September 8, 2024- where is that sweater?

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 75. I celebrated by taking it easy. I had a wonderful dinner of chicken curry. Dessert was stovetop rice pudding. When it is you birthday you get to pick the menu.

For much of the week it was cool (and dry). This very early morning, Sunday morning, it is 41 degrees.  It just feels like October. Crisp and Cool. The kind of cool that makes you actually look across the street to see if there was a frost. The caladium are not happy.

It was a busy week at work. It seemed like every day (all 4 of them) was full of deadlines. That left little time for gardening. 

Last Monday was a holiday and we did not go to work. Maggie, Julia and I went out by Solon, which is ten miles north of Iowa City, and had a picnic. Even though it has been rather dry these last 3 weeks, it is still green from the wet summer.

The zinnias are giving the garden that dose of color it needs.

But the deer.... I did learn something. Zinnia buds taste better than the flowers. Would you have known that?

I think I have maybe 20-25 plants. The deer left all 4 flowers alone. They ate the top off every other one, but one.

I explained to Scott that the deer have helped us by deadheading in advance those flowers that were in bud. Moreover by eating the top third of the plant it will be encouraged to branch out. There will be even more flowers in a month.

I am not even going to talk about cabbage worms.

We might have special flowers today. There should be 4 cactus flowers today. 

Maybe this Night Blooming Cereus variety will also have bloomed.

Then there was/is this nice croton. I have had some crotons bloom before. Let me just say that these plants are not particularly known for their bloom. 

It is blooming.

But what is that down below?  Here is a closeup.

One possibility is it is just a very young bloom stalk. 

I will watch it the next week.

I love the garden when it does something new.

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Other  pictures

Particularly with the cool weather these flowers are lasting a long time.

The tree peony seeds are showing. I need to get them in the ground today.

This is a plant that goes by the name of turtle head. Its formal name is Chelone. It is another late bloomer, which is what you look for this time of year.

At a time when many hosta are a little ragged, this one looks so nice. Now I just have to find the lost label.

 Julia's recipe

Rice Chex treats

This recipe, for no-bake bar cookies, is from Michael Knock, the food guy for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. It seems like a good idea for the beginning of the school year. People need a little something to nibble on in their lunch box or after school. In fact, I sent a pan of these bars off to Maine to congratulate Christopher and Maisie on their first week of school - C. started 2nd grade and M. started pre-K.  

The ingredients:

3 cups Rice Chex;

1/2 cup chow mein noodles - broken up;

1/2 cup brown sugar;

1/2 cup light corn syrup;

1/2 cup peanut butter;

1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract;

1/2 teaspoon salt;

1/2 cup chocolate chips;

1/2 cup butterscotch chips;

and no-stick spray for the pan. 

I used chow mein noodles because I had chow mein noodles. You could use broken up pretzels instead. Not sure I would use potato chips or other such chips. The recipe suggested adding a small handful of little marshmallows. I did not have marshmallows. The idea is to add some variety to the texture. If you use pretzels, reduce the salt. 

First I poured the cereal and chow mein noodles (which I had put in a plastic bag and used a rolling pin on) into a big bowl. 

Then I measured the corn syrup and brown sugar into a sauce pan. 

I put the saucepan on over medium heat until the brown sugar had melted. I whisked from time to time. 

Then I added the peanut butter to the brown sugar-corn syrup mixture and stirred it in.

I used chunky peanut butter. Smooth would be fine. 

Then I added the salt and the vanilla and mixed some more. 

By the way, I was using store-brand imitation vanilla. Much less expensive and I can't tell the difference. Apparently neither can the America's Test Kitchen folks nor the Milk Street folks. Good enough for me. 

I keep real vanilla extract on hand in case I am making some kind of custard and I think it might make a difference. 

I poured the peanut butter stuff into the big bowl and used a spatula to mix it up. It took a little while - the peanut butter mixture was thick. But everything did get coated. 

I also lubed up an 8" x 8" disposable pan, suitable for mailing. 

Here is the mixture in the pan.

And this is where I got into don't-dirty-another-pan trouble. I tried to melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in the pan I had used to melt the brown sugar into the corn syrup. 

The chips melted and seized up into a clump in an uncooperative way. I am sure there was some science involved. I was able to get the melted chips into a workable consistency, but it required melting a total of 4 tablespoons of butter into the mass of chips. 

So - use a microwave if you have one. If not, make yourself a double boiler by putting a bowl over a slightly smaller pan of simmering water. No-drama melting (without the addition of butter) will occur.

The melted chips would not pour, but I was able to plop them around the top of the bars and then spread the plops.  

The bars were good. How do I know? We set aside a small portion of the bar mixture and melted chips to taste for ourselves. Good. Vaguely reminiscent of elementary school. 

If you have many mouths to feed, double everything and put the bars in a 9" x 13" pan. 

Odds and Ends

I am not ready for the cold time. But soon I will have to think about bringing plants inside. 

Mary Peltola is the US Reprentative to Congress from Alaska. She is a Democrat. Her slogan for the 2024 campaign is Fish, Family, Freedom.

The world is still a scary place. Stay strong. 

Pray for peace.

Pray that the voters in this country wake up.

It is always good to hear from you.

Philip