Month: October 2004

Gretchen found this little fellow while walking through the woods the other day.

I am trying out a new style that allows me to handle external links in a special way.

• 1½ pounds Boiling Potatoes, cooked
• 1 medium-size Onion, sliced thin
• 6 strips Bacon, chopped fine
• ⅓ cup Vinegar
• ½ cup Water
• 2 teaspoons All-Purpose Flour
• 3 teaspoons Sugar
• 1½ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoon Pepper
• ½ cup Chopped Parsley

Sauté chopped bacon until crisp. Drain off as much bacon fat as desired. Add chopped onion and sauté about 2 minutes. Add all other ingredients except potatoes, and cook until slightly thick. Last, add sliced potatoes and blend well. Remove from heat and serve warm. Excellent served with frankfurters. Serves 4.

From The New Antionette Pope School Cookbook page 331 © 1961. Earlier editions © 1948 and 1953 by Antoinette and Francois Pope. The Macmillan Company, New York.

Gretchen and I tried a really terrific dressing on our salads tonight. I picked it up at the previous work weekend from Tait’s. They have cooking classes, too. We always have lunch right after the class ends and we get to eat the left-overs. They had this and we tried it again tonight. It seemed very appropriate to the season.

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

• 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Apple Cider
• 3 tablespoons Extra Virgian Olive Oil
• 2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
• 1 tablespoon Maple Syrup
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Chill at least an hour before serving to allow flavors to blend.

I went for a lower body workout at the MBNA Fitness Center tonight:

1. Treadmill: 5 minutes @ 4 m.p.h.
2. Seated Leg Press: 12@225, 12@225
3. Prone Leg Curl: 12@4+3, 12@4+3
4. Seated Leg Extension: 12@95, 12@95
5. Seated Calf Extension: 12@8+2, 10@8+2
6. Seated Crunch: 12@105(5+1), 9@105(5+1)
7. Back Extension: 12@135, 12@135
8. Treadmill: 5 minutes @ 4 m.p.h.

I increased the Leg Press and the Crunch, though I used the Nautilus Crunch, so I am not entirely sure I translated it correctly.

We have been seeing a lot of honey bees lately.

Gretchen found this frog while cutting firewood.

The other night we had this potato — all one pound, ten-and-a-half ounces of it — sliced into wedges and roasted with some olive oil and rosemary, then served with a little balsamic vinegar.

I went for my upper body workout at the MBNA Fitness Center tonight. I missed my lower body workout on Monday because I was traveling.

1. Treadmill: 5 minutes @ 4 m.p.h.
2. Vertical Chest: 12@95, 12@95
3. Compound Row: 12@135, 12@135
4. Seated Dip: 12@110, 9@110
5. Lateral Raise: 12@75, 12@75
6. Incline Shoulder Raise: 12@75 12@75
7. Triceps Extension: 12@60, 12@60
8. Biceps Curl: 12@4, 12@4
9. Reverse Biceps Curl: 12@2+3, 12@2+3
10. Treadmill: 5 minutes @ 4 m.p.h.

I increased the Vertical Chest and the Seated Dip. Next time I am going to increase the Incline Shoulder Raise, the Biceps Curl, and the Reverse Biceps Curl.

This should prove to be the last update on the garden for 2004 — and in fact is probably really the first update for the garden for 2005. After spending the morning yesterday planting about 750 garlic cloves at Tait’s Farm, Gretchen and I planted about 100 in our own garden. We planted two rows, each about 25 feet long and about one foot apart, breaking the bulbs apart, leaving as much of the paper on the cloves as possible, and planting them about 4 inches down and on a six-inch spacing. This is a stiff neck variety.

We took our 11 bushels of apples to the cider press yesterday and got 29 gallons of cider. Mmmm… cider.

We cleaned up the garden, I tilled it, and now it is ready for bed. We still have a little lettuce growing over there in the corner, and this weekend, we hope to plant some garlic, but the rest should come up in a cover crop of oats, shortly.

We were out picking our own apples the other day, so that we could have cider made tomorrow, and while we were picking, this dragonfly came along. First it landed on my back, then it landed on Gretchen’s arm, where I took his picture.

Here is our cat Oscar sitting in the sun in our front door taking a bath. Isn’t that festive?