2nd Finding Beauty Friday

Beauty showed itself Friday morning in an unlikely place: my neighbor's trash cans!  I was backing my car out of the driveway on my way to work and wondering what I would find for my Finding Beauty post and it was right there in front of me.  It was so sweet and unexpected and it made me wonder if mother nature/God/Yahweh/Buddah/Allah/Pick-your-Poison doesn't have a sense of humor after all.  My neighbor's trash cans are right under a Camelia bush and these blossoms had found their perch on the lids below.  It looked so artfully arranged that I had to take their picture, of course.  This was a good sign for Finding Beauty Friday, because for the rest of the day I had a hard time not noticing the little wonders around me.  Here are some examples:

My Morning Coffee

which I happened to be lucky enough to enjoy on our picnic table at work.

Some tracks in the sand from yesterday's trucks and loaders:

And my dog's nose, along with the rest of her. But I think her nose looks particularly fetching here:

I hope a wonderful weekend was had by one and all.  Aside from losing (my only) garage door opener and staying up until 2AM to finish a presentation and then ending up way too tired to do it justice (I can't believe it, but I think I'm officially too old to stay up past midnight! Or at least until I don't have sweet ones waking me at 6 sharp. That makes me feel less interesting, somehow).  In any case, the weather was glorious, the hammock was dusted off and strung up and plans for the urban chicken tractor were bandied about ... more to follow on that exciting subject in the near future.

Do you ever feel like this?

Kind of prickly and sharp?  I definitely do, but not today.  It was a beautiful, if chilly, spring day here in Maryland, complete with sunshine, showers and even some flurries!  I love spring for its fickle nature and emerging beauty.  Here is another beautiful hallmark of spring, pink blossoms:

Both of these terrific shots were taken by a dear friend of mine and talented photographer Nathan Stowell.  For more of Nathan's photography, click here.  Here are some spring photos I took of one of my favorite places in the world, Stonewall Farm, the place where I grew up.

  

 I was so lucky to grow up there, among the chickens, ponies, dogs and daffodils, and spring remains my favorite season there.  I am luckier still, that my parents are farming there today and my children can spend time there, away from the city, communing with the chickens, playing on the tractor and getting a little muddy.  Speaking of chickens ... there will hopefully be a very exciting post on some VERY SOON!!!!!  I leave you in suspense ... I myself am waiting with baited breath on chicken news from Stonewall Farm, where my daughter is spending a few days with her grandparents.

Starting the day right

Dolde Oatmeal

1 Cup of steel cut (or hand rolled, a la Dolde family)

4 Cups water

2 TB, or one glug-glug of buttermilk/whey/plain yogurt

Mix together in pot that you'll cook in the next morning

Soak mixture, covered, on stove overnight.

In the morning, bring oatmeal mixture to a boil and reduce heat and simmer until oatmeal is creamy and silky.  Serve with a drizzle of cream or milk, some flaxseed if you wish, maple syrup or cinnamon, even honey - whatever strikes your fancy! Then put some fresh berries on top to dress it up a bit.  Enjoy!  I ate mine with a cup of green and roasted brown rice tea and when I was visiting my friends on Whidbey Island, WA we drank the most delicious coffee concoction (heat honey and milk together and add to coffee).

or you can make a snowman face in your oatmeal too.  There are endless possibilities.

Bleary eyed Snuggle-fest

I had every intention of starting this blog on the right foot: well prepared with witty transcript, a fabulous photograph or two, a sexy header and maybe even a recipe.  Well, you may as well get to know the Real Me - a shoot from the hip, leap before you look kind of gal.  The kind who decides to start a blog at 11 pm after a long day of child wrangling, cooking-cleaning-cooking-cleaning and having a friend for dinner.  Well, it's like this:  If I waited for the right time, the right photograph, the exact background and header that I envisioned (how do you all make those adorable and chic headers with your very own font?); it would never happen.  Instead, I'm lying in bed typing away with an adorable almost-six year old pressed up against my arm so tight I can barely type.  She just came in (it's midnight) to tell me (half asleep) that she couldn't sleep.  So now (within seconds) she is snoring away contentedly and my bed just got a lot smaller.  In any case, I'm thrilled to make my first post, my goal being a daily post on my interests.  I see this blog as a chance to remind myself daily of the things that inspire me, motivate and interest me, and a daily recipe!  Hopefully this will help me to achieve the balance I am trying so desperately to achieve between work, parenting and self (Self?  Are you in there? Please come back, Self!  Any mothers out there will know exactly what I am talking about!!)

I leave you with the recipe of last night's dinner:

(no, I didn't make this gorgeous cake - I made another one - an orange and date yogurt cake the recipe for which came from the lovely blog, 64 Sq Ft Kitchen)

Birthday Party Pork Chops 

First, you have to have a birthday party, which, if you're lucky will leave you with an open and partially consumed bottle of sparkling rose.  Pour yourself a small glass, if you're so inclined, and take the following ingredients out of the fridge and pantry:

3 bone-in pork chops

bottle of sparkling rose (helpful hint: always put a silver spoon in the top of an opened bottle of bubbly, it helps it last a little longer)

1 medium onion

TB or so of flour

oil for cooking chops (a healthy glug - I used olive but vegetable oil would do too)

salt and pepper to taste

Bring pork chops to room temperature.  Pre-heat the oven to 375 and use a pan that is oven safe ( a cast iron skillet would do). Heat the pan and the oil while you are slicing the onions into half moons.  Liberally salt and pepper the pork chops on both sides and arrange them in the pan when it is nice and hot.  You want to hear a nice sizzle when they go in.  Let them brown on medium high heat on one side (they are ready to be turned when they release easily from the pan) and turn them to brown on the other side.  Once you turn them, sprinkle your half moons of onion around and in between the chops.  When the onions are starting to release their fragrance, pour a few glugs of your sparkling rose, just about a third of the way up the side of the pork chop, do not go more than half way up the side.  

Put a lid on your skillet and put it in the oven for 4 - 5 minutes, or until the chops are done (this will vary with the thickness of the pork chop).  Bring the skillet back up to the stove top and remove the pork chops to a platter and cover with foil.  Turn the heat back on and bring the rose/pork chop juices to a slight boil.  Sprinkle with flour and, stirring, thicken the sauce a bit and cook the onions a bit longer.  The idea is to thicken the sauce with the flour and not to reduce it significantly (add more rose if you think you need more sauce).  This will take just a few minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the pork chops smothered in the onions and sauce with mashed potatoes and peas, or noodles and peas.

My children loved this and so did I!  But the best part was my mother's birthday we had earlier in the day, I only wish she and my father could have stayed for dinner!