Adventures in Gardening
This spring/summer I am making my first foray into the world of gardening. It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun and I am really enjoying it more than I thought I would. Foe me, the results are totally worth it .
Now, I need to explain to you that I live in a subdivision that has an HOA. My monthly assessment goes for all kinds of things…roof repair, driveway sealing, mailbox replacement, and oh yes, landscaping (also, snow removal, but that is a different rant, one for which you don’t have the time and I don’t have the energy). This consists of mowing, weed and bug kiling (in other words, spraying deadly chemicals), and, apparently, random plantings of weedlike lilies which are never EVER tended and yet seem to grow to have taken over my yard. As a special treat this year, they’ve thrown in the service of cutting my CABLE LINE…twice. I do not like our landscaping company.
I do understand the need to spray the yard and as pro organic as I am, I’m thankful for it. Mosquitos are my worst enemy and as there is a pond about 100 yards from my house, they have to keep on top of it. Because of the spraying, however, I am forced to grow my tomatoes and basil in containers on my deck. They aren’t doing great. Well, one plant is doing well, the others are kind of pathetic. They are in large pots with organic soil and food, full sun, and get water regularly, and theyare just tiny and pathetic. I’m really sad about it actually and I’m trying to turn it around because I LOVE tomatoes. My basil was beautiful and full with big dark leaves, and now it’s flowering and looks kind of puny. I snipped the flowers and now it is supposed to recover, but I don’t know. Basil is cheap…I can get another…but I like the idea of keeping this one nursing it back to health.
Okay…the lilies. I spent an hour and a half ripping them out today and didn’t even touch half of them. Tomorrow the rest are getting whacked. I like the idea of them, but these are just monstrosities. They are seriously over three feet tall…and mostly greenery. I’m replacing them with mums. I bought five small bushes today. ..will plant tomorrow. I also have hanging plants – two on a “shepherds hook,” which isn’t really me, but I have it and it works, and I put up plant hooks (me with my handy drill) for my hanging plants. I can’t remember what they are, but two are bright coral and two are shades of purple. Very pretty
I also planted a bunch of African Marigolds along the sidewalk border, and can I just say I LOVE them. I chose the orange ones, and they look like big lush round golden carnations. Gorgeous! I’m headed back for more tomorrow.
I went on the hunt for some fuscia today, but all I really came up with was impatiens, which will get WAY too much sun on that side of the house. Grrr. I’ve never seen geraniums in the ground, so they’re out, and I couldn’t find petunias or pansies in the colors I need. I’d like to go with some perennials, but I’m finding that most of them, I just don’t like. They looks like weeds. Perhaps a couple of flowering bushes. Peonies…or dare I try a hibiscus. Hmmm…
Fast forward four months
Yeah…there has been no writing. A lot of working out, stress, end of school drama. and general day to day life, but no writing. So I’m relaunching. My gut is telling me to trash everything I’ve written previously and start again, but I’ve realized that that perfectionism is exactly what I am trying to get over…so I’m leaving it. I haven’t blogged for months…didn’t feel like it…and now I do. So I am writing again. End of story. No apologies, no excuses. I have, fo the time being, returned. n 
Hi.
Tomato Soup for the Soul
During the holiday season, J and I ventured out of the suburbs and into the city to see the Christmas lights. It was crowded and crazy and cold, but a memorable experience nonetheless. He had made reservations at an Italian restaurant that was dubbed one of the best kept secrets in the city. I must say that had he not read the review and eaten there previously, I would never have given it a second glance. It was in the back corner of a highrise mall, and when I go out for a special occasion, the last place I want to end up is a mall…but….the food was FABULOUS. Seriously YUM, and it was very inexpensive. Like under $15 for appetizer, entree, dessert, and soda. I had a wonderful pasta, and he had baked spaghetti, which didn’t sound that great to me at the time, but WOW. He also had the most amazing basil tomato soup I’ve ever had in my life. Now I’m a girl who loves a good tomato anything, but this knocked my socks off.
Sadly, the week after we dined there, the restaurant closed.
So began my quest to recreate the tomato soup. I searched the net, and taking my cues from chefs who decidedly do not care about calories and fat content, I stirred up about six different prototypes. They were all good in their own way, but the final result is somethingthat I think is pretty fantastic. J and I eat dinner together probably twice, sometimes three times a week, and he asks for it at least once a week and wants me to make extra for lunches. Also, it’s literally become my default dinner. Don’t have anything else on hand? Don’t feel like cooking? You can throw this together, simmer for 20 min while toss together a salad and pop some garlic bread in the oven, stir in the cream at the end, and dinner is done.
My version isn’t fancy–it doesn’t even have onions and it’s made with canned tomatoes (fresh are a bit hard to come by in the Midwest this time of year!), but to me it’s the ultimate comfort food. Enjoy!
3T butter
1T crushed Garlic
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like San Marzano, D’Fratelli is great, but good old grocery store brand will work fine!
4T fresh chopped basil
2T Oregano
Freshly ground black pepper
1/8-1/4 t. cayenne pepper
Liberal salt
1 cup whole cream
Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and reduce to low heat to brown.Pour in tomatoes. Salt and pepper liberally and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add basil, oregano, and cayenne Do NOT add cream yet. Cover and simmer at very low heat for 20-30 min. Prep salads and garlic cheese bread while soup simmers. After 30 min, uncover and add cream. Stir well and increase heat to thoroughly heat cream. Be careful not to boil as the cream may curdle. Taste test and add more salt and pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls and top with ricotta or Italian cheese of your choice (Parmesan, Romano) and basil garnish.
Serve immediately. It’s better when it’s hot!
ENJOY!
RESOLUTIONS 2008
It’s RESOLUTION TIME! As much as I’d like to be perfectly disciplined and thin, I’ve decided to make realistic, baby step changes this year. Small, doable changes. I welcome your comments!
1)EXPLORE my activitist tendencies and VOLUNTEER. Whether it be a political candidate or social justice issues, I really am an activitist at heart. There are just so many things I feel strongly about. This year I am going to activate the activism.
2) WRITE/ BLOG 3x weekly. Over the holiday I read Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird.” She suggests one write daily. I know that I can’t do that right now. My life doesn’t allow for it. I need to have success at a smaller goal first. Three blogs a week I can do. Who knows, maybe some weeks there will be four entries.
3) WORK OUT 3x weekly. Again, daily is too much. It WILL NOT happen. I’m not going to promise to lose 50 lbs or run a marathon, but getting my behind on an elliptical machine three days a week is doable. Especially since it will give me some one on one time with my iPod (by the way, I’m cheating on my laptop with my iPod right now. I got a new video nano for Christmas and we’re having a torrid affair!).
4) SAY WHAT I MEAN AND MEAN WHAT I SAY I have recently become aware of how prevelant unhealthy passive aggressive comments and actions are in my family. People don’t even realize they are doing it. It’s certainly not meant to be hurtful or malicious, however this subtle manipulation is subversively woven into the fabric of regular conversation. I thought I had broken myself of participating in it and responding to it. This week I learned that that isn’t true. ARGH! Now I LOVE my fam and I know they love me. I’m under no delusion that I can change them, but I MUST change me. It makes me feel like such a child that this is still an issue. It is much less of an issue when I am not with them, but the fact that it is there at all is embarassing to me. I know I can’t just eliminate it over night, but this habit, way of operating must STOP.
5) Spend time in prayer, reading, and reflection 3x a week. (I can’t call it a “quiet time.” Too much evangelical baggage! ) Again, with a goal of 3x a week I can succeed. I know that I do better with daily time like this but this is realistic.
The prodigal blogger returns
The last three weeks have been CRAZY for me! Really, truly all over the map both figuratively and literally. Between holidays, ill (very ill) family members, and unexpectedly ending up in charge of my niece and nephews for a few days (which I loved by the way), I’ve been a quite preoccupied. Even if I’d had the time to blog, I wouldn’t have had the head space. And as much as I LOVE my family, I was ready to come HOME. My introverted self was beginning to demand the attention she was not receiving by poking at my frayed emotions. I am now home and I am thankful.
Snow Day!
It’s actually more of an ICE day. Here in Chicagoland everything has pretty much come to a stand still because we have a half an inch of ice on the ground, so I am home today, which is good because, once again, my cold has reared its ugly head. I don’t think I had one cold all year last year, and this is my THIRD since September. Grrr…
Full Plate
Once again I have put more on my plate than I can realistically get done in the small window of time I’ve alotted myself. Why oh WHY do I continue to do this to myself. ARGH!
Honestly, this time a lot of the issues are just due to my own poor planning and time management. My Golden Apple essays and letters are due Monday. Have I even started on my essays? That would be no. My “HOLIDAY” program is Monday (Kindergarten, First, and Second) and I am stressed about that as usual, AND I agreed to do a 10 minute PPT/Video clip presentation for the principals meeting in my district about our Oklahoma production. Have I delved into that yet? Another big fat NO.
And all I want to do is watch television….but alas…tonight, I write.
Blah
Ah, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. As I travel each year, I’m almost always coming home on this day. Traffic is a bother, the weather is generally dismal. It is usually a blah day. Today is no exception. I’m uninspired and lethargic…and not in the good way. I’m just cranky.
This Thursday, I am being observed and evaluated by the head of fine arts in our district. I know it sounds ridiculous as I was just nominated for a prestigious award for teaching, but I am really, really nervous. I hate justifying everything –aligning the standards on paper, and doing all of the background work for it. Additionally, she has never evaluated me, so I am not completely sure what she expects. AND with my kids, you never know what’s going to happen. ARGH!
Again, I think I am just cranky!
Thankfulness
I am thankful for… (in no particular order and from a not very profound place…hopefully tomorrow I will be more reflective)
A job that is a “get” to go more often than a “have” to go
My dear circle of friends.
Hair bleach
Trader Joes marinara sauce
my laptop computer
Alka-Seltzer plus cold medicine
my amazingly profound eldest nephew
A niece who every bit as much spice as she is sugar.
my wonderfully compassionate second eldest nephew
my fantastically fun youngest nephew
Starbucks sugar-free cinnamon dolce lattes
orange paint
Target
movie musicals
bubble baths
this lip gloss in Illume
La vie Boheme…(a little tiny rant)
Yesterday I had the lovely fortune of going with friend Karen to the Chicago Lyric Opera to see La Boheme. The sets were gorgeous, and the singing was magnificent. It brought back so many memories for me. ”Musetta’s Waltz” was the first “real” aria I ever performed as a young singer, and for several years, I emersed myself in all things Puccini. A career on the stage was my plan…la via boheme. But alas, it wasn’t to be, for several reasons…the major one being that, in reality, I don’t really want to live la vie boheme!
I hadn’t been to the opera for quite some time, in part because my tastes have changed, and partially because it is so stinking expensive (so I am even more grateful to my wonderful friend for this gift) and while I love the opera house, the music, the opera itself, and of course, the singing, I was very struck by the eliteness of it all.
This is a difficult thing for me to understand and justify about the art world. People are just so …I don’t know….hoity toity. I am a regular girl with a regular income and who believes that the arts are for everyone. I am a musician, and artist, and a teacher, and I believe that everyone should be educated about artistic expression, both creating and enjoying others’ creations. It’s NOT just for the rich or for the high brow educated…or for that matter, for the old (which I will address later in this little rant).
Growing up,my family didn’t have a lot of money, but we lived in a small town with a liberal arts college, and a small professional opera company that really,truly believed in art and art education for the masses. I often had the opportunity to see high quality productions and hear fantastic music just blocks from my home (literally- one block east, two blocks north). I thought this was normal. I still think it should be. The truth is that someone in my town, probably from the college, somewhere along the line must have decided that art really is for the people, and not only for the elite. I grew up going to both the opera and to the symphony…and also did regular teenager things like going to rock concerts and listening to pop music. Never once did they seem incompatible to me, and not once did concert going seem an odd activity for my working class family. I realize now in adulthood that my experience was probably abnormal, and yesterday I was particularly struck by the airs that people put on.
The subject matter of this opera in particular was poor “starving artists,” and indeed many if not most operas are about regular people. Mozart’s greatest works were poking fun of the aristocracy (Marriage of Figaro). The great opera composer, Guiseppe Verdi ,was a composer for the masses, and literally became a mascot for the Italian revolution. Regular folks. People who would never set foot in an American opera house today.
The other issue I have is the cost, which is such a difficult subject because certainly, so many people must be paid, however, I believe that if serious artists want to keep their audiences, something is going to have to be done about this. Karen and I were probably 2 of 10 people in the audience of 3500 under the age of 50, and I would venture to say that the majority of the audience was over 65. Opera is fast losing its audience …this generation will be gone in the next 20 years and those who are left will not have the education to appreciate it nor the means to attend.
There is a problem in the art world. I do not have an answer to propose, but I was faced with it head on yesterday and it made me very sad.
