Little Green Apples
It’s an iPhone photo story and the bowl of peelings didn’t come out. This was last Thursday.
Recipe for a summer afternoon.
Generous neighbors with an apple tree laden with fruit- a couple of boxes waiting to be filled. (We filled one.)
A friend to help pick, peel, core and slice.
The crust was butter, flour and salt, a few tablespoons of ice water- mixed up in the food processor, rolled out.
Four open face pie/tarts and one quart of applesauce that looks almost green to me.
We took one of the pies down to the owners of the apple tree and were they ever surprised. I brought one out to Ohio for the family. Along with the applesauce.
Small apples, tart and sweet, firm flesh and delicious. A sprinkle of lemon, dots of butter and light on the cinnamon. A bit raggedy looking but tasty.
Barred Owl – Niceville Florida- Guest Post
from my friend Shuey in Niceville, Florida. He emailed this photo to me and I asked if I he’d allow me to post it and he said yes! I thought it was exceptionally cool to see an owl closeup. The site he sent said ” sometimes the Barred Owl sounds crazed”
Nice shot and thanks for guest blogging!
“This was my 3rd try at getting some pics of one of our neighbors – a Barred Owl. It’s half of a nesting pair who live in the woods behind our house and this one likes to rest in some trees next to our house in mid to late afternoon on nice days. They can be heard in the mornings, about an hour before dawn hooting behind the house. The first time I heard them I thought they were dogs and another time I heard a commotion and think it may have gotten a small cat . . . hopefully not someone’s pet.
It was very tolerant today and let me move around below him for quite a while before moving off to another nearby tree. This is their nesting season and hopefully I’ll be able to see some young owls in early April.
If you want to hear one, go to this site, and scroll down to the Barred Owl, then click on the arrow in the center of the video picture.
http://doloresmonet.hubpages.com/hub/OwlsoftheUS-AWhosWhoofOwlsOwlCallsIdentificationandCulturalSigificance
Giant Spider in the Neighbors’ Garden
We were talking outside as I had just photographed an item (stay tuned) in my neighbors’ driveway and as I was heading home. We were still chatting and I started to photograph a little grasshopper sitting on top of one of their daisies (might be a different species but similar in appearance).
The conversation went like this-
J said- Look at the spider-
R- what spider?
J-the big spider-
R-where is it?
J-the big black and yellow spider—– right there under the flower
R I don’t see it.
R———- OH MY- I see it now -that spider is ENORMOUS-
Steve I might need a new glasses prescription. How did I miss this giant spider? It is considered harmless to humans according to the information on this type of spider but I would not want it crawling on me. Click here for more info on the
Argiope aurantia commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider-
Quesada from Spain
My next door neighbor’s parents are visiting from Spain. They brought a Quesada wrapped in a cool paper that listed all the ingredients.. It is a dessert that has a bit of lemon peel in it. Dense and delicious. I was invited to have a piece. Butter, eggs, sugar, flour, lemon zest, a pinch of cinnamon. Tastes reminiscent of a simple custard of childhood but different texture. It is made like this so it could be carried in a knapsack and last a long time, not spoil. Here is a photo of it.
Albóndigas de Pescado in Pittsburgh
You feel fortunate when you receive an invitation to dine in someone’s home. It doesn’t happen that often these days. Sharing a meal and conversation is the best. But when your new neighbors entertain their parents who are visiting Pittsburgh from Spain and the mother cooks for the meal, you are really lucky. The menu was fish balls! Albondigas de Pescado ( I hope I spelled it correctly). Delicious! Rice and green salad, a crusty bread, Spanish wine, followed by pie with whipped cream. Oh my. You wish your grade school Spanish was more than two sentences. And a house next door that has sat empty for at least five years, no lights on all this time, has new life and new friends and it feels good to be home.
Need scratch and sniff for this photo, too.
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