Under a Red Roof

Me and the Bee

July 6, 2009 in Cooking + Baking, Eating, Watching by Colleen | 4 comments

Good morning everyone!

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend. I sure did, which would account for not posting on Friday. The hubster had a three-day weekend, and I saw no reason not to join the fun.

It was pretty hot here, at least for me, the I don’t like it above 85 degrees gal, so we spent a lot of time in shady spaces – like the front yard of Bridget and Eric’s house, sipping cool drinks and noshing on cherries, as well as prostrate on the back porch, enjoying the breeze and the scent of jasmine.

As you can probably deduce, I also spent some time in the kitchen, making the scrumptious coffee cake Gregory is enjoying with his coffee. I’ll post the recipe at the end, as I’ve got something neat to show you first. Take a look.

I’ve got a little friend! I had been outside observing the bees as they devour the nectar from the lavender. I love to sit right on the ground next to the plants and watch them zip from blossom to blossom, all the while enjoying the buzzing symphony of happiness. I noticed this little guy about a half an hour after I had come back inside. I think it was on my skirt the entire time because I would have noticed a bee flying around the house. Maybe I am entirely deluded (it wouldn’t be the first time), but I honestly believe that the bees like me, too, and this fella was, quite like I do with them, just observing me in my habitat. Bees are very smart, after all. Besides, even if it isn’t true, it is still pretty neat to think that the little guy was clinging to my skirt the whole time.

So the recipe for the coffee cake and another confession about sugar. I wish I could say I haven’t been eating much, but that would be a bald-faced lie (such an odd expression). Truthfully, I’ve been eating it about twice a week. After my diagnosis, I decided to focus on that, not sweets. Once I’ve recovered from surgery, working on my sugar addiction will be at the top of my to-do list.

Fruity Coffee Cake

-adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook 75th Anniversary Edition

1 1/2 – 2 cups fresh or frozen fruit (I used two diced apricots and about 1 cup fresh raspberries)

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup butter

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt thinned with milk

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center, and set aside.

In another bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, and almond extract. Add this mixture, all at once, to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. The batter will be lumpy. Spread half of the batter into an ungreased 8″ square pan. Spread the fruit over the batter. Drop remaining batter in small mounds over all. Top with the streusel mixture.

streusel topping:

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter

Mash together with your fingers until the mixture holds together. Sprinkle over cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Chirp, Drop, Eek, Love, Eat

June 23, 2009 in Being, Eating, Watching by Colleen | 2 comments

This is what kept today’s post on the back burner. I’ve never embedded a video before and needed a little help, though, thankfully, not as much as I thought. I am a college graduate, after all. I took this last Friday afternoon. I stood by the window for quite a while (though the video is only forty seconds), awed and delighted by the volume of the birdsong and the gentle patter of rain drops. Milo is pretty cute too, cleaning his little toes. The sight of it makes me so happy.

These are the twist ties used to bind the napkin and silverware at one of our favorite breakfast places, Broder. It is always fun to make things with them while in eager anticipation of the food to come. I’ve fashioned rings, hearts, single letters, waves, and Saturday, for the first time, words.

This is another one of my favorite sights, the hubster. I, rather sneakily, took this photo after taking the one above. Then it was time to eat: the Pytti Panni for Greg – I think I’m spelling it right. It is a yummy hash with bacon and pork and eggs over the top served with hearty walnut bread. I had an utterly creamy and delicious tart with mushrooms and Meunster cheese with a nice green salad and a potato pancake, though, as I have turned into a total creature of habit, I kind of wished I had gotten my usual breakfast board instead – smoked trout, grapefruit, yogurt, cheese, and rye crisp. There was coffee with cream too, of course, though decaf. I’ve got too much energy for caffeine. Seriously.

Elling

June 12, 2009 in Spotlighting, Watching by Colleen | Permalink

Elling and Kjell Bjarne are two mentally challenged fellows who, after years of living highly sheltered lives, must make it on their own in this rather poignant and hilarious Norwegian film. The story follows the men through their introduction at an institution and their entrance into society. With their tough love social worker threatening the possibility of being forever institutionalized if they fail at city life, the two must learn how to care for their shared apartment, shop for and prepare food, as well as engage in life beyond the confines of home.

The pair are a Norwegian odd couple, Elling is small, clean, and intellectual, and Kjell Bjarne is large (Elling calls him an orangutan), brutish, not keen on bathing, and, well, not so intellectual. Despite this, they are a good match for each other, bringing balance, tenderness, and light into what are often, at least for them, some very frightening circumstances. It is a wondrous tale of friendship and men coming of age, each learning, growing, their individual gifts blooming into treasure.

Oh goodness, does it have some marvelous dialogue, too. Our favorite lines:

“Had I really made a friend without the help of the Norwegian government?”

“I’ll just walk the streets…be a walking target for random violence.”

“Are you spying on me?” “No, but where are you going?”

Light hearted, fun (We haven’t laughed like this in some time), touching, and with an appearance by a rather lovely 1958 Buick Century (“Why does everyone know what this car is called?!”), it is really hard to go wrong.

Taste of Cherry

May 29, 2009 in Spotlighting, Thinking, Watching by Colleen | 1 comment

This past weekend we watched Taste of Cherry, a splendid Iranian film from director Abbas Kiarostami. The story follows a man Mr. Badii (masterfully played by Homayon Ershadi) on what may be his last day of life. He is on a quest to find a man willing to place the final shovelfuls of soil over his body after he commits suicide.

It is a very meditative film with long stretches of time spent with Badii as he drives and drives his Range Rover through the streets of Tehran and the surrounding hillsides, searching for just the right man. Over the course of the day, he finds men of various ages, nationalities, and beliefs about suicide, and attempts to sway them into his favor. You need not worry; there is little repetition in this, as the various conversations form a single thoughtful narrative.

As someone who has suffered from suicidal bouts since the fourth grade, I could appreciate the steadiness of Badii’s desire to end his life as well as the longing to meet it with a certain dignity. Perhaps it is also why, when I asked Gregory if he would do as Badii requested and he said “No,” I already knew, without question, that I would. I know that pain. That being said, this, for me, was ultimately an uplifting and hopeful film, for isn’t it marvelous when you can connect with the right person at just the right time? I think so.

With My Feet Up

May 18, 2009 in Gardening + Nature, Loving, Watching by Colleen | 2 comments

This is what I see when I sit out in the garden, feet up (of course), on a warm day – lovely. At the uppermost left hand corner of the photo below is our bird feeder. I could sit for hours and hours watching my little bird friends eat and sing.

Straight ahead is the cutting garden with our remaining apple tree beyond that (Red Delicious, I think). I’ve got poppies, delphiniums, foxgloves, alyssum, day lilies, dahlias, carnations, and peonies here. The red roof to the left is the shed Greg built last summer, or was it the summer before that? Goodness, how one can lose a sense of time. We hope to train some sort of pretty vine up this to hide the woodpile and the mondo Portland yard debris and recycling rolling carts. I am all about aesthetics.

Here is pretty Paris doing some essential grooming in front of the garden we call the key (as in basketball, because of the shape). If only she could find a way to remove all of the bits of debris from her fur. Holy smokes! She brings in all manner of grass, bark mulch, leaves, and other things, once growing, and sometimes alive (bugs and ants) into the house. The key has a steppable ground cover whose name escapes me, crocosmia, lavender, and rosemary – though the rosemary will be moving to the herb garden (see below) some time soon to make room for more lavender. Sven the terra cotta garden gnome is supervising the watering of our newly planted cherry tree – grafted with three varieties – Sam (I’m not familiar with this), Bing, and Montmorency – both favorites. I am super excited about this tree. We thought we might plant one in the front yard, where the apple tree resided, but changed our minds. We wanted the back yard to be a little less open, and this is the perfect solution. As for the front yard, that’s going to be turned into a very Portland naturescaped area – all native plants and shrubs and maybe a bioswale, too! I’ll take pictures when it happens.

As you can see, I am always lucky to be surrounded by friends. Little Milo is talking to a squirrel perched in the sequoia above. From left to right: ceanothus, raspberries (hoping for a bumper crop!), purple sage, oregano, Delavay osmanthus, lemon thyme, tarragon, and English thyme. The osmanthus will be moving near the cutting garden and the rosemary will reside in it’s place – our little herbal family. Not in the photo, but nice all the same are mint, catnip, cat mint, lemon balm, and our Belle de Nancy lilac.

I know I am rambling a bit, but I have to share this – our cats, and actually, many cats from the neighborhood, are often found sitting or lying near the catnip and mint. I love seeing them there and watching their personal idiosyncrasies. Milo likes to rip leaves off and then lie nearby, happily sedated, while Paris is most content if she is actually lying on it, or to put it more accurately, rolling with wild abandon while making cute chirps that likely translate as, “I love catnip! I love catnip!”

This area, when in full bloom, is a very, very happy place for pollinators. The humming birds love the honeysuckle vine, looking the best it ever has, I might add. I think the icky snow was very good for it, small mercies. The bright green shrubs are lime mound spirea, and they will soon be covered in rather fuzzy pink blossoms that bees and butterflies adore. The taller shrub, at the right, is a box honeysuckle. It is a little wild, but makes teeny tiny cream colored blossoms, just now dropping, that bees can’t seem to get enough of. I love the little humming symphony. As well, I love to help my bee friends, as they are kind of in peril. Visit the Xerces Society to find out more, or just plant something that blooms to give them some food.

Finally, here is Hans the garden gnome tending to his patch. You already know the spirea and honeysuckle from above. Next to that is the evergreen Thuja, Abelia (also a little wild looking but a favorite of hummingbirds and bees), a coral bell not quite in bloom, and the primrose.

It is hard to believe this was almost entirely weeds when we moved in. Only the apple was here, all the more reason to put my feet up and enjoy!