Hope everyone is keeping cool. Muggy and hot here near St. Louis,
although earlier this morning it was actually pleasant in the garden.
So, I am obviously not that great at keeping things going. I mean well.
I actually sometimes have magnificent posts, in my head, but then for
some reason don't post. I don't think it is laziness as much as fear. I
guess I hate to call attention to myself or something. Although, I am
not sure if that is it. I had this great idea for this group, but, then
I freeze. Oh well. While on vacation earlier this month I decided I
need to quit making excuses and just do it. I suppose the real reason is
that being this is my group, starting posts comes pretty close to
actually, gasp, I will be able to get the word out, writing. Hah, I
think that really is it. Actually it is writing and publishing in a way
- the putting it out there for the group and that is something I always
have a problem with. Doing anything with my writing besides drafts.
I am actually having a lovely Domestic Goddess kind of day, so far. I
have a load of laundry on the line, another in the washer. I love line
dried laundry and I love hanging close out. We have a lovely spot in
the garden for it, and DH put up a fancy clothes line thing. It is a
pole with four ribs and lots of rolls of lines and the spot gets a fair
amount of sun and indirect sun, and yet stays cool enough It is near
some very fragrant honeysuckle and some other herbs so the laundry
smells great, and it is pleasant to stand there pegging the wash. We
have no front yard, our house sits on the sidewalk in front, but you
come up a small hill along the side of the house and back is well above
street level. Enough shade and it is actually 5 - 10 degrees cooler than
down on the street. You can feel it as you walk up the drive.
I'm making stuffed eggplant for dinner. Saturday we went to the big
farmer's market in St. Louis, Soulard Market. This is a really old
market (http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/soulardmarket/) and lots of
fun. You can also get really good produce, at far below supermarket
prices. So, it is kind of fun finding good recipes to make with it.
This is the recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French
Cooking, with one change - the original is heavy on mushrooms, which
Rick doesn't care for in quantity in a dish, so I substitute browned
Italian Sausage. Which makes it a very tasty main dish. Also having
corn on the cob and salad. Garlic bread. And for dessert , am making
tarts. Plum tarts. This is an old Martha Stewart recipe - you make pie
crust for a two crust pie. Divide into 8 - 10 pieces. Roll each out
into squares, put sliced fruit in the middle. Sprinkle with a bit of
sugar and a small dab of butter. Crimp up the sides and bake at 350 till
the crust is golden. Not sure how long to put that it takes - about 20
- 30 minutes. Will start checking after 20. Haven't made them since
last fall and I can't remember. Can't find the original recipe on her
website with a quick search. I think they were called rustic tarts of
some kind, maybe peach. I saw her make them on the show a couple of
years ago and just run with what I remember. Also really good (and
easier) if you buy ready made pie crust dough.
We have a room, it use to be a downstairs bedroom when DH had a water
bed. But we retired the water bed after I had a c-section (another
story). And moved upstairs. Over time, that room became the storage
room. The place where everything you don't feel like dealing with got
put. Argh. I don't know why I ever started that as now I am the the one
dealing with it all. I am reclaiming that room and am going to make it
a sitting room/family room. Right now, most of that type of thing takes
place in our "great" room, which is living/dining/study. Can't wait to
take the living out of here. LOL I am about a 1/4 done and have set a
personal goal of the end of the month. I work on it an hour a day. The
problem is deciding to keep or get rid of things. Oh, and then there is
the ebay pile. I have finally decided to start selling on ebay. The
extra money will come in handy as I am saving for some remodeling
projects and it sounds less like real work than going out and finding a
part time job or something. Plus, a lot of the stuff, I don't want, I
really don't want to just give away or throw away, if I can make
something for it. Anyway, I find the ebay part to be inspiring me to get
the room done, so, whatever works.
Then I will sit outside reading the new Harry Potter, sipping iced tea,
and watching DD swim till time to begin dinner
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