Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, September 6, 2010
"I haven't seen you around much this summer"
That's what a neighbor said to me this weekend, and she's right. This summer has been unusual, for sure. I was selected for grand jury service, which in DC lasts 5 long weeks. No days off, 9:00 to 5:00, Monday thru Friday. An hour for lunch, and 2 15-minute breaks. Sounds like a fun way to spend the hottest month of the year, right?
One of the most challenging aspects of jury duty, was to spend all day in a room with 22 strangers. Some of them were VERY strange, indeed. I spent some of my down-time sketching in these accordion books.
Here are my sketches. The books were passed around the room many times -- it seems people found it amusing that I passed the time with something besides crossword puzzles and soduko.
When I got bored with drawing, I crocheted granny squares. Yes, I'm sure my fellow jurors found me odd.
On the weekends I tried my best to keep up with my usual August canning schedule, but I was just too tired most of the time, and I've only canned about half of what I did last year.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Roasted tomato sauce
I like to kick off the tomato-sauce-making season with roasted sauce. It's perfect when you have a fair amount of tomatoes, but now enough to justify going through all the effort of canning. I found this recipe years ago in Everyday Food (you're the best, Martha), and have made it countless times since.
Then I toss everything in a pot, and break out the emulsion blender. (This is the best thing ever -- and so cheap!)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Harvest begins
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Tomato update
Harvesting garlic
Last fall I planted garlic for the first time. It was really easy. Following directions I found online, I used different garlic heads from farmer's markets, broke them up into cloves, and planted them at the end of the season (it's tradition to plant them on the shortest day of the year). Sure enough, they came up this spring.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Garden update
Our garden is growing like gang-busters... I'm out there everyday, trying to keep up with the weeds, getting eaten up by mosquitos.
Clematis sensation
Three years ago I planted four clematis plants around our light post. I understand they need a few years to establish themselves--well, it looks like they're fully established, because this year they're just gorgeous.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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