#141: This, That and The Other
Baking Classes, The Fluffs and Garden Update, Tea, and A Favorite Old Game
It’s been a very busy few days and it feels more like weeks and perhaps even months have passed since I last pressed the publish button. I can’t share yet what is happening but I can say that it is absolutely wonderful, brings a big smile to my face, and warms my heart to the core and, in addition to everything else I do, is keeping me busy, busy, busy. But, I can tell you that it’s all good!
Now, on to other things.
Baking Classes
Tomorrow I’m teaching a Double-Rich Chocolate Cherry Pie for 92Y (and I think you can still register for it over there) and Sunday, I’m teaching Mom’s Chicken Pot Pie which theoretically is sold out BUT since it is a virtual session I can add you in if you missed registration. Reply to this newsletter by email and let me know. Speaking of classes, registration just opened for Lemony Quick Tarts which are sure to brighten up the last of winter.
The Fluffs and Garden Update
The fluffs didn’t get the memo that winter was here and it was OK to take a seasonal break. They have regularly been giving ten eggs a day. Yesterday, I found an entire clutch of eggs hidden behind the cooler chest that houses their feed. I heard this soft little clucking and thought that one of the girls might be stuck in a corner behind it, so I moved the chest a bit to give her some room to get out, and that’s when I saw them. That sweet fluff was proudly sitting on eighteen eggs. What a girl! I collected them all to bring inside and she headed outside to be with all the other hen-house girls.
I may not be having to pay the price increase on eggs at the store but I do have to clean out their house, keep them feed and watered, and the price for their organic laying mix has gone up nearly $8 for a 40-pound bag. Still, it’s worth it to me to have my twelve fluffs especially during this time of egg shortage right now.
The veggie garden was put to bed this fall with a good layer of mulch on top and the green tips of the garlic I planted are beginning to push through it. Last year’s long cold spring was more to the liking of kale, broccoli, and chard. My twelve tomato plants were shivering well into June until I finally covered their cages with clear garbage bags—effectively creating little sauna-steam baths for them. Once I did that they took off, but my total harvest was just a half a wheel-barrow. Some years I have harvests of 4 to 5 wheel-barrows. What do I do with all of them? I dry them in the oven, make lots of sauce to can or freeze, make tomato sandwiches (yum!), sliced tomato, basil, and mozzarella salads drizzled with a good balsamic vinegar (double yum!), and green tomato pie with the unripe ones hanging around at the end of the season (triple yum!).
Don’t squinch your nose up if you haven’t had a green tomato pie before because it is de-li-cious. I had the filling for one already made up and waiting in my freezer, so I decided to bake it off and invite my longtime neighbors and friends, Joe and Sue Ellen, over to have a piece…or two. I told them they had to guess what the filling was and they could not believe it when I told them it was green tomato. They really thought it was apple…a very common response. Joe went back for seconds and they took home enough for breakfast, too. So, what to do with the half a pie that was still left? I handed it off to D&O who had a chef friend visiting. They all loved it, too!
Virtual Tea Next Week
Coming up next week on Feb 14th at 9AM Pacific/12PM Eastern for paid subscribers is our first virtual tea time. I’ll be hosting these once a month and will play around with different times (morning, mid-day, later afternoon) and days (weekday, weekend) to try and accommodate different schedules as much as possible. Paid subscribers should have received the recipes for Madeira Cake and Pie Cottage Scones already.
Playing Jacks at School
I remember playing jacks with the little rubber ball when I was young. My girlfriends and I would sit on the corridor outside the classroom at our elementary school bouncing the little red ball and scooping up the jacks with a hand before catching it again. I wore dresses with petticoats underneath, white bobby socks, and stride-rite oxfords...a new pair bought in late August for the new school year. Mom thought sneakers were bad for my feet but she let me wear them on weekends.
What about you? Are there favorite toys and games from your childhood that you loved to play with? Do you still have any of them? Are they up in the attic? Have you passed them on to your kids or grand-kids? Do you still play?
And be sure to click on the little ❤️ below ⬇️, too.
I loved playing jacks, too! I still have a set! Want to have a throw down?!!♥️
I loved playing jacks. Second was Chinese jump rope. I just looked it up to see if it is still around and, of corse, there are some YouTube videos. I hadn’t thought of that in years.