Homer Laughlin Love

 I bought this lovely set of Homer Laughlin "Virginia Rose" dishes at the thrift shop this evening.

 

Can't you imagine a family sitting down to Roast Chicken for Sunday dinner with these dishes?  I just love them....  I had already purchased a few place settings a while ago, so was thrilled to be able  to add a few more to my collection. 

I keep imagining using them for an outdoor formal tea ....

 

 

In addition to the dishes,

I found another vintage linen to add to my...

 

 

... growing collection!

(I'm envisioning a quilt out of these embroidered linens some day, similar to this one featured on this blog.)

 

Love the detailed stitching,

 

and how cool is this - initials from 1957!

 

Picked up some rick rack, a few vintage buttons,

and this pitcher as well.  Makes me thirsty for some lemonade!

 

 

Baked Banana-Pecan Oatmeal

I don't eat bananas very often simply because of my commitment to eating local, seasonal foods.  But, this recipe is a nice treat from time to time, and is a delicious variation on steel-cut oats.

Source:  Everyday Food , December 2012

1 1/2 c. steel-cut oats

1/2 t. fine sea salt

2 T. whole milk

1 t. pure vanilla extract

2 firm-ripe bananas, sliced 1/4" thick on the diagonal

3 T. packed dark-brown sugar, whisked to remove lumps

1/4 c. pecans, roughly chopped

In a medium pot, bring 4 1/2 c. water to a boil.  Stir in oats and salt and cook 1 min.  Let cool, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Bring oatmeal to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Cook until tender, about 10 min.  Stir in milk and vanilla.  Transfer to a 9" pie plate.

Heat broiler, with rack 4" from heat.  Top oatmeal with bananas and brown sugar and broil until bananas are caramelized, 3-4 min.  Sprinkle with pecans to serve.

*Cook's note:  Soaking steel-cut oats overnight shortens cooking time in the morning.  A sprinkle of sugar and a pass under the broiler give this dish a caramelized top layer.

Serves 4

Fall Fun

 

 

Isn't this a fun fall decoration (made out of canning jar rings!)?  My friend Denise picked up for me - it makes the perfect gift for someone who loves to can!

A Fresh Face for Fall

One Last Hurrah for Summer Entertaining!

I wanted to do one final seasonal feasting with my kindred spirit in-season foodie gardening friends.  I couldn't come up with a congruent menu, so I decided to do an assortment of my favorite in-season dishes.  It was kind of a crazy combination, but it worked (at least for me!).

This was the assortment:

Cream of Yellow Squash Soup

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with crostinis

Parley Pesto with crostinis

Roasted Eggplant with Roasted Red Peppers and Mozzarella and Basil Salad

Yellow Squash & Black Olive Pizza

Green Bean, Tomato and Chickpea Salad

Pickled Dill Green Beans

Bread and Butter Pickles

Endamame

Home-canned Grape Juice

Cindy's Peach Pie

I'm so glad Julia noticed that my soybeans were ready for harvesting.  This was my first year to grow them, so I wasn't sure when to pick them or how to cook them.  So, she quickly harvested some and cooked them for a few minutes in boiling salted water for us to enjoy.  Delish!!

Elizabethtown Fair 2013

The highlight of the fair for me - a blue ribbon on my precious garlic!!

The quilt was pieced by my Grandmother Learn, then hand quilted by me.  I felt it was important for it to be viewed by others.

This quilt had minimal piecing, so it only got an honorable mention, but it's one of my favorites.

One of my sister's six t-shirt quilts!

My beloved yo yo quilt.

And, a few more entries:

The Neighbors are Coming for Dinner....

It's another glorious summer evening.  Tonight the neighbors are coming for a potluck dinner, a highlight of the summer for me.  

My contribution:

Green Bean, Tomato & Chick Pea Salad

Cindy's Fresh Peach Pie

:)  :)  :)

August Food Group

Our food group couldn't have asked for a more glorious summer evening to eat together outside.  There's nothing like dining outdoors under the stars....

The menu:

Jane's Blackberry Caprese Salad appetizers

Home-canned Grape Juice

~ ~ ~

Roast Chicken

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Roasted Yellow Squash

Julia & Alan's Watermelon & Tomato Salad with Basil Oil

~ ~ ~

Cindy's Fresh Peach Pie

Everyone went home with a bulb of garlic from my garden with the encouragement to plant it and share it with others!

Guerilla Gardening

"To change the community, you have to change the composition of the soil; we are the soil."

"Gardening is the most therapeutic and defiant act you can do."

"Grow your own food; growing your own food is like printing money!"

"I want kids to know the joy, pride and honor of growing your own food."

"Become a gangster gardener!  Let your shovel become your weapon of choice!"

-Ron Finley, a Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA 

(Click here to listen to his TED Talk.)

Worth Contemplating

"People are like stained-glass windows.  They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."
- Elisabeth-Kubler-Ross, as quoted in Ties That Bind by Marie Bostwick

Worth Contemplating

"... the deposit of love in every dish is as rich as the deposits of minerals and nutrients in the good earth that nurtures our food."

 

"Mom used to say, 'Don't good when you're unhappy.  Someone will taste it and think you don't love them.' "

 

- Michael Nischan,

Homegrown: Pure and Simple

Book Excerpts

"The (false) suspicion that we can somehow be separated from God is the root of every form of anxiety in the universe, and the cure for it... is the knowledge that nothing can tear us from God, ever."

"If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things."
- Rene Descartes

Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander, M.D.

Garden Glimpses

Organic Manifesto

 

 

"We are dealing with ten global issues at the moment:  food security, availability of water, climate change, energy demand, waste disposal, extinction of biodiversity, soil degradation and desertification, poverty, political and ethnic instability, and rapid population increase.  The solution to all of these lies in soil management."

 

- Rattan Lal,

soil scientist, director of Ohio State University Carbon Management and Sequestration Center,

January 29, 2009