cat ranch
all bets are off
email me: amp.331@gmail.com
i estimate it cost me around five bucks to make this wreath.
ingredients:
china fir
nandina
magnolia
grapevine wreath
floral wire
hot glue
fake berries
i wasn’t going to decorate because i’d prefer the holidays just scoot on by. but my dear friend brian aka olivier convinced me otherwise.
so i know it's been a while...
and some things have changed.
matthew and i are no longer together. so the last few months have been pretty sad for me. i feel as though i am floating out at sea with no anchor. there are times when this feels good. there are times when this is terrifying. this started out as a blog documenting the house we built together and i wasn’t sure that i wanted to continue on this blog out of respect for that.
but in the end, it is and has always been my blog and i love maintaining and updating it and started to miss it.
we are still friends and i have no regrets and wish him nothing but the best.
so i’ll try to update regularly with photos, house stuff, desperate cries for attention, whatever…
y’all. i made tamales. from scratch. and they were delicious. i am in shock. i used the masa recipe from “a taste of mexico” by kippy nigh which is a vegetarian mexican cookbook i just bought. but i made up the rest, i’m so proud! i feel inclined to post my recipe so i won’t forget.
masa dough (makes about 15 tamales)
4 cups masa flour
2-3/4 cups warm water
2 teaspoons sea salt
1-1/4 cups corn oil
mix together and knead until smooth which takes about 10 min.
during this time, soak the dry corn husks in warm water for an hour.
filling
2 cans pinto beans
1/2 onion
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pickled jalapenos with a little of the liquid from the can, diced
4 oz monterey jack cheese (2 oz shredded, 2 oz cubed)
strain pinto beans and pour into a bowl. puree the onion and garlic with a stick blender (the best kitchen gadget, i’m in love.) pour over the beans along with the jalapenos. use the stick blender to partially blend the mixture together. leave some of the beans whole so the mixture is still chunky. stir in the cheese with a spoon.
red sauce (all measurements are estimates, very rough estimates.)
1 can tomato puree
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
1/2 teaspoon pickled jalapeno juice
3/4 cup sweet tomatoes diced
2 - 3 cups of water
blend ingredients together with the, wait for it…stick blender! add water until you get desired consistency.
mash the masa dough into the top 2/3 of the corn husks with your fingers. add a few tablespoons of filling (and some of the red sauce if you want.) roll up the tamales and fold up the end with no filling. (look at youtube videos is all i can say.) place in a strainer pot (thanks mom!) the tamales should be placed open end up in a circle so you can pour water in the center of the pot. steam on medium heat for 1 hour.
they are done if you can unwrap one and the dough doesn’t stick to the corn husk. i spooned red sauce over mine.
ok, i’m done. it’s just that i’m not very domestic, so now i’ve found something i can actually make that they tell you is hard to make. ha! what’s happening to me?
we had a stream! i’m actually really loving the rain. not loving the sinkhole we’ve got to fill in above the septic tank. dammit.
this is the devil in cat form. we’ve discovered that she’s been murdering birds.
the dead cardinal on the back porch was our first hint. seeing her sitting like a statue under the bird feeders was our second. feathers in the garage the third. and matthew having to rescue a female cardinal the final.
so today we’ve raised all the bird feeders up and further out on the branches in hopes that she won’t be able to reach them anymore. we hope this stops the violence.
she doesn’t look like a serial killer does she? but she is indeed a murderous terrorist. all our cats are terrified of her, she can’t be in the house. she weighs maybe 6 pounds.
i like to garden at night, it is peaceful and cool. thus the darker pictures. this is the bed right next to the front door. i planted my three remaining beautyberries, some asparagus ferns and ‘sum and substance’ hostas. everything in the bed is deciduous. i may regret this, we’ll see how well the berries stay on in the winter. they had to put a drainpipe in this area so the soil is easier to work with. i tilled assloads of soil conditioner in to help combat the poor drainage. so glad fall is getting closer, it’s the best time to garden. my yard is dead to me from june through august. and it drives me crazy. because i am an ocd weirdo about the yard.
hobby lobby has tube paints for 30% off. so i beefed up my supply. i’ve got plans for canvas and a rocking chair. the canvas is practice.
twinkle lights. we broke in the porch sunday night. it’s fabulous. i’m so glad we did it.
i know this is a horrendous picture. i’m aware. it was taken through a window. but may i just say that we had SIX deer in the backyard last night. mamas and babies. and our cat lil mama got too close and they started stomping the ground at her. it was hilarious.
bongo makes me squee. sometimes i think about what he must have been like as a kitten with his big wedge head and bottlebrush tail coupled with bad behavior and it’s just too much…
