November 12, 2017- It is just November.

The colder weather seems to be here to stay. There is a cold but gentile rain this morning.
We have had our sun for the week.
When it the rain stops maybe I will plant some bulbs.

I have accepted the fact that some plants will not get to slip back outside for a few warm weeks. Inside time is here. The last 6-7 bigger plants will need to come inside from the garage. That is where the car should go.

 I really have to establish a routine for this inside time. I need a routine for caring for the now indoor plants.
It is not as simple as watering everything every weekend. Some plants with bigger pots do not need to be watered that frequently.
Hopefully a lot of them will be monthly. In those cases I try to water them at the first of each month.

But we have family guests this weekend, so time is short, as is this blog today.

Last week

Here were the pictures you selected last week for this year's contest.
You picked the single pink poppy.
It was a very tight vote, 13-12.

Gingerland Caladium is now one of my favorite caladium.
You picked the single leaf picture.

The vote was 16-9-4

Finally you picked the full flower red poppy.
The vote was 16-9. It really is a good red.

For this week there was really only one picture from outside. That is not really enough to hold a vote.
It was the bravest little crocus, which has now stood up to several hard freezes. It looked like this on the sunny warm Wednesday afternoon. It was still standing tall Saturday. It did refuse to open up however, as if to say it would only open if the sun was shining and the temperature was warm enough.

For you voting pleasure this week, as we count down the weeks (now just two) until the start of this years contest, I have gone to the archives.
Here are some of my favorites from 2011.
Tell me which ones you like best. You may vote for two.

#1  Bloodroot

#2 Bluebells
I can't wait for the bluebells to start. That really means winter is done.

#3 Peony

#4  Asiatic lily.

#5 Trillium

#6   Pansy














There you have 6 pictures I liked from the 2011 contest. They were not necessarily the winners or even the finalists.
Tell me which you like. (You can vote for two.)

Julia's recipe

Chicken and peppers

This dish is exactly as described, a comforting attribute in these troubled times. It is also tasty and fast and easy to prepare. The original came from a cookbook called More 60-Minute Gourmet by Pierre Franey, from the early 1980s. I do not know whatever happened to Pierre Franey; however, his 2 cookbooks (60-Minute Gourmet and More 60-Minute Gourmet) contain some fine easy and tasty and fast made-from scratch recipes. The chicken and peppers dish in fact can go from ingredients to the table in less than 60 minutes.

I started with a bunch of green pepper sticks. Actually yellow bell pepper sticks as they were the most attractive bell peppers at the last regular farmers' market. I cut the top and bottoms off several peppers then sliced off the sides in slabs. I cut the slabs into sticks (and gave Philip the other bits to cut up for the salad). I had about 2 or 2 1/2 cups. You should feel free to use any colors of bell peppers you like or a combination of colors for visual interest. I also smooshed up a large clove of garlic to get to about 1 teaspoon. I had 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts totaling a little under 1lb. There were 3 of us for dinner so I cut each chicken breast into 3 pieces so we would each have 2 pieces when it came time to eat.

I melted 2 tablespoons of butter in large skillet and added the chicken pieces. I sprinkled each piece with a little salt and pepper. After a few minutes (say 3 or 4) on medium high heat, I flipped the chicken pieces over and sprinkled the previously unsalted sides with a little salt and pepper.

This is a good time to start rice if that's what you like or a pot of water to cook Israeli cous cous or orzo or another small pasta.

When the second side was lightly browned but not yet cooked through (say another 3 minutes), I pushed the chicken over to one side as illustrated, added another tablespoon of butter to the vacated side and then added the garlic and the peppers.

I cooked (and stirred) the peppers for maybe 4 minutes until they had started to give up. The I added 1/2 cup of white wine (not sweet, not expensive, but certainly not anything labeled as cooking wine or cooking sherry). Then I put the lid on and lowered the heat to low and let the ingredients simmer for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, I tested the chicken (by sticking a knife in the center of a bigger piece and taking a peek - no pink means done), and then I removed the chicken and peppers to a serving plate (as below).

Then I turned off the heat, added 1 more tablespoon of butter to the flavorful liquid in the pan and stirred the butter in until it melted. I poured this sauce over the chicken and peppers.

And here is the final product. This recipe can be increased with no hard math problems if you are feeding more people. Fast and tasty!












Odds and the end

News about asclepias?
It is not everyday that a plant type I have in my garden is featured on a liberal webcite. Well, this was from several days ago.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/11/9/1713949/-Interviewing-Asclepias-vindication-and-a-crown-for-milkweed-in-Illinois


Stay warm. Safe travels.
Philip