Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Lilies of the Alley


Lilies of the Alley*

What a strange day it was, weather-wise. But true to Wednesday's form, it was full of possibilities: rain, wind, clouds, sun, calm, storms, you name it. Well, no sleet or snow. Wednesdays are like that; anything can happen because we have no committments, no responsibilities, no place we have to be. It's not uncommon for us to eschew breakfast on Wednesdays in favour of brunch or just snackage. Whatever feels the most decadent (a late curry breakfast/lunch? YES!) fills the bill. We usually go to the library on Wednesdays. We don't have an appointment or anything. It's not a scheduled outing. It's not a committment. (Shhh! No it's NOT!) We do it because we can. And primarily because we don't have to.

The
Three Sisters Garden(click the pic at the top of that post) is growing like gangbusters. The three sisters have been joined by their red-headed stepsisters "Strawberry" and "Tomato."



Theoretically, the squash covers the ground and deters would-be snackers (so far so good) and the beans will climb up the cornstalks. I'm not sure why the ground is always so dry over there. We have sprinklers going on it just like the other gardens. But everything is still growing, regardless. And this in SPITE of the fact that more than once I had to replant the corn because something kept pulling it up before the squashes started spreading.

Hungry for something fried and green?



Ask not for whom the bell grows. It grows for me.



Today I made
Seasoned Perilla Leaves for lunch. Perilla is also known as Shiso, and is bloody expensive to buy, but it grows like a weed. I have a ton growing in what was originally meant to be a spurge bed. Lots of volunteers, too. Ours are the Korean kind like in the bottom picture. We had freshly steamed jasmine rice with the leaves. Here's how to eat them:

Take a seasoned leaf and lay it on top of your rice, press down the sides with your chopsticks so that it envelopes a nice hunk of rice, lift and eat. MMmmmm! If you run out, steal some from "the baby" when she's not looking. }:-)

This afternoon I heard The Prawn squeal, "Eeeew! That looks like BACON!!!"

Here's what she was talking about:



Yes, it's a strawberry on Slug's knee. :-P

In a similarly coloured, but hopefully far more appetizing vein, I made cherry cobbler today with some of the sour cherries we picked on Saturday:




If you look closely, you can see that it's still bubbling 'round the edges. Don't touch that pan, though, it's HOT!

I finished reading Kira-Kira today. It was excellent, but I was hopping up every few mins to run to the bathroom and blow my nose and mop my eyes, and hoping depserately that the children wouldn't wake up and come wandering in. I read the last page in kitchen while making tea for breakfast (snackage), answering The Prawns' Qs (without breaking into weeping - impressive), and drowning my sorrows in chammomile. (
An exquisite tea that I bought at the commissary last time we were there. Oh, I also bought a Cadbury Flake bar and have been making it last. :-) ) One of the next books in the queue is A Fine Balance, which I understand will be heart-wrenching. (hee hee hee! Look at the next book on her list. I had to link that, now, didn't I? OK, so here's a better link for the book itself. ) Oprah's book club? Is that where my friend is getting these titles? Was Kite-Runner on there, too? Hmmm. . .

I'm still plodding through the Covenants every now and then, too, as well as other things. Multi-tasking reader-woman, that's me.
Still haven't dared pick up those brocade pieces to start sewing them together. :-P Still haven't found a prospective publisher, either.

______________________________


* I can't claim this title as my own. It was the name of yet another of my ultra-talented sister's singing groups.

12 comments:

egan said...

Was the extreme close-up of bacon really necessary? I feel like throwing up now. Hold me.

Logophile said...

mmmm Tea

Logophile said...

Does that qualify as an actual comment?

Toby said...

The lilies are beautiful. Isn't road rash usually refered to as raspberry rather than strawberry?

The cherry cobbler look delicious. I'm on my way over.

Sparrow said...

Oooh - A Fine Balance (not to build it up for you too much so that it sucks when you really read it just because you're expecting words of spun gold) is truly one of the best books I have read. Maybe the spun gold bit isn't too far off.

And we always called them strawberries. I had a HUGE strawberry from the end of April that's still musing about finishing healing. Where you from that you call strawberries raspberries, Logo?

Logophile said...

Just because I made a couple of the preceding comments doesn't mean I am responsible for ALL of them, does it?
That was Toby.
I call it gross.
That is the technical medical term, as in,
"Eow, her knee is all gross!"

egan said...

I like cats today.

C said...

Egan, it IS gross, isn't it? Bleah! Did you gag?

Logo - that tea is sooooooo good. "Mmmmmm, tea" definitely counts.

Toby - THIS is a raspberry "pppbbbbbtttttttt" and that is a strawberry in my world. I suppose it could be regional, but you're in Milwaukee, right? So I can't explain it. However, in our household, it may well henceforth be known as "bacon." :-P

E - Mmmm spun gold. With extra weeping? I'm looking forward to it. :-)

Logo - it is definitely gross!

Egan - OMG! Are you being subtle?? Just in time for HNT, eh? Hmmmm. *racks brain for creative way to get out of this one.* Yikes. Maybe I'll have an epiphany at sparring. Or just come home, dehydrated, get blasted on 1 glass of wine and go for it. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Those peppers look amazing. I'm so jealous!
And the cobbler looks quite delicious as well.

Toby said...

It could very well be regional. We're midwest, but things are broken down even more than that. I think is raspberry here because of "rasp."

But Bacon works too. Rather well I must say. :)

egan said...

Hmm, I look forward to your decision. Meow.

C said...

Thanks, Jess. I hope they keep growing like this and don't somehow take a bad turn. :-P The cobbler was yummy! :-)

Toby - I wonder if it is related to rasp. Interesting idea. Yeah, Bacon is a pretty effective description. :-P

Egs - sorry. Maybe next time. Still thinking about how to make it turn out better.