Fall Tomato Pest

There were almost no tomato worms during the summer, I blamed the heat and drought.

To my surprise, I found a huge tomato worm on one of the rather pitiful fall tomato plants.    He waited patiently while I went back inside for the camera and then posed very still while I took the shots.  Appreciated but his mistake.

Note the dropping on the branch behind the worm.

First Freeze Warning - Fall 2011

The first freeze warning of the season is predicted for tonight.  It should only be a light freeze or more likely just near freezing.  

Regardless, it was time to move the potted plants.  The most tender came inside the house but most remained outside in a protected location on the back porch.

The back porch faces east and gets sun until early afternoon so it is the warmest place outside the house.  A good thing in the winter but so not a good thing in the summer.  Normally, the west side would be warmest but here the west side is shaded by large oak trees so without direct sun it is not as warm.

The pepper plants are still loaded with peppers so  I picked what was ready and left the immature peppers to their fate.  If they freeze, oh well, I guessed wrong.

The sweet peppers, I can deal with but there were just too many hot peppers for us.  The Jalapeno peppers and New Mexico Big Jim peppers have both done very well in the heat and drought.

A quick phone call to the chef at one of the local restaurants, Rolling in Thyme & Dough, and the peppers were an ingredient in Bistro night Pepper Stew.  It's refreshing to discover that the barter system can still be used Drippin'.  We haven't outgrown that country practice, yet.

Too many hot peppers =
Lunch for 2 at my favorite local restaurant.

Halloween = Pumpkins

Enjoying a cool morning after a walk.

On Oct 8th and 9th, 3 inches of glorious, much needed rain fell on Dripping Springs.   A few days later, the rain flowers popped out in celebration of the moisture.  The long range forecast, however, indicates that the drought will continue at least through the winter.

Our temperatures cooled from the brutal summer highs but we are still having frequent days in the upper 80°F.    The AC was turned off for several days but has been turned back on when the daytime temperatures rose and the humidity returned.

Most of the pumpkins are harvested.   When I cut the first pumpkin for cooking, I discovered that just because the pumpkin is orange, it isn't necessarily ripe.  So, I adopted the practice of letting them cure/ripen on the counter in the kitchen for 7-10 days before cooking.

There is a steady supply of Pumpkin bread and I discovered a Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake recipe that is yummy.  Also, I cooked and froze 4 cups of pumpkin pulp for Thanksgiving pies.

The garden struggles on with supplemental watering.  I question the wisdom of using the water but so far haven't stopped.

The peppers, both sweet and hot, are still covered with fruit.

I planted green onions in the garden and cilantro in pots.  Soon, I must decide whether to plant lettuce.

Just Pictures

Lantana

Pumpkin

Rain flowers / Rain lilies

Another Chair DONE

Finally, two years later, another chair has been refinished and caned.   2 down, 4 more to go. 

Caning took 3 weeks to complete but I didn't work on it everyday.  There were are number of days during the last 3 weeks spent waiting at a surgical clinic, doctor's or therapist's office due to my husband's bicycle crash.   He is on the mend and looking forward to riding again.....yeah me too.

Left - Ready for caning
Center Top - Work in Progress
Center Bottom - Finished
Right - Me with Finished Chair

Hints that fall is coming

Finally, summer seems to be releasing it's grip on central Texas.  The temperatures have backed off the records and we even had a little rain last week.  Our rain gauge measured 3/4 inch over 3 days; no drought breaking downpours but measurable rain!

Chairs Before and After

With the cooler temperatures, I have resumed the much delayed task of refinishing and caning the dining table chairs.  I found the dining room set on craigslist and was delighted to discover a uniquely carved oak set with 6 chairs.  We got the set home and I started the project promptly but that was two years ago and only 1 of the chairs has been refinished and caned.   My excuse is that I wasn't sure the cane seat would survive use so let's call it a testing period.   Seriously, I did worry that the cane would split or break but, after 2 years, the one finished chair is intact so the project can go on!

The chairs need the blackened lacquer removed first and then new lacquer applied.  Furniture refinishing, while messy and smelly, is not difficult.    Some patience required and acceptance that the furniture is old therefore scratches, cracks and color differences are part of the appeal.

Ready for caning

The really slow part of this process is caning the seat.   Caning was completely new to me so I purchased a book The Caner's Handbook by Bruce W. Miller and Jim Widess.  It provides step-by-step instructions with pictures on the different styles of caning and I recommend it to anyone who wants to undertake a caning project.  All the supplies needed to cane a chair can be purchased online.    

Caning this sort of chair seat is a 7 step process.  The first 3 steps are easy and relatively quick.  The remaining steps get progressively more difficult as the tension on the cane continues to tighten as each layer is added.  

Caning Step 4

I have completed refinishing on two more chairs and started caning one seat.  My goal is to have the seats caned before Thanksgiving (this Thanksgiving, 2011).   I'll keep you posted.

1st pumpkin 2011

Oh, the garden?

I did keep the a garden alive through the record breaking summer and have a few pumpkins as well as both sweet and hot peppers to show for the water bill.  The fall tomatoes are blooming but haven't set any fruit yet.

Hopefully this tiny pumpkin will be sufficient for a loaf of pumpkin bread. 

In pursuit of good Mozzarella

With fresh tomatoes from the garden and no source of really good mozzarella cheese, I decided to try my hand at making cheese.

Recipe: Compliments of Condé Nast Digital and for the story behind the recipe.
Ingredients:  Required a trip to Central Market (ok, twist my arm) for rennet and citric acid.   No source for buffalo milk so settled for organic cow's milk.

There are lots of recipes for Mozzarella cheese, some claiming that you can have a finished product in less than 2 hours but I chose the one that discusses failed attempts and purporting to have the answers.  It was not a 2 hour process, closer to 7 hours. As I  worked my way through the detailed, meticulous steps, I realized this recipe was the perfect example of "cooking for engineers";  the complete opposite of my usual style in the kitchen.  What recipe calls for 1 1/8 teaspoon of anything?  But cheese making is completely new to me, so with no sense of appropriate or right, the detail was helpful.

Mozzarella Draining

Aside from a good recipe, the key to the process appears to be your ability to keep milk within a 4 degree temperature range for hours on end.  Not hard, just painfully demanding of your attention.

Initially the milk did not curdle to the "soft pudding" consistency.   After some research,  I discovered that Junket rennet, the brand available from Central Market, is not recommended for cheese making.   So, based on the recipes in the Junket package, I increased the rennet to 1/2 tablet of Junket and waited another 30 minutes.   The process then continued as described in the recipe.  Cutting the curds, allowing them to sit undisturbed for increasingly long periods of time, straining the curds into cheesecloth and allowing to drain.    The final steps of pouring hot water over small portion of curds and working with your hands appears to require precise temperature control and practice but I did get it to reach a sort of elastic state.  It was not completely smooth but I deemed it passable after the hours spent on the process.

Fresh Mozzarella

After cooling and serving with fresh tomatoes, my verdict is -- way too much trouble for result.  It was good, but no better than mozzarella that I can buy at the store.  

I would try again if raw cows (or water buffalo) milk was available but processed milk seems to lack the fat content and flavor to produce a good mozzarella.

It was an interesting experiment.  Anyone need rennet tablets?  I have lots.