Lazy W Marie

yet another kale salad & some recipe reviews

May 12, 2015

Howdy! And thanks for checking in again! It’s Tuesday, so let’s see what’s up in the Lazy W kitchen.

What we’re eating a lot of these days: EGGS. So many eggs, in so many wonderful incarnations. The hens are laying maniacs this week! Yesterday I collected 22. That’s a lot for us. So we are compelled to find more and more ways to eat our weight in these little nutritious miracles. Fried, hard-boiled, cheesy breakfast sandwiches, mushroom omelettes, Quiche, eggs cooked hot and runny over kale, you name it. Liquid chickens are on the menu! Handsome may or may not be getting tired of this.

Speaking of kale, I am still eating lots of that, too. Although, and maybe you’ve noticed this yourself, the grocery store offerings are starting to taste a little drab and bitter as the season progresses. So I’m relying more heavily on what the raised beds provide. Fresh baby kale to the rescue!! Last night I found a bunch and a half of not great grocery store kale in the refrigerator plus half a bag of languishing clementines. (How long have we had those?) Together these two nearly expired food stuffs comprised a really delicious salad base.

Try this salad:

As always, just wash the kale, remove the “bones” (do any other veggies have bones?), slice it up really skinny, and massage those kale ruffles with just 2 teaspoons of your fave olive oil. Toss all of that with freshly squeezed clementine juice then some black pepper and sea salt. Add a plain roasted sweet potato and chicken breast if you want. The clementines made it all much sweeter than normal, a great flavor combination with the roasted sweet potato. Do you like those salads with chicken and strawberries? Not at all unlike that deliciousness. And supremely filling.

Okay, now on to a few recipe experiments and reviews of each:

Bacon-Cheddar Scones: I made this recipe, with a few minor tweaks, for my Mom for Mother’s Day. She is taking her diabetes and health very seriously, yay Mom! So I feel guilty loading her up with desserts no matter the special occasion. A double-protein treat seemed better. (I used oven-cooked bacon instead of ham, by the way.) She really seemed to liked these, so this recipe is a keeper. Sometimes don’t you crave a dense, buttery scone instead of a more delicate pastry? I do. So on a special brunch day I’ll make it for us here at the farm. Bacon and cheddar scones. Oh, quick tip! Freeze your stick of butter at least partially then grate it into your dry ingredients, and don’t overdo it with the mixing!

Turkey Burgers: I was a huge fan of this recipe, but Handsome was decidedly not. No offense to the recipe itself; the ground turkey is just not a texture he could handle. He barely gagged down half of his, so we won’t be sharing this meal again. Like, ever. But since I have more ground turkey in the freezer, I’ll make a batch of these for myself once in a while, only with less dark mustard next time. Also, in the spirit of use what you have, I added a little shredded mozzarella instead of fancy cheese. Plenty good enough for a weeknight or for a healthy lunch. Turkey Burgers

Roasted Garlic Humus: Okay, this recipe we agreed was wonderful. This is good news, too, because a craving for humus was the main reason I spent $10 on a jar of tahini. (Yikes!) Next time for the sake of my husband’s stomach health I’ll use less (or zero) roasted garlic, and eventually I’ll invest in a food processor. My trusty blender did an okay job of destroying the tender beans, but the finished product was slightly chunkier than I would expect humus to be. Overall, easy and so good! Really good with whole wheat pita bread and celery. Roasted Garlic Humus

Iron Skillet Focaccia: Oh man, friends, I am a sucker for good focaccia. It has got to be the loveliest of all homemade breads, right? Especially with fresh rosemary, some olive oil, maybe a splash of vinegar. Or nothing at all! It’s so good naked, and the whole baking process imparts a cozy sexiness to your home. But sometimes the day is too full and the kitchen counter is too crowded for rolling out the heavy dough, kneading it, allowing it to rise seven million times, etcetera. I mean… Those things are satisfying and worthwhile, just not always possible. Well, I happened upon this recipe last week on just such a day and was thrilled with the results! We don’t eat bread much these days, so when we do I want it to be pretty gangbusters. This was a success. Try it. You will not be sad. Easy No Knead Skillet Bread

Okay that’s it for now! I’m reading my way into an appetite for food by Elizabeth David, but that’s for another day. Tell me something you have tried cooking lately. I’d love to hear. Over and out!

“Calvin: Why are you crying mom?
Mom: I’m cutting up an onion.
Calvin: It must be hard to cook if you anthrpomorphisize your vegetables.” *
~Bill Watterson, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
XOXOXOXO

*LOL

happy mother’s day

May 10, 2015

Happy Mother’s Day, friends! How are you spending today? Are you sleeping late and enjoying a simple but heartfelt breakfast in bed constructed by toddlers? Are you dressing up for a fancy brunch with adults? Are you attending church service with your family, looking forward to hearing the preacher’s message about motherhood and all a good woman’s virtues?

Or are you removed from some of the cultural fanfare, either missing your mother or missing your children? I think of some close friends who lost their Moms years ago, and how even with the passage of time the pain doesn’t stop. This worries me for my husband who lost his Mom just a year and a half ago. I also think of the women in our life who have lost a child, of how no matter who else is in their life, that loss remains a deep, open wound.

This all can be scary, except that I understand how grief can be such a beautiful expression of affection. Love and loss, so closely intertwined.

I am so lucky. My own life has been generously blessed by an amazing Mom who at a young, tender age decided to give everything to me, and then to my four siblings, and now to our spouses and her grandchildren. Her life all these forty-plus years has been all about us, good and bad, no matter how much it has hurt her. But really she shows us joy. She makes us believe that she has loved every minute of the roller coaster, and each of the five of us would agree that Mom is our biggest fan, our most ardent cheerleader no matter what we are trying to accomplish. We may not always admit it, but making her proud and making her laugh is truly one of life’s biggest pleasures.

Mom has been an example of humility and strength, selflessness, resourcefulness, and good, plain hard work. She has also shown me how to be a good friend to people and how to be a good caretaker. She totally embodies gratitude. She is a wonderful cook, talented at creating delicious things out of whatever she already has, and she grows the most beautiful gardens. Slowly, naturally, patiently. Every year her gardens are more stunning. This is how I want my entire life to look.

Time will tell whether I become the woman Mom has shown me to be, but for today I am very grateful. I am grateful for the example she continues to set, for the forgiveness she allows when I hurt her, and also for the freedom she gives me to live my own life, to find my own way.

However you are spending this day on the calendar, I wish you all the Love your soul craves as well as all the strength and openness you need to share the Love you have already been given. I hope your life has been graced by all the best qualities of motherhood so that when someone near you needs it, you can shed that grace all over again. Keep it moving, just like new life. Breath it in and breathe it out.

“Making the decision to have a child- it is momentous.
It is to decide forever to have your heart go
walking around outside your body.”
~Elizabeth Stone
XOXOXOXO

rainy saturday reading links

May 9, 2015

Happy Saturday! If you are anywhere close to our neck of the woods, then you are probably spending a lot of today indoors. Again. Oklahoma is hunkered down beneath one deluge after another, and we’re not mad. We’re soggy, but we’re not mad. The years-long drought is becoming a distant memory, so it’s okay. In case you’re sitting around open to errant reading material, here is a Literary Saturday offering by yours truly. I hope you enjoy.

I’m not the only woman dealing with body comparison fatigue, and apparently it happens a lot after a tough race. Gina (The Fitnessista) wrote about it here and really has some smart insight. I like how she zeroes in on the negative affects of comparison but also the benefits. Give it a whirl. Monica also touched on the topic here, and if you must know, her feelings are so close to mine about being a runner but not feeling like you look like one. Finally, Lora just ran a really successful Boston Marathon and is glowing! Boston, you guys! And her time was amazing. But still she is struggling with body image/weight loss issues within her own heart, and she shares a lot of that right here. My heart absolutely goes out to this young woman. I tell ya, it all messes with my head, so I’m so grateful for these beautiful ladies exposing their feelings so I feel less alone and maybe reconsider my approach/attitude.

This statue in New Orleans never changes, of course. Every year I look different next to him. LOL Suck it in lady!! haha

Along a sunnier vein, here is a sweet, simple article by the Huffington Post about the Keys to Happiness. I also watched a not too long Ted talk this week that was very thought provoking. It asked whether life events can really affect our happiness past about six months. The speaker asserted that the seemingly huge life events we experience, whether we perceive them as amazing or disastrous, only affect our current happiness level for a few months. After that, our happiness is a matter of our own perception or determination of life. Really interesting! What do you think?

It’s Mother’s Day weekend, and Ann Voskamp is doing anything but making it easy for us. Her words are the gritty, nourishing antidote to all the flowers, pedicures, and desserts about to happen. I was shamed to read How to be a Revolutionary Mother, but also deeply inspired. We have seen so many miracles in our family, and I have this feeling that we are about to see more. My faith in God’s goodness and power is really strong, but as a mother I also have my part to play. I’m ready.

Bon Appetit is courting me hard with this article about pesto. This same magazine first suggested the idea a few years ago, that pesto doesn’t have to be just basil and pine nuts; they seduced me with ideas involving carrot tops. Now they are really branching out, and I groove it. I groove it so hard. I even spent $10 on a jar of tahini with big plans to make all the things.

Sandy, The Reluctant (and wonderful!) Entertainer writes something lovely almost every day. But in this particular post, well, she just gets me. “What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.” YES! This is scary true. And I often get lost just drooling over her party photos and recipes, so be warned. The RE website is brimming with goodness.

This story just popped up on my news feed today, and it’s so refreshing! Read it and see if this young woman, an art director, doesn’t remind you a little of Albert Einstein. I think her message is brilliant. For the record, my daily uniform around the farm is: Skinny jeans with either a tank top or a 3/4 length sleeve top. Messy bun. Bare feet or flip flops. Two necklaces at least.

Okay, now I am signing off to do some book reading and maybe cuddle up with Handsome for movies. There’s only so much time we can spend fawning over the new baby chicks, after all. Wishing you and yours a dry enough and very happy weekend!

XOXOXOXO

friday 5 at the farm: fast woman

May 8, 2015

We have an indoor cat now and I kind of need to talk about it.

Let’s back up.

Do you know Fast Woman? The cat? Have you met her? Have I ever even mentioned this sweet crazy girl here before? Of all our many animals, Fast Woman has been part of our farm-ily second to the longest. She was born right around the same month we bought this place, actually, and she grew up tall and she grew up right with the Oklahoma cats on an Oklahoma night.

Sorry.

Once upon a time Fast Woman gave us twenty thousand litters of perfect little kittens before I finally caught her to go get fixed. (Open laundry baskets and running cars don’t work with cats, FYI. I didn’t know. And she didn’t trust me for a while after that first try.)

Hey don’t you agree that getting an animal “fixed” is actually getting it broken? Whatevv.

All these years she has been an outdoor cat, wilding herself between the barn and the llama sheds, the gardens and the forest. She’s always been happy this way, and we have known this because on the rare occasions that we brought her indoors she would open her eyes to a terrifying wideness and jump straight up in the air, flinging her body against any window or door to escape.

She hated the indoors but ruled the barnyard. We were all at peace with this arrangement.

Then we adopted three more barn cats who regarded her as the interloper, not the princess of the Lazy W she truly is. To avoid being slap-battled and actively hated by Sonya and Natasha especially, Fast Woman wilded herself more deeply into the forest. She stayed gone for days.

Feral, almost. We missed her.

She visited the house sporadically for a while, then less and less, and sometimes her long periods of absence were so prolonged that we worried for her safety. We called for her, tried baiting her with food at the edge of the forest, and did all the magic card tricks and sorcery we knew to bring her home.

She just didn’t appear for a long time.

Then one day she did!

She crept around the south edge of the bonfire yard early one morning while we were Hot Tub Summit-ing, and Handsome carried her to the house, past the bully cats, into safety. This time, finally, she didn’t peel back her eyelids. She didn’t try jumping up and through every pane of glass to escape. Instead, she happily twirled our legs and purred and accepted every single edible treat we offered, which were many. So many. We were all three quite in love. Well, four if you count Pacino. But she does not reciprocate his deep and abiding love even though cats are his favorite next to baby chicks.

Anyway.

So, now Fast Woman is an indoor cat and I am smitten but at some loss. I’ve not lived indoors with a cat since I was about twelve or thirteen years old, and that cat wasn’t really my responsibility. His name was Garfunkle. He had a friend named Simon, in case you want to know.

Anyway, I have a lot to learn about indoor cats. And a lot of questions.

For Friday 5 this week, how about…

Things I Didn’t know About Indoor Cats:

They actually ARE nocturnal! I sort of thought this was an old wive’s tale. Not at all. She sleeps all dang day (on the prettiest, comfiest couch we own) then around the time we head upstairs she’s like party tiiiiime!! The first two nights were like having a newborn, because I didn’t yet grasp the idea that she could be left to her own devices.
Cats snore. Whoa, it’s actually a really adorable cross between snoring and purring, and it’s quite loud. You can hear it from upstairs if you’re quiet enough. I love it.
Cats know the difference between the sound of a can of tuna being opened and a can of, say, tomatoes or cream of mushroom soup being opened. That’s just amazing.
Sudden noises are scary to cats. I was frying an egg this morning and some butter popped and sizzled, and she lost her little cat mind. Back to the eyelid peeling and window pane jumping. Mix into that some cowering beneath the dining room table.
Cats don’t come to you; they beckon you. Every other animal on the farm, with the possible exception of Dulcinea the hormonal llama, will come to you if you call. This includes the barn cats! Fast Woman, on the other hand, cannot be convinced to join us very many places inside the house. She’s just too comfy. She is, however, super happy if I join her on her couch. Which used to be my reading couch. Now it’s her shedding couch.

As I read back over this list I realize these things are perfectly cliche. Obviously I’m noticing exactly the things which comprise all classic cat jokes, which means I am probably well on my way to more cat cliches.

I’m okay with that. She is the best.

“The cat loves fish but hates wet feet.”
~Medieval Proverb
(also true)
XOXOXO

french quarter container gardens

May 6, 2015

Without a doubt, New Orleans has the gardening thing down pat. I am actually convinced that the fine folks down South just scatter magical seeds out on Mardi Gras Eve, water them with gumbo, say some Cajun blessings, and enjoy lush gardens the rest of the season.

The city boasts that historic Garden District, of course, and expansive horticultural palettes grace lawns and causeways everywhere you look. But specifically, the people there have mastered the art of container gardening. And more specifically, I’m talking about the people and the container gardens of my beloved French Quarter. What a great thing, too, because aside from ancient arching trees and a rare municipal lawn here and there, the Quarter is well armored with jagged brick sidewalks and narrow asphalt streets. If a resident or shop owner craves the softening allure of plants, then that person had better get inspired to grow in containers.

First, some eye candy and inspiration…

Love this! An actual ficus tree growing in a nest of lush, cloudy asparagus fern.
We fake this so hard in Oklahoma.
What we should be doing is reinterpreting the look with native plants.

I like the height of this tree and its giant leaves with just some easy stuff beneath.
Very Zen, right? So simple and perfect for a clean lined patio seating area.

This hotel is on a street corner, and every single window and doorway
on both wrap-around sides is planted in coordinating boxes.
I am smitten! The uniformity is just so charming.
And let’s pay attention to the conical shape of those topiaries and how formal they feel,
mixed with those casual orange blooms and how welcoming they are.
Kind of a genius combo for a fancy hotel, if you ask me.

Cascading English ivy with a profusion of silly, ruffly color.
Annuals, technically, but I have walked through this neighborhood
in every single season of the year
and this store always has color in their window boxes. Always.
Time to step up our container game, ladies and gents.

Oh the photo above is just an example of how that same fancy hotel
translates their formal-casual design to smaller boxes.
No topiary but still uniform. Still charming.

If you look closely, you can see that this gorgeous glazed urn
is maybe planted with one large plant
which is then surrounded by a few smaller potted plants.
Still in their plastic pots! It’s in the Big Easy, remember?
I just like this because it shows how you can sometimes
get away with cramming a vessel with fast color to make an big impact.
Beware in Oklahoma of leaving this outdoors too long, though!

A single, healthy potted tree strung with lights. Kind of my jam, friends. Do this.

You just cannot discuss French Quarter container gardens without acknowledging
the famous iron trellises and hanging baskets.
The lacework we all love so much.

This might be hard to see, but that lower edge there is a bricked in container garden,
long and narrow against the wall.
It is jam-packed with plants! And I love it.
It’s situated adjacent to a small boutique hotel
with a perfect brick drive and iron gate at the entrance.
One day I asked permission from a concierge (dressed in tails and white gloves)
to walk down the private drive to see this garden better and take photos.
Of course he said Yes, dahlin in a syrupy southern accent and bowed as I walked past.
I was transfixed. And those white vining flowers smelled like heaven.

This is the wall opposite that first wall, in the same private drive.
I mean!! So much green, right?
It is stunning in person. It reaches almost two stories high.
So simple and yet such a powerful impact.
And I love that the gardener didn’t get lazy at the end,
that he or she used every scrap of earth to grow stuff, more color in this instance.
Well done, sir or madam. Well done.

Just some whimsical metal art filled up with plain houseplants, but it is so FUN!

The Quarter is connected with a vast network of alleyways like this.
Secret ones, mostly, that you really have to be watching for to enjoy.
And they all lead to places even more beautiful behind the long, narrow buildings,
often tiny concrete pool courtyards. Magical!
Can you imagine this hard-scaped view without the plants?
It would be far less interesting, I think.
The plants here an there just soften all the edges.
They invite you in and help you breathe slowly.
They tell you how comfortable you’ll be
if you come sit and order some coffee and beignets.
Tip some street performers and soak up some live music.
Watch the locals. Inhale the spices.

Ok! Now, a few notes…

Why bother with container gardening? Well, reasons abound, but to my mind, the first is that it could be a problem solver. Maybe your growing footprint is by necessity small or concrete-bound, like in the Quarter. Or perhaps you have a vertical plane in need of camouflage. Also, container gardens are often portable, allowing for relocation seasonally or in inclement weather, and this also makes them great for flexible use if you entertain outdoors. I love moving my potted beauties around for parties! Maybe the most fun reason of all, container gardens are excellent little opportunities to add style and a sense of accessory to your space. They invite a certain freedom that maybe ground planting doesn’t. Strands of white fairy lights, anyone? Painted signs, ornaments, you name it. For some reason, container gardens are natural stages for artistic expression. So many good reasons.

Considering Environment: Where in this beautiful world are you gardening? The Lazy W is in a southern part of Zone 7, but our nine acres seem to offer a little bit of everything, micro-climate wise. Breezeless dry shade, swamp, sand, loam, clay, gusty desert-hot full sun, prairie, woodland, and good ol’ residential patio too. So gardening here can be as challenging as it is fun. Compared to New Orleans, it’s extremely complicated. Anyway, yes, NOLA may have a few environmental advantages over us (kinder, filtered light, high humidity, all that live jazz which apparently is very good for plants), but we can do plenty to imitate or interpret their success:

Line your containers. Coconut fiber is classic and popular, and this year I am also trying Rootmaker brand liners. Word is, they cut your watering chores down by at least half. I’ll keep you posted!
Use good quality potting soil, not garden soil. The tilth is crucial and having some time-released fertilizer invited to the party isn’t a terrible idea. It’s a small investment up front that you will be so glad you made the rest of the season. Also pay attention to your plants’ space and drainage needs. One weird mistake I sometimes make is cramming little plants together without having faith that they’ll ever grow. So of course they don’t! They die of suffocation I guess. Have faith! Give them some room.
Consider location. Lots of Oklahoma sidewalks and patios will get way too hot in the afternoon to bear up lush looking plants. Think about relocating or providing some shade from both the heat and the inevitable straight-line winds.
Establish a smart maintenance strategy, including watering for sure but also feeding and pruning. Not once in a while, either; every single day. Something I notice about early mornings in the Quarter is that while shopkeepers and residents are out sweeping their steps and opening their doors for the day, they are also watering and grooming their potted things. It’s a simple daily ritual that I think goes a long way toward a beautiful environment. Oh, this reminds of that wonderful old adage, The best fertilizer is the gardener’s shadow. Love that. This year I plan to design my morning ritual of tidying up the house and feeding the animals to also include tending the container gardens. Again, every day not once in a while. This is something we can do without wearing our sweaty garden clothes and muddy shoes! A lovely domestic thing that will only expand our living spaces.

Okay, that was fun! I have about a thousand more photos of New Orleans gardens, container and otherwise, but I better close up for now and go tend my own. Tell me something you love about container gardens. Post a photo of your own on this blog’s Facebook page! That would be cool to see creative spots from all over. If you have any questions or gardenish things you’d like to discuss I would be all over that too!

These are a few containers I planted at the farm yesterday,
just as the rain started falling.
This morning, of course, we woke up to a monsoon
and a lake instead of a pond, and we are so grateful!
More color coming for sure.

Remember, your garden is both your masterpiece and your playground.
Work hard but have fun with it.
XOXOXOXO

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