Poppies among the Potatoes

 

Fluffy double poppies self-seed freely in my garden. I move them around or let them be, as I choose. There are a number in my small potato patch of 10 plants and they all chose to bloom at the same time. How pretty those pops of pink are among the greenery. 

Sweet peas just began blooming, along with Bachelor Buttons grown from seed. A little posy of them grace my new kitchen windowsill. 

The roses continue to delight me. Above is Lichfield Angel, my newest rose. I love how it lights the dark foliage of phlox behind it. 

It's been a busy week with dinner guests on Tuesday followed by house guests Wednesday through Friday morning. I made a Rhubarb Cream Cheese Pie, something I enjoy making every year when rhubarb stalks shoot up and out. This year I had quite a few strawberries ripe at the same time, so I added a cupful of them to the rhubarb mixture. Delicious! I'm a bit weary with all the company and getting students to finish up their work for the end of the year. Tonight (Friday) there are plenty of leftovers in the fridge, so we'll be having Refrigerator Review for dinner. 

The kitchen is finished. Tim did the ceramic tile backsplash this week, and the hanging light fixtures arrived. They were backordered since February. I'm so pleased with it. The footprint is the same as before, a U-shape in front of the window, but we extended the peninsula three feet into the adjacent open space where we have our breakfast table and a small sofa. I want to put a piece of art on the blank wall above the peninsula and I'm on the hunt for just the right piece. 

The oak flooring will continue throughout the main floor, along with other renovations, but we're taking a break from tearing up the house for awhile, and just enjoying what's been done. 

There are so many decisions to make when renovating or building, and one never really knows what it will look like until everything is installed. I'm pleased as punch that I like all of the elements we've chosen. What a relief!

This weekend will be fairly quiet although all the children and grandchildren will be over for a barbecue on Sunday afternoon. What plans do you have for the weekend? Or the week?

Just Before Thanksgiving

Sometimes, weeks don't turn out as planned. Each year, on the two school days before Canadian Thanksgiving, our school gives the students time off while the teachers go to a conference. It's a great time of learning (for the teachers) and having fun together. 

On Monday night, I came down with a sore throat that turned into a cold. So, no conference for me. I stayed home. By Friday I was feeling much better and rather wished I had gone. My colleagues were happy for me to NOT share my germs, however. 

I rescued some flowers from the garden from an impending rain and windstorm. Those white roses, Winchester Cathedral, have wicked thorns and I plunked them down onto the table without much fuss. 

I gingerly separated this one bloom from the bunch and posed it for its portrait. Such a pretty, fragrant flower. 

This basket of tomatoes and squash were also rescued. We've been eating the little Millionaire tomatoes like candy, for they are so sweet. The bigger tomatoes were cut in half, sprinkled with chopped onion, fresh thyme and oregano, drizzled with olive oil, and roasted until the house smelled like an Italian restaurant, redolent with flavour. 

Our Vancouver kids arrived last night for the holiday weekend, and I made the effort to prepare a special breakfast. A fresh corn tortilla, lightly crisped, topped with sauteed onions and sweet peppers, topped with guacamole, one of those luscious roasted tomatoes, and a fried egg. A few sprinkles of Cheddar cheese finished it all off. Very filling and very delicious (patting myself on the back just a little).  

On the mantel a cheery vase of hydrangeas and sunflowers seem apropos to the season. 

Dinner preparations are what's happening around here today - turkey, savoury stuffing, crumb-topped sweet potatoes, and more. We'll gather tomorrow with our children and grandchildren. Truly, we have much to be thankful for. 

Valentine's Day Cookies and a Kitchen Tip

Should you come to my house for tea today or tomorrow (and I'd love it if you would), you'd be served sugar cookies. This is a recipe I got from my mother years ago and is her standard. Crisp, buttery, and so good. When I went away to college, she sent a box of pink iced heart shaped cookies at Valentine's Day. You could say they are a family tradition.
 

Unlike my talented daughter-in-law who makes the most amazing cakes, I am not a decorator of food. I cook, I present, but I don't decorate. My lines are uneven, and I'm never happy with the results. I'm learning that icing consistency is EVERYTHING!  Today I couldn't find my icing bag and tips (that's how often I use them). Instead, I found these condiment holders, never used. I cut the attached lids off since they just got in my way. What an easy way to decorate. I'll probably never go back to the bags. Well, I might. But this is easy. Trust me. 

Most of these cookies will be going out the door to my children's homes. (Act surprised, kids). But there will be a few here for us to munch on as well.

Any Valentine traditions being upheld in your home? Are you staying in or going out? Flowers or chocolate? 

 

Kitchen Reno

Over the summer my husband gave me a new kitchen. We didn't change much but wow, what a difference. The kitchen is your basic U-shape, quite small. On one long arm of the U, there were the standard upper cabinets and a counter with base cabinets dividing the kitchen from the breakfast table. I was always ducking my head to peer under the cabinets to talk to anyone who was sitting at the table. So Tim removed all those uppers. At the end he installed these open shelves which I love. I keep my everyday glasses there, my recipes boxes (also made by Tim), some pottery, and my beloved French-inspired clock sits above.

This is a detail of the metal brackets holding the shelves - I love their intricacy. There are still a few finishing touches Tim wants to put on, like painting the screws black so they are less noticeable.
On a random note, I was watching, on PBS the other day, an old Julia Child cooking show and noticed that she had the very same glass tumblers that are sitting on my shelf there. Mine are not very old, so it's a design that seems to have lasted for a long time. Anyway...back to the kitchen.

We replaced the old, stained, pale blue arborite (formica) with porcelain tiles that resemble slate. The back splash is composed of creamy ceramic square tiles with a border of black rectangular tiles with a scroll design in them. He finished the edge with strips of the same wood he used for the shelving.

This picture is over exposed, but shows the peninsula between the kitchen and the breakfast area. We widened the space by 12 inches which gives me a wonderful working space, and is also great for anyone wanting to help in the kitchen. Two people, on either side of the countertop can each have ample space.

 Then, on the other side of the counter he built cabinets, also finished in wood. There are two closed cabinets, one drawer, a book shelf where I keep my cookbooks (some of them), and a shallow top shelf where I keep my cloth napkins and placemats. Should someone, if we move away, want to have a bar here instead of these cabinets, Tim made them easily removable. But I really like, and need, the extra cabinet space and I'm not as fond of eating at a bar side by side as I am at our breakfast table where we can look at each other with ease.

I'm so proud of my husband and the work he does. Another thing we would like to do is replace the gold knobs. I think dark knobs would look much better, but everything just takes time (and money.) So I'll be patient and wait until the time is right.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying the open feeling of my kitchen! It's wonderful!