Choice Morsels

The Mama Kat prompt I've chosen today is, "Something new I learned in April." On a recent grocery trip, I saw a unique banana called Manzanos and decided to buy the little bunch to give them a try. It's a small banana breed, each banana thick and about 5 inches in length. You see, I've developed an interest in trying other kinds of bananas.  The bananas on the American grocery shelves now, called Cavendish, is not the banana our grandparents or great grandparents grew up eating and isn't even the best tasting banana! So there's better tasting bananas out there?  That's what piqued my interest. The Cavendish banana in our groceries now didn't become popular until the late 1950's. Our grandparents and great grands enjoyed buying and eating a much better tasting , larger banana called Gros Michel or "Big Mike" for short. Big Mike's were on American fruit stands from the 1870's to the late 1950's, but

I have two pictures for today: one of my Oakland Holly and my backdoor view of my orange daylilies in the glow of sunset. My Oakland Holly Tree: Last spring, this tree shot up this 4 foot center spire and is working on filling in the space. It's hard to get an good angle on it so it shows well, but I cropped the photo from the tip of the spire to the base of the tree.  It's clearly decided it wants to be 9 feet tall. Good news about Oakland Hollies is they naturally keep a pyramid shape, no pruning is required and they aren't tall.   It's interesting watching it work on filling in.  The last rays of sun falling my on my orange daylilies: I like to have an after dinner cup of coffee and watch the birds at the feeder and the sun's last rays play over the lilies and patio containers. 

So, I'm out of yeast and there's none to be had at the grocery right now---unless I want to order a pound online. I decided not to do that---I'm not sure I want to make that big a commitment to making bread.  So without yeast there are 3 basic options left for leavening: baking powder, baking soda & sour dough starter. There's recipes in Pinterest for making your own sour dough starter, which is basically home-grown yeast, but the process from scratch takes a week. Probably a little quicker if you know someone who can share some they have. I decided I don't want to mess with that. Which leaves baking powder & baking soda. So, today I'm trying out a quick batter bread recipe that uses a combo of baking powder and baking soda.  This recipe mixes up quick, creating a soft batter you just scrape into a loaf pan and bake.  I added Rosemary & garlic to mine, but we just like that flavor.  Results : I tried cutting it for sandwiches, but fo

W atch this video: private citizens exposing sensationalism by the media about Covid19. Notable is the opening clip American news claims is in New York, but is actually from Italy and appears photo-shopped in the quanity of equipment in the room. Ambulance's are sitting parked, drivers watching their phones---they are so un-busy! No packed waiting rooms. No packed testing centers. The Media is propagating fear and panic. It's stuff like this and all the other conflicting information that bother me.  I can't tell who's telling the truth or what the actual facts are.  One piece of good news true fact :  5 potential vaccines have just started human testing trials. The hope is to have one available around September.

Stuck at home? Shopping online to fill the time? What are you buying? That's the Mama Kat question of the day!  For me, garden shopping is my favorite! I have several online resources I like, depending on the sort of thing I'm looking for. This year I'm working on improving the view out my back door toward the deeply shaded woodsy garden bed at the back of the yard. I started with a container of Chocolate Elephant Ears and am planting around that. It's not unlike decorating at home where you pick you pick a picture or a piece of furniture to theme your decorating choices around. I've purchased two deep shade plants from a local garden center for a Bleeding Heart & Astrilbe. Both are deep shade flowering  plants, though it probably a year or two before they're big enough to really be seen well---if they survive and that is the ultimate trick. Finding stuff that blooms and thrives in partial to deep shade for my planting zone is challenging. Anythi

Beautiful Glow of Setting Sun I caught this shot a couple weeks ago when I noticed how pretty the sun glow was through the leaves and flowers on this container garden. I like the light coming through the spotted leaf, which is a Calla Lily. You can see the pots keeping the various plants separated.  I've since added mulch so they're hidden. The greenery & flowers seen here: Daylily leaves in back (the large super tall Melba colored Daylily), Calla Lilies, Red Saliva and yellow Million Bells plus my little ceramic cat. The baby Bluebirds must have flown the coop sometime yesterday. They were there in the morning, but gone today, so time to clean the house. Bird houses need to be cleaned between uses to eliminate bacteria that could be harmful to the baby birds. A solution of vinegar and water is what's recommended. You don't want to use any harsh chemical. I added a drop of lemon dish detergent to my bucket of vinegar water and used an old toothbru

Really this Pinterest recipe had no name, so I made one up: Cheesy Baked Spaghetti Ring.  I think the original name was "Throw Noodles in a Bundt Pan & Bake." This is actually a very classy way to serve spaghetti. Just boil spaghetti noodles and combine with milk, eggs and assorted shredded cheese, pour into a bundt pan, bake, then turn out and server with sauce on the side. (picture my own) The recipe doesn't have any specific seasoning aside from pepper, so there's room to modify it any way you want. I added garlic and Italian Seasoning and would recommend that. It calls for 3 cheeses shredded: mozzarella, sharp white cheddar & a fresh Parmesan, but you could switch that up with some pepper jack for zest. A plain sauce was recommended in the recipe (a jar of your favorite) making this recipe a good meatless meal. However Hubby and I agree we'd prefer a regular meat and mushroom enhanced sauce over ours next time. Cheese Baked S

  For Mama Kat today I can do several of the prompt ideas: "What have I been baking, what projects have I tackled and what have I missed." Actually this weeks other blog posts were baking and projects: For Baking, I've been making No Knead Rosemary Garlic Bread . I've had an abundance of lunch meat & cheese on hand these past few weeks and needed bread to have it on and found this easy recipe. Plus I have a large Rosemary shrub outside. As far as projects go, lots of outside things are getting done. Here's one from this week :  moving 6 blocks that used to edge the veggies garden, here.  And Something I've Missed---not just week, but every week since the restaurants closed their doors and that's being able to just enjoy the simple pleasure of dining inside for a nice sit-down meal!  At least I'm enjoying fantastic home-made bread!

  It's been so super nice out recently! Cool and sunny! Today's pictures are recent edging projects and also a spectacular daylily! #1)  Recycling blocks previously edging the in-ground veggie bed: Just first 6 are from the veggie garden. The rest going around the curve there I put in around 6 years ago when we planted the holly tree.  # 2)  Put Easy-Flex edging down row of bed along retaining wall: Having to dig edging into the ground is such a pain---with this edging you just roll it out and stake it in place. Super easy. Finally, a Spectacular Daylily: This is one tall daylily! Bloom stems are about 40 inches tall each. The leaves are very tall and don't die back during winter.  I've divided it a number of times, including the huge clump of it formerly occupying the front container, and planted it all over the place. It's showy and prolific with a nice color that's a pinkish-orange with a cheerful yellow center. It looks

This recipe for No Knead Rosemary & Garlic Bread is one I found on Pinterest and it makes the most delicious, tender bread! Super easy. Just stir together, let raise, move to a 10" iron skillet, raise 30 minutes more, bake. Eat. It makes a wide round loaf about 2 1/2 inches high at the middle. (Photo is my own) I cut it in half, bag the halves separately, then use them one at a time for sandwiches or garlic bread. I make it by hand, first using a spoon to mix in the first 3 cups of flour, then, working the last cup of flour in with my hands because it's starting to foam into a more solid dough and is past the point of using a spoon.  I find something satisfying about making bread with my hands. The original recipe used only water and yeast, but I prefer to add 1 teaspoon of sugar, because it feeds the yeast, which is alive, activating it more quickly, which helps the bread rise a bit faster and produces a more tender, soft bread texture. What's not

My Amaryllis was beautiful this year! These bulbs are in a container. Two stems this year. Each head produces 4 blooms.  It's just finishing up. I have a plain red one in another container that is just opening. Sunset Reds: In the evenings, I like to see with my cup of coffee and last rays of sunlight on my patio flowers. The red looks especially splendid. The birds are very active at the feeding during this time and I enjoy watching them, too.

One dinner this week: meatloaf, baked sweet potato with cinnamon, butter & brown sugar and Minute Rice Brown & Wild rice! The meatloaf is a combo of lean beef and turkey. I'm trying to make things that feed us for several days---meatloaf is good for that. On the agenda after the meatloaf is gone will be spaghetti with kielbasa & mushrooms!

The Mama Kat prompt I chose to day is, "Something that made me laugh," so here's some clever meme's from Pinterest that gave me chuckle: When Every Day is Casual Friday... Not So Far-Feteched Anymore... Here's An Idea... Sounds like a deal... When the "Have Nots," Finally Catch Up to the "Haves." Thanks for Visiting!

Here's a little bright spot for the day: My first blooms of Clematis! I've never grown Clematis before. I just planted this one last spring and it bloomed, then during winter it was just brown stems on the trellis. I wasn't even certain it was still alive. I read it blooms on "old wood," meaning last years growth, so I didn't touch it. I decided to wait and see and, indeed, it did break out in fresh growth and blooms along last years stem at every joint. Plus a new vine has sprout from the roots. This particular Clematis is a compact breed that stays less then 5 feet, which is why I chose it. It naturally climbs. The blooms are lovely and I look forward to it filling the trellis eventually. Other Garden Tasks: Monday Hubby and I worked together to clean up the south side beds that are on either side of the front door. Mostly blowing out winter leaves, then raking out excess pine straw, mowing it, then I put those mowings back down where it was