A TRIBUTE TO CLAUDE MONET

I would like to think that Claude Monet would find some inspiration wandering my gardens.  I definitely find inspiration and a calming feeling from the beauty of the colors and the shapes of the garden's edges and in the shapes of the flowers themselves.  My husband has coined a word and uses it when we sit on the patio soaking in the beauty of our labor of love.  Peaceness.  He loves using that word and I have grown fond of using it myself.  A garden provides a peaceness. 
I love the feeling I get when I view paintings by Claude Monet.  His works of art bring a sense of joy and a sense of calm or peaceness.  Impressionism makes the paintings have such a soft feel to them and the colors that Monet uses in his paintings bring them to life.  So here's to the great French impressionist painter.

      

 

 

                                      

 

 



I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having bcome a painter to flowers. -Claude Monet

 

 

GREAT BURGERS FROM SCRATCH

I made these burgers on Fathers Day.  Try them.  

HAND MADE BEEF BURGERS

recipe is for 1 lb of ground beef

• 1 lbs of lean ground beef
• 1 tsp of EVOO
• 1 egg yolk
•  1/4 tsp garlic powder
• couple of good shakes of dried minced onion
• 1 Tb of onion powder
• 1 Tb of McCormick Perfect Pinch Steak Seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste

Form the meat into patties.  Of course the math tells us 4 burgers to a lb of ground beef.  Put a thumb print in the center of the patties before grilling so the burgers do not shrink.

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   Everyone has a right to a university degree in America, even if it's in Hamburger Technology.

-Clive James

 

Father's Day 2013

I want to extend a belated Happy  Father's Day to all the dads out there.  I hope everyone had some time to visit with their dad or to spend some reflective thought about him if you were not able to be with him.  My dad died young when I was only 8 years old but I enjoy the memories I have of him.

So the weather forecast for the weekend was off a bit which made my weekend weather outlook in my last post sound chilly and wet. Saturday afternoon leaving work it was 78 degrees and clearing with sun.  Who could ask for more on a spring day? I could!  Ask and you shall receive.  The forecast for Father's Day was mid to high 80's with sun and yes, humidity, but of course, it's Chicago.
The weather was perfect for a family visit.  I was  outsideNinside on Father's Day.  I was inside mixing up burgers for grilling outside.  The Dad in this house likes to keep it simple, so burgers on the grill and simple sides like a fresh garden salad and of course some chips or potato salad are what he requested.

 We have 4 kids and some have jobs that require them to work Saturdays and Sundays but those that don't work weekends can come for the BBQ.  My 94 year old mother will be there and my brother and my sister in law too.  That menu will be perfect for an open house visit from the kids.  Don't

forget boccie ball competitions!

 

 

 Bloody Mary's to start the day for some and moving on to homemade White Sangria.  My daughter loves to work in the kitchen and she cut up fresh apples, strawberries, pears and blueberries and added it to the white wine.

 
While we sat outside enjoying a lovely day, the garden pictures tell all that is booming in the garden!

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.

-Sigmund Freud

I'M LOOKING FOR SUMMER!

I'm watching the calendar.  That's right, watching and looking for June 21st.  The first day of summer!  What's holding our nice, warm weather back?  Is it El Nino?  Is it La Nina?  Is it a Canadian front, hanging low and heavy over the Midwest?  Whatever it is I was a bit chilled last night and it is back down in the 50's tonight, again!  If I could knit, which I can't, or sew, again, I don't.  I just might have made little sweaters or jackets for my garden plants!  Really, those poor babies are shivering and trying to shake off the chill from their green leaves. 
This weather seems schizophrenic too.  One day it is almost hot and with enough humidity hanging in the air that you walk from the parking lot at work and scare yourself when you look in the mirror at work to see your hair is starting to resemble Don King's!  The next day we have torrential rains, exciting lightning shows and scary tornado warnings.  Then we plummet 20 degrees.  From the 80's to the high 60's or low 70's in the day. 
The poor zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes!  It is those nights when the thermometer hugs 50 with enough wind that you are sure there must be wind chill factor that it seems the plants are embracing cryogenics!  Hoping and waiting for summer to come quick and revive them!
Well, I'm waiting too.  Waiting for those nights when the breeze is balmy and not even a summer sweater is needed to cover the shoulders.  I'm waiting for the blazing sun to be hanging in a sea of baby blue and making the temperature soar to 90 so that Lake Michigan beaches beckon and the water makes for a refreshing dip to cool down.

this is dated incorrectly. 8/18/2011.

 

OK, I'm a big girl and can deal with this.  I AM enjoying the beauty of the back yard!

 

 I must say the cool weather plants are rather enjoying this chilly spring we are having.  The salad garden is full with ruffly, green leaves.  The broccoli looks like it could feed Goliath!

                                                       



The Montmorency Cherry Tree (sour cherries) will not be held back by chilly spring weather.  They are abundant on the tree and turning redder every day.

Cool, rainy, weather is predicted for the weekend and has me thinking of something warm and inviting from the kitchen!  That will be the next entry. 

 

See you next time inside, in the kitchen.

 

Every year it seems to me I hear complaints about spring.  It is either "late" or "unusually cold", "abnormally dry" or "fantastically wet", for no one is ever willing to admit that there is no such thing as a normal spring.

-Thalassa Crusso