you cant unring the bell

mmmmmmmmmm

you cant unring the bell

but you dont have to listen to it clang


mmmmmmmmmm

thought for the day

Caterina's infatuation with the baked pancake

:..:..:..:

see the baked pancake is sorta like a crepe and sorta like an omelet

like a crepe because you can fill it with something either sweet or savory

like an omelet because it has a distinct "egginess"

she thinks the baked pancake batter can also be baked in muffin tins or popover tins and come out like another shape to fill or even be Yorkshire Puddings !

Caterina had this for breakfast this morning :

preheat the oven to 425'

use an 8" iron frying pan with an oven proof handle / put a fat TB of butter in the pan

lightly beat an egg and add 1/4 cup flower and 1/4 cup milk to the egg / add a pinch of salt

mix the egg, milk, and flour, but leave it a little lumpy

when the oven reaches 425' heat the butter real quick in the pan until golden or even a little brown if you like it that way

immediately pour the egg mix into the pan / it should sizzle / and place right away in the hot oven for 15 minutes

it will puff up and look delicious

take it out of the pan and onto a plate / put a lot of strawberries on it that have been sliced and limed and sugared a little / fold it over

this is enough for one or two persons

double the recipe and use a 12" pan for 2-4 persons

^^^^^^^^^

sometimes Caterina fills the pancake with steamed spinach and cheese which should be hot

if you like it that way

fava beans

we love fava beans / they are the earliest spring beans and we ate them when we lived in Rome served Roman style :

picked young and steamed in the pods with garlic and herbs and olive oil in the steam water

delivered to your table cosi / the diner opens the pods and pops out the beanie morsels / they are spring green and tender and taste like no other bean

today we will dine on fava beans and homemade focaccia in the style of Caterina Cacciatore :

the pods have been steamed and the beans have had their tough outer skin removed*

Caterina will gently mash them with some fruity olive oil and salt and pepper and then we will pile them on rosemary/garlic focaccia still warm from the oven

possibly with a sprinkle of crisp bacon in lieu of pancetta

or maybe no bacon since MissTickle is in charge of our Heart Healthy diet


*if we grew our own fava beans which we promise to do for next year we would be able to pick them young and tender ! too !

every year Skaterina learns more about how the automatic watering system works

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

she knows where the sprinkler heads are in the first three zones

she remembers where the ones are that go missing like hiding under piles of dirt and pebbles at the edge of the carport and the one that is swallowed up by thick grasses plus buried in the dirt that came out of the hole for MissMPeach

she knows how to set the programs on the black box next to the electrical box / she knows how to set the time for each zone and when to start the program and how long each should run

this year she learned how to adjust the sprinkler heads herself instead of whining about it to anyone who will not adjust them for her

the key element she found is the just the right screw driver and a toothbrush to clean out the screw groove

turns out the just right screw driver is the one that goes with her sewing machine / the little old Elna named Sunshine

therefore the scrrew driver must be watched like a hawk it does not disappear into the parallel universe in which we spend a great deal of time

####

braised leeks au gratin for dinner

The Doldrums

! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ !

the doldrums dont last forever

! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ !

the best part of the day ....

....

the best part of the day for Skaterina is waking up at 5 am
having a cappuccino made of freshly ground espresso beans with hot milk and a dash of cream
checking the news and email on the power book
going for a walk with the dogs / Dought and Dot / on current favorite : the trail through the woods that goes cross town

the best part of the day for MissTickle is laying down on the quilty mat for her abdominal scan as preparation for the Five Tibetans
she scans her abdomen and decides what she would like to eat to today that is nutritious and balanced and highfiber and heart heatlhy

(she describes the desired menu to Caterina

the best part of the day for Caterina is fulfiliing MissTickle's menu plan and adding her own fillips or fill ups

heh (for example she is deeply engaged in a chocolate baking binge)

the best part of the day for MrsFoley is the Sparkling Ginlet time of day

**************get the Bombay gin out of the freezer / put five or six ice cubes in a glass big enough to hold them with plenty of room for a capfull (that's a cap off the Bombay gin bottle, not a CUP full) of gin and then fill the glass with well iced Gerolsteiner sparkling mineral water and add the freshly squeezed juice of one half lemon or lime / a dash of Stevia to lightly sweeten*********

no fat, not sugar

refreshingly curious

Living on the Mesa was like being at Sea

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

living on the mesa was like being at sea :

unlimited vision in all directions

a long way away

but being at sea was on a freighter / there was a captain of the ship / a crew / a few other passengers so life at sea was not like life on the mesa

still, life on the mesa was like being at sea

and life on the mesa was a curious kind of "still life"

and somehow we are still alive

inspite of everything

we have survived ourselves

the thing with the secret ingredient is ......

.....................

the secret ingredient determines whether we will watch Iron Chef or not

Skaterina sez she knows she is changing...

....................

she know longer cares what the secret ingredient is

Red Soup, Green Soup

we love tomato soup / we love campbells tomato soup / with a can of milk added to it

Caterina sed we have to eat up last year's crop of canned tomatoes

she made a soup that was just like cambells before you add the milk / you know, kind of thick and gorpy ?

we humored her and ate some *thinned* with milk / snore

next day she thinned the tomato gorp with some homemade beef broth and coconut milk !

wow

seasoned with Fire Salt and Black Pepper / cheddar biscuit on the side

what no croutons ?

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

now we are having Green Soup

Caterina chopped some onion some celery some greenparts of scallions and some garlic in the food processor / limped them in butter/olive oil / added a big bunch of spring spinach that had been de-stemmed and run though the processor

add jellied beef broth and simmer until barely done / cool enough to put some but not all in the blender

Miss Tickle picks fresh parsley and cilantro / chopps it up / and it goes into the soup pot

this is a very green soup / warm it up and serve with a handfull of Mexican fresca cheese cubes

divinely green with bits of spring leafiness / chunk of focaccia slathered with unsalted butter

did i mention the Fire Salt ? yummy hot

Baked Pancake

we had the baked pancake featured the other day in the New York Times for breakie today :

it is fun and easy to make :

preheat oven to 425'

lightly beat an egg, add 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup milk, a dash of salt and a grating of nutmeg

heat an iron frying pan with a heat proof handle with several tablespoons of butter until the butter is melted but not brown / for the amt of ingredients above use a medium size pan

pour the batter into the hot butter and immediately put the pan into the oven

bake for 15 minutes until puffed up and golden

drizzle with lemon juice and confectioners sugar and serve with fruits or jam

but we didnt do that / we steamed a little spinach in butter and chopped up some Mexican Fresca cheese into cubes / put the spinach and cheese on the pancake and back in the over for a few minutes

this was yummy

next time we will put roasted tomato/garlic jam on it

what ernest sed and what carsten did

;;;;;;;;;;;;""""""""""""?????????????^^^^^^^^^^^^^^$$$$$$$$$$%%%%%%%%%%%%

ernest hemingway said Stop when you know what you are going to do next

what carsten did is he wrote a new email for each topic on the thread of the email list we were on

in 1997

spring soup and tomatoes ......... 2007

Skaterina sez she wont grow any tomatoes this year bc we still have too many jars that we canned last fall

she likes to have one canning be eaten up by beginning of new season

just the way she is

she learned herself how to can tomatoes / tomatoes are a big deal / an obssession asitwere

Sooooo , , , , Caterina begins to make every meal with tomatoes from the shelf of 2006 canned tomatoes

she is making a spring soup called Add A Tomato

as we eat the soup she adds another jar of tomatoes

&&&&&&& , , , we will never run out of this soup

here's how :

in food processor rough chop some carrots onions celery garlic / add some sprigs of freshherbs from the window sill over the sink

chop in processor some leftover potatoes (cooked) and a box of white mushrooms

saute in olive oil and butter in a heavy soup pot

add fat pint of rich jellied beef broth and a small jar of lambriblet jelly

simmer a while and then find a pkg of amaranth grains in the ice box / add a good handful to the

soup / simmer for 30 minutes when the amaranth will be done

serve with squirts of fresh lemon juice and seasonings of your choice / salt pepper / et cetera / whatever you like : coriander cardomon cinnamon cayenne or not

after each serving/eating add a jar of tomatoes to the pot / like leftover tomato jam and a small jar of golden tomatoes (the ones shaped like giant strawberries)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

meanwhile Mrs Foley orders six tomato seedlings from where usually get them / six not twelve / whew and now we know how not to have them come too soon

two new varieties we have not had before : Black Krim and Prudens' Purple

that romantic duo : Big Beef and Juliette

and two new cherry tomato varieties we have not had before : Tomatoberry and Sugary snap


@@@@@@@@@ miss tickle will be in charge of being in charge

it took me so long to sign in i forgot what i

ghjkl

was gonna say

shake my head

,/./k/.l'k;l.'k

i shake my head so much i will get parkinsons disease

mrs foley said

see, get the symptom before you get the disease

no title

/Q/Q/Q/Q/Q/Q/

qwerty

i remember you talking about the other keyboard
last year but this child
who writes
won spelling bees
grew up to be a high school student who won writing prizes
learned to type at secretary school
lrnd shthnd
not that one
she learned Gregg which had lots of curli
q's
used this keyboard since
knee high
and is not an old dog anyway
and doesnt want to learn any

new tricks

leastways not on a typewriter
which will become obsolete when the two reams
of paper inherited from past participles
are

Gone

Wall Art

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,.,.,..,.,
7777777777777

from the kitchen

Happy Trail Spider Works and Bubble Preserve

chapter two

Dont Ask Questions
Ask Answers

Feng Shui

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.


"The Chinese phrase 'First, luck; second, destiny; third, Feng Shui; fourth, virtues; fifth, education"

is worth repeating, as it shows that to some extent our fortunes and personalities are out of our

hands."

to be continued
but never misconstrued

I Skate

acres of shine
glossy glassy
slick icy sizzzle

wild ice

ups n downs

here comes the six pounds back on the belly

with every wee dram of port / heh

with every cup of tea honeyed and creamed

with every toasted square of focaccia slathered with butter

with every handful of dark chocolate, sugared ginger cubes, roasted peanuts

yeah, babe

on the upswing is oh we do so love starting over and over and over again