand sanitizer in your glove compartment of your car (but out of the heat and sun on your dash), your purse, your pocket, anywhere you can grab it and apply.  Sometimes I hit it several times in the grocery store just worrying about what I touch.  But it's pretty clear, just stay far back from others.  

Love and Lysol,

Jane

HAPPY SUMMER! GARDENING,THE LITTLE ONES, & A QUICK RECIPE

Hello, friends!  So glad to be back (again, so soon!).  A little odd that when we were really sheltered in place for several months, I just never felt inclined to post.  Maybe I'm just feeling a little more energy now.  I'm not doing a whole lot more other than seeing family and grocery shopping, a few trips to the garden nurseries.  Going back and forth to the lake gives me a nice change of scenery.  Illinois is now open with a lot of restrictions and our numbers have gone down.  I pray everyone continues to practice the social distancing, masks, and hand washing.  How is everything in your area?

Anyway, you know I like to start with a pretty photo.  I'm working very hard on my garden beds here in the city because I've been here longer than usual.  We have a huge backyard as far as city norms; great for badminton, corn in the hole, kids running through the sprinkler, a little soccer, space for the dogs to play. 

This is the north side and that's crazy Poppy chewing on a stick or something.  The afternoon shadows make it hard to see the border left of my little woodland garden.  I have sedum, phlox, lilies, spiderwort, speedwell, milkweed, and tons of tulips and daffodils,  Once those spring bulbs are spent, I pull off the brown leaves and fold the rest over, securing loosely with a rubber band.  Never cut them to make room for the rest of your flowers, they need them for nutrient.  Doing what I do makes room for your summer plants.  The south side has a bed which is undergoing a lot of changes.  Whew, I'm worn out and sore every evening.  A long hot shower and scrubbing the dirt off is the best remedy.  Sometimes I wonder how I do all the bending, squatting, and lifting with all the metal and screws in my back.  Maybe it's a good surgeon or maybe it's just good stretching.  😏

I bought a lot of plants at the nursery at the lake.  They have a super selection of perennials and the prices are very reasonable.  This was my haul.  I have this fancy dandy plastic wagon thing.  I place all my plants (and also groceries) in this and roll it wherever needed.  What a time saver and easy on the 'ol back.  With my plants, I can add some water from the hose into it so that they can bottom water until I get them planted.  

The other day Poppy was making a fuss near my day lilies.  The Husband went over and then called me to come quick.  Here was this magnificent moth.  I don't know how I knew it was a moth, perhaps the huge, fuzzy body.  

He carefully picked it up with this magazine cover and brought it around to our patio table.  It wasn't moving much at all.  Then we took pics and let it go in some greenery outside the backyard, safe from our dogs.  I managed to find it on Google, it's called a Polyphemus moth.  The photos I saw were incredible.  Our guy was actually a lot smaller than some.  We learned they only live about five
days so maybe it was near the end as it was so chill with us. 😥. They have no mouths, so they don't eat, and they are only here to mate and leave something behind.  How it landed here, I'm not sure.  We had several trees trimmed in April so maybe there were cocoons.  What an amazing experience!

Sausage, Vegetables & Kalamata Olives over Orzo.

I'm going to break things up here with a recipe.  This is actually my own picture- Ta-Da!  You all know how bad I feel about the poor quality of my photos of food.  I probably share 1/4 of the dishes I make because of the hideous pictures I take which I think turned out delicious.  

I keep my grocery list and cost to a minimum mostly because of my feelings about being in public places during this pandemic.  I also go back and forth to the lake so much that I either cart food to and fro in cooling bags, or I spend more money shopping there.  The verdict is: I often wind down to what I have in cabinets, and the freezer and fridge.  I love the challenge of cooking with just a few items, such inventiveness!  Without further ado, this meal worked really well one night and I've vowed to make it many more times.  

2 Italian sausage links, casings removed, chopped
4 plum tomatoes, sliced 
2 c fresh spinach, loosely chopped, or 5 oz of frozen, thawed and water squeezed out
1/4 c red onion, thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic (or more), minced
6-8 oz uncooked orzo
1 c whole Kalamata olives
I T olive oil + more as needed
Pinch of red pepper flakes 
S & P to taste

Start the orzo in a pot of boiling water according to package directions.  Once done, drain, reserving 1 cup of the starchy water.  Return the pasta to the pot with a splash of olive oil and keep covered. 

 Meanwhile, sauté the sausage over medium heat until almost cooked through.  Add  the tomatoes, spinach, onion, an d red pepper flakes.  Cook over low heat about 3 minutes until just softened.  Stir in the garlic for the last minute, adding a bit of the pasta water as needed to keep everything saucy.  Divide the orzo over 4 plates.  Top with the sausage mixture.  Scatter the Kalamato olives all around. Adjust seasonings to your taste.  Serves 4.

We had a few slices of Italian bread with this dish.  Absolutely wonderful for using just a little bits and pieces from the fridge just waiting to be used up. Let me know if you give this recipe a try. :)

Lucy June

I came home from the lake to celebrate Emily's 33rd birthday.  The memories of her birth always come back so vividly.  She was my firstborn, I was twenty-seven years old and so naive. We hadn't even considered names, and never thought to ask whether it was a boy or girl.  I'm so grateful for the experience.  Many haven't gone through this but I hope for many, that just being there for young family members, the children of friends, fostering or adopting fills your heart...and for those who continue to try, all my prayers.🙏 

We had Emily, Mike, and the two littles ones over for a steak dinner with crab cakes--surf and turf.  I need to brush up on the crab cakes,  I made them earlier and refrigerated them not wanting the kitchen to smell like grease and fish.  I reheated them in the oven before serving and they were limp and flavorless.  Bad mistake.  The chocolate cake made up for it!

And Lucy June was christened last Sunday.  Just grandparents, the godmother and father.  The church was empty, and the lunch celebration was limited to six people as mandated at the time, so The Husband I couldn't attend.  But the church was the best part.  I love the whole celebration, as in the past with all of our grands and our own children.

Lucy wore the same gown as Madelyn.  It was custom made from Emily's wedding dress, all satin and tulle ruffles along the bottom.  It's a beautiful keepsake.

I can't get enough of Madelyn.  She was a little out of sorts and confused by the celebration although she attends Sunday mass.  Look at that dress! I gifted Emily with some dresses and outfits from Boden USA,  If you are familiar with the British company, it's just the most precious patterns and fabric, and the best quality you can get for your money. and she's hooked.  Em washes all the baby clothes on gentle with a mild soap and hangs each and every piece to dry.   

Madelyn & Lucy

So--my little Poppy girl made it through the spaying and had her stitches removed at a veterinarian clinic near the cottage. Then she came down with painful infections in both ears.  The vet asked if she had been in the water and she hadn't yet, but she rolls in everything, including the marshy grass near the shore.  The doctor treated her with a med that lasts 30 days and in the meantime, she can't get wet.  So we haven't been able to get her used to swimming, although I doubt she has any qualms.  While hanging out along the water before the infection, she gifted me with a bunch of weeds, lily pads, and a dead snail.  And I can't bathe her!!

A snap from the front of the veterinarian hospital.  I talk a lot about the lake but there is so much more to love and be grateful for in just being surrounded by fields, farms, barns, and a wide open green paradise with fresh air.  

I'm off again tomorrow, the last day of June.  In past years I've settled in around May.  Everything is off due to the Covid, and sometimes I feel I've missed the summer.  But we haven't, it's only June.  I'll be back the week after the 4th of July for an appointment and (finally) a hair appointment!  I'm back to being brown, and just a bit of gray strands (thank you good genes!), and I haven't had a cut since January.  I like my hair long  but this is looking scraggly.

SO:

1) How are you coping with the pandemic right now?

2).  Anything good happening in your garden?  How's your weather?  Super humid and hot here in the Midwest.

3)  Cooking or trying new recipes?

4). Activities that keep you happy and moving?

Again,

Love and Lysol,

Jane