Rantings & Ravings

Right in front of The Old Town Patio……

Laura carpooled with Eliza and her family to the LA Dodgers Stitch and Pitch event sponsored by the Yarnover Truck (one of their last events as they’re going out of business) and The Altered Stitch. They took their knitting and crocheting and enjoyed being out, seeing friends old and new, stitching, watching […]

After we were given cucumber from a friend’s garden (thanks Eric!) a couple seasons back, Laura was inspired to try growing cucumber this year. It’s amazing how fast they grow once the fruit sets up. This beauty harvested in at 11” and just over a pound. Some of our tomatoes are […]

We recently saw an episode of “Visiting with Huell Howser” where he visited the Krüegermann Sauerkraut operation, a 5-generations-old family run business. This sauerkraut is truly fermented, with just cabbage, water, and salt in the ingredient list - no vinegar. A friend picked some up for us at Alpine Village (thanks Alan!) and […]

It must be root veggie season… our daikon is ripe, and Helen gave us some beautiful carrots from her garden. We enjoyed a tasty lunch of swordfish, rice pilaf, carrots, and daikon greens. Lunch always tastes better with homegrown veggies!

Here’s a closeup if our awesome meal.

Denny and Olivia brought back real Texas beef brisket (smoked by their son-in-law) to share. We enjoyed ours with rice pilaf and a side of sautéed daikon from the garden.
Thanks Denny & Olivia!

We used the last of the ginormous zucchini in a zucchini quiche. It’s a kind of “impossible pie” made with bisquick. The recipe came from Helen (aka grower of ginormous zucchinis)
Zucchini gets grated, then I whipped up some homemade Bisquick in the food processor.
Other ingredients get gathered (including parsley and chives from the […]

We’re still enjoying the ginormous zucchini we got from Helen… today’s dish was zucchini casserole. It starts with ground beef, onion, and zucchini sautéed together. A little flour is sprinkled on to act as a thickener. Then canned tomatoes/sauce are added, along with Italian seasoning. The casserole is topped with grated cheddar […]

Helen shared a ginormous zucchini from her garden (Thank you Helen!)… it weighed in at over 4-1/2 pounds!
Such a bounty screamed for zucchini bread!
Even after having some zuke for lunch and grating 2 cups for zucchini bread, there’s still a lot left to enjoy.

We were gifted some sourdough starter (Thanks Eliza!) and after feeding it for a few weeks it was time to try baking something. With basil, a few small peppers, and Roma tomatoes growing in the garden, pizza seemed like a perfect choice.
The flour, salt, sugar, and water get added to the starter and […]

The first of the radishes are coming in! We’ve got assorted small radishes (Crimson Giant, French Breakfast, Watermelon, Easter Egg), as well as Daikon. The radishes are crisp and tasty, and we’re trying out eating the greens too - they’re very “green” tasting and a little bit sharp. It’s fun having enough […]

Day 1 of 3 via YouTube. Truly awesome!

It never ceases to amaze us how crafty folks can be… We enjoy tea and have some of these little tea canisters that seem too nice and sturdy to just throw into the recycle bin. We challenged Cindy to come up with a re-purpose for them, and look what she did!

Our friend Cindy has been busy crafting, and we were gifted this amazing cork wreath - thank you Cindy! She does beautiful work, and this will be a cheerful and festive addition at Christmas-time.

Our Christmas cactus got into the spirit of things too

Our friends Helen & Alan were distance tailgating at Alpine Village and were nice enough to bring us some German Liverwurst & Hungarian Sausage…

We considered this……..

… but opted for something a bit more manageable.

It’s not everyday we’re lucky enough to get a delivery of Deviled Eggs. Thanks Dennee and Olivia!

Always the Saturday before Super Bowl Sunday.
This year was Armenian stitching and was fun! Very woven as you go, so it was a bit of a puzzle to make it work. Food was great, catered from an Armenian restaurant - apparently “Western Armenian” - very Mediterranean - stuffed grape leaves, marinated chicken and […]

We will all miss you.

Here are some of the Handmade Holiday Pins that Stevie gave to Laura over all the years (He bought them from a lady at work and handed them out to ladies he liked)

In bloom at Thursday Lunch

Justin invited us to this event at Happa Restaurant in Gardena.
Lots of very nice people and a Beatles Ukulele Strum along followed with an Open Mic session.

Sharing a table with very nice people…..

They provided the Sheet Music…..

Justin & Enoch rock the Open Mic with “Wagon Wheel”…..

Justin Solos the Open Mic