Kathy G Space
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Happy Halloween

10/31/2018

 
Trick or Treat! Every Halloween, my husband turns into his alter ego, a pirate named Rupert Sack. Neighborhood kids love the pirate. The refer to our house as the pirate house. 
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Seared Ahi with Citrus Glaze

10/30/2018

 
This is one of  my favorite meals. The recipe was inspired by an appetizer we ate at Ivar's restaurant in Mulkilteo Washington. I serve it with sushi rice and stir fried veggies.
Fresh Ahi steak, cut into 4 squares. I cut the steak into squares because it is easier to turn them after searing, and because the slices I make after cooking come out more uniform.
Glaze: 
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
4 tsp. lemon rind
2 tsp. lime rind
1 1/2 tsp shiracha
Combine glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan over low heat and cook until it thickens. Cool.
Sear Ahi over very high heat. Slice and drizzle with glaze.

I Told You So

10/29/2018

 
​We’re not supposed to say, “I told you so.” It isn’t polite. Is isn’t nice. But it is oh so hard to resist:
When your child falls and skins her knee and wails after you warned her not to run in the street
When too much laughing leads to crying
When the vase breaks and children scatter after being told not to throw the ball in the house
When the milk spills after you’ve warned them not to put the glass so close to the edge of the table
When the delicate tip of the knife breaks after you’ve asked your husband not to use your good knife as a screwdriver
When you’ve reminded and nagged your daughter to hurry up or she’ll miss the school bus – and she does
Oh, how I want to say, “I told you so!” But No. I don’t. Instead I ask, “what did you learn?” It’s sneaky, I know. But, they agree – I told them so.

Uncooked Red Bell Pepper Sauce. Delicious.

10/27/2018

 
Uncooked red bell pepper sauce
This is really yummy. It tastes fresh and is delicious over grilled fish, mashed potatoes, hummus, just about anything you can think of.
½ jar of fire roasted red bell peppers plus about a tablespoon of liquid from the jar
¼ cup of fresh lime juice
1 or 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped (I have been thinking about using roasted garlic in this recipe)
1/4 cup olive oil (I like Mission Olive Oil from the Olive Press in Sonoma)
A few sprinkles of red pepper flakes
A couple drops (or more) sriracha 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Put all ingredients in a blender and whir until combined.
Not for my lovely sister-in-law who can’t eat bell peppers – actually any peppers, and is afraid of eating at my house!

Something Different - A Beet Salad Recipe!

10/26/2018

 
Marc and I were in Phoenix last fall and stayed downtown at the Found:RE hotel. It is a beautiful property and has a fantastic restaurant. I ate a beet salad there and below is my version. Enjoy!
​3 large or 4 small beets, any color
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
¼ cup toasted pistachios
4 cups arugula
Dressing:
¼ cup while balsamic vinegar
¼ cup blood orange juice (other orange juice works, but the blood orange juice adds a great flavor)
1 tsp agave nectar
1 T diced shallots
¼ cup avocado oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil for cooking
Note: this makes more dressing than you need – it will keep in the refrigerator, or reduce the amounts of vinegar, oil, and orange juice. You can also play with the ratios. I’m not sure they are perfect.
Serves 4
  1. Cut the top and bottom off the beets and place them on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the beets and bake in a 400 degree oven until fork-tender – about 30 to 45 minutes depending on the size of the beets. Let cool, peel and cut in a 1-inch dice.
  2. Shell and toast pistachios in a dry skillet until fragrant. Cool.
  3. Make dressing: assemble dressing ingredients and whisk. If you don’t like raw shallots (I don’t), you can cook them in a little olive oil until translucent. If you do so, reduce the amount of avocado oil in the dressing.
  4. Assemble salad and drizzle with dressing.
  5. If desired, shaved Manchego cheese would be good on this salad. 

Fairies of the Maple Tree - Pindi Story 1

10/23/2018

 
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Our north side garden is a magical place. I go there when I am sad or troubled, and I find peace. Marc and I eat dinner there on warm evenings. Fairies live in the Green Japanese Maple Tree planted near the fence. This is their story.
“Look, there they are again – the giants!” Pindi exclaimed. “I’m going to fly over for a closer look.” She spread her sparkling wings and flew away from the chartreuse leaves of the Green Japanese Maple Tree the fairies called home. Pindi and her twin sister Mindi had just turned 10.
“Don’t go!” Mindi, cried. “They kill fairies.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. They’re just so BIG. They don’t even have wings. I’m much faster than they are.”
“I’ll tell Father. He won’t like it” Mindi threatened. Pindi and Mindi’s father Bran was the King of the Green Japanese Maple Tree fairies.
“Go ahead – I don’t care. Tattle Tale.”
“You’re such a trouble maker!” Mindi unfurled her long tongue and stuck it out at Pindi as she flew by.
 
“Pindi, what have you done now?” The King paced the grand hall in the Green Japanese Maple Tree. “You’re my daughter. You must set a good example, not go recklessly tearing off to explore beyond our tree.”
“But Father, the giants recognized me and smiled. They won’t hurt us. They were charmed by seeing a fairy.”
“Pindi” the King said warningly. “You are forbidden from showing yourself to humans. That’s what those giants are. Humans. They’re dangerous. They think we’re wasps and they kill us.”
“These two won’t hurts us. I know they won’t!” Pindi stomped out of the room to sulk.
 
King Bran convened his war council. “I’m worried. The spiders are massing along the fence at our border. They send scouts into our tree. There are more of them every day.”
“We should attack now” cried Angus, the King’s War Chief, “before more of them arrive.”
“Too late,” panted a page as he ran through the door, out of breath. “They’ve taken Mindi. You know what they do to us! They’ll suck her dry!”
“We must march. Assemble the troops” ordered King Bran. And to the page,” Tell the women and children to stay in the grand hall. Bar the doors and guard the towers.”
 
“Why have they been gone so long? “Pindi pouted as she craned to see out. “I can’t see anything. They’ve got my sister. I can’t just stay here locked in the grand hall. I have to do something!”
“You’re just a child” chided Pindi’s mother, Queen Caelia.  “Your father will save us. Stay inside with the rest of us. Don’t do anything rash.”
“Rash! It isn’t rash to help the warriors! It isn’t rash to save my sister!” Pindi ranted. “I know how to use a spear, and a bow and arrow. I can fight. I will fight!” Pindi rushed from the grand hall.
Outside, Pindi saw and heard the fighting. Spears and arrows were being hurled overhead. The clash of swords against shields. Spiders were marching along the branches, taking prisoners as they went. Fairy warriors fought them fiercely, but they were outnumbered and were being pushed back, closer to the grand hall.
Pindi had an idea. Racing to the other side of the garden, she looked for her giants. She found one of them and flew to her ear, shouting. “We need help! The spiders are attacking our people and our home in the Green Japanese Maple Tree. We can’t fight them alone. Please help us!”
The giant grabbed a broom and raced to the north side garden with Pindi in the lead. Once there, she brushed spider webs off the fence and the tree branches, sweeping spiders along with their webs. The fairy warriors cheered as they renewed their fighting. Spiders scurried along the ground to get away from the spears and the broom. The battle was over.
Pindi rushed to Mindi and unwrapped her from the spider silk prison.
“Pindi saved the day. Hurray for Pindi. Hurray for the giant. Hurray!” cheered the fairy warriors.
“You were right, Pindi, these giants won’t hurt us. Pindi’s father, King Bran bowed before the giant wielding the broom. “We owe you our greatest thanks for saving our kingdom. As a fairy king, I can grant you whatever you wish.”
“I wish for you and your kingdom to live safely in the Green Japanese Maple Tree,” said the giant. “I like the idea of fairies living in our yard. Live in peace.”
And they did. 

When I Don't Pay Attention

10/22/2018

 
​“Go ahead and fill the pond. I backwashed the pump,” my husband told me as he walked out the door.
“Ok.” I turned on the filler and went back inside to read by book. Made a mental note to watch the pond. My phone rang. I answered. Then I saw an email from my sister that I wanted to read on my computer’s big monitor, so I wandered to our home office. Then I responded. Then I thought about what I wanted to post next on my brand-new blog.
Twenty minutes later, I wandered back to the kitchen and looked out the window.
Why is there water sitting on the patio? Oh Crap! I forgot I turned on the pond filler!
I ran outside and turned off the filler. Then I put my wet socks in the laundry basket because I hadn’t taken time to put on shoes. Then I went back outside to see how the overflow pump was doing with all the excess water. The fish were hanging out at the edge of the pond. I fully expected to see a couple of them flop up to explore life outside their house. Too bad we don’t have frogs at the moment. They would have had a great escape route from hungry koi.
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Magnus Saves the Day

10/21/2018

 
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It was the middle of the night and Magnus the kitty cat was snoozing on his blanket when he smelled smoke. He didn’t know what smoke was, but he knew it was dangerous. He woke up his people and they ran out of the house. Magnus ran outside too, but he didn’t follow his people to the car even though they called and called for him.
Magnus knew he had to save the chickens. He ran to the chicken yard and leapt over the fence. He ran to the chicken coop and found it was locked up for the night. He scratched at the lock with his paw until the latch loosened, then he nosed his way inside. The chickens were sleeping upstairs in their roost. 
 “Wake up” he called, “you have to go outside right now.” “But it is dark, and we can’t see anything” called Stegosaurus the chicken. Magnus walked up the ramp and stuck his head inside the roost where the chickens were waking up and whispering to each other. “What’s going on? asked Brachiosaurus” “What is that smell?” asked Velociraptor. “I’m afraid!” cried Triceratops.
“I’ll lead you out”, said Magnus. “Follow me!” He turned and ran down the ramp. The chickens followed sleepily. At the door to the chicken coop, Magnus turned and counted the chickens; one, two, three, four. “Hurry” Magnus called, “we have to hurry.”
The air was smoky, and it hurt to breathe. Hot air singed Magnus’ fur and the chickens’ feathers as they quickly followed him across the chicken yard. At the gate, Magnus turned and said, “you have to fly over the gate; follow me” and he leapt over gate. “We’re afraid”, cried Brachiosaurus. “You can do it” Magnus told them. “Just flap your wings and fly over gate.” One by one, the chickens flew over the gate and landed next to Magnus. He counted again; one, two, three, four.
Water, thought Magnus. We should get to water. He led his parade of chickens to the koi pond. He turned and called, “jump in, the water will save you from the heat of the fire.” “But we can’t swim”, cried Stegosaurus. “Sure, you can”, Magnus said. “If I can swim, so can you” and to show them, he jumped into the pond and paddled towards the middle. The splash woke up the fish who swam towards the chickens and encouraged them to jump in. “We’ll help you swim” said the fish. The fish voices sounded like bubbles to the chickens. One, two, three, four, the chickens jumped into the water. The fish swam underneath them and beside them to help them float without tipping over. “This is fun”, laughed Velociraptor. “The air is so hot”, said Triceratops. The fish jumped and splashed water on the chickens’ feathers to help them stay cool and they all swam around in the koi pond for hours.
They heard fire trucks drive by and saw the airplanes and helicopters fly towards the fire. After a long time, the air got cooler and there was less smoke. Magnus’ people came home and were very happy and surprised to find fish, chickens, and the cat all swimming in the pond. Magnus saved the day. 

I Sing to My Chickens

10/20/2018

 
I sing to my chickens when they wake up in the morning, a happy song to meet the new day.
And they sing back, joyfully.
I sing to my chickens in the afternoon, after they have laid their eggs while I give them a treat of dried corn.
And they sing back, hungrily. Laying eggs is hungry work.
My chickens sing to me in the evening when it is time for dinner.
 Come feed us.
I sing lullabies to my chickens at the end of the day.
And they sing back, sleepily, cozily sitting on their roosting stick.
 
In the Spring, I sing happy songs about rainbows and flowers and birds.
And they sing back delightedly.
In the Summer, I sing lazy songs about long days and blue sky.
And they sing back sunnily.
In the Fall, I sing songs about apples and pears and figs. The chickens love figs.
And they sing back. Yummily.
In the Winter, I sing Jingle Bells.
And the chickens sing back while they dance, gleefully. 





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October 20th, 2018

10/20/2018

 

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