Peaches En Regalia

Peach Season at Fartwood Manor has been over for about two weeks now. All that's left are a few half-eaten, sun-dried fruits in the high branches. I haven't had to shovel the fallen fruit from the path for a while. Yay! I guess that means the Evil Squirrel will now be shifting his attention and appetite to the avocados.
Sad to say, but Mr. Peach Tree might be on the way out. It is an old tree, and every year we have to prune more and more branches. Two things might hasten its demise: Dale wants to feature a spooky tree in this year's yard haunt (he can use the branches from the tree) and the fact that the falling fruit really messes up the deck. Since the deck is scheduled to be "upgraded" soon (read: radio shack, man-hut, whatever), eliminating the fruit would be a good idea. I'm still bummed about the idea of taking it out, but I think its usefulness is over. The fact that the fruit is so fragile makes it hard to do anything with it. The fruit browns almost immediately after cutting, so I have to give it a dose of some crushed up vitamin C tablets if I want to use it in a recipe.
This year I made muffins, gelato and this wonderful shortcake.

After I decided on the title of this post, I figured I ought to include a link to its inspiration, Frank Zappa. I had been, at one time, a rather devout Zappa aficionado, and "Peaches En Regalia" was one of my favorite songs. Before I moved here, it was Zappa's music that helped to form my ideas of what Southern California was all about. Between listening to Zappa and reading Jack Smith's column reprinted in the "Green Sheet" of the old Milwaukee Journal I learned all about life in LA-LA Land.
Let's fire up the "way back machine", shall we?? .....when I saw Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in 1972 (or thereabouts).....the opening act was Fleetwood Mac. WOW.
I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did. The quality is a little spotty, but it definitely shows the master in control. I am embarrassed to say (well maybe not, actually, since vinyl seems to be a badge of honor these days) that my Zappa collection is all vinyl. (I am hoping this is what will fund my retirement--yaright.) I'm thinking I need to take a little trip down the iTunes memory lane. Hmmm...I DO have "Peaches" by The Stranglers digital though.

What's In A Name?

I'm not a big baseball fan to begin with, but HOLY COW, how did I miss hearing about this one?!?!
Or maybe I'm just a freak with a perverted mind, and no one else thinks it is weird.

Yesterday, as we were eating dinner, I turned on the Brewers-Cubs game, only because this is a critical stand for the two teams who are 1-2 in their division. I thought I would be seeing some good action. Not so much.

It was the bottom of the fifth inning and things were just about to go from bad to worse for the Brew Crew. So then I see the back of a Cub's jersey as he takes his at-bat. At first I thought it was a joke jersey, but no, it was a real player. And his name is FUKUDOME. No, I am not making this up, it is a real guy!

Dude.

Shake N Bake for Lunch

So had I just picked up some lunch at the local terikayi place. I was in the left turn pocket waiting for the arrow and my car started to shudder rather violently. My first thought was that something was wrong with the engine and it was going to blow up or something. The shaking got worse. Then I thought the car in back of me had hit me, but no, it was far back.
Holy Crap! Earthquake!
I am not a person prone to panic, but between the thoughts of my car blowing up and then realizing it was an earthquake and ohmygodheriaminthemiddleofthestreetwithallthewiresandthegasstationandaiiieeee!
As the light turned green, I peeled out and drove the 2 blocks to work. People were standing around in the parking lot. My co-workers were all a-twitter. I was shaking.
Initial reports are 5.8 -- not too shabby. Nothing is amiss, so that is good.


Now I have to go look for Mr. Whiskers!

Light Show

I finally got around to upgrading the light fixtures in the kitchen and dining area. We're going for the retro look and I was happy when I saw these at Rejuvenation.
Since I am all about saving the planet and stuff, I bought two CFL "bulbs" to use, but I now have learned that CFL's don't work with dimmers. The dining area is on a dimmer, so I had to use a regular bulb in there and now I have an extra one for when the kitchen bulb burns out in like 15 years or so.

Herb Oil

A few weeks ago, when I was prepping for my little party, I made up a batch of herb oil. It is such a no-brainer, yet it is something I seldom do. That day, I was reminded of how useful and good it is. The original reason I made
it for the party was to brush on baguette slices that I toasted in the oven to use for bruschetta. My flavor palette for that dinner was Mediterranean-y, so I ended up using the oil for a few other things on the menu as well.

Like I said, it is really easy......

in a bowl:

a few cloves of peeled garlic, smashed
a mixture of sprigs of whatever herbs you have around--
I really like rosemary, oregano, thyme
black peppercorns, cracked
a few shakes of red chile flakes

pour some olive oil over the top of it all and let it sit--30 minutes should do it, but you can let it sit for a couple of days, then decant it into a jar for use in the future.

Weekend Wokking

Tomato Bread Salad
Inspired by Eating Well

Dressing:

2T lemon juice
2T olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped fine

Salad:

2 cups ciabatta bread, crusts removed, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 cups cubed tomatoes
handful of sliced red onion
1/2 handful basil chiffonade
Salt and pepper

Method:

Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Toss all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing on the salad to moisten, then let it sit for a few minutes so the bread soaks up the dressing a bit.

1 serving




I'm submitting this recipe to Weekend Wokking, a world-wide food blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks celebrating the
multiple ways we can cook one ingredient.

The host this month is Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok.

If you would like to participate or to see the secret ingredient, check who's hosting next month.

Don't Be A Dumbass #2

OK....two things:
first, this blog isn't intended as a news aggregator and second,
the "Don't Be A Dumbass" feature is only supposed to be a "once in a while" thing.(More love, less hate.)
BUT THIS WAS JUST SO EFFING SPECTACULAR, I couldn't resist. Enjoy!

FRIDAY, July 25, 2008, 11:49 a.m.
By Crocker Stephenson (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Man charged with shooting lawn mower

Keith Walendowski is charged with shooting a lawn mower.
A 57-year-old south side man, who might have been struggling with a hangover, is charged today with shooting his lawn mower with a sawed-off shotgun.

"I'll tell you the truth," a criminal complaint quotes an apparently inebriated Keith Walendowski. "I got pissed because my lawn mower wouldn't start, so I got my shotgun and shot it.

"I can do that. It's my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want," Walendowski told police.

Ignorance of the law, however, is not a legal defense.

Walendowski is charged with a felony count of possessing a short-barreled shotgun and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct while armed. If convicted of both charges, he faces up to six years and nine months in prison.

The shooting occurred Wednesday at a home Walendowski shares with his mother in the 3500 block of S. Austin St.

According to the complaint, Walendowski had been drinking all morning. Around 9:30 a.m., he attempted to start his 21-inch Lawn-Boy - unsuccessfully.

After shooting the mower, he went in his basement, where he was arrested by police, the complaint says.

Police recovered the shotgun, shells, a handgun, rounds for the handgun and a stun gun.

Dick Wagner of Wagner's Garden Mart, 6075 N. Green Bay Ave., said shooting the mower didn't help Walendowski's odds of getting it repaired.

"Anything not factory recommended would void the warranty," he said.