Deep Fried Camembert

I loved this as an appetizer in Germany.  When I got it, I didn't get a main course.  I've been wanting it for a while but Camembert is tricky to find where I live.
But I found a double cream Brie at Sam's club.

This picture shows half.  The recipe I found called for raspberry dipping sauce but I don't like raspberry so I used canned whole berry cranberry sauce.  I warmed mine up but Larry wanted his cold.

Both of us totally loved it.  I think the one I made was better than the ones I'd had in Germany because the recipe called for 3/4 cup of sesame seeds in addition to the bread crumbs.

Here is the link I used:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/deep-fried-camembert-with-raspberry-sauce/

I had a larger round of Brie than the recipe called for but I had plenty of the various ingredients without increasing anything.

The nutrition information made it look like it has a lot of carbs.  I really couldn't understand why because cheese is low or zero and the sesame seeds aren't bad.  But I guess the cranberry sauce or raspberry they used for their calculations is heavy on the sugar.

But I checked my blood sugar later and it looked good.

74/91 Insulation is Great!

The temperature outside is 91 degrees.  It was so nice and cool inside I checked to see if Larry had already turned on the air conditioner.  He hadn't.  It is 74 degrees inside.  That isn't chilly, but the contrast is so great between inside and outside that with fans on, it feels nice.

Steel Cut Oats

Leigh said what I have is steel cut oats and we discussed what that would look like.  So I looked up how to cook that.  Grinding them in the coffee mill turned it into something edible, but not great.
So I looked up steel cut oats to see how to cook them.  It said to put a teaspoon in a pan, put a cup of oats in and stir it around for about three minutes, then add three cups of water, bring to a boil, put a lid on it, and let it set overnight.  It said to bring it to a boil the next morning and add milk if it looked dry.  So this morning I added milk until it looked creamy and warmed it up.  It was delicious.  The texture was entirely different from oatmeal (which I like), and way different from munching gravel (first effort).
Here's the bonus: put the leftover part in the refrigerator and scoop out enough for breakfast until it runs out.  It looks like there's about three more servings in there. 

Nathan Lowell's Owner's Share

I've spent a while this evening trying to download Nathan Lowell's Owner's Share.  It took a while but I can't find it on my iPod.  I have no idea where it downloaded it.  I searched downloads on my computer to see if it would show up there.  It should have put it there and then synced it.  I did this with Double Share a couple of days ago.  Then I finished Captain's Share today. 
I like the series a lot.  I also like Nathan Lowell as the reader.  It tends to annoy me when the reader mispronounces words.  It also annoys me when the text says, "...he said dryly" and the reader reads it incorrectly.  Mr. Lowell reads his work well.
Now, where is Owner's Share?

What Did I Buy?

 I went to one of those upscale places where you take your own containers and bought this.  I bought oatmeal, too, but I've finished the oatmeal.  The thing is, I forgot the name of this and since I'd put it in my own container, there were no directions.  I started trying to remember what it was that I bought a couple of years ago.  The best I remember was wheat berries but I knew that was wrong because it was oats.  Finally I searched oat berries and found out that it is called that but is actually oat groats.  I searched recipes and came up with muffins, etc.  All I wanted was a bowl of oatmeal so I decided to wing it.  I used my coffee grinder.

It was edible but it ground too fine for what I wanted to look at.  When I ate it, though, it was crunchy.  I tried not to turn it into a uniform powder.  Success.

Not Getting Business

I got a robocall on my home phone (land line) saying that my google plus account showed my business wasn't doing well, or something to that effect.  I hung up but have pondered since about the access to my information that is available.  I don't have a business, in the first place.  But my information is available to people making robocalls.  Yippee. It isn't a big bummer, I don't think, because anybody with a phone book also has access to that information.  I wonder what else they want.

Am I Good, or What?

Today, it was definitely, "Or what?"
I put on a white blouse under my pink smock to volunteer at the hospital.  I managed to flip my Styrofoam container of scrambled eggs with hot sauce onto my blouse.  I was nearly finished so just one piece of bacon hit the floor and small pieces of egg, but still I had visible hot sauce spots on my blouse.
So I decided to button my smock to cover the evidence of my klutz moment.  My first effort resulted in buttoning my smock onto my blouse.  I did notice and fixed it, but none of that made me feel smart or deft.

Today's Shiny Thing

Today I downloaded a podcast.  I was very pleased that I was able to do it.  Thanks for directions, Rich.

Yard Bouquets

 My hybrid tea roses are in a blooming cycle right now.

The crepe myrtles are blooming, too.

Odd Hummingbird

It is sitting on the left flower, wings fluttering...really short beak.  It isn't drinking and allows people to walk up very close.

You Could Do Better

Well, that's not my favorite thing to hear.  My husband wants me to organize my shopping list.  I agree it would be nice but putting a list on the Kindle isn't all that easy to organize.  I basically organize my list around which store I want to be in when I buy the items.  Then I move what I'm most determined to leave with to the top of the list.  When I get tired, I stop shopping.  He wants a paper list.  He doesn't want to make the list.  He wants me to make the list the way he wants it.
So he started explaining to me again what a grocery list should be like.  I told him I got it.  He doesn't like my grocery list.  He said, "You could do better."
I said, "I could shop alone."  Today I drove to Sam's Club in Jackson.  It is definitely cheaper when I shop alone.  I'm the only one putting stuff in the buggy.

Junk Lunch

Two slices of cantaloupe from the garden and two Baby Bel Gouda cheese balls.  The salty taste of the cheese was a nice contrast with the cantaloupe's sweetness.  It feels like junk to me because I didn't cook anything.

Mahjong Crab

Mahjong Crab is the only mahjong game I've been able to play semi-successfully...80% at the moment.  Maybe I'll try a different one tomorrow.

Exercise Stinks

I can't seem to make myself care about getting my steps in on fitbit.  I have increased my activity as far as gardening goes, but it makes me hot and tired without giving me very many steps.  I don't know if I'll ever get over taking six weeks off of all activity except what is on level surfaces.

Weed Killer - Fertilizer

Too much fertilizer on a plant is just as bad as herbicide. 

If You Missed This

This is a freshman convocation speech given by a sophomore at Georgia Tech.  It is wonderful!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98nNpzE6gIs
If you haven't seen it, please take a couple of minutes to laugh out loud.

Drug Bust in Paper

At the hospital today one of the newspapers showed twenty pictures of people caught in a drug bust in a neighboring town.  The first one to see the paper examined the pictures with names and said, "None of my family is there." The next one said, "None of the people we've cleaned up here are there." I said, "None of my former students are there."

Giant Hosta Bloom

My Giant Hosta is blooming.  It is practically covered by impatiens.

Wine Kit Arrived

The wine kit arrived.  I have a book about making wine.  I don't have a clue what to do next. I haven't watched the cd yet, though.

Mantis Yesterday

 I used the Mantis for the first time since my knee surgery.  My flower beds are in pitiful shape after six weeks of neglect.  So I ran the Mantis down one side to get the tallest weeds,.  It took a while to unwrap the weeks that it wound around the tines.

 I dug some grass (as opposed to weeds) out of a flower bed and transplanted it into a bald spot I've been working on.  The grass I put out last year lived, but it hasn't spread very much even though we've had plenty of rain.  I'm not sure the grass will survive because Larry decided to help by spraying round up on it.  I really wish he wouldn't help with round up.

I was able to start it myself.  When I finished, my legs were quivering.  Today my legs are fine, but my arms are sore.  Happily, my shoulder joints and knees are fine, too.

Resurrection Lilies

 The tall greenery in the middle of the picture is from the Asiatic lilies that are no longer blooming.  The pink blooms in front are growing on a stalk.  The greenery was earlier in the year.  Then the greenery died back.  The blooms are wonderful when there are a cluster of them.  We had several.  I don't know where the rest are.  I'd never seen these lilies before we moved here.  But they are pretty common here.  They have various names, but they call them Resurrection Lilies locally.

My alyssum is blooming enough for the fragrance to be noticeable without sticking my nose down in them.  They look nice with the angelwing begonias up close, but they aren't striking from a distance.

Definitely more are on my list for next year.

Fall Vegetables...and Tomatoes

Bell peppers, banana peppers, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, okra, and eggplants are still happening at our house.  I think the colors are pretty.

Low Carb Maintenance Brunch

The slice of cantaloupe and cherry tomatoes are from our garden.  The two fried eggs are covering a slice of low-carb, buttered bread. The slice of ham was a real discovery.  Smithfield hams are my favorite, but my husband and I have to really, really, want ham to buy an entire ham.  Smithfield has started marketing a chunk of ham.  Picnic hams aren't good to us, but this Smithfield chunk is every bit as good as the whole ham or half ham we'd previously gotten.

Careful Work

 Larry is closing in the summer kitchen.  He measures and cuts carefully.

This cut was so big the plate didn't even cover it.  The sheet rock man did it.

Larry does good work.

Four Days

My visit to the orthopedic surgeon on Monday resulted in all restrictions being removed except squatting.  So trying to get back to my goal of 10,000 steps a day on my fitbit has been difficult.  Today is the first day I've been able to walk with any speed.  It had been six weeks and evidently it had resulted in a certain lack of enthusiasm for walking.  And trying to get 10,000 steps in strolling takes a while.  So, yea!  Faster is better when the goal is 10,000 steps:)

Life's Hard

I've listened to Audible books for years.  Today I finally figured out that I can download a book without it being attached to the computer.  I download the various parts and wander about doing whatever is next on my sad little list, listening to my iPod.  When it has downloaded everything, I hook my iPod up, and then it syncs.  This is so much easier than hooking up the iPod and sitting there forever while it downloads.  I don't know if it is different and I just noticed it, or if it was that way all along and I was too simple to figure it out.  Oh well, better late than never.

Busy Morning

I've worked really hard this morning.  I vacuumed.

 I washed a whole week's worth of dishes.

 I spot cleaned with the Swiffer. My cleaning lady uses the mop and bucket once a month.  I just use the swiffer to get up spots and smudges in between.

 I paid the phone bill.

 Next I'm going to price propane.

I also worked in my flower bed for about thirty minutes.  It is in terrible shape regarding deadheading and weeds as I had six weeks recovery time for my knee surgery.  But it is coming along pretty well.  I work about a half hour in the cool of the morning and again in the evening.

How Many?

At the hospital today one of the visitors asked the nurse at a station, "How many people work here?"
She looked like she was thinking, and he asked, "About half?"
She looked taken aback and said they try to keep everybody working, but we enjoyed his joke.

Iris Reblooming

Last fall we had an apricot colored iris to rebloom.  This year we have two white ones reblooming so far.

Audible Books

I'm listening to David Weber's Honor Harrington series on Audible while I walk.  The bad guys (Peeps...Peoples' Republic of Haven) pretty much sound like cartoon Frenchmen with adenoid problems and tongue studs.

95 Pounds of Sugar

Larry said he has used 95 pounds of sugar for hummingbird food so far this season.  He said he used 115 pounds last year.  We aren't to the end of the hummingbird season so I think we have more hummers this year.  We also have flowers they flit around.

Can't See the Garden for the Flowers

 I like the individual flowers I have. I am not sure the overall effect is what I'm aiming for.

 I moved spiderwort in and it is thriving,

 This is a lavender spiderwort among the impatiens.

 Flowers through the porch rails

 The Little Gem magnolia is in its second bloom cycle.

 Blooming monkey grass spreads nicely.

 This is the Little Gem we planted earlier in the spring.  It is doing well and blooming on buds it put on since we planted it.

 This is the rose strip parallel to the road.  The knock out roses, crepe myrtle, and daylilies are doing pretty well.  I was surprised that the knock our roses need to be cut back.  The roses have put on hips instead of continuing to bloom. The crepe myrtles are providing more color than the roses right now.

 The monkey grass makes a great border.

I'm trying for a cottage garden look here.

Released from Doctor's Care

The doctor said I'm fine and can resume normal activity with no restrictions except for squatting.  Larry said I can read and play freecell more:)
I asked how I had torn my meniscus in the first place and he said it was probably cumulative due to my age.  I was expecting to never do whatever it was again except I guess I'll go ahead and get older.

Gourd in Mimosa

I have gourd vines on a fence.  One of the vines outgrew the fairly tall fence and latched onto a low-hanging limb of the mimosa tree.

Crepe Myrtle Blend

To the right of the dwarf pink azalea is a tall white one.  This picture shows a blending of the two.  I guess the white one seeded into the pink one.  It is also possible to see a mimosa bloom in this picture.

I've seen a blend of pink, white, and lavender crepe myrtles.  I don't care much for the lavender, but mixed into the same clump with pink and white, it is like a very large bouquet.

Our Fruit

I decided to make a couple of bowls of fruit for us to eat.  It took three days to get this much, but I think we could have had a reasonable amount yesterday.

First Watermelon

Our first watermelon is in the refrigerator chilling.  There are several more in the field so far.  There are a lot of cantaloupes in the field, too.  We've been getting a few figs and still getting a few strawberries.

Summer Annoyance

The worst thing about summer isn't the heat or humidity, it's bugs that bite.

New Mower

 Our old lawnmower has been broken more than it has worked this summer.  Larry has been trying to keep up with the grass with a push mower.  It might have been possible if it hadn't rained so much.  It isn't possible to cut when it is raining or while the grass is still wet because it clumps up under the mower.

This mower has a Gardena connector that allows a hose to connect and spray underneath.  Then the person gets on, turns the mower on and engages the blade.  It swishes out the grass from under the mower deck.  I don't know how well it did it because we can't see under there, but it's certainly a good idea.

1,000 Lifetime Miles on Fitbit

I haven't been walking much lately, but tonight when I synced, I had a message on email saying I'd gotten 1,000 Lifetime miles badge.  It said it was about like walking the Florida Coastline.  Well, the Florida coastline is prettier, mostly.

Passion Flower

In 1919 the Passion Flower was named the Tennessee State Wildflower.  In 1939 the iris was named the Tennessee State Flower.

Larry found a couple of vines of the passion flower.  The fruit may be in the picture, too.  I didn't notice it when I took the picture, but it seems to be to the left of the open flower and immediately next to the unopened flower on the right.

Larry pointed out a fruit but all the pictures I took were fuzzy.  But the fruit is supposed to be edible and good for treatment of insomnia and anxiety.  I feel anxious about trying stuff we find.  I don't know when to harvest it or what to do to it.  Maybe I can find out more.

Grapes and Apples

 These will be purple when they are ripe.  I'm thinking about trying to figure out how to make wine.

This is an Arkansas Black apple.

Visualization Antics

I have trouble sleeping and have tried a number of different things.  Last night I had decided to visualize the woods with a darker path leading into the woods and fireflies.  I was looking at that scene from the porch thinking how peaceful it was and that it might allow me to drop off to sleep.
Later when I tried to picture that scene, it was just totally black.  I was trying to bring up the scene and all of a sudden I had a picture in my mind of colorful lego-looking animals standing in a line like chorus dancers.  Where did that come from?  It was not what I'd intended to visualize!

Neither Knee

Today neither knee hurt but I didn't even get 5,000 steps on my fitbit. I decided that I should wait until I go back to the doctor to ask about whether walking for exercise is all right.  I guess I need somebody to explain about common sense because obviously I can't guess.

Fiction with Carbs

I'm reading a series about witches by Debra Geary.  I am enjoying the books, but the witches burn a lot of energy doing magic and are constantly eating cookies, rolls, pizza, chocolate, cookies, ice cream, cookies, and fried chicken.  It really is annoying.  I can't do any magic and really want those carbs!

Chicken Dish

Today I put five chicken thighs in an aluminum-lined pan, added several cubes of homemade barbecue sauce for chicken, half a small jar of sugar-free strawberry preserves, one bell pepper and one hot banana pepper, salt and pepper.  I wrapped it up in the foil and cooked it until it looked good, about an hour.  Then I removed the chunky bits and stirred in a half tsp. of low-carb thickener.  It was really good.  The barbecue sauce wasn't noticeably barbecue-flavored and neither was the strawberry preserves.  But the gravy was very good.
I kind of had sweet and sour in mind but I think the only thing they had in common was the green pepper.

Alyssum

I wanted this picture to show how the alyssum is draping over the flowerbox but I was standing behind it holding the camera out and couldn't see what I was taking...the white in the background is my t-shirt.  I plan to plant a lot more sweet alyssum next year.  It looks great with the angelwing begonias and smells wonderful.

Lavender Cuttings

I trimmed back a lavender bush that was taking over three other plants and trying to spread into the yard, too.  I used the greenery as cuttings to try to start more plants.  Only eight of them look good, two more may make it.

I started to think about where to put ten plants that grow big.  I was trying to tell Larry about it when he said he thought they would be nice between his cypress trees.  He has at least 100 in various stages.  About forty of them are one year old with weeds taller than they are.  The ones he put out last year are taller, and the ones from three years ago are even taller.  So his idea of putting them between cypress trees means I need to start a lot more cuttings.

I liked that he said cutting the grass in that area would be really nice with the lavender releasing its fragrance as the lawn mower brushed by.

My Other Knee

I'm gradually getting more steps in and building up a little more speed.  My left knee is complaining after a while.  I hope it settles down.  I am not anxious to have anything else done for a while!

I Thought It Would Be Cheaper

My tire garden isn't as cheap as I thought it would be.  I knew the shredded leaves and wood shavings would compress as they decomposed, but I really thought it would be slower.  I keep having to buy more potting soil, rip the strawberry plants out, put more potting soil in, and replant the strawberries. I think eventually I'll be finished with that, but not yet.

Hope I Don't See Anybody

I got a new perm today.  I'm not supposed to wash it for a couple of days.  I sure hope it looks better then.  It usually does.  If it doesn't, I can save myself some money until I forget how bad it looks right now.