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a good weekend

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07:06 pm
5/11/08

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anita_margarita
V. good weekend.

I made oven-fried chicken on Friday night that turned out perfectly. Saturday morning I got up early and went to the farmer's market, and bought red onions so beautiful that I was tempted to just take a bite out of one. Also sugar snap peas, arugula, salad mix, goat cheese (which is marinating right now in olive oil, herbs de Provence, hot pepper flakes, shallot, and rosemary), a day-old loaf of bread at a great discount. There is a vendor of Indian foods who is quite the salesman - a solid-ish young Indian who calls you darling and is constantly distributing naan with a lusicous array of toppings - cilantro riata, chicken tikka masala, eggplant chutney. I always stop by to have a few tastes and usually buy at least some naan or crackers.

The Drumrights came over to Gary's. I made a yogurt dip and put out the sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, and baby bell peppers to dip. Gary had bought some deli macaroni salad to which I added some chopped dill pickles and minced red onion, and he grilled culotte steaks and corn on the cob, and I made cherries jubilee for dessert. A lovely evening with some of the nicest people we know.

Today I made the remaining cherries and another can of them into cherry sauce, and turned that loaf of bread from the farmer's market into French toast.

I mowed and mowed - a big yard is a work in progress. In the afternoon I went to Big Lots and bought four new cushions for the patio chairs. When I got home I moved the table and chairs into a better location - I had foolishly put them under the mulberry tree and they were starting to get purple stains. After the mulberries are over I can move them back, but right now they're better off away from the tree. Here's a hint: do not plant fruiting mulberry trees unless you absolutely love the berries, though I don't know anyone who actually eats them.

Spent some time in the pantry - I had numerous bags of spices that needed to be put into jars and labeled. Afterwards I found some coriander seeds left over, so I planted them and presumably will have cilantro in a few weeks. And I made a batch of fresh salsa.

It was very mild today - I don't know if it even got to 80 degrees - but starting Tuesday we are expecting a BIG warm-up and it will be hitting 100 and over by Thursday. Summer is on the way.

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On May 12th, 2008 02:29 am (UTC), [info]elizaswain commented:
Mulberry story: my pastor has a mulberry tree in his/the church's driveway (or will for a few more days, they're removing it). One day he came home to find two bicyclists sitting under it eating the mulberries. They asked if it was okay, he said yes, and they explained that they had driven 5 miles off their path (10 round trip) on a cross-country trip because someone had told them about the tree. He was amazed that his tree was known!

So now you know of someone who will drive 10 miles to eat free mulberries. :)

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On May 12th, 2008 02:31 am (UTC), [info]anita_margarita replied:
... I only hope that on their return trip to their original route that they knew the location of some handy restrooms.
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On May 12th, 2008 04:27 am (UTC), [info]al_qhadhulu commented:
Sounds like you had what I consider a lovely weekend, indeed. :)
We started eating the mulberries from our trees, today. It's a race between the birds and us. Before week's end, they'll all have ripened and be gone. We get merely a handful, each day, so no worries about the laxative effect. Our trees are an acre away from us, so no danger of marring furniture or making a sticky mess of the drive and vehicles.
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On May 12th, 2008 11:31 am (UTC), [info]anita_margarita replied:
I'm amazed. All these years with the tree and nobody I ever met ate mulberries or ever heard of anyone eating them.

Toward the end of the mulberries, the wild doves often get soused on the fermented ones and fall into the grass and lie there in a drunken stupor... at least, until the cats come along.

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On May 12th, 2008 04:32 am (UTC), [info]yummydeb commented:
My godparents used to have a little octagonal log cabin across from the house I grew up in. There was a big deck out back, high off the ground, and an enormous back yard going down a long slope into tangled woods. Just after the deck was the mulberry tree. I spent days standing under it, surrounded by gorgeous yummy mulberries.

And I learned the hard way that big black ants like mulberries too, and that you don't see them very well when the mulberries are ripe.

...

Lastly, are culotte steaks somewhere in size between shorts steaks and pants steaks?

/bad fashion reference

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On May 12th, 2008 11:32 am (UTC), [info]anita_margarita replied:
Oh yes, the big black ants make a special detour into the mulberry tree.

And culotte steaks are served with sandals and a cute little top.

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On May 12th, 2008 03:06 pm (UTC), [info]yummydeb replied:
HEE! Cute little top! *Snort*
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On May 12th, 2008 05:10 am (UTC), [info]daily_rant commented:
I ought to know better than to read your blog before I turn in. It always makes me hungry. Dang it.
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On May 12th, 2008 05:43 am (UTC), [info]onlylisa commented:
Grrr I have to remember to stop reading your food posts at 4pm when Im just starting to get the afternoon hungries!!
Im glad you had such a nice weekend.
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On May 12th, 2008 11:33 am (UTC), [info]anita_margarita replied:
It was very pleasant, thanks. It's 4:30 AM here and I have to take a shower, then go pick Gary up and take him for his knee surgery, so the niceness is all over and I will become Nurse Ratched.
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On May 12th, 2008 02:10 pm (UTC), [info]bhline commented:
I enjoy reading about your life - it makes me happy to know that what I dream of for my own existence is not far off from how others live and appreciate their day to day. Hope that makes sense. :)
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On May 12th, 2008 02:50 pm (UTC), [info]supermatt41 commented:
Now I'm even more frustrated I missed out on dinner Saturday night, even though I would have been perfectly happy with just the company.

Yesterday really was the perfect weather, wasn't it? And with 100+ degrees headed our way, it's going to be a long summer.

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On May 12th, 2008 06:29 pm (UTC), [info]katana1 commented:
No one on my LJ writes about food quite like you. :)

...summer arrived early here. Yay. 26 degrees today and I believe it is the hottest day of the year thus far - according to husband - but I need to verify that!

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On May 13th, 2008 11:03 pm (UTC), [info]denimblues commented:
Everything you cook sounds delicious. You have been very busy it sounds like. I guess it is better to get all the work done outside before it gets to that 100F mark.
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