Sunday, July 12, 2015

Project Morning Glory, Potato Salad, and Around the House Today

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but the day grew some legs and carried us away to all sorts of places....here's half our Saturday.

It is a picture perfect Cape Cod day with clear dry air, blue skies and soft breezes filled with the scent of privet.  LM and I dream of days like this when we can just be home, plan some nice meals and work on little projects that have often been calling.

A very cute rabbit makes his/her home in a large brush pile we have in one far corner of the property, and each year that we have tried to grow morning glories, he/she has eaten them right down to the ground before they could reach 6" tall.  We've given some serious consideration on how to stop this naughtiness, and this year we think we may have come up with our best plan yet.....we shall see.  I thought I'd post a few photos of our most "sophisticated' effort yet. After the wash was hung out, of course, LM readied himself for the project.
There is nothing like drying the sheets on a clear sunny day. Note the brush pile in the back corner....I keep telling LM, if we get a donkey, it would clear that all up in no time, but my suggestion falls on deaf ears.

Step one of Project Morning Glories was to start the seeds indoors - much to the chagrin of Ms G as the planter was placed in her favorite sunny spot.  Next up, LM drilled holes all around the box so we could insert lengths of strong fishing line on which the vines could travel as they grow.

LM decked out in his brand new Cape Cod Shark shirt - it is Shark Week, after all.
All the tools are assembled, and the requisite coffee and police scanner are in place. LM needs to know what is happening around the Cape at all times.
We have piled up bricks on which to place the planter, hoping they are high enough to keep the bunnies away.
Now we wait.....progress reports will be forthcoming. We saw several bunnies hopping around the area last night...so far, so good. Ms G is keeping a close eye on the critters, from indoors, of course.
After finishing with the project, my Midas spent the next few hours "counting his gold" aka working on his fishing flies and keeping that chest fully stocked and ready at all times for a fishing expedition.
And meanwhile, it was my job to work on a plan for dinner and we both had a yen for potato salad, so I put on my "Mum" hat and made a batch just as she would have done.  While, I worked, without a recipe, as usual, I thought I would write one down, for posterity, thinking there may be some who might like to know the method.. 
This batch came highly endorsed by LM!

POTATO SALAD

Ingredients
2 lbs of very small red bliss  potatoes, unpeeled
2 hard-boiled eggs,  roughly chopped
1 large stalk of celery, chopped finely
1/4 cup of red onion, chopped finely
10 chives finely diced
1 heaping  tbls of sweet pickle relish
Cider vinegar
Cain’s mayonnaise (or your favorite)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbls of sugar

Bring potatoes to a boil in salted water, cook until tender, drain and leave in hot saucepan.
Sprinkle about 2 tbls of cider vinegar over hot potatoes and leave to cool.  When potatoes are cooled, leaving skins attached, cut roughly into quite small pieces and place in a bowl, sprinkle with another scant tbls of cider vinegar and the sugar.
Add in all the other ingredients and mix well, then fold in just enough mayonnaise to coat the salad  (too much makes the salad too soupy).
Chill well before serving on a bed of lettuce.

VARIATIONS:
Veggies can be changed up anyway you like, and you can omit the sweet relish and use dill relish, as well as sprinkling on some fresh dill.  The key ingredients are the addition of the vinegar and sugar.
I learned this method from Mum – Eleanor Morse

Love to all

3 comments:

Judy said...

My mother's secret was the sweet pickle relish, and we do add yellow mustard. AND most important--chop small. We hate potato salad that has large pieces of potato. YUM!!

Sally said...

Oh, I do hope your morning glories will be safe from the bunnies. I was just talking the other day about my mom always had some planted. :)

MsGraysea said...

Sally - the morning glories are thriving so far, and already climbing up the fishing line. I will take some photos tomorrow. We are hopeful. We saw the bunny hoping around the yard today but nowhere near the garden. I don't there is anything like the depth of color in a morning glory. We shall see. LOL

Judy, I agree on the fine chop of the potato salad. Love it so much.