[FamiliarFace]

It rained some during the night last night and almost all of the day today. We need the rain pretty badly. I was going to have watering on my to do list today, but I’m really grateful that God took care of that task for me.

I woke up to a big surprise this morning. Two more butterflies emerged, and last night when I shut things down, I didn’t think the chrysalises were far enough along. I thought it would be a few days before they emerged. Shows how much I know! Oh, and a third one emerged later in the day. So now 3 butterflies in the habitat.

I’m hoping they have a good day of airing out/drying their wings. When it wasn’t raining today, it just felt so humid.

More to come!

[Liz]

Ghirardelli Caramel Brownies
Combines deep chocolate Ghirardelli flavor w/ luscious caramel for an indulgent treat.

Ing 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted 6 oz chp Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate 3/4 c sugar 1/4 c br/sugar packed 2 lge eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 c flour 1/4 c plain cocoa 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 c caramel sauce plus drizzle

Instructions---melt butter and Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate over a double boiler (or micro-melt), stirring smooth. Whisk in sugars til fully combined. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing smooth and glossy. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, and salt, folding gently until just combined. Pour 1/2 batter into parchmented pan and spread evenly. Drizzle caramel sauce over batter, then top w/ remaining brownie batter, spreading carefully to cover caramel. Swirl the caramel into the top layer with a knife or skewer. Bake 350 deg 30-35 min, pick in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Don't overbake. Cool completely before slicing. Drizzle w/ additional caramel sauce before serving.

Notes Store airtight at room temp 3 days or fridge a week. Serving Tip: Warm in micro a few sec;
serve w/ scoop of vanilla ice cream, a sprinkle of choc/chips, for an indulgent dessert treat.

[Paul R.]

It’s been a bit sticky here too, with dewpoints near 70 deg. F. But starting tomorrow, things should dry out. We’ve had much less rain than was forecast, but, what’s come down here has been mostly light to moderate, over several, hours, on and off, so at least it’s soaked in well. Instead of watering yesterday, I did a little more repair work where that big branch came down, and, I put in an experiment: “Early” type tomato plants that I’d kept in small pots to restrict their growth somewhat, and now I’ve planted them in the ground with nice big holes full of nutrient boosted garden soil. The idea is to see if they’ll fire up and fairly quickly produce a fall crop. I’d done the same a couple weeks ago: I.e., I transplanted tomato plants into the ground from small (~16 oz.) pots — same deal, moderate growth and little to no blooming until they were transplanted, but, some of those’ growth did take off when temps cooled off some, and now some already have some blooms. So, this should be interesting.

Part of the above was an experiment to see how different varieties behaved in smallish pots. Some, such as Lemon Boys and to my considerable surprise, Mortgage Lifters, with enough light, look fairly healthy, and grow slowly and somewhat bush-like, despite being tabbed as indeterminate plants. Others do the scrawny long vine thing, becoming very hard to manage without constant attention - which I don’t have time for. Many of course just don’t do well at all.

[Paul R.]

It’s been a bit sticky here too, with dewpoints near 70 deg. F. But starting tomorrow, things should dry out. We’ve had much less rain than was forecast, but, what’s come down here has been mostly light to moderate, over several, hours, on and off, so at least it’s soaked in well. Instead of watering yesterday, I did a little more repair work where that big branch came down, and, I put in an experiment: “Early” type tomato plants that I’d kept in small pots to restrict their growth somewhat, and now I’ve planted them in the ground with nice big holes full of nutrient boosted garden soil. The idea is to see if they’ll fire up and fairly quickly produce a fall crop. I’d done the same a couple weeks ago: I.e., I transplanted tomato plants into the ground from small (~16 oz.) pots — same deal, moderate growth and little to no blooming until they were transplanted, but, some of those’ growth did take off when temps cooled off some, and now some already have some blooms. So, this should be interesting.

Part of the above was an experiment to see how different varieties behaved in smallish pots. Some, such as Lemon Boys and to my considerable surprise, Mortgage Lifters, with enough light, look fairly healthy, and grow slowly and somewhat bush-like, despite being tabbed as indeterminate plants. Others do the scrawny long vine thing, becoming very hard to manage without constant attention - which I don’t have time for. Many of course just don’t do well at all.