۞Sweet Interruptions # 242۞

Haven't used the clips so no idea from this one.

Got an update on the travels today. Toured a perfume factory only to have Kim break out with a rash....who would have thought she would have come in contact with pineapple? She is allergic to it but thankfully had her meds to take so should be fine.

BJ,

I believe the walls are sheet rock. But our little a/c does a good job ^_^ as a matter of fact it gets too cold for Doug, lol. And we are not spending any money on this house until we know for sure if we are staying.

I have heard those clip on things don't work. LAVENDER they don't like Lavender I wear it all the time, lotion, body spray, shower gel, shampoo, etc. I burn Lavender candles in the bedroom every night too We have a lot of mosquitoes too and they don't bother me at all but LOVE Doug. Plus I spray malathion all around the house.

I think it was Jaye that said put a fanric softener sheet in your back pocket?

I've heard about that also, LK I remember getting an email with all the things to use dryer sheets for. I think I printed it out but it's at my mom's hmmmmmm must hunt for it when I go up Saturday

Glad to hear other's opinions of the clip-ons - I'll let my friend (Marlene) know, and also about the Lavender!
Dryer sheets - yes, I've gotten that as an email too! I wonder if Marlene has tried this. I know you shouldn't eat bananas, cuz mosquitoes Love potassium! Marlene takes potassium tablets every day, and the mosquitoes Love her......

Happy happy birthday LK dahlin'!!
Hope your day would be the most perfect and Corpus Christi, along with Todd would treat you well!
WE LOVE OUR SISTAH, TATERS!!

This is what Doug has to look forward too LOL!!!!!


It's hard to read the caption:
She says:
"Adult diapers in a thong, sexy right"

He says:
"Angel of death, take me now!"

This message was edited Jun 12, 2012 6:23 PM

Took a long nap.. woke up.. cooked white soup and now I'm ready for bed.
I think I'm just plain tired or tired of these rains!!

Marion, or any of you sistahs, if ever you can make a trip to Nice, be sure to ask me for my sister's number. She'll be so happy to meet you!
It's an unexpected treat for Kim then, to be taken out for dinner by 'locals'.
May she never have another allergy incident for the rest of the tour.

Yep, Bounce softener sheets work for me. Got one tucked in the band of my hat and another hanging out from my jeans pocket.
This year, I used citronella oil all over my arms and legs. Got that from my sis.
Never tried the clip.

BJ, I love pesto!! Pesto and pasta I can have every day. Pesto chicken.. pesto pork chop.. pesto sandwich. Yumm.
I've made my own before, with pine nuts, but never froze any. Didn't plant any herbs this year. Should have as fresh basil leaves cost a fortune at the store!

Yawning away.. so good night sistahs... Cindy.. Susan.. Sue..
Have a nice time LK!!

So Cindy, you gave yourself away!!!
Buttfloss!!! Lolol!!!

LOL
well, tonight I made spaghetti sauce from total scratch. I usually do, but this time I have fresh herbs to add to it, instead of dried (oregano, sweet basil, and parsley!). Plus of course the normal fresh stuff - green pepper, onions, and fresh mushrooms. Oh, I didn't grind my own meat, make my own noodles, and I Could have made my own tomato sauce, but I used canned........ My Bad!!
BUT, Bob said "you outdid yourself!" It's rather satisfying to use fresh herbs...... :-)

Thanks for the Birthday wishes Jaye, tomorrow I will celebrate the 28 th anniversary of my 29th Birthday?
LOL! Buttfloss!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!!!!! Hope it is the best ever. Enjoy your time at the shore.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA ((())))

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LK, Hope you have a WONDERFUL!!!!!

Boy oh boy is it heating up, we will have triple digits this weekend ack!!!!

Adding my wishes to all the others...enjoy!!!!

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday LK!! Enjoy some cake for us!!!!!

Birthday Wishes from California LK. Such a nice day for one too, hope your weather is just as nice.

Thanks everyone, spending a few days on the beach at Corpus Christie!

we had a great weather day. and i spent most outside and did lots of moving of plants
got all the shade plants back in the back area of the house.
easier watering then the GH.
next is the sun plants. lots of daylilys

Sorry I wasn't here yesterday, it was a busy day yesterday and it took what's left of my brain cells to make a presence in the other building.
I know my sistahs understand.
This morning, we had to go OOT just to renew license plates stickers for the 2 work trucks. A one and a half hour's journey just to do that!! The main attraction of that big town is the new WM! Imagine that?
I agreed to accompany him, thinking there might be fabric stores. No such luck.

Yes, I'm home now, not stewing as much as yesterday as the traffic wasn't that bad, neither was the heat.
We brought Lola with us and I believe she's the only one that enjoys the long ride!

Sue, there are not much nurseries around here. One that I frequent often, had closed. Another tried to salvage his business by opening a large gift store. I pray your sales this year will be beyond your expectations!!

Few daylilies in bloom.. enjoy your day sistahs. I'll resume SLEEPING!!!

More...

--some more ^_^

Spider UFO and Turks Cap that Kel had sacrificed the rest of its' family to the garden gods with the lawn mower.
This I managed to revive as the roots and bulbs are still intact.

Those are beautiful blooms, Jaye! The garden gods, eh? Well, they haven't blessed us with many blooms yet - just buds in most cases.......... but I expect within a month I'll have the "natural" plants blooming, and I bought some flowers that are in pots now, so have some flowers now.........

More eyed beauties.

Good for you Susan. Nothing like God's blooms to soothe one's spirits!

This here is a lovely peach. I love its' ruffles. Flowers are about 6" across.
My choice of DLs would be the ruffled ones or those with dramatic eyes.
Kel loves the Spiders, and if 'flat faced', must be yellow or orange.
God has been good to me Susan.
I lost 3/4s of the DLs due to bad summer last year, but He made up with the many blooms on the ones He 'allowed' me to have!! Lol!!

Sorry that I can't provide names on some, didn't have time to make new ones before they fade. Moreover, I'm not into selling them. Found out too that there's really no strict code on naming the DLs, unlike the brugmansias.

These are Kel's favorite ruffles, Electric Orange Marmalade and a yellow which name has escaped my brains!

Gorgeous Daylilies, Jaye.

Sorry for the delay, LK... but happy birthday anyway... sheesh, I'm a day late. Hope you're having fun in Corpus.

Thanks for the info on the clip ons... I'll have to find some lavender creams ... should smell better than the repellant sprays.
I wonder if that's why the mosquitoes are so bad in Costa Rica? They grow a lot of bananas there.

Jaye, I didn't use pine nuts... they're really expensive. But, walnuts have the same flavor and texture, and they're a lot cheaper. No one has been able to tell the difference.
When I make pesto for the freezer, I keep it just a bit thick (less olive oil)... then I freeze it in small containers, and I float just enough olive oil on top of the container to cover it. That keeps the basil green and fresh. The thawed frozen pesto taste just like freshly made.
Haven't tried pesto pork chops before... adding that to my bucket list... but pesto potatoes are to die for. We have that often.

BJ - thanks for info on keeping basil fresh............ I just bought 2 basil plants, and want to keep my basil green (maybe in the house over winter - if my cat doesn't eat it!) and fresh! I wonder how long I can keep cut fresh basil with a layer of olive oil - in the fridge or cupboard?

BJ, my sister sends me a nice size bag of pine nuts once in a while, along with bottles of pesto!!
How lucky am I? Yep, the pine nuts cost more here. She told me that drinking mint tea and eating pine nuts, is to die for. Didn't try that yetIt might be a Moroccan or Turkish specialty.
BJ, I have beaucoup pecans.. maybe I could use them?
Think I'll do pesto potatoes this weekend. TY BJ!

Pecans would have a different flavor... might be interesting though. Walnuts are the closest to pine nuts (flavor) that I know of.
Yes, you are lucky... a 1/4 lb pack of pine nuts cost about the same as a 1 lb bag of walnuts at Walmart. Sooo... the way I figure it... pine nuts are 4X the price of walnuts.
Interesting story... a couple years ago, when we were hosting exchange students... I baked chiabatta bread and made a batch of pesto to go with it for one of the get togethers. One young man from Tuscany went nuts over it... said it was as authentic as any he'd had in any restaurant back home... even better than his grandma's. I felt so flattered. And I didn't tell him I used walnuts...

Susan, I don't know about keeping basil leaves with olive oil... I think that's just for pesto since it's a sauce or pasty texture. Loose basil leaves might just float to the top of the oil... I'd think. However, if you have one of those vacuum sealer contraptions (know what I'm talking about?) I believe that vacuum sealing them in plastic like that might make them last longer in the fridge... I don't know... never last long enough here to go bad... I usually pinch the top of my plants about every couple weeks, and use all the leaves to make pesto for the freezer, or use fresh that day. I have 10 basil plants, and get about 5-7 cups of compressed leaves each time.

I DO know what you're talking about, BJ - I have one of "them contraptions" lol
Never thought of that......... I also have Loads and Loads of chocolate mint, and peppermint, plus regular mint (grows like weeds here!!!). So will try to find uses for it, other than tea of course.
I've never made pesto - what's it used for?
Good for you on making "authentic" pesto - is it only used as a dip/spread? I know you can buy it here, and I'm sure people make it too.......

Yes, you can buy it... but if you grow your own basil, it's sooooo much better made with fresh basil leaves.
Here's my recipe... for those who want it. Easy peasy.

2 cups basil leaves... packed tightly into cups.
3 cloves of garlic... sometimes I use more.
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 tsp salt
Put all at into a blender or food processor and process until it till it's finely chopped.
Scrape down sides once or twice as needed.
Now, scrape it all out into a bowl, and add:
1/2 cup olive oil... use the good stuff, it's worth it.
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese... again, get a parmesan cheese grater like they use at Olive Garden (Walmart carries them for a couple bucks), and a block of Parmesan cheese in the cheese cooler at the grocery store... also worth it.

Fold and stir until its all mixed up... and Walah !!! PESTO...

Now, to freeze... some people use ice cube trays to freeze it... but I can't figure out how to float the olive oil on each section, then try to just use one section at a time.
So, I found those little portion cups with the lids... clear plastic like they use in restaurants. I fill the pesto to almost full, then float with the olive oil just so I can fit the lid on.... stack em up in the freezer... thaw when needed. One of those 2oz portion cups is enough for me and Don... some people like it "pesto'ier", so thaw according to your own taste.

What's it used for? OH MY... just about anything you want. We like to dice potatoes, and cut up some onion in a skillet... stir in the pesto and cook till potatoes are done and a bit brown... sooo good.
I have basted chicken breasts with it, and will try the same with pork chops (thanks Jaye). Then there's the old favorite... toss it in cooked pasta... any pasta will do, but my fav is whole wheat linguini.
But, I guess the all time fav of my family (because when they come visit now, they request it ahead of time) is my homemade chiabatta bread with the pesto dip... for the dip, I just thaw, and add more olive oil... they don't dip it though, they spoon it on their bread.

I'll share my chiabatta bread recipe too, if anyone is interested... also easy peasy.

yes............ please share your chiabatta bread recipe!!
When you do, I'll copy/paste both recipes into my "recipe stash" lol

Thanks for that info............I have some basil growing and didn't know what to do with it

You're preaching to the choir, BJ, when it comes to pesto! I just love it! You are also so right about the olive oil. Don't skimp on quality.
My kind hearted sister also would send me wedges of Parmigiano-Reggiano and I'll use that, instead of parmesan. What a treat.
Have you tried pesto with an pinch of pepper flakes? Deliciaso (excuse my Italian)
Just like you, Kel and I love the flavor and texture of whole wheat linguini.
Ooooh what would the Italians say? Manga! Manga!

Don't keep that chiabatta bread recipe to yourself. Share please ^_^

Bottles of Primavera Pesto, direct from Italy...I'll never starve as long as she keeps sending them!

Maybe that's why I quit planting basils!

Ok, hear ya go Susan... folow this recipe to the tee... it will never fail you.
I always start my bread the night before...
Get a big bowl... Must hold at least 1 1/2 gals.

Chiabatta Bread
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I suppose bleached will do too, but I switched to using unbleached several years ago, and that's all I use now)
1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
Fluff that all together to mix it up.
Then add 2 cups water and stir... just make sure it's all moist... you don't need to work too hard at it.
Cover... but not too tightly... I use a plastic lid on my bowl came with... but plastic wrap will do, just don't tighten it down around the sides.

Now, let it sit on the counter for 12 - 15 hours. 12 hours is perfect for me, but I think it has to do with altitude, or something scientific like that...

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam (or smear vegetable oil on it), then generously dust pan with corn meal.
Pour your bread dough (it's going to be loose, and full of holes) onto the pan. Scrape sides of bowl to get it all out, but try not to disturb the dough too much. Dust the top of the bread dough with corn meal, and cover with a dish cloth. Let sit for about an hour. It's not going to rise much, but it must rest a bit before baking.

Put a pan of water on the bottom shelf of your oven, and preheat to 400 degrees (F). Uncover your bread dough and place it on the shelf above the pan of water, actually the bread should bake in the middle of the oven. Bake for about 30 mins, until lightly brown. The steam from the water is what makes the crust crispy.

JUST A NOTE... this bread is best eaten the day you make it. The next day, is really good also toasted with cheese on top...
Makes a rather large loaf... I've never tried to cut the recipe in half, but if you do, let me know how it works.

OMG Jaye... LUCKY YOU !!!

BJ, you're right, it's so easy even Kel can do it!!
Thanks!