A Scarecrow Keeps the Cats Away?

There had always been a couple cats lurking around in our backyard.  After we had the weeds removed, they were more noticeable, because they've been pawing at the mulch.  Kitty, my backyard is not your litter box!  In addition, cat's can carry toxoplasmosis which can be very harmful to fetuses.  So, I've been advised not to garden while pregnant.  What a bummer!  This set off an internet search on how to humanely chase the cats out of my yard.  Some sites recommend sprinkling cayenne pepper around.  Others recommend using powders that smell like cat predators in hopes that the scent would scare the cats away.  Also, apparently cats don't like prickly things under their feet so you can scatter pine cones on your mulch or even stick forks prong side up randomly in the mulch so it's not soft and inviting...sounds like a lot of work and it wouldn't be very attractive.  There were also two high tech solutions that I came across, both involving motion detective devices.  The first emits a high-pitched frequency repels cats when the device detects motion in the yard.  The other is called the Scarecrow motion activated sprinkler - when the attached motion sensor detects movement, it lets out a spray of water.  As anyone who watches children's cartoons knows, cats hate water. 

Contech Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler

There are hundreds of reviews for the sprinkler and the average is a 4.5 out of 5 stars, while the reviews for the frequency emitter are not nearly as high, so I opted for the sprinkler.  It arrived yesterday, so I'm excited to install it.  I just have to remember to turn it off before the gardener shows up on Saturday...he won't be a happy camper if he gets attacked by the scarecrow. 

And we're back!

Mr. CP and his class went to France for a trip about architecture.  I tagged along and we tacked on an additional five days in Barcelona as a last hurrah...the babymoon.  =)  Although I am about 7.5 months along now, I found Paris and Barcelona to be very walkable.  It was great to stroll through the cities to museums, architecturally significant buildings and gardens and the food was great.

Before leaving on the trip, I checked out a ton of travel guides from the San Francisco Public Library, but none were really organized in a usable way for just a few days in each city.  Also, I wanted to pack light to avoid checking bags and didn't want to carry a bunch of heavy books everywhere.  I finally found the Frommer's Day by Day series and the Paris and Barcelona versions were very useful.  They are pretty small, contain great street and metro maps and feature about 20 different day plans to see the city.  You can decide to see the city by major highlights, or special interests (i.e., gourmet walk, architectural walk, shopping highlights, etc.), or neighborhood.

Paris Day by Day

Barcelona Day by Day

You can click through to purchase these from Amazon.com.  I'm also offering to sell mine for $5 each.

We had great weather the whole time, and I'll post some photos from our trip and some tips for traveling to these great cities soon.

Our Backyard - Before and After Phase I

After moving in last July, Mr. CP and I had so much on our plates,we neglected our backyard.  In the beginning, that just meant some grass-like weeds that grew a little high and unpruned trees.  But, after the winter rains, tons of oxalis plants started to sprout up everywhere.  I'm not a neat freak, but the sight of our messy yard was starting to drive me nuts.

Our lemon tree

The back of the yard overrun with oxalis

A rose bush which needs pruning next to a dead rosemary tree

Another shot from the back of the yard

I started to look at my gardening services options on Craigslist and yelp.  Some gardeners have flat hourly rate while others charge a package fee for a job.  Our job was mainly weeding and pruning, so I figured finding someone with some experience would be good, but I didn't need to pay extra for tons of experience.   We opted to try out a method called sheet mulching which involves laying down paper or cardboard over the weeds and then mulch on top of that rather than hand weeding the entire yard.  Below are the "after" photos for phase I of the project - sheet mulching the beds.

The lemon trees sans weeds

The rosemary bush has been removed

The Japanese Maple has been removed from the back bed and placed into a wine barrel planter

It's quite a transformation for one day of work! We think it looks great.

Phase II will involve mulching the back of the yard and pruning the various trees and bushes.

Sticky Blueberry and Lemon Rolls with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I L-O-V-E me a good cinnamon bun, but this recipe caught my eye as I was searching for another great way to use my lemons. It has the texture of the best kind of cinnamon bun....large and super fluffy without too much weighing it down, but has the refreshing tanginess of fresh lemons.  I made a few modifications to this recipe from The Kitchn.

Ingredients for the Dough
1 envelope (= 2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast

3/4 cup milk, warmed to about 100°F
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, very soft
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 lemons, zested
2 eggs
1 handful of blueberries

Ingredients for the Lemon Filling
1 cup sugar, minus two tablespoons
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
Zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft

Ingredients for the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 of the juice of 1 lemon
1 cup powdered sugar
Zest of 1 lemon for garnish 

Directions
1)  In the bowl of a stand mixer sprinkle the yeast over the warmed milk and let it sit for a couple minutes.

2)  With the mixer paddle, stir in the softened butter, sugar, vanilla, and one cup of the flour.

3)  Stir in the salt, nutmeg, and lemon zest. Stir in the eggs and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft yet sticky dough.

4)  Switch to the dough hook and knead for about 5 minutes or knead by hand for 5-7 minutes or until the dough is elastic and pliable.

5)  Spray the top of the dough with vegetable oil, and turn the dough over so it is coated in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and let the dough rise until nearly doubled - about an hour.

6)  To make the filling - In a small bowl, mix the sugar with the nutmeg and ginger, then work in the lemon zest with the tips of your fingers until the sugar resembles wet, soft sand. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon. 

7)  Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking dish with baking spray or butter. (I use a small convection oven, so I split the rolls into one 8x8 inch dish and one 5x8 inch dish.) On a floured surface pat the dough out into a large yet still thick rectangle of about 10x15 inches. Spread evenly with the softened butter, then pour and spread the lemon-sugar mixture over top. Sprinkle the blueberries on top of the filling.  Roll the dough up tightly, starting from the top long end. Cut the long dough roll into 12 even rolls, and place them, cut side up, in the prepared baking dish.

 8)  Cover the rolls with a towel and let them rise for an hour or until puffy and nearly doubled.

9)  Heat the oven to 350°F. Place the risen rolls in the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into a center roll reads 190°F.

10)  While the rolls are baking, prepare the glaze. Whip the cream cheese with a handmixer until light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice and blend until well combined. Add the powdered sugar and blend until smooth and creamy.

11)  When the rolls are done, smear them with the cream cheese glaze, and sprinkle the zest of 1 additional lemon over top to garnish. Serve while warm.

The rolls were very tasty, especially right after coming out of the oven.  I think next time, I might make regular cream cheese glaze/frosting without the lemon juice and lemon zest garnish.  If you are a lemon fiend though, I'd encourage you to stick to the recipe above.

Refreshing Lemonade

Last week I caught a cold...it's a bad one, so I decided to make some lemonade to get my needed vitamin C. 

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
4-5 cups of water

Directions

1)  Combine the sugar and one cup of water in a saucepan to make simple syrup.  Heat on low heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Allow to cool.
2)  Combine the simple syrup and the lemon juice and stir.  Add 3-4 cups of water to dilute the lemonade to taste.

How easy is that?  I like my lemonade on the tart side, but if you prefer it sweeter, add up to one more 1/4 cups of sugar.

For those of you who are keeping count...I gave 8 lemons to a friend who was visiting from New York and used 12 lemons here to get the required cup of lemon juice...this brings me to 7 left out of the 40 I picked two weeks ago.  I picked another large bag full yesterday though and there are tons left on the tree....so we've got more lemon recipes to come.  =)

Lemon Buttermilk Pie

For some reason, it's difficult for me to find the pint sized buttermilk.  The grocery stores around here stock either the half pint, which is too little for most recipes, or a whole quart, which is always too much.  After making buttermilk pancakes on Saturday, I was left with more than enough buttermilk to try something else new...and the opportunity to use lemon #12.

A couple months ago, a friend of mine suggested that I check out a restaurant called Green Chile Kitchen in NoPA.  I thought the dinner part of the meal was just ok, but I had their lemon buttermilk pie, which they serve with a huge scoop of strawberry ice cream.  Delicious!  It tasted so fresh and summery.  I had never heard of lemon buttermilk pie before, but have since been told that it is popular in the southern part of the country. It is super easy to make, but so rewarding.

Ingredients
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar, less 1 tablespoon
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 large eggs yolks
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
3/4 of the juice from the lemon you grated
1/4 teaspoon salt

Ice Cream, if you are so inclined.

Directions
1)  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2)  Blind bake the frozen crust for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
3)  In a bowl whisk together the butter, the sugar, the buttermilk, the egg yolks, the flour, the vanilla, the zest, the juice, and the salt and pour the filling into the shell.  It's ok if the shell is hot.
3)  Bake the pie in the lower third of the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F, then reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F, and bake the pie for 20 to 25 minutes more, or until the filling is set and golden. (I used a small toaster/convection oven.  I baked the pie at 350 degrees F for 23 minutes and then reduced the temperature to 325 degrees F for another 24 minutes.)  Let the pie cool on a rack and serve it at room temperature or chilled.

Don't forget the strawberry ice cream!  Haagen Dazs does it for me.  =)


I often cheat when it comes to pie crust.  Sometimes I use Trader Joe's frozen pie crusts and this time I used a Mrs. Smiths.  One of these days I'll master crust from scratch, but for some reason it always drops to the bottom of my priority list.  Perhaps I secretly fear it.

The pie was so tasty, that I made another for our neighbors to welcome their newborn daughter.  

Getting Ready for Baby

So what was I doing for the past few months while I seemingly abandoned ChunkyPineapple?  Well, the big announcement is that Mr. CP and I are expecting our first little one in June.  The first trimester was pretty uncomfortable with nausea 24/7, so I wasn't really up for blogging.  We're in week 25 now, so we're feeling better and much more energetic.

At week 20 - The sonographer decided to highlight the fact that it's a boy.

These days, I find myself checking on Craigslist for some used baby items now and then.  It's good for the environment to recycle and reuse and sometimes you really don't need something brand new.  Another benefit - the cost savings is enormous.  At the advice of others, in my spare time, I've also been trying to put together a registry, but it can be very overwhelming at times.  There are so many things you need to consider and so many different options out there!

Then there are the negotiations....Mr. CP is anti-changing table.  He doesn't see a need and thinks it will just take up space.  I've asked around and it turns out that a lot of people had one but didn't use it much or never got one at all, so we will probably just try to go without this piece of baby gear.  After all, I'm pretty sure that my parents raised three of us without one.

A crib, however, is probably something we will need to acquire.  There are about a million types, options and price points.  I'm tempted to take a chance to purchase something made of solid wood off at a discount through Craigslist, but then you run the risk of buying something that may have been the subject of a recall and the ever-present potential for bed bugs lurks in the background....ick.  What to do....what to do...