Impossibly cute

Look who moved in just down the road!

This gorgeous little crew lives just outside our neighbourhood; they have a beautifully uncomplicated daily ritual, which starts with them up by the green and white barn (standing about the doorway, or lined up in a row staring through the bars of the side fence waiting for the breakfast-bringer), then playing about in the larger field - which is when you can visit them and pat the lovely soft noses through the fence - and ends with them back in the barn in the dusky light; we think they have soft little hay nests, and curl up with a good book and a mug of cocoa.

Our favourite is the stumpy baby, who is even sweeter than the rest, but we love them all... they have become part of our morning and evening spotting rituals; on our way to and from work, we look out for the same things, sometimes with the same commentary. It reminds me of being a child and going to my grandparents' house; my family will remember such gems as 'look at the little cubby' (correct response: 'I did already'), and 'that's where the children played'; there was also the chant 'look at the coloured wiiiindows, and the blue one is cracked', which, after the owners did some repairs, had to change to the ludicrous 'look at the coloured wiiiindows, and the blue one is-not cracked!'

Our spottings are all animals - the mini-donkeys; some even stumpier and shaggier ponies who live in a tiny bit of forest by the side of the road, and even some llamas, one of whom has ridiculously fluffy legs. There may be photos later; in the meantime use your imagination...

The magic windowsill

Dave's parents gave me a beautiful orchid for my last birthday; it bloomed for a few weeks, and then all the flowers dropped off and it turned into a bare stick with some leaves at the base. I researched 'care of orchids' on the internet, and found it a place with indirect light, as instructed, and watered it a little once a week, as instructed... still, I had bare sticks. I kept watering it regularly but gave up hoping it would ever do anything more.

But one evening I noticed that it had developed some buds - over weeks, they grew larger - and finally, they started to bloom!

Once it had a few flowers on it I moved it into the entry to show it off - and yesterday, the final bud opened. Over the last 6 weeks, 19 flowers have opened. And the oldest one is still as beautiful as the newest!

I have moved my second orchid (also no more than a green stick for months) onto the magic windowsill, which suited the first one so perfectly - so far it has 10 buds...

Piggen Wiggen

In the late summer last year, we were driving home one evening and, stopped at the lights going into our neighbourhood, I was looking idly about me. Suddenly -

"I see a pig!" I said to Dave, half jokingly, and we both tried to get a closer look in the half-light of dusk. Concluding I'd made a mistake, and seen nothing more than a dog, we went home and I didn't think about it any further.

...Until the next evening, when there he was again, quite unmistakably; whiffling about in the grass and undergrowth right by the side of the road, cars a few metres away.

We went around the block and tried to get a closer look, but by then someone else had seen him and parked nearby; the car didn't bother him but the person getting out of the car scared him and he scampered off into the undergrowth.

And so it went for at least a week; about dusk, he'd come out of the trees and rootle about for a bit; and every attempt we made to get a photo of him was foiled by people or darkness or both.

Finally, we decided to ambush him; we waited, camera at the ready, in the nearby school parking lot at the time we were used to seeing him, and waited... and waited... and just as we were about to give up, out he came.

And it was lucky we did that, as we never saw him again after that day. But even now, we look wistfully at that corner when we pass; it's much more interesting to have a Piggen Wiggen in the neighbourhood than a bare mound of gravel.

The Big Freeze

It was quite a cold winter here this year; thankfully I had grown wise from last year's cold snaps, and left most of my plants in pots so that they could be carried in and out of the garage as need dictated... and in and out they went! The coldest snap was in February, and lasted for a few days - my newly-installed bird bath froze solid every night for three nights running. Of course, a week later the temperatures were in the mid-20s (Celsius) - that's Houston for you!

Bits of Christmas

Yes, I cheated with the date... my laptop has been having power issues - I think now resolved - making it hard to get to the photos stored on it, hence the long gap between posts... things should be better now. Maybe...

Great and small

Pippin will sing along to almost any noise - conversations at the table below him, a boiling kettle, a running tap, crackling plastic or foil... I greatly enjoy the backdrop of twitterings and funny sounds that make up almost every morning and evening. He also loves music, and joined in with particular gusto during a recent playing of Handel's Messiah.



I love how he always stops as soon as the music finishes.

Happy Christmas to all!

Houston-style Kolaches

Kolaches are originally from Czechoslovakia (and I believe they have variants in Poland as well), but have been adopted by Texas in general and Houston in particular. The Czech-style ones are sweet, with a fruit filling, but the sort you get here are almost all savoury, with breakfast-type fillings - scrambled egg, cheese, bacon, sausage... and because it's Texas, some element of fireyness - jalapenos or salsa or some other hot sauce.

We really like kolaches, and used to buy them occasionally as a treat, but then we started wondering how difficult they would be to make at home - as with most things, not only is it significantly cheaper to make them yourself, but of course you also get to control the amount and quality of your ingredients. Kolaches will never be health food, but making them ourselves produces an end result that is significantly less oily and significantly more tasty. If you've never tried kolaches before (and it seems it's almost impossible to track down the breakfast-style ones anywhere much outside of Houston), here is the recipe - it's really very easy!

The dough recipe below makes at least 15 - enough for 5 or 6 - so reduce amounts or freeze extra as needed. I find the dough is fine after being frozen for a short time, but is better fresh.

Houston-style Kolaches
Ingredients - Dough
4 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 - 4 tablespoons sugar, to taste (dough here is very sweet; I like it a little less so, so reduce the sugar)
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose/plain flour
2 cups bread flour

Method
Heat water to 100F/38C; add yeast and a pinch of sugar; mix and set aside
Mix softened butter and shortening; add sugar and stir until well mixed
Add egg yolks, milk (also warmed to at least room temperature) and salt; mix
Add yeast and water mixture; stir; add flour
Mix, then remove from bowl and knead for 10 minutes
Place back in bowl, cover, and allow to rise until doubled in size (45 min - 1 hour)

While dough is rising, prepare and cook filling ingredients, as it's best if they're room temperature before you use them. It's really up to you what you use for filling, but some ideas are:
- scrambled egg (four eggs usually makes enough for 6 - 8 kolaches, depending on size)
- chopped bacon (four rashers is usually enough for 6 - 8 kolaches)
- chopped breakfast sausage
- grated or diced cheese
- fresh or pickled jalapenos
- salsa (reduce over heat before adding to take some of the liquid out)
- anything else you like the idea of!

When dough is doubled, gently punch down and press out the air. You can leave it to rest for a short time, or begin to use immediately; if dough is resistant to pressing out, cover it with a cloth and let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes and it will usually become much more pliable.

Pre-heat oven to 425F/220C.

Pinch off pieces of dough that are about the size of a golf ball, or very slightly larger. Press out into a circle - it can be slightly thinner on the edges than in the middle as the edges will form the base, which will be thicker than the rest.

Place filling ingredients in the middle of the dough rounds.

Gather edges together by pulling opposite sides together and pinching edges closed; it doesn't have to be pretty (though it should be sealed!) as you are going to turn them over and place the sealed side down.

Bake for 12 - 18 minutes, until golden brown. Brush freshly-baked kolaches with melted butter (salted is better, though you can easily add a shake of salt to unsalted melted butter for the same effect).

Serve immediately, eat as soon as they're cool enough, with hot sauce, barbecue sauce, tomato sauce, or no sauce at all!

If anyone tries this let me know - I'd love to hear how they turn out :)

Giving thanks

Last Thursday was my third Thanksgiving, living in the States! While in some ways I feel more familiar here, at other times I am brought up short by something trivial or inconsequential - like a license plate, or someone's address, with the mental exclamation: 'I live in TEXAS?!' I used to say 'I live in London!' to myself pretty regularly while I was there, with an air of delighted, disbelieving satisfaction; here, the disbelief is at least as great, but the delight - well, maybe not QUITE as much ;)

Anyway, one thing I DO like is setting aside a day to be thankful - and whichever way you look at it, we do all have a great deal to be thankful for. Dave and I support a number of charities - among them Médecins Sans Frontières, Water Aid and Help the Afghan Children - and while I love reading about the success stories those wonderful organisations achieve with so many people around the world, I am always very aware that we have, in comparison, so very much.

So we celebrated Thanksgiving this year with grateful hearts.




Those flowers came out of our garden - they've lasted in the vase for two weeks already and are still looking perfect!




Those last photos are from a new recipe I tried - pumpkin cheesecake - they were fabulous! I made individual ones in my beloved mini tart pans (I found them in a New York City restaurant supply store, after hours of searching on the internet - they're deeper than any others I was able to find with that same diameter) but you can easily make a standard sized cheesecake using this recipe. You could also swap the pumpkin for something else - I'm thinking of trying passionfruit some time soon...

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients - base
1 1/4 cups biscuit crumbs (Graham crackers are common here)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
Spices to taste (I added some ginger, and some of my fabulous baking spice blend - a mixture of cinnamon, cassia, mace, anise, allspice and cardamom)

Ingredients - filling
2 8oz packets of cream cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
Spices to taste (I used the baking blend again, but no more ginger)

Directions
- Mix biscuit crumbs, sugar and spices; add melted butter and mix well
- Spoon crumb mixture into pan(s); press down firmly (I used a shot glass for the small pans; a normal drinking glass would probably work well for a larger pan)
- Bake at 350F for 6 - 8 minutes, until lightly browned
- Cool for at least 30 minutes

- Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth
- Add eggs one at a time; blend
- Spoon approximately half of this mixture into pan(s); chill
- Add pumpkin puree to remaining mixture, along with any spices you're using
- Carefully add to pan(s); smooth
- Bake at 325F for 25 - 35 minutes, or until centre is almost set
- Allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight

- Serve with whipped cream and a dusting of spice and/or vanilla sugar

Come into my parlour

I've always wanted a library, but of course that's a bit of a pipe dream in this day and age! This seemed to be the closest we could get - converting what is supposed to be a formal dining room into a library nook. The builders came on New Year's Eve and put in the shelves - but it took me this long to post the pictures because the final touch, the water lilies, was finally just hung last weekend.

For background, the stained glass panel was made years ago by my Great Uncle Jack, and hung in my Grandma's house for many years. Now she's moved into a smaller house, and she gave me the panel, which miraculously survived the trip to America with only one small, barely-visible crack. It's such a link to home, and Grandma, seeing it hanging in the window.

(Click on images to see a larger version).



And because contrast is a good thing, here's how that end of the room used to look, with the couch Dave picked up for free right before moving into the house:


GAHHHH!!



(I'd also like to apologise for my extended absence - we have had a LOT going on here (mainly good!), not least helping to move Dave's parents into a new apartment from a larger house, which took many weekends and evenings! I hope to be back posting more regularly soon. Love to everyone :) )

Fierce energy

I planted much earlier this year, and that, perhaps along with a colder winter and a milder springtime, has led to much greater success (so far!) than my last attempt at a garden.

The vegetable garden contains:
- roma tomatoes
- squash
- cucumber
- borage
- beets
- carrots
- two different sorts of pepper (capsicum for Aussies)
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- arugula (rocket for Aussies and Brits)



The patio herb garden contains:
- rosemary
- Thai basil
- Italian basil
- cilantro
- lemon thyme
- regular thyme
- parsley
- chives
- sage
- tarragon
- curry plant
- oregano
- dill
- mint


There are strawberries in one hanging basket, and we have blueberries and raspberries waiting to go into the side garden (when the Ike-damaged fence is finally fixed!). Netting supports peas, sweet peas, morning glory, moonflower and nasturtiums; the lemon which we bought late last year and which weathered all the frosts against all odds is blooming beautifully, and the Virginia Creeper is already up and over the eaves.


I keep the squirrels (who are fixated on the coconut fibre linings of the planters) at bay with pepper, tabasco sauce, flapping items hung on the clothesline, and prayer!



The title of this post is from a quote by George Bernard Shaw:

Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn!
You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak!
Bury a sheep, and nothing happens but decay.