ANZAC Day, and less significant matters

April 25, ANZAC Day, is when we remember and pay tribute to the young soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who crossed the planet to fight in World War I, and who were tragically lost in combat, also the few survivors who made it home.

Thank you,  blogistas from New Zealand and Australia who are descended from these brave young people, and thank you to those more recent residents who honor their memory, and to you if you're a veteran.

This year I haven't been able to make my ANZAC biscuits, as near as I can get with the ingredients available to me, but I'm there in spirit.

And speaking of spirit, I'm cooking again! Roast diced chicken breast, with umami seasoning, cayenne and turmeric. Ready for sandwiches. 

This morning, after I'd roasted the chicken, done the dishes and a couple of things, I was done for. Not enough energy for pictures, even. My ambition is a bit ahead of the available energy. I plan a nap before Emil visits this afternoon.

Happy day everyone, try to plan better than your humble blog writer. 

Here's why getting back to cooking is significant

Flower divas, Misfits box

 My $2 of flower seeds have developed into a seemingly endless lovely supply of cut flowers. Every time I cut the positively last bunch of the season, they're all not so fast, missy,  and there's more.

Here's today 

One maybe last daisy, zinnias, marigolds, forgetmenots. 

Long ago I made a New Year's resolution to have fresh flowers once a month in the house. The pandemic interrupted, then I continued,  but with homegrown flowers whenever available. I think improving your life is a good resolution, not just improving yourself. That's a pretty hopeless endeavor at this point with this fallible character.

Since there was a bit of time available, I did an unusual thing. I ironed. These are linen, thrift store buys long ago, altered to suit. 

I don't iron much, and then it's more fiberart projects than clothes, but every few launderings, linen really appreciates it. 

I've upcycled quite a few linen shirts, cutting off cuffs and making them into pockets, making cuffed sleeves into roll sleeves, cutting shirttails to make straight hems. Simple changes, but they work a treat. 

My theory is that almost new linen items end up being donated to the thriftie because someone didn't want the fuss of ironing. I've paid about $5 for name brand clothes going for at least ten times more at retail. Then I wear them for maybe twenty years. 

So Misfits arrived, along with my deciding what's for lunch.

Which turned out to be a green salad with dried cranberries, chunks of Cheddar and homemade mayo. Fresh plum for dessert.

 

And instead of slinging the chicken along with the shrimp into the freezer for future reference, I roasted it right away, why not, for instant use.

Here seen in progress.

The sugar pumpkin is on the step, that and the wooden cat forming the entirety of my Fall decor.

In a few days it will be soup, but right now it's a decorative item.

The mushrooms will do something cooperative with the chicken or maybe the shrimp, we'll see.  Or chickpeas. 

Happy day everyone, even if your formatting has gone funny as here. Happens to the best of us. Not to Harris and Walz. Wouldn't dare.

White Rabbits, Figgy demerara snacking cake, or something

Saturday was about enjoying slices of the chicken, really one of the best I've had, tender, and the flavor of the herbs just right, with shells tossed with my mayo, broccoli bits and capers.

Then I made a figgy demerara snacking cake, Melissa Clark, NYT. Except I used plums, natural cane sugar and extra vanilla because I didn't have brandy, or figs or demerera sugar. The sugar is sprinkled on top as well as mixed in the batter. 

I love this recipe, which makes quite a few pieces, the cake part rich with butter especially if you use lovely Irish butter which I did, then the plums just a bit tart and juicy. 

Here's the cast of characters, the plums prepped a couple of days ago, when I felt like it.  I used part white, part chickpea flour. 

Here it's going into a 400°f oven for about 40 minutes. 

It's a sort of sheet cake, which I slice with a pizza cutter, approx one plum quarter per piece.

I completely forgot to take pictures of the baked result, but a couple of pieces with a pot of tea went over so well. 

I've put a box of them in the freezer in case Handsome Son visits this week. He's working the holiday, as usual, but it's time and a half $$ Sunday and Monday, nice boost. His day off is midweek.

Then a neighbor came over to give me more dill, she's got a glut, and I gave her sage and thyme. We talked hearing aids and she's decided since I'm doing well, she'll go to my doctor and try to get my audiologist, nice Dr Han.

Her situation is different,  since cancer treatment caused her hearing loss, but the result is the same. She was impressed at the almost invisibility of the aids. I'm mainly happy they don't fight with my glasses!

Maybe Gary will also get around to it. He did get them made, but never went to pick them up! Men seem to be much more reluctant to use them than women, for some reason.

Anyway up to now they're going smoothly, and there's a significant drop in tinnnitus when I wear them. Right now I'm listening to crickets cricketing away. I thought we hadn't any this year. 

Turns out I wasn't hearing them, peaceful summer evening sound. At first I even thought it was tinnitus, until I realized how it varied. Oh, kerrrickets.

And now lookit, suddenly it's September. With Edith Holden showing it to us. That's a European goldfinch. 

And a favorite poem

Happy day everyone, I hope your crickets are the good kind, not the being ignored variety.

Labor Day weekend, here already?

 Mutts observes the day

Seems only fair.

Yesterday because of the unexpected free afternoon, I roasted the chicken and the rest of the yellow potatoes. 

Chicken stuffed with fresh sage, thyme and lemon balm. Butter and olive oil, coarse seasalt outside, you see it here after I did the leg test for doneness. That was a fine supper last night.

Now I'm set. Sliced with pasta salad, chicken salad, curried chicken, ending in soup. I made mayo again, just a cup, enough for now.

I've been spinning with the spurtzleur again.

This waiting period may involve quite a bit of production, one way and another. Last evening's audio pod with friends was very helpful and supportive. They didn't quite understand how it's easier for me to go in alone, for the retest of,  better than with company. It's how I roll.  I'm a solitary person in some ways. 

But I did promise them to  recruit Handsome Son to come if we find I need treatment, to the first appointment, to make notes, because I won't be able to listen and think. The hearing aids are a blessing right now! At least I'm catching much more of what's being said. So there's that.

Today's walk yielded evidence of recent wind and rain bringing down white oak foliage 

And a berried plant that might be sumac or not 

And, at the pond a flock of wild ducks swimming in formation, about a dozen, here's the front group 

One of the males gave a few warning quacks and right after this shot, the flock flew away, wheeling around the trees to land further away on the course.

Speaking of production, as  I was before I rudely interrupted myself, here's a couple of the many, some prizewinning, images I created in my early-adopter computer assisted art period, waaaaay back.  

I had to program, using early software, two screens,a keyboard and a stylus, not just click here and there. This was cutting edge stuff then, I think in the mid-eighties. Uphill both ways, you kids. 

Only two printers in the country could print this, one in Colorado, one in California, not available to the likes of me.  So I worked with a camera set into the computer system, and fed in 35mm film for photo processing. The processing staff at the shop were intrigued and baffled by how I made the images, and became fans! Too funny.

Full credit to the two art professors who set up this complex station, Frank Rivera and Rudy name escapes me, and who signed off on letting me work in the computer lab any hours, way beyond those assigned to my class. 

Happy day, everyone! Enjoy whatever displacement activity you get caught up in. Pro tip: everything is displacement activity. Unless you're running for office.

Pods and company and freecycling

 Yesterday was full of entertainment. The Pod arrived, after Gary had moved several cars to accommodate the truck. 

But instead of using the space provided, the driver, finding they'd loaded the Pod backwards, stopped at a congested point up the street to unload, drive around, reload and finally after much grumbling, put it in the right parking spot, near the curb, not sticking out as he'd planned. They walk among us.

I was busy roasting a chicken to pick from for several meals

 Shortly after, the Misfits truck arrived

After this interesting tracking message

They haven't had cilantro for a while, so it's great to have it again. I love it in sandwiches, or anywhere, for that dark flavor

Plenty of oatmeal for granola and bread, must bake bread again. I have a recipe for butternut squash cake, so instead of the inevitable soup, some of the squash will go there. 

Then a neighbor, good friend/ contractor /artist /cook stopped in before they leave for Christmas, with home made great treats.

Peppermint bark, Italian almond cakes. And a lovely  catchup time of gossip, during which we reorganized the lives of all the neighbors to our liking.

After that I rested a while just as well, because another friend came by, with Gary, and edible home dipped presents for birthday and Christmas

And she accepted one of the black gesso mixed media artworks! We were both so happy! She narrowed down her choice to three and we talked about them before she went off with Three Sisters, of which I probably have no picture, it  predating cellphone use. And I forgot at the time. I might ask her to send one when it's in place. She's the survivor of three close sisters, so she really likes it.

All in all, a fairly packed Shortest Day. Here's this time a few years ago. Instead of bright sun and dry streets, we had 25" of snow in one day. I live in that purple band

Condo building completely snowed in, nobody in or out for two days until the small cat plows opened up the entrance enough to let people out. Many feet of snow had blown against the building, up to my second floor condo. All in all, I'll take this year.

Happy day, everyone! I hope yours is also full of good entertainment and hilarious neighbors.