Katie LeJoi

Johhny Cakes recipe inspired by Little House on the Prairie

2012-01-02T18:05:00.000-08:00

Recently, a friend mentioned that Johnny and June Carter Cash guest-starred on Little House on the Prairie. This reminded me of a phase I went thru when I tried to reproduce recipes depicted on the show... The TV show, "Little House on the Prairie," captioned my imagination as a child. It encapsulated my love of camping, animals, homespun crafts/activities, and epitomized an ideal loving family life that I longed for. My desires for Prairie Cuisine reignited, I searched the web & found a promising site w/a Gluten Free recipe: Johnny Cakes. "Perfect," I thought, a recipe that didn't need to be augmented to make it Gluten Free AND its name nicely echoed the Johnny Cash comment that had rekindled my interest.

With a trusty cast-iron skillet in hand, I made quick work out of the simple recipe whilst shaking my hips to Madonna's Immaculate Collection via iPod.....

What was going thru my head while taking the pictures? Initially, eager anticipation that was promptly replaced by a string of onomatopoeia's associated with distaste. At one point, I remember switching my fork to my left hand because I felt the need to shake my right hand in disgust; perhaps I did this as it had fed me the unpleasant mouthful. This recipe was a no-go for sure, both in texture and flavor. At least there's no health benefits lost in that the patties are cooked in a vat of bacon grease; when the patties are done, the bacon grease is gone. All that grease absorbed by 4 patties. Ick. I accompanied my Johnny Cakes with lemonade, butter, and honey ("Humboldt Honey" brand, if you noticed) as I figured those would have been available to The Ingalls; though I never tried the cakes with the butter and honey as I didn't even make it thru the first bite. I did, however, drink the lemonade quickly and immediately after trying the Johnny Cakes.

(Click on the title of this post to go to the recipe I made.)

Rocks from Baikal

2010-08-07T16:12:00.000-07:00

I brought rocks back from Lake Baikal, Siberia. Lake Baikal is the length of California and is the deepest lake in the world. Anyhow, the rocks have done nothing but sit in a bag, packed away in a box for the past 8 years. ...so I decided to put them in a fish bowl I had laying around. The colors of the rocks don't show when dry, so I added water. Having a fish bowl with only rocks and water sitting in my livingroom seemed weird, so I got a Betta and put him in the bowl. The Betta dug down and trapped himself under the rocks, shredding some of his fins and cutting his head. So I took the biggest rocks out. The Betta did it again, this time shredding his tail fin completely down to his tail scales. So, I took out the medium rocks, added fake plants, & a ceramic thing for the Betta to hide in. The Betta did it again, cutting his right gill & shredding what was left of his fins. So, I took out the remaining Baikal rocks, & added gravel. Now all my rocks from Lake Baikal are in a bag, packed away in a box.

Fred the Betta, whose fins are growing back more quickly than anticipated.

Succulant

2010-06-12T17:14:00.000-07:00

After a foray into edible container gardening, I discovered that plants thrive in my apartment. I found this to be quite delightful as I hadn't had much previous success growing anything. My mind quickly reflected on the miniture succulant gardens I'd seen dappled around Humboldt in little boutiques and at farmers markets. I decided to try to create one of my own. I was most enamored with the gardens that had lots of different plants, but they went for as much as $50 or $60. Ah, no. Besides, why should someone else have all the fun?

I purchased 8 mini succulants at the Arcata Farmers Market for $1.50 each. I bought from two different venders; but most came from a woman who gave me planting instructions. I asked if the plants needed any special soil. "No," she said," Just make sure the soil is real dry before transplanting. They like sun." And that was the end of my instructions.

The day I bought the plants, I found 2 perfect cermaic pots in a thrift store. The green was $6 & brown was $3.

Close-up of succulants.

I threw some rocks in the green pot for drainage.

Dirty job. Mom never would have let me do this on the kitchen table= extra fun. These plants were very delicate. I kept braking their their leaves & roots. I plan to leave them well alone for a while in hopes of giving them a chance to regenerate leafage and acclimate to their new home.

Little water.

My finished mini succulant garden, may it grow well. This windowsill is in my livingroom and it's where I envisioned keeping my succulants, however, this is also my cat's favorite. At this window, her nose prints mark the glass and she is often found sunning herself or keeping watch. I will see how cat responds to intruding foliage before deciding if relocation is warranted.

Succulants in the Sunset.

___________________________________________________

Other Recent Planting Adventures:

My 'dwarf' cherry tomato plant that was
to grow between 2'- 3' high.

Little container herb garden: chive, basil, rosemary, dill, & spearmint.

I love this delicate fern... always have. Its grown outside my parents' front doors for as long as I can remember.

Handmade birdcage-turned-cat tree topped with a teacup full of catnip.

Akyla @ Play

2010-02-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

Short Short Hair

2009-12-08T21:14:00.001-08:00

Over the past year I've been gradually cutting my hair shorter & shorter... after which I always wished I'd have cut just a little more off. Today I went to Dreamers in McKinleyville, where the fabulous Kathy gave me a pixie cut exactly how I wanted it. The original do was to have spikes in back, but my super-fine hair didn't suit and the product used @ the salon made my scalp burn. (I have lots of chemical sensitivities.) So I washed it out, blew it dry, & got exactly what I wanted with just a little bit o' KMS Hair Play Molding Paste.

Before Photo

... and you end-up with a Hello Kitty Bandaid on your nose

2009-08-05T21:58:00.001-07:00

Ever drive a car much bigger than your normal car and you miss judge clearance?
...Well the same thing can happen with fingernails. You go to brush off a rogue strand of hair and you end-up with a Hello Kitty Bandaid on your nose.
Work tomorrow should be interesting. ...and now its clipper time.

Moving Starts

2009-07-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

I'm moving to Eureka. My sister, Chris, came up from San Jose to help me get started. I wasn't able to take any time off work, but we did get the basics moved: my bed & my cat. (She's also a great cook.) It was great to see her and she helped me more than she knows.

Oh, and she left me a variety of Gluten-Free Chex Cereals, though I am a little perplexed by the heavy whipping cream that she left with them.

Hottub Art

2009-07-04T23:34:00.001-07:00

I love to sit under sun or stars in a wooden hottub @ Cafe Mokka.

This his how I spent 4th of July; creating art along the outer deck, as I often do, while tensions melted away in the soothing depths of warm, bubbling water. After tubbing I enjoyed orange tea & live folk music, letting relaxation sink in. I caught fireworks in my peripheral vision thru the drizzle on my way home; reinforcing that my deciscion to opt for hottubing was a good one.

2009-06-27T10:19:00.001-07:00

Update test from cell phone.
~ Katie LeJoi

Closeups from an Easter Walk

2009-04-12T09:15:00.001-07:00

Mystery Bird

2009-02-15T00:50:00.000-08:00

What Kind of bird is this? Its a regular visitor to my front yard's earthworm buffet. It has a long pointy beak, zig-zag feather patterns on its back, and a black half circle on its chest. Its also very shy, so I've had trouble getting a decent shot. The slightest sound/movement makes it fly away.

1 October 2009: Mystery Solved
This bird is a Red-Shafted Flicker. I just got back from The Clark Museum in downtown Eureka, CA, where they had several of these birds stuffed on display. It was so satisifying to chance upon the answer. They're quite lovely birds, sadly I have no longer seen them since I moved away from McKinleyville.

cat & a cord of wood

2009-02-08T17:07:00.001-08:00

Ever increasing PG&E bills encouraged me to buy a cord of oak.
I love to heat my back infront of a warm fire and placed a pillow at the foot of the wood-burning stove for just that purpose.
It turns out the pillow is often used, but rarely by me.
Though should I ever want to find my cat, I haven't far to look.

Xmas 2008

2008-12-26T12:24:00.000-08:00

Multi-cultural Xmas Eve 2008. Tinsel on head- Scandinavian Santa Lucia. Homemade (but not by me) tamales- Mexican. Cat in my arms- Russian. Xmas Bonsai tree- Japanese.

Akyla the cat. The wonderful, wonderful cat.

Akyla & I both loved having a fire in the wood-burning stove. I must look into getting a cord of wood. There's something delicious about heating a home with a fire that central air just can't duplicate. (Thanks to my roommate -VJ- for this photo as well as the one of me on Xmas Eve.)

Tower configured from Jenga Party Blocks.

Xmas day hail. Its easier to see the pea-sized hail in the close-up of my patio blocks. That hail might be small, but it sure smarted to walk through. (I braved it to take out the compost... the compost bin being just out of the camera's shot on the right.)

Xmas Dinner= ham, rice, salad with veggies & pomegranate seeds, homemade-watery-cranberry-sauce, Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, milk, & Sees candy.

Seven Things........

2008-11-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Kristabel, here's seven things you might not know, or might not want to know, about me. ...and thanks to my digital camera for deciding to work, just a little longer, so I can continue to upload pics. (Don't you just love the one of my cat in my mailbox?)

1. I often take my cat with me when I check the mail. She volunteers when I jingle the mailbox keys and I enjoy the company.

2. I like "Its A Small World" ride at Disneyland. As I child I wanted to learn the song in every language it was sung during the ride; but my memory wasn't good enough and I only managed it in English. (Sorry if I've gotten the song stuck in your head.)

3. I considered writing 2. on a postcard and sending it into Post Secret.... but its underlying philosophy seems to not only be secrets that no one else knows; but also secrets you wouldn't want anyone else to know. I obviously don't meet this contingency.

4. I'm queer (I like who I like without regard to gender). A lot of people in Southern California know and in fact knew before me, saying things like, "Have you ever even considered kissing a girl, Katie? You might like it." (Thanx Rach). But up here in Northern California, even other queer women assume I'm straight.

5. I have a penchant for pens.

6. I miss baking gluten-filled things more than I miss eating them. For about a year now I've known I was gluten intolerant, and have since adhered to a strict gluten-free diet. Though I dearly miss sourdough bread and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I miss the affinity I had with baking more. No other type of cooking affords me the same ease as I had with baking and my ability has not translated to gluten-free baking.

7. I like crochet better than knitting. Oh wait, I forgot to finish that scarf I was knitting. I love this. I like knitting better than crochet. Here's a neat crochet pattern. Oh my, this is way fun. I like crochet better than knitting............

The End

AND-------> If you're reading this and your name appears on the following list, well then--- Tag, You're It:

Dwarf with a Spoon AKA Dwarven Chef (voted least likely to respond as hasn't blogged since 21 August 2008.)
Kate
Cate
Tracy AKA T-Rex
Cousin Greg (Voted 2nd-least likely to respond as hasn't blogged since 30 September 2008.)

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T06:25:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a crazy bid deal at work. I've never worked in a place that made it such a big deal. I'm in a big room with a total of 8 units, each unit has 2 rows of desks. Most of the units went all out in decorations and costumes, each creating their own little haunted house or themed story... except mine. I was in the unit that won the party pooper prize. I wore an orange shirt w/ a black cat on it and was the most dressed up..... Anyhow, one unit did a Zoo Theme, another did a Swamp Theme, another was a Mad-Scientist's Laboratory. A lot of units completely partitioned off their area and created an enclosed world inside. The room I'm in is only one room of one building at the social services "campus," as its nicknamed. Other areas were also decorated. One was the Wizard of Oz, another did a Pirate Theme, another was Robin Hood in the Sherwood Forest, and one of my favorites was The Wild West-- complete w/covered wagon, jail, stable, sheriff's office, and saloon. And there was food, lots and lots of food. By the time I got home I was way over-stimulated and was glad I had planned a quiet night in.

In between oooing and ahhhing at kids in costumes, I made gluten free brownies, popcorn, and my dinner; all while listening to Micheal Jackson's, "Thriller" on LP. I only had 6 groups of trick-or-treaters, but it was still fun. The strange part was that very few of them actually said "Trick or Treat." Most said "Happy Halloween" and one said, "Hello, May I please have some candy?" The last one came from a little boy, just out of toddler-hood, who promptly took a huge handful of my Jolly-Rancher Lollipops, much to his mother's chagrin... I thought it was cute.

After the near sugar- induced coma I had thrust upon myself at work, I was keen on savory for dinner.

For Halloween dinner I skillet-cooked some guere cheese and turkey sausage with apples. As it cooked I sprinkled on nutmeg, and cinnamon, but no sugar. I completed the dish with a hearty helping of sauerkraut.

Happy Songs and Doodles

2008-10-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

Apple Remote Meme

2008-10-13T10:36:00.001-07:00

Adding to T-Rex's way-cool apple remote story...
...something that's bound to become a meme.

For more info, go here.

I do tend to be entertained by
the little things in life.

Have Avacado, Will Travel

2008-10-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

Just before heading home on a recent trip to Santa Barbara, I thought of all those avacado deprived people back in Humboldt County and knew the perfect (and free) souvineers to bring everybody.... avacados.

This tree was my bedroom view for numerous years growing-up. It was always plentiful and has continued to increase its generosity with time. The curtain rod and its holders were handmade by my father. Back in high school I complained that there were no curtain rods made long enough for my window. The curtains I wanted to make required there to be a solid bar w/out a supporting bracket in the middle, so dad went into the garage and made this curtain rod to my specifications.....
....I never did get around to making the curtains.

Here again, is the avacado tree through the bedroom window. Its surprising now, but there were times in my life when I was sick of eating avacados. When I moved out of the house and had to pay for avacados, I was also surprised by how expensive they were. In my mind, avacados were always free and bountiful things, like rocks or pill-bugs.

Dad and I picked avacados for just 20 minutes or so and were able to gather this huge container full. He esitmated we only picked about 10% of the available fruit. Yumm, plenty more for future trips.

Dad & 3 "Cubs"

2008-10-05T13:41:00.001-07:00

Mom's internment helped me realize that she's really gone. Before the service I found myself sitting in my childhood home expecting her to walk into the room and tell me to keep my hair off the couch, or call me from her bedroom asking me to bring her a cup of coffee. Seeing her ashes lowered into the grave was a very concrete image.

On the net I chanced upon a poster of a bear and three cubs. I knew I had wanted to give dad-- lover of bears-- a little something. This was the perfect way to remind him that he's not alone, he still has his three daughters who love him very much. Here's wishing us all well!

Take A Picture of Yourself Right Now

2008-09-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

.....adding to the meme:

Take a picture of yourself right now
Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair
Just take the picture
Post the picture with no editing
Post these instructions with your picture

Skeeter Season

2008-09-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

Thousands of mosquitos would gather around the rosemary bush outside my back door and stay there for hours, especially around dusk. The landlord cut down the rosemary bush to paint the house, but I've seen the same curious behavior elsewhere, like in these photos I shot of a neighbor's tree. At first I thought it was a local annual oddity, but have since heard much town-talk about how bad the mosquitos have been this year. I'm quite familiar with mosquitos and their bites, but have not seen this behavior before.

***I'm assuming the fuzzy dot on the top-center of all the photos is a speck of dirt on my camera's lens-- all the other dots and dashes around the tree are mosquitos. I did donate blood in my efforts to capture the spectacle... but not as much as one might think.***

Twilight over McKinleyville, CA

Music for Mom

2008-07-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

Moonstone Beach with Sadie

2008-07-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

July 4th, 2008. Sadie, my roommate's dog, and I take a trip down to Moonstone beach along the hazy Humboldt coastline. Newly discovered the day before, Moonstone instantly became my favorite local beach; having everything from sand to seashells, rock-climbing to water wading, and all from the safety of an RV inaccessible parking lot.

Sadie is a trained bird dog. She obediently and single-mindedly loves, loves, loves to play fetch. I do not. After what seemed like an eternity, I did something that I had never done while out with Sadie before-- I put away all the tennis balls and encompassing retrieving paraphernalia.

What I discovered was a pretty cool companion dog that was part billy goat. We climbed rocks and boulders, mingled with people, and met 2 other dogs named 'Sadie'.

Flowers are hidden treasure that dot Moonstone's rocky crevices and cliffs. I found them in purple-blue, pink, yellow, and white.

I also found that where-ever I pointed my camera, a Sadie-dog tended to come into view. Quite magical, indeed.

Photographer and doggy model continued to explore, first a big cave, then its little neighbor with a surprise trickle waterfall, before it was off towards home. Where a well-deserved nap awaited us both.

Bigosz Stew

2008-07-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

This stew is Polish and is pronounced, "bee-gosh" according to the cookbook I got it out of. Its super easy to make and each time I've made it, I've gotten tons of compliments!! This is also a great project/movie watching stew 'cause it prepares itself. You just put everything in a pot, then are free to work on a painting or watch a video until the house smells great and you realize how hungry you are. Oh, this makes a ton of food, and left-overs heat up beautifully.

4 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, thickly sliced
1 head cabbage, cut in eigths lengthwise
2 pounds Polish sausage, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices (I use swedish potato sausage that's nitrate, nitrite and gluten free)
2-3 tart green apples, unpeeled
3 tomatoes, unpeeled
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon white vinegar
pinch of sugar (optional)

Melt butter in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven. Saute onion until soft.

Add cabbage slices and sausage.

Quarter and core apples, but do not peel. Quarter tomatoes and add to pot with apples, bay leaves, and vinegar.

Cover tightly and simmer over low heat for 2 hours. Before serving, skim any fat from stew, remove bay leaves, and check seasoning. If apples were mildly flavored, you may wish to add a pinch of sugar. (I've made this recipe with and without sugar and it tastes good both ways... really it tasted the same both ways.)

Mickelson, Bonnie Stewart, ed. Private Collection 2. Menlo Park: Junior League of Palo Alto Mid Peninsula, Inc., 1984.

First Time for Everything

2005-12-22T01:43:00.000-08:00

After having a roommate, coworkers, and a couple cousins that are blogger-proud; I've decided to give it a go.

This is me and Akyla (uh-KOO-la) playing with my new camera phone. I expect there'll be many such photos to follow.

Akyla adopted me about 4 years ago when I lived in Siberia. She walked right into my dorm room and hid beneath my bed withought my noticing, as I watched Jaws dubbed in Russian. "Akyla, akyla" (shark, shark) cried my tv set! With each cry came a soft reply from under my bed... "mew, mew." First thinking my tiny tv and its aluminum rabbit ears had amazingly achieved stereo sound; I was impressed. Until, that is, I realized I could not remember any cats being in the movie Jaws. So, I followed the "mews" until they led me to a filthy, scrawny, little kitten. And she's been with me ever since.