Pretty Woman

My Mom

and me

Happy Mother's Day!

Decisions decisions

I'm a Libra which means my middle name should be indecisive. Well maybe not indecisive per se because I'm really not it just takes me awhile sometimes, not always mind you. I can pretty much decide what to wear fairly quickly (from 1 minute to 1/2 hour depending on where I'm going), on the other hand what to pack could take weeks or a couple of days, again depending on where I'm going and for how long. Menus can be daunting but other times if they don't have much to offer I can zero in pretty quickly. I'm good with food shopping, unless it's casual food shopping which usually means I wind up buying nothing because I'm overwhelmed by the selection or buying everything and then getting home and thinking how I have to cook it all in the next two days and what was I thinking? Clothes and shoe shopping usually works like this; either I hate everything and wind up empty handed or like too many things which brings me to the dilemma of indecision and I again wind up empty handed. I will say though that I don't over shop on that end because I've matured enough to not buy everything just because I like it at that particular millisecond. I have been known to walk into an antiques store though and see something I love and immediately say "how much, I'll take it" with barely a blink. And that goes even faster if we're talking about dishes or china. So I guess the indecision comes along when things aren't that clear which makes me mull things over...and over and over and over. Once I've decided though I'm convinced that it's the way to go and there's no going back. So I'm happy to report that after two   three years of mulling it over a plan has begun in the much maligned shared side flowerbed.

First we dug out the forsythia. Yay! ALL OF IT. And put up a hitching post fence. (no horse jokes, please).

and planted three climbing hydrangeas which I was happy to find out grow in the shade

which once they get going (soon I'm told) will hide the view

and since this is a somewhat shaded area I've decided that in front of these we will plant hostas, hopefully blue, and astilbes. And then we can sit at our patio table

and happily look in that direction; even though it will take a little while.

I can always decide on what I want to cook though.

Neapolitan Easter Fricassee of Lamb adapted from The New York Times

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 pounds boned lamb shoulder or leg, in about 2-inch pieces, rinsed and well dried
4 medium onions, halved and very thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine
2 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
3 large eggs
1 cup grated caciocavallo, Grana Padano or Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup coarsely chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Lemon slices or quarters, for garnish.

1. Place deep, wide casserole over medium-high heat, and add oil. Brown lamb in batches, transferring to shallow bowl when done. Stir onions into pan, adding juices from bowl. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook until onions almost melt, turning golden but not brown, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Add a little water if onions begin to brown.

2. Add lamb and 1/2 cup of wine. Cook uncovered over very low heat until wine is nearly evaporated, about 45 minutes. Add remaining wine, peas, and 1/2 cup of water. Continue cooking uncovered over low heat until peas are very tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer lamb, onions and peas to a warm serving platter, and set aside in a warm place.
3. Place casserole over very low heat so juices barely simmer. Whisk eggs in a bowl and add cheese. Whisk ladles of hot pan juices into eggs until mixture is quite warm, then pour into casserole, whisking continually. Whisk over very low heat until thick enough to coat a spoon. Do not boil or eggs will curdle; if sauce nears a boil, remove from heat and whisk to cool as rapidly as possible.

4. Remove sauce from heat and whisk in parsley and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over lamb and peas, garnish with lemon slices, and serve immediately.

yield-8 to 10 servings

...and the best decision I ever made

well maybe not the best...

not bad for a textbook Libra.

Nursery rhyme

What a better way to spend the day than looking at trees in a light Spring breeze

I want them all, short and tall

colors galore, what else can you ask for

Roses in bloom, pity I don't have the room

this place is bliss...except for this

...and we lived happily ever after

Oh wait, that's a fairytale. Whatever. The End.

ch-ch-ch-changes

So we Frank finally dug out the invasive and dreaded forstyhia which was threatening to take over the entire side where the flower bed was, will, used to be

and it's a little bit jarring to see the empty space of dirt but at the same time exciting for phase two and the next (and fourth) incarnation of this very ornery flower bed. This means I spent all of Monday picking up all that had been dug out (this is the after pic) with which I filled seven bags, which also means I was covered in dirt from head to toe, filthy fingernails despite my heavy duty gloves, damp sweaty hair just like the rest of me which made me ooze a not too pleasant smell and explains why I backed up about ten paces when my neighbor from across the street came over to see what I was doing and then looked over

and said "wow, your yard looks beautiful" which made me very happy since she has the prettiest property on the block. So I decided we needed to celebrate and made Frank this cake he's been bugging me about for weeks.

Cornmeal-Almond Cake with Strawberries and Mascarpone adapted from Food and Wine

Cake

1. 3 cups sliced blanched almonds (about 10 ounces)
2. 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3. 1 teaspoon baking powder
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
6. 1 cup sugar
7. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
8. 3 large eggs, at room temperature
9. Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
10. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
11. 1 cup fine yellow cornmeal

Topping

1. 3/4 cup heavy cream
2. 1/2 cup fresh mascarpone cheese
3. 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
4. 1 quart strawberries, hulled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1. MAKE THE CAKE Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. Spread the almonds on a large rimmed baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, stirring once, until golden. Let cool completely, then transfer the almonds to a food processor and process until finely ground but not pasty.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the butter with the sugar and vanilla, scraping down the bowl, until light and fluffy, 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, 1 at time, beating well between additions. Scrape down the bowl and beat the batter until fluffy, 1 minute. Beat in the lemon zest and juice. With a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the batter, then the cornmeal and the ground almonds.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Transfer the cake to a wire rack, still in the pan, and let cool to room temperature.

1. MAKE THE TOPPING In a large stainless steel bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the cream to soft peaks. Add the mascarpone and confectioners’ sugar and whip until barely firm peaks form.
2. Run a thin knife around the side of the cake pan and invert the cake onto the wire rack. Place a plate on top of the cake and turn the cake right side up. Cut the cake into wedges and serve with the mascarpone cream and strawberries.

Make Ahead The cake can be kept at room temperature overnight.

I made the topping but forgot to take a picture, oops. and didn't use strawberries.

Meanwhile, Max was watching all of this from his perch on the window seat

 and was so exhausted by the proceedings that he decided to nap

because he never does that.

Lots of flowers in the house

Two years ago we decided our lilacs needed trimming, so with much trepidation and heeding all kinds of advice and research we proceeded to trim away making sure it was within the crucial two week after blooming period. Last year the blooms were paltry and we thought we had done some damage. Wrong! This year the profusion of blooms is happily over the top

and we've been able to have them in the house for weeks

so to quote Bloodstone and thanks to that aroma we'll take to the sky on a natural high.

And since everything is about a month early we have loads of flowers in the house

which makes me a little nervous

wondering

what will be left in June

but we'll worry about that tomorrow

for now we'll just breathe the sweet air and skip over to the ever charming Jane's for the monthly Flowers in the house party to celebrate a BIG anniversary and see what everybody else is up to.