TBT: PUZZLED?

TBT this week takes us back to December when we started our winter puzzle. It's now a ritual after Thanksgiving to move our front porch's wicker glass top table into the great room, adding a standing floor lamp for extra light from the stove room. This setup allows us to work on the puzzle whenever the mood strikes us...

Obviously, the mood didn't strike us enough as we just finished it last night. It's part of a 4 puzzle box and it can be yours should you so desire. Just let me know and I'll send it your way. Don't worry we have more as folks were so generous sending us 500, 1000 and 1500 piece puzzles for fear of us becoming bored. 

So here 'tis in all its 1000 piece glory with its 3 companions- awaiting a new home...

GOOD DAYS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME...

Natureman has been having a great couple of days. He's feeling good as his back ache is gone and his allergies have settled down. Considering the jolting roto-tilling of this past weekend one would think there would be more pains, not less. Perhaps just the thought of gardening is therapeutic in itself... This past fall his wish was to be able to have a garden. He bought onion sets and seed potatoes so he's getting ready. 

I dropped Natureman off for Infusion Day #5 as I would run some errands while he had his blood taken, consult and infusion...   Now we just have one set of ears to report how the hospital visit went. As usual his blood pressure was elevated but by the time he left, it had lowered.  The best news of the consult was that the blood work showed his kidney function was improving! Yea, it must have improved with those daily 8 glasses of water. His weight is down a bit but he is eating. Natureman asked Doc O about the chemo drug combo and if he could stop the drugs once the little 2 little lung spots disappear. Dr. O replied they probably won't completely disappear but there could be a med vacay if they stabilize. So a good hospital visit all in all... 

After picking up both Baltos we returned home for a late lunch. I assumed both boys would need a nap but Natureman wanted to take a walk. So off we all went down the road enjoying what had turned into a gorgeous spring afternoon.  Our daffodils and grape hyacinths are blooming and wild violets and bloodroot dot the road's edge.  Things are good in the End of the Rainbow Valley and for a brief period of time I didn't even worry about Natureman's cancer nor the pandemic going on outside our world here in the End of the Rainbow Valley...

MONDAY MUSINGS: HANG IN THERE

Last week I realized the Jazzerbuddies were indeed missing their usual coffee gatherings and decided it was time to organize a Zoom Coffee after our FB live class. Our local instructors Debbie, Becky and Megan have been kind enough to  offer our classes LIVE on FB. But even if we could see and participate with them, they couldn't see us nor could we see each other.

You see we are used to doing more than just exercise, we socialize, meeting for coffee maybe even 3x/wk and provide an extra social net for all who want/can take advantage of this time together. We are there for each other in both good and not so good life events.

I'd say this pandemic has definitely interrupted our lives. Ten of us joined/made it either by audio/ video/ both in our first ZOOM attempt on line ZOOM coffee including one grandbaby. It was a good number to start and once I master the chatrooms we will be able to break off into smaller groups as the coffees grow in size and folks adjust to this particular site.

One thing was for certain as to how to break the ice as one needs time to get acclimated to being on screen and how to proceed with conversation. So I gave a couple of suggestions including muting while someone else is speaking to eliminate static/ other household issues... Then I just threw out a couple of questions as to how everyone was doing with the quarantine / if they've been able to complete any projects this past month they wanted to share... 

"I don't like it at all" stated one of us. Truth be told that is how many are feeling during this quarantine. So when I came upon this posting and accompanying letter they shouted to be shared.

Below are Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and a wonderful letter accompanying it ...

 

"I’ve been seeing so many friends seriously beating themselves up because they aren’t “maximizing” their time in quarantine by organizing their closets, repainting, developing a side hustle, becoming a piano virtuoso, exercising themselves into a lucrative career as a swimsuit model, etc.

Everybody! Seriously. Stop. And breathe. If you’re feeling adrift, there’s a reason. I’m about to drop some first semester nursing school on y’all. It’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Humans have basic requirements (the bottom of the pyramid) like food, water, air, shelter, sleep, etc. The biological basics. If those are met, then the next rung of the ladder is Safety and Security. If we feel safe and secure, then we can climb up and start on our Love and Belonging needs and on up the ladder we go until finally at the very tippy-top is SELF-ACTUALIZATION which would entail all of the cool aforementioned activities. The catch is, you cannot level up until the needs at the current level are fulfilled. If the needs remain unfulfilled, we remain stuck on our current level until the situation changes.

Friends, in the midst of a pandemic, we are dwelling in the basement of Maslow’s pyramid. How in the heck do you think you’re going to kick ass at the highest levels when we can’t even find toilet paper for Pete’s sake.

You physiologically and psychologically aren’t built to live your “best life” right now. Your only job is to live “a life” right now. A luxury that is being denied many which increases the pressure to really make every day count.

But listen.

Every day you are here counts.

Every breath you take counts.

Are you eating, drinking water, and sleeping at all these days? If so, that is a triumph right now.

Cut yourself ALL THE SLACK. Focus on the bottom level. Are you showering? Eating a vegetable once in a while? Getting some sunshine and fresh air? Keeping some semblance of a sleep schedule? 

Start there. And be extra gentle and abundantly gracious with yourself. We’ll get through this. And right now, getting through is absolutely enough.

I love you all. Hang in there. ❤️

XXOO,

Rachel"

AND to all of YOU this Monday I wish the same, HANG IN THERE.

Love, Chaseburgmama

TBT: CAT WALK

These are strange times for sure and I have a story from this past week to add from the End of the Rainbow Valley...

As I have mentioned before I wasn't raised having cats as pets and the two working cats we have were installed in the barn. The operative word here was 'were' as the goats have been vacationing since November at the neighbors, those cats moved themselves to the front porch. If they could, they would be inside in a New York minute. 

In fact, they like Balto so much and visa versa that those 2 cats, Blanca and Bebe have started taking walks with us when we go to the mailbox. At first, I thought it was a fluke that Blanca one day walked more than half a mile with us. She then stopped, sat down and awaited our return to return home with us. The following day she walked the mile. But on that day's return walk she got spooked as a rattling trailer on the nearby black top drove by and she darted off into the woods.

When she didn't  return home after a couple of hours, I went back out looking for her and calling her name. Sure enough as I neared the road near the neighbor's barn she rushed out mewing like crazy.  I carried her half of the way thinking she was tuckered out.  




The following day she must have told Bebe, the other cat, what she was she was missing out on because since then both cats have been coming on the walk with us to get the mail.






Did you know cats take walks?

It's a hoot. Sometimes Balto will race them/ pester them to play en route. I told you these are strange times... 

FOTO FRIDAY:BREAKING PASSOVER

FOTO FRIDAY: Last Friday after a week of eating unleavened food the last night at sundown had finally arrived... 

It was no longer Passover.

Matzagna 

Don't get me wrong we had eaten very well during Passover which resulted in adding 3 new favorite Passover recipes including our last entree of Matzagna.  Using those meatless meatballs made out of mushrooms made this Passover lasagna a hit with the guy sharing my dinner table...

Spanish Almond Torte

We also added two dessert recipes during the week: a Spanish Almond Torte and an Apple cake. To tell you the truth we normally don't have desserts with our dinner and Natureman is really not a cake kind of guy but when you can't have something for some reason psychologically you yearn for it. These two were yummy favorites.

Pesadiche Apple Cake

 I had made sure to have fresh mint and parsley on hand for a recipe to fix before the holiday but ran out of time so it was the perfect choice for breaking Passover as it had orzo as the main ingredient.  Now we could enjoy those garnishes of fresh mint and parsley in the dish called Lemon Garlic Orzo.



It was as flavorful as it looks with toasted almonds, feta, raisins, tomatoes
etc... with a citrus vinaigrette. This certainly will be added to our summer menu.

It's difficult to believe that was already a week ago... 



Did you try any new dishes during your Holiday meals? Do share.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Jennifer shared her Passover quiche with a crisp matzo meal crust 

Lori made matzo nachos...

In case you missed the last posted FOTO FRIDAY here's the link:
PASSOVER BAGELS. I'll have you know folks that tried the recipe really liked it.

DOG DAYS...

When we get a warmer day as in the 60's then there's a biting wind/ rain. Heck after all this time I should be used to midwestern springs. We're still experiencing frost in the End of the Rainbow Valley and stormy weather which has downed not only branches but trees as well.

During yesterday's walk to the mailbox with Natureman and Balto  we had the wind behind us both there and back. It was pretty sweet to actually have the warmth of the sun on our faces both ways. It made me yearn for the dog days of summer but they are a ways off...  

What has been warming has been a break from the sadness this virus has brought. .  The recent pandemic humor in particular, dog humor provides some smiles.

Will dog humor have the same effect on you?

And did you catch any of these Pluto youtube videos?  ENJOY.

PLUTO PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGES

PLUTO ON CATS

PLUTO & EASTER HUMOR

MONDAY MUSINGS: PROJECTS

Here in the End of the Rainbow Valley there's not much new since we have our spring routines... 

Natureman had declared a moratorium on the woodpile and figures the days of hauling wood to the porch for this season are limited. Let's hope. So during the weekend he returned our screened in porch to its porch status vs the accessible firewood spot. 

It looked so nice and inviting I even got on line and ordered a rug for the space. Originally I thought I might paint its cement floor but after seeing the abuse the floor gets with splitting wood there, painting would have been a grand waste of time.
  

Even with the parking spaces 9 cords of wood depleted there was a lot of bark and splintered wood remaining worth a good afternoon of picking up and throwing it down the hill. Natureman didn't want my help, so who am I to argue? 


I headed back to finish up decorating last summer's new mail box as it needed some character. Never did find the last two that were yanked up by those raging flood waters railroad tie posts and all. 



The former heart thank you for the mailperson attached to the inside of the box didn't hold and  must have blown away with a gust of that strong wind the last time it was opened.



So, I did create another note and glued it down this time with E6000 and that should hold it this time if it didn't permanently seal the mail box shut.
(I guess I should go check that out this morning. )

And Yes, those are cotton ball clouds...

I hope all of you are showing the folks who deliver your mail the love.

The original spray painting idea of a contemporary rainbow heart was out as there was wind. Thank goodness for the bobby to hold my hair back/ I may have returned home with a head of rainbow colored hair anyway. . .

The newly decorated mailbox does need a bit of tweaking as a photo shows one what needs some tweaking but it's basically done.

Have a good week with whatever projects you're tackling this week...

TBT: MENDING FENCES

TBT this week has to do with mending fences, not as in fixing broken relationships but really mending an electric wire fence around the perimeter of the goat pasture which not only keeps our goats in but other animals like coyotes out. Winter snow/gusty winds with broken tree branches usually knock down the wire in various spots. SO on the Spring checklist of things to do is find and fix that downed wire ... 

This needs to be done before we can get our goats back.

You may remember our neighbor farmer was kind enough to take our goats for the winter when Natureman went in for his operation and started treatment. Now that spring is coming to the End of the Rainbow Valley I am really missing those goats more than Natureman... I also haven't ever experienced a spring in the last 18 years without at least a couple of baby kid goats frolicking in the pasture.  It's just part of the joys of spring here. 

A FB posting of an acquaintance holding her 2 newborn Easter baby goats kids really pulled at my heartstring and made me scour photos of some those of our past spring kids...

Mancha

Jacqueline

Crouton and Sally 

El and Baby Pantalones

 

There have been so many over the years it's hard to believe I've even forgotten some of their names-

a couple who didn't make it to adulthood like Peanut, born so tiny and I had to bottle feed him/ one who was born so strong and big but died of complications of his castration/ a couple cases of kids overgrazing when that fence was down/ they figured a way under it.  Learning firsthand the hard way about poisonous plants for goats like azaleas, China berries, sumac, dog fennel, bracken fern, curly dock, honeysuckle, nightshade, pokeweed, red root pigweed, black cherry and Virginia creeper... 

The kid goats have grown up with our barn cats over the years and been really good companions. Sleeping and going out to the pasture together... 

In fact, our 2 working barn cats moved up to our porch this winter when the goats went on vacation to the neighbors. It's time for Blanca and Bebe to have their buddies back and move back to the barn...

You see for the most part there has been more life affirming with goat kids here on the farm. And we could use a good dose of that this spring after a hard winter...

LYME'S TIME...

Found a tick on Balto the other day another spring indicator. It reminded me to apply the dog's tick medicine.  Natureman likened how he felt after infusion days to when he had Lyme's; achiness, headaches, fatigue... His first bout of Lyme's was when we were building the new house 15 years ago. Literally a lot of water under & over the bridge since then. If only an antibiotic could make all this go away but apparently he was informed that he will have to continue this chemo cocktail combo even if the tumors totally disappear...

Folks have been exceedingly kind to us especially during these last 6 months since Natureman's prognosis. Yep, it's been 6 months, the beginning marker of the prognosis as we were told 6-20 months...
Who knew an additional factor like a pandemic would be added to the mix? Now, we have another marker with one month of social distancing under our belt. 

Plans for summer jaunts of using our lifetime passes to National Parks are dissipating since it's evident others haven't understood the urgency of staying put, not socializing, and now the waves of this virus will continue and we, must accept that when folks go back to their lives whenever that will be, we here in the End of the Rainbow Valley must remain in social isolation longer. 

Natureman's big days out are 'infusion' days at the hospital, not really the safest place to go considering folks go there when they are sick but with new measures like temperatures being taken at the door and mini health questionaires, hopefully will lessen the  spreading the virus there too. In fact, since guests are not allowed through the doors with the patient, Natureman has to be the one sharing these changes.  

The past visit creeps into our conversations at meal times. ie I learned recently he was asked to remove his N95 mask a relative had sent us. 'Everybody' had to wear masks the hospital provided. Interesting, huh?  Whether it's their availability/ whatever at least folks are wearing them. That really bothered me 3 weeks previously. (And have you noticed on the news more people are wearing homemade masks while out and about?)

Portions of the waiting area were also cordoned off to keep patients at a social distance and he noticed furniture being sanitized. That was a relief since I was wiping down wooded arm rests where we sat the visit before. 

During his consult in the small examination room he asked where he should sit and was told, wherever he wanted. (What, no 6 feet?) He was the one masked. Hmmm, I fear also for our health care providers.

Anyhoo, there are worse places to be stuck than at home in the End of the Rainbow Valley. We usually don't see anybody en route to the mailbox.  We treated ourselves to an afternoon of dropping off items without personal interaction. We just saw one friend come out his front door to pick up the matzo ball soup care package as we were backing up. We miss our interaction with others...

The streets were quieter better late than never. Yet, it's something. Many are going on hikes. Do remember after your Nature walks, be sure and check for ticks... Lyme's is no fun either.

L

MONDAY MUSINGS: MUSIC MAKERS

What do you do when it's a Sunday night and you don't want to read nor do you have cable and your TV decides it's not receiving PBS?  

Amidst losing some very prominent music makers this past week and needing more of a music fix on NetFlix with the 2008  biographical Cadillac Records fitting the bill during Chicago's golden age of music. It was the music business with booze, sex, drugs and broken hearts.

Chicago's Chess Records founded by Leonard (Lenny) Chess, recorded and represented Blues & Rock n Roll greats opening doors for black musicians with a new record label from the 1950's to the late 60's. 

Muddy Waters's first recordings were made from the trunk of a Cadillac. Chess Records gave their successful contracted artists cadillacs with their record sales's earnings. These legendary musicians like Muddy Waters (guitarist), Little Walter(harmonica) Howling Wolf, Chuck Berry, and soul legend Etta James all would receive Music's Hall of Fame Awards. 

For a great music fix two thumbs up from the End of the Rainbow Valley...

FOTO FRIDAY: BAGELS ON PESACH?

FOTO FRIDAY: One of the most obvious thing missing from our house during the week of Passover besides bread is eggs. Every Passover recipe that needs something to hold it together/ rise needs those eggs. Hopefully the girls can keep up with our need...

Special requests have come in for the recipe for Passover Bagels/Rolls. My mother-in-law, z"l Esther, shared this one with me back in 1972 and it's still my favorite...

Here's the original...

2/3 c water
1/3 c vegetable shortening
1/2 t salt
1   T sugar
1   c matzo meal
3   eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix first 4 ingredients in saucepan and bring to a boil.

Add matzo meal and cook, stirring to mix ~ 1 min

Remove from heat.

Let cool.

Once cooled add eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition...

Divide into 7 parts for rolls, add a little oil to your hands to roll each piece shaping them into a  a fat hamburger shape.
If bagels, to create a nice size bagel hole, dip your thumb in a glass of  water press wet thumb down in center of patty shape, rotating it.  

Lay on greased cookie sheet leaving space inbetween each one.

Bake 60 minutes at 350 degrees.

*Now I double the above recipe so I can make a nice sized bagel to slice easily.  A double batch makes 10 for me. That's 6 eggs!  

Let cool before storing. 

These Passover bagels disappear very quickly here in the End of the Rainbow Valley...


Here's last week's FOTO FRIDAY in case you missed it: GAS ME UP...

TBT: TRADITION, TRADITION...TRADITION

Social distancing really hasn't been so awful except when one knows holiday time is approaching and that yearly trek to Milwaukee to purchase that page long Passover shopping list just wasn't going to happen. The worst part is our local stores just don't carry Passover products. 

The traditional meal would be even more important since the guest chairs around the table would be empty. We resolved the people issue by planning a zooming date and The Seder, Passover's ritual meal, would just require some experimental cuisine too. 



It was difficult to capture everybody at once on screen so here's a breakdown in alphabetical order (l to r)
Atlanta, Boston, Chaseburg, Dallas, Little Rock & San Franscisco

SORRY no pic of brother Marc working in the kitchen ...

16 family members joined our table via ZOOM... how wonderful is that?  



Besides family gathering one of those traditional musts are the holiday foods one of which is gefilte fish, a ground up deboned fish cooked in a fish stock. This was one dish I had never made from scratch. Oh, I usually just 'doctor' it up from the store bought jar. Although there was no carp/ pike in our freezer the sportsman who hunts on our land had given us fileted walleye and perch from his ice fishing outings. I had egg, (yes, the girls are laying again) and unopened matzo meal from last year.  Carrots, onions and celery were on last week's curbside pickup grocery trip.  Good to go except the fish stock would be a little more challenging. How do you find a fish head? I had frozen salmon skin intended for the next dump day(garbage day) but no fish heads. The internet helped provide some suggestions and after combining a few, that stock really did smell fishy. 

After a FB posting a photo question as to "What is this holiday food?: Most non-jews id'ed  it as matzo ball soup. To their credit, they did see them floating while poaching in a soup, the visual texture can resemble some folks's matzo balls and both do have some matzo meal in their recipes. 

Notice the differences between my gefilte fish (l) and matzo balls(r) cooking?

Matzo, a cracker looking flat bread is the unleavened substitute for regular bread for us during the Passover week. So matzo meal acts as a binder like bread crumbs. Matzo balls obviously have a lot more matzo meal than gefilte fish.

It was really wonderful to read the FB comments and the memories gefilte fish evoked. Stories about grandparents/aunts making it/ readers's very own endeavors. Personally my favorite college story of going home with a Chicago friend to her Grandma's for Passover was visiting the rest room,  sitting down when a splash came from the bathtub. You can imagine my surprise to see a large carp swimming back and forth in that tub. That carp would become gefilte fish, the ground up boneless fish dish... Talk about fresh.

Back to 2020, I lucked out not having to filet the fish. A true gift from our sportsman.  While the fish stock simmered, the Cuisinart (food processor ) did a great job of chopping everything.  Following the directions wasn't difficult and voila...  


Some of you  asked for the recipe. For those worried about the fishy smell, I had the exhaust fan on the entire time and also had other things to make. When Natureman returned after his infusion he commented on how good the house smelled when he walked in...

Now since Natureman also gave the gefilte fish 2 thumbs up, here's the recipe...

There's 2 parts: the stock and the gefilte fish

*You could make the stock ahead of time. Taste stock. I skimped on salt due to low sodium diet but don't skimp...   Recipe credit to  DELISH... 

INGREDIENTS  

FOR THE STOCK

8 c. 

fish stock

1 

onion, cut into wedges

2 

medium carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces

2 

stalks celery, cut into large pieces

Small bunch of parsley

3 

sprigs thyme

FOR THE GEFILTE FISH

2 T 

olive oil

1 

onion, chopped

2 

medium carrots, peeled and chopped

1 

stalk celery, chopped

3 lb. 

boneless and skinless fillets, whitefish, carp, and/or pike

3 

large eggs

1/4 c. 

parsley leaves

3/4 c. 

matzo meal

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Endive/Romaine leaves, washed and dried

Prepared horseradish

Matzo

DIRECTIONS

In lg pot over med. heat bring fish stock, onion, carrot, celery, parsley and thyme to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.

Meanwhile:

Make gefilte fish in med. skillet over med-low heat, heat olive oil.

Add onion, carrot and celery , sauteeing until soft~ 10 min. Remove from heat, let cool.

Pulse onion mixture with parsley until almost smooth. Place in lg. bowl

Cut fish into chunks, place in food processor. Pulse until finely ground but not pureed. ( some texture is good)

Add fish, eggs, and matzo meal to onion mixture and stir.

Season with salt and pepper(Go heavy on pepper)

Shape into 20 fist sized ovals.

Drop fish into simmering stock and let simmer until completely cooked through ~25 minutes. Cook in batches if necessary.

Serve atop endive/ a lettuce with horseradish, matzo and cooked carrots from stock.

Mighty proud how my first endeavor came out...

And to boot, a rainbow graced our table here in the End of the Rainbow Valley... A miracle by all accounts.