DoveSoup Art

Every year at Matt's NOSC (Navy Operational Support Center) they plan and host a huge event that is for the 700 reserve Sailors and the families of Sailors that are attached to the Columbus NOSC. This even is called "Navy Reserve Family Readiness Day" It's to let the Sailors & families know what resources are available to them while their spouses and family members are recalled to active duty / deployed. There are activities for the children while the adults learn where to turn for help if help is needed. This information covers everything you can imagine, from medical problems & suicide awareness, to frozen pipes or downed trees during a storm. They give contacts for a variety of things for example family counseling or to volunteer groups that will mow lawns while husbands are deployed. My husband's team at the Columbus NOSC won the award for the best "Navy Reserve Family Readiness Day" in the entire Navy. Ok, I know I'm bragging, but an awa...

It's freezing out... no I mean literally freezing out, as in the low last night while we slept warm in out beds was 12° freezing. As in the high so far today is 19° freezing and lastly freezing as in there is a layer of ice on the inside of my bathroom window freezing. Now that you have the picture, you can ponder with me why my rosemary just outside my kitchen door is alive and well? I thought rosemary was a subtropical Mediterranean herb? Today I decided to brave the cold and go snip off some of the beautiful fragrant branches and make "Rosemary Jelly". Rosemary Jelly 2 cups boiling water 1/2 cup minced fresh rosemary 3 cups granulated sugar 1/4 cup vinegar 1 (3 ounce) pouch liquid fruit pectin In a large saucepan, combine boiling water and rosemary; cover and let stand for 15 to 30 minutes. Strain, reserving liquid. If necessary, add water to measure 2 cups. Return liquid to pan; add sugar and vinegar. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. A...

To Be -or- Not To Be? I have a cute little mole living in my vermicompost bin. The question is, do I let him "BE" while he does what moles do best, eat 65 lbs of nasty grubs annually? Or do I "NOT TO BE", considering I would have ...to screen in my worm/compost bin because they also eat about 45 lbs of earthworms per year. For a time I let my little mole live, every now and again I would see him scurry for cover when I turned the compost. I thought he was cute, seeing wildlife in action is fascinating, enlightening... a pleasure (most of the time). One day, while turning the compost, I noticed the number of worms in my bin seemed to have diminished, I was busy and didn't give it much thought. A few days later my husband, Matt, also noticed the worm population seemed to have decreased. Still the light didn't dawn. Shortly thereafter my sister was visiting and between her, the dog and I, we managed to kill "the mole" (it was like a scene from Psyc...

I love these heirloom beans! They are big and fat and tender. Not to mention stringless and can be left on the vine for harvesting as shelled beans. Last year we tried to grow blue lake green beans and oh my gosh what a pitiful harvest that was. I ended up buying beans from a local farmer to freeze for winter use (not organic, but at least local grown). The plant seems impervious to disease and even pest resistant - amazing and truly a carefree growing plant. The only work when you grow these beans is harvest time, holey moley they will keep you busy.

3 days ago I started my 1st batch of "real" Dill Pickles. My recipe came Sandor Katz book "Wild Fermentation" ISBN 1-931498-23-7 No vinegar to create the sour, it comes naturally when you allow the pickles to ferment in a salt brine. It was very easy, I layered the bottom of my crock with oak leaves, then added fresh dill from my herb garden (I added more dill that his recipe called for - just because we love dill) I tossed in the garlic cloves and then about 5 lbs of cleaned baby pickles. (I also cut the blossom end off because I read somewhere that can contribute to the pickles going soft) I dissolved the salt ( a little less than he called for) in filtered water. Poured it over the cucumbers, added a few more flowering dill heads and oak leaves, weighted it down to keep the cucs under the brine and covered the crock with a dish towel secured with a big rubber band. Below is Sandor's recipe Timeframe: 1-4 weeks Special Equipment: * Ceramic crock or food-gr...

I had okra in a New Orleans style restaurant in Pasadena California once. I thought it was the most fabulous thing I ever tasted. I wondered where okra had been all my life? I wondered why everyone did not eat and love this delicious vegetable? Why wasn't okra on every restaurant menu? That was the 1st and the last time I loved okra. I gave it several more tries but each time is was totally disgusting. I tried both frozen and fresh, nothing could have triggered my gag reflex more efficiently and effectively. I think cooking okra is like growing hydrangeas, you just gotta have the knack or you may as well hoist the white flag. Dove

Hey Jack J ack, why did you slash the wrist of your immortal muse? Did you stare as Red idioms pooled? Dripping, seeping, spilling, pouring streams of skillful consciousness soggy on the soles of your boots, leaving tracks along Route 66. Allen, the hawk stopped by my garden for breakfast today Majestic menacing brazen magnificent. Can you imagine having Bukowski as your mailman? And what would you Say to the academics when they ripped Billy to pieces, while his back was turned. © 2009 Dove 'Anybody can make Paris holy, but I can make Topeka holy.'" Jack Kerouac

I was out in the garden harvesting squash & Brussels Sprouts and doing a little weeding when our local (Columbus Ohio) NBC news pulled into my drive way and asked if I would give them a tour of my vegetable garden. As soon as they introduced themselves (being all hot and garden work sweaty) I blurted out, "Sure, but Don't take my picture". I did give them a tour, told them about my organic gardening techniques and philosophy. They filmed my tomatoes and Banana Nut squash. They acted genuinely surprised to actually see how Brussels Sprouts grow, it was over before I could wipe the sweat from my brow... but I'm thrilled my vegetables will have their 15 seconds (not minutes) of fame. If any group members are in Columbus, watch channel 4 news tonight between 5:00 and 6:00 pm.... you'll know my vegetables from the anyone else they may have interviewed today because mine, of course, are prettier! Cheers Dove ©

Beefy BBQ & Bread Stew © Ingredients: * 2 Lbs Stew meat * 1 Tblsp of assorted herbs, Mrs Dash or what ever you have on hand * 3 to 4 tablespoons bacon drippings * 1 chopped onion * 1 (to 4) cloves of garlic, minced * 3 cups beef stock * 1/2 cup red wine or dark beer. * 2 to 3 cups diced potatoes, cooked * 2 cans (15 to 16 ounces each) cream-style corn * 1 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste * 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce * 1 cup barbecue sauce, your favorite * 3 cups of stale bread crumbs * 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper Preparation: Season Stew meat with dry herbs and salt before searing it in bacon fat (or oil.) Add onions and garlic Place all ingredients in a stockpot or Dutch oven. Cover and simmer until hot and bubbly. Taste and adjust seasonings with more salt and hot sauce, as desired. Dove Soup: Recycled Bread #1 Dove Soup: Recycled Bread #2 Here's the deal - Please do not copy my recipes and post them elsewhere without my permission.

She's like fat Persian cat sitting on a satin pillow waiting for the world stroke her silky hair, at her bidding of course. She thinks it's a privilege when she lets you sniff her puckered cat ass. Surely the entire world is interested in a whiff. You don't know how often I wish I could once again just be her daughter... not her maid, her cook, her legal secretary, her chauffeur, hair stylist and general caretaker. She doesn't need any of the above except the transportation part, good god she should never again be behind the wheel. (OK maybe some help with the hair for church too) She sits in her chair and reads, watches TV and cheats at crossword. She doesn't talk to me much and she wants to be fed. Everything I knew about her, every enjoyment I once shared with her is gone. This is not the woman I experienced as a child or as an adult. I would not choose to spend time with this person, I would not chose this person as a friend. I don't think it matters to he...

The Myth of Natural Food, Farming, and Products Walk down the aisles of any Whole Foods Market (WFM) and look closely. What do you see? Row after row of attractively displayed, but mostly non-organic "natural" (i.e. conventional) foods and products. By marketing sleight of hand, these conventional foods, vitamins, private label "365" items, and personal care products become "natural" or "almost organic" (and overpriced) in the Whole Foods setting. The overwhelming majority of Whole Foods Market products, even their best-selling private label, "365" house brand, are not organic , but rather the products of chemical-intensive and energy-intensive farm and food production factories. Test these so-called natural products in a lab and what will you find: pesticide residues, Genetically Modified Organisms, and a long list of problematic and/or carcinogenic synthetic chemicals and additives. Trace these products back to the farm or factory a...

Sorry to spoil your holier than thou belief that your food choices do not cause the death of an innocent animal, or infringe on the quality or length of life of an insect. I grow my own herbs & vegetables in an organic garden, it is impossible to harvest them without also harvesting small insect eggs, caterpillars and other insect larvae. Impossible with a capital I, capital M, possible. Furthermore you can not harvest wheat, oats, any grain, soy bean or legume on a large scale without using a tractor that scoops up and kills mice and other field critters in the process. I'm sorry (not really) to break this to you... everything, including your Whole Foods organic oatmeal and your Mori-Nu Tofu, cost the life of small animals and countless insects. Fact , you can not eat without taking life. Get over it.... a mosquito would not hesitate to dine on you. © Dove

You know the saying "If life gives you lemons...."? Well yesterday life gave me three pounds of unripe Fuji Apples. I let the dog out and he ran off barking like a crazy fool, probably chasing after a squirrel he will never catch. Being the dork dog that he is, he ran into the support stakes that are hold up our young apple tree that was loaded with soon to be, but not yet, ripe apples. We were so disappointed when we found our lovely baby apples scattered about the garden. I picked them up thinking they would at least look pretty in a bowl on the kitchen table. Then a stroke of genius! (which I humbly admit I often have) I figured crab apples are tiny, tart, (make that sour) and they make great jelly. So, yes indeed, I made lemonade. I cooked down the unripe apples, strained them and made totally fabulous "Organic Green Fuji Apple Jelly" Select firm (normally crab) apples. Wash and remove blossom ends. Cut into quarters without p...

Hey Jack J ack, why did you slash the wrist of your immortal muse? Did you stare as Red idioms pooled? Dripping, seeping, spilling, pouring streams of skillful consciousness soggy on the soles of your boots, leaving tracks along Route 66. Allen, the hawk stopped by my garden for breakfast today Majestic menacing brazen magnificent. Can you imagine having Bukowski as your mailman? And what would you Say to the academics when they ripped Billy to pieces, while his back was turned. © 2009

Last night we were sound asleep, snuggled next to each other with the fan gently stirring the air around us - and then... in a flash, (I swear at the stroke of midnight) the tornado warning sirens went crazy! The thunder was ear shattering and the rain was biblical. Matt went down stairs and turned on the news, sure enough it was heading straight towards Upper Arlington where we live. I woke mom up and helped her down stairs and down one more flight into the basement. About 1/2 down the very steep basement stairs the electricity went out. You have never seen dark like "basement dark". Mom and I managed to feel our way to the bottom of the stairs while Matt went in search of the flash light. We all settled down, mom, Matt, me and the 2 dogs. I really wasn't scared, neither was mom... we just sat and waited. Matt was up and down, closing window...

I recently read this recipe on my daughter's blog. I thought it deserved a mention in the recycled bread section because it calls for 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs. Stale bread is so easy to make into seasoned bread crumbs. Chop your bread into small squares, spray with Pam or sprinkle a little olive oil over them, add some garlic powder, Mrs Dash, or what ever herbs you have on hand... toss them into a 350 over until toasty. Here is the recipe from Urban Farm Girl (aka my darling daughter)

Matt makes a lot of bread. Some it great - some is greater than great. But with the three of us we often can't eat it fast enough and it often goes stale. I loathe wasting such yummy bread so I've begin collecting ways to recycle it (other than feeding it to the birds) I've come up with a few recipes so far and I must confess they are winners. Here is recipe #1 Cream of Garlic Bread Soup Recipe · 2 tablespoons olive oil · 1 tablespoon of butter · 2 chopped onions · ¼ cup finely chopped garlic · 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes · 2 quarts chicken stock · 1 bay leaf · 2 cups diced day old French bread · 1 cup half & half · ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese (reserve ¼ cup for garnish) · Salt & Pepper In a large saucepan, over medium heat, add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions, garlic, crushed bay leaf and crushed red pepper. Season it with a little salt. Sauté until slightly caramelized, about 6-8 minutes. Add the stock and bread cubes. Bring the liquid up...

Malt vinegar is made from malted barley. Rather than malt my own barley, which I do not know how to do, I decided to use a bottle of Guinness and 1 cup of Braggs Apple cider vinegar. Braggs is a living vinegar and as the starter should do the trick fairly quick and easy. I began my vinegar on February 18th by pouring the Guinness and Braggs into a small crock and placing it in the pantry. I covered the crock with a cotton fabric to keep dust and such out and let air, wild yeast and such in. By February 24 a short 5 days later I checked my concoction and found a mother was forming! The vinegar mother was not a solid layer, but a bunch of small globules floating on the top... so I guess I didn't have a mother, I had a litter *L* It was only a couple more days before I had a healthy mother completely covering the top of my Malt Vinegar. Now some people say when the mother sinks the vinegar is finished. When brewing other vinegars I never went by the "sink theory", I go by t...

I keep thinking I should write something... after all, when asked, I tell people I'm a writer, I tell them I'm an unknown poet, I do not mention that underneath it all I'm confident that after my death I will acquire the fame I so richly deserved but did not achieve during my life. (As a writer I must confess that is one hell of a "run-on sentence" the kind your elementary school teacher warned you about, and I don't even care.) My sister wants to change her name to Cher Nobel, because she is in constant mental meltdown, I say at least she still has her wit. My daughter who is " undiagnosed " lives in constant pain , we really don't fully know why, she also lives 2500 miles away and needs me.... I can do nothing physically to help her. That causes my heart pain. I hear though the family grapevine that when my oldest son drinks too much, he tells my youngest son what a horrible woman he (the younger one) is married to. That hurts my heart too. My...

FedEx dropped off a couple of packages today...Our dog "alerted" me with his explosive barking, actually he startled the begeebers outta me. I assumed it was shoes we ordered for a Tai-Chi class and was happy to think we would have them before our first lesson. I was totally surprised when the FedEx guy hauled out a one big box and one smaller box. My husband had secretly ordered a squirrel-proof birdfeeder pole, I thought ohhh my gosh, how sweet. Still thinking the small box was our shoes, I brought it in the house and opened it, only to find another box inside labeled; "Cool Cat Feeder". I thought Ohhh my gosh nooo, I hope it's not one of those "cat with an open mouth bird feeder", how am I going to act like I love one of those goofy things. I felt like an ungrateful shit even thinking like that way, but as crappy as it is, that's what I thought. I despise hokey garden art... sorry folks but that's just me. With dread I opened the...

Like millions all over the globe, I spent the morning watching the inauguration of Barack H. Obama: Loved President Obama's speech: Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task. Loved Elisabeth Alexander's poem: Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self." Othe...

I am frozen. Breathing the air gives you a brain freeze headache... no I am not eating my ice cream too fast, I am walking from the grocery store to the car and breathing air... just air, the kind in the sky all around you everyday, But to day it is frozen air and it gave my head a brain freeze, that's just crazy. Everything is frozen, the garden is frozen, the dogs water dish on the patio froze and cracked in 1/2, the canes on my climbing roses snap off in the wind because they are so brittle from the cold. We've tried to weather proof this old house and that's not easy, the front door sticks and is very hard to open or close, yet it's drafty all the way around - go figure. Matt put duct tape all around the door frame (we never use the front door anyway) for the past 2 days the duct tape as had a layer of ice on it... ice I tell you... inside my house. It looks like I need to defrost my freezer - but it's the front door. With all this cold I have to say it, Damn I ...

We woke up to -14 this morning. That's not a very nice way to greet the birthday girl. (yes today is my birthday) I don't even know what it is with windchill factored in *shivers* 20 below maybe? 25? I worry my mom's poodle with freeze her little poodle ass before she gets her "business" done. I love the snow and we still have plenty of it, but it's hard to get my head around 14 below. There is ice on the inside of some of our windows, ice I tell you... ice forming inside our house. I tried to talk Matt out of going to work, I told him not to drive near any water... why? Because if you slide off the road that's not so bad.. but if you slide off the road into water... now that's bad, really bad. OK, I admit that I have an abnormally deep fear of "Black Ice" (you have to say "Black Ice" with a creepy ominous voice) They always warn you to be careful of "Black Ice", they say you can't see "Black Ice", and that ...

Today it's Chargers VS Pittsburgh Go Chargers! Go Chargers! Go Chargers! We are going to watch the game, and feast on Muffaletta Sandwiches, Don't let the Mortadella scare ya, every ingredient in this recipe is a must, the flavor combinations are absolutely fabulous. Muffaletta Sandwich Recipe Step 1: Ingredients for the New Orleans-Style Olive Mix 2 cups chopped pitted green olives with pimientos (10-ounce jar) 3/4 cup chopped black or kalamata olives 1/2 cup cocktail onions 2 tablespoons chopped celery 3/4 cups chopped carrots 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 1/2 cup chopped red pepper 2 tablespoons capers 1/4 teaspoon celery seed 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary 3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 3/4 cup olive oil Step 2: Ingredients for the Sandwich: 1 loaf round Italian bread 1 to 1 1/2 cups olive mix 1/4 pound sliced big eye Swiss cheese 1/4 poun...

With our plans to purchase a family farm in the 100 acre range I've come across the fabulous idea of naming the dirt roads (long driveways) leading to each family member's home. At this point I think there will be at least 6 roads to be named, I know this is getting the cart way... way before the horse, but it's a fun thing to ponder. To the best of my knowledge you can actually petition the county to accept your road name, you must pick a Road Name that has no more than fifteen (15) characters which include spaces Here are a few of my favorites (all subject to change with my mood) (all open to suggestions) Bountiful Road Holiday Lane Silly Goose Road Apple Blossom Lane Artful Roger Drive (tee-hee, a family joke - my brother's name is Roger) I'm sure there are many more unique names, but right now I wouldn't want to force the muse.

I just recently stumbled across some information, up until several days ago I had never heard of it. I'd really like to hear about the experience from someone who has tried it. I don't think it's an end all to cure all, but some of the information makes sense. I mentioned it to Matt, my husband. Well, he laughed at me... and asked where I come up with "this stuff". He has 20 years in the medical field and promised to read some articles I've saved for him. I value his opinion. After a lot of research I found, there are a great deal of bacterial toxins in the mouth, (that's were tooth decay comes from) Most leading doctors who specialize in longevity believe inflammation in the body is the major cause of a many diseases I.E. heart disease, arthritis and cancers. [ HYPERLINK@www.nytimes.com ] They say simply flossing every day can add years to your life. (Dr. OZ) I remember a recent program we watched on the Discovery channel (or perhaps the Science channel) ...