Kohlrabi Slaw

I only have a few minutes to post.  My Mother arrived late yesterday afternoon and brought with her a case of bronchitis.  So our plans of touring and shopping are being changed. 

Of course, tomorrow we will celebrate The Baby turning 21!  Where does the time go?

The Thai Inspired Kohlrabi Coleslaw was great.  I made a few changes to the recipe in order to use up some of our CSA produce.  I encourage you to try the recipe and also to visit Spicie Foodie, the site I where I found the recipe.

Photo courtesy of Spicie Foodie.com

Thai Inspired Kohlrabi Coleslaw (my version)

1 purple and 1 green Kohlrabi, shredded
1 small carrot, shredded
1/2 cup shredded radishes
1 green onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp sesame oil (or vegetable oil)
1 Small red or green chilie, finely chopped (I used cayanne powder)

Toppings
crushed peanuts
basil, fresh mint or parsley (I went with parsley)

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix all the dressing ingredients until well combined.  Set aside.

In a separate large bowl, toss the vegetables then pour the dressing over them.  Toll gently till coated.  Cover and place in refrigerator for 15 minutes or ready to serve.

Again, this recipe was loosely based on the recipe found at Spicie Foodie.   I think I played with the spices a little until it was the way I knew my family would like it.   It was really good and will be on our list of foods to eat again.

Have a great one!  I am off to make Cream of Asparagus Soup and Artisan Bread!  Perhaps I can squeeze in some sewing too!

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Time with The Baby

My time with The Baby has been wonderful.  Thursday we did some shopping.  Mostly for groceries. 

On Friday, we stayed home and putzed around the house.  She read a book and I did my usual housekeeping and gardening.  It was a wonderful day.

The Baby is a big fan of elephants.  So we decided to spend Saturday at the zoo in Washington, D.C.  There is not admission to the zoo, since it is a part of the Smithsonian.   Parking was $25.00!

I read this elephant plays the harmonica, but we did not see it!

The Baby and I at the end of the day!  Boy were we pooped!

We all had a wonderful time.

We were pretty tired Saturday night.  To wrap up our "zoo" day, we watched the movie, "We Just Bought a Zoo."  It was a good, family movie.  We laughed a little and cried a little.

For dinner tonight, I roasted a chicken, some beets and potatoes.  

The beets were a part of our CSA.  They were so tender and sweet.  So much better than anything purchased from the store.  I added some rosemary and thyme that I picked for our garden.

My Mother will arrive in town tomorrow afternoon to be a part of The Baby's birthday celebration.  The Baby's boyfriend will arrive on Friday of this week.  I am planning a day of winery tours for Satudary.  Since The Baby will be 21, she will be legally allowed to have a glass of wine!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

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Yesterday

Yesterday was a fantastic day!  The highlight was when The Baby arrived home!  I am so glad she is home.  I think it has been a couple months since I have seen her.  For us, that is a long time!  She will be here for a couple weeks and then off to West Virginia to work till the end of July.  We will have her home again for a week or so before she leaves to attend her Senior year in college.

This weeks CSA included some kohlrabi.  I must admit, I have never cooked it and not really sure if I have eaten it.  I found a wonderful recipe for Asian Kohlrabi Slaw over at Spicie Foodie.  I will let you know what the verdict is.  We also received:  spring onions, napa cabbage, sugar snap peas, turnips, 4 pounds of asparagus and I am not sure what the leafy green thing is in the front of the photo.  It has a very spicy taste to it.  I think we will try it in a salad.  If you know what it is, let me know.

The Baby turns 21 on the 23rd of May!  One of the gifts we will give her is this hot iron holder.  The holder is lined with heat resistant fabric, the kind your ironing board is covered with (if you go near one of those!)  I found the fabric at a quilt show over a year ago.  It is Japanese and I just loved it.  When The Baby saw the fabric, she also fell in love with it.  I am glad I found a purpose for it.  I found the pattern over at Sew 4 Home. 

The kitchen has become a hot spot in the house!  Since we joined the CSA, I have been challenged to try new foods and recipes.  I will not say I am ready to be a top chef, but I do enjoy putting a good meal on the table.  I have decided to join a few blog challenges.  One is over at Moms Crazy Cooking.  It is a once a month challenge that requires you to search blogland for a recipe, try it and blog about it.  This month is all about smoothies.  I made this one with some leftover fruit we had.  I added some of the homemade yogurt to it.  It was yummy.

Finally, I wanted to show a photo of our guest room.  Since my Mother will be visiting for The Baby's birthday, I thought I would hang a few things on the wall! 

Hope you all have a wonderful day.  Mine will be filled with cooking and lots of hugs and kisses from my wonderful daughter!



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Busy Sunday

Hello all!  Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday.  We will celebrate the day on Wednesday of this week.  The Baby will be home from college then!

It was a productive day for me.  I made crock pot yogurt.  I have read about it many times and finally decided to try it.  It was easy and fun.  It is also very delicious and inexpensive!

For dinner, Big and I had pork chops, Sugar Snap Peas from the CSA, and mashed potatoes and rutabagas, also from the CSA.  It was a great meal.

I did some garden work also.   I purchased some herbs at the farmers market last Saturday and finally got them in some pots.  We have a lot of bunnies in the area and I am not sure if they will eat the herbs or not.  In West Virginia, we worried about deer, here it is bunnies!

My faithful gardening companion with her stick!

At the end of the day, when I could no longer stand, I sat.  I sat and sewed.  I had started this tossed 9 patch while we were in the hotel waiting on our house.  I hadn't picked it up since then.  I am hoping to finish it soon and use it in the sun room.

Hope you had a great day!

Cynthia L.

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Great Day - Great Dinner

We got up early this morning with every intention of going to the Baltimore Aquarium.  When we got close to the freeway, we realized the ride home would take us about 5 hours!  Friday traffic!

Since we were clean and dressed, we decided to find something to do.  I had read in the local newspaper that there was going to be a Renaissance Festival about 30 minutes outside of town.  The paper said it started today.  We drove there with anticipation.  The festival starts tomorrow.

On out way to the festival we passed a winery.  Hey, I thought, I am up for a tour of a winery!  It opened at 11:00 a.m.  It was only 9:30.

We ended up going to Lake Anna State Park. It was a lovely park with a small beach and some nice campgrounds. We walked a couple paths and then ate our chicken salad sandwiches while gazing at the lake. Turned out to be a good day after all.

Since joining the local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), I have been more interested in cooking and baking.  I have been pulling out my cookbooks and scouring cooking sites.

Big has agreed to be my guinea pig and try everything I make!  Tonight we had Peppered Bacon, Cheddar Cheese and Pear Pannini!  Oh My Goodness, were they ever good!  If you think you would like to try them, let me know and I will send or post the recipe!

Big insisted on Tater Tots!  I tried to get a photo prior to her grabbing the sandwich!

Have you ever baked bacon?  This was my first try and it was great!

Tomorrow, I will sew!

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Just call me Cynthia O'Hara

Big is on vacation this week.  It is one of the reasons I have not been blogging.  The other is that sinus problems got the best of me and at times I felt I could not see straight!

We decided to visit a couple of Civil War areas today.  The first was Fredericksburg National Cemetery.  It was really interesting.   We first walked the Sunken Road Trail.  We learned about some of the innocent families who lived there when all hell broke out.

Innis House - you can see bullet holes in the side of the house.  Big is peering in and looking at more bullet holes

This is a part of the original Sunken Road wall.  Can you see the bullet hole?

Fredericksburg National Cemetery - the flat head stones are unknown soldiers.  The rounded head stones are known soldiers.

We learned that the top number on an unidentified marker is the plot number and the bottom number represents how many bodies are in the grave.

Then we went to Chatham Manor.  This was my favorite.  The house was built in 1771 and began on a 1228 acre lot.  During the war, President Abraham Lincoln visited.  Clara Barton and Walt Whitman were also there.  A long list of Union Generals were there also.



A wonderful bench in the corner of the gardens.

I could just imagine myself with large hoop skirts.  Having Rhett Butler profess his love (well, perhaps not that, but you get my drift)  The property was lovely, the gardens, (although in need of a good weeding) were lovely and the day was wonderful.

On another note, I have decided to join Baking with Julia.  I will be baking two times a month using recipes from the book, Baking with Julia.  I am really looking forward to it! 

I have had so much fun cooking with the vegetables that we are given from the CSA.  I am pushing myself to try new things with produce.  Now I will push to try new things with baking.  I hope you will follow me and perhaps sign up and join me!

Cynthia L.Pin It Now!

Creature of Habit

I am most definitely a creature of habit!  Monday is my vacuuming and mopping day.  These projects are morning projects.

This Monday, Big took the day off to have a quick visit with her ortho.  doctor and get her arm brace off.  After the visit, we did a bit of shopping , had a late lunch and came home.  By the time we got home, it was afternoon and it was, in my opinion, too late to vacuum and mop.  I thought I would take care of it on Tuesday. 

I have not vacuumed yet!  My whole week has been thrown off!  I kept thinking Tuesday was Monday (should have vacuumed then).  I thought today was Thursday!  My world is falling apart!

Big and I decided to take a trip out to the farm our veggies would come from if we decided to join the Community Supported Agriculture.  I was so pleased.

The farm is clean and the folks are friendly.  There seems to always be a lot of activity there!  I am so excited to be a part of this.

Our share today consisted of 2 lbs. asparagus, 4 lbs strawberries, 2 bunches of onion, 2 bunches of swiss chard and 1 dozen brown eggs.

I have never cooked, or for that matter eaten, swiss chard.  I looked up a few recipes and hope for the best.

Well, I am off to make a strawberry pie for desert!  Tomorrow, strawberry scones!

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