Monday, March 30, 2009

Helpers

I had lots of help today.

In the kitchen, the boys grated cheese for our quesadillas. Today was actually supposed to be "Taco Night", but Tommy requested quesadillas at the last minute. I didn't have any tortillas on hand, having used the last of the corn tortillas to make a batch of chicken enchiladas.




While the boys grated cheese I whipped up a batch of flour tortillas from this recipe at texascooking. How much do I love that I could make these for all of about 40 cents and without having to drive to the store? Oh, I loved it so much! I followed the recipe imperfectly, and it worked beautifully.




If you decide to make these, the only thing I didn't do was let it rest for 20 minutes. 15 minutes, I did. But then I couldn't do it for another 20. It just doesn't take that long to grate the cheese, and I had to roll! I think I waited less than 10 minutes and just got on with it. Worked like a charm, anyway!





I also got lots of help in the garden today. Scotty is smitten with the poppies. They've been on the verge of blooming for a couple of days, and we've had 'some' open already. But they really turned the corner while they were at school today. When we got home around 3:30, there were dozens of blooms! He couldn't hardly stand it! By the time I had unloaded the car with a few groceries, he was standing underfoot...with a present for me. (Little boys, bringing flowers to mama...be still my heart.)

I had to convince him that at least a few poppies could be enjoyed in their natural habitat, and thankfully he agreed before plucking every flower off!






Last spring, I sprinkled wild flower seeds ~ which largely turned out to be poppy seeds, and that's fine by me because I love them ~ into this little brick planter just beside our front door. Over the subsequent months, I found matchbox cars and army men and legos and tank engines interspersed among the plants. Eventually, the miniature toys were no longer cutting the mustard, and the big guns were hauled in. I know when I'm bested. I pulled the wild flowers in the fall and this 'planter', now more of a 'player', has been empty since.

So I was very pleasantly surprised to find volunteer poppies sprouting all around the yard this spring! Truly, it's the biggest PLUS for native plants. They just...thrive. So what you see here? All natural diaspora.





By the way, not one volunteer poppy landed where I would have chosen to grow them. *sigh* Oh well! Just another lesson in letting go.

3 comments:

  1. Last year we planted 5 poppy plants. Now, this year we have lots of volunteers sprouting up throughout the yard. What a nice surprise! We're still eradicating the IVY- what seems like an endless task. However, yesterday evening Kelly and I were walking around the yard and commented on the yard, slowly but surely, getting better looking.

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  2. Hey my sister (Kelly's mom) is wanting to make tortillas and our other sister said she tried and they were a BIG flop. I will send this on to Carol and tell her they come with you guarantee!!! Hmmm I may even try them myself. Wish I had little helper to grate the cheese

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  3. Oh Moose, I love to picture you and Kelly touring the back forty, arm in arm! We can't wait to see you tomorrow. :)

    Miss Betty ~ these were really easy! It makes a nice, chewy tortilla. Do you have a Chevy's near you? They were similar. I'd bet they could be 'crisper' if you were inclined to roll them even thinner, but we were very pleased!

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