New England Baked Beans (Vegetarian)

I was recently visiting with my parents and they cooked up a wonderful batch of New England Bake Beans. They modified a friends recipe by just removing the traditional pork. It was very good and worth sharing.

New England Baked Beans (vegetarian)

To serve 10

1 1/2 lbs dry Navy beans (3c)

1 whole med onion chopped

1 c ketchup

1 c brown sugar

1 c water from cooking beans

2 tsp dry mustard

3 Tbl dark molasses

1 Tbl salt

1 tsp balmsamic vinegar

2 whole cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Simmer beans in 3-4 time their volume of unsalted water until tender.

Drain and place in crock post add all remaining ingredients and mix well.

Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally.

(Beans must be soft before mixing with sugar or molasses.)

Amy’s Bowls Teriyaki

Amy’s Bowls Teriyaki

Gluten-Free Non-Dairy

Contains soy

Calories 290

www.amys.com

Once again Amy’s has a wonderful tasting tofu dish. The Teriyaki bowls has a wonderful mix of brown rice, vegetables and tofu with a very nice teriyaki sauce. The vegetables were crisp-tender and delicious.

Since I had an opportunity to join co-worker for lunch it stayed in my insulated lunch bag until I had a late dinner. It was still cold but had completely defrosted. I reduced the cooking time and it came out wonderfully. So while the children had their favorite Trader Joe’s Chicken Shu Mai I was able to enjoy my on Asian delight dinner.

It was a very satisfying dinner and I would definitely get it again.

Only my kids

I have two young kids who like so many others love candy. We don’t believe in the clean plate club but when they do finish all of their dinner they are allowed to have a piece of candy. They also are typical kids and eat the frosting off of their cake first. So with that in mind I thought adding a little cake decorating frosting and large sprinkles would be a hit. For this bento I added faces to their cream cheese with large sprinkles and a dot of frosting for their eyes. I also added a bouquet of flowers to their peanut butter and Nutella spread. Both kids scrapped off the frosting and picked off the candies. When they came home from school they told never to put that stuff on their food again. Sigh, I tried. I’ll wait a few weeks and try again.

2009 National Trademark Expo

This month the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) held its 2009 National Trademark Expo (http://www.uspto.gov/main/homepagenews/2009may11.htm ). It was open to the public and free. We went Saturday taking advantage of the free parking. As we walked from the parking garage to the expo we could see giant USPTO balloons tethered to the buildings. The kids shouted with excitement to see the big balloons. They were even more amazed as we climbed the steps and could see the others staked to the ground. The Cat in the Hat white glove and hat poked out of the ground before them. Off to the left was a life size Thomas The Tank Engine. Tucked in between was a bright red Jelly Belly. And behind them all was a gigantic USPTO shield on a balloon. In front of the building was a smaller balloon of the Jolly Green Giant.

Travelers insurance had an interactive screen. If you stood between the projector and the screen you could make their red umbrella trademarks scatter like a pile of fall leaves. It was a hit with the children and the adults who seemed torn between playing and figuring out how it worked.

Hershey’s chocolates were there. Really, there were 3 bowls that seemed to magically refill as everyone took samples of their famous trademarked kisses’, peanut butter cups, and candy bars. Their booth was filled with informative posters and fliers between other merchandise from their factories and theme park. The kids thought it was even more amazing to see life sized Reese’s peanut butter cups, Hershey’s Kisses’, and a Hershey’s candy bar walking around. As my son hugged a HUGE chocolate kiss the peanut butter cups walked up. The handler asked which he liked best, with that my son ran for the peanut butter cups shouting “PEANUT BUTTER!”

The USPTO said 25 characters attended. We saw at least 20 of them. My son shook hands or hugged 20 of the ones we saw. He said “hi” to Olive Oyl, Dennis the Menace, Betty Boop, Curious George, Peter Rabbit, Maisy Mouse, Reese’s peanut butter cups, Hershey’s Kisses’, Hershey’s candy bar, 4 Crayola Crayons (yellow, red, green, & orange), The Grinch, The Cat in the Hat, Faux Paw, Energizer Bunny, Pillsbury Dough Boy, and T. Markey (the USPTO Trademark mascot). Sprout got away without getting a handshake or a photo. Popeye and a few others didn’t come out while we were there.

My daughter is at the age where the characters are just a bit too scary. Those eyes don’t move and they are soooo big. Even when she saw Peter Rabbit she hid behind her dad. She refused to touch all but the Hershey's Kiss. But then, towards the end of our visit, Maisy Mouse came out to say hi. When she saw Maisy Mouse she went running to her, paused for a moment and then gave her a hug with a big smile.

The kids each had a chance to putt at the Callaway Golf Company. They sat still long enough for one story in the kids’ story time corner. The books featured the characters or the exhibitors attending the expo. The kids received ‘silver’ coins and water bottles from the US Air Force, who gave me a flyer on the right way to use their trademarks. I picked up a few trademark publications from the USPTO booth and more at the United States Department of Energy about their solar home competition. The booth that caught my attention the most was Internet Keep Safe Coalition. They were demonstrating their products featuring Faux Paw, the web-surfing techno cat (www.ikeepsafe.org ). This is a series to keep children safe on the internet and responsible use of technology. It is definitely something to check out since the kids will be surfing the web before long.

It was a very informative event with exhibits and seminars in the USPTO National Inventors’ Hall of Fame Museum Theater. The booths had trademark owners explaining their trademarks, showing the difference between their products and counterfeits, and activities for everyone. Who knew trademarks could be so much fun?

Yard Make Over: Making it happen

The May rains broke for part of a day giving them a chance to get to work. They started by moving the end azalea in the porch bed because it over hung the new walkway and would be in the way of the mason. Next was removing the 3 azaleas by the bay window and repositioning the white one so it would better fit the space. The 2 pink ones are waiting to be replanted over in the front corner of the property where they will have room to grow. A salvaged down spot cement stone was positioned to help direct water away from the house and into the garden.

The edge of the walkway was evened out and braced with salvaged scalloped edge cement blocks. The end of the walk used a few pieces of the same type of cement blocks with smooth edges, sunken so it won’t trip anyone. The gravel was leveled and then covered with sand. The mason started sorting through our salvaged rock and the addition rock they purchased. He started the gigantic puzzle which will be our walkway. The cracks were filled with blue sand stone dust. It is beautiful contrast to the lighter stoned. I’ll have to go back and fill in some more stone dust as it settles but then I’ll be able to try to grow some moss between the stones.

The 3 remaining azaleas then came out. To our surprise there weren’t three plants. There were 3 large ones and 7 smaller ones. All were a beautiful dark pink. The 4 large dark pink from in front of the porch and 2 large light pink ones were moved to the front edge of the property. They are set a few lawn mowers’ width with away from the curb to allow visitors out of their cars and room for the plants to reach their natural 6 foot diameter.

The remaining small dark pink will be planted between the drive way and the vegetable garden, on either side of the lilacs (lavender) I just planted next to the tree stump. This should help break up or block headlights coming into the windows as cars come around the corner. It will also "balance" the other azaleas on the other front corner of the property.

I moved some green on green variegated hostas my sister gave me to where the dark pink azalea was by the porch along with some mystery spring bulbs (white flower) from under another azalea on the property. I know they have a white flower and nothing else since they were in such a bad place before. Now we'll be able to see them as soon as they come up next spring. I planted a new small lilac bush at the far end of the flower bed in front of the porch. It will have lavender flowers and will only get to about 3 feet high and 3 feet around. A much better fit then the azaleas which get 6 feet around. I planted more green on green variegated hosta at the end to match the other end. A large flower pot of day lilies (from a co-worker) went down the middle of the bed. In front of the day lilies I transplanted some more of the mystery white spring flowering bulbs. Hopefully all the plants will enjoy the sunlight and space. The sheppard's hook with hanging flower pot is all back in the middle of the bed.

Under the bay window I pulled a thick rug of sprouting weeds. I moved the solid green hostas (also from my sister) so they could work than moved them back and transplanted the rest which were still in pots along the edge of the walkway. I repositioned 4 other plants in the bed under the bay window to make it look more finished. The following day I purchased a few pots of marigolds, pansies, Angelonia (Serena White) and Vista Red Salvia to fill out the bed. I picked up 2 new solar lights to match the ones lining the longer section of walkway.

Yard Make Over: Preparation

I’ve been working on the yard since we moved in over 3 years ago. Things are slowly improving one plant and one stone at a time.

Two years ago a friend found flagstone which was being thrown away to make way for a new patio. My husband dragged home what seemed like a driveway full. I had a section of the driveway cut and removed to improve the drainage near the house’s foundation. At the same time I had a walkway foundation dug out and filled with crushed stone.

A year ago I installed plastic edging along both sides of a narrow flower bed I want to run the length of the new walkway. I used and over grown clump of green and white variegated hosta to fill the bed. That one clump was so tightly packed that divided it covered the 30 plus feet of the walkway with some space to grow. This year it looks wonderful especially with the Hamilton Bay Solar lights. Last August I was so frustrated with the azalea by the front door I cut one down to 6 inches. It’s come back and needs to be moved before it starts to attack the front door again.

So 2 years latter there is still a pile of salvaged flagstone and other miscellaneous bricks and cement blocks. After gathering bids from 3 reputable local landscapers and masons we choose one for the lingering project. The winner was Oscar and his mason.

Yard Make Over: The Problem

Part of the driveway was used for the foundation for the sun room addition. Water from snow falls and heavy rains accumulates at the base of the foundation which could damage the foundation. In front of the bay window and next to the front door there are 3 full size azaleas crammed up against the house in a space that was more appropriate for a mums or hosta. The cramped space forced the plants to hanging over the walk. I’ve been constantly trimming them just to get the groceries by.

In a 3 foot wide flower bed against the front porch there are 4 full size azaleas which would love to fill a space twice the size. They share the bed with two small pine trees. One of the pine trees leaned a little more with each snow fall and couldn’t be propped back up so it came down.

Then no walk way to the front door and a narrow driveway lead to very muddy feet on rainy days.