Category Archives: Pastimes

Pastimes

What’s cookin’ ?

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Every now and again the cooking bug bites me and, like this afternoon, I spend a few hours in the kitchen trying out new recipes. I never really learned to cook, so I always have to start with a recipe. Even still, it manages to feel like a science experiment. Any *serious* activity in the kitchen catches my husband’s interest and before long he’s sniffing around and peaking under pot lids to see what kind of poison I’m whipping up.

Today I made a barbeque sauce with at least fifteen different ingredients and a nice bite that we’ll use tomorrow – the chicken breasts are marinating overnight. I also made an avocado and tomato salad and a corn salad with fresh Jersey white corn. I’ve sampled both already and they’re pretty yummy!

I’m curious if the rest of you have any favorite cookbooks to recommend? My father swore by the Fanny Farmer Cookbook so I bought one when I first got married and rely on it for basic stuff like what cut of meat to buy or how long to cook a poached egg. For years my favorite *everyday* cookbook was the New Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, but lately I’ve been sampling from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks by Ina Garten.

My friend Linda at work is crazy about her and finally I got tired of listening to her rave about the dishes, so I bought a few of her cookbooks and have been very pleased. Any recipe that I’ve tried so far has turned out wonderfully. For Christmas Eve I used her recipe for spiral ham with a mango chutney glaze and also made her recipe for baked beans that went nicely with the ham. Christmas morning I made her banana crunch muffins which have turned into a family favorite. All the things I made this afternoon were from her books also.

What I like about her recipes is that they’re simple and not intimidating; she uses common ingredients but insists on quality. I hate having to search out some oddball ingredient in gourmet shops in order to make a dish. More often than not I spend a lot of money on something that I’ll never have the chance to use again.

So, any good cookbooks to recommend? Have you done any experimenting in the kitchen lately? Please share your successes (or failures)!

Pastimes, Remembering, Whatever

Boats at sunset

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Fireworks were tonight, but we didn’t have our usual invite to the ritzy house on the river to see them. Darn! Instead my husband and I drove into town and planted ourselves on lawn chairs in the middle of the police department parking lot! The view was nice enough, but the atmosphere just wasn’t the same, as you can imagine.

I love seeing fireworks over the water. One of these days I’ll get out in a boat and see them on the river that way. In our town growing up, the display was set in a dirt field; I can remember crying through it every year because I hated the noise so much. I must have spoiled it for everyone within earshot.

I’m looking forward to the day off tomorrow and have nothing planned!

Pastimes, Pond, Whatever

While I was away…

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So I’ve not been around very much this past week, but I’ve been busy finishing up with school and out and about enjoying the bounty of spring. Plus, I didn’t have much of interest to say, still don’t in fact, but don’t want to make it a habit to just post a pic and be off.

Since I last had anything much to say here I’ve been to two wakes for coworkers of my husband and a memorial service for an old birding buddy who passed away back in January. I dragged my husband along on a day trip to the Pine Barrens and spent a lunch hour or two at the little park near to where I work watching the tree sparrows fight over the too few nest boxes. I had a successful evening looking at wildflowers in the woods and three unfruitful visits to various spots locally looking for migrants. The only new birds I’ve added this week are Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Kingbird, Ovenbird, Oystercatcher, Willet, Common Tern, Laughing Gull and whichever Vireo it is that sings incessantly from the treetops. Other people are seeing great birds, but I haven’t managed to be in the right spot at the right time.

The pond is up and running and the fish are happy, my husband has cut the lawn twice and we got our hands on 5 little dwarf mountain laurels for the woodland border. I’m looking for ideas of what to plant as a groundcover in that area beneath the American Holly trees, so if anyone has any bright ideas I’d love to hear about them soon, while my husband is in the habit of digging planting holes. If I don’t come up with any other ideas, I’ll probably plant a few ferns just as soon as I figure out which ones might actually be able to survive in the dry shade.

Hope you all had a happy weekend; I’ll be around to visit with you before too long.

Pastimes, Whatever

April foolishness

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I’ve been waiting to receive something appropriate to share for April Fool’s Day from one of my email buddies, but they haven’t come through yet. Last year Michelle sent me these crafty photos of ways to torture your coworkers while they’re away on vacation. Yes, it’s an old post, but worth a laugh today at least.

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Speaking of foolishness, I bought this carton of Easter-colored birdseed eggs and hung them outside today just before it started to rain. I’m sure the house sparrows will appreciate all the millet while it stains my sidewalks. Of course I had to buy them (not!) because the sign above read, “Easter’s not just for the bunnies – think about the birdies, too!” – well, so I did and didn’t think about it until after I saw what I had paid for them. I’m a sucker for cute and useless bird stuff.

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I got pulled over by a policeman for the first time in fifteen years today. I was making my usual frantic last-minute dash to arrive at the bird observatory on time. No I wasn’t speeding! But my car was throwing sparks because the cover of my catalytic converter decided today that it was tired of hanging on after months and months of rumbling and plunged itself to the pavement and dragged along in plain view of the policeman. I was just picking up the phone to curse at my husband because he’s put off fixing it for months when the cop turned on his lights to pull me over. I thought for sure he’d give me a ticket for being on the phone while driving. He actually asked me if I realized I was dragging something. Hello? You don’t think I could hear it? He was very sweet though, and assured me that my car probably wouldn’t catch on fire so long as I was careful. He even got down on the pavement to have a look. When did they give badges and guns to fifteen-year-olds? Goodness, I feel old.

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So, the day at the bird observatory was very quiet because the weather was cold and damp today. But I finally have a co-conspirator (fellow volunteer) to keep company with after years of volunteering alone on Sunday afternoons. Hi Pat! The two of us were like caged lions waiting to be set loose to see the Osprey flying by outside the windows as they go about their courting and housekeeping in their bayside nests. We closed up shop a little early today and took a short walk together to visit one of the ponds on Sandy Hook where black-crowned night herons like to hang out. We only saw one way across the pond, but like a true shutterbug, Pat was snapping away with her camera. I hope we’ll find an excuse next month to do that again as I’m sure the Hook will be much more birdy come the first week of May.

Bunnies, Pastimes

3/14/07 Mid-week bunny fix

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Cricket, my stitching buddy

No, I’m not ready to give an update on my progress with the cross-stitch project! You can see that there hadn’t been much when this photo was taken. There still isn’t much.

Notice the nicely deconstructed wicker chair leg. One of these days I’ll sit down there and the whole bottom will fall out to the sound of the bunnies laughing at me.

Pastimes

Stitch count

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I’ve put aside (given up hope for) that gorgeous tree sampler cross-stitch I showed you a while ago and instead started something else (sound familiar?)

I found another design (something entirely different) online and special ordered the charts and special ordered the fabric and just finally this past week received everything I needed to get started. I’m good at starting – not so good at ever finishing.

So in an effort to stay on track and use the power of peer pressure (maybe it will help) I’m going to post a photo of my progress every month or so. My goal is to spend an hour at it each day. What you see here represents about 5 hours work, most of it done well after any normal person has gone to bed. Stitching when the rest of the house is dark doesn’t help my eyes, but it’s a handy excuse for my sloppy stitches, plus the quiet helps me concentrate. That and a bunny snuggled along beside me on the floor.

With the idea of keeping these posts marginally interesting to anyone but myself, I won’t be sharing the whole design with you or telling you what it’s supposed to be. You can watch it develop as I stitch it. For those of you that don’t stitch, that’s part of what makes it fun, but also what makes it so frustratingly tiresome. You stitch and stitch and spend hours and your work looks like nothing. Then all at once the design comes together and it’s at that point that I’m motivated to continue with it. I could use your help in getting to that point.

Hours this update/total to date: 5/5

Pastimes

Tree sampler

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I tried finding a photo online of the cross-stitch sampler that I would like to do and came across this one which is a fairly close match. The design style is very similar, but the one I have is about half the size.

I photocopied the chart out of a 15 year old embroidery magazine and went to the craft shop and bought the linen and floss before really thinking about the hours of torture this design on 28 count linen would require.

It’s probably been 10 years since I bought any new projects and my eyes have changed in those years, for sure! I simply can’t do it – can’t see the holes in the fabric to know where to put my stitches.

I may try the design on a 14 count evenweave fabric instead, but I don’t know that I will like the results so well. What makes embroidery on linen so nice to my eye is the level of detail that’s possible and the variety of stitch shapes that are possible when stitching on a fabric that has a little *give*. Every stitch on evenweave fabrics looks the same and that takes some of the charm away.

If you’re not a stitcher and don’t have a clue why I’m going on about how tiny 28 count linen is – think of it like this – I’m stitching over two threads in the linen – so on a 28 count piece there will be 14 stitches across and 14 stitches down in an inch – a total of 196 stitches in a square inch of fabric! The design I’m following is about 18″ by 15″ so that’s how many stitches? Anybody want to do that math?

I did 6 stitches last night and decided that I’m out of my league. I took a photo of my handiwork with the macro lens and only then did I realize that I made a mistake already! See that last stitch on the left in the bottom row – I crossed it in the wrong place. I could get one of those magnifying glass things they sell, but I don’t think that will make stitching any more enjoyable for me. I need to stick with the big clunky stitches that I can see easily.

Pastimes, Wanderings

Pausing along Cedar Creek

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Since high school I’ve visited Cedar Creek a number of times to camp or canoe, but more recently to try my luck with a kayak. The 17 mile trip through the meandering tea-colored water lasts about 4 hours and offers glimpses into the acres of cedar swamp and pine barrens habitat that comprise Double Trouble State Park in eastern Ocean County.

Last weekend I visited the park on foot for the first time to explore the trails and the historic village that preserves a cranberry farm and sawmill. Wandering through the woods I came across this view from the floodgate at the Mill Pond Reservoir. A group of kayakers had stopped for lunch as I passed by on my way to the white cedar swamp on the far side of the reservoir. According to my bird books, the area has nesting Wood Duck, as well as Black-throated Green and Black-and-white warblers. I’d never seen any nesting birds, other than Tree and Barn Swallows and Purple Martins, during my summer paddles down the creek. The barn swallows are ubiquitous and nest under the many small bridges that cross the creek.

For the most part the water is very gentle and slow; well suited to someone like myself who isn’t entirely comfortable in a tippy vessel on the water. My last visit 2 summers ago was my first time in a kayak, rather than a 2 or 3 seater canoe, and I can say that I much prefer paddling alone in a kayak to struggling in a canoe because I am so uncoordinated. That visit was the first time that I hadn’t tipped and dunked into the water at least once! In most places Cedar Creek is very narrow and curvy with overhanging branches that like to grab onto the unsuspecting paddler and send you into the cold water.

I especially like the many places to stop and rest along the way. Most of the trip is through dark woods, but suddenly you come upon an opening like the reservoir or a marsh before heading back under the dark and close trees. There are many shallow places with sandy beaches that invite a break for swimming and snacks. All of my trips on the water have been with a group that seems most concerned with getting to the end, rather than pausing along the way. That last visit stands out in my memory because it was made with my coworkers; among them Kathy -she who loves Turkey Vultures – and we paused often to take in the view or to swim. We arrived at the pick-up point at least two hours behind the rest of our group, who thought we had gotten lost somewhere along the way. We both were puzzled that anyone wouldn’t want to get lost, for an hour or two, in such a peaceful and beautiful place.

Pastimes

A cross-stitcher’s shame

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I used to do a lot of cross-stitching. Really, I should say I’ve started a lot of cross-stitch projects, but I’ve only finished 4 or 5 of the many I’ve started over the years. I like to do samplers – pictured above is one of two samplers that I’ve finished; this one needs to be laundered, pressed, and framed. It’s the first in a set of three, the second, just barely begun, is beside it. I also did a baby blanket for my niece that was later passed on to my other niece, I think. It’s probably stashed in the bottom of a closet somewhere since she’s not a baby anymore. It’s hard to appreciate the work involved until you’ve done it yourself.

Cross-stitch is really easy, but requires good eyesight and persistence. The persistence part has always been a problem, lately my eyesight is the excuse. There used to be a great little shop downtown that sold beautiful pieces of linen for stiching and thousands and thousands of charts. The shop closed up and moved far away, so I haven’t bought anything new for a while, thank goodness. There are more than enough half-finished projects in a bottom drawer of the end table to keep me busy for the rest of my years. Each piece takes so many hundreds of hours that I just get tired of looking at it and must put it away for months on end. Usually, when the urge to stitch bites me again, I find myself picking up a different project than the one I last worked on. Some of them I never pick up again, having decided that I don’t like the colors or the design anymore.

I can blame my current urge to stitch on silverlight and madcapmum who often post pics of the beautiful things they make with a needle and their hands. I wish I were determined enough to actually finish something – maybe if I devoted just one hour a week to it I could see some progress. For today, I think I’ll spend a little time with that sampler above – those pea pods need some color.

“The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson