School is almost out (2 weeks until I complete my BA!), and I have a backlog of stuff to post.
The first strawberries from our garden!
Asparagus risotto
Everything but the kitchen sink lentils: homemade sausage, lentils, potatoes, corn from leftover corn on the cob, onions from 2 leftover onions, the last of the celery and carrots.
Leftover burgers
Peas are growing in the garden
I am so excited (and not ashamed about it) to be able to add kitchen scraps to a compost pile.
We build an enclosure-ish space by stacking the sod (upside down) that we saved from clearing the veggie bed, covered it with dirt to slow the regrowth of grass, and then added a huge pile of grass clippings. That was on Sunday. This morning, I went out with a fork, dug a hole for the compost, and watched the pile erupt in steam. I put my hand near it and it was generating a ton of heat. So awesome.
Food photos and recipes coming soon, I promise.
Just a series of cell phone photos today.
We made a sifter from mesh and 2×4s. It works great!
Finished the 2nd part of the 8×12′ veggie bed. There is just one vertical portion left that I will work on throughout the week and we’ll finish it by next weekend, just in time to plant corn.
I transplanted the romaine and spinach from the front yard (where it wasn’t doing well at all) and also planted a celery here. There is more celery growing from seed in my study, but it’s too young to plant yet.
Carl mowed the lawn for the first time. Then we took our socks off and had a beer.
Beet seedlings and carrots (from seed).
Strawberries and greens. This raised bed will also house the rest of the celery (when it’s ready), and the herbs: 2 types of basil, cilantro, borage, and parsley.
The first of the squashes are out. I’m also going to plant potatoes around this area and some acorn squash (which isn’t quite ready yet).
Side view of the new veggie garden. I had to put up string to deter Ronan from running through the beds.
Purple mustard greens are thriving in the front, so I left them alone.
Peas, sweet peas, and newly sown peas around the chimney. In a few weeks, I’ll have a huge cluster of peas coming up. When I was a kid, we grew them by the bucketful, and I can’t wait to just walk out and grab them off the vine. For the record, both sides of the chimney have 2 rows of pea seeds just planted.
THE LIST:
15 Tomatoes (different types)
11 Anaheim pepper plants
Marconi Peppers
Leeks
Walla Wallas (from Caine)
5-7 Japanese Eggplants
Misc. Greens
2 Kohlrabi
2 Brussels Sprouts
Pak Choi
Broccoli
Cauliflower (from Caine)
Kale
Beets: yellow, red, chiogga
Chard
2 Artichoke
Celery
Herbs
• Thai Basil
• Regular basil
• Cilantro
• Parsley
• Borage
Upper bed
• Acorn Squash
• Sweet Dumpling
• Spaghetti Squash
• Yellow Squash
• Potatoes (red, fingerling, Yukons)
Seeds
• Carrots
• Peas
• Corn
Other:
• Hens and Chicks Poppies
• Breadseed Poppies
• Sweet peas
If I have room:
• Thai chili pepper plant
• Beans (a few different types)
• Cucumbers (especially lemon cukes!)
We may be going overboard…well, the mother in law went overboard starting seedlings for us. We have 5 areas to plant: the raised bed that came with the house, an area above that for squash and potatoes that we cleared, the veggie bed (pictured above), pots on the deck, and the front flower bed along the house. This isn’t counting the bed I started for oregano, lambs ear sage, and other fun things.
I’ve been worried for a while now about cramming everything into the prepared spaces, so I took out graph paper and started drawing. Then I took out some nifty books we have and checked for information on how far apart the different plants need to be placed, as well as how moist the soil can be. Then I assigned the plants to different plots based on geography. Yes, I’m a dork, but I’m hoping it means we’ll have a TON of fresh produce this spring/summer/fall. Within a few years, we should be able to sustain ourselves just on the garden for all produce, just picking up meat and carbs at the store. We’ll see.
To catch up really quick in photos and blurbs, we bought and moved into a house in the suburbs in February. We bid on it on my birthday of all things, so happy birthday, merry Christmas, happy new year, and in March, happy anniversary to us…for the next 30 years.
So this is relevant to the blog in that I have a new kitchen to learn. The former owner was a cheapskate like none other, so all of the appliances are bizarre brand names like Tappan, Admiral, and others. I’ve burned a round of brownies already, but then learned how to make croissants from scratch and they turned out alright, though my muscles were sore for 3 days!
The worst part was how the kitchen looked when we moved in. It was dark, dark, dark brown. All of it. The first thing we did was paint it. In a few years, we’ll renovate the entire thing, but it’s definitely livable as it is now.
I’m still adding little touches to it. I’m in the middle of making a set of curtains for the kitchen window.
I have also ended some former obligations and should be able to update this more often. Granted, sometimes those updates will consist of Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and hot dogs, but hey, we have to use up leftovers from house-warming parties somehow right?
I heated up a big wad of butter in the cast iron skillet until it browned, then tossed in halved Brussels and asparagus. Salt and pepper to taste, then when they are about halfway cooked (2-3 minutes?), I added a big dash of balsamic vinegar, put the lid on, and let it sit for 2-3 more minutes. They were delicious.
OK I’ve been kind of winging it a lot lately. There seems to be stages of cooking. First stage: tackling relatively easy recipes with precise measurements. Then comes the experimentation stage where you start subbing ingredients for those you would rather have, plus forgoing accurate measurements of spices after learning from experience. Then there is the stage where you look in the fridge, see what you have on hand, and toss stuff together because you’ve learned the groups of ingredients that taste well together. It’s taken me almost 5 years to reach this stage, honestly, and I’ve been coming up with some pretty fantastic stuff (and frankly, a few very meh/bland dishes as well!). One night recently, I tried to bake some veggies that just didn’t fit, and we ended up at the local burrito joint at 10:30pm for dinner. Mistakes happen, and it’s not the end of the world!
I had some feta cheese, some greens from the local farmer’s market (the vendor said they would be great sauteed), and some really nice olives in the fridge. I also had the last bit of a batch of homemade Italian sausage to use up as well.
Ingredients:
Cook the linguine. Cook the sausage, add greens until wilted. Layer linguine, sausage and greens, olives, and feta cheese. Enjoy hot.
Original recipe here. This one is easy to adapt to the season or what you have on hand. I usually pull this one out in the fall, when the wind starts to carry a bite in it, and I start digging through my sock drawer.
Ingredients:
Halve the squash, remove seeds, place face down on an oiled cookie sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes in a preheated 350F oven. In the meantime, cook the sausage in a medium-sized skillet. The sausage should have enough fat that you won’t need to add any oil, but feel free to add a dash or two if you want. Once the sausage is almost cooked, add chopped onion, bell peppers, chard, and garlic. Saute until the veggies start to soften, then add cumin and chili powder. Stir to incorporate the spices, then add chopped chard leaves. Cover the pan and let the leaves wilt, about 2-3 minutes. Stir the mixture.
Remove squash from the oven. Set bottoms in rammikins so they are upright. Fill cavities with sausage/veggie mixture. Add feta cheese on top. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until feta is browned.
Forgive this photo, I ate 1/3 of it before remembering to take a photo. Oh man it was so good that we are repeating it tonight with the leftover filling. Last night we used acorn squash, tonight we will use delicata squash.
I’ve asked myself multiple times why this isn’t on my recipe blog, though I’ve made it half a dozen times. It’s versatile, either cake or cupcakes. I’ve even used it for birthday cakes before. It holds up well with frosting, stuffed with whipped cream for moon pies, covered in ganache, or plain with strawberries.
Ingredients:
Whisk up the dry ingredients, add the wet. bake @ 350 for ~ 30-40 minutes. If making cupcakes, start checking around 7 minutes.
Ingredients:
Slice peaches and plums into bite-size pieces. Mix with 1/4 cup sugar and cornstarch. Place mixture in bottom of baking dish.
Heat oven to 400. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Layer on top of fruit mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top if golden.
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