This and that and other stuff

Some of you have written that you are storing teacups in drawers!

Weather in the Midwest is often unpredictable but going from having our furnace on at night a few days ago to a temperature of 87 degrees as I type is just too weird... even for us.  Fortunately we are to get back to normal (or even a little below) by the weekend.

I am working on the yard and the garden a little at a time this week.  Hubby did his usual excellent job of getting the soil all ready for me yesterday and I was hoping to plant green bean seeds today but it was just too hot.  I did do some tweaking to the herb garden but otherwise spent all my outside time pulling weeds and pruning thorny bushes (ouch!) in our front yard where it was cooler.

I will put the hummus and Jerusalem salad recipes on my recipe blog soon, along with the requested recipe for my macaroni and cheese.  I tend to not measure when making mac and cheese so I need to make it again and pay attention to what I'm doing. ;)

I learned about Jerusalem salad from the menus of Middle Eastern restaurants near campus.  As I told Stephanie over the phone, twenty years ago I had no idea I'd be researching hummus recipes!  Israeli salad is very similar to Jerusalem salad but it does not have tahini in the lemony dressing and the recipe calls for the addition of chopped onions. 

They are both delicious as well as healthy... and they'll get cheaper when tomatoes are in season.  Hubby has decided he loves this food but will never understand our passion for Indian dishes.  Of course, this is the man who thinks cinnamon is spicy! 

Hmmm.... there were a couple of other items I wanted to write about.  I'd forgotten about a friend's question regarding the British comedy from the 1970s that is a favorite.  It is called Good Neighbors and it's about a couple who decide to become self sufficient while living in the city.  You can find more about it... here. 

If you like British comedy you will like this.  If you remember the self sufficiency movement in the 1970s and wondered what it would be like to try it in the city... you will like this.  British comedy (even back then) can be just a little edgy and "raw" but absolutely nothing like what can be found on TV today. 

Also, I know there are e-mails that were never answered.  For some of them, I just got behind and could not catch up during that month I wasn't feel well.  Then I found a number of e-mails in the Spam folder that I'm sure were "good"... but I still didn't open them.  Sometimes the Spam folder gets a hic up and throws a bunch of e-mails in there that are not at all Spammy.  If you had a specific question, write again!  :)

Third... an announcement about another Book and Film Recommendation.  Some of you know I've been working off and on for a year now to put together the second round of recommendations from your comments.  However, I just have not found the time to go through twenty-five (or more) pages of comments to assemble the recommendations.

So... I'm going to be asking you again in a couple of weeks (not now!) and this time I'll have you just to list them in Comments and then if you want to explain anything, send me an e-mail.  That way I can quickly get the list assembled and posted.  Be thinking of your favorite authors... nonfiction, and fiction.  I'll be more specific at the time I ask for them.

Speaking of favorite authors, I'm re-reading Hidden Art (aka: The Hidden Art of Homemaking) by Edith Schaeffer most probably for the 10,357th time.  One of my all time favorite books.  :)