Hot Day

It was way too hot to do anything much outside, so we headed to Woodland Hills Mall (along with 1,000 other cold seeking people)

This Mall has a carousel where all the hand-painted horses have names. Gabriella always rides Geneva Jo first (a horse painted with daisies) and then usually finishes up with Princess. Today, she chose Mustang Sally as her last steed.

While Joel shopped around for some shoes, I sat in the soft, play area with Gabriella. I called my mom and dad, just to see what they were up to. We decided to meet for dinner at El Chico's. My sister and her family arrived back in town yesterday after a 2 week vacation, so I called her to see if they wanted to join us.

The 11 of us had a great time at dinner together. I still can't get over that we live here now and can spontaneously get together for dinner. :)

Lost Windmill....?

I have been pondering this for a few days now and thought I would just throw it out there just in case anyone had some insight. Do you know what these are?

Last Tuesday night, we were pulling out of Senor Salsa's, when two semi-trucks drove North on 75. Each of them were carrying one of long curved things. I thought they looked like huge windmill blades. They were being escorted by several pilot vehicles and slowed traffic down a bit.

I didn't give it another thought until Thursday morning. I was making the drive from Nowata to Coffeyville to Caney and back to Bartlesville when I drove up behind what looked to be the same entourage. Two semis with many pilot vehicles....driving South on 75. I followed them all the way back to Bartlesville where I turned off and they continued.

I wondered if they were indeed the same trucks I saw Tuesday night and if so.....what had they been doing since then and why were they going back the same way they came....?

THEN...Friday afternoon, as I was driving South on 75 to Tulsa, I saw a semi driving North that was carrying a huge square thing with round openings on each side....just the right size that those huge blades would fit in.

Soooo......is there a wind farm somewhere in NE Oklahoma or Southern Kansas? Are they looking for the parts for a new windmill? If so.....they are wandering around down here in Bartlesville...

Bartlesville Farmer's Market

I set my alarm for 7a.m. this morning (which is pretty early for me on a Saturday morning!) so I could get to the Farmer's Market by 8:30. I was worried I wouldn't get any fresh eggs if I went too late! The Farmer's Market is downtown by the old Depot in a beautiful grassy, shaded park. There were about 15 or so vendors selling fruits, vegetables, fresh eggs, fresh and dried herbs, baked goods, flowers, iron works, fresh beef, etc. The most interesting was a young boy selling worm castings and worm tea. He gave me an informational flyer that I still need to read.

I didn't buy too many things as I have fresh tomatoes, zucchini, peaches, and cucumbers at home. I did find my fresh eggs (I bought a dozen of the sweetest, little brown eggs) and it was nice to discover two vendors that supply them. I also was told of some other places to get fresh eggs as well. I bought a bunch of lovely carrots that smelled......like carrots! I don't know how else to describe it, I don't know that I have ever smelled carrots like that before......:)

I bought a loaf of sourdough bread from one lady and then bought a "bread making kit" from another. The kit came with all the ingredients and the recipe necessary to make Italian Herb bread. What a great idea! She dries her own herbs and puts them in a packet, mixes all the flour, salt, baking soda, etc into a big baggie, includes a packet of yeast and Voila! a bread making kit. I can't wait to try my hand at making the bread.

I also bought some peppers. I was looking at some green peppers, when the vendor asked me if I had ever tried purple peppers. He gave me a sample of a purple pepper and it was very good. I now have something new to add to my cooking/eating repetoire. After tasting the pepper, I was happy to see a booth making fresh lemonade and limeaids. I bought a small limeaid and then wished it was a large. Yum!!

I only took a few pictures as I was having a hard time juggling my wallet, bag of produce and a camera. Don't worry.... I am sure I will go back many more times!!

After a brunch of cinnamon rolls, bacon and fresh scrambled eggs, we all headed to Tulsa, where Grammy and Grandpa babysat Gabriella so Joel and I could go catch a matinee movie. We then headed to dinner at Goldie's. Gabriella got some great snuggle time with Grandpa.

Ollie's Station Restaurant

Today after VBS we scooted down to Tulsa to have lunch with Grandpa. He works downtown, so we called as we were arriving and picked him up on the sidewalk. We decided to go to Ollie's Station Restaurant. My dad eats there at least once a week - great food AND it has all sorts of model train displays, photos, memorabilia, etc. We thought Gabriella would really enjoy it.

I have eaten there a few times before and their food is always amazing. Fried chicken, chicken fried steak, real mashed potatoes and gravy, fried okra, fried green tomatos..... (hmmmm, seeing a trend with the word 'fried')! Their website is fun to look at: http://www.olliesstation.com/

We had a nice lunch with Grandpa and the trains, then dropped him off back at his office and headed to Grammy's! Grandpa had gone to the library and had checked out 5 books (all with ducks in them) for Grammy to read. After story time, Gabriella got her brownie and milk then headed back to the play room to play with the doll house and tea set. It has been such a blessing to spend time with my mom and dad!

Egg Custard

Today I dropped Gabriella off at VBS and then headed East on Nowata Road...just for the fun of it. I had no idea what was in Nowata, so I decided to find out.

I found out that there isn't much in Nowata, so I headed North on 169 towards Coffeyville, KANSAS! I knew that once in Coffeyville, I could pick up 166 West until I hit 75 South and end up back in Bartlesville. What I wasn't sure of, was how long it would take me.

I saw several things that looked interesting, but decided they could wait for another day. I didn't want to get caught up in something and then not be able to get back in time for the end of VBS. It only took about an hour and 20 minutes to drive that whole rectangle...not as long as I thought.

I picked Gabriella up and met Lori for lunch at Chili's. Lori and I have known each other since we were.....around 6 years old. Her parents became missionaries in Argentina when we were in 6th grade, but we stayed in touch all the way through high school and I lived with her and her family in Cordoba for 3 months during my 2nd year in college. Through all my moves around the country, Lori has always been there for me. It is so great to live close to her and her family again!

After lunch and putting in a few hours up at school, Gabriella and I came home and started on my egg custard.

Why egg custard you ask? Well......last Saturday, we stopped in at the local Goodwill store just to check it out. In the back, I found 6 custard cups - just like ones my Grandmother, and then my mom had. I remembered all the times I ate egg custard out of those cups and decided I just had to have them. I turned them over, searching for the price and found out they could be mine....for only $2.00!!!

I had to search for a recipe, but I knew it was simple; eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. Here is the recipe I used (off of Epicurious.com)

2 cups whole milk (I used 2% because that is what I had) [I also only use organic milk]
2 eggs [I would LOVE to find a place around here that I could get fresh eggs!]
2 egg yolks

1/3 Cup of sugar (if you like it sweet, make it with 1/2 Cup of sugar)

1 tsp vanilla extract [or simmer a vanilla bean in with the milk]

Nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees

2. Place six 4-ounce ovenproof cups (you can use microwave safe coffee cups) in a deep baking pan large enough to hold them.

3. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium-high heat.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and vanilla

5. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the milk, whisking gently to combine.

6. Pour the mixture through a fine strainer into the cups, then sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.

7. Pour hot (not boiling) water into the pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cups.

8. Bake until the custard is just set (it can be a little loose) 30-35 minutes (in my oven it took 45)

9. Take out of the oven and let the custard cool in the water bath for 2 hours before serving.

I must admit that Gabriella and I didn't wait the full 2 hours for it to cool and set completely, but it was still good warm and a bit soupy! It took me back to being a kid and secretly wanting to eat all 6 cups of custard.

Joel had a late meeting this evening, but is excited to come home and try the custard.....I am probably going to make sure he doesn't finish off all the custard!

Day in Dewey....

Today was my third morning of dropping Gabriella off at VBS and getting to spend 3 hours by myself! We drove-thru Starbucks on the way there to pick up my customary green tea and a juice box and a ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich (to share) for Gabriella.

After dropping her off, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a fake plant (for Joel's office) and some 'Americana' style fabric for some bulletin boards. Everything I purchased was 50% off! Yay me!

I then headed up to Dewey (which is not even 15 miles away). It seems like Bartlesville just runs right into Dewey. Their "main street" is Don Tyler Ave. and is home to quite a few antique stores.

My favorite was called Linger Longer - it was a large (air-conditioned) building with about 40 booths set up inside, as well as an old-fashioned soda fountain counter. I went in and out of all the booths there, and then visited all the other antique stores on the street. I purchased a cast iron corn bread pan. (The kind that has the mold of an ear of corn). I had been thinking about corn bread the other day....maybe that is what spurred on that purchase.

Next to one of the antique stores was a small farm market where I bought locally grown zucchini, peaches and OKRA (more on the okra later...) The farm market people told me about the new Amish Heritage Bakery down the street, so of course I had to go visit.

The bakery sells all sorts of jams, jellies, pickles, pickled things, soy candles, lotions, soaps, butter, cheese, and baked goods. I was a little puzzled because I didn't see many baked goods for a bakery...... The sales lady must have seen my puzzlement, because she explained that a fresh batch of baked goods was scheduled to arrive in about 30 minutes. The bakery is actually in Chouteau and delivers to Dewey twice a week. (I wrote down the days and times for future reference!) I did purchase a jar of bread and butter pickles and a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies.

So....back to the OKRA! I don't eat okra much except fried, but my MIL has made an amazing dish with okra and tomatoes, so when I saw the okra... I decided to try my hand at it.

I remembered her recipe was simple; fry bacon, add onion, add okra, add tomatoes, add salt and pepper and simmer. I did call my MIL to tell her about fixing her recipe and she told me to add a spoon full of sugar to help break down the okra. I also told her I thought I would be the only one eating it because both Joel and Gabriella were very skeptical.

However.....Joel dutifully put a spoonfull on his plate and then helped himself to more. Gabriella took a taste and declared "maybe when I'm older"! What a sweet girl :)

I personally thought it was amazing, and I hope the leftovers will taste just as good...... a little worried about the texture of the okra.

Tomorrow....who knows where I will go?! But I do know I am having lunch with one of my oldest and bestest friends! (oldest meaning I've known her the longest...not that she's way older than any of my other friends...)

AND.....I'm going to attempt to make an egg custard....

Welcome to my blog.....

I finally decided to try my hand at blogging. I have always enjoyed writing but haven't taken the time to put down any thoughts in quite a while.

My blog won't be confined to anything in particular, it will be a hodge-podge of topics.....teaching, bird-watching, Gabriella, maybe some cooking, things that I discover, etc.

Since getting married in 1991, Joel and I have lived in 5 different states and have met and kept many wonderful friends. I am hoping this is a way they can keep up to date with what is going on in our lives (a little more insight than a sentence here or there on Facebook :0)

We moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma 3 1/2 weeks ago and are getting settled into a new routine of life.

Enjoy!