Friday Favorite: Pucker Up for Free Lemons
I’m a big fan of all things lemon, always have been. When I was a little girl I ate lemons like other kids ate apples. My taste for the lemon hasn’t changed, I find myself adding lemon zest or lemon juice to anything that will take it. I also love grapefruit, must be something about that tartness that I love. Several years ago, when I started becoming more of a local eater I quit buying as many lemons (which was very sad). Then I discovered the joy of supporting small farms around the country for things I can’t buy locally like olive oil, grapefruit, oranges and of course lemons.
Last year I found the Lemon Ladies Orchard and was thrilled with the box of Meyer Lemons I received. They’re not like regular lemons, they’re sweeter, since they’re a cross between a lemon and a mandarine orange. The Lemon Ladies orchard was started in 2004 by Karen. She decided to name each tree after a lady who had inspired her and helped her achieve her dreams. She grows her trees with organic fertilizer, lots of sunshine and fresh water and they flourish under her care.
I received my box of lemons in the mail last Thursday and have been enjoying sliced lemon in my tea every day. Tonight I plan on making berry cobbler with lemon juice and lemon zest. I’ll make another batch of preserved lemons for sure and meyer lemon marmalade to keep the flavor of these all year long. I might even make a lemon cake with lemon icing, if I do I’ll share with a friend of mine who also has a love for all things lemon.
Earlier this week, Karen, contacted me to thank me for mentioning The Lemon Ladies on my blog and she offered to give a Meyer Gift Bag to one of my lucky readers as a Valentine’s Day Giveaway. So PUCKER UP and comment below, you could win a dozen lovely freshly picked Meyer Lemons from a small orchard in California.
What’s your favorite kind of fruit?
Share this:
Friday Favorite: Flannel
Mr Chiots and I are HUGE fans of flannel sheets in the winter. They’re usually on the bed by mid-October and they stay on through at least the end of April. One of the reasons we like them so much is because we keep our house cold at night. It’s nothing like Kristin over at Going Country, who wakes up with her pillow frozen to the wall, but we keep our house at a chilly 55 at night in the winter (and 62 during the day, we’re cold loving folks). We have a big heavy wool blanket we use addition to our flannel sheets and we stay toasty warm all winter long.
I’ve always been a flannel loving girl, I remember having flannel sheets during the winter growing up (probably because my parents kept the house really cold as well). There’s just something so cozy about climbing into soft flannel sheets when it’s cold outside.
Are you a flannel lover? Is your climate too warm for them?
Share this:
Friday Favorite: Terracotta
You may have noticed that I love terra-cotta. I’m not a big fan of plastic or foam pots, I don’t feel like they have the warmth that real terra-cotta does. There’s just something so classic about a terra-cotta pot spilling over with flowers. One of the things I also love about terra-cotta is the way it ages, with such grace. They never look old, they just look like they belong.
I’ve been collecting terra-cotta pots for quite a while, buying them here and there. My sister gets them for me at garage sales, people give them to me. I have teeny tiny ones only a few inches high and huge heavy one that I can barely lift, I have short ones, tall ones, thin ones, fat ones and even a few square ones. One of the benefits of terra-cotta is that they’re fairly inexpensive as well, much cheaper than glazed ceramic containers. I also like that I can find them made in the USA or in Italy, most of the glazed pots are from China.
One of the drawbacks of terra-cotta is that you have to overwinter them where they won’t be exposed to the harsh elements. I empty mine out in the fall, dry them, and stack them on shelves in the garage. A few plants are overwintered in them in the basement or garage and they do quite well this way. This pot of chives was overwintered in the garage and put out in the spring, it’s covered in a late spring snow so it’s safe from the hard freezing and thawing that it would be subject to if I left it out all winter.
My ultimate favorite terra-cotta item is a cloche and coming in second is a nice rhubarb forcing pot. I don’t own either and most likely never will, but one can dream! If I ever travel to England I’ll try to find a way to bring back a rhubarb forcing pot, HMM… wonder if that will fit in the overhead bin? I may look into having a local potter make me some cloches for the garden, they won’t be terra-cotta but perhaps a glazed ceramic or clay instead.
Do you have a favorite kind of container in the garden?
Share this:
Friday Un-Favorite: Travelers Insurance
I’m the ultimate loyal customer, if a company makes a great product, has a great store, or has great customer service I’ll be a loyal customer for life. I’ll sing their praises until the cows come home telling anyone and everyone about it. I’ll willingly pay more for the product if I love it and will go out of my way to shop at a specific store or buy a certain product. I’m the customer you want to have, that is unless you decide to be ridiculous. Every now and then a company falls from my graces, it doesn’t happen often since I always give second chances. Until last month I’ve been singing the praises of Travelers Insurance. We’ve been their loyal customers for 11+ years, we’ve never even bothered checking for better rates anywhere else – ever. Whenever I heard someone complaining about their insurance company I’d chime in with how much we LOVED Travelers.
Most companies will love you as long as you don’t have a problem and are handing them money. When you have an issue that needs resolved and they need to hand a little money back your way, they show their true colors. Here’s what transpired with Travelers Insurance. We had a small fender bender when we were in Maine (the first in Mr Chiot’s 18 year driving career). The process of filing a claim was OK, but there were a few misscommunications and not enough info passed along to us from them. No problem, we decided to stick with them. Then we got our policy renewal in December which was much higher than usual, 50% higher than our last bill. We expected it go up a bit, but then we saw in our statement “NEW Accident Forgiveness for customers over 4 years and who haven’t had an accident in the past 5 years”. Great we thought, we’ll just call and get this fixed. Obviously there was an error.
When we first called the agent said, “Oh yeah, you should qualify, I’ll check on it.” Then she called back and explained that since we pay our insurance 6 months ahead of time, they decided we didn’t qualify for accident forgiveness since our accident happened under our “old” policy. If we had paid on monthly basis we would have qualified because our policy renews each month, but since we pay our bill up front we were out of luck. Basically I’m being penalized for giving them a bunch of money up front and paying my bill in full at the beginning of the contract – WHAT? We called several times to complain and try to resolve the issue and basically they said, “Sorry, screw you. You can’t get this and won’t even be able qualify for this on your policy for the next 5 years, since you just had an accident.”
After much frustration and lots of thought, I decided I’ll be taking my auto, home, and business insurance elsewhere, and I’m willing to move my life insurance as well if I find a new company I like that offers all three. I’m even willing to pay more elsewhere if I get good service and if the company is respectful of their clients. I am by no means out for cut rate products with bad service, it’s not worth it. I will no longer be telling people about how great Travelers Insurance is, I’ll be telling people to stay away from them at all costs.
So this is where you come in – Do you have a great insurance company that you can recommend?
Have they been there for you and treated you with the respect you deserve as a loyal customer when you’ve needed to file a claim?
How long have you been with this company?
Do you have any insurance company horror stories? any companies we should avoid?
Do you know of a great insurance agent we should call?
Share this:
Friday Favorite: Cast Iron
It’s no secret that I love cast iron, you’ve probably noticed that it crops up in many of my cooking photos. I use old Griswold cast iron skillet more than any other piece of cookware I own. I cook anything and everything in it!
I also have cast iron bread pans and a cast iron pizza pan that gets used as a skillet on the stove top and as a cookie sheet in the oven, along with a collection of smaller skillets and one very small dutch oven.
One of the reasons I love cast iron is that it’s durable, it will last you the rest of your life and you can pass it on to future generations. The skillet you see below, was left by the old man my parents bought they’re first home off of. It’s a Griswold and is at least twice as old as I am.
Cast iron cookware also cooks like a dream. If you keep the skillet properly seasoned you just can’t beat the way it cooks an egg, mushrooms, or a steak. It’s also a healthy option for cooking, because it’s not adding weird chemicals into your food like non-stick and another kinds of cookware does. You want to make sure you buy vintage cast iron or cookware that’s made by a reputable company if you’re buying new otherwise you may not be getting great quality.
The newest additions to my cast iron collection are a few Staub enameled dutch ovens Staub enameled dutch ovens Mr Chiots got me for Christmas. I must admit, they’re as great as I expected. I think they’ll quickly make my stainless steel pots jealous.
Are you a cast iron cookware lover?
