His brother planned a lovely party.  And then it became a going away/hurricane party.  We ended up not going because Dad. Don’t ask.

Anyway, I’d made Causa for the party and ended up having it for the next few days here.  It’s a yummy delicious Peruvian potato thing. It is usually layered with canned tuna, mayonnaise, olives, tomatoes, eggs and sliced avocados. Cold mashed potatoes.  Really.  And they are amazing good.

Yeah, well.  NO.  I do not like the tuna or the mayo.  The olives are okay, but really, I think it just needs a nice guacamole and maybe boiled eggs and tomatoes.  So, since I am partially Peruvian, I changed it.

Here is my version of Causa.  The potatoes are exactly as my Peruvian cousin, Yolanda, taught me only a wee bit spicier because I like it that way.

Ingredients

1. 5 pounds of potatoes – yellow, even more betterer if you can find the Peruvian yellow potatoes, but you don’t have to go that far.  Yellow potatoes are non-negotiable.
2. 1 jar of aji amarillo paste.  you can find this at any Latin grocery store.
3. 5 limes
4. Oil – I used olive oil because that’s what I had. You can use vegetable oil or anything really.
5. Salt – you will need more than you imagine.  But not tons.

Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks that are all about the same size.  Boil them until they are fork tender. Drain.

Rice the potatoes while they are hot. Mashing them will not produce the smoothness you need.  Get a ricer and rice them.  Do this into a big bowl.

Add in about 1/2 the jar of aji amarillo, 2 tablespoons of salt and 1/2 cup oil.  Mix.  Juice the limes into a bowl, add half the lime juice.

Now, taste the potatoes.  You should have an idea of what they should taste like when you taste them at this stage.  These potatoes should taste really bright, limey and spicy. They should be a bright yellow.  They will also need to be more the texture of stiff hot mashed potatoes rather than cold mashed potatoes.  If that makes sense.  You’ll see.

Adjust the potatoes to your preferences.  You’ll need to add more oil to make the potatoes the right texture. I like to add lime juice to the nearly empty jar of pepper paste so  I can get all the paste into the potatoes.

For my potatoes I used 1 full jar of aji amarillo, 5 limes and 1 cup of oil, I can’t tell you how much salt, but I’d say at least 2 tablespoons.  Remember, this is served cold, so the flavors need to be strong.  Hot these potatoes taste differently than when they are chilled.

I made a smooth garlicky guacamole for the center.

So in a glass dish I layered potatoes/guacamole/potatoes.  If I was going to dress it up, I’d have put chopped cilantro, eggs and green onions on top.

Note: this recipe is more of a suggestion than a recipe.  That’s because I’ve altered it to my tastes.  I’ve made this and served it hot next to roasted lemon chicken.  OMG.  So delicious.

Note #2: Aji Amarillo.  This stuff is pure gold.  It is simply delicious.  I’ve used it in white bean dip. I make these potatoes. There is another recipe coming for a potato sauce that is outrageously tasty coming for this.  OMG. Go find it, use it, thank me later.

So I printed out a ridiculously fussy recipe and altered it according to what I wanted to do. It turned out to be crazily delicious.

Bacon and Onion Tart

• 6 or 7 strips of bacon, cut into 1/8 inch pieces
• 2 pounds of yellow onions, sliced thinly
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 5 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 pie crust – pre-baked. *

Like last year, I’m giving away a Goatboy Soaps gift box.

Lisa at Goatboy makes fabulous soaps. Her Red Clover Tea soap smells good enough to eat.

So, to enter, just leave a comment, also explain your biggest birthday FAIL. Your birthday, your kid’s birthday, a FAIL.  Funny is better. One entry per person, I’ll delete extra comments. I’ll be using a random generator to pick the winner.

Happy Birthday to me!

I love the rumbly, wonderfulness of storms.  I love the sound of rain.  I LOVE storms like this.

Now, someone remind me to turn my phone sideways to get the wide shot instead of the tall shot.

This was the view from my backyard this evening, after a storm.  Lovely, lovely sky.

I had to rip out the old worn out oregano thyme.  In years past it was HUGE.  This year it was just dead.  There was a bit of it left, that bit right in the middle there.  YAY! It was Mom’s old thyme, I’m glad it survived.  In the pot I’ve got patchouli, to the left is oregano, garlic chives and a red geranium because I could.  To the left of the pot is a curry plant, closer in is a lavender thyme, behind is taragon.  In front of the dragon is winter savory, on the far side is caraway thyme and on the near is coconut thyme.  At the very end are classic chives.

My strawberry bed, I’ve got three sweet little elfin thymes growing inbetween the strawberry plants.

Tomatoes.  Well, future tomatoes.

Raspberries!

Zucchini.  I’ll be picking these tomorrow for dinner.  Nummy.

Boysenberries, but for me they’re girlsenberries.

The garden gate, lovely clematis.  It blew down two years ago, then I had to cut it back severely last fall.  Hopefully in two years it will be back to it’s former glory.

Lemon Thyme.  This one is huge and very fragrant.  It’s got a bit of vinca growing through.

Strawberry blossom!

The Mullien Who Guard the Entrance.

The flagstone front patio still needs some work, there’s a low spot I need to deal with and it needs more sand.  But for now, it’s looking wonderful.

Sweeping the sand residue is a continuing thing.  Hopefully, that will be done soon.

Next I had to move a pineapple sage that kindly returned from last year.  These usually die over winter, so I’m thrilled.  But it was in the middle of the bed I’m using for tomatoes, out it had to come.  So the bed I moved it to needed to be weeded and cleared.

Here it is, with variagated oregano, two lemon verbenas and some marigolds.

Then, on to tomatoes:

There is exactly one peony in my yard, but oh, what a sweet thing it is:

Lastly, I have a flower that reminds me of Elvis Costello:

Veronica.

Make the watermelon agua fresca

• chop 1 pound of watermelon into cubes. Pick as many of the seeds out as possible.
• sprinkle 1/3 cup sugar & mix.
• measure 1/2 cup water
• put half the watermelon and water into your blender then blend it for about two minutes.
• put it through a strainer and discard the pulp.
• do the rest of the watermelon and water.
• Chill for 1 hour.

For the drink:

• Use a large iced tea glass
• fill with ice
• 2 shots of gin
• fill the rest of the glass with half watermelon agua fresca and half tonic water

Drink carefully.  This stuff is addictive.

I think this would be fabulous if I added some fresh mint to the watermelon at the blendy stage.

Mushrooms

I don’t know what sort of mushrooms these are, so I won’t be eating them.  But they are cute, aren’t they?

Mushrooms Also

Then there is the hosta up front.  Hopefully the deer don’t read my blog.  I’ve got a giant hosta behind several medium sized hosta.  The giant one will be 3′ x 3′ when it’s fully grown!

Hosta

My white bleeding hearts are wonderous.  They make me happy.

White Bleeding Hearts

Then there are the Anemones in the front, 2 1/2 white anemones.  Hopefully they will be three again soon.

Anemone

The Clematis in the front yard is bloomy.

Clematis - dark pink

I don’t know the name of this clematis.  I just planted a new one in the backyard.  When I get it settled in with it’s hardware I’ll get a picture.  It’s a montana Rubens.  Next I want a yellow one and a blue one.  Just so you know, internets.

Dianthus & Two Shastas

A couple years ago, all I wanted were daisies.  Lots of daisies.  So far I have two.  One is a double and the other is a single.  Happiness.  And that dianthus?  Lovely.

Say hello to my little friend!

Just a preview of things to come in the next week or two.

Azalea!

Tis the season for azaleas.  My new everblooming azalea isn’t blooming yet. When it does, I’ll post a picture.

Now, I leave you with my girlsenberry blossoms.

Girlsenberry Blossoms

Other people call them boysenberries, but they are my bushes now.  Thank you.