Heat Wave, Hurricane and .....Ativan

We're still here, but it has been rough sailing. First off, we were hit with a heat wave. Yeah, I know, it gets hot end of August, but this dear ones, goes BEYOND hot. I am talking in the 115 degree+ range.It's the garden is all fried up and gone kinda hot. Plants crackle in the sun hot. Dirt steams hot. Birds are panting hot. (I have NEVER seen a bird pant like a dog). Poor thing, raced to give it a plate of water. He just looked at me, cocked his head, and made a break for the open skies.

And to top the whole lovely mess off, I have dental trouble and being the big baby I am insisted on being medicated for a dental procedure. So they put me on Ativan. And needless to say, I pretty much don't remember the last 3 days. I'm wondering if I should have gone Ativan-less. I might have been better off. Feeling like you're under water in a 110 degree heat wave is way too weird for me. Somebody please help me.

But, was feeling more like myself today, and between you and me I don't think I could take another Stouffer frozen dinner. And I'm bored here alone. I knew the fall magazines would be out so I headed for Borders. I got the September "Bon Appetit". The one with the flattened out chicken on the cover. About a hundred years ago my girlfriend, Molly and I spent an entire afternoon doing this to game hens. It was in the new Martha Stewart Entertaining Book. While most kids in high school were"hanging out at the mall" we boned game hens. So I did it to the chicken. It's little chubby legs look kinda sad, but...what are ya gonna do? So she is marinating in the fridge in lemon and olive oil..Is it too hot to go out and get the herbs? Or I am just lazy? Or do I still have Ativan residue?

The End

Well, the garden is pretty much over here for the most part. Squash is all dried up, to tell you the truth, the squash was the worst season I have ever had. Really had nothing to speak of. Not ONE squash. The pumpkins died weeks ago. Have a few tomatoes left, not many. Had some early on, but it is really dwindling down. We did have a ton of peppers, I think we had every variety ever invented this year. That was thanks to my husband, John. I don't like peppers. I think they are a waste of time and take up too much room. Why on earth would you plant so many different kinds of peppers. What can you do with them? Seems to me, beyond salsa, there really isn't much else. And how much salsa can you make in one summer? I had a few zinfandel grapes, got pretty excited about that. Was going to save them to have on a nice cheese and cracker plate one night under the arbor with our wine. By the time I got to them, they had already turned to raisins. HUH?

Had a few herbs, but even that was pretty grim. All in all, the garden this year was a loser. Now that I think about it, I think I am going to go a different way next year. I am thinking...an orchard. I love fruit trees. And I am really tired of looking at dry dirt. All the time I wasted this summer watering that garden, and if I am perfectly honest with myself, it really was just a big old dry patch of...well, nothing.

Being that the garden looks so "lifeless" I put this scarecrow out. And over the years, I have taken alot of heat over this guy. First of all, he has been called "tacky". I admit it, I did get him at Michaels years ago..because he made me HAPPY. But, no, he wasn't made by me, he wasn't something out of the Martha Halloween magazine,he isn't even something decent from some fancy "decorator" shop. And he's old. Which I kinda like. Some folks ask why I just don't get a new one if I have to have a "Michaels" scarecrow. Nope, he is what he is. And that's just fine by me. He might be tired too, but he makes me happy.

Dande-Girl

Original Recipe circa 1969

Dilly Casserole Bread

When we were little kids we lived in Santa Barbara and we had a lady who came to the house to help my mom with my little brother. The lady's name was Bessie..and she looked exactly like Mrs. Doubtfire. Exactly. Every afternoon we would sit down and pick out something to make for supper. Bessie is the one who introduced me to Vincent Price's " A Treasury of Great Recipes". But she had lots of her own recipes a well. One of our very favorite was the Dilly Casserole Bread. I made it last night to go with my swiss steak and mashed potatoes. It smelled of days gone by. I love dill in summer, so as the late afternoon sun sank over Mission Mountain, I flipped on the kitchen light, turned on the stove and slid in the cast iron skillet filled with the promise of warm bread for supper.

Dilly Casserole Bread from Bessie

1 package yeast
1/4 warm water
1 cup large curd cottage cheese
2 T. sugar
1 T. minced dry onion
1 T. soft butter
2 t. dill seeds
1 t. salt
1/4 t. baking soda
1 egg
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups flour.

Sprinkle yeast over warm water and dissolve.
Heat cottage cheese till warm.
Combine in a bowl with sugar,onion,butter,dill seeds,salt,baking soda, egg and yeast and water. Add flour to make a stiff dough. Knead into a ball. Cover and let rise 60 minutes till doubled.Stir down and put in a well greased 1 1/2 quart round 8" casserole. ( I use a cast iron skillet). Cover and let rise about 40 minutes.
Bake 350 degress for 35 minutes. Remove bread from oven and brush with butter and salt. Maldon or a fleur de sel is nice. Cover with foil, return to oven and bake 15 minutes more.

The First One

Sunday afternoon I found myself home alone with nothing but a basket of apples to keep me company. Everyone else was off either camping,at the beach or working. It was cool for a late August afternoon and I wanted to be nowhere else but home.

The apples were the ones I had gotten on Saturday afternoon when Buddy and I took a ride up See Canyon. I tied on my apron and got out my favorite pie cookbook "Country Pies - A Seasonal Sampler" by Lisa Yockelson.copyright 1988. I guess it is offically vintage now that it is over 20 years old. I turned to the Autumn Country Pies section. It starts out saying "Just about the time children go back to school, I am in the kitchen making batches of dried fruit and spice mincemeat to use in pie fillings with apples,pears,cranberries and quarts of apple cider syrup."

The recipe I use is actually for a cinnamon pear pie with a walnut streusel, but I just substitute the apples for the pears, and the walnuts were ones I had in the freezer from last fall that I had gotten at The Avila Barn.

So we made the pie and had it still warm after supper. And yes, it did taste like fall.

Second To The Last

As I am sure you all know, after this weekend, only one more left in August. So to celebrate we made pancakes with fried ham this morning. I got the blackberries yesterday at Gopher Glen. Buddy was restless late in the afternoon so we rode up See Canyon, it was windy and leaves were blowing all over the road. We had big dark thunder clounds here and as we rounded the bend, I could smell "the smell." That first rain of the season smell. Buddy and I went into the little shed where the apples are for sale and then..we heard it. Rain on the rooftop. Everyone got so excited. We had the lady bag some Burgundy apples. They have such a short season and are one of my favorite apples. Skin so dark and a very tart apple. Great for baking. We got back in the car and searched for the windshield wipers. Swipe, swipe, swipe they went...wind blowing and skies rumbling. When we got home I gathered a few pieces of fire wood, lite my pumpkin spice candles, and John and I ran outside to watch the show. We smiled as we watched the woodsmoke curl around the top of our pine tree. And we smelled the air. Woodsmoke and rain. And we were happy.