Tomato, Mozzarella, and Zucchini Pie

First hit on the pie parade did not turn out too bad. It was a bit of an adventure as are all my forays into the kitchen. My skills are quite rusty. I am not sure where my oven temperature sits. (Why don’t I have an oven thermometer? Or can I just not find it?)

After preparing the dough for the crust, I popped it into the freezer to chill while I readied the filling. I got so lost in vegetable chopping and saute-ing that I forgot about it until it was quite hard. After much rolling and fussing, I just plopped it in the plate before it was sufficiently rolled out. The crust should be thinner and fold over the top about one-half to two-thirds like a galette.

After about 40 minutes in the oven the aroma in the kitchen almost knocked me out. Death by parmesan. It was quite tasty.

bindweed and bermuda grass

Originally posted April 30, 2009 – I should call this page “Bindweed and Bermuda Grass,” the eradication of which seems to be the focus of my gardening activity lately. The 10 x 20 plot at our community garden was full of weeds two months ago.  It now contains:

• Beans: Italian Bush Roma Improved;
• Eggplant: Prosperosa, Rosa Bianca;
• Herbs: Basil – Genovese, Lime, Mexican Cinnamon Spice, Mrs. Burns’ Lemon; Borage;
• Peppers: Anaheim, Brazilian Star Fish, Habanero;
• Squash: Pattypan – Peter Pan, Starship, Sunburst; Zucchini – Clarimore, Golden Dawn, Raven;
• Tomatoes: Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Japanese Black Trifele, Super Marzano;

oh yeah, and bindweed and bermuda grass.

resources

climate

• Gardening Regions for Texas – PLANTanswers/TAMU
• Heat Index – NOAA NWS
• Recommended Planting Schedule – Travis County Agricultural Extension Agent
• Spring Planting Guide for Vegetable Crops and Fall Direct Seeding Guide – PLANTanswers/TAMU
• Travis County Planting Calendar – Austin Organic Gardeners
• USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map – United States National Arboretum

gardeners on the web

• Digging – Pam Penick
• This Garden is Illegal
• Soul of the Garden – Tom Spencer

media

• Central Texas Gardener – weekly show on public television station KLRU Austin
• Dirt Doctor – Howard Garrett, Dallas
• Edible Austin – magazine with a “local resources” link that lists community gardens, farm stands and pick-your-own farms
• Gardening Naturally– weekly radio show on KLBJ
• Gardening with Skip – Texas Cooperative Extension
• Growing Concerns – weekly show on public radio station KUT Austin
• Judy Barrett’s Home Grown – bimonthly magazine published in Taylor

nurseries

• Antique Rose Emporium – Brenham
• Barton Springs Nursery – Austin
• Natural Gardener – Austin
• Yucca Do – Giddings

organizations

• Austin Area Garden Clubs – when and where they meet
• Austin Area Garden Council – their newsletter is Down the Garden Path
• Austin Herb Society – their newsletter is The Potpourri
• Austin Organic Gardeners
• Green Corn Project
• National Wildlife Federation – Garden for Wildlife
• Sunshine Community Garden
• Sustainable Food Center
• Travis Audubon Society
• Travis County Master Gardeners Association – their newsletter is the Compost Bin

pests

• Central Texas Invasive Plants– City of Austin’s Grow Green program
• Earth-Wise Guide to Weeds – City of Austin’s Grow Green program

plants

• City of Austin Xeriscape Plant list
• Herbs that thrive in Austin soil and Ellen’s Dynamic Dozen Herbs by Ellen Zimmerman of The Austin Herb Society
• Home Gardening Fact Sheets – Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
• Native Plant Society of Texas
• Plant Guide – City of Austin’s Grow Green program

public gardens

• Antique Rose Emporium – Independence, San Antonio
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – Austin
• Natural Gardener – Austin
• Zilker Botanical Garden – Austin

seed sources

• Cook’s Garden
• Heirloom Seeds
• Native American Seed
• Native Seeds/SEARCH
• Nichols Garden Nursery
• Seeds of Change
• Seed Savers’ Exchange
• Wildseed Farms

water

• Local Rainbarrel Suppliers

new year’s resolution – all things pie

When I say pie I mean tart, galette, crostata, tartlet, pielet, fried pie, pizza pie and yes, plain old double crust apple pie. I am defining pie as anything with a mixture of some kind of fat and some kind of flour held together by something wet as a base. You see Santa gifted me with a copy of Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts cookbook. As I sit here on New Year’s Eve paging through it, I realize that life has become dull indeed. I have been all about either school or work for the last three years or so. My hobbies will languish no more, and I am starting with pie. Because my experience is largely with dessert, mainly fruit pies, I will make Cherry Tomato, Mozzarella, and Zucchini Pie (page 287) for the new year. Hence pie every week until the intolerable South Central Texas heat makes turning on the oven impossible to contemplate. We should be fine until April or so, after that we are on borrowed time.

So special she was enumerated twice.

My first attempt at locating someone on the census was my maternal great-grandmother’s family, the Jordans. That was probably 1994 or 1995, back when a census check involved a microform reader and a pencil. I found her where I expected to find her, in Coryell county with the rest of her family in 1900. It was a memorable moment.

Here she is, Cora Southey Jordan, with her siblings: Thomas Taylor, Eula Lizzette,  Martha Elizabeth and Florence Easley.

I have used Ancestry.com in the past but have not subscribed in three or four years because I felt that it had ceased to be of much use. I picked all the low-hanging fruit as it were. Recently I subscribed again to go back over some old files in preparation for printing some reports and found her again in 1900, this time in Eastland county.

She boarded with a family in Cisco so that she could further her piano studies. This is where she met her future husband, R. G. Moody. They were married 23 Oct 1901 and settled in Cisco. All six of their children were born there.

Granny would have found this amusing. She had a marvelous dry wit and undoubtly would have responded with something to the effect of either being in two places at once or having a split personality. She passed away 15 Jan 1973 when I was 10 years old.

I have heard tales of such a thing happening but never actually saw an example. Has anyone else ever come across this?

John Perry Mayes

John Perry Mayes, horseman, hunter, cowboy, gold miner, rancher, lawman, banker and all around interesting guy. This photograph is estimated to have been taken in 1946, probably in Rocksprings, Texas and mostly likely by his wife’s brother-in-law, Charles A. Bruce.

Chateau Theatre, Irving, Texas

From the April 6, 1964 issue of Boxoffice magazine:

Two New Shopping Center Theatres
Blueprinted for Dallas Suburbs

Dallas–Construction of two theatres, the fourth and fifth new showcases to be opened here since the war, were announced here during the week.

Mayflower Investment Co. will construct an 850-seater, due to be ready by December 15, in its Plymouth Park Shopping Center in suburban Irving, north and west of downtown Dallas. It will be operated by Meagher Theatres, headed by Jerry Meagher.

The other project was announced by Richard A. Smith, president of General Drive-In Corp. and Raymond D. Nasher, developer of the North Park Shopping Center. It will be a twin auditorium theatre.

Designed to provide the ultimate in convenience and comfort for patrons, the theatre will be built during the first phase of North Park construction now under way on a 100-acre site at Central expressway and Northwest highway.

The twins will be known as Cinema I and Cinema II, Smith said, and will offer films on a first-run basis. Plans call for the erection of two auditoriums joined by a common lobby, with all seating on one floor. The larger auditorium will have approximately 1,000 seats and the smaller, 500 seats.

The twins will open simultaneously with all North Park merchandizing facilities late in July 1965, Nasher said.

General Drive-In, whose headquarters are in Boston, has been a pioneer in the development of the shopping center theatre. Just as it was a leader in the development of the drive-in theatre during the ’40s and ’50s. The firm currently owns and operates 33 drive-in theatres, 38 regular indoor theatres, and a chain of 15 bowling centers.

Fifteen additional indoor theatres in shopping centers are planned for construction in 1964, Smith reported.

From the  October 18, 1965 issue of Boxoffice magazine:

New Meagher Theatre
Will Bow in Irving

Dallas–Another new theatre will begin contributing to the Dallas area entertainment scene Thursday (21) after its invitational preview the preceding evening. The new theatre is the Chateau in Plymouth Park Shopping Center at Irving, a Dallas suburb.

The Chateau, seating 865, will be operated by Meagher Theatres of Irving, headed by Jerry Meagher. The circuit already operates the Twin Drive-In, Dallas; Uptown in Grand Prairie and the Irving Park Plaza and 183 drive-ins. Other construction projects are on the drawing boards.

 From the November 1, 1965 issue of Boxoffice magazine:

De Luxe Chateau Theatre in Irving
Opened by Jerry Meagher Circuit

Irving, Tex.–The Dallas area gained another new theatre October 21 with the opening of the Chateau in Plymouth Park Shopping Center under the ownership of Jerry Meagher, whose circuit headquarters also are in Irving. The opening attraction was “Lord Jim,” starring Peter O’Toole.

The Chateau was designed with the patron’s comfort in mind, Meagher said. “Everything possible has been done to make the Chateau the finest and most luxurious theatre in the Dallas area. We have spared no expense in the design and construction.”

An outstanding feature of the Chateau is the seating, outfitted by Charles McKinney of Modern Sales & Service. The cushioned, tilt-back seats are spaced on 36 and 38-inch centers to provide ample legroom. Although the auditorium easily could have accommodated 1,000 seats, according to architect J. N. McCammon of J. N. McCammon & Associates, only 863 seats were installed, permitting the staggering of seats so that no one is directly behind a chair in the next row. The screen is 36 feet wide and 16 1/2 feet high.

The gold, blue and chartreuse wool carpet was especially woven for the Chateau by Hardin-McGee of Philadelphia, according to the Dallas Times Herald. More than 260 square yards of carpeting are in the new theatre.

The blue and gold color scheme is carried out throughout the theatre. Stage draperies are of gold and turquoise hammered satin. Both the stage curtain and the screen maskings used in converting from conventional to CinemaScope screen are controlled automatically by the operator in the projection booth.

The sound system includes RCA amplifiers and an Altec A-4 stage horn. The interior of the theatre is acoustically designed for high-quality sound reproduction.

Sixty tons of air conditioning and heating automatically maintain the temperature of the film house in a comfortable range continually, while a special venting system has been installed to allowing smoking in one section of the auditorium.

As a special convenience, the theatre has free telephones in each restroom, which are finished in ceramic tile.

All attendants at the Chateau wear specially designed uniforms utilizing the theatre’s blue and gold color theme.

discharge of Morgan Meeks

Came across the discharge of Morgan Meeks among the Republic of Texas claims at the archive. He served from July 12 to October 12, 1841 in Company D, Captain William M. Williams’  Volunteers. The claim, payment of $75, was paid June 18, 1852.

Headquarters
Vol Regiment in           No. 34
4th Brigade File

This is to certify that Morgan Meeks substitute for Squire Mays a private soldier in my company of volunteers has faithfully discharged all the duties required of him as such for three months next preceeding the date hereof and is this day honorably discharged.

Robt S Hamilton         Given under my hand this 12th day
Col Comandt                 of October AD 1841
                                           Wm M Williams Capt
                                           Commanding Volunteers

Winter has arrived.

I just spotted our first pair of ruby-crowned kinglets in the old hackberry tree outside the kitchen window. They are delightfully quiet, busy little birds. I forget how much I enjoy watching them until they come back each year around the holidays.

Texas State Library and Archives – update

Anticipating the reopening of the reading room at the state library, I went by TSLAC’s table at the book festival a couple of weeks ago to inquire. I wasn’t expecting bad news. The official word, they *hope* to have the renovation complete in 2010. At least two more years?! I suspect a budget snafu somewhere.

influential teachers

Recent events lead to me to think about the process of learning and influential teachers I have known. It seems important that they were not only fantastic teachers, but taught also in the way they conducted themselves and lived their lives. Here is a short list:

• Carolyn Miles – nurtured a love of reading, overlooked my sleeping through Math, and showed me so many slides;
• Ruth Ellis – showed me how to be tolerant and loving, and sparked my interest in history;
• James McGahee – gave me the priceless gifts of music and discipline;
• Don Killian – connected with my rebellious spirit by teaching me that history is full of untold stories of courage, rebellion and intrigue!
• Sue McGahee – taught me how to relax, breathe, and resonate;
• Frances E. Abernethy – planted the idea that I had something to say and urged me not to bore him…repeatedly;
• Scott Parker, et al – used a heart-centered approach to teach the basics of emergency medical response, and in the process, dragged me kicking and screaming out of my head, and put me back in my body where I belong.

Thanks guys. I don’t know if I turned out to be worthy of your efforts but my life would have been very different without you. I think about you all the time.