marvellas

marvellas are heirloom tomatoes
coral red with delicate pale golden streaks
they are pretty and sweet / thin skinned &
not too many seeds

the marvella plant immediately produced two big green tomatoes
big like big as a softball / green as the green giant with no sign of red

hmmm i thought the plant would not produce any other tomatoes until the first two big ones were picked and / yes / eaten

Fried Green Tomatoes :

tomatoes need to be firm and crisp / slice into 1/4 or even 1/2 inch slices

dip in flour / dip in egg/water or egg/milk bath / dip in panko crumms

heat peanut oil hot not smoking / i like a large iron frying pan for fried green tomatoes

fry til crisp and golden on one side / turn and do the other

season with salt and pepper / whatever

our neighbors had never had a fried green tomato before

didnt know what he was missing

and yes after i picked the two big green ones the plant put out dozens more and they turned out to be these pretty pastel coloured Marvellas

how marvelous

tanka time for tomato world

(tanka : five lines with 5,7,5,7.7 syllables)

Tomatoes 2006 Part One

(5) tomato fatigue
(7) flourishing beyond belief
(5) can you name them all ?
(7) sun gold, thessalonika
(7) marvella, genovese*


Tomatoes 2006 Part Two

(5) big beef, early girl
(7) sugar snap, sweet one hundreds
(5) golden strawberry
(7) the neighbors' and the grandkid's
(7) green zebra, wait, that's only

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

*genovese in italian pronounciation : gen O vay zay

the authentic apology

not politician speak :

so sorry You were offended

(not my fault, bub, if you were offended)

authentic :

i was rude
i was an efn asshole
i dont expect you to forgive me

so dont make me feel worse by being gracious and understanding

heh

the Telephone Jones

a phonejones person
will answer the phone
no matter what
will jump out of a tub
or shower or put down
fork with luscious morsel
even interrupt love making
(yes, i have seen it happen_)


thank goodness for cell phones


phonejones person can be in touch every moment / hands free / ear piece firmly planted

and will call with every momentous bit of trivial minutiae / whether you are interested or not

but of course you are interested because you are the enabler and so you answer the phonejones summons because now it is your habit too / your addiction too / and because you have discovered that even when you dont answer and the phonejoneser leaves a message on your machine that the phonejoneser will just keep calling and leaving more messages and cannot wait for you to return its call so then your machine is all loaded up with messages / usually the same one "we havent talked for a while"

subtlety doesnt curb the onslaught / changing your number or heaving the answer machine out the window not appropriate at this time / time for the enabler to crack / lose her cool / lose her
control / hit the wall and turn into a raging a.....e

there

i said it and i am glad

and

that's my story and i'm sticking to it

PEACHES

peach season in se utah

breakfast :

handful grape nuts
handful homemade granola
(rather seedy and nutty)

a fresh peach

her skin slipped off and her seed removed
(she is a freestone)

she is golden rich juicy in a word PEACHY

with sunshine

skim milk or 2% milk or whole milk or soy milk or half n half to moisten the cereals and to

adorn the peach : un po di creme fraiche or a dab of sour cream or a drool of heavy cream

whew

one more thing to do before i die

make shrimp scallop bisque with the stuff in the freezer

oh yeah oh sure oh okay

any minute now

KitterZ the Perfect Cat, Part Two

kitterz the guest kitty settles in
she has climbed every tree
sat on every roof
(buildings and cars)
crouches in the open windows
at night keeping an eye on the locals

some of the locals are designated pets
others are feral who have been kindly
trapped and neutered and returned to
the neighborhood that trapped them
who are committed to continuing care
if needed

our community is a no kill zone for any animals that can be adopted, fostered, or returned to the wild (yeah, like deer and bears)

so ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KitterZ "dad" came to get her the other day as he is in town for the week / she came when she heard his voice call her name / she headed for a door / one of the things she likes about my house are all the exits / one from every room / i like this too / smile

he took her away anyway / backing up to her travel cage so she wdnt see / hah

a couple of days later he called / she was relentlessly clamoring at him / demanding ! he said

she wont leave him alone ~ ~~ !!

next morning he brought her back

~~~~~~~~~


for "KitterZ the Perfect Cat" click on June 2006 in the Archive on the left / June 29

it's well, well water

our new water feature

~~~~~~gurgle~~~~~~~

we now have a livestock water trough

in the orchard

filled with well water

nice clean oasis water

warmed by the desert sun

it is so big / i dont know how many gallons / many many gallons

deep

when you sit on the bottom the water is up to your neck

you cd drown in this trough

but that wd be icky for whomever found you


(Mrs. Foley is standing by with a towel)

the 3 R's of self-torture

Regrets
Recriminations
Remorse

wallow wallow wallow

regret / oh i wish i hadnt done it / thought it / said it

recriminations / well you did / so whine and cry and boo freaking hoo

remorse / see how long you can indulge in feeling bad about yourself and then do it some more

summer hibernation

we are limp overcooked noodles
in the triple digit temperatures

snooze

we've been Googled

we received this e-mail :

Hello Katherine,
A very synchronistic turn of events had me smilling ear to ear this morning to find myself looking at your blog. This is _______ I came through Moab a couple of years ago now with _______ and her daughter...our VW had broken down and we were fortunate enough to be in the best of all possible places to break down. a magical place.

I've been living in South Korea for the past year and a half teaching English and trying myself on in a new and so very different culture.
My time here is winding down. In three weeks I'll go back to Canada to study for my bachelor of education. I've been waking up sweating at night at the thought of returning to school....formality vs. freedom.... ouch!
I know I want education part of my future in some capacity but I am certain it will have nothing to do with the public school system...so it will be a year of jumping through the hoops to get the credentials I need to open up more doors.
I'm interested in alternative school systems/workshop style learning environments, outdoor environmental education, and any kind of arts based learning.

Anyhow, I've been racked with indecision about this. I feel pulls in other directions...specifically toward India to persue yoga teacher training...but then there's this voice that says " just do this first"
So, sitting here behind a desk at my school in Jeollanamdo, South Korea, bored out of my skull because my classes are finished but I'm expected to stay until "clock out time",
I type " boredom indecision" into google.

Viola! up comes a link to your blog from november 29th 2004. I read and enjoyed for an hour and remembered what a fun time I had with you and Kaki and Doni. thank you again.

Just what I needed to hear.
I'm WILL celebrate my indecision! while I scoop up, gather in, slid through and spin around in this mad dance of an existence.
The path I choose is the path that chooses me!
Thank you skaterina!So much playful wisdom in one blog washes over me.
Made my day!
Bright Blessings,
_______________



--

we all had fun today

mrs foley got up at five and took the dogs out
skaterina fooled around at home / decided what to do today
like turn on the water for the vegetable garden

caterina made scrambled eggs with slightly carmelized vidalia onions in butter with an ample halping of colby/jack cheese

we were all set for the moab farmers market

we all together knew we wanted corn and carrots but no dont get anymore squash

our tomatoes are coming in now but oh well lets get a basket of sungold / a bunch of golden beets / a locally grown finocchio otherwise known as sweet anise or fennel

fancy that / the youth garden project is growing finocchio

i took some hot plum sauce and some pickled beets to the triassic stone people, scott and katy, and so later they brought me a frozen elk rump

that's all folks

i cant wait to read this ten years from now

Mrs Foley is in charge of burning bridges ~

~

she will also dispense with excess luggage

BAGGAGE

gin

a friend of mine calls gin "mothers milk"

hmmm

i like gin (Bombay and/or Bombay Sapphire) bc it is distilled from tasty aromatic botanicals

like coriander / lemon peel / angelica / licorice / juniper berries / and so on

it is a sugar free alcohol and does not set up sugar cravings like wine / beer / bourbon / tequila / and so on

i pay attention to sugar intake to avoid insulin rebounds that cause three day hangovers

i drink gin with sparkling mineral water and a tsp of frozen lime juice / plenty of ice cubes / big ones / like six of them in a low ball glass / short and wide

keep the gin in the freezer / gin drinks must be very very cold

(once in the winter i told someone i didnt drink gin in cold weather / he was so surprised / he never met anyone before who didnt drink something because it was winter / i said gin drinks have to be cold and icy and that is why they are so refreshing in hot weather and rather debilitating in cold weather)

you dont get that sticky in the mouth feeling when you wake up after a gin binge from the mineral water as you do with tonic / even the best tonic

tonic is afloat with sugars and fake flavors

now the curious thing is that one consumes a great deal of mineral water in relation to the amount of gin / say one ounce of gin to six ounces of water and melting ice

that old saying that if you drink as much water as you did alcohol before going to sleep you wont wake up dehydrated

so the gin and mineral water really is quite a bit like a purification or what i like to call a mental health drink

it is possible however to get a bit blitzed when overdoing the mental health part

and so i must report that i ordered a book of nine radio plays by an australian woman writer whose work fascinated me when i first discovered her twenty years ago / her name is elizabeth jolley / her work is surreal / exploring amazon.com while sipping mother's milk and mineral water i saw that she had written some radio plays and they are apparently a collectors' item for they are priced at $119.00

and yeah, i ordered them

dont know what i was thinking

curious i guess / in a mentally healthy way, of course

you can tell who the locals are ~~~

~~~
when it rains in the desert
the locals stand in the rain

fifth of july / an old memory

when i was a little girl i loved the books about The Bobbsey Twins

one year Nan and Bert and Freddie and Flossie were at the seashore for the 4th of July / they loved the fireworks

the next day it rained

Mr Bobbsey told them it always rains on the day after the fireworks because the fireworks shake up the sky / the clouds / the heavens

so, yeah, today it is raining in beautiful downtown Moab

every 4th of July i expect rain the next day and / guess what / i am seldom disappointed

the Dot watch

Dot is built like a dachshund / low slung on short little legs / pointy nose / ears that flop

but she is wearing a poodle suit

take off the curly black dreds and she would look like a dachshund or / yes / with the pointy nose /

a Weasel

smile

Dot is getting old / her vision is dim / her ears fade / she is not so quick to run after something or anything or for the sheer fun of it / trying to keep up with Bullet back in the day / trying to keep up with Dought / until lately

she is content to trot at my heels or close by my side or even in front a little

the two mile walk in the early morning / ah yes / she is still up for that / rolling out of her basket some mornings before i call her / a little slowed down and tired on the last stretch

to be cont.. . . . . ..... . . . ..... ..... . .. . . . .

Tomatoes 2006

every winter i say to destiny's tot

one more tomato season

please

2006 may be the One

wherein everything i have learned about growing tomatoes comes to full bloom / comes to fruition / comes to

Amazing Mojo for this year in tomato jam potential

details forthcoming

KitterZ the Perfect Cat*

when i was looking for a mouser someone was looking for a temporary home for his beloved

pearl grey with light markings / she has big eyes

how can i count the ways ?

she only eats kibble
only kibble / no other
human food item / oh
maybe a 1/4 sq of bacon
or ham / tempted by pork
products / but nothing else

my former cats never ate cat food / they ate raw meat
chicken livers greasy roasted chicken backs and necks

mice
rats

they loved warm cream on cool mornings / salmon / tuna / trout heads

KitterZ will have none of it
kibble makes her purr :
pricey wild caught salmon
"treat" turned up her nose

stinky she sez












*tempted by Purr.fect Kat / resisting

Skaterina ponders what to do with all the gin bottles

VVVVVVV

other topics include "

Caterina perfects her personal method of making ricotta

with a test run of ricotta made from half and half

thick rich creamy

we are having a cake of half and half ricotta set on a slosh of olive oil / this ricotta cake is about the size of a tennis ball squashed down a bit / strew with chopped fresh herbs like lemon thyme / sage / rosemany / chives

drizzle more olive oil

surround the mound of ricotta with variously sliced fresh zucchine / green and yello and a red pepper to boot / season with more drizzles of olive oil / sea salt and coarse ground black pepper

warm in oven to the degree of cookness or warmness or brownedness or overdoneness