keljonma's Front Porch - Settling in and adjusting

[keljonma]

TR and I have been getting a lot done around the place - mostly clean up, as the last tenants just threw their crap and garbage all over the yard. We took 2 tall kitchen garbage cans full of pieces of glass and plastic to the recycle center today. The Saturn was full of cardboard and paper from the hive shipment as well.

We start our mornings with coffee out on the back porch. TR will be back on days soon, so I am really enjoying this morning time with him.

The wild birds get kind of ticked because they won't go to the feeders while we are there. TR and I are thinking of moving the wild bird feeders to the lilacs, and put the hummers by the porch as hummers don't mind feeding while people are nearby.

Our two lilacs have large buds, but haven't bloomed yet... the dandelions aren't even out yet here! We haven't seen any bees at all yet this year.

Temps are in the high 70s and the sunshine is terrific. Our weather is calling for overcast and mid 60 on Easter Sunday but we are enjoying this warm spell...

With all this warm weather, I thought I would see more flower blossoms in the yard. But so far, only the snowdrops have popped. There is an old rose bush on the east side of the house, but it will be in complete shade as soon as the tree leaves pop. So we are thinking of moving it.

I have to put the foundation into the hive and then we are all set for honey bees.

My sister-in-law is bringing us an old wicker set (two chairs, a loveseat and a table) that we are either going to use in the sunroom or split up to use the chairs on the back porch and the loveseat and table in the sunroom. I don't know how large it is - she's bringing it in her pickup truck - so where we put it will depend on how large the pieces are.

Have a great week-end!

 

[keljonma]

Had a great visit with my sis in law and nephew. Nephew (19 and a freshman in college) was totally bored hanging with his mom and aunt and uncle.... Nephew used to love to get Sam (our Golden Campine roo) to chase him around the farm yard, so he was lonely for Sam I guess. After dinner (beef tenderloin, asparagus, baked onions, tossed salad, dinner rolls, cheesecake ice cream, fresh strawberries with real whipped cream), nephew went walking some of the 85 acres. He said he found a tractor with a large tree growing out of it.

Weather has been perfect and TR and I have been cleaning up the yard some.

Bees are coming 3rd week of April!

 

[lorihadams]

CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM..... wow!

 

[keljonma]

Yes it was YUMMY!!!!! I don't have the recipe with me, but it is really easy to make, and does not require an ice cream maker.

The recipe only makes about 1 1/2 pints, but is enough for 4 people to get one nice size serving. We topped it with the fresh strawberries and the real whipped cream.

Next time I come to the library, I'll bring the flash card with me so I can post recipes.

Have a great day!

 

[keljonma]

Cheesecake Ice Cream Recipe

According to the cookbook this recipe came from, there is so much butterfat in this frozen dessert that it will never freeze solid; instead its consistency remains soft and creamy. That may be true if you leave it in the freezer for the 5 to 6 hours they recommend; but an overnight freeze left ours completely solid!

Instead of the red wine, we served it topped with fresh strawberries and freshly whipped slightly sweetened heavy cream.

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Freeze Time: 5 to 6 hours


4 egg yolks
6 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 cups milk
Peeled rind of 1/2 a lemon
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 pound fresh strawberries, hulled & larger ones cut up
6 Tablespoons red wine, optional

Combine the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl with 1/4 cup of the milk. Place the remaining milk and the lemon rind in a saucepan over low heat and heat slowly until hot. Stir about 1/4 cup of hot milk into the egg yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove the lemon peel.

Add the cream cheese, whisking until smooth. Beat the cream until soft peaks form. Whisk into the custard.

Pack the mixture firmly into a deep, 1 1/2 pint glass or plastic container. Cover tightly and freeze for 5 to 6 hours, until firm.

Scoop the ice cream into balls with an ice cream scoop and store in a covered container in the freezer.

Serve the ice cream scoops in dessert glasses with the strawberries and, if desired, a tablespoon of red wine pour over each serving.

 

[keljonma]

Yesterday I had a really long post typed up and then the library computer timed out on me while I was waiting for the post to submit.

We have had temps in the 70s, but today we are in the low 60s and with the rain and wind, the temp feels like we are mid 50s.

I have dill, lavender and rosemary with the bush green beans out on the back porch (it wasn't raining early this morning when I put them out), but I think I may have to bring the rosemary and lavender in, as they really don't like the cold as well as some other plants. In Texas, we had 3 foot high hedges of rosemary along the sidewalks, and I would love to do that again....but I am doubtful they would survive our NE Ohio winters. :/

I am getting ready to transplant the spider plant given to us last year by QA & her dh E. It has a bazillion babies on it. I took some great pics of our place this week, as we finally got the digital camera to work..however, I haven't figured out how to get them from the camera program on the pc at home to the flash drive so I can download them to my photobucket account.

The tree near the spot where I am hoping to locate our bees was in full flower bloom yesterday. There were a number of bumble bees on the tree and some honey bees (near the top, so I couldn't get a pic of them) as well. The tree has thorns, and appears to be some variety of Hawthorn, but I could be wrong.

The lilacs on the place (there seem to be 4 or 6 of them) are starting to form flower buds. Our friend Pat (who is very good friends with the landlords) said that she remembers that each lilac is a different color.

According to the work schedule TR is supposed to work days starting this Saturday (the 11th). I guess we will be back to the every other week-end off schedule, but I can't tell from the schedule he brought home.

Yesterday I turned in the prayer shawls I made to the Mary/Martha circle. The women were working on the Relay For Life quilt that will be raffled off to benefit that cause. Julie and Mikki will quilt breast cancer ribbons on the pink quilt squares after the quilt is completely put together.

We have a huge conflict of commitments on April 17!! The Beek Club is having their monthly meeting. And April's meeting is always the fun fund raising auction and during the meeting they will do a package installation of the hive Roland built during the March meeting. The complete hive is one of the items up for auction. However, our church district is having a district wide meeting that day as well, and TR and I were already committed to attending some of the sessions. So we will miss out on the Beek auction this year again.

On April 24th, our church couples group is holding its annual international pot luck dinner. Our couples group meets at different members' houses every month, so that one couple doesn't have to host all the time. This month's meeting will be at Pastor Josh and Eileen's place, and will be our last meeting at their place, as Pastor Josh is going to his new church in July.

It looks like TR's new schedule will move April's Experiencing God group meeting to May 1st.

April is shaping up to be a very busy month, and I still need to figure out a way to schedule a trip to QA's with a pair of muscovies.

Well, I better submit this; I would hate to lose a post two days in a row.

 

[keljonma]

Here is the recipe I made for Easter.

This recipe serves 6.

Peppered Beef Fillet/Tenderloin
2 - 3 pounds trimmed beef fillet/tenderloin
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup coarsely ground black peppercorns
kosher or sea salt

Preheat oven to 450. Have meat at room temperature and wipe dry with a paper towel. Brush lightly with olive oil and roll in crushed peppercorns spread out on a baking sheet or large sheet of foil. Make sure meat is lightly covered with peppercorns all over. Place meat in roasting pan fitted with roasting rack. Lower oven temp to 400 and roast meat, uncovered, until done. Roasting time depends on temperature of meat when placed in oven and thickness of the meat. Test meat temperature for doneness. Rare might take 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Serve with Tarragon Butter.

125 - rare
135 - med rare
160 - med with some pink
165 - med

Tarragon Butter
12 Tablespoons softened unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons fresh or 2 teaspoons dried Tarragon
Combine together until completely blended. Refrigerate until needed.

 

[Farmfresh]

I grow my rosemary in a big patio pot. Then I bring it inside when the weather gets too cold. I love to cook with rosemary.

 

[keljonma]

I do that too, FF! The first year we had The Ladies, I had two large containers of rosemary in the yard, as well as a number of other herbs in containers. During the winter I put all the container grown herbs in the barn. The Ladies ate them down to the dirt.

I love cooking with fresh herbs, rosemary and tarragon are my favorites.

 

[keljonma]

I am missing the 70 temps we had last week. Last night the temps went down into the 30s and the furnace kicked on when we hit 50 in the house. It snowed last night and this morning; and is snowing as I post. However, none of the snow is sticking to the ground.

The wild birds, especially the blue jays, redwing blackbirds and chickadees were looking for the feeders this morning. We moved them last week to the lilac bush next to the back deck (and off the back deck post where they were all winter). It took them a couple minutes to figure out the feeders were just a few feet away.

We put the suet on the one large tree that the woodpecker visits frequently, and it doesn't seem like they had trouble finding it.