Those April Showers

Okay, I'm putting up with the nearly constant overcast and showers because all this gorgeous spring growth is busting out all over. Found this little clump of bluebells yesterday -- which happened to be one of our rare full-sunshine days this month so I was out and about, enjoying it to the fullest. Today we're back with the overcast and only occasional peekaboos from El Sol so I'm snuggled inside with Ralph.

The maple tree is still almost entirely green blossoms but, as you can see, the leaves are just beginning to unfurl.

By the way, you see that big ol' green plant in the background? It's a monster, easily eight or ten feet across and that much -- or more -- in height. I've been thinking it was a Spanish Dagger all this time but when I Googled it, I found out Spanish Daggers (and the slightly different Spanish Bayonets) are a different breed of cat entirely. Well. Maybe not entirely. I'm thinking it's some variety of Yucca but, good grief, Charlie Brown, there are a gazillion different kinds of Yucca. Does any clever Coffee Mate have a clue what this might be? I should point out, it does NOT have a trunk but is, rather, a huge bush.

Huge.

As in the 800-pound gorilla that can do anything it wants.

I haven't been posting much this month, partly because my dial-up has been, off and on, extremely wonky lately. Beast. It gets so frustrating at times, I spend some days with little more than a quick (I use the word with a sense of hysteria) dip in and out to check my mail and then ignore the wunnerful world wide web the rest of the day.

Which is not to say I haven't been busy. When the weather is less than inviting outside, there are always fun projects to be about in the kitchen. I found, for instance, an interesting recipe for making cream cheese from a fellow in South America. I got a quart of cheese from a gallon of milk so I was making use of the abundance like a crazy woman. Great fun.

One of the happy results was a baked sandwich of sorts. The dough was rolled out as for cinnamon rolls, then slathered liberally with the cheese. Then sprinkled with dried minced onion, then layered with thinly sliced ham and shredded cheddar cheese and sprinkled with Mrs. Dash chipotle seasoning. Rolled up in one long loaf with scissor snips along its length for steam vents and then baked at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Most satisfactory, yes indeedy.

Much of the cream cheese has been utilized for experiments with making mini-cheesecakes. I have more tweaking to do before sharing recipes but I'm plugging away at it. So far, I can't say I'm terribly happy with the results. But it keeps me from playing in traffic so I guess there is some virtue to be found in the effort. Besides, I can always enjoy the spring finery of the maple tree when I'm tired of contemplating culinary flops.