Pancake Imposters And Other Changes. Plus, Maybe, An Auction!

Friday.
You got stuff going on this weekend?
We're hanging here; That Old House demands attention.

It's time for me (if by "me," we mean "Howard")

to bring the Fall stuff up from the dungeon cellar.

You are looking at your weekend, O Dear Husband of Mine.

I am embracing Autumn.

There are more than seasonal changes here.

For the past few months,
we've ditched grains and sugar here at That Old House.

It is a challenge, but there have been benefits.

I can make a fist with my right hand.

That may not seem like much, but for the past year ... I could not.
My fingers could barely bend.  Now, they do.  Easily.

See?

Image from Karen, at The Graphics Fairy

That's one major change since Spring.

Another?

Howard and I are once again empty-nesters.

Our daughter Anne now lives in Washington, D.C.

She found a wonderful job as a costume designer,

a full-time position, and is loving the city,

her apartment, her job, her independence.

We are very proud.

(I miss her.  Especially when I have to weed the flower borders, or cook.  Don't tell.)

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Since we are not cooking with any grains,

breakfasts can get pretty repetitive.  No more cereal.  No more bagels.

No more breakfast sandwiches.  No more toast or English muffins.

No more pancakes!

Every once in awhile, we have pancakes anyway.  Well... sort of.  

Here, for Foodie Friday, are Cream Cheese Pancakes.

Cream Cheese Pancake Recipe

2 oz. cream cheese (1/4 regular block)

2 eggs (whole)

(opt) a packet of sweetener of your choice

(opt) 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Put everything in your blender, and blend the heck out of it.

When it's all smooth, let it rest a few minutes till the bubbles settle down,

then pour 1/4 of the better into a hot pan, greased with butter or Pam.

Cook 2 minutes ... till brown ... then carefully flip it over.

(This is tricky sometimes ... slide your spatula under just a bit, and FLIP.)

Cook a good minute on that side, then serve.  Syrup, fruit, jam, butter, horseradish sauce,

whatever you like on your pancakes, you will like on these.

They are, as Anne would say, "tasty."

Update:  We made these for Saturday breakfast, and I realized that they would benefit
by the additon of a bit of salt to the batter.  Perhaps 1/4 teaspoon.  Sometime you just need that depth.

Will you ever mistake them for Aunt Jemima's?

Nope.

But if you, too, have sworn off wheat for whatever reason,

these are a nice change of pace.  I think I'll make them tomorrow....

I found this recipe on a wonderful blog, "i breathe... i'm hungry..." and you

can find the recipe, nutritional info, and much more, by clicking here.

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Meanwhile, for the first time, I have rose hips on a bush.

Are they used for anything?  Or do they just look nice?

Speaking of looking nice, our front porch Boston ferns are still ferning along.

The one closest to the camera hosted a family of birds this summer.

Mom, Dad, and babies, nesting in the fern.

Perhaps not the brightest of our feathered friends;

we had to water really carefully so as not to wash them away,

and they plucked the sticks for their nest off the front door wreath,

while I watched.  Kinda cute.  Wreath looks a little shabby....

The nesting fern is showing a little more brown than its mates. 

It worked hard this summer!

Now ... go visit Michael Lee West at Rattlebridge Farm,

for her long-running blog party Foodie Friday.

Go on ... click here!

What will you be up to this weekend?

As I said, we'll stick close to the Mothership.

Unless . . . maybe . . . well, we got an invitation to 

a country auction in the mail, and it looks pretty sweet.

It's described as "two houses filled with antiques and collectibles."

I think maybe we just have to go, don't you?  I think I owe it to my blogging friends!

Have a beautiful Fall weekend, ladies and gents.  -- Cass

Craigslist Love, And When Ferns Invade!

It has gotten ugly cold around here.
Last night, past freezing.  Well past freezing.
So I (if by "I" we mean "Howard") brought
in the porch ferns and baskets, to shelter in our hall.

Our front hall looks like a set for Little Shop of Horrors.

On flattened garbage bags, we have three e-nor-mous Boston ferns,

and one rather deflated hanging geranium.  She's getting a haircut, and a warm cozy spot to recover.

I'm going to try and hang these ferns.  Somewhere.

I need hanging pots for them, without drainage holes!

I'll sit their "hole-y" pots inside the solid ones.

 The big asparagus ferns, which started the summer

as little asparagus ferns, will stay on their pedestals,

probably in the dining room.

Oy.  That's a lot of ferns.

Wish me luck. 

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Meanwhile,

Craigslist has come up trumps for me again.  :-)

Last year, I bought 8 dinner plates at the Christmas Tree Shops.

Pfaltzgraff.   White basketweave pattern.  Love 'em.

Read about my love for all basketweave china, here.

But 8 dinner plates isn't enough.  I needed new everyday white dishes.

Really.  I did.  Just ask my husband.  

Or maybe don't ask him, come to think of it.

Craigslist to the rescue.

Complete service for 14, in Oneida's Basketweave pattern.

Score. 

Tomorrow I brave the jungles of Bergen County to meet a lovely woman

who is the current custodian of my basketweave china,

and hopefully will haul it all home in the trusty minivan.

Stay warm, my friends!  -- Cass

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer sponsors 

Outdoor Wednesday ...  Click here!

Letting Go Of Summer

Okay, I admit it.
It is Fall, and it's time to think of Fall things.
Like, what to do with these:

Pay no attention to the shutter that's off its bottom pintle.
It's been set to rights.  Just make believe it is straight.

Back in late Spring, I bought 3 Boston ferns at Trader Joe's for $9 apiece.  

Think I can find space for them indoors when the weather turns ugly?

They are ee-NOR-moos.

This must be said in a charming Italian accent, and no, I won't explain why.

Then there's the balcony geranium, which was fuller and 

more bloom-y a few weeks ago, but is still churning out the goods.

I need a bigger house.  There's not enough ceiling to hang them all.

There are also two nice asparagus ferns, in iron plant holders on
either side of the front door.  They too are growing their little hearts out.

I hate to think of tossing all these gorgeous big plants!

And speaking of turning outside stuff into inside stuff,

how 'bout them hydrangeas?

Lace caps, on the side of That Old House,

in full bloom back in July, during that heat wave.

Pink and blue flowers on one plant.  Neat-o.

And as they are now.

Kinda peaky.
Although tastefully pale and interesting.

Do you think they'll look good dried?  
They are almost there already.

I used to dry the big mopheads every fall and they'd last all winter.

But my 3 mophead bushes yielded ONE bloom this season.

This was it, our entire crop of big hydrangea blooms:

I guess it couldn't hurt to try with the lacecaps, huh?
Nothing ventured, and all that jazz. -- Cass

Just found out I'm working tomorrow at the antiques center.  See you Friday!

Link Parties

At Savvy Southern Style, it's Wow Us Wednesday.  

I'm not sure I've wow'd anyone, but I'm jumping onto the link wagon anyway.  Click here!

Outdoor Wednesday is the Link Party at A Southern Daydreamer.

Join Susan and her guests . . . just click here!

Survival

Benign neglect.
That's pretty much the modus operandus that
governs the gardening done at That Old House.

Would it be a good idea to cut down our big lilac to get
better pictures of our house for my blog?  Probably not.

Despite the slap-dash care in the garden, today daughter Anne

harvested these from our 5 tomato plants: 

She plopped them down on the oak table in the sunroom,

for the paparazza (that would be me) to enjoy. 

And tonight, a pasta with fresh tomato sauce is on the dinner menu.

Prepare to meet your Maker, ugly little
tomato who is secretly delicious.

Okay . . . honestly?

I have absolutely nothing to blog about.

Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.

Note to self:  put away the garden hose
before taking pictures of the porch.

I told you I had nothing to blog about.

I'm reduced to rambling about pretty much nothing.

So . . .

here's our front porch, with its

summer ferns a-swaying in the breezes.

 I usually hang asparagus ferns, as they are not the fussy divas

that Boston ferns are.  But this year, I could not find nice asparagus 

ferns, so it's Boston.  With their diva demands for water and haircuts.

Boston ferns are not down with the whole benign neglect thing.

 More porch trivia: Howard likes to take a glass of his favorite

adult beverage, and a nice cigar, out to the porch,

and have some quiet time in one of the old rocking chairs.

There is an old stone crock on the porch. 

Let's take a closer look.

 Oh my stars and garters!

Who or what has been pooping in the old stone crock???

Oops.  My mistake.  It's not poop!

It's Howard's old butts.

I mean, cigar butts, of course.

Howard himself has only one old butt, and he is rather attached to it.

(With apologies to Eeyore's tail.)

Ah, poor house; no shutters except for a few of the first floor windows.

I am still in mourning for the lost shutters.

Ah well.  Someday.

Where did this post begin?  Oh, yes, with benign neglect.

Which is why I love Black Eyed Susans.

Benign neglect is their way of life. 

Speaking of benign neglect, that's what I've been doing to this poor blog,

to my booth at the antiques mall, to my house . . . 

and it's partly because I've been focused on our dog Dion,

who is in failing health.  With adjustments in his medications

every few days, he is hanging in there for at least a little longer,

but he's getting very tired.  We are preparing ourselves.

Dion, a week ago, at the vet's.
Still a cutie-pie.

Thank you, so many of you, for your very kind words and

your understanding, your good thoughts and prayers.

You are amazing, and much appreciated.

And about that booth at the antiques mall?

I'm doubling my space.

 Yup, that's my new space, above.  9 X 12 instead of 6 X 9 feet.

But that's not my "stuff" in it -- that's the stuff from the

person who is vacating and moving to a still larger space.

And that's Howard, and his butt, inspecting.

You can see that I've been neglecting my own booth, above.

Not even very benignly.  Wish me luck in the new space;

Anne and I go tomorrow to start setting it up.

I'm looking forward to having more room for furniture.

Craigslist, don't let me down!

Our heat wave has moderated to perfect summer weather;

I wish the same for you!  -- Cass