Too hot to bake.....and more about Bob!

I have mixed feelings about coming here so infrequently.  Guilt?  Definitely!

I'm having feelings that blogging is just too much like hard work compared to Instagram. Speed and ease of posting a photo or photos, typing just about anywhere when you have a phone and a few spare minutes. One and done kind of communication. My IG account is Private so I don't have to deal with strangers and the unknown. That said, I feel sad not spending more time here on the blog but, in all honesty, I just haven't had that time this first half of the year for many, and varied, reasons.

Just as the late Queen Elizabeth stated in 1992 regarding her 'annus horribilis' year - I think 2024 is turning out to be mine.

 

Truthfully, it really is too hot to bake this summer. Independence Day holiday in Raleigh brought the highest temperature ever recorded here, 117F. Nobody in their right mind would turn the oven on in that heat. Thankfully there are bakeries - this beautiful loaf was baked at our favorite in downtown, Boulted Bread. Their pastries are also great, the plain croissant being top of my list, one of the best ever. We're now a little cooler and having long awaited rain. I am back baking and roasting, and we are enjoying frequent al fresco dining in the screened gazebo most evenings.

A couple of posts back in May I shared Bob's emergency hospitalization. During that upsetting time, following so many tests and scans, two tumors were visible on an MRI. Going forward with a visit to a urologist after leaving hospital, an exploratory surgical procedure was ordered and Bob went under general anesthesia in hospital. Sadly the diagnosis is cancer. Last week, while awaiting major surgery, he was given one dose of chemo and has managed well, no pain, no side effects. The blood infection, in case you're wondering, had nothing to do with the cancer, however helped in discovering it in time to prevent spread hopefully!

Bob's surgery will be a robotic-assisted Nephroureterectomy which includes losing a kidney (but thankfully he has a healthy looking one remaining). Other bits will also be taken but hopefully he will not require chemo/radiation afterward if there is no metastases. Fingers are tightly crossed, prayers are being said by family and wonderful friends - many thanks to you all.

I'm sad and sorry that I haven't been able to visit/comment on blogs for far too long. I will return here soon, probably once we get the surgery date. As the cancer is a rare and aggressive type we expect to get the go ahead as soon as he can be worked into the surgeon/hospital schedules. 

Please keep Bob in your thoughts - some of you have met him and know what a great man he is, the rest of you please take my word for it.............he is very special, has beaten cancer before, and is sure he can do it again.

Let's take a summer break -

We're preparing for a little trip, our first since California in May.

Right now I would go just about anywhere to get out of

 North Carolina's ongoing heat and humidity.

Next week, an hour and half flight north will see us 

back in New England where, hopefully, it will be much 

cooler..........but still sunny for the coast and mountain

visits we are planning.

Our base, as always, is Manchester, New Hampshire. Bob's home town, 

and my home for several years when we were first married.  We have no

family there any longer but a whole lot of great memories, old haunts,

favorite restaurants, special nooks and crannies, and some special friends.

A quick look at this week now that Friday is here. At last we have a

 cooler day and some light rain fell this morning which is needed badly

 in the garden. 

Speaking of drinking and refreshing liquids - this is my latest find in the

Rosé wine department. I love a chilled glass on a summer's eve.

We were introduced to a new to us wine bar recently by friends. 

It is also becoming a favorite retail store for buying wine to bring home.

The congenial owner knows his wines and sells them at good,

discounted prices. Cheers!!!!

This was my favorite find to date.  Many French Rosé wines are way

 beyond my budget this year - like everything they have increased

 drastically. I like the screw top, the label is beautiful, and the wine is all

the label states and is delicious. Who knew notes of black cherry, quince

 and liquorice could taste so good.

This wine actually comes from Pézenas, an interesting medieval town

 in the region between Montpellier and Beziers, not too far from my brother's

 home. I recall visiting there several years ago.

Pézenas was important in the 15th and 16th centuries, being the provincial

 capital of the Languedoc region, and receiving visits from the court of Louis XIV. 

Old-fashioned Blueberry Muffins

Drinking requires eating of course!

When given too many blueberries baking muffins is necessary.

Everyone likes a muffin so I shared some with family and Bob and

 I split one for breakfast each morning as they are jumbo sized!

This week I cooked a lot. Mainly savory meals using tomatoes - a great

 soup from oven-roasted tomatoes and homemade basil pesto; sheet-roasted

 tomatoes, peppers, shallots, garlic and a block of Greek feta; and a good old

 basic summer tomato sandwich using 6-grain bread, a dash of mayo and

 black pepper - no extra sodium here.

I've been blessed with the harvest from my neighbor's garden and as he's

 away I get to pick anything turning red on the plants!  Also green, 

as you can see a few more cukes found hiding in the tangled

vines this morning. Not sure what type of cucumber this is -

very different from the earlier ones which were longer, so perhaps

 he planted two types. 

Just cut one open, quite nice with few seeds, but skin needs

removing as it's rather tough.  Will most likely make green Gazpacho 

with these over the weekend.

Books and reading. Anything of interest to share, I'm now at the bottom of the 

stack by the bed. Dug up this one which I started a couple of nights ago - found

at the Dollar Store (which is now $1.25 for most items) but still great

 bargains, especially for brand new hardbacks!

So far I'm liking it and have learned a lot about an animal I really knew

 nothing about - the wolverine. Reviews say it's a stunning thriller, a 

mystery and a survival story set in Montana. The author is a wildlife 

sanctuary monitor and a geographic information systems specialist so

 I'm certain knows her stuff.

I'll review it later when completed - meanwhile it's literally a cool book to 

be reading in this hot weather!

Lastly, how about this book to take on vacation next week?

I purchased it a long time ago but have not read it yet. 

Like the size and light weight for my 'personal item' bag for the

 plane, and again the setting is in WINTER, so it should be perfect.

It won The Guardian Best Book of 2018.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Stay cool if in a hot place, hang on to that umbrella

if in rain and wind.  

Downtown Cityscapes Part II -

 

This week we were back in downtown Raleigh for another overnight.

No dodging the rain as we did two weeks back, still very hot but we

managed to walk about quite a bit without trouble. Good times and

opportunities to take more photos of our ever-growing cityscape.

More 'City of Oaks' decor.  There are four of these interesting towers

 on each corner of a plaza and they actually play music!

Back home the figs are almost over and the bees are feasting furiously.

Instead of figs I baked a plum galette - always a favorite and seeing them

in the stores makes me think that Autumn is getting closer. . . . . . . thankfully!

I've already stored the pink early summer flower art and

 dug out from storage this more autumnal feeling oil painting.

Tea cups and saucers I purchased in Thailand.

We had torrential rain here again overnight and early this morning, 

in fact that was what woke me up before 7 AM. Cloudy all day

and we only reached 79F - the coolest day we've had all

Summer. 

Tomorrow will be warmer again, with full sun all day. We've been invited

 over for drinks on a neighbor's beautiful new screened-in porch (no 

mosquitoes!) with overhead fans and comfortable furniture. . . . hope he

 chills the rosé well then it will be a perfect evening!

 

Enjoy your weekend and take care, especially those of you in those

hot spots in the UK, Germany, France - 103F/39C today in my brother's

 village in the south of France!!!

News from the garden -

Yesterday, with the surprise of what must have been quite a soaking

 rain during the night - the best kind for the garden - I opened

 the front door to a beautiful shock of green. Layers of color all the

 same hue but each a different shade. Washed clean, undamaged, 

refreshed, with no fallen leaves or twigs.

Many birds were at the feeders - including the invincible four-legged

 versions with the bushy tails! A large rabbit hopped across the lawn, and 

two chipmunks scampered around the front porch, one stopping for a

 drink at the fountain which I'd not seen happen before.

I baked a French pear Gateau de Mamy (Grandma's Cake) for Mother's Day

and decorated simply with garden pansies. I couldn't eat any though whilst

 on the Low Histamine diet!  I'm feeling great though cutting out so many 

food items which may have been causing problems. I did cheat a bit for

 Mother's Day by drinking a glass of sparkling Prosecco during a visit 

with a dear friend. She bought it especially for me to sip, along with

 thoughtful carrots and broccoli rather than cheese and crackers which

I've had to give up for a while!

She also gifted me with this..........

.........a very pretty bird snack wreath now hanging on the porch.

Note my special 'garden boy' Bob working in the background!

This was another beautiful gift from Anthropologie for Mother's Day, 

one I'll be using a lot - even later today as I'm heading into the garden

 now to prune the massive azalea bushes. If you have azaleas always

 prune at this time when the blooms have died - that way they can set

 buds during the summer for next spring's glorious display.

Who doesn't love peonies! I cut the first open bloom from the garden

yesterday as it was so heavy and hanging down - the perfume is

 awesome, I wish you could sniff, and the petals so pretty.

. . . . over a hot stove!

 

I'm back in the kitchen today!  

Up very early so baked fresh

 Southern Buttermilk Biscuits. 

One each with a fresh farm egg and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Scrumptious way to start a sunless morning. 

Yesterday the rains come down so hard there was extremely serious flooding

which, very sadly, caused seven deaths across North Carolina.

We look out now on a saturated garden with soggy leaves clogging pathways,

the back deck, the road. Thankfully dry, sunny, though cooler days are ahead

for about a week. Drying out will happen, the neighborhood will buzz again 

with noisy leaf blowers, and the colorful trees will gradually shed their

 remaining leaves and take on the bareness of winter.

I'm wondering how this winter will be.

Here in the southeast we never know what to expect.

I'm hoping for some snow, especially at Christmastime.

Not piles requiring a lot of heavy work - we're too old for that now.

Just a dusting now and then, with perhaps a few inches just once

in a while so the housebound kiddies can get out with their sleds, 

build a snowman. . . . . . . and let off steam with a friendly

 snowball fight!

Kitchen tastes this weekend -

Butternut Squash soup, delicious!

Tasty pasta with haricots verts, cannellini beans and pine nuts.

A sweet Autumn dessert!

 I enjoy cooking this time of year - how about you?

This weekend is bringing rain, heavy at times.

I'll perhaps bake bread and make potato and leek soup.

I've cooked every day since end of March!

*********************

I'll be taking a break from blogging this week as my MacBook Air

is going on a trip to Apple repair. I've waited months for an appointment

 due to COVID and at last have one tomorrow afternoon. Like many people

 with 2018-2019 models, I have one of those bad butterfly keyboards which

 is now almost impossible to type on as it repeats letters constantly, along

 with other crazy stuff, and I spend ages correcting everything I type.

I do still have my older, sluggish MacBook Air which I can use in a pinch.

Stay well - be safe.

I'll be back as soon as I can.

A very happy Thanksgiving weekend to my Canadian friends.

 

Inundated with recipes. . . using eggs & blueberries.

Are you, like me, amazed at the enormous number of recipes now available to the home cook? It appears that no matter what you read - magazines, newspapers, supplements, advertising, even real estate listing publications - they all now include something to cook. Online recipes - dare I even go there - from thousands of food/cooking blogs which offer recipes from every part of the world. I do love looking when the photos often include scenery away from the kitchen stove or counters - they often bring more interest for me aside from the actual recipe. Last, but definitely not least, there are of course several new, usually expensive 'you have to buy me' cook books published every day of the week it seems.

I love to cook, and bake, and, on flipping through the latest copy of a local magazine which had a lovely article on blueberries - the season here for local picking of 'blues' is coming up now as the strawberry season ends - there was the recipe!  With an abundance of fresh farm eggs and and blueberries on hand I couldn't resist trying the Blueberry Streusel Muffins. . . . . . . . . 

. . . . . . . . . . even though I was not planning to bake a thing this past week!  

We've really been overdoing the sweet things in life, using lockdown as the

 excuse for putting on a few pounds, whereas perhaps it's really only from

 eating more of the wrong things and moving less!

Antique Wedgwood Etruria "LACE" pattern soup bowl. Markings date it 

prior 1860 - so one of my oldest pieces of china. Has a major crack so I 

only use for display.

These muffins were more involved in the making than my easy

 Old Fashioned Bluberry Muffin recipe used for at least 40 years, enjoyed

 and used by all who try them. 

The topping with extra butter, sugar and flour is just not needed, made the

 muffin heavier, more greasy, and of course much higher in calories! 

 Tasty, but I will definitely go back to my original recipe. . . . . . . . . . proof

 that the old fashioned things in life are often still the best!

Yesterday, farmer friend Linda, now getting plenty of eggs again from her chickens

 after a couple of weeks of them going broody and not laying, drove into town. 

We met in a parking lot wearing masks and gloves - along with other customers

 doing the same - and I came home with two dozen beautiful eggs.  

Cooking and baking is on the horizon again, along with more walking perhaps!!!!!

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, usually a family/friends get together cheerful holiday. 

This year is a lot different for many of us still choosing not to rush out and gather

in a group as many have started to do.  

Our day will be just another day here at home, but we will fire up the grill, fly the flag

on the front porch, enjoy a hot, sunny day. . . . . . . and again be so very thankful

 for our garden refuge.

We will also remember the true reason for the day and hope you and your

 loved ones, even if apart, do the same.

Bakery-style Pistachio Muffins -

No gloom and doom today - let's do something fun!

You requested, so I'm sharing, my green and gorgeous

 Pistachio Muffins recipe. 

It's a very simple, quick to mix and bake, recipe. . . . . . . . . . . . .

 . . . . . . . .and you will find just about everyone loves them.

PISTACHIO MUFFINS

Makes 8 jumbo muffins

1 box (16.25 OZ)  'Betty Crocker' WHITE Super Moist Cake Mix**

1 box (3.4 OZ)  'Jello' Pistachio Instant Pudding & Pie Filling

2 Large Eggs

1/2 cup Water

1/2 cup Vegetable oil

1/2 cup Buttermilk***

1 Tablespoon PURE Almond Extract - don't use artificial extract and don't skimp as this makes the muffins taste so delicious

Topping:

1 Tablespoon roasted and shelled Pistachios*, crushed with a rolling pin -

or

1 Tablespoon sliced almonds - I sometimes use both mixed together

1 Teaspoon golden granulated sugar or sparkling sugar for crunch

Preheat oven to 425F

Grease muffin pans or use paper liners****

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix and pudding mix.

In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs, add water, oil, buttermilk, and almond extract, whisking well to blend. Add wet ingredients slowly to dry, stirring until well mixed.

Spoon into 8 muffin pans - fill 3/4 full. Sprinkle mix of nuts and sugar lightly on top.

Bake on middle rack at 425F for just 7 minutes - this produces a more domed top, then reduce heat to 350F and bake 13 -15 minutes, watch carefully so as not to get too brown - test with cake tester for doneness. Remove from oven. Cool 5 minutes, remove muffins from pan to wire rack, cool completely.  

The muffins are good anytime but I actually prefer them next day.  These freeze really well in plastic bags and are still great when defrosted.

Some tips from me because I want you to make good muffins, in fact so good,

if you share with your neighbors their eyes will light up each time they see you

 coming to their door plate in hand!

*Shelled and roasted pistachios are often expensive - but so delicious!  

I buy mine from ALDI or LIDL - good prices, and the bag will last a long

 time, unless you gobble them up between muffin baking days!

**I buy Betty Crocker cake mix as it seems to be the best. I tried
 another brand recently but it seemed stale and lumpy.

***I always have a jug of this in the refrigerator. It's the best - full fat buttermilk, don't 

buy the watered down version - and it keeps so well.

****I spray my pans, even though they are non-stick, with canola oil for easy removal,

Personally I don't like paper liners as they often stick and cause the muffin

 (or cupcake) to crumble on removal, especially when fresh.

OK ladies, and any guys out there who love to bake, (unfortunately I don't have one 

who bakes, but I do love him for other reasons), give these a try, when you can get 

the ingredients, and let me know what you think.

"Happy baking, time in the kitchen, days"