hummingbirdkiss
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Posts posted by hummingbirdkiss
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I think it is something for spice sorting or measure?
it is cool whatever it is
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I am not a chef (but did work in restaurants for many years) and certainly I have seen chef's put out some amazing food from things they did not like themseles...and I have been known to create some pretty awesome dishes out of foods I don't care for ..especially when I know it will make someone happy to eat it... Cooking is not always about what makes the "first" person happy... a great cook does not create only for themselves
but again I am not a chef
just a pretty damn good cook and it gives me great pleasure to see people enjoy what I make ..so what if I don't like it
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there is a German pastry that is almost like a light crispy sugar cookie ..in fact my friend who is German uses a standard sugar cookie dough (not a very sweet one) rolled out thin as a tart crust ..if this sounds like what you may want I can ask her for the recipe ...it is crispy and more like a cookie than a pie dough ..not a sweet cookie but a cookie she uses it for tarts and cheesecake actually
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Thanks Heidi
I had heard they were bitter ..to me they look like dinosaur thistles! they do have stunning flowers ..I googled them and I guess they can be invasive as well ...
it is ok I think I will just leave them for the bumblebee's they seem to know exactly what to do with them!
they are a massive and interesting plant that is for sure! one of mine grew about 10 ft last year!
I had thought of drying the flowers I wonder if they would keep the color?
it is raining here again! Go figure huh?
glad I got the big things done I think between showers! I am going to do some weeding
lots of chives and parsley now that is for sure!
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we had something similar where I worked in the breakroom it was good but not good enough to make me actually go into a Starbucks!
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I was not sure when I opened that what I was going to see!
but ok my ice is now considered "low end" (from tap to ice machine into a dispenser in my fridge)... I betcha!? .. why try to make any point here at all ..there is none ..I am just awestruck ..yes the packaging ..the web page ..lots of money invested in marketing cubes of ice you can keep on your shelf until you are ready to freeze them ..or for two years whatever comes first? wow wow wow ...
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LOL I should have drawn up that mess of a cheesecake I made before I made it that is for sure
I dont draw a picture as a plan ..but I do something similar when I am working on foods or trying somewhere and want to recreate or even create differently
when I taste a dessert or sweet (actually any food) I will take a pen and even on a napkin and write the word first then some kind of shape or figure in the order of how it hits me flavor texture aroma visual whatever... (I hope this makes sense I will try to post a picture) next time I do this ... in order ..trying to capture the sensuality/personality on paper so I can learn it ...I suck with recipes ..for me ..this is a learning/layering tool ... ...it is not the same as drawing a picture or trying to capture a recipe ..someplace in the middle maybe? ... but in my mind it acts like a picture ...even when I am not with the food in my mouth ..if insipiration hits .. will pull the slip look at it and put a note on it ..a drawn visual guide to what I want to accomplish
...like if the first bite hits me with too much cardamom ..I will write the word cardamom and then draw a symbol that reminds me of how it hit me ...later I might look at it ..and think less cardamom and use some orange zest I will put a down arrow on the cardamom and draw a plus and tiny orange
does this fit here I think? I will take a pic the next time I do it or if I find one I have done show you ..
I think it is exactly the same but completely differant than what you do!
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this was so hard!!! I think because it depends on the season and what I am enjoying the most
like now it is spring so parsley and chives are just perfect and right outside my door!
so for right now this second in time
breakfast eggs are Callstoga style with a sauce of sour cream minced fresh parsely and chives
last night I made a rice dish loaded with the same herbs
lunch today I am going to make Green Goddess dressing
for a a spice right now it is fresh cracked pepper because it goes so well with the above herbs...
May Mint will be my favorite herb! ...late may early June my sage and thyme are really in season ...rosemary starts....
then July ..well garlic to me is an herb and mine gets pulled at the end of July so that will be my favorite then!
for spices I go with New Mexican red any day as my top of the top can use it for savory or sweet and love love love it
but then there is ginger ..I use tons of fresh ginger ...nutmeg..cardamom ...black cardamom ...coriander, cumin or or or I feel like I hurt a spices feelings by having a favorite ..
I should not have started here ..I kept looking at this thread thinking "I can do this I can write one sentence say what I love now and then exit gracefully"
Ok Ok ...argh ....
parsley and chives ...I know it is two ...but they are both side by side in the garden ..green and calling to me now ...and I can not cut one with out the other right now it would not be fair! !
and pepper as the spice of now
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Let me first say that I like the idea of this thread, and I will likely contribute. However, I think it's a bit unfair to say that the recipe sucked when you admit to varying the recipe in ways that led to its suckiness. Maybe the thread should be more of a 'recipes that I sucked at' type?
I agree and that is exactly what I was thinking ..there were lots of things I have made where my actions lead to the sucking of the recipe ...although that recipe was sounding sucky so that is why I made the variations before I even tried it
I will have to think on this
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PS you can "borrow" tiles from the store ..kind of what you are thinking you would like ..set them up like a backsplash and look at it for a few days before you make up your mind ..you may know that already however ..just a suggestion
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Hummingbirdkiss,
WOW!!! 5 years of renovations???? What the Hell are you doing to your place???? I can't even imagine being another few weeks, let alone years, in this quasi-displaced state we're in. Granted, we live in a NYC apartment, so the only refuge is the bedroom. If this were a house, I'd have multiple rooms or even an outside deck to hide out.
The cabinets will be light maple, as you can see, and the countertop is a black granite with tiny copper specks. We're still going back and forth about the backsplash, but I'd love one with 2x2 or 3x3 colored tiles. We'll see...
Cheers!
you asked so I am going to blab now!
yes WOW and we are still married!!! We move from room to room and just try to hide from the stress and mess!!!.I told my husband we can just pretend we live in tiny appartments again while this is going on..... our house was started by a high school shop teacher in 1960 and never finished what he did was wonderful ..upstairs we have fantastic oak floors two big fireplaces...the house faces the Puget Sound is on top of a hill and has a half acre of amazing undone garden possiblitiy ..we are just a few min from the freeway but feel like we are in the middle of nowhere .....he got to the point he could live in it and never finished it ...it was his dream house for himself and his wife ...and then it became ours through amazing circumstances ...
out of 3000 sq feet 1000 was completed ...and what was finished because of the time that had passed (and the cats that had lived here
) needed a lot of rework ...we are almost there (I hope) ..we have done every bit of work ourselves ...except the heating that was massave there was NO CENTRAL HEAT and we froze the first two years while we tried to find a contractor ..that can be as hard as doing the work yourself we found out! that is why we keep doing it ...
the final project (except the badly needed roof and gutters that will be the real last thing and we will hire a roofer of course for that!!! ) is the downstairs main room that will become my dream kitchen/dining area ....that is why I am reading your blog and all the kitchen reno blogs with a great deal of delight and interest! ..I have a huge space to do whatever I want with! (no money to do it but I will figure it out like I have for all the other rooms!) ..all it has is a big fire place with a BBQ pit in it...no ceiling ..no walls ..no floor...but the plumbing and electrical are in thank goodness! ..I have almost 1000 ft of potential with doors to the eventual patio..garden and a wonderful view... and at least half is going to be the actual kitchen area ....we saved the best for last I say!
I am really digging those cabinets! I think with a black counter it will be amazing ...you should have colors in your backsplash that would make everything "pop!" ..but what do I know ..my taste is described as "very eclectic" to say the least!
so thanks so much for sharing ..I have been trying to figure out the storage issues... as I said we have little money to work with ..but my husband can do the woodwork so we will figure this out...I love maple...we will see
I was actually thinking of pouring a concrete counter top ..I have been experimenting with concrete design on a small scale for practice and love how it looks ..costs so little with color and epoxy it turns out looking amazing very heavy duty ..kind of like marble
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tell me how to deal with cardoons should I cut the leaves and cook them? I have let them go into these massive thistles for years and not eaten them yet I confess ..should I now?
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Washington state ..I did not google it but am guessing it would be ..a Microbrew ...well that would be my first choice for sure...or someone would come up with some coffee drink...worse ...he horrific Appletini (shiver)
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"I slobbered all over my keyboard, I have just seen the mother of all berry patches. I'd never get anything done outside once they were ripe, I'd just sit there snacking away.
"I do exactly that every year ..when I have my fill right form the bushes then I start cooking with them....one year I made wine but bottled it too soon and they all went off like rockets..lesson learned now I just make them into cordial ..safer for me...
they are a very serious problem here.... but ..this spot is really contained... my neighbor and I have worked hard at that! he loves them too and his side looks just like mine!
it is also home to all kinds of wildlife too so I can justify it sort of ...
all fair because you have that outstanding fig tree I would kill for ..I pruned mine last fall and am so afraid I did something wrong ..holding my breath until I see the leaves ...I just tried fresh figs for the first time when I grew them and ..euphoric flavor talk about love ..omg the color inside ..I had no idea what to expect when the first one fell off in my hand ..it was huge! ...broke it open and that brilliant pink insde the green ...
Is that the type you have? ..I wish I kept track of what the names of everything is ...but I dont
I just picked parsley chives and thyme for a rice dish I am making for dinner ..it is not much yet but it is a start...
also today I started a new compost bin! ..not sure how many people get excited about that but I am determined to compost as much as possible ..plants thrive on it and talk about less garbage !
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I am in love with your baby limes Jim!!! I want to see them grow please keep posting on those!!! they are adorable!
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OMG everything looks so beautiful!!! that fig tree!!! I have two small ones that produce nicely ..but that one is amazing!!! I love kumquats!!!...thank you for sharing those pictures...please keep them coming I love to see what is up in other yards!!
as soon as my fruit trees bloom I will take some pictures they are just so close right now!!!
..how funny about the fire ants ..man those were horrific!!!!
blackberries
...lets just say Western WA I have to hide mine from the weed patrol!!! they are considered an invasive noxious (sp?) here ..but just look at my stash ...shhhh do not tell but I nurture this secretly!!!this patch grows berries almost the size of small plums and I can not get enough of them!!!
they have thorns! but are soo worth the effort
(this pic is not of course now it was last July but it is what i have to look forward to)
ok really I am going back outside now to weed and plant a few more things before this weather turns...I just felt it drop some degrees and the clouds are moving in over the Sound ...argh it would have been nice to have a few more days of good weather ..but all this rain makes things very green and lovely so I am not going to complain at all ...well I will but just ignore it ...
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my carrots are all sprouting I am so excited about these purple ones I can not wait to see how they turn out! peas are coming up all over so I think I will try to use the bamboo I dried last year to make things for them to crawl up ..
I have a spot in my yard that is screaming for hops ...it is a home made wrought iron gate that goes into the lower yard ....I know people grow it here in this area and I know brewers use it for beer and the flowers are beautiful I think ...but that is all I know ..is "aroma hops" fragrant?
I guess I could google that ...
I found 495857 strawberry plants when I cleaned out my bed so I split them and now have strawberries all over the freaking place! poking out of rocks crawling down walls ...and for ground cover ..I have no idea what type they are because an old friend of mine gave me a bucket full from his yard to start my own ...they are small to medium berries with the most intense flavor and they spread like crazy ..not tiny like Alpine..they are a regional one that has been grown in Western Wa for ages ..I just do not remember what he told me they were ....I miss him so much he was best of the best when it came to teaching me about gardening ..gave me all kinds of seeds...collards grow all over the yard here because I just have to have them to remind me of him ...and scarlet runner beans are always planted in his honor ...
anyone else getting the bug? or already way into planting?
I have never grown corn...ok I lie I grew a seed that came in a package of cornnuts one time it was like 10 ft high and grew this strange ear that had about 10 giant kernals in it ..that is it ..
almost time to put sunflowers in (those are for the chickadees!)
I lived in Texas one time and grew a little garden on the balcony of my appartment ...I had a bunch of fire ants make a home in them and one day they crawled up my jeans ..that was pretty much the most painful thing I can remember happening to me!!!
I hope people will post pictures?
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Jim use the lime leaves in cooking if you have not tried that yet you should ..I always used to raid my mothers lime tree for leaves mince them up and put them in all kinds of dishes ..they work well in Asian Curries when you can not find Keffir leaves
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WooHoo! My hop rhizomes arrived, 2 Cacade & 2 Hallertau. I was late getting the corn planted, still have to find the containers for the taters. I potted the Blackberry plant a couple of weeks ago and it's starting to show new growth. When it's grown a little more I'll plant it in the ground. I'll also be harvesting my first limes this year.
No hummingbirds here yet, I get buzzed every year until the Lantana bloom, a hazard of having red hair. Summer looms just around the corner.
ME TOO!!!! LOL my hair is red and all my life I have had to dodge those little demons!!!
we have two kinds here the Anna's winters over in my bamboo ..he is a pissy boy who just comes right to the window if the feeder needs juice and gives me dirty looks..then the Rufus come in around May and they are constantly moving ..dancing and dive bombing my head while I am in the garden
I love those little buggers
I love hops they make a beautiful arbor is that what you are doing with them?
today is going to be the only nice day here (rain returns tomorrow of course...look where I live ..in a "rain trough"
) so I need to quit procrastinating ..I am going to devide and move strawberries..sage..thyme... whatever else I can find .. to my rock tiers so they spread out there ..and cut the lawn(really moss and weeds that have taken over my lawn) and plant more carrot seeds
happy gardening!
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snack or breakfast? I dont know ..I am sure I will eat again before noon ...right now it is a home made over toasted flour tortilla with mashed banana and Adams chunky peanut butter (the only kind on earth in my opinion!!!) ..coffee with cream and a GIANT MOTRIN with a tylenol back ...
today I am cutting the foot deep on a hill lawn and need all the energy I can muster
...and yes I am procrastinating
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Those cabinets are just stunning! the wood looks so beautiful! I love light kitchens
I have been living in remodel Hell for almost four yikes almost 5 years now ...so my heart is with you ..I can not even imagine living with out dust now ..and we have about 2 years left before we can say "DONE"!!!!
we had a five year plan to finish but really over estimated our funding and physical ablity that is for sure ...
2 more years 2 more years 2 more years...argh sorry for digressing into my own misery
(I am going to cut the grass today and ignore the remodel that is why it is taking more time ...it is easy to get diverted by other things that need doing!) but you less that 2 weeks and you will have a wonderful new kitchen ..good for you!!!!
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I like a decent vodka with grilled pink grapefruit juice or orange juice
that is the best way to put it smokey and deeper flavored ...
What about an aged white rum? like Appleton white? i`m not really a vodka fan..but a rum person..
I can also think a agricole blanc or vieux would be very nice with this made in a Ti punch style.
yes absolutely I love white rum! I was just thinking about making fruity rum drinks with grilled pineapple but I am at work and I think they would object!!!
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I also use oranges lemons and grapefruits for drinks grilled
Sounds really yummy..
I made 2 mojitos tonight with HC anejo blanco. One with fresh lime juice and one with grilled and the grilled one was more deep and a bit smoky tasting. Nice!
Any good drink ideas for the grilled grapefruit, red and white?
I like a decent vodka with grilled pink grapefruit juice or orange juice
that is the best way to put it smokey and deeper flavored ...we started this with my sister in Florida with an "I wonder what would happen if we stuck these limes on the grill and then made some mojitos" the rest was history ...I like the taste of the citrus that way ...
OT chicken/fish/pork with any of the grilled citrus
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I cut the lime in half and grill both sides so the flavor gets into the juice ..it would make a great syrup when I mix the drinks I use fine sugar
I also use oranges lemons and grapefruits for drinks grilled
ETA I also let them cool before squeezing (I have had them squirt into my eye because they they are hot the juice rockets out so be warned!!!) and use the kind of press you find in Hispanic markets they are like $2 and work like a dream to get all the flavor out
Toward a Reduction in Plastic Bag Blight:
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
I just gathered and washed all my canvas bags ..some are over 15 years old I realized as I was looking at them!
they are visable in the car now
thank you much for starting this a nudge back on track is good!