Peach Shortcake

I saw a recipe for strawberry shortcake using a donut for the shortcake.  That sounded interesting. But then I heard that Bryant Orchards had opened.  They pick fresh peaches each day and put them in their store.  If you have only eaten peaches from the grocery store, you have never tasted a real peach.  The ones at Bryant Orchards are sweet and delicious and not mealy and hard like those in the grocery stores.

I decided to get some fresh peaches and make a Peach shortcake using donuts!

Peach Shortcake

Peaches
Donuts
Greek Vanilla Yogurt

  

This is super easy! Peel and slice the peaches.

  

Slice the donuts horizontally.  Place some peach slices on one half of a donut.  Spoon some yogurt on top of the slices and then cover the yogurt with more peaches.  Put the other half of the donut on top and you're done!

  

I took the finished picture and was a little disappointed.  It didn't look too exciting.

  

Fortunately I had a can of whipped cream in the refrigerator.  That made a better picture.  And added fun to the shortcake!

  

I was thinking a giant scoop of ice cream would make it even better, but I didn't have any ice cream.  If you have ice cream, then I would definitely add a scoop!

Grilled California Chicken

Have you noticed that you can make almost any recipe a "California" recipe by adding an avocado?  That is what this is.  A great chicken recipe.....with avocado.  I started with a recipe from Delish and made minor changes.

This is a great recipe for the grill, but we don't have one, so I used my George Foreman grill.  Don't judge me.  It counts!

Grilled California Chicken

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
pinch Kosher salt
ground black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
1 avocado, sliced
4 slices tomato
3 Tablespoons sliced basil IF YOUR STUPID GROCERY STORE HAS ANY!
sourdough bread, optional

  

Balsamic Glaze

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon brown sugar

  

Place the chicken breasts in a gallon size Ziploc bag.  Mix up all the ingredients listed above chicken breasts. This is the marinade.  Pour it over the chicken.

  

Place the sealed bag in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. Longer is better.

  

Use the wait time to slice up the toppings and make the glaze.

  

Pour the balsamic vinegar in a small sauce pan and add the brown sugar.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Stir frequently until it is reduced by half.  Easy, right?  Set it aside for later.  Mine thickened too much to drizzle when it cooled, so I just reheated it and then it was perfect.  And quite tasty!

  

Grill the chicken until it is no longer pink in the middle.  If you have an instant read thermometer, it should be 170 º.  Don't remove them from the grill.

  

Place the mozzarella, avocado and tomatoes on top of the chicken breasts.  Cover them to melt the cheese.

Place the chicken on toasted sourdough bread and drizzle the very delicious balsamic glaze over the top.  Sprinkle with basil, assuming your store didn't run out on you.....

  

My avocado didn't want to stay where it belonged.  I just smashed it on the toasted sourdough and placed the chicken on the avocado toast.  Avocado toast is a new ..ish.. trend and I happen to be trendy!

A jaunt

  

Lee has been working on his new-to-him GMC truck.  He touched one of the hoses under the cab and the whole thing disintegrated. This encouraged him to replace all hoses and wires that showed their age, which is a lot of them.

  

After working on the truck for a few weeks, he decided to take it out for a jaunt in the country.  He had only been driving it in and out of the shelter.  The gearing is different than he is used to and he wanted to do some practice shifting and the steering is way different.

  

He has the name of the large truck mechanic in case of trouble.  (What did we do before cell phones?)   Once all the small repairs are made, I may go with him.  But only when it is cool.  No A/C.  I am a wimp and require cool air.  That is pricey, so he may not get around to it.

  

So, if that's the case, I will wait here for him.

  

He just got back.  The test drive was a success!

Cutting Hay

Cutting hay is a miserable, dangerous job.  Strangely the farmer, who I won't name because I didn't ask for permission, loves it.  We have placed large objects on tree stumps that are invisible due to the tall grass and he laughs at us.  He has cut our place and knows every dip and stump.  That is a man that knows what he is doing.
 
  

He works a full time job and he and his family run cows, in addition to that.  Most of the people around here that raise cows do that.  Its hard to make a living doing just one job.

  

He says he loves to cut hay. That is hard to imagine.  You cut the grass and let it dry out in the field before baling it, so you have to cut when it is scorching hot.  The bugs are out and the air is still.  He does it after working a full day elsewhere.  Are there any young people coming up that are willing to work this hard?

  

This year the farmer got 35 giant round bales for his work. That gives him 35 days of feed for his cows over the winter.  No money changes hands.  He gets the feed for his labor and his diesel to run the tractors. We get our fields cut and this also prevents junk trees and other plant life from taking over.  We used to get hay for our horses, in exchange for allowing him to cut our pastures, but we no longer keep horses, so all the hay goes off the property.

  

Then Lee got out our tractor and bush hogged the slopes that are too steep to use the baling equipment.  Once again, this is dangerous and hot.  You have to go straight up and down or risk rolling over. You want to cut as close to the tree trunks as possible, while trying not to smack yourself with the branches that are right in your face.

  

A tractor doesn't stop.  It just keeps chugging along in the direction you pointed it.  The operator has to keep looking ahead and behind while keeping track of multiple foot pedals and hand controls.  You have to maintain focus while going back and forth and around in circles on the same pasture. Don't hit a hidden tree stump.  Don't swerve and flip.  Remember your seat belt!

  

But when the fields are cut and the rolls of hay are randomly placed, it is a beautiful sight.  I try to remember to stop and appreciate the fact that I get to live here.  It is a damn fine place to be.

Ocean Series

I wanted to make a basket for someone who lives close to the ocean.  I searched for some fabric that reminded me of waves and found this blue green fabric with silver highlights.  It reminded me of the color within a wave, with the sunlight glinting off the water.

  

I looked for, and found, a bright white with some movement to represent the foamy crest of the waves.  

  

I finished the basket with a starfish charm.  I liked it so much I decided to make another basket with an ocean theme.

  

The first basket represented a cresting wave.  The next basket will represent the colors of the ocean from very deep and up to the surface.  Many people have been to the beach and noticed the differing colors from where the water is shallow and out where it is deeper.

I grew up in Southern California and spent my childhood at the beach, even living on my sailboat for a time in my wild and crazy youth.  I lived for several years in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Tonga.  I have snorkeled, gone scuba diving, boogie boarded and sailed in many parts of the world.  I love the ocean.  I wanted to make a basket that explored some of these feeling and colors.

  

The right side of this fabric has gold curlicues and isn't right.  But the inside is a mix of dark blues and is perfect for the bottom of the basket.

The rest of the basket is an ever changing mix of batiks in shades of blues and greens, with designs to represent the seaweed and other plants growing in the oceans.

  

The top of the basket has the light blue green fabric with the white from the first basket.  I completed the basket with a mix of small, polished, blue stones for coral and a seahorse and clam shell peeking out of my miniature reef.

  

Do you think this is a good representation of the ocean?  I am really liking this exploration and am already planning another basket.

Bookworm Bookmarks

My friend Rena Worthen is the genealogy librarian in Fincastle, VA.  This is the library in Botetourt County that has the most extensive material for researching your roots.  Fincastle is the county seat for Botetourt County.  She has added tons of material and researches names at as many local cemeteries as she can find.  Now she needs more bookcases.

  

On a recent trip to a library in Pennsylvania, she saw that they were selling bookworm bookmarks as a fundraiser.  Rena decided this was a way to help her purchase her bookcase.  Then she decided that I would be the perfect patsy best one to make these bookmarks.  I was a willing servant and started making some based on the pattern she provided me.
    

I have a lot of yarn from various other projects, so I made a few in several colors.

  

  

Most are long enough to use in a hardback book.

  

Googly eyes make them look more wormlike and kind of cute!

  

I made a few short ones with no eyes for little kids so they can't choke on them.  I didn't make too many of the little ones as a kid book is usually finished in one sitting, but if someone wants to buy one for their little one, who am I to argue?

I have a large, flat, heart-shaped basket made with patriotic fabric that I thought would nice for a display.  A silly sign finished off my contribution.

  

If they sell, I will make more.  This is an experiment to see if there is a market for hand crocheted bookmarks in the library.  It is up to Rena to price them.  The cost of the yarn and the googly eyes is negligible, but each one takes about 10 minutes to make, so I hope she gets a decent contribution for them.