See those clouds -- a thunderstorm is coming. Of course it is: tonight is Concert in the Orchard night. You bring your chair and listen to chamber music out in the orchard. The farm has ice cream and other treats for sale. Phyllis and I decided to eat first because bringing a picnic supper is such a pain in the neck.
We just had a heavy rain storm. No, the cows are not out in it. The photo above is from weeks ago. I just cropped it and adjusted the gamma to get a little more definition on the angus.
The sun has come out and it's cloudy again. It's a toss up about the concert. It's only 4:30 and we don't have to leave until 5:30 p.m.
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The peaches are in!! Atkins Farm grows their own and I cannot tell you how good they are, but they are indescribably delicious.
As I peeled the first one of two, the juice ran down my arm bringing back warm memories of when Tomi and I decided to make peach jam. We had a giant pot of peaches to peel and we did. I think we were making a double batch and Tomi insisted that we be faithful to her recipe and each batch called for 7 (count 'em) cups of sugar. I kept trying to talk her into using less sugar but she would not be convinced.We ended up with a huge stock pot full of hot simmering peaches -- which we had to cook on the grill because the stove was busy. With what? you say.
We had to boil all of the mason jars and lids first to sterilize them and then the canning process was to boil the filled jars in a water bath for a certain number of minutes. We had our own sweat shop going (today it is 90 F. and I'm sure it was somewhere about that temperature then). We brought the bubbling cauldron to her huge dining room table and ladled the super hot mixture into the mason jars and put the lids on. I can't remember how many could go into the pot at once, but we did have two huge canning pots on the stove.
When we took the first batch out, we were busily putting in another batch, but we had to keep our ears open. You have to hear the jars pop as they cool or you had to take that jar out and confine it to the fridge. If that seal doesn't happen, you are inviting botulism.
The idea was to give the homemade jam as Christmas presents, allowing us to taste sweet summer in the cold winter months. I don't know about Tomi's part, but most of my jam was given away quickly. It was just SO good! (This was pre-diabetes, by the way.)
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Why was I peeling a peach? To make peach ice cream of course! The recipe I found started off by making your own sugar-free sweetened condensed milk. I often wondered how they made that. You cook heavy cream for a half hour then add powdered Swerve (instead of sugar) and vanilla. By the time this mixture cools, it should be time to go to the concert, but it's still cloudy. At any rate, I don't think there will be any ice cream until tomorrow. I would like it to taste peachier, but peaches are so loaded with sugar (fructose) that I'll just leave it with the hint of peaches that it has now. I used two peaches and it makes 8 servings.
[Ed. Note: I did finish the ice cream and it just tastes like vanilla. I must have mashed the peaches too much. Oh well. Next time I'll try something different.]
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We had a visit from the nutritionist at the Senior Center today. She was there to make sure we knew the proper food handling procedures. Since nobody had told Donna (the supervisor) that she was supposed to take the temperature of the cold food as well as the hot food, we hadn't been doing it. But today, I faithfully stuck the thermometer into the scoop of tuna salad. (The main meal was all cold items, including potato salad with a vinegar dressing.)
The choice was fish sticks. The "choice" is not the regular meal, it's an alternative. Ever try to get a temp on fish sticks? It turns out that you need to insert the thermometer at least 3 to 4 inches into the food. So I ended up skewering fish sticks. It felt slightly obscene.
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Phyllis gave me a perfect Italian eggplant that she grew and I bought some local tomatoes. I am going to make an eggplant and tomato stack with mascarpone cheese in between the layers. I can nuke it and not have to turn on the oven.
And kale. I have to do something with kale. I know it's hard to believe that I bought kale, but if I cook it enough and add enough stuff, it's not bad. It's really good in zuppa Toscana, but I don't have sausage. Oh well. I'm making myself hungry, so I should make supper.
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Thanks, Mom! Thanks for the wonderful macaroons from Ketonia!
Thanks, Emily!! She changed all of the 3 way switches in the kitchen and living room, rearranged the outlets in my bedroom, eliminating 23 extension cords. O.k. that's a little bit of hyperbole, but she did speak sharply to me about the plethora of extension cords. "It's a fire hazard!" she exclaimed. Oh, yes, she put up my new smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector. Finally, but most importantly, she got the screws out of the light over the kitchen table. I couldn't do it and it had filled up with dead bugs. It was driving me crazy! Happy, happy!
Thanks, Phyllis, for the eggplant grown and delivered with love.
Thanks, Donna, for the beautiful mint green blouse that you gave me! She gave it to me to thank me for serving lunch at the Sr. Ctr. What a surprise! I'm just glad I can be of use. Yesterday, one of the volunteers didn't show up and she was supposed to deliver meals to two separate buildings. Donna had to do it so I was in charge. There were no other volunteers. It's a good thing nobody got rowdy. I could envision the headlines in the local paper: Food Fight at Senior Lunch!
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The concert has been cancelled due to weather. Sigh. It was going to be free too.
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FaceBook just told me that the Cousins Food Truck (with lobstah) will be in Northampton on August 24. All you lobster-yearning Californians may begin your envy now.
Hmmm ... maybe I should treat myself to lobster. Here, the supermarkets will steam them for you and you can bring them home hot. I never was crazy about the shoving them into boiling water part. I have no problems doing that to mussels!
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Robert DeQuattro, my mother's only brother, was interred at the Military Cemetery in Seaside-Monterey, California. We drove from Palm Springs the night before. It was about a 6 hour drive.
Uncle Bob had been in the Air Force, stationed in Germany, during the Korean War. I remember he said he made weather maps from an airplane ... ? Later he worked many years for GE, first in Pittsfield, Mass., then in California as head of their armaments art department.
In later years, Uncle Bob joined the Navy as a Reservist. When we visited him one time, he joked that they had sent him to Spain but hadn't told his commanding officer that he was coming. So they didn't know what to do with him and when he wasn't driving a big wig around, he was sight seeing. (I don't know how much of that is true because he loved to joke and all of his career work was confidential so he never talked about that.)
His middle daughter, Susan, told us when she was going through his papers to find information for the memorial service, she found a particularly interesting letter. His naval commander had ensured that he receive the honor of Sailor of the Year for his excellent work in graphics and design and his commitment to the mission of that particular branch of Intelligence.
Uncle Bob had 3 daughters -- Lisa, Susan, and Jennifer. Lisa passed away several years ago. I miss them both.
The service was very nice with two young Air Force Soldiers performing the flag ceremony and presenting the flag to Jennifer. Another Soldier played taps and the woman in charge (civilian, I think) said a few words as did Susan.
Affixing the Temporary Facing; Engraved Stone Will Arrive in a Couple of Months
When All Spaces Are Filled, There Will Be 150,000 Interred
Susan with Sunglasses
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Lunch after the ceremony was at Ella's at the Airport in Watsonville. We were seated in a greenhouse-type of room where we could watch (and hear) the helicopters and private planes landing and taking off.
Yup, the furniture below is made of "airplane metal." It's real metal (I checked) and rivets.
Interesting Stained Glass
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Carmel by the Sea ...
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And now for something completely different (from the Madonna Inn web site):
Many people have asked for a history of Madonna Inn, so with this brief story, we will attempt to tell you how it all began.
The first 12 rooms were completed December 24, 1958, and were given complementary for that night’s stay, to a very surprised group of travelers. An additional 28 rooms were quickly built, making a total of 40 rooms available to travelers.
Demand for public areas to handle the rooms encouraged us in April 1960 to start construction of the main inn, which was to eventually consists of the wine cellar, bakery, coffee shop, dining room, the cocktail lounge, banquet rooms, ladies’ boutique, men’s gift shop, and the gourmet shop.
One hundred ten unique rooms now exist, each decorated differently to suit many individual tastes...rock rooms, waterfall showers, rock fireplaces, European fixtures, and fine furnishings to name a few.
The Madonna Inn sits on over 1,000 acres and the large rocks used in the construction came from these surrounding acres. Some of the larger rocks weigh in excess of 200 tons each.
The leaded glass work throughout Madonna Inn and the large etched glass windows in the coffee shop, almost things of the past, were custom made for the Inn. The leaded glass inserts in the windowed area facing the large fireplace are of particular interest, since each insert illustrates one of the various Madonna enterprises: construction, lumber and cattle.
The hand-carved marble balustrade in the Gold Rush dining room came from the Hearst Castle. All copper and brass items were etched and/or shaped from original designs and fabricated right on the premises. The 16'4" tall, 29'6" wide gold tree fixture in the main dining room was made from electrical conduit left over from building projects as well as from left over remnants of copper.
Several wood carvers were brought in for the specialty work of hand carving the doors, beams, railings and the many other carved adornments you see here at the Madonna Inn.
There were no rooms at the Inn for your intrepid travelers. But we did have a grand dinner in their restaurant.
Outside of the Madonna Inn restaurant at St. Louis Obispo ...
Most magnificent rose trees
Mom taking a picture of the band
The level of decoration is intense
Hearst Castle, San Simeon, California ...
Inside Pool Floor; Gold tiles with glass layer above and below gold to stop wear and tear on gold
One of the many statues pool side
Long shot of the pool
Nook in the pool which is about 3 Olympic pool sizes
Ladders Are Carrara Marble
Outdoor Tennis Courts Ringed with Lights
A Particularly Impressive Fuscia
2 Massive Pool Tables & Many Wall Hangings
Half of the Room
Other End of the Room Above
Side Entrance
Decorative Pond
Egyptian Antiquities Bought and Paid For by William Randolph Hearst
Impressive Views
Cup Bearer to the Greek Gods; Guy with Hat = Tour Guide
Massive Outdoor Pool
Pool Recently Refurbished for Millions of Dollars; No More Leaks
Tour Guide (with hat) Very Informative
More of the Mesmerizing View
Beginning of the Tour, Waiting for the Large Bus Load to Gather
