A Rainy Day in May

The recent abundance of rain has done wonders for the garden. I've gone a little crazy taking all kinds of pictures so I had to share some here. A few days ago we went to Home Depot in the rain (have I mentioned the rain is always cold here, even in the summer?) and hit the jackpot, finally finding a rosemary plant--the most elusive herb so far this year--as well as some Lena Broom, a bush that I've been seeking for several years now for its beautiful red and yellow flowers against a brilliant green stem. I was so excited when Steven spotted them; we ended up getting three and I hope, hope, hope they all survive the winter. Steven also got the other side of the brick walkway done and some stepping stones in front of the raised bed. I've gotten some onions, arugula and mesclun added and everything is looking great!

Bicycles in Amsterdam

This web page was a hoot! The author was in Amsterdam for a vacation and sat for just over an hour taking photos in a particular square. In that span of time he took 82(!) different photos of locals riding bikes. You'd never find that here in the States. If you don't have a lot of time just have a quick look through the pictures and try not to feel too embarrassed that we Americans drive everywhere for everything. Now I'm even more inspired to dust off my cruiser, pump up the tires and go on an errand somewhere. I put one of my favorite images above, of the woman in high heels toting her boyfriend on the rear rack (ouch! but apparently quite common). I don't know how comfortable I'd be riding without a helmet, as all Amsterdam-ers seem to do, but in a more bike-friendly city it's probably not really a big deal. Reading through some of the comments at the bottom, it sounds like the huge cargo/child carrier "buckets" are a fairly new phenomenon and are actually being reviewed for safety. Of course, there does have to be a flaw in the perfect bike city of Amsterdam. Apparently bike theft is extremely common (one comment called it "the second national sport") and most of the bikes you see have huge, heavy bike chain locks and sometimes even more than one lock, plus they're usually modified so as to make them more easily recognizable if it does get stolen. Sad.

Chic Cyclist

I found this blog in the wee hours of the morning when I couldn't sleep (very rare for me). I love her message that riding a bike should be a beautiful and practical experience. As she says: "This blog is intended to promote elegant transportation cycling, to complement all the blogs for cycling as a sport. I do like lycra but only for athletics. Day to day we want to look pretty!"

Lemon-Sage Roasted Chicken

I tried this recipe the other night; it's found in the "Two Dudes, One Pan" cookbook mentioned previously in my Kitchen Essentials post. It turned out so well that Steven took a picture to show that it looked exactly like the photo in the cookbook! :-) The meat was really tender and juicy and the skin browned nicely thanks to the rubbing with olive oil. I didn't have any thyme in the garden yet so I substituted oregano and I also smash the garlic cloves a little to make sure they release as much flavor as possible. I don't have an official roasting pan so I used a glass 13x9 pan on a cookie sheet to help the heat distribute evenly. I served the chicken and onions with creamy parmesan orzotto (orzo pasta prepared like risotto) and steamed sugar snap peas. Mmmm, mmmm good! Here's a link to a good review and article about the cookbook from the Tucson Citizen; it also includes another FABULOUS recipe that I've made, the Cuban Roast Pork. I made it in our CrockPot--another great reason for its honorable mention since it didn't make it onto the Kitchen Essentials list!

Lemon-Sage Roasted Chicken

1 2 1/2- to 3-pound chicken
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 fresh sage sprig plus 6 fresh sage leaves
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
2 yellow onions, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rings, PLUS 1 yellow onion, quartered
3 fresh tyhme sprigs
1 lemon, halved
5 garlic cloves


Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.

Place the chicken on your cutting board. Slip your fingers under the skin of the breast and gently work them down the breast to create a pocket. Insert 1 1/2 Tablespoons of the butter and 3 sage leaves into each breast pocket. Rub the chicken with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and then salt the cavity and the entire surface of the chicken.

Toss the sliced onions with the remaining 2 Tablespoons of oil in a roasting pan and then evenly spread them over the bottom of the pan. Stuff the chicken with the thyme sprigs, the sage sprig, the quartered onion and whole garlic cloves and plug with the lemon halves. Tuck the wings under the breasts and set the chicken on top of the sliced onions.

Place the pan in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and roast the chicken until browned and the juices at the leg-thigh joint run clear, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes (a digital thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh should read between 160 and 165 degrees F). Remove the chicken fom the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Tent the chicken loosely with aluminum foil and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then remove the stuffing from the cavit and disccard everything but the lemon. Squeeze the lemon halves over the chicken, then carve and serve.

Tip: After taking the chicken out of the oven, place it on your cutting board breast side down so some of the juices collect in the breast, yielding nice moist white meat.

Serves 4.

Raised Garden Bed

We've completed another yard project! I found this tutorial on The Pioneer Woman blog and got inspired to do something similar in our yard. Steven was a great husband and did all the cutting and assembly and the rest was up to me. He built in about an hour. I had to buy some fill dirt at our local landscaping supply place, then I added a little bit of peat moss and a little bit of compost from our bin, then mixed it all together with a shovel. Some Gorilla Hair mulch on top and I was ready for plants! So far we have onions (my first time trying them out; here's hoping it goes well), lemongrass, lemon basil, sweet basil, cilantro and Bee Balm. There's more space available so I just have to decide what else should go in. I really want to do Arugula and some lettuces, we'll just have to see if I can find any. Maybe some zucchini or squash of some kind. I'm going to add a couple more grasses or flowers in front of the planter and we're putting a brick walkway of sorts on either side so I can get to what's in the middle. The rest of the garden got some new tomato plants, parsley, lots of tall decorative grasses, dianthus (carnations/pinks) and columbine from our local Horticultural Art Society's annual plant sale. And we were able to get rid of some plants we didn't want via the wonderful Craigslist.

Homemade Chicken Stock

My CrockPot/slow cooker didn't make it onto my list of Kitchen Essentials, but now that I've learned of this method for making my own chicken stock, it at least deserves an honorable mention. It's something you can do overnight if you don't have lots of time during the day. You can even use wilted carrots and celery, which I also learned you can store in the freezer (along with your chicken carcass) until you need them. I've made two batches so far, and each one has yielded about 8 cups. Several comments had suggested adding onion skins for a little deeper color and flavor; I've done that with both batches and it tastes great. I also added a teaspoon of salt, a few peppercorns and about 5 smashed cloves of garlic. So now I'm stocked up (no pun intended) in the freezer for the next time I need chicken broth or stock in a recipe. Too bad it's getting into summertime so I won't be making as much soup as I do in the winter. I froze it in two-cup portions in quart-size freezer bags. Whatever was left I froze in an ice cube tray for those times when you just need a little liquid to deglaze a pan or add some flavor.

Those Ingenious Europeans

Leave it to the Europeans to be so smart and inventive with all things bicycle. Krissy sent me the link to this wonderful all-in-one handlebar and basket from a design firm in Copenhagen.

Krissy and Travis also lived in Germany for about 2 years and while there they visited the bike mecca of Amsterdam. Just look at all the bikes in this garage! It's bigger than a lot of car parking garages I've seen. I feel so ridiculous and lazy sometimes driving my car for short errands only a mile or two from my house. I've even got a really great cruiser that's fun to ride.

Another great invention from a company in London is this bike rack that also incorporates a planter. I have an extraordinary fondness for things that are functional but beautiful at the same time. They also have a really clever storage option for multiple bikes.

Street Tree Program

When we got home from Utah we found this little beauty waiting for us! The city of Colorado Springs instituted a street tree program and our neighborhood was one of those chosen for participation. I thought I had missed out on it because our neighbor across the street had already picked his up and planted it himself, but I guess we just got lucky and it was delivered and planted while we were gone. A free tree and free labor; what a bargain! It's a Tartarian Maple so it should have some nice fall color. We had picked a flowering pear tree instead but I guess everyone else had picked the same thing so we got our second choice. I'm so excited to see it grow and change through the seasons.

Kokopelli Trail Bike Trip

At the end of April, Steven and two friends rode for 4 days and approx. 120 miles on the Kokopelli Trail, from Loma, Colorado to Moab, Utah. Roxy and I came along to drive the "sag wagon" with all of the camping gear, food and water. During the day she and I went on hikes, drove around the various scenic areas, went to the store if necessary and then we met the guys each afternoon at that day's designated campsite. Because I was driving the supplies and equipment we got to have great meals every night and morning--pasta with meat sauce, fettucini with homemade alfredo sauce and chicken, sesame chicken salad with soup and of course, what's a camping trip without burgers and hot dogs (and s'mores for dessert one night)? Another bonus was that 4 of the 5 nights we camped had a toilet nearby (basically a ranger-maintained deluxe outhouse, but it did have toilet paper!) and one night our campground even had a shower! That was one of the most appreciated showers I've ever had.





Our campsite on the first night was the most beautiful place I've ever camped; I couldn't believe it when I drove up to it and it was available! The Colorado River was flowing far below us and there was a train track that ran along side it in the canyon. All night there were freight and Amtrak trains going by, but they provided a soothing sound since they were so far down. Plus it rained that night; what a wonderful thing to fall asleep to. Roxy was in heaven because she got to roam around off the leash and explore much as she wanted. I got really nervous when she would get close to the ledge but I think she was just doing it to torment me. That day also had some unexpected heavy duty 4-wheel driving; I learned later that there was an easier route available, but it was worth it to say I got to really go off-road.





One of the trails Roxy and I hiked was the Trail Through Time, where many different dinosaur fossils have been found. Paleontologists still quarry for fossils during the summer months. Right near the trail was a dinosaur vertebrae fossil. It felt completely plausible that dinosaurs roamed there so long ago; I felt like I could look around the corner and see one at any moment.

Our third night of camping was another incredible location. We were lucky enough to camp by a river or a stream every night. The sound of water is absolutely my favorite sound.



Another day Roxy and I hiked in an area called Yellowjacket Canyon. The walls of rock were massive and had all kinds of patterns and variations everywhere you looked. The layered rock was really fragile and a few pieces broke off when I stepped on them.





The biggest bike mechanical issue was a couple of flat tires. Not bad! They rode for 3 days in a row, then we all took a break on the 4th day because it was unclear if the road and trail for that day was even open (due to lots of snow received the week before), plus everyone was ready for some rest. The next day I shuttled them up to the top of a mountain near Moab, Utah, and they got to ride a 15-mile downhill section of trail. What a great way to end the trip! Part of the trail they rode was the downhill portion of the Porcupine Rim Trail, which Steven, Travis, Trevor, Jerry and I rode in 2006, but we had to ride all of the uphill section before we even got to the downhill part. Next time we're definitely doing it the shuttle way!