Clinging to Life
If you remember, last summer I purchased two lovely Hedgehog Aloes for my front porch. They were the perfect plants, they looked beautiful and thrived in the tough conditions on our front porch.
When we made our last trip to Maine, one of them was throw in the moving truck (the other stayed behind with a neighbor). We put it on the back porch with the intent of bringing it indoors. The weather turned cold and I completely forgot.
OOOOPPPPSSSSS. Thankfully, I realized it in the nick of time. The plant was frozen solid, but not enough to kill it. It’s now residing in our living room barely clinging to life.
I need to cut back the frostbitten foliage and it will look a little better. I’m confident it will pull through. Perhaps by the end of this summer it will once again be a stunning feature in the garden.
Have you ever forgotten to bring in a prize plant?
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In My Library – part 3
Many of you are avid readers, like me, you are probably interested in what other people have on their bookshelves. While I was looking for a book the other day, the thought hit me that you might be interested in seeing what books I have gracing the shelves in my home. This will be a series, every now and then I’ll feature a few of the books on my shelf and tell you about them, where I got them, if I love them, etc. For part three, we’ll be looking at a section of my favorite fiction books.
I’m not much of a fiction reader, generally I find them a little less engaging that historical books or books about things I want to learn more about. There are a few exceptions, pretty much anything by John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway are sure to make me read late into the night. Here’s a glimpse into a portion of my fiction library.
If you asked me what my favorite fiction book of all time was, I would quickly respond “East of Eden“. John Steinbeck is my favorite novelist, I’ve read every book he’s ever written, many of them multiple times. While I love all of them, East of Eden is my favorite. What I most love about this book is the complexity. Modern fiction books don’t find their way onto my library list very often because I generally find them not engaging enough. My mind needs something complex or it wanders easily.
Grapes of Wrath is also in this stack, I’ve read it a few times. If you’ve never read it, I’d highly recommend it, it is labeled “classic” for a reason. Even though it’s fiction, it will give you a better idea of what life was like during the dust bowl and the depression. Grapes of Wrath reads like a history book, you can almost believe the characters are real. Feel good literature it is not, so don’t be expecting any of that. There is a lot of pain, suffering, grittiness and reality. When you do read it, think about all the migrant farm workers living in the same conditions now.
Hemmingway is also one of my favorites. Enduring Hemingway came to me by way of my dad, as you can see, like Grapes of Wrath, it’s an old library copy. These are my favorite kinds of books to buy. You feel a sense of history when you read them, knowing many people have leafed through their pages before you. Enduring Hemingway is a collection of his writings, if you’ve never read any of his stuff give this one a read. You can pick and choose from a wide range of his writings. This book is a hefty tome, coming in at 864 pages. It’s filled with 20 of his books, from The Old Man and the Sea to Farewell to Arms. It includes The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, which is one of my favorites and is part of The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, which if you’ve never read Hemingway I highly recommend starting here with these.
The last book on the shelf I have not read, at least in my adult life. I vaguely remember reading Sherlock Holmes as a kid, who doesn’t. Another classic book, I hope to read it this coming winter. Oddly enough, I actually have two copies of this book, both old library editions.
What’s your favorite “Classic”?
The Series:
In My Library – part 1
In My Library – part 2
In My Library – Part 3
In My Library – Birding Books
In My Library: the Edible Garden Edition
If you do want to purchase any of these books or anything else from Amazon, use my Amazon Link, I’ll earn a few pennies to help pay for my now outrageous hosting bill for this blog!
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In My Library – part 2
Many of you are avid readers, like me, you are probably interested in what other people have on their bookshelves. While I was looking for a book the other day, the thought hit me that you might be interested in seeing what books I have gracing the shelves in my home. This will be a series, every now and then I’ll feature a few of the books on my shelf and tell you about them, where I got them, if I love them, etc.
In part two, we’ll be looking at a section of my cookbooks. I love to cook, so naturally I have quite a collection of books pertaining to that topic. My cookbooks vary quite widely, here are a few from a small section of my bookshelf. This time around, each and every book was purchased after I had borrowed the copy from my local library. Not only was I inspired by the recipes I found in each of these books, I also appreciated all the other information contained within; also, being a photographer, I was especially inspired by the images in these books.
Afield: A Chef’s Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish is one of the most recent additions to my bookshelf. Mr Chiots actually purchased this book for me last fall. As many of you know, Mr Chiots enjoys hunting and would like to start hunting fowl and other game now that we live in a more rural area. All of the recipes in the book look amazing, I haven’t tried any of the venison ones yet, but I will very, very soon. I’m all ready for Mr Chiots to bring home some delicious freshly caught fish or a bird or two as well.
Way back when I started transitioning to making more food from scratch and learning the art of making things by hand, I purchased Cooking by Hand by Paul Bertolli. I find this book to be very inspirational, not only does he cover topics like making your own pasta, he goes deeper than most cookbooks by discusses making pasta from alternative starches like chestnut flour. This is definitely a book for the hardcore made from scratch by hand cook. This book has it all, from preparing and grinding chestnuts to making the best polenta, there’s definitely an emphasis on the Italian/european artisanal cuisine. When we finally raise a pig here at Chiot’s Run, I’ll be following his directions to make my own proscuitto and fermented sausages. If you’re into serious DIY cooking or know someone that is, this is the book for you!
I’ve talked about Healing Spices many times before, both here and on our podcast. This is more of an herbal/spice reference guide with recipes. There’s a recipe for every spice, which teaches you how to best incorporate them into your diet. Every recipe I’ve tried has been fantastic. The Hungarian Goulash is particularly good, the addition of caraway to balance out the paprika was enlightening for me. If you’re trying to learn more about the health benefits of adding more herbs and spices to your diet, I highly recommend this book. It can be read little by little in small sections, perfect for enjoying with your afternoon coffee or tea!
Mr Chiots and I don’t eat a lot of sweets, at least we try not to. I don’t have a sweet tooth, but Mr Chiots sure does. Whenver he’s craving something sweet, I often make a fruit based dessert from Rustic Fruit Desserts. So far, every recipe I’ve tried from this book has been spot on. We are particularly fond of the pandowdy. I’ll tell you a little secret though, I generally cut the sugar in half when I make any of these recipes and usually swap maple syrup for whatever sweetener is included. If you are looking for sweets a book that focuses on fruit desserts this is a great buy. It’s even organized by season if you’re like me and prefer to eat seasonally.
Part gardening book, part cookbook, Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch perfectly describes how I feel about my vegetable garden and my cooking. The reason I started my own little garden was to supply the best possible vegetables for my plate. Now I love the cultivation of vegetables as much as I love preparing and eating them. This book is the perfect bedtime reading for any gardener/cook. You’ll fall asleep dreaming about all the wonderful things you can grow in your garden and all the fabulous ways to prepare them for your table. It’s hefty too, large enough to keep you busy reading for months! I definitely have his fruit book Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard on my wishlist!
The River Cottage Preserves Handbook is one of my favorite preserving books. The recipes are so unique, you’ll find how to make sloe gin, roasted tomato passata (which is one of my favorites from this book), spiced brandy plums, and so many unique things that you won’t see in most American preserving books. If you enjoy preserving and want something out of the ordinary, give this book a look. No doubt you’ll be trying to figure out how to add quince trees to your garden, you’ll be searching for chestnuts to use, and you’ll no doubt be making roasted tomato passata each and every year!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this peek at what’s on my bookshelf. Stay tuned for more books in my library.
What are some of the books that inspire you in the kitchen?
The Series:
In My Library – part 1
In My Library – part 2
In My Library – Part 3
In My Library – Birding Books
In My Library: the Edible Garden Edition
If you do want to purchase any of these books or anything else from Amazon, use my Amazon Link, I’ll earn a few pennies to help pay for my now outrageous hosting bill for this blog!
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Evergreen Amaryllis
Last year I purchased a few different varieties of amaryllises from Van Engelen. My mom has a knack for getting them to rebloom year after year, I figured I’d try to do the same. Around Christmas, when my mom was visiting, we were looking at the leaves emerging from the bulbs and were debating whether or not they’d bloom or not.
A few days after she left, flower stalks started coming up. These bulbs received no special treatment, the pots were put on my front porch last spring when the weather warmed. Every so often I’d give them a watering with Neptune’s Harvest. I’m slightly amazed that they bloomed this year.
These beauties are ‘Evergeen’ amaryllises, not your typical pink or red varieties with big showy flowers. I’m rather fond of them and hope they continue blooming year after year! I guess I’ll try giving them the same treatment again, which is pretty much nothing special.
Do you grow any flowering bulbs as houseplants?
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The End
Last Thursday we officially no longer owned a house in Ohio. After much hassle and paperwork for their VA loan, the new owners signed papers on Wednesday and they were filed on Thursday. It all became real when the money showed up in our bank account that afternoon.
With this, our lives at 247 E Mohawk Drive are in the past, 100% over, the end. It’s a bit sad, but also very exciting. We certainly loved our little house and miss it a little. That being said, we’re settling in quite nicely in Maine and starting to put down roots here.
It feels really good to officially close this chapter of our lives and to finally be able to start focusing on the new chapters ahead. With this final piece of the puzzle in place we have much less on our minds. We’ve cancelled insurance, utilities, and it’s nice to know we now only have bills for one residence.
Breathe a deep sigh of relief with Mr Chiots and I…..
