Author: louisaenright

I am passionate about whole, nutrient-dense foods, developing local markets, and strengthening communities.

Memorial Day 2023

It’s a beautiful day here today–after (much needed) two days of rain and one day of overcast clouds.

I have the porch back for lunch as it has now dried out and the temps are comfortably warmer. We’ve all been in warmer clothes these past three days.

So, I grilled a steak–which will give me three meals.

And I put my dinner portion of steak on a big salad as that just felt right today. In addition to a lettuce medley, I had cooked food “assets” in the refrigerator that I added (corn taken off cobs, broccoli, little green peas). Fresh food additions were carrot, red pepper, sweet onion, cucumber, and fresh herbs (dill, mint, basil) added to a shake or two of a dried herbal mixture. Dressing was my Organic Roots Koroneiki olive oil. And, flaked salt, of course.

The flowers my granddaughter and son brought me a week ago are playing out now. I don’t quite have enough flowers in the garden to fill two pots yet. Hmmm… I’m sure something else can be done about the lack of flowers!

I’m reading The Time Traveler’s Wife, which I somehow missed some years back. There is a movie, too, but I thought I should read the book before watching the movie.

I puttered about in the garden this morning, and Alex was here to mow my lush-looking grass.

About a year ago, maybe more, SIL Maryann took some of the mint in my Maine garden. That mint came from my grandmother’s Georgia garden, and I had had it for at least 50 years. When I moved to South Carolina, winter was encroaching, and I was so, so busy that I did not dig any of the mint to take with me. The mint at Maryann’s is thriving, so she dug me some and mailed it. I planted it this morning. Best of all, if it doesn’t make it, I could probably get more. I planted it well away from the mint I bought here, which is thriving.

I’m making the last row of the Traverse quilt. It’s a complicated row, and a granddaughter spent Friday night with me, and we played for most of Saturday, so Traverse got put on hold. But…maybe today…it will be ready for some pictures.

And that is where I am going now.

I hope you are all enjoying this holiday Monday.

The Last Plant?

I think perhaps I’ve planted the last plant in this very long sunny bed. Unless I suppose, I happen across another perennial that wants to come home with me. But, mostly, I want to see how these plants spread and if they hold their own. I don’t want to overcrowd this bed. The last two plants are on the far end and are another Encore (everblooming) azalea and another “Frost Proof Gardenia.” The herbs below are basil, mint (perennial), and Italian parsley (it will come back for a second year and seed itself).

I still need a hose solution…

The roses are THRIVING and the moment and are covered with blooms and new growth. And unlike the roses in islands in highways, these have lots of leaves all the way down–which means they are getting the nutrition they need.

The roses are so cheerful. And, pretty.

The Asiatic Jasmine (which is not really jasmine) is spreading nicely now. It is sending out shoots underneath the pine straw in many cases.

Here it is in the long bed on the sunny side of the house. For the moment, I’m not planning on doing anything else with this bed as the ground cover will cover it. And, it will bloom and be fragrant in the spring.

On the front (street) side of this bed I planted one of the gardenias, and the luscious smell from it greets one at the garage door area.

These two plants below were among the first ones of the first I planted. They are to the left of the screen porch door and are under my bedroom windows. Each will get MUCH bigger. The Limelight hydrangea is forming blooms. And on the left, the viburnum will bloom next spring.

These herbs are mostly doing ok. I put some compost on them the other day. The lavender and the taller thyme are blooming.

The rosemary in the pot on the porch is thriving. I use it all the time.

As is the newly planted small pot on the table–with an annual I know but whose name is not on the tip of my tongue this morning.

We are expecting rain today, which is now needed again. The grass will be happy, the new plants will be happy, and I will be happy as I’m going to have time to sew. The Traverse quilt is only lacking 2 pieced rows now, and one of those is half finished.

Cricket Frogs

I am fascinated with the, literally, hundreds of tiny little frogs that live in the pine straw in my garden beds–and who bail to the grass when heavy rains make the pine straw too wet for them (?).

After researching frogs in South Carolina, I think they are a local form of the Southern Cricket Frog. The Northern Cricket Frog may be more prevalent in the western part of the state.

I took this pictures on the driveway after heavy rains.

These tiny frogs range from 1/2 inch to just under an inch. They derive from the tree frog family, but do NOT have tree-frog sticky foot pads. But they can jump, apparently, astonishing distances.

Mostly, I see them RUNNING and jumping.

Here’s a video I took just a big ago–before we get more rain today.

These little creatures eat insects, of course. They can, apparently camouflage themselves, so I see a range of tan/grey (the clay), to brown (the pine straw) to a deep black (the compost dirt). They can also “play dead” when you pick them up. And, they will pee on your hand too.

Here’s more info if you feel so inclined.

https://srelherp.uga.edu/anurans/acrgry.htm

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Amphibians/Southern-Cricket-Frog#:~:text=Southern%20cricket%20frogs%20are%20found,with%20shallow%20bodies%20of%20freshwater.

Baked Fish Chowder Revisited

I tried the baked fish “chowder” again–but this time with a base of sliced Russet potatoes treated a bit like a scalloped recipe. Russets will hold up to baking without falling apart. I added a carrot sliced thin, alongside the frozen corn and peas from last time. I added, again, bits of sweet onion, but also some grated mozzarella cheese over my potato base just before adding the fish. You could add Swiss cheese, which is included in a classic scalloped potato dish. Or whatever cheese you want. Add herbs and salt, of course.

I sliced the one Russet potato with the mandolin to get really thin slices. And that was plenty for my square pan.

The trick is that the potatoes should be covered with a mixture of whole milk and cream or half and half. *** AND they need to cook by themselves for a good 30 minutes before adding the cheese and the fish. Remember that thin fish fillets will cook in about 15-20 minutes.

The fish will add liquid that will be needed, but add more of your milk mixture if it has cooked out enough that it won’t cover at least the bottom of the fish. Add the cheese to the top of the potatoes and put the fish on top. Add salt and herbs to the fish. Dot the fish with butter.

Again, it was a delicious meal. And by cooking two fillets, I had food for another meal that just needed to be reheated–and maybe a bit more milk added.

I am loving this dish!

The Gardenia Is Blooming

The “Frost Proof Gardenia” I planted on the shade side of the house is BLOOMING and is covered with buds. I couldn’t believe how fragrant it is. I cut two blooms and brought them into the house to occupy one of the little pottery vases that sit next to my kitchen sink. The pottery vase on the left holds a sprig of mint and some blooms from the Vitex I planted last week.

I often bring herbs from the into the house and put them into these vases, so their goodness is available when I’m cooking. I particularly like the mint in the bowls of fresh fruit I’ve been eating lately (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cut up cantaloupe).

We had two nights and one day of really good rain, so yesterday when the sun emerged again, I dug a hole for the azalea that has been waiting for me to plant. After all that rain, the digging into the clay was easy, so I went ahead and dug the last two holes I will need on the sunny side of the house. And I prepped them with sand and compost mixed with the clay. I hope the sand will provide the drainage needed here and the compost will provide food for the plants.

I am off this morning to buy one more of these amazing azaleas that will bloom all summer and another gardenia. I would love a Tea Olive shrub, but the remaining area I could plant isn’t sunny enough for one. Plus, even the shrub versions get too tall for most area around this house. The plantings, for the most part, need to be kept to shorter choices. And, more shallow rooted.

Have a great weekend everyone!

“Eye Candy No. 5” Quilt

I really love this quilt. It is the last of my Churn Dash block series–with fabrics made from the Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society stash I had collected and which I cut into strips about three years back so as to USE these fabrics. This is my 211th quilt.

I love this backing–bought with birthday money last year from Bryan and Corinne. It’s a current Sarah Watts fabric called “Firefly Nature Forest Owls on Ash.” It’s from Ruby Star Society, the new group created by this group of designers who once went under the “Cotton+Steel” name.

The pantograph is “Whirlwind” (Urban Elements)–and its swirls are so lovely on this quilt. The quilting here is awesome, if I do say so myself, as the Innova stitch is just perfect all the way over the quilt. That’s probably due to Innova’s visit with Rob Engime at Olde City Quilts, Burlington, New Jersey, while I moved. I know he worked on Innova while she was there–just making sure all was tip-top with her. I quilted with a light and soft sea green/blue thread from Signature cotton threads. That color choice worked well too.

Most of the blocks are just color combinations I thought pretty–gleaned from the last of these fabrics which I had cut into strips. A few centers are fussy cut, but not many. And I love, love, love the black and white striped binding–always a favorite of mine for quilts that will support it. This quilt does.

Here’s another corner.

And a picture from the middle of the quilt. I’ll use this picture for the cards I make using inserted pictures of my quilts into a photo card.

Flamingos

My friend Betsy is traveling in Europe. While in Prague, capitol of the Czech Republic, she visited the Prague zoo and took this video. Betsy has a grown son in Florida and has visited the Everglades, but has never seen flamingos. And here they were in the Prague zoo.

I’ve never seen flamingos either, so loved seeing this video.

The Placemat Project is Done

And I so enjoyed making these placemats–which used up the blueberry fabrics in my stash, along with A LOT of the solid fabrics–AND the project let me experiment with different placemat methods of construction. It is nice to have some small projects to make that finish quickly…depending upon how MANY one decides to make.

There are 27 blueberry placemats–and there are homes for a chunk of them already. Two of these are going to Bryan’s family–to go with the 6 funky placemats which started this whole project.

So, altogether there are 33 finished placemats. All the backs are different. And I always stitched some lines in each one when I sewed around the edges–to keep the backing fabric well connected to its front. Each placemat is quilted with improv wavy lines.

I did put some of the striped fabric I had kept with the blueberry fabrics on a few of these placemats, and those are handsome, but WAY more work.

To remind, here are the six funky placemats where I experimented with different construction methods. Each method has its strong points, for sure.

ALL of these placemats and their napkins will wash and wear for DECADES. I know because I sent old placemats I made 30 years or so ago to Good Will when I left Maine. They were soft and comforting, but not worn enough to throw away. I did bring one set to see me through until I had time to make some new placemats here.

Now, the Traverse BOM (block of the month) quilt is waiting for me on the design wall. To remind, this quilt is designed by Tara Faughnan and my project is hosted by Sewtopia. (I just downloaded a hand quilting online on-demand class Tara Faughnan is running on her web site–as I want to hand quilt Traverse and the quilt from hell when it is ready. I’ve done a lot of hand quilting over the years, but it will be good to see what Tara Faughnan does.)

And I only have about two more nights to go before I finish the binding on the last of the Churn Dash quilts from the Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society project. I do have other scraps that are cut into useable pieces that will make up into…something…down the road. But for now, I’m moving on to other projects.

Sounds like a plan.

Megladon Sharks

What a fun day DIL Corinne and her two youngest girls had yesterday.

They went with a local scientist to expert to look for fossils on the river sandbars at low tide.

This area was once the home to the huge dinosaur-era Megladon shark. Megladons raised their pups in this area, which was once all under water.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/megalodon–the-truth-about-the-largest-shark-that-ever-lived.html

They did find a shark tooth–a very big one. Turns out it was from an Augustiden shark, the great grandfather to the Megladon shark. The very big tooth looks just like the one pictured here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otodus_angustidens

Pictures show they came home dirty and happy.

A Baked Fish Chowder

This experiment went well.

And so I will share it.

I have to be careful with fish with my Histamine Intolerance issue. Fish has to be VERY fresh, which I could get in Maine with freshly caught haddock or cod coming pretty much daily into the local markets. Here in SC, I’ve been buying freshly caught frozen cold-water white fish. That’s working out very well.

***Read labels though. If the salmon says “Atlantic” anywhere, it is farmed, or so I’m reading. The labels on the white fish should say it is wild caught and frozen on the boat. Farmed fish COULD be ok, if the fish are in a clean environment, are not overly crowded, and are fed healthy foods. All three of those conditions are currently poorly met by the fish farmers. For salmon, you want wild-caught and Alaska, probably, on the label. Yes, the fish situation is a problem as we’ve fished out the oceans now, and fish is a great protein.

The other day I defrosted two haddock filets, and something came up where I didn’t want to bake them alone or spend time making a chowder. So, I thought I’d try a “baked chowder” instead.

I layered some frozen peas and corn in a baking pan and added some fresh sweet onion and dried spices. Then I laid in the fillets, salted the mixture, and poured a mixture of cream and milk (raw for me) over the top. I may have dotted the fish with butter too.

And wow! It was delicious with a yummy sauce.

While the fish baked (30 minutes given the frozen veggies), I cooked some mixed brown rice to add to my dish. Actually I started it first as it takes about 40-45 minutes on very low heat to cook until tender. I am loving the smaller two burners on my gas oven that allow for this very slow cooking of rice and my espresso coffee pot.

This meal was delicious and dead easy to make.

If you wanted to peel and THINLY slice some potatoes as the base veggie (russets hold up best with a scalloped method)–you could put those in the bottom, salt them, and cover them with some whole milk/cream (and maybe cheese for you), and let them bake about 20 minutes before adding other ingredients (more milk/cream I’m sure) or the fish. I might be tempted to keep the corn and peas too. YOU could top everything with some grated Swiss cheese too.

Here was my dinner yesterday–a roasted lamb rack, baked sweet potato (a half) with raw butter, roasted zucchini rounds, and some fresh veggies.

I started to cut off a chop before taking a picture.

Yes, I like my meat rare, and I like the fat and save it from the roasting pan. I cut off the meat from the bone, but chew the bones clean–that’s where the glycine is, for one thing. I should have put some fresh dill on the fresh veggies.

Then there was fresh fruit with a drizzle of maple syrup and bits of mint leaves from the herb garden, which is thriving.

You know, I thought I was buying organic fruit at Whole Foods, but I wasn’t. Note to self: check the actual package and not the signs above the fruit.

And today, there are leftovers–so no cooking.

There will be sewing today.