Yet more garden work

No photo because there's not a ton to see besides some wet dirt. But I got a lot done in the garden and a new flowerbed the past two days.

I have planted:
• About 10 feet worth of pole beans
• Two hills of canteloupes
• 12 okra seeds

I also worked up a new flowerbed, and two years after moving, I've now planted the forsythia and the mint that I've dragged to four different houses in East Nashville now. I thought I was pushing it at the last house when I planted a year after the move, but two?? So far, so good.

If I get my game on, I will get the other new flowerbed worked up tomorrow morning and plant cosmos and zinnia seeds, two of my favorite summer flowers. Wish me luck and stamina.

Bizarre dreams, two nights in a row

So the past two nights, I've had really bizarre dreams that I remembered. I usually don't remember my dreams. Maybe I remembered these because they were just so strange!!

Wednesday night: I was in a parking lot with my daughter. She walked across the lot to investigate some strange occurrence and while I followed her, our car was stolen. I was momentarily bothered by this, but then magically we were at home. Unfortunately, our phone was dead, and the cell phone was in the stolen car, and there was a pride of lions sitting in my front yard. This, this bothered me quite a bit. I woke up before they went away.

Thursday night: I was being driven around my hometown by a couple whose names and faces I can't recall. One or both of my sisters might have been with me, and my son was, too. A storm came up and we outraced the tornado in the minivan. Also, before the storm, I was trying to get a year-long Junior League project organized. I was not able to finish before the storm happened.

See my new garden fence??

  See my new garden fence??   

Wow, the garden is doing really well. I need to get some -- I forget what exactly, but I think it's seaweed-based -- tomato food for them. I already have a couple tomatoes coming!

My great handyman built this fence for me recently, and he built it a bit larger than the garden itself. Ever since, I've been slowly digging up additional areas. I'm going to use the new space to plant okra and a couple other things I bought seeds for -- but that I cannot remember off the top of my head.

Then, I'm going to take those remaining grassy areas and turn them into pea gravel pathways.

  There it is!   

links for 2007-05-24

• Death by Veganism - New York Times
  You cannot create and nourish a robust baby merely on foods from plants.

links for 2007-05-23

• MyRecipes.com
  New food site featuring Cooking Light, Southern Living, Sunset, Coastal Living and Health. I haven't looked around much but I've already seen great how-to videos!
  (tags: cooking recipes)

All you need to know about Pied Piper Creamery

  All you need to know about
Pied Piper Creamery 

Well, I should have done this many moons ago. So let me be quick about it: If you haven't been to Pied Piper Creamery, for heaven's sake, stop reading and rush over right now!

The business venture of one Jenny Piper, who happens to be old friends with half the people I know, Pied Piper is the new hit of East Nashville. And you know what that means....all the cool kids are doing it. The Scene gives PPC high marks, if you need additional validation.

Jenny started her shop just a few months ago, and already I find myself "needing" to stop by at least once a week. Thank goodness I have two children. They are fabulous cover for such excursions. But trust me, I'd go alone, without shame.

I've only tried two flavors in my several trips, because they've been so good I haven't been able to break out further. The Banana Fana Fo Fudding is just divine. Rich, creamy, banana-y.

And Strawberry Fields...well, it won't be this good forever, because right now, Jenny's able to make it with fresh strawberries. To. Die. For.

There are at least two dozen other flavors, and the 7yo highly recommends the "C Is for Cookie" Oreo flavor. I'm not a huge Oreo fan, but trust me, she's an expert.

The Dets:
114 S 11th St [In the same building with V Floral and Gifts. Take your wallet. Between the ice cream and the goodies, you'll want to shop.]
Nashville, TN 37206
Phone: (512) 227-4114
Mon-Sat 11am-8pm
Sun 1pm-8pm
Critical: Cash only for the moment. Worth every penny and the stop at the ATM.

I am not a patient person

It's no secret that I'm not very patient. Perhaps you'd say impatient. I'd say a person of high standards, but let's not quibble.

I'm having my book club over here tomorrow night [actually, though I've been a member for almost two years now, I still think of it as "My friend Jamie's book club."], and I said I'd provide wine, chips and sandwiches. I sat down to think about that a few minutes ago and decided that The Perfect Thing would be the tarragon chicken salad from Publix. That stuff is frighteningly good.

It also means I'll have to trek to Brentwood or Bellevue at lunch. There's a Publix coming just a mile and a half from my office, but it's not open yet.

I promise I'm trying to relax about that.

Homemade onion rings: Worth the fuss

  Vidalia onions   

My mom made these every once in a blue moon when I was a kid, but I typically make them once or twice a year. I guess I must always do it in May, because I always do it when I find the first Vidalia onions at the grocery.

Funny, I'd never really thought about it before tonight, but homemade Vidalia onion rings sure taste like spring. They aren't hard; they just take a little time.

Note: While I ALWAYS eat restaurant onion rings with ketchup or whatever sauce they offer, you won't want any with these. The onions are so sweet on their own, and the contrast with the batter is about perfect.

Vidalia Onion Rings
1 Vidalia onion [if not available where you are, Texas sweets are also good]
1 c. flour
2 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 egg
1 c. milk
1 T. oil

  Onion rings 

Slice onion thinly and soak rings in a bowl of cold water for 30 min. Drain and pat dry.

Mix dry ingredients. Add liquid ingredients and beat until just mixed, like pancake batter.

Dunk onion rings in batter and fry on medium in a preheated, generous portion of cooking oil. Drain on paper towels.

Immigration reform: Not the worst proposal I've ever seen

I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised at the immigration reform proposal announced by Senate negotiators last night. I'm stunned that they managed to include a path to citizenship for the vast majority of undocumented immigrants already in the country. I hope that doesn't kill the bill. There are a lot of people who -- let's be frank -- hate the people who don't have official paperwork. I suspect the vast majority of those people who are so incensed about illegal immigration don't have any idea how hard it currently is to migrate to the U.S. legally. At least, that's what I'm trying really hard to suspect -- because most other explanations involve racism or virulent classism.

I do have questions about the Senate proposal. I don't understand who's going to ensure the "trigger" events happen. [The way the proposal works, current undocumented immigrants must wait to apply for the path to citizenship until the Border Patrol hires 18,000 more workers, until a fence is built, until a worker documentation system is in place. I haven't yet seen who's really responsible for those things happening. What if Congress or the president doesn't fund the 18,000 agents? If there are construction delays on the wall? You get the picture. I think millions of immigrants could remain in legal limbo for years to come.

I think the real story is that this is pretty preliminary still. I hope that the new system won't weight visas by country. I think our current system retains too many vestiges of the racist quotas of the past. I don't mind -- as many pundits seem to -- that in the future, visa applicants will be judged by education, job skills, English-speaking ability and family connections. The system also allows for a guest worker program. I'm OK with that too.

Mostly, I'm just waiting to see what happens with this bill. Surely there will be lots of amendments and changes before it gets to Bush's desk, if it ever does. So I'll reserve judgment for the time being.

Clearly not an expert...but this is wrong

Let's start with this: Even if you count the first season of the Real World, which I probably saw a few less than half of, I bet I've seen less than 10 episodes of reality TV, ever. I don't get it. I've tried. I watched one episode each of Survivor, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and American Idol. Each was so cheesy and boring I couldn't imagine wasting further time in that fashion. [Believe me, I'm very good at wasting it in other ways instead.]

So tonight, around 8:50, I queued up last night's episode of House on my DVR, and for some reason, I didn't fast-forward through the last 3 minutes of Tuesday night's American Idol like I usually do. [Anyone know why Fox shows run slightly off the hour? Terribly annoying.] I watched and learned that tonight, we'd find out who the two finalists are. And I saw clips of the three who were left last night. It was incredibly clear that Melinda Doolittle sings circles around the other two, from the clips I saw. And I realized it was about time for them to announce the two finalists, in real life! Flipped over to the TV real quick, where I saw them engage in the Miss-America silliness that makes me abhor reality TV:

Ryan Seacrest asks Jordan to step up, goes through a lot of rigamarole, then says, she's in. When he called Melinda up next, I knew she was dead in the water. It's not suspenseful to leave the loser standing alone. So clearly he was kicking Melinda out, and after much futzing around, that's what he did.

I was loosely aware of the whole Sanjay business earlier in the season [you're dead if you've never heard of Sanjay], but I figured the best person would win in the end. At least, I hoped if Sanjay didn't win, then the best person would.

So I don't know what I missed in just watching 2 min of clips, but my prediction is we haven't heard the last of Melinda Doolittle*.

* I realize that this sounds like hometown boosterism -- I am at least aware that she's from 'round these parts -- but I'm going to claim to being mostly unbiased since I've not only not watched the show, I've also avoided almost all news coverage of it, too.