Free?

There's something happening in a lot of communities around the U.S. and I was reminded about this charming phenomena this past week again.  It's something that helps community building through sharing and this time it's through reading.

Reading?  Yes, reading.  Little Free Libraries. We all have books lying around at home, right? So when you are through with a book you purchased/ were given, you place it inside this box that appears to be a very large bird house on a stick on private/public property. I first saw these mini libraries in a Milwaukee suburb in a residential yard near the sidewalk where a passerby can peruse its contents and borrow/ take a book. The understanding is that you will either return the book when you finish/ perhaps donate a book to its contents yourself.

The homemade libraries are causing quite a stir as you can see by my book group, the Happy Hookers on our outing to Mineral Point.

Mineral Point, WI

These libraries come in all shapes. Sometimes they are built by one person as a fundraiser/ individuals purchase/build their own. I personally have seen garden shed shaped, castles, church cottages/ houses. There were some for sale in a gallery we saw for $300.00 so they are definite pieces of art and can be personalized / as plain as you'd like.

This library gem was in Stockholm, WI

I have given serious  thought  about having one as we certainly have the yard space and interesting reading material ... but do you think I'd get much traffic back here in the End of the Rainbow Valley?

Nah, me neither. I guess I will just have to enjoy these Little Free Libraries in someone  else's yard...

Are you game?

ZIP It? No, SEAL It.

I know you are really going to be jealous now because while in Little Rock I received a very special gift  for Mother's Day and it has finally been taken out of the box as the garden is producing. It's first job was cilantro. My toy is called a "Food Saver."

The details of our previous frozen storage technique 'was' pretty 'high' tech.(Sarcasm)  Ziploc bags and a straw to suck out the air. Well the new kitchen aid once plugged in, is a sealer that automatically vacuums out the air and excess liquid and then heat seals the bags shut. Pretty fancy, eh?

                                           Today beans got the treatment.

Now if I just didn't have to label those bags by hand, life would be so much easier here in the End of the Rainbow Valley. Wink, wink.

Berry, Berry Nice

Weeding has been more difficult than usual with our Wisconsin summer's rainy June and extremely buggy hot July weather.

Natureman decided to plant the new raspberry bushes roadside inbetween the coop and the wild, and I mean, wild as in crazy asparagus patch, that airy looking mass on the right, raspberry bushes on far left in the front.

To tell the truth,  access and soil will definitely be better for these new raspberry bushes and so far there have been some very good berries picked.

But there are more berries to be had and  off to the back pasture Natureman went on a 90 degree day to pick a bucketful of black berrries that Mother Nature has provided.

It is a very sticky job in more ways than one. Besides juices, those brambles can be torture even with long sleeves and pants. (Hint always wear your thickest jeans.)

 Super sweet haul!

I am afraid that they might get polished off  before they have a chance to  make it  into a pie...

Have no fear,  there are a lot more out there if you want to come picking, but be sure and wear old clothes when you come to go picking in the End of the Rainbow Valley...

Say -Vee - Chay, Now Add Ceh rah cha

Driving into 'town' has some advantages so besides the view, another is catching some radio waves.  Thank goodness Natureman had switched my station to WPR so I happened to catch a recipe using sriracha, an Asian chili sauce with garlic also called 'Rooster Sauce.'  In fact, the radio guest, Randy Clemens has written a new book with 50 sriracha based recipes. It's not just one of my favorite new spices but also many of my countrymen are just discovering this 'hot' addition to their cooking. Just recently I told you about hotness and roosters in the Valley so it just stands to reason that I loved this recipe and so might you...

After hearing the ingredients I was missing the fish to a great summer cold seafood dish popular in Spain called Ceviche.

I'd be making the Kosher version since most seafood doesn't enter End of the Rainbow Valley. Fresh tilapia does and would be easy to find besides being affordable, it is also mild flavored.  Natureman likes having fish on the menu occasionally although cooking with fish is not usually my favorite.

This makes a lot so be sure and invite some guests to share!


SRIRACHA CEVICHE

1½ lbs Seafood ( shrimp, scallops, yellowtail, tilapia/ kampachi) 
½ c Freshly squeezed lime juice 
¼ c Freshly squeezed orange juice 
2 -3 med tomatoes, diced 
Lg red onion, diced 
2 Persian cucumbers, diced 
1 ear fresh sweet corn, kernels only 
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Jalapeño, seeded and minced ( I omitted this)
½ c fresh cilantro chopped, plus more for garnish 
2 T Extra Virgin olive oil 
1/2 c Sriracha  ( start with 1/4 c and adjust to personal hotness) 
1 c tomato juice or V8 vegetable juice 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
1 Avocado, sliced, for garnish 

Directions: 

Allow about 4 hours- there's a reason as that seafood marinades and ' cooks' refrigerating in these citric juices 

1. In  large bowl, combine  seafood with  lime and orange juices.

2.Cover and let sit in frig, stirring occasionally, until  flesh becomes firm and opaque, about 3 hours. 

3. Add  tomatoes, onion, cucumbers, corn, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, oil, Sriracha, and            tomato juice, stir.
  
4. Cover and refrigerate for another 30 to 60 minutes to allow flavors to marry. 

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

6. Serve in chilled bowls / martini glassess

7. Garnish with sliced avocado and cilantro. 


Servings: 8

Buen Provecho

Crazy Days...

Natureman calls me a hunter and gatherer.  That being said, July is my favorite month because that's when I get to show my prowess at seeking out the city's bargains in downtown La Crosse.

Usually Crazy Days are closer to my birthday but the Art Fair on the Green got that weekend. That's OK because I claim everything is for my birthday anyway.  The better the bargain, the better the gift.  You never really knew you needed an item until you see it on a sale rack/table. 

  

                                                                                                            Crazy Days are filled with sidewalk sales and entertainment.  This year chalk artist/s added drawings to the sidewalks to all those bargains. Check out the shoe design in the drawing's dress. Oh my, it must be a shoe store...

I struck it rich finding a parking space in front of one of my favorite stops call Kick, an amazing shoe store. Most of the time, it's my daughter that benefits from their bargains since if the fit is a bit big for me, she can wear them. This year I found boots. Summer is the best time to find a good buy on boots and she doesn't need winter boots in Atlanta, so guess who gets these? A girl can never have too many boots in Wisconsin.

That shoe store block was a goldmine. I didn't have to go far for other bargain purchases as the next 3 stores held 'special' treasures. Next to the shoe store sits a gift store on one side, a women's clothing store on the other and around the corner the third, upcyles, found old items like battered doors/ windows created into new architectural interest pieces.  It's amazing how clever people are.

     

                      My find this year was a 'rusty' scrap metal rooster. 

Rusty even got a check out sniff from Romeo, the excellent watchdog that he is...

Rusty begged to come home with me and be added to my Coop Garden.  He will really be happy to see the girls and they in turn will be glad that he isn't real. (You know there's a reason the male chickens are called cocks and why we don't have any. ) 

Natureman says Rusty's too nice to be left outside. After a couple times of being sprayed with clear lacquer Rusty should be just fine in his new home here in the End of the Rainbow Valley...

I have to add this link : a must read
http://thebloggess.com/2011/06/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/

Honey, I am HOT...

How is it that summer always flies by so fast? I hate to admit it but we are halfway through summer.

10 Summer markers have been met:

1. Corn is way past knee high now that we have had a very hot first week of July.
2. Fireflies have been out in force.
3. Birds are laying their second nest of eggs.
4. Farmers have gotten into their wet fields, hayed & planted albeit a bit later than usual due to rains.
5. Wood has been stacked.
6. Wednesday summer concerts in the park are almost done. 2 left.
7. I survived deer fly season, am dealing with no seeums as are the chickens sweat bees & mosquitoes.
8. The hanging flower baskets are looking a bit peaked.
9. I'm sick of weeding. BTW if you ever want physical exercise you can come weed for free.
10. Our AC has been used.

TO honor this summer heat, this year's new addition to the garden is a Hot Papaya coneflower isn't it HOT?

The blooming princess spirea bushes have doubled in sized ( who marked them dwarf?) and are  a' buzzing with 100's of bumble bees,  the lilies are popping like crazy.

 Every day there's something new opening in the garden.  The seed/tuber planted cosmos, zinnias and dahlias  are blooming. The first hollyhocks have started. 

 

The prairie flowers are going crazy on the hillside.

Summertime is in full force. Windows are open and evenings are filled with the sounds of owls hooting.

Summer life in the End of the Rainbow Valley being half over only means Winter will be here a lot sooner than I'd like to think...

'Wood' Ya, Could 'ya, Just Wait ?

It's pretty obvious when a big dumptruck comes down a country gravel road, especially ours.  Romeo, the ever companionable watch dog also jumps to attention and rushes down the road to greet guests.

Who do you think it was on this unusual humid hot summer July day?  Even the cute guy from, get this, Hook and Haul, who delivers our slab wood load couldn't get me to leave the confines of the house's cool comfort.

On a 90 degree day of all days, the winter's heat has been dumped and an excited Natureman insisted on starting to stack it. All morning and most of the afternoon he stacked.  He wouldn't wait for a cooler day. (He had even switched on the house air to demonstrate how hot it was.)


Well I, the Southerner, was not going to be part of that mishigas (craziness). I  know humidity and heat and didn't want any part of heatstroke nor those ferocious hungry bugs so I stayed inside with the AC. 
I should also mention my discomfort since yesterday while picking snap peas, a tiny sweat bee decided to sting the only unsprayed non clothed area, my eyelid. My eyelid had doubled in size. 

Looks like we won't only be warm this summer  but also this winter right here in the End of the Rainbow Valley.  Natureman was as busy as a beaver stacking wood.  He just couldn't wait for a cooler day for his city mouse's help...  What a Natureman!