Late Spring in Omaha

I spotted this Great Blue Heron at where else...Heron Haven. Strangely enough, this was the first time I've seen a heron there! It was such a beautiful evening, we decided to take a detour on the way to the market to have a short walk along the trails. I love this time of year when there's more hours of sunlight, but the evenings are still cool enough to enjoy a walk.

The garden is doing well. We had fresh strawberries for breakfast last weekend and it was a true delight. The first borage flowers bloomed and the bees are spending their days gathering pollen. Over the past few years the borage has blown through the neighbourhood re-seeding itself, and I was pleased to see people leaving it. The dianthus are happy as well.

 The summer wardrobe is getting worn. This Marimekko set isn't a playsuit, but rather shorts and a matching top I bought at Target last year during their designer collaboration. The pattern is supposed to look like orange slices. Very, very underripe orange slices! The macrame shoulderbag was made in Iowa in the 70's. I have several of these bags, and they've become indispensable summer bags for me. As a bonus, they're washable which makes them the perfect tote for days at the park.

 I've been busy perfecting my pie baking skills in time for the State Fair. Today, I baked a peach and nectarine pie, though in hindsight, a few raspberries would have been welcome. I'm keeping tasting notes from everyone I'm forcing pie on-so far no one is complaining they're sick of pie. The fair isn't until September, so I have plenty of time to practise.

I spotted this over Mr. ETB's shoulder. He was supposed to be checking the local library website for a few Canadian titles I want to use for class next year-but he was obviously sidetracked. The internet didn't have an opinion, but cultural generalisations don't occur in a vacuum so yeah, they probably are polite. You can be characterised as worse things than polite-take it from an American 😁

 Okie dokie,. moving along then..,.

 This top had an inaugural wear. I can't decide if I like it. The shoulders make my posture look worse than it already is, and the open lacework makes it challenging to find just the right bra. Maybe I'm lazy, but that just seems like more complicated than a summer blouse ought to be. I'll move it to the, "Maybe" pile and give it another wear before deciding, but I'm leaning towards, "Discard."

I'm keeping the celluloid necklace though-that was a lucky find.

Thrifting is hard work! It was nice of the Goodwill to put these headless mannequins out to lean on. Prudish American that I am, I was tempted to put some clothes on it.  You can't just leave an undressed mannequin in the window-that's positively scandalous. We had a housekeeper that was very religious and would get upset if my dolls were unclothed. She didn't like posters where the eyes followed her around either, but she might have just been suspicious of Jimi Hendrix. Anyway, Goodwill, put some damn clothes on your mannequins before they catch their death from cold!

 This is my, "Holly Hobbie" dress. I haven't worn it in nearly three years! The barkcloth fabric gets uncomfortably hot, so most years by the time I can wear a summer dress, it is already too warm. This year, the weather behaved and I hurried to unpack and wear the dress before it gets too hot. It will get too hot-Friday is expected to be 90 degrees F. The pool opened today though, so I know where I'll be!

I'm off to replace my pastry cutter as you can't make a lattice crust without a fluted edge. I don't know where they keep disappearing to. Probably ran off with the odd socks.

Cliche? Kiss My Corn-Fed Ass!

Oh look, a Nebraskan cooking corn. How original. 

 Corn from the southern United States is finally showing up in our supermarkets, which provided me with an opportunity to share my favourite technique for roasted corn. We won't get local corn for a few months, but you know Nebraska-if we have to go fifteen minutes without thinking about/talking about/or eating corn, we might well die! We even put it in our cars as fuel.

This is how I roast corn without using a grill:

To remove corn from cobs:
Stand ear of corn on end, and with a sharp knife scrape downward. It helps to do this over a cutting board, or into a bowl.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine cut corn kernels with 2-3 tablespoons corn oil (depending how much corn you have). Add whatever herbs and spices you like (I did tarragon tonight, but chili powder works well if you plan to serve refried beans) and salt to taste. Mix well and spread on a rimmed-edge baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes, stir, and cook another 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Serve hot or cold. I served this tonight over a bed of lettuces and baby greens from our garden.

 Speaking of the garden, I put up netting as a trellis for the peas this year. We'll see how it goes-I'm not sure I like the look of a volleyball net in my garden! The spinach, kale, scallions, and lettuces are growing like mad. The sorrel came back even better this year as well as the borage and a few clusters of violas that overwintered.

 Fat Frog is back in his favourite garden spot, munching on sorrel.

 My columbines bloomed. They overwintered in the pot. I thought for certain they were dead, and I'm glad I was too lazy to tip the dirt out of the pot last winter! It is a warm, sheltered spot in front of the house, and it gets the exhaust from the tumble dryer vented out beside it.

 I bought this planter last weekend because...OBD.  I have "No eyed deer" what I'll plant in it.

 Come on heirloom rocket...grow. Mr. Froggy will play a song for you called, "Grow already you *#$@&%^^(_!!! lettuce!" There's a cluster of  some other lettuce in there that seems to be doing fine.

Anyway, everything is greening up nicely, but I know better than trusting the weather. We're really not safe until the second week in May, at least for more delicate items. I'm growing okra, cumin, carrots, and other vegetables that can't go outside quite yet. I have carnation seedlings in my sunny windowsill that are doing well, and hopefully they will survive. This weekend is the big plant sale in Lincoln, and that's where I like to buy my herbs. A few have lived in my sunny window, but aren't ready to move out. The bay laurel is still alive by some miracle, as are the lime tree and gardenia. 

The "Hall Tree" had a Spring makeover. I haven't removed the owl's Santa Cap because I don't quite feel comfortable climbing a chair to do it. Eventually, he'll get a July 4th flag or something. 

Someone arranged the books artfully at Hand-Me-Ups (it wasn't me, but I know the guilty party!). Sort of a public service announcement. 

Outfit Particulars:

1980's Hawaiian Creations vintage dress-Goodwill

Cardigan-Dots in Revere, MA about 16 years ago

Vintage beaded necklace-Salvation Army, Lincoln

Bakelite bangles-Salvation Army, Goodwill, Hand-Me-Ups (aka, "All Over")

Vintage vinyl handbag-Goodwill

Vintage Natrualizer sandals-Thrift World

Vintage crystal clip earrings-Hand-Me-Ups

Vintage Brooch-Had it so long, I forgot!

Floral hair clip-Tiff and Tam about 10 years ago

I'm still blowing my nose like a damn foghorn, and coughing up hairballs (meow!) but it looks like this might be less severe than I feared (fingers crossed). I'm taking things easy anyway as next week is going to be madness around here, but hopefully this post doesn't sound as scatter-brained as I feel. People tell me I'm still making sense (but they're my friends, and your friends are supposed to say that whilst thinking, "She's lost the plot."). 

I must walk past this memorial wall on the campus several times a week, but never noticed one of the inscriptions:

I wonder if you could get away with that today? When the wall was dedicated in the 80's, people still had a sense of humour. 

Geez. Is it really only Tuesday? Okay, Onward!

Spring Boots, and Other Season-Straddling Items

A pair of off-white boots were just the thing as our weather couldn't decide if it was spring or winter. I had boots like these in the 80's (didn't everyone?) but didn't think to hang onto them. Thanks to pack rats donating their 80's boots to the Goodwill, I'm happily reunited with what is turning out to be  very practical footwear. Leather, $5.99 Goodwill

 Uh oh, there's a spot on my boot. There's a family story about my uncle, aged about three stopping still on the street and crying because there was a spot on his new, white shoes. He wouldn't budge until my poor grandmother got down on her knees and wiped it off with a handkerchief. When I bought the boots they were filthy, but in otherwise good shape. As my nan is no longer around, I had to clean them off myself. I did a rather good job-they look like new. 

This dress is gigantic (the bust must be at least 50 inches) but rather than do alterations, I stuck a blouse beneath it and wore it like a pinafore. It has an Italian Label, and I would place it either late 60's or early 70's by the print and colours (in the US anyway, that sort of thing persisted into the mid-70's, but I suspect the Italians were ahead of us fashion/design wise). It is a very casual dress made of barkcloth, and was probably intended for wear at home, or possibly on holiday. How it ended up in Council Bluffs, Iowa is interesting to imagine. 

Outfit Particulars:

Vintage Italian dress-Goodwill

Talbot's cardigan-Hand-Me-Ups

Vintage leather boots-Goodwill

Vintage Act III blouse-Goodwill

Handbag-Jenerations (in the abandoned mall) Omaha

Vintage woven metal and enamel earrings-Hand-Me-Ups

Bangles (2 Bakelite, 1 brown not)-All Goodwill

1970's Enamel brooch on cardigan-Goodwill

Fragrance-Chanel #22

For the days when the weather behaves, I have a lovely pair of vintage Selby shoes to get me between seasons. These are " Old Lady Shoes" but perfectly appropriate as I am an old lady. 

I don't ordinarily bother with back and side views of a pair of shoes, but the details on these were just too nice, and I had to share.

These shoes set me back two dollars at Sequels Thrift Store (in the Dairy Queen) in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I do love that place. 

One of my other favourite haunts for a good bargain is New Life Thrift. I found this set of lucite bangles (there's a red one too) and the quartz bangle sitting there in the case unnoticed, and unloved. You know what a soft-touch I am, so rather than feel bad about the lonely bangles wondering why they were abandoned in a thrift store, I took them home. I should stop anthropomorphising my vintage.  

Anyone care to place a bet how long the bangle lasts before it slips from my wrist and crashes to the ground in a million pieces? I lost a nice glass bangle that way, and it is the reason I don't own any jade-I am too careless for anything that delicate. 

This necklace? Plastic. So much less nerve-wracking to wear. 

Oh would you look at that? No, really I have no idea what I was looking at. This must be my day for, "Glancing downward photo." 

Hey, how about that bag? 

It was falling apart, and it could still use some serious repair, but for a dollar I thought it was a good purchase, flaws and all. 

Some patience and a bag of assorted seed beads will take care of that.

Outfit Particulars:

Home sewn (not by me) skirt-Goodwill

1980'sBill Blass jacket-Hand-Me-Ups

Silk novelty top-Goodwill

Vintage Selby shoes-Sequels

Caron of Houston vintage handbag-Fairytail Costumes, Omaha

Vintage Lucite and quartz bangles-New Life Thrift

1960's clip earrings-Hand-Me-Ups

Plastic Necklace-Shop-Ko

Fragrance-Annick Goutal Eau d' Hadrien (for that fresh lemon scent that says, "I just washed up the dinner dishes!)

We're due for more snow tonight (I promise, no singing) so I'd better go cover the garden with the fleeces. I harvested a large bowl of spinach, sorrel, and pea shoots to serve with tonight's salmon salad. I'm sure by this time tomorrow, we'll be eating hot soup. 

P.S. My first Gladiola is pushing up through the ground. 

When Home is the Classroom

I was never going to be that teacher. You know, the one with the perfect classroom decorations like something out of Classroom Interiors. Fine, there's no such magazine, but there is Pinterest. It seemed like such a good idea-make a tree for the hallway from scraps of construction paper and brown paper bags. Yes, there's oak, maple and elder leaves on the same tree, but where's your imagination? It was all going so well until I decided the tree needed eyes. Instead of some pleasant seasonal decoration, I'm left with a tree that looks like a cross between a Morris Dancer and a startled moose. 

I suppose I ought to explain the owl hanging from the ceiling waving the Canadian flag You see, we bought the owl last Halloween, and decided to keep him up year round, decorating as seasonally appropriate. He wore a red hat at Christmas, a shamrock at St. Patrick's, bunny ears at Easter. When we got to July, I decided to stick a US flag in one hand and the Canadian in the other to celebrate both the Fourth of July, and Canada Day. My head is hiding the US flag. Clearly, he needs an update as we're a long way past July, but with Halloween soon approaching I might just leave him as-is. Around the Year With Owly has been great fun. I wonder, should we give it a second year? When your home is the classroom no one questions why you have an owl hanging from the ceiling, or a tree that looks like a startled moose in the hall. This is our, "normal."

 Also seen (if you squint hard) in the photo is Danny's "Science Table" by the window. There's mounted butterflies/insects, various bugs in jars, boiled and dried chicken bones to form a complete skeleton, and a bunch of other interesting stuff. The Science Table is not to be confused with the Science Box, that holds wires, and circuits, and all sorts of projects. That lives in the basement-science can get messy. Living in your classroom isn't nearly that strange when you already live in a library. This just seems like the natural extension, though our local library would never put up such a pathetic looking tree in the hallway-it might frighten the children. "Mummy, why does the tree have crazy eyes?!" Gawd, the more I look at it, the more I see Bullwinkle.

I'm wearing an interesting (I think) top today. Made by heritage brand Jantzen  from good wool some time in the late 50's/early 60's I found it in perfect, unworn condition at Thrift World. Shoved into the racks between dresses so tattered and stained they should have been discarded if not burned for health reasons, there sat this beautiful little top. I handed over my .98 cents (!) laughing at all the over-priced "vintage" they were trying to sell, and had a good smirk as I took it home. I wouldn't pay $40.00 for torn polyester maxi dresses (I haven't lost my mind, you know) and honestly, I can't believe anyone else will either. Thrift World is having some sort of identity crisis where they can't decide if they are a thrift store or a vintage shop. I'm sure they'll get it all sorted out eventually (when the vintage won't sell). 

 Outfit Particulars:
Jantzen vintage sweater-Thrift World
Pendelton skirt-Goodwill
Shoes-K Mart
Bracelet and earrings-both Goodwill
Pearls-Mum's
Poodle scatter pins-Hand-Me-Ups
Fragrance-Ma Griffe (blech. I'm trying to understand it, but thus far I haven't acquired an appreciation for it)

 Hmm, time for some moisturiser-my arms are looking a bit dry. I am so blind I only notice these things in photos! I'm due for an eye exam, and I'm a little afraid I might leave there with a set of high-powered goggles.

There's new California Pottery in my life. I bought four plates, mugs, and a creamer. No sugar bowl, which is a shame, but should be easy enough to find. I don't know why I love this stuff the way I do, but thankfully it is still cheaply found. Someday it will become collectible, I'm certain. 

I baked two trays of cornbread for Mr. ETB to take to work tomorrow. His department is having a luncheon where the main dish will be chili. I volunteered to bake as I can't imagine chili without cornbread, though in this part of the country they eat it with cinnamon buns! Someone else is bringing the buns. This is a bit more work than most cornbread, but it is so moist and cake-like I feel it is worth the bother.

You Will Need:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups cornmeal (not cornflour!)
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk

Grease and flour a 9x13 baking pan. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. F.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light. Sift together the dry ingredients, and beat the eggs and milk together. Add flour to creamed mixture alternating with milk/egg mixture. Do not over-beat. Pour into prepared pan and bake 30-35 minutes or until top is slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

 The summer garden is winding down, but the winter vegetables are already showing signs of life (hooray for turnip greens!). There's a few more pattypan left on the vines, but I don't think they'll do much beyond this week. I have two peppers clinging on for dear life as well, but I suppose the time has come to harvest them. The larger squash will be grated into a quickbread, the others sliced and lightly sauteed with butter. They were fun, but really took over the garden. I don't think I'll be growing them again next year.

Bird banding starts again for the season on Saturday at Aksarben aquarium (I'm making my excited face...sort of). This weekend is also the Lincoln public library yearly book sale at the Events Center. This is one of the best sales I've been to, and on the last day, the books are sold by the carton. It runs Friday through Sunday. If you can get yourself to Lincoln, Nebraska, it is worth checking out. My best cookbooks come from there.

Hope the week is treating you well wherever you are. 

Purses, Produce, and Pie (Oh My!)

 Time to showcase some more bags from my collection. This style of bag, sometimes called a, "Bottletop" or "Expansion-Top" has been around from at least the 1920's. This bag of course is not from that era, and I'd place it somewhere in the 70's or 80's.

 Danny was amazed to see how it opened. It was like some sort of magic trick as he'd been trying to understand what on earth it was. Yeah sure, "computer age" blah, blah, blah. It really doesn't take much to befuddle kids these days. Just for fun, sometimes I like to pull out the Victrola and tell him to crank it up.

"Oh, I get it now!"

The label is a dead giveaway that this is NOT a flapper-bag (no zip-codes in the 20's, and we weren't importing from Hong Kong). I'm labouring the point because I see so many of these for sale online that are clearly later plastic beads and hardware that wasn't around in the 1920's. Styles get recycled, so you have to use a bit of common sense when shopping for vintage.


The next bag has been in my life at least 45 years. Maybe more.

Every year for my birthday, our housekeeper would buy me the same thing-a small handbag and a pair of nice gloves. Only once did she deviate from that pattern and present me with a set of fancy applique hand towels, which are in use in our powder room today. Otherwise, it was bags and gloves. Somehow, this bag alone survived. I can remember the others-a particularly nice red and white beaded one comes to mind, but I didn't hang onto them.

 I suspect this bag survived so long because I didn't use it, and its sole purpose all those years was holding something sentimental within. Every time I'd move house it would get packed into another box to be forgotten until the next time I discovered it with the subsequent move. Being small enough to store easily, I never saw the need to discard it, and I always knew where the contents were. I suppose by now you want to see what I've been carting around in my little handbag from Ella Mae all these years.

Yep, crumbled carnations and the plastic backing and ribbons the bouquet was affixed to. At some point I sealed them in a ziplock (I don't think those existed in 1974). I recently thought it a good idea to label them in case I lose my mind or something.

So that's the purses. On to the produce.

We grew a number of tomato varieties this year. The German Johnson (stop snickering) don't get terribly red when ripe, and this does make harvesting a bit of a challenge. We also grew Beefsteak, Betterboy, and Abe Lincoln.

You want some pie, don't you?

This is Bluebarb pie (blueberry rhubarb). As blueberries and rhubarb don't come into season at the same time, I stock up on rhubarb in the spring, and freeze it just to make this pie. Well, sometimes I make apple-rhubarb because Danny likes that one too, but I'm really only in it for the blueberries. The boys don't like rhubarb and custard (I know, I don't understand it either)so the beautiful pink stalks only really find use in pie. This is a straightforward recipe, and you can bake it with the fruit fresh or frozen. I do like to defrost it a bit if using frozen so it will blend with the tapicoa pearls, but it can still be a bit icy to accomplish that.

For the Filling:
4 cups blueberries
2 cups cut-up rhubarb
1/3 cup quick tapioca
1 1/2-2 cups granulated sugar (go with what you prefer)

Mix all together and let stand 15 minutes while you make the pastry, giving the fruit a stir now and then to distribute the sugar and tapioca.

For the pastry:
1/3 cup ice water (you may not need it all)
3/4 cup good quality unsalted butter (cheaper butter has a higher water content)cold and cut into tiny bits
2 cups instant blend flour (I use Wondra)
1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter (or a couple forks if your prefer) until fine crumbs. Slowly add the water adding just enough until the dough comes together in a ball. You can always add a few more drops if needed, so add slowly. Try to avoid over-handling the dough. Divide in two, and roll out thinly.

Line the pie plate with pastry and fill with fruit. Cut-up another 2 tablespoons of cold butter and dot the top of the fruit with it. You should try to pile the fruit highest in the centre as it will sink considerably as it cooks. Cover with top piece of pastry and crimp edges closed.

Topping:
Brush the top of the pie with heavy cream (or milk if you don't have any) and sprinkle generously with granulated sugar. Cut vents in top to steam, and place the pie tin on a baking sheet with a rim. The pie will bubble and boil over and you will have a terrible mess if you neglect this step. It is normal for this pie to lose some liquid on the pan, so be ready for it.

Bake pie at 400 degrees F. for about an hour, but start checking at 50 minutes because ovens vary. You really should see something bubbling up through the vents to indicate it is done. If your pie is browning too quickly before the filling is cooked, cover it lightly with some foil.

Because this is an all-butter crust it is less flaky than a crust with shortening or lard. It will however withstand a wet filling without going soggy on you, so there's a bit of a trade-off. We're on the fifth day with this pie and the bottom crust is still in good shape.

Store the cut pie in the fridge, but warm it to room temperature before serving (or blast a slice in the microwave if you're feeling fancy.

Come on over, we still have a few slices left.

We're having torrential rainfall these past few days, and a cold front has brought some welcome cooler weather. I have a pot of black bean soup bubbling away as I type, and a loaf of crusty bread ready to go in the oven. It is a good day to stay indoors, that's for certain.