A new African tradition for me

I’ve been admiring bottle trees for a long time.  I can’t rightly say when I saw one for the first time, but it was years ago, and I was fascinated. Fairly recently I learned that they are an African trad ition to ward off evil spirits that were brought to the Southern US by slaves from West Africa.
 

Some of the images I found when I was looking up bottle trees

Not knowing about the evil spirits connotation, a couple of years ago, I decided I’d put a small collection of blue bottles that were collecting dust in my pantry to better use and arrange them on a corner fence post in the back yard, bottle tree-style.  I needed long nails.  I consulted my friendly Ace Hardware man who gave me a handful of different length nails to try. Straight home I came to hammer them in. I had so much trouble driving those suckers into that weathered, treated lumber.  Argh!  Besides, the nails were all too short and the pair that I did manage to drive in to some extent, had the bottles sort of hanging off them.  It would not do.  So I took the nails back and traded them for the longest nails they had: longer and fatter too.  Back home I traipsed. These wouldn’t go in at all.  My arm tingled all the way to the elbow with each smack of the hammer, and the hammer itself just ricocheted off the nail each time. I gave up and put a bottle on a bamboo post next to my temperamental hibiscus, and one “hung” on the corner of the fence.  That was that.  Until now.

This was my sorry attempt at a bottle tree
:(

I had an unusual South African wine
bottle on a bamboo stake

I don’t know what got into me but last week I googled "bottle trees".  There are dozens out there - images, stories, and those available for sale.  After perusing the web for a good while, I was bedeviled enough to just order one that very evening.  I was so excited, I was about to pop!  It came in 2 days. Susannah helped me put it up and bend the branches.  We had fun gathering all the bottles I had clustered at the bottom of a trellis in the garden and happily arranging them on the tree.  Now I just need to invite friends over, drink more wine {that comes in colorful or interesting bottles, of course} and fill up the empty branches. 

I’ll share a secret :: I feel mildly eccentric having a bottle tree in my yard.  But, hey! Could that be the real me coming out?

It was relatively easy to install.  See the little foot rest? Susannah hopped on it
like one hops on a shovel. It came with a tool to open out the "branches"

Love it!

Stitching that I love

A few posts ago, I was going great guns to make a dress for my great niece’s birthday on July 11. Tonight I made the buttonholes and stitched the hem.  The dress is done - yay!  Today is July 7, so it would seem that I’m right on track…..with one minor major hitch:  even if I package it up tonight and mail it tomorrow, it won’t be in Perth, Western Australia by Monday, or even by {probably} the following Monday.  I could kick myself now for the days when I let other things get in the way of my progress, especially since I cut it out and prepped it to take along as hand work for my trip to South Africa way back in early May.

Instead of kicking myself too much, I must stop and look at this little dress and think what it means:  I accomplished “something smocked” again, which is really awesome!  I also found it’s still a form of stitching I really, really love, love, love!

And happy birthday, precious Rebecca! How can you already be a grown up 3-years old?

Front view - this style can also be a jumper
or pinafore. Since it's winter in Perth now
it may well start out that way and later
become a sundress!

The back crosses over.

Independence Day

Lemon cheese tart with star spangled fruit :)

Tonight I had some neighbors over for a 4^th of July cookout.   I planned  a pretty traditional menu – hamburgers and hot dogs with all the trimmings. Even though I don’t eat much beef these days, they were  - delicious!

Planning dessert, a lot of options ran through my head.  It needed to be easy because I worked today. Luckily I remembered this easy, almost cheesecake-like tart.  It made me wonder why I ever go to the trouble of making the real thing when this is all one really needs.  Here’s the recipe for Lemon Cheese Tart.  Of course you can heap on any fruit your heart desires.  Warning: there will be oohs and ahs when you pile on red, white and blues on the 4^th of July!

Centerpiece

We ate in the dining room because one, it was so hot and humid.  And two, it began to storm, so it was a very sound reason to be indoors and to be comfortable.  The table looked festive and patriotic. During dinner, I couldn’t help but eye my little flag and know what it represents. Ladies from the DAR presented it to me at my Naturalisation oath ceremony on December 3, 1982. “My” little flag has never left the pencil holder on the desk, except to grace the odd Independence Day table as it did today.  It is a fit reminder of how amazing it is to be an American citizen – what an honor, what a privilege.  I am well enough traveled to be adequately aware of how precious my freedom is.

Today, I thank all the men and women who have given of themselves and I am humbled by those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this freedom.  

Oh, and I'm just loving my hydrangeas this year. I've been picking bunches,
sharing them and keeping them on the kitchen table too.

Dusting off the yogurt maker

I bought a Donvier yogurt maker and loved making Bulgarian-type, plain yogurt but when life went to hell in a handbasket four years ago, many things in my life came to an abrupt halt.  Yogurt making was definitely one of them.

I don’t know what got into me, but a week ago I dusted it off and made a batch.  I remember now why I love homemade yogurt so much.  I simply adore the pure, delicate taste.  This week I made another batch, as well as some yogurt cheese.  Yogurt cheese was the basis for the caramel tarts I made this weekend, and not crème fraiche as Jamie Oliver stated that he used in his recipe {I still have not seen a written version of this recipe – just my notes jotted down on the plane ! }

Five years ago, when I bought my yogurt maker {online} I heard of yogurt cheese for the first time.  I’ll confess.  I thought, yug.  I could not have been more wrong. It is fabulous.  It’s a lot like the texture of softened cream cheese, but, again, it has a delicate taste and it has umpteen uses.  It can be spread on bagels and crackers, used in dip recipes, and in fact, used in any and all recipes that call for sour cream, cream cheese, creamy cottage cheese {not really available in USA}, ricotta or for crème fraiche.  Best of all, it’s healthy and low fat or non fat depending on the milk used, and did I say, quite delicious?  Here are some facts about yogurt cheese.

This is how I make it.  I place two containers of my homemade yogurt in a special funnel that I purchased for this purpose.  {The funnel has a plastic mesh liner and the point is open.}  I place the funnel over a jug,

cover it with plastic, and place it in the fridge overnight.  The whey separates from the yogurt and drips into the jug, leaving creamy cheese in the funnel.  I store the cheese in a sterilized glass jar in the fridge.

I see that the type funnel that I have is no longer available for purchase, but there are others if you do a search.  But the cookbook that I bought, Not Just Cheesecake, can still be ordered here.

Yogurt cheese is a spreadable consistency

  

Mwah on fresh fruit and berries

Caramel tartlets before caramel

...and after