The miracle of the cycle of life

borrowed picture, mine are not nearly as pretty...



I know it's not a new thing, & people have been doing it for-just-about-ever, but that doesn't make me any less in awe of it.

I canned my own pickled cucumbers this morning.
I have canned several other peoples cucumbers this summer, but this one, this one was mine.


I read the 50 trillion seed catalogs that I could find, anguished over which seeds to order.
Waited with baited breath for the seed parcel to arrive.
Received it with such joy, & a blessing from the Mail Man for good luck.
Worked the ground, & planted all these little specks, no bigger than anything.
I loved them, & somehow they grew, &grew.
I grew our food.
I have preserved our food.
&, now we will eat it.
The circle of life.

Creative cooking & toasty Tuesday presents.... Caprese Pasta Salad with Heirloom tomatoes

Well, it's August & finally starting to get summer hot here.

& I am tired & sweaty & hot & just over it all.

About the only thing coming out of the garden & edible are the little heirloom tomatoes-

Isis Pear, marble sized mini-belle, some kind of cherry & grape.

What I don't understand is the lovely variety of color we are getting- yellow & red, orange & pink. 

The tomato bed is more of a serious jungle right now, so I can't really see what is going on.

Last fall we got some really pretty mixed, small, heirloom tomatoes from our co-op, pears & grapes &cherries, in all colors. Some of them were squishy, so I tossed them into the bed.....

& it seems some of them took, maybe? 

I dunno.

Tonight, I was choring at an odd time, and got a late start on dinner.

Husband woke up like bear after hibernation, so the plan was out the window, & quick was in.

& this deliciousness was born......

Ingredients:
Sliced & diced tomatoes- enough to feed whoever is eating
Basil- preferably shared by your awesome neighbor who can grow stuff, to your taste & shredded
Mozzarella Cheese- shredded, about 1 cup or a little less
Balsamic Vinegar- 5 or 6 sloshes?
Olive Oil- a good drizzle
Pepper & Garlic (fresh grated or dried) to your taste
Pasta- whatever you have, that you like & will feed those eating. cooked according to the package.

Add to large bowl in the order listed, or not. Serve immediately or chill for later. It's really yummy either way!

Quick, cheap & easy.... even Husband gave it a mildly enthusiastic thumb & 1/2 up.

Shalom Sing-a-long

It has so far, been a very Jewish day, here on the Kibbutz.

Morning prayers, & chores.

We are 1/2 way through the last bit leading up to Tisha B'Av, remembering the destruction of  the 1st & 2nd Temple.

(read more here)

It's a time of sadness, & mourning.

1 of the ways to observe this time is by refraining from eating meat. Killing animals is sad & it's sad enough right now without killing something else......

Which makes me the only person on the planet to go for lunch at a FAMOUS BBQ place for fruit & veg 

A lovely tossed salad with a honey bbq dressing, cornbread muffin, & grilled pineapple

it was yummy!

The kids had earned free meals from the Public Library summer reading program, so this qualified the outing as a 3 out  of 3 on the official Bedazzled Pineapple scale

Quick, Cheap & Easy (&YUMMY!)

And then, then, HRH the Princess & I sent the boys on home, so we could SHOP!

Asides from the normal groceries & what not of errand day, we were on a specific mission of the scarf needed for my hair, to match the outfit, to be worn at the wedding. You wouldn't think it would be hard?

I can find a cute scarf just about anywhere, but this time no such luck! 

I found a cute one in New York, but the gal can't seem to find it.

So having to settle, I think I found something, but I am not happy about it.

But, we had such success other places, for other things....

& this is the part where I post pictures of my great grocery finds, not bought with coupons

1. Osem soup croutons- these are new in our stores tiny kosher section, & let me tell you about the jumping up & down I did, & the strange looks I got from having actually shopped that shelf (People, I don't think expect there are any Jews in town, being there are about 15 of us). Serious spirit fingers here, folks! I have been reading about them on a great blog, How to be Israeli. So to find them here was really exciting! (Did you get that? I was excited!) After munching them, they seem to just be a tiny, yellow, square, oyster cracker. They don't really taste like anything, but I don't care. They are more than a cracker to me.

2. Hanukkah Candles- 3 boxes of tiny tapers for $1/box! SCORE! Seriously, they are fun colors, and totally multi-purpose! & bonus, everyone is getting a Menorah for Hanukkah this year, candles for everyone! 1 box will last the whole festival.

3. Matzah- this is not so exciting, but after the store running out during Passover, it took them a while to get it back in stock. Welcome back old friend! 

4. Honey Spoons- we found these at TJ MAXX. Rosh Hashanah is coming up and honey is the go to food & ingredient, & these will make the best little party favor. So if you know me, ignore this part, because you will probably be presented one.......... They aren't certified kosher, but they are gluten free.

5. Gefilte Fish- A serious steal at 50% off/jar. We only got 1 (sad frowny face), because even on sale, they are still awfully proud of it. I can only hope that no one else grabs up the rest before I can back for it! It's like a Jewish hotdog, but jellied & in medium-ish chunks. I could really eat it all day long, & it's great in a tuna casserole with wide noddles & peas- but, even better, fish is pareve (a neutral), neither meat nor milk , and can be eaten with anything you want! 

ps- this is why it's just easier being a veg in a Jewish world. If you follow the laws of Kashrut (kosher), choosing to eat meat (very unJewish) means you might have to miss out on desert (often dairy based, & that is not cool! So eat your Gefilte Fish!!

All of this of course made me break into spontaneous song, and make me wish I had a cloth dinner napkin......

I sounded & looked exactly like this while pushing the grocery cart. Matter of fact, I think someone made this movie of me & just photoshopped it.........

Things I saw this morning & liked

Not to be confused with Morning Musings, or Morning Splendors, or Morning Meditations.

It was before 8, & I hadn't had coffee yet.

I was just going to sit outside and watch Husband do the morning chores & make rude comments about hoses.

But, first I had to get past this......

Clearly he is telling me how he was viciously attacked in the night by the cushion, & was just protecting us......

Which led to this------->

 Those dots out there, those are geese! An entire herd of geese are/were stopping for the morning- meaning the horses are hiding on the other side of the hill, far away from those scary things!

There was a lot to see.....

Look closely, Where's Waldo? 

 For some reason we have a quin-million baby praying mantis'. They are everywhere!

Must touch the water, must always touch the water, must always, must always touch the water 

5/13/2010- Batman age 4 1/2, Popeye age almost 3, Princess and 18 months

Mom- you can make it bigger by clicking that box in the lower right corner, & turn up your volume <3

Sorry, I can't make curry rhyme with a day of the week: Gentle Veg Curry

Confession: I like vegetables. I like them so much, if I didn't have to occasionally cook meat to appease the Husband, I'm pretty sure I would be a vegetarian. without having any nuts due to a child allergy, it's too hard to have to give up eggs also. (& I like cheese, lots!)

Our(my) goal, is at least once a week to have a veg meal (cheap, easy, nutritious). It usually means that we won't be heating up the house by using the oven (a/c is not cheap), and that makes for a happy Mama!

I have no idea why the British have  fascination with curry, but I have a fascination with the British. &While I have it on good authority that crumpets are a figment of our American imagination, I have read Bridget Jones & the knock offs enough to know that curry is a very real UK food group.

Husband hates curry powder. I love-love-love it! I eat it on everything- try it on popcorn sometime, just be mindful that it will turn your fingers and anything else yellow.

Husband also hates veg. The humble sweet potato featured here, is one of my favorites.

&, Turmeric (featured in curry powder) is known for it's anti-inflammatory properties, making it very whole foods, tree-hugging, in the now. 

ingredients:
2 large-ish sweet potatoes, peeled & diced into perfect little cubes
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, seeded & diced
3/4 c stock or broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can firm white beans (navy, or cannelloni) ( or any firm bean that you like-kidney, black..........)
1 tablespoon cumin
1 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
oil of choice, as needed
rice of choice, prepare according to package directions

Saute the veg, until soft, in a dab of oil

Add the rest of the stuff (not the rice), and simmer, about 20ish minutes or until it smells good and you are hungry.

Pile onto rice & enjoy

This is a very subtle & unspicy curry

Husband gives it a million thumbs down, but he wasn't expected to like it anyway.

Let's Learn: Kiwi Crate

Who needs a quick, easy, crafty, & well planned out preschool curriculum? Who likes learning by doing? ME! Me! Pick ME!

Kiwi Crate, is a craft based learning experience, arriving in your mail box once a month, disguised as crafty fun!
Part of the new box subscription fad, these great green (literally & figuratively) boxes are packed full of kid (Parent) friendly crafts, complete & detailed instructions, 95% of supplies needed, & continued learning theme ideas & resources. Good for at least a week of themed learning, or by getting creative & using some of the great ideas on the Kiwi Crate website, you could extend the theme longer!
The crate provides 2 complete projects. Though, I find that there are enough supplies for each of my 3 to be able to do at least 1 project, and team up for another. Kiwi Crate does offer the option of adding additional material to a crate or adding a 2nd crate for an additional, though reduced fee.

Extra crafting materials needed to complete a kit are often easily found around the house. And, bonus, any left over supplies are quality enough to save for another day!

Another nifty feature- each craft will list the skills used, ie..... fine motor, creating, science, discovering, exploring. Making your record keeping a breeze!!

Our newest crate, was 'Day at the Beach'. We made 2 crazy hermit crabs, &  bubbly sea foam paintings.

blowing on watercolor soap to make bubbles

Add chalk creatures to complete the craft

HRH the Royal Princess decorating her hermit crabs

                                                                  Fun!

Fine  Print

A years subscription to Kiwi Crate (the best value) is $208- a little pricey for the average Joe, though for a years curriculum maybe it's not so bad. You are able to purchase a single crate in the theme of your choice for about $20, if you are needing something easy to stretch an idea.

Kiwi Crate did not pay  me or sponsor this review in any way (but they could if they wanted to!)

Our year subscription was a gift from Mimi & GPH.

On the official BedazzledPineapple scale of quick, cheap & easy, Kiwi Crate scores a solid 2 out 3.

Very quick (once it arrives), & Very easy (mind the stick-um)

It's a bird! It's a Plane! It's a Kitten

The amount of dislike I have for this tree is severe. It is planted just outside the most used door of my house, and being a willow variety, makes coming & going a challenge in the growing months unless I attack it regularly with pruning shears. It, for some reason also attracts stinging bugs, harbors bats, and most recently trapped a kitten.

Yes, an early morning kitten, waking up my dogs, on the one day that we needed to get up and get into town early. I could hear what I later discovered was a him, and stumbling to the door thought our inside/outside cat was outside, wanting in- except our orange cat was by my feet wanting to go out. I took one step out, and the noise intensified, I looked up, & there was the sweetest kitten.

Without thinking straight, I walked under the tree/cat and he was so excited to see someone he flew towards me, my face being the closest thing to reach, and started purring immediately.
 Seeing my neighbor, the one with a horse barn outside, I marched right over and tried to suggest that he needed to live there- he did after all bear a striking resemblance to last years flavor of dumped kitten, maybe she would like a matching set?


When that didn't pan out, I settled him in the garage with a litter tray, food & water, under the guise of quarantine (out of sight, out of mind, out of my house!)

I posted this to facebook, assuming someone would want a cute kitten..... he looks a little possessed, but this was the only way to get him to stop rubbing against my ankles long enough! He was friendly, friendly for sure!
I went to wake the kids up, to go, and as each one stumbled out of bed, they heard Kitten crying in the garage and assumed our cat wanted in, each mumbling something along the lines of 'I'm coming', 'I'll save you', towards the door.  Sweet punkin's. They were all excited to know we had a visitor, and took it well that this kitty wasn't staying, he had just lost his family (my butt, you live where we live & critters get dumped!)



But, no one wanted a cute kitten, even with shots, & the promise of a gift certificate to get him neutered later. After 36 hours of trying 'hard' to find him a home, we decided he could stay.
We decided his name was Willow for the tree he was found in. I was pretty sure we would be featured in an episode of Animal Hoarders, & Junior the cat wasn't happy, but really what's one more?

And then the call came. A family had come forward to adopt him. A nice family, with nice boys.
It was my sister. She had been traveling for work in New York, but had wanted to wait to get home & talk with her Joe before saying anything. It was now Friday, lunchtime. It had been a mere 96 hours. If it had been anyone else, I would have said, no thanks.
We made plans for them to trek out to boonies the next morning. I gave him his kitten shot.

We packed his few accumulated possessions, and made the hand off, which went fairly well. Then they drove away. Everyone expressed sad words to see their friend go, but it's not like we don't know where he is- except for the Royal Princess, who threw her self down on the couch and WAILED!  She is my little animal-loving shadow, and much like me, I imagine she will take in every available animal she comes across later in life.


So, I sent out an all points bulletin, we needed a stuffed kitten ASAP! ( I texted Mimi & GPH)

GPH, remembering that HRH Princess is really into leopards, found a gray one. And, it is whisking its way here courtesy of amazon as we speak. 

Our little kitty, now called Max, seems to be pretty happy and in love with his new people. & That makes me happy enough to only be a little sad.