Happy Halloween November 1, 2020

 Boo

Halloween was last night. It was a diversion which is what is needed at the moment.

We carved pumpkins and enjoyed a remarkably pleasant day. It was 65 degrees with a really blue sky for most of the day.

I played in the garden. 

With all that sunshine it was a great day for the fall crocuses. At least half of the bulbs planted a month ago were blooming.

I liked this picture since it had the shadow of the stamens.

 

Here are some of those little gems, with movement. It was windy.

I am still adjusting to plants being inside. As the sunshine streamed in through the windows, I gave all the living room crotons the weekly watering they should get. It seems like they take a lot of water. Of course two of the narrow leaf varieties are suffering from the dreaded leaf drop. Plants do that, particularly if they are brought inside when it is cold outside. They react to the temperature change. But to avoid that you almost have to bring them inside in September. Ugh.

Here is the living room croton collection at the moment.

I find if I give them water every weekend that works. I  put them in a bucket and water them until the water runs out the bottom. And then let them sit in the excess water for a while. I want them to get thoroughly wet.

Here is the upstairs cold room. Mostly it has orchid cactus along with clivias. It also has books. Julia has requested that there be access to the books this winter. I am trying.

There are still a fair number of plants in the garage waiting a place somewhere.

Here is the smaller of the jade plants. 

I do check to see if maybe, just maybe, it might bloom. It does that every 4-5 years.

We did have a killing frost this past week. I can start cleaning up old foliage any time in the next 4 months.

Here is one of the few toadlilies that retained some color.

Plants can be beautiful at all times. You just have to expand your definition of beauty.

It is interesting what still hangs in there.

Pansies of course should be around until Thanksgiving.

Dusty miller is a plant that I ignored for a long time. I think this should change. Now I learn that it is frost hardy.

Pulmonaria along with the hellebores will look good for a real long time.  I should clarify that. They will look good despite a freeze, when the temperatures get back above freezing.

This is our parsley, brought back from the 'farm'. It stays in the garage and goes out when the temperatures get above freezing. That will be most of this coming week.

Some hosta were protected from the frost/freeze. Some leaves persist.

The straw flower also continues to shine. 

Julia's recipe

Shrimp risotto

I have found risotto daunting, at least when I read about it. Lots of effusiveness about creaminess and lots of instruction about constant stirring. Seemed too much for the everyday cook. This recipe, slightly adapted from the Milk Street magazine, is not remarkably creamy and also not remarkably labor intensive. And it is tasty.    

Here are the ingredients: 12 oz. of shrimp (about which more later); 2 8 oz. bottles of clam juice; 2 cups of water; 4 tablespoons olive oil (divided); 1/4 cup thinly sliced onion; 1 cup arborio rice (that is short-grained Italian rice, and the use of the correct rice matters); 2 cups little tomatoes; 1 tablespoon (or so) thinly sliced garlic; 3/4 cup non-sweet white wine; 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice; some (1 cup) chopped parsley (or basil if you have it); about 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and maybe 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. 

A word about shrimp. I used 26-30 size, which I understand indicates how many shrimp per pound. These are medium sized. The recipe called for "extra large" shrimp and presumably for fresh shrimp. I find large or extra large shrimp to be too much. If you like them at that size, feel free. Also we live in Iowa, as even occasional readers are aware, which is very far from the Gulf or any other part of a shrimp-growing ocean. I suppose we could be farther if we lived in Minnesota or Nebraska or the Dakotas. But the point is we don't get fresh salt-water seafood. The shrimp at the Co-op is IQF (that is, individual quick frozen). The shrimp taste good and because they are IQF, it is possible to get some out of the bag when frozen solid and then throw the bag back into the freezer for another day, which is what I did. The only thing is our IQF shrimp come deveined and cooked and with their tails still on. The deveined part is good; the cooked part requires some recipe adjustment but is okay; the tail-on part is puzzling and a nuisance. I took out the shrimp that I needed and left them to thaw (partially) so that I could pull or cut the tails off, as I knew that shrimp tails would not improve the dish. 

I started by slicing the onion and the garlic and by heating the clam juice and water in a saucepan to a simmer. When the liquid came to a simmer, I turned it off.  

Then I heated 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a big enameled pan over medium high heat. When it was hot (the oil makes ripples), I added the onion and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and turned the heat down. When the onions had softened (2 or 3 minutes), I added the rice. I stirred the rice to coat it with the oil. 

Next I added the tomatoes and the garlic and stirred some more. 

When the tomatoes had started to soften, I added the wine and stirred it in. 

Next, I ladled in the hot clam juice/water mixture, one ladleful at a time. I stirred, but not constantly, adding more liquid when the previous ladleful had disappeared. 

While the rice was cooking, I chopped the parsley and grated the lemon zest and squeezed the lemon. 

Finally, I got to the point (after about 20 minutes) where the spoon left a trail when I dragged it along the bottom of the pot. 

I added the partially thawed shrimp and turned the heat to low and covered the pot. After a few minutes, I checked and the shrimp were warmed through. 

I turned off the heat and added and stirred in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the lemon zest, the lemon juice and the parsley. I tasted the rice and added another 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. You be the judge of the need to season. 

If you live in a part of the world with fresh shrimp, the process is about the same. Add the shrimp at the end, turn the heat to low and cover the heat and then check after 5 minutes or so to see if the shrimp are done. Times will vary with the size of the shrimp.

On the plate. Or better, in the soup plate. A nice one dish meal, in maybe 45 minutes, from start to finish. We had salad, of course, and some late season melon and cranberry-apple pie. A season-spanning meal. 

Leftovers can be eaten cold or gently reheated. 

Odds and Ends

There were not many children coming around last night. We put out our pumpkins and a basket of candy for self serve. There were a few.

In Maine dressing up occurred.

It was a first for Maisy.

When plants come in, sometimes they bring bugs.

I found aphids on one of the hoyas yesterday. Fortunately it was warm enough to take the plant out on the porch for a good spraying.

I repotted one of the clivias yesterday.  When I did that there was a side shoot. It got its own pot. So now there were 2.

The other thing that happened this weekend is the return of the hour they took away so many months ago. As if we really wanted to prolong our national anxiety for even one second. But it is what it is. So now (Sunday morning) I am up even earlier than usual, trying to figure out which clocks adjust by themselves.

How can you think about gardening at a time like this?
How can you not think about gardening at a time like this?

I think that says it all.

Of course it helps if it is sunny.

I started the blog in 2005. My, but that was a long time ago.  During that time there were many things political. 

There was the week of the Democratic caucus in 2008. The was the nomination of Hillary Clinton. I think there was a night blooming something, that warm August. Ups and Downs. 

In 3 days this waiting will be over. 

I hold onto the garden.

I hold onto friends.

I hold onto hope.

We still have the sign.

Be safe and vote.  Join us in prayer.

Philip