We have taken off our winter coats again.
Windows are open.
The upstairs in our old house overheats during the day.
While I have not turned on the air conditioner, I have thought about it.
This time the temperatures look like they will stay above 40.
I am throwing plants outside.
At least many are making it to the front porch.
Julia commented at dinner last night that the dining room table seemed empty.
That was because all the plants from the table had moved to that front porch.
I do have to be careful in putting them outside. If you put them in direct sun they will get sun burn. There is a lot of direct sun since the leaves have not come out yet.
It was 75 yesterday (Saturday) and it is suppose to get to 80 today.
There are flowers where we anticipate them coming, whether that is going to be in several days or several weeks.
Well yesterday, it was the purple pasque flower.
I have found pasque flowers not to be entirely reliable.
This clump is in a good location so has come back for 4-5 years.
These wildflowers can be purchased very inexpensively at the local HyVee. ($3-4/a piece)
Here is a closer picture. I think this might appear in the contest next December.
Right now
There is so much going on at the moment.
This wonderful clump was planted 4-5 years ago. It likes its location.
Here is another picture you may see next winter.
The wildflower dog tooth violets had many blooms this week.
The individual flowers do get big. Of course they always face down, making photographs difficult.
This is a variety of dog tooth violet that is also a wildflower. It is nowhere near as hardy as the white variety.
It seems like there are so many white flowers
The Double bloodroot is about done.
This is a white anemone blanda. Most that I have are purple. The white ones seem bigger.
This is a little rue anemone.
These two pictures will give you an idea about how spring is accelerating this week, particularly these last few days. Here you see our star magnolia. The stars around town bloomed this week. As of yesterday the pink saucer magnolias have started. (Sometime they are called 'tulip trees'.
This was Wednesday.
This was Friday.
The individual flowers do get disorganized.
More pictures
Anemone blanda
Species tulip.
I think that means it is not a hybrid.
The big question is whether it tastes good to deer.
They are out there. A neighbor told me there is a little local herd, consisting of maybe as many as 9 members.
Sometimes the light is just right.
That trillium you have seen before is now blooming.
The fritillaria have started. They make wonderful shapes.
What to watch for
The bluebells are a few days away from opening.
The hardy slipper orchids might bloom by the end of the week.
The little bearded iris should be coming soon.
The epimedium have just started.
Julia's recipe
Sloppy Joes
My mother made Sloppy Joes for festive family gatherings like graduation parties or kid birthday parties. Some years later, after having SJs at her place, I asked for a recipe, and she wrote down, on a little piece of paper, "hamburger, onion, ketchup, mustard." Insufficient guidance, really; more of an essential parts list. I recently ran across a recipe for Sloppy Joes in Cook's Magazine. It had more ingredients and was a bit fussy, but with a few tweaks, it made very fine Sloppy Joes, worthy of someone's 11th birthday party.
The ingredients: 1 lb. ground beef (85% lean - no leaner than that); a little bit of regular oil (not olive or coconut); 1/3 cup finely chopped onion; 2 teaspoons smushed garlic (about 2-3 cloves, depending on their size); 1 teaspoon brown sugar; 1/2 teaspoon plus a smidge of baking soda; 2 teaspoons paprika; 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 1/2 cup ketchup; 1 tablespoon prepared mustard; 1 tablespoon wine (or not) vinegar; 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce; 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch and a bit of salt. And a bit of water.
A lot of ingredients but I hope they are things you have in your cupboard. Nothing too exotic here.
I started by mixing 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt with 1 tablespoon of water and mushing that into the ground beef. I set the bowl of meat aside. And then I chopped the onion and smushed the garlic, putting each in a little dish. Then I mixed the brown sugar, paprika, pepper flakes and1/4 teaspoon of salt in another little dish. And I mixed the ketchup, vinegar, mustard and worcestershire sauce in a fourth little dish.
I started the cooking by putting about 1 tablespoon of plain oil in a big skillet, and heating it up on medium-high for a minute or two. When the oil was hot (test with a drop of water which should skitter about), I added the onions and 1/8 teaspoon (a/k/a smidgen) of baking soda. I cooked the onions for about 3 minutes until they were soft and beginning to brown. The bit of baking soda did seem to hasten the cooking. Then I added the garlic, and about 30 seconds later (when I could smell the garlic), I added the little bowlful of spices and brown sugar, and gave that a quick stir. Then I added the tomato paste and cooked all that stuff for about 2 more minutes, having turned the heat down to medium. Watch it carefully, so nothing burns.
Then I added the beef, and cooked it for about 5 minutes, still on medium. I am told that adding a bit of baking soda and water to ground meat makes it tender and juicy. Something about the ph of the meat. I broke the meat up with a spoon as it cooked, since we were looking for sandwich material here.
The recipe suggested mashing the meat with a potato masher once it was cooked through to improve texture. I did not find that necessary.
Next I added the contents of the little bowl with the ketchup, vinegar, worcestershire sauce and mustard and stirred that in.
Lastly I mixed 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water and added that in. Cornstarch and water is a thickener. I am not sure it was necessary, and you should feel free to leave it out.
I stirred the mixture for a bit to make sure everything was combined well, and we were ready to eat.
We served our Sloppy Joes on small buns (sometimes called slider buns), with potato chips and cole slaw.
The whole operation took about 40 minutes, which makes this a candidate for a weeknight supper.
I think this recipe would feed 4 hungry people (2 sliders each). Philip and I had leftovers for lunch a couple of times, which was very nice. The SJ mixture heats up easily.
Odds and Ends
It is time to clean the pond. I did not do anything with the pots containing the waterlilies last year. I just changed the water. This year I have to get into the pond and do some mucking. Let us all hope I do not fall down in the pond.I am concerned that the waterlilies have just grown out of all their pots.
Here is the pond with some water drained. You know it is time when the plants are waking.
I am battling the evil weed already. It is Campanula rapunculoides. It will grow all around many perennials, requiring out of the ground surgery to disentangle the bad stuff. I work on clumps at a time. Iris and daylilies are two types of plants that are particularly subject to this menace.
Here is a little iris clump.
This is absolutely the wrong time of year to divide many plants. It will likely mean they will not bloom this year.
So I will consider this a controlled experiment.
Here is the evil weed after removal.
The roots will get as big as your fingers.
It is the time of year when it is light out before 6 in the morning.
I do believe there were birds awake at 5 this morning.
(The windows were open so we could tell.)
I should go out and find something to do.
There is a long list.
Enjoy the season.
Philip
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