It's All About the Little Things

I've been struggling for a few days, trying to decide what to write about for this week's blog. It's not that I haven't been busy, or that I've put my projects and pursuit of fabulousness on the back burner - that's not it at all! In fact, I've rarely been busier! I think it's that I have so many things going on, a lot of which require a great deal of energy, that I am having difficulty putting it all into words.

And then there are some things that I'm still struggling to define my feelings about.

So in the meantime, I'm going to leave you with a funny anecdote from Labor Day weekend.

Several weeks ago, I decided that I was going to start my holiday weekend a little early, and drive out on Friday to visit my parents, who live a little over an hour away. I knew that Mom would be at work for part of the time, but Dad is retired, and this girl never passes up a chance to hang out with her Daddy! I had some vaguely nebulous ideas about what we'd do, centering around creating furniture for Georgia (so that she'd stop climbing my armchairs), but mostly was just looking for an excuse to spend time with the ones I love.

Sometime after lunch and a jaunt in Dad's garden to pick tomatoes and "albino" cucumbers, we settled onto the porch swing that has hung on the deck since I was a teenager. Surrounded by sunshine, blooming flowers in every color, and sleeping cats, it seemed like a little slice of heaven as we rocked and chatted.

Pearl cucumbers from Dad's garden. They kind of looked
like giant weevils, but were actually quite delicious!

Then there was a creak. And then a groan. And then we were tipped backward to face the sky.

Then the back of the porch swing gave way, and I saw my dad's legs fly up over his head!

I thought I was hanging on, but once Dad's counterweight was gone, the swing decided to spit me out as well. I somehow flipped so that my head was under the swing and my feet were on the deck railing.

Once we could both catch our breath and determined that there were no major injuries that required First Aid or a doctor, we started laughing and couldn't stop. Through gasps of merriment, I kept insisting that it wasn't funny, but Dad was adamant that it was as he shook with laughter. Even recounting it to Mom hours later, we couldn't control ourselves and had tears streaming down our faces in the retelling.

I'm pretty sure she thought we'd knocked a few screws loose.

All content and images are ©The Casual Diva, except where otherwise noted. Content may not be republished without prior consent of the author.

Banana Avocado Facial

I was all prepared to give you MORE jam recipes, since I jammed and made pie filling out of the 1/2 bushel of peaches I picked last weekend, but I didn't want to bore anyone, so I thought I'd mix it up a bit.

I've always struggled with my skin. In fact, I'm not sure I've had 100% clear skin on a single day since I was about 11 years old. As I've gotten older, I take more and more steps to try to mitigate any damage already done, and keep more from happening. I've tried over-the-counter washes, prescription topical treatments, mail-order programs like Proactiv, and none of it seems to do any good.

But I've finally gotten to a point where I can identify what the source of the problems are. I no longer eat peanuts, since they make me break out. I wear sunscreen anytime I'm going to be outside for more than 5 minutes. I moisturize religiously, both before I apply makeup (powdered, rather than liquid) and before I go to bed.

Every once in a while, I like to treat myself to a little something extra. It's always amazed me how smearing some kind of gray-green goop on my face can make me feel not just soothed and refreshed, but even more feminine and lovely (and I assure you, I don't look lovely walking around with a green face). I found a "volcanic mud mask" once that made my skin feel like satin, but was heavily perfumed, and showed no evidence of actually containing mud from a volcanic area. And I've never been able to find it again anyway.

After much searching through stores and coming up with bupkiss, I finally caved and decided to make my own face masks. And oh, I'm so glad I did! This mask leaves my skin feeling smooth as butter and twice as enervated! The avocado is full of those wonderful anti-oxidants that are so important to our skin. Bananas are also rife with anti-oxidants, as well as healing potassium (any time I got a foot cramp growing up, my dad told me to eat a banana!) and vitamins. The olive oil acts as a moisturizer, and the yogurt contributes calcium and protein to the mix.

**Normally, I would use my blender to mix this face mask to get a nice smooth blend, but I need to order a replacement part, so I used a mixer, hence the lumpier than usual images.

Banana Avocado Facial

1 ripe banana

1 ripe avocado

4 Tbsp plain full fat yogurt

1 tsp olive oil

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to

use. Apply to face and neck, and allow to set for 15-30 minutes. Rinse off with warm water.

I hope you feel as decadent and luxurious as I do when I indulge in this!

All content and images are ©The Casual Diva, except where otherwise noted. Content may not be republished without prior consent of the author.

Blackberry Jam

I can't speak for anyone else, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the mild weather this summer. Despite (or maybe because of) living in South Carolina for nearly five years, I hate to be hot. And here on the East Coast, when it's hot, it's inevitably humid, so going outside on a typical summer day is most often like swimming through a vat of reheated egg drop soup.

Lovely image, that.

But this summer has been absolutely amazing, with most days barely hitting the 80s, lovely, perfect breezes, and just the right ratio of sun to clouds. If the big guy upstairs is taking requests, I'd like to ask for this year round!

So, with another gorgeous weekend on the calendar, it was back to Larriland Farm, this time for peaches and blackberries. The 1/2 bushel of yellow peaches I came back with needed a few days to fully ripen, since they were still a little firm, but I was determined to process the blackberries immediately (and what if a few "broke" in my hand and never quite made it into my box? It was just a tasty little preview of what was to come!).

You know what they say about the best laid plans, right?

Instead of diving right into jam making on Saturday, as planned, I ended up taking a nice nap on my sofa. And then doing dishes. And sorting laundry. And ... stalling.

Sunday was more of the same, but at least I had the excuse of going to see my sister-in-law's production of "Godspell" and then going out for dinner with her and my brother afterward.

Monday came, and there were no more excuses, but quite a bit of urgency - the berries were softening in the fridge and needed to be cooked. And my peaches were softening on the counter, and were getting close to needing to be processed themselves.

The original plan was to make three different batches of jam, but as I was finishing up batch #2, I noticed I didn't quite have enough to make a third full batch. I'll either have to make a run to the grocery store to buy more berries, or I'll just make a blackberry tart or cobbler tonight after work.

But the two batches I did make (Blackberry Port Jam & Blackberry Lemon Jam) turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself!

Blackberry Port Jam

courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens

• 4 cups blackberries
• 5 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 box powdered pectin
• 1 cup port or sweet red wine (I used the port from Cygnus Winery, a locally made port that I bought at the Great Grapes Wine Festival several years ago when I worked for a competing winery)
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

1. Place the blackberries in an 8- to 10-quart heavy pot. Using a potato masher, crush the berries slightly. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the sugar and the pectin; gradually stir into the berries. Stir in port and cloves.
2. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add the remaining 5 1/4 cups sugar. Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil, uncovered, for about 1 minute or until jam sheets off a metal spoon, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon.
3. Ladle hot jam into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids. (If you have any extra jam, place in an aitright container and store in refrigerator for up 2 weeks.)
4. Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 5 minutes (start timing when water returns to boiling). Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks until set.

Blackberry Lemon Jam

• 4 cups blackberries
• 7 cups white sugar
• 1 box powdered pectin
• 1 lemon (juice & zest)

1. Place the blackberries in an 8- to 10-quart heavy pot. Using a potato masher, crush the berries slightly. 
2. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugar. Cut lemon in half, removing seeds on the surface, and squeeze juice into mixture (approximately 2 Tbsp). Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil, uncovered, for about 1 minute or until jam sheets off a metal spoon, stirring constantly. 
3. Remove from heat. Quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon. Zest lemon & stir into jam.
4. Ladle hot jam into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; attach lids. 
5. Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes. Remove jars from canner; cool on wire racks until set.

Blackberry Port Jam (left) and Blackberry Lemon Jam (right)

I've only recently discovered my love of blackberries - it wasn't something that we ate when we were kids, probably because my mom doesn't care for them. But now that I've discovered them, there's no turning back! Unfortunately, my cookbooks are rather short on recipes for blackberries, so I'm in search of ideas for what to do with my last 4 1/2 cups of fresh blackberries or flavor combinations to try. Comments have been enabled on the blog (finally!), so I welcome your suggestions!

All content and images are ©The Casual Diva, except where otherwise noted. Content may not be republished without prior consent of the author.

Chicken & Mango Curry

This weekend was a lovely blend of sloth-dom (Saturday) and chaos (Sunday), and as usual, was over entirely too soon. The lack of balance to my weekend was entirely my own fault. Because I am a compulsive list-maker (I make a to-do list nearly every week), I had my list of chores that I absolutely HAVE to get finished this week. I crossed two items off. Ahem.

One thing I did accomplish (which was not on my list) was that I cooked a lot. I try to do a lot of my cooking on the weekends, when I have both time and motivation, because it's really hard to drum up enthusiasm to prepare a meal from scratch after a full day at work and any after hours activities, like rehearsals, running errands, or physical therapy appointments. I imagine I might be driven to cook more if it were more than just me, but cooking for one often just seems like too much effort for the outcome.

I had pulled out a package of chicken thighs to make Julie from Table for Two's Holy Yum Chicken (which is absolutely amazing and you should make immediately!), but wasn't sure that I had enough maple syrup for the recipe. As I often do when I'm feeling inventive, I started digging through the freezer to see what I could scrounge up to use with the chicken thighs (even though it probably would have been easier to drive the 1 minute to the grocery store to buy more maple syrup). I found a bag of stir-fry peppers and onions, and a bunch of mango that I had bought fresh and then cut up and froze. Since I've also been trying to use up the miscellaneous items in my freezer, I figured I could come up with something from that.

Wow.

My kitchen creations are kind of hit-and-miss. While nothing is ever bad or inedible, sometimes it's simply uninspired. This was not one of those creations.

The end result was both beautiful and tasty, and really revved me up for the rest of the weekend (a good thing, since I decided to audition for a show kind of at the last minute, picked my audition song at the last minute, and then CHANGED my audition song while sitting in the theater waiting for my turn to sing!). Of course, two days later, my entire house still smells like curry, even though I tried supplanting it by baking a Crustless Coconut Pie last night (to be covered in a future post). But I can live with the smell of Eastern spices in the house if it means making this curry again!

And one of these days, I promise to invest in a real camera and take better quality pictures than what I'm currently capable of using only my cell phone's camera!

Chicken & Mango Curry

• 1 to 1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 2 Tbsp cooking oil
• 1 16oz bag of pepper stir fry vegetables (or 1 small onion, 1/2 green pepper, 1/2 red pepper, sliced)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 c milk
• 2 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 2 cups mango, cubed

In a large skillet, heat oil. Add chicken; cook until no pink shows. Remove chicken from pan, leaving oil.

Add vegetables and garlic to the skillet; stir fry until crisp-tender, or they reach the desired consistency (about 2 minutes). Add vinegar, milk, curry, ginger, and cumin, stir until thoroughly blended. Add cornstarch, stirring in one teaspoon at a time. Simmer over medium heat until sauce thickens.

Add chicken and mango to the sauce; stir until thoroughly coated. Simmer over medium heat for 5-8 minutes.

Serve over rice.

All content and images are ©The Casual Diva, except where otherwise noted. Content may not be republished without prior consent of the author.

Pest control

I'm not really a "summertime girl", to quote that hilariously bad LFO song from my college years. Summer is usually too hot, and here on the East Coast, entirely too humid for comfort's sake. None of that has been true this summer - I'll take an entire season of 70-degree temperatures and breeze every year, thank you very much!

The one thing I do love, more than anything else, about summer, is the flowers. Starting in the spring, but then extending all summer long, nature erupts into chaotic color and shapes and scents that just make me feel alive! Yes, I know that sounds cheesy and melodramatic, but hey, did you notice the name of the blog?

Every July, I look forward to my favorite flowers, my lilies, blooming. Usually, the blossoms open into happy pink explosions right around the Fourth of July, and I can look forward to being greeted every morning and evening with their happy faces and cheerful perfume. This year, because the weather has been unseasonably cool, my lilies didn't bloom until mid-July, so they were waiting to great me in full profusion when my brother and I returned from our road trip to the Midwest a few weeks ago. I could tell as I got out of the car that they had bloomed, even though it was dark, because there is no mistaking the smell of a freshly emerged lily.

Sadly, lily blossoms never last more than a few short weeks, no matter the temperatures, and with the summer thunderstorms and gusting winds we've been having, both my and my neighbor's yards are strewn with spent petals and orange pollen. But the leafy stems (which according to the nursery company I bought them from four years ago should only reach 12-18 inches high, but this year reached as much as 45 inches in height) stay happily green into the fall, and provide a nice barrier between my property and my adjoining neighbor's yard.

This weekend, I noticed some strange bugs on the remaining seed pods and style of the lilies that had finished and dropped their petals. and the more I looked, the more I realized that it wasn't just a few bugs (which wouldn't worry me), but quite literally thousands of these insects on each of the plants.

The underside of the leaves were even more coated with insects.

So what did I do? I emailed the pictures to my in-house plant expert, my dad. I'm fortunate enough to have parents who are very knowledgeable on a variety of subjects, and a father and a brother who are actually reasonably handy. Any plant questions automatically get referred to my dad, who not only taught me every single thing I ever learned about gardening, but also just retired from a successful career as an agronomist (an agricultural scientist).

As I knew he would, he immediately identified the crawly pests, which kind of resemble winged lice, as aphids - that persistent nuisance to gardeners everywhere (for some reason, I had always though that aphids were green, not tan, but perhaps the type I found is different than the kind that Dad always battles with over his roses). Aphids are a sucking insect, rather than a chewing insect, so they don't leave bitten holes all over the plants like a lot of pests, but instead suck on the waxy surface of the plant, which can cause the plant to turn brown prematurely. They also secrete a nectar that attracts ants, and since I already have a major problem with ants (sometimes I think my neighborhood was built on a giant ant hill), I decided to wage immediate war!

Now, I don't have a special license to mix my own chemicals, and off-the-shelf sprays are often expensive. But fortunately, the solution to the aphid problem is inexpensive and doesn't require an extra trip to the store. Using any clean spray bottle, just mix equal parts dish soap and water, and then spray the heck out of each spot where the aphids are hanging out. This is non-toxic to the plants, but suffocates the aphids.

I sprayed all 15 plants down yesterday, while my neighbor looked on in bafflement (all of my neighbors, while quite lovely people, are not really nature lovers, and are therefore baffled by just about anything I do in my yard, from digging up dandelions to fertilizing and pruning the crepe myrtles). While I listened to a summer thunderstorm raging through the night, I hoped it would knock the aphid carcasses off and that my remaining lilies would once again be pristine. This morning revealed that the leaves and stems are just as covered as they were before, but there seemed to be less movement of the insect variety, so I'm hopeful that the problem has been dealt with.

But even if the bugs are still clinging to life and my lilies, I have a huge supply of dish soap and a relentless will. Even if it means I have the "cleanest" flower bed in the state, I'm going to stay at it until the threat is gone!

Next week, we may head back to the farm, this time for blackberries and peaches, so I may have more jam ideas for you, or other recipes!

All content and images are ©The Casual Diva, except where otherwise noted. Content may not be republished without prior consent of the author.

Return to nature

I'm finally back, after a week in the Midwest visiting family, followed by a week of trying to catch up on everything. It honestly took me by surprise how much I had to deal with when I came back! If I had planned ahead, and I usually do, I would have prepped posts ahead of time. But that didn't happen, so for this, like with the rest of my life, I'm playing a bit of catch-up.

Of course, I dove right back into my regularly scheduled life as soon as my feet landed on my home turf again. I spent a day with my girlfriends to celebrate one friend's birthday with lunch, pedicures, and shopping. There was the inevitable PT appointment to deal with the pain resulting from a 2500 mile road trip. Friday was packed with lunch with my theater "brother" and a happy hour where my friend's husband's band played.

Saturday dawned bright and warm (but not too warm, as has been the case with this entire summer, to my everlasting gratitude!), and I headed up to Gifford Pinchot State Park to meet my friends Dave and Mari, who were camping there for the weekend.

Gifford Pinchot Lake

Now, I'm not a huge fan of camping. I've done it, and it's fun and all, but I don't sleep particularly well on the ground, and I'm really the type of person who is not comfortable if my hair doesn't get washed every day. But I definitely enjoy the other aspects of camping - being surrounded by the sounds of nature, spending time with friends, sitting around a campfire. And in recent years, I've decided that I kind of like hiking. I'm no expert hiker, and usually by the last mile or two, I'm only moving under the motivation that I'm almost to the point where I can take off my shoes and relax.

We didn't get the chance to hike at all last year, due to busy schedules, so I had been badgering my friends to go this year. Once all three of us were free from show schedules (we're all performers - that's how we met), we decided, almost spur of the moment, that this was our weekend.

From the end of the caravan

We set out around 1pm, planning to hike the 8 miles or so around the lake in the park, or as much of it as my injured knees would allow. Dave and Mari are experienced hikers/campers, and were fully decked out in their "roughing-it" gear, although Dave had to find a new walking stick along the trail, as he'd accidentally broken his while loading their camping gear into the car. I was armed with extra water, sunscreen (I don't venture outside without it!), a few granola bars, knee brace, and cell phone (for taking pictures only).

Wineberries - Yum!

The Lakeside Trail was well marked, except for one little jog where we were pretty sure we were following an old overgrown trail and had to kind of forge through the woods a bit. We found wineberries along the trail, which are edible and sweet, and red baneberries, or "bird crack" as Mari dubbed them, which are incredibly toxic but lovely to look at. Dave pointed out the two disc golf courses along our route, and explained the game and the difficulty of each tee we passed. The day was gorgeous, the company even better, and even though we could hear lots of voices filtering upward from the lake, we actually encountered very few people along the trail. Really, just a perfect day!

The "not too steep" trail.
Yeah right, Dave!

Because my knee wasn't suffering too badly (especially once I put on the knee brace), we even detoured along an adjoining trail, which Dave, our navigator, assured me wasn't steep. Ahem.

By the time we reached the campsite again, we had hiked 8.7 miles. We were pleasantly exhausted and had a few blisters on our toes, but were happy with the day and life in general. And I think we were all happy to change into flip flops and crash in our camp chairs. After a delicious campfire dinner, we lounged by the fire until the late hour and the mosquitoes reminded me that it was time for me to leave.

If you've never gone hiking, I highly recommend it, especially this summer, when the weather has been so mild and lovely. But either start small, or go with someone who is experienced, like I do, because it's definitely easy to get in over your head!

All content and images are ©The Casual Diva, except where otherwise noted. Content may not be republished without prior consent of the author.

Traditional Independence

Happy Independence Day!

I know, I know, it was actually three days ago, but since I'm currently blogging only once a week, that's what you get. And actually, this is coming on the heels of my own Independence Day celebration.

I firmly believe that one important element of the fabulous life is to establish traditions that are meaningful to you in some way. Whether it's the annual family reunion or always going out for burritos before a ball game or singing a certain carol every Christmas Eve, it's these little details that put the sparkle into life.

Of course, that could just be my Irish talking.

In my family, we have endless traditions, ranging from the small and lamentable (Mom's lime Jell-O with pineapple every Christmas), to the large and meaningful (annual trips to the Midwest to visit the extended family). One of my favorite traditions is our Independence Day celebration.

Every year, my hometown hosts their salute to local veterans on July 3rd (postponed this year until the 6th due to thunderstorms). Thousands of people from all over gather in the Community Park to share in music, food, and friendship, before ending the evening with fireworks. My mom makes sure to get there just as soon as the park opens to stake out her spot close to the water and away from the docks where some of the more obnoxious boaters rev their engines and overuse their air horns. We haul in picnic food, spread a blanket, and bask in the sunshine and the breeze off the harbor until it gets dark enough for the fireworks show, which usually rivals what you would see in major cities.

It's one of my favorite traditions, in a year filled with wonderful ones. I think it really speaks to me because it's very much a throwback to the Americana of our parents' generation. It's small town America at its finest, from the community band playing John Phillip Sousa marches to the funnel cake stand to the school buses shuttling people back to their cars in the parking lot of the community college.

As we sit on our blankets and nibble on broccoli salad and Wheat Thins (this year I provided a Strawberry Pretzel Salad, which was a staple at nearly every summer church potluck I attended as a kid. And yes, this was another desperate bid to use up the remainder of my strawberries, which are now frozen!), a steady stream of friends, acquaintances, and neighbors stop by to visit, and some even park their own camp chairs next to ours to continue catching up. Former teachers stop to see how we've grown into our lives, and former classmates pass by

with their families. Friends from my parents' church will stop by to joke around, and childhood friends come by to introduce their spouses and children.

By and large, the crowds are friendly and respectful, flags and glow sticks are enthusiastically waved by small hands, and the cacophony of "oohs" and "ahhs" serves as the soundtrack to the professional fireworks display shot off of the barge in the harbor.

It's one of my favorite times of the whole year, because it's a reminder of all of wonderful things about our country, which we're so inclined to forget the rest of the year when bombarded by talk of political scandals and government ineffectiveness. For that one evening of the year, it's about celebrating the American spirit, and the foundations of our country - family, community, and freedom.

What are your traditions, for this holiday or others, that make your life a little more fabulous?

All content and images are ©The Casual Diva, except where otherwise noted. Content may not be republished without prior consent of the author.