Bye, Bye June.
SOURCE: June 2021 Martha Stewart Living
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06, 2021
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06, 2021
Deviled Egg or Angel Egg Time
Summertime means deviled eggs, one of my all-time favorite treats. I have a difficult time associating the eggs with the devil, though.
Some people use other names like mimosa eggs, stuffed eggs, dressed eggs, or salad eggs to remove any whiff of the devil.
My personal favorite is angel eggs. That name removes all hints of the Satanic.
But deviled as a culinary descriptor to describe something spicy has been around since 1786.
The recipe—slicing eggs, mashing the yolks, and stuffing the mixture back into the hollowed-out egg white—dates even longer, back to the ancient Romans.
By the 19th century, deviled eggs were a cookbook staple in the United States. Special dishes called egg plates with wells to hold the eggs arrived on the scene. Tupperware even created a carrier for them. (Also collectible now.)
The plates were popular wedding gifts in the 1950s-60s-70s. Today, vintage egg plates are highly collectible. Just check out eBay or Etsy.
The recipe ingredients for deviling have changed through time. In the 1940s Fannie Farmer suggested adding mayonnaise to the mustard, paprika, and yolks. This modern recipe hardly seems “devilishly” spicy.
Twenty-first century cooks add pickles, dill, bacon, crabmeat, sriracha, kimchi, wasabi, and caviar among other ingredients. Those additions would definitely add taste to the filling. Not necessarily devilish in my opinion.
Our family recipe calls for sweet pickle relish. I use dill relish instead, but don’t tell my mother. She’d be appalled.
Whatever you call them or however you make them, deviled eggs are popular for picnics and potlucks.
They’ll be a part of our family celebration this 4th of July served on our special deviled egg plate shown above. The 1970s plate belonged to my husband’s sister.
We’ll also serve my aunt’s baked beans, my mother-in-law’s chocolate cake (the one with the secret coffee ingredient that we never told my father-in-law about–he didn’t like coffee, you see).
And, of course, daddy’s homemade ice cream. It’s a way to include those who have gone before and feel like they’re with us in spirit.
How about you? Will you be serving deviled eggs or angel eggs this summer?
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06, 2021
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06, 2021
Summer!
The lazy days of summer officially arrived this week. We’re looking at late sunsets, short nights, and hot days.
The official start depends on whether you’re speaking about the meteorological or astronomical definition for the season. Meteorologists classify June 1 to August 31 summer. Astronomers base their start on the position of the sun and moon.
In Texas, summer didn’t wait until the sun rose directly above the heel stone at Stonehenge (the official astronomical start of the summer season).
Nope.
Mother Nature didn’t pay any attention to meteorology or astronomy in Texas this year. She had her own schedule and intensity. Freezing winter, wetter than normal Spring, and hellfire summer days starting well before the summer solstice.
Texans missed out on the fun of the longest day of the year sequestered in their houses with blinds drawn, AC pumped high, fans roaring and a tall glass of iced tea to block the triple-digit heat outside.
And there’s still July, August, and September to get through! The traditional hot-as-hell months in the Lone Star state.
But Midsummer Day is arriving this week (June 24).
From ancient times, Celts marked the day with celebrations. Churches celebrate the birth of John the Baptist. What the day represents for me is farmers are halfway between planting and harvest. Cooler days of fall will come.
I am so ready.
Until then, everyone stay cool.
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06, 2021
Oops
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
Feeding the birds this morning was interesting. They always rush to get their food as if they had not eaten in days.
Some of the chickens are convinced what the ducks are eating is better. It is a case of “the feed is better in the other pen” when actually it is the same. Nevertheless, every morning at least one chicken flies over the fence to get a closer look at the duck feed.
This morning, the chicken got stuck.
It remained remarkably calm while I took a picture. Then I carefully untangled its foot from the chicken wire and tossed it back where it belongs.
There doesn’t seem to be any damage from the acrobatic endeavor, and I am hoping it will be cured of its curiosity and stay on the chicken side of the pen.
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06, 2021
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06, 2021
Moodling, Imagination, and Creative Thinking
I recently came across a blog that gave me both a new vocabulary word and a new technique to boost creativity. When I read Musings from a Writer’s Brain–Moodling, I thought the blogger might have made the word up and checked for myself.
Googling the word proved tricky. MOODLE came up, but not moodling. Moodle happens to be an open-source learning management system for distance and online learning. Something that has become a necessary part of our COVID-19 pandemic world.
But that was not what the blogger Joanne Guidoccio was talking about. Her blog referred to the idea of moodling from Brenda Ueland’s book If You Want to Write
Ueland stresses that “the imagination needs moodling—long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.”
Urban Dictionary defines the word as daydreaming or letting your mind wander and doing nothing.
Interesting that doing nothing and letting your mind wander will improve creative thinking, isn’t it?
But the fact is some well-known names are among those who practiced moodling.
Isaac Newton was moodling under an apple tree in 1666 and an apple fell on his head which in turn led to his theory on gravity.
Albert Einstein spent days and nights in the quiet solitude after the breakup of his marriage. That moodling period led to his general theory of relativity.
Massachusetts of Technology’s The Writing Process includes moodling as a way to generate ideas and recommends a structured technique for writers
CEOBuddy.com suggests trying noodling and moodling if you’re looking for creative ideas to expand your business.
There’s also a YouTube channel that demonstrates how to use doodling to jumpstart creativity.
Moodling, noodling, doodling, idling, dawdling, and puttering to improve my imagination…
with summer here, sounds like a plan to me.
What do you think?
11
06, 2021
Ducken
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
One of the school chickens we adopted into our flock of chicks seems to be tired of the littles.
When I opened the top of the brooder to put grass in, she flew out. I attempted to catch her, but she was determined to join the flock of big girls. She isn’t that much smaller, so I let her stay.
The term “pecking order” must have originated in a chicken yard. The new hen was definitely at the bottom. She wasn’t being harmed but was spending most of her days running away.
I figured they would all work it out eventually. The solution was not at all what I anticipated.
The newest hen flew into the duck pen. You might think, seeing as the ducks are larger and louder than the chickens, that the hen would be less comfortable in this new location.
However, I learned in the past that ducks are really not very brave and in fact, they are scared of the chickens.
They stayed behind her while she ate.
After a week, they were all eating together.
I call the hen my “ducken.”
Perhaps there is something to be learned from this group. Accept those who look different and share the same food bowl.
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06, 2021
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06, 2021
The trees came down
My writing time disappeared too. But who could resist watching tree climbers fell forty-foot leaning pines and trim dead branches from a 200-year-old oak?
Not me. Or hubby-dear who supervised from his perch on the porch.
The entire process was fascinating and very necessary with another hurricane season upon us. Dead branches and leaning pine trees don’t mix well with strong winds.
Each crew member knew his job and performed it well. The climbers.
Sometimes they crawled so far up or out I had to quit watching and close my eyes.
The spotters, who guided the branches and sections to the ground. One for the oak and one for the pines.
I’ve decided a tree cutter will be my hero’s occupation in my next book.
The pines came down in sections. The oak shed in chunks and branches.
Our yard looked like a war zone.
The giant logs were hauled away to be ground into pine mulch. The oak branches to the company owner’s burn pile.
Sunlight glows through the oak now. Piles of pine mulch are all that mark the pine trees.
We know we’ll have fewer pine needles dropping and, best of all, these branches and pines won’t fall if we have another major hurricane like Harvey come through.
Win-win…except for the writing time. =)