milk snakes & my flower garden

How's about that for a boring ol' title?

Meet one of our resident milksnakes:

Generally Eastern milk snakes are very mild mannered (in our area). Naturally I would NEVER recommend someone unfamiliar to snakes to just go pick one up! Don't hurt these snakes though- they help with pest control (from mice to slugs...depends on the type of snake).My front flower garden:

So...I like the flower bed that sits directly in front of the house...but the bed on the other side of the walk way needs some help (it's also newer). I need to let the plants grow a little more before deciding what to do....but I'm considering widening that bed, adding a small tree (crabapple perhaps?) and doing drifts of plantings (groups of three) instead of one plant here and another there. Plus I'd like to carry that same blue and purple color with punches of yellow and orange to the other side. Do you see the hummingbird at the feeder? This photo was taken last week and my window boxes already look different. Oh...we've got about a dozen or more hummingbirds zooming about here at any given time. You can hear them before you can see them.

I do like how this planter has evolved- with blues (hostas), purples (Wine & Roses weigela & wild geranium) with punches of yellow and orange....plus the evergreen shrubs give it texture. Can you see Mr. or Mrs. Robin sitting on her nest? They've got four babies who are getting bigger and bigger every day.

So...I guess you could say I'm Hooked on Nice Snakes & My flower garden. How about you? Come see what everyone else is hooked on today at Hooked on Houses.

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Counting Down to Summer

There are 7.5 days of school left!


I have to admit I'm feeling a bit of sadness as we acknowledge Annika's first year of school coming to an end. Next year she'll be in First Grade...and growing older.


Sometimes it's just hard to realize that my little ones are growing up so fast. My girls always say they wish they were lots older and I keep telling them to just enjoy being the age they are. Life goes by in a whirl and before you know it they'll be off to college.


Sigh....


Here are some photos from The Potosi School Art Show. The halls of the school were colorfully decorated with all the lovely pieces of artwork by all the students.


Pointing to her bee...it's the left & top most bee.
Annika's worm on top of her locker. She has a locker! I didn't have a locker until I was in Junior High School!

Kindergarteners say the funniest things:

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Alfresco dining at Bristling Acres- Summer Pea Soup & Bread

Welcome to Alfresco Dining at Bristling Acres!

We finally get to dine alfresco here at Bristling Acres!

I'm not just talking about weather issues here...it's the BUGS, WASPS, FLIES, MOSQUITOES that make us run back in to the house every summer!

ENOUGH is ENOUGH!

Here's the short story....we found a boxed up gazebo while cleaning out the garage a couple months back. We nearly tossed it out but we spared its life and now it has spared ours! I can't believe we were about to toss it out! I bought the darn gazebo several years ago but we just never got around to setting it up. Now the deck has become our favorite place to dine.

WOO HOO!

I thought I'd share with you a meal we had recently on the deck...Summer Pea Soup from the Simply Recipes food blog and No-Knead Bread (from The New York Times).

Summer Pea Soup (from Simply Recipes):

1. 1 large shallot minced (I'm sure a small onion would work but it won't taste quite the same)
2. 2 Tb butter
3. 2 cups chicken broth
4. 2 sprigs of mint
5. 1 lb frozen petite green peas
6. 1/4 cup heavy cream (I used half & half)
7. salt & pepper to taste
8. Whole milk yogurt to garnish (the recipe called for creme fraiche)

In medium saucepan saute the minced shallots in the butter. Cook until softened but not browned. Add chicken stock and sprigs of mint and bring to a boil. Add frozen peas and salt & pepper to taste. Return to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer until peas are tender (about 5 minutes). Discard the sprigs of mint and puree the soup in a blender. Add the cream and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with yogurt & sprigs of mint. Can be served hot or cold.

No-Knead Bread (this has to be my favorite bread recipe out there! It's incredibly easy & it makes a great crusty bread with chewy insides. You have to plan ahead to make it though):

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp instant yeast (I used Quick Rise Yeast)

1-1/4 tsp salt

1-5/8 cup water

Cornmeal as needed

1. In a large bowl combine the flour, yeast and salt. Add water and stir until blended. Dough will be shaggy & sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap & cotton kitchen towel. Let dough rest for at least 12 hours, preferably 18 hours at warm room temperature (70F).
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. (I've let it go 24 hours & still have gotten wonderful bread). Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with more flour and fold it over once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap & let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface, gently & quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat it with cornmeal and cover loosely with plastic wrap and cotton towel. Let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready the dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half- hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450F. Put a 6-to-8 quart heavy covered pot (I use my Le Creuset dutch oven- I wrap the plastic knob on top of the lid with aluminum foil first to protect it from the high heat) in the oven as it heats. When dough is ready carefully remove the pot from the oven. I just carefully dump the dough into the hot pot and shake it to try to evenly distribute it (don't worry...it'll all turn out in the end). Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 10-30 minutes until loaf is browned (mine usually takes less than 10 minutes).
5. Cool on rack. Enjoy!

This bread is so, so, so good! The dough however tastes icky. The first time I made it I thought it wouldn't turn out since the dough tasted yucky. But it did! It's turned out well every time I've made it...which I can't say for some other breads I've made.....

Be sure to check out Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday posts for other yummy ideas!

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Veggie Garden- Before & After

BEFORE:Talk about a GIANT WEED PATCH!AFTER: Every year my gardens change. It'd be pretty boring if they didn't!

This year it was time to do something about the walkways between my raised beds in the veggie garden. It was getting difficult mowing in between the beds...and I also accidentally ran into the irrigation system with the mower. A few times. OOPS.

We did the cheater way....Mark first used a weed eater to cut all the weeds down (we pulled out the irrigation system before we did this). Then we laid down some landscape fabric and piled gravel on top. We used gravel since we already had a pile of it. Not sure how long it'll stay neat but it works for me right now! We still have a little bit of finishing up (not to mention repairing the irrigation system).

What's in my veggie garden?
I've got potatoes, spinach, radishes (which apparently I'm the only one that likes to eat them), onions, peas, lettuce, strawberries, carrots and THREE beets (talk about lousy germination!) up. I just planted pole beans around my teepees, soybeans, pumpkins, acorn squash and nasturium. I've still got tomatoes, pepper, cucumbers, zucchini and more winter squash left to plant.

I also try to plant beneficial flowers in the garden- they look pretty and supposedly help with pest control. I've got bee balm, borage, nasturium and marigolds. I'll also plant basil near the tomatoes.

We also enjoy veggies from Two Onion Farm all summer long. I love how I don't have to worry about my own veggies since I know I'll be getting awesome veggies from Two Onion!

Are you part of a CSA (community supported agriculture)?

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Meet My Pretty Little Friend!

Have you met my pretty little friend yet?

Her name is Showy Orchis - or more properly -Galearis spectabilis. She's only a few inches tall and has very distinct pink and white blossoms.

We met on my first morel gathering excursion here at Bristling Acres. I wasn't aware of any orchids growing in the area but as her leaves and flowers are so distinct from all the other plants I had to take a closer look. That was six years ago.

Her blossoms aren't long lived and she's easily overlooked if you're going for a walk in our woods. It's just an excellent reminder to stop and take a closer look at the flora surrounding you. You'll never know what you might find!

(yes, this particular plant is in a pot...she was in harm's way of the machinery doing work on our backyard...I'll find her a good place soon).

I guess you could say I'm hooked on Showy Orchis! Come join the Hooked on Fridays blog party hosted by Hooked on Houses!

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What to do with Morels (& other 'shrooms too!)

You probably remember all the photos I've posted of the morels I've picked this season:
(I very carefully rinse them out since bugs & slugs seem to like the morels too...it's not a fun task!)

This is what I did with some of that sink full of morels:

(they rehydrate beautifully in some water...of course they won't look like the original mushroom but it's a convenient way of storing lots of morels)

And this is what I made with the rest of that sink full of morels- a Morel with Chives and Jarlsberg cheese Quiche. You can find the recipe here (the original calls for scallions & gruyere but I have plenty of chives in the garden & jarlsberg cheese in the fridge). Funny how I always seem to forget to take the Before photos. Here are a few GIANT morels I found (and then I found more- enough to fill a grocery bag):

How I wish I had photos of some of the other meals we've created using morels! You'll just have to use your imagination as I describe the meals with morels to you, okay?


First up: Morel Cream Sauce served over Fettucini noodles. We usually just wing the recipe but it's something like this: saute minced shallots in some butter, add morels, let cook for a few minutes, add some white wine &/or chicken stock and heavy cream, let simmer until thickened. This sauce is excellent over noodles, chicken, steak, salmon......ice cream (just kidding). Basic but oh so Evil! :)


Next up: The morel quiche shown above. Absolutely divine with a simple salad (I made a grilled romaine salad with shaved parmesan cheese & croutons).


Third: Positively divine scallops served with morels and asparagus. Okay...Mark came up with this one and he didn't measure anything. He made a sauce by first sauteeing minced garlic and ginger in some butter. Then he added soy sauce, orange juice and chopped chives from the garden and simmered it until it reduced to a nice glaze/sauce. He poured that off into a bowl and then seared the scallops (just a few minutes on each side- you don't want to cook these too long!) in that same pan. We served the scallops over udon noodles and drizzled them with the glaze. I cooked the asparagus (I lopped off the woody ends and cut the asparagus into 1" pieces) in a little bit of olive oil in a skillet (not too long). I added a handful of chopped up fresh morels, soy sauce and minced ginger. I let it all steam for a few minutes. We served the asparagus and morels along side the scallops. Oh...it was good!


Other things we've done with morels....
Potato and Wild Mushroom Napoleans from Emeril


Seared Scallops with Morels - I was actually going to make this recipe in place of the one above. I'd already gotten started cooking it and after adding the balsamic vinegar I noticed that there were solid chunks in my bottle of balsamic vinegar! So in the trash it all went. Blech! (fortunately I hadn't started cooking the scallops so not all was lost.)


I know there are more recipes out there that I've tried but I can't think of them at the top of my head!


Oops..I almost forgot! Go check out Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and all the other Tasty Tuesday posts!

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Baby Birds & DubuqueFest & More

Yes! We have baby robins! Now we're definitely NOT using our front door.

Morels! Some of the morels in this photo are almost 8" long. After this photo was taken I went out & found more- enough to fill a grocery bag.

DubuqueFest 2009!

Our favorite part about the DubuqueFest is the Art Fair. Vendors from all over share & sell their curious artwork. They usually also have a table for kids to create artwork of their own. This year it was all about dreams- the girls got to make dream pinatas (decorate them with colorful tissue paper) and then fill the pinata with drawings of their favorite dreams.

Annika drew a picture of fairies & flowers. Ava's picture...she called it Dots. Apparently she dreams about dots.

Naturally Mommy got to help out decorating those pinatas.

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Just like a Child...

Just like a child....

We've had a few orioles visit us the past few years. And every year I put out a feeder just for them filled with stuff they supposedly like. And every year they end up trying to eat out of the hummingbird feeders. Sounds like some little girls I know! (they want whatever someone else has)

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Happy Late Mother's Day & More!

Happy Mother's Day!

I lied when I said the robin was gone...first one egg, then two...and now four eggs! Momma robin hardly leaves the nest and we try really hard to not use the front door. Can't wait to see the baby robins hatch. How did I spend Mother's Day? Buying plants for my window boxes of course! Every year for the past five or six years I purchase and plant my window boxes.... it takes LOTS of plants to fill them- I think this year I've got around 30+ plants per box. I never plant them the same (year by year). This year I wanted something with more orange and some purple. I have a vision in my head how I want the boxes to look like. I am very limited by the plants available to me so I work with what I can get. I know that coleus and impatiens do very well so I make sure to have some of both. I love trying out new combinations every year. As they grow they will change and it's always neat to see what does really well and what doesn't.
Nearly finished...I fill the boxes partially full with potting soil and composted manure, figure out the plant placement and then finally add dirt around the plants and gently tamp around the plants to ensure good soil contact. After I put them in place I water them thoroughly.

Box in place...I have no idea why this photo is sideways. Grrr...

Now since I've got so many plants in such a tight space I do have to fertilize frequently (like once per week). I check their water daily - stick a finger down an inch into the dirt- if it's dry I water & if it's moist I don't. I water them gently until water starts dripping out the bottom. Window boxes tend to need more water as they dry out quickly.

We were blessed with a brief but fun visit from Grandpa! He even brought along his accordion! Mark and his Dad had a fun polka jam session. The girls both tried playing along on their toy accordion.

Morels, morels and more morels! Holy schmoly did we ever find some morels on Saturday!

I had NO idea we had this many.... nearly an entire sink full of them! We made a delicious morel cream sauce that we served over fettucini noodles for dinner. Plus we had some fresh asparagus from Grandpa's (& Aunt Beth's) garden. YUMMY!

(why oh why is this photo sideways?)

The clothing choices of a three-year old...Ava decided to put on tights OVER her pants. I can't imagine that being very comfortable!

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Expo & More...

Whew!

I'm ever so thankful that April has come and gone! It's been a crazy few weeks...

Regarding the Women's Expo...I think this sums it up: it was a great learning opportunity. I'm glad I got an opportunity to do this event with Amy. It taught me that I need to do a better job effectively communicating, that I need to know who the audience is before trying again and that I need to learn to be less afraid of meeting people; reaching out and grabbing people's attention isn't one of my strong features. Learning to communicate effectively is tricky for me- it's something I don't get much practice at - you know- being a SAHM and all that. It was an excellent opportunity to venture out into the unknown and into the realm of marketing.

Thank you Amy for letting me venture out into the unknown. (that bag was our giveaway bag- I filled it with art supplies for kids & Amy added a disposable camera. I iron on transfer paper for my butterfly logo). Thanks to Beth for helping me - so that I could make a book of my niece's artwork to show. I did love the sign that the girlies and I made. However, if I did this again I would add something on the board that paraphrases what Budding Artist Books does. Most people only wanted to glance at the board and it doesn't actually say what I do. I spy....

some morel mushrooms ready to be picked. Do you see them now?
How about here?

Morel mushrooms are extremely tricky to find. They blend amazingly well with fallen leaves and the forest floor. In case you're curious- I tend to find the majority of mine around dying elm trees (not completely dead though) and around dying fruit trees. They also don't come up in the same spot every year- I know because I flagged them one year and they most certainly didn't come up in the flagged years the following year.

See that bird's nest? It's in a basket of fake flowers that is hanging on my front storm door. A crazy robin thought that might make a good location for a nest (even though we have people going through that door). I haven't seen the robins there for a few days so perhaps they wisened up and picked a new location. Actually, I would have loved it if they'd stayed but it really wasn't a safe location.

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