Daunting Garden Area

This is pretty daunting, isn't it.  Well you can hardly tell what this is but it is my raised beds.  I haven't used them in quite some time because the water line doesn't work that goes to this area so I have just let the weeds take it over.  I used to garden this whole area and now I wonder how I did it all.   I have decided to just use the raised beds and I am going to mow the center of the garden.  I think I will be able to handle that. 

For several weeks, in between arctic blasts I have been working on this.  I looked at this and thought "do I really want to do this?"  But I'm glad I have started the clean up process.  I worked outside all afternoon yesterday and it couldn't have been a more perfect day.  Just so beautiful, no wind and perfect temperatures.  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it.  I didn't want to come in when I was finished working so I sat in a chair and enjoyed the bluest sky, all the bird sounds and the slow descent of the sun.

As I sat and was enjoying the late afternoon, my mind started to remember the "firsts" in my life.  It was fun remembering those moments although I must say I was filled with a lot of different emotions as I remembered.  My first day of school, my first bike ride with no wheels, jumping off the diving board into the deep water, my first speech in junior high in front of the entire school, trying out for cheerleader, and oh! my first kiss and the first time I had sex, losing my first tooth, water skiing for the first time, first time I at Mexican food and pizza, my first dentist appt. (I'm surprised that wasn't blocked in the ole memory :).  There were other first but I won't keep on boring you. For me, it was the end to a perfect day.

Roasted Green Beans & Mushrooms

This is another recipe I saw on Facebook.  There were no real measurements just balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, olive oil and Parmesan cheese.  So this is how I did it.......

1 1/2 to 2 pounds fresh green beans
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese

Put fresh green beans and sliced mushrooms in a zip lock bag.  In a small bowl mix vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper then pour over green beans in zip lock bag.  I marinated mine for about one hour.  Then spread the green beans and mushrooms out on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.  When you take them from the oven sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the beans and mushrooms.  Mine were still crisp tender after 30 minutes.

I will definitely make these again.  It was a nice change for cooking green beans. They tasted even better the next day and I loved the green beans and mushrooms mixed.  Good combination!

Avocado Louie

This was lunch yesterday.  Fast and delicious.  The one blog that I look at is Mrs. Wheelbarrow.  She is a master at canning and has wonderful ideas about canning so I like to look at what she comes up with.  She posted this and said this was something her mother always made for her when she was a girl.  I love avocados and the ketchup, mayo and onion is a salad dressing my mother used to make so I knew I would probably love this and I did.  This is great for a fast lunch or it would be a great side dish with soup.  This recipe serves 2.

3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons mayo, yogurt or sour cream
4 sweet pickle chips, minced plus 1 teaspoon sweet pickle juice
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons finely chopped onion or scallion
2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and chopped
salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, stir together ketchup, mayo, pickle, brine, mustard and onion.  Fold in eggs.  Taste and correct salt and pepper.

I put salt and pepper on the avocado and then topped with the dressing.

Waiting for the Right Print

Several years ago, when I was doing some seasonal decorating for a client I saw this print in her home and I absolutely loved  it.  I looked and looked and tried to find the print and I never could find it.  One day I was at a garage sale and found a 5x7 card with the print I loved so much.  I got it for 25 cents and had it blown up to be framed.  You can see the finished product.  It will look great once I get it framed.

It has always been my advice to wait for what you love.  It makes all the difference in your home and the way you feel when you look at pictures that you love and things that mean something to you.  Your wall may be blank for a while but it's worth the wait to find the right picture that moves your heart.

Garage sale season will be starting before long and as you've heard me say before," if you wait long enough you will find what you want at a garage sale." Times are somewhat hard and some people have garage sales to help make ends meet.  Even if your not a garage sale junkie, next time you see a sign stop and help someone out.

Zucchini Frittata and Orange Walnut Salad

This was a very delicious and light dinner.  The zucchini frittata is a new recipe and it's very easy and like I said very delicious.  This recipes serves 6 to 8

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound baby zucchini, cut lengthwise in fourths
12 large eggs
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. ground pepper
1.4 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onion, thinly sliced ( I added this it was in the recipe)

In a large skillet over medium-high heat add 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Add zucchini, garlic  and onions (or leave onions out) and sauté until zucchini is slightly limp. 
Whisk eggs, salt, pepper, parsley, Parmesan cheese in bowl.  Stir in zucchini and onions.
Heat the remaining olive oil in a 9 inch oven proof skillet.  Add zucchini-egg mixture and cook without stirring until bottom and sides begin to set.  Transfer skillet to oven and bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. 
Slice frittata into wedges and serve.

Orange Walnut Salad

You can use red leaf, green leaf, or Bibb lettuce and one pound of fresh spinach.  Tear this into bite size pieces.
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned
1/2 red onion, sliced and separated into rings (as you can see from our salad I left these out because red  onions this time of the year are too hot.)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons butter

Place first 4 ingredients into a large bowl and toss.  Saute walnuts in butter until lightly browned.  Let them cool a little and add to the greens and toss with dressing.

Dressing:
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

Add all ingredients into a bowl and whisk until it thickens.

Hummus

This was my lunch yesterday.  I am so hooked on pickled turnips and hummus I can't seem to get enough of this.  These little cucumbers are called (I think) Persian cucumbers.  The first time I saw them was at the Mediterranean Deli in OKC.  I started buying them last year and I just love them.  The taste is so much better than those huge things at the grocery stores.  These cucumbers are thin skinned, very crisp and has a wonderful flavor.  They are a little more expensive than regular cucumbers but they are well worth the money. Toward the end of last year, I noticed they were carrying them in a few grocery stores.

I tried a new recipe for hummus yesterday and it was good but still not as good as some I have eaten before.  I bought dried chickpeas and soaked them overnight, drained them and washed them off then put in fresh water and cooked them for about an hour and a half.  I have always made hummus with canned garbanzo beans and the hummus was ok but not outstanding.  So I wanted to see if cooking fresh chickpeas would make a difference and I would say that it did.  It's still not the best I have eaten but I'm getting there. 

This is my recipe.

4 cups cooked chickpeas
1 cup liquid from the cooked chickpeas
Juice from 2 small lemons
3-4 tablespoons Tahini
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  You may need a little more of the liquid from the chickpeas (depending on how thick you like your hummus.)  You can make a well in the middle of the hummus put a little extra virgin olive oil along with a little chopped parsley. 

Another variation of hummus that I like is Spinach Hummus.  Just make as above but add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of fresh spinach, chopped and blend.  Again, adjust with liquid from chickpeas if needed.

My recipe for pickled turnips is on a post from November of last year.

Back on the Road Again

This is fresh juice from carrots, a beet, cranberries, celery, cucumber, lemon and kale.  And while I was juicing all of this I was singing Back on the Road Again by Willie Nelson.  :)  You don't want to hear me sing but my cats were at the window and they seemed to like it.  :)

Well, I'm back on the road again juicing.  During the holidays, I really hit and missed in the area of  juicing.   As I write this, I want to encourage you as well as  myself in doing the little things that add a lot of good to our health.  Drinking lots of water, taking a walk every day, having a diet that is mostly fruits, vegetables, beans and grains.  I like to swim and it really helps my joints. I can really tell a difference in my body when I don't swim on a regular basis.   That is what I do for exercise.  I love to walk too but I have a little problem with my knee at the moment and so I don't do much walking. 

Our immune system is very important and so we need to do things that will strengthen our immune system.  Juicing is one of the things that brings good nutrition to our cells.  Another thing that I do is drink about 2 heaping tablespoons of barley green in a glass of water every day.  We have taken barley green for over 25 years and our children as adults still take it today.  Honestly, when our children were growing up they were almost never sick.  They realize this and that's why they still take it today.  The barley is good mixed with V-8 juice (that's how my husband drinks it) and I mixed it with orange juice when my kids were little.  The best barley green (in my opinion ) is a company called AIM and their offices are out of Nampa, ID.  You can find them on the Internet.  It is called barley life powder.  It's great stuff.  I also take olive leaf extract which is good for boosting your immune system.  It's my belief that God made our immune system to kill all disease and he gave us fresh foods to help nourish our immune system to do the job it needs to do.

As you get older it's important to keep moving and to be active.  I know you are probably thinking I'm tired and I don't want to do anything but if you will make yourself get up and start something in a little while you will start to have more energy and before you know it you are feeling better and you are getting things done that you want to do.  I always do projects in sections, especially if it is something big.  That way it is not overwhelming.  Or you can say, I'm going to work on this for one hour or two hours and then move on to something else.  Once you start making a dent in your pile of whatever you want done it gives you more enthusiasm to keep working on it. 

I'm outside today and I have a lot I need to do.  But I have done just what I told you.  I have divided it up into sections and I'm just doing one section today.  Then coming inside doing a couple of projects in the house and I have even worked into my schedule some time to sit and read.  :)

Have a great day and make yourself do what you don't want to do! ( I am) You will feel a lot better at the end of the day.

Chessy Beer Dip with Preztels

This is a new dip that I made over the holidays and totally forgot to take a picture  :(
My family loved it and this is the recipe.....very easy.

9 ounces lager beer, pour beer into glass and allow to go flat (about one hour)
16 ounces sharp cheddar, cut into 1" cubes
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 medium onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (Tabasco)
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon horseradish sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
pinch cayenne

Place all ingredients except beer into a food processor and pulse a few times.  Then while processor is running start pouring the beer through the chute.  Blend 2-3 minutes or until mixture is smooth and creamy.  Transfer to airtight container and refrigerate 1-2 days before serving.

Serve with a platter of different pretzels....hard ones, soft ones different shapes and sizes.

An addendum to the Lemon Thyme Bread

After posting the recipe and eating the bread, I thought this would make a wonderful french toast.  You could put a dollop of lemon curd with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Herbed Green Pea Soup and Baby Blue Salad

This was dinner last night and it hit the spot.  The salad is an old favorite and the pea soup was a new recipe and I will have to tell you that it is wonderful. Really, what can you do with pea soup but this recipe will awaken your taste buds.  It has fresh tarragon and fresh dill, it's easy to make and I think it will become a favorite.  It has become one of mine.  The recipe calls for vegetable broth, all I had was chicken so I used that and I didn't have any fresh dill so I used dill seeds and ground them and it was still good.  Although, I love fresh dill and I'm sure that using fresh dill would enhance the flavor even more.  I had fresh tarragon left from the holidays which I normally wouldn't have had.

Herbed Green Pea Soup

1/2 cup diced scallions
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons fresh minced tarragon
2 tablespoons fresh minced dill
1 pound fresh frozen peas, thawed
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup half n half
salt and pepper to taste

Saute scallions in butter for several minutes then add herbs, peas and nutmeg.  Stir all these ingredients together in sauce pan and then add vegetable broth and boil for about 5 minutes.  Remove half of the mixture and blend in a blender then return and add back to the soup pot.  Stir in honey and half and half.  Stir well and taste and add salt and pepper.  Heat thoroughly and serve.

Makes 4 small servings.

The next time I make this I am going to use 2 pounds of frozen peas.  I will blend all the mixture and then add the other bag of whole peas to the puree.  For me, there were not a lot of whole peas left after I pureed them.

Baby Blue Salad

3/4 pound mixed greens
4 ounces Blue Cheese, crumbles
2 oranges, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 pint strawberries, quartered
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Sweet and Spicy Pecans

Vinaigrette:  1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons honey, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 2 small shallots, minced, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 cup olive oil.  Whisk together first 7 ingredients until well blended and gradually whisk in olive oil .
Makes 1 2/3 cup

Sweet and Spicy Pecans: 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup warm water, 1 cup pecans halves, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1/8 teaspoon red or (cayenne pepper).  Stir together 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup of warm water until sugar dissolves.  Add pecan halves and soak for 10 minutes.  Drain
and discard sugar mixture.  Combine 2 tablespoons of sugar with chili powder and cayenne pepper. Add pecans tossing to coat.  Place of greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring once.   Yields 1 cup

This salad is just wonderful.  I love fruit and nuts in salad.  I had some fresh pineapple and I added several chunks of that to our salads also.  It was great!

After all the rich food over the holidays and not a lot of salads this was a welcome change.  We love salads and I'm glad to be back on track eating them daily.

Lemon Thyme Bread

I posted a lemon bread around Christmas time but this recipe far excels that recipe.  I am drawn to lemon lately,  it just always sounds good to me.  This recipe, lemon with thyme sounded exceptional and it was so this will be my go to recipe for lemon bread and out with the other recipe.  I love anything lemon with hot tea.  The bread is very moist and the lemon glaze is optional.  I doubled this recipe to get to loaves.

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons of butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely minced
2/3 cup of half and half

Preheat oven to 350.  Butter an 8" loaf pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
In a large bowl, cream butter and gradually add sugar, beat until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Mix in lemon zest, lemon juice, and thyme.  Alternately add the dry ingredients and the half and half to the butter mixture, mixing just until the batter is blended.  Pour the batter into greased loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let stand for 5 minutes, then put lemon loaf onto a wire rack to cool. 

Make a glaze by whisking together 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and 1/2 cup powdered sugar.  Pour slowly over warm loaf and let cool completely.

This bread is really easy to make doesn't take but about 10 minutes to put everything together.  Don't forget that breads are always nice little gifts when going to visit a friend or add a pretty kitchen towel in a basket with the bread and you have a nice gift.

Crudites Platter

 Crudités platter  (kroo-de-tay) is a traditional French appetizer which consists of whole and sliced fresh raw vegetables.  I love the rustic way the French display their vegetable platters.  I'm a vintage glass person but if you are more contemporary, you can use more sleek glass ware with simple lines.  Use very large platters... glass, wood, pottery just make sure it's big.  I like cutting the veggies in unusual ways not your traditional bite size pieces.  This celery will be put in a tall glass to feather out over the top of the glass.  I also used red and yellow cherry tomatoes which would look beautiful in a green vintage depression glass bowl I have.  Imagine a bowl of cherry tomatoes on a large platter, even a taller dish for the vegetable dip, several beautiful vintage glasses with celery, maybe baby carrots that are yellow, orange and purple sitting up right in a glass. Use different glasses that are different heights.  Other vegetables arrange in small hills on the platter, like the zucchini and squash that I cut paper thin and then rolled up. 

I catered a Christmas party over the holidays and above are some pictures I took of vegetables I was preparing for the party.  I flashed boiled the asparagus and green beans for 45-60 seconds and then immediately put them in a large bowl of ice water for several minutes and then drained them on a paper towel.  I lined a container with a wet paper towel and arranged the vegetables and then covered them with a wet paper towel and put a lid on the container which kept them fresh for the next day.  My clients party was on the day of the ice storm and I had to deliver a day early but everything was fine.  My client had a huge wooden rustic platter that she was going to arrange everything on. 

I pictured the slicer I used and I got this at Williams Sonoma and it sliced the zucchini and yellow squash perfectly.  Cut off the ends of the squash and zucchini and cut away any imperfections and wash and dry.  Then you just run the slicer over the squash and it cuts it very smoothly. The other side of the slicer is like a grater and it will cut the zucchini or squash to look like spaghetti.  I have started buying the mini cucumbers and they have a much better flavor and to me they are worth the extra price.  The skins are very thin and there is no wax on them....they are wonderful.  I cut these on the diagonal but they also look great cut into fourths length wise again standing up in a glass. 

Other vegetables that would be wonderful on these platters are fingerling potatoes which you would boil until tender and cut in half, radishes cut into thirds long way, Jicama peel and cut these into strips and squeeze with lemon, sugar snap peas, kohlrabi peel and cut into rounds and this taste somewhat like broccoli.  I'm sure you can think of something I haven't mentioned here.

  I have this pictured all in my mind and I'm sorry I don't have a picture to show you but I plan on making this for my family some time and I will post a picture when I do.  I hope you can see what I'm trying to say as I see it in my mind. :)

For your next party a crudités platter would go wonderful with a fish dish like shrimp or crab cakes, a platter with pork tenderloin mini sandwich with a sauce or mini beef sandwich with a horseradish sauce.  You really don't need much more than that.  You have all your vegetables with some meat or fish.

I made a delicious buttermilk peppercorn dip and I would like to share the recipe with you.

1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons coarsely ground mixed peppercorns (green, pink, black) (I put these in a zip lock bag and rolled over them with my rolling pin several times)
3 teaspoons minced chives
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 clove minced garlic
1 large shallot, minced
salt to taste

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  You can serve immediately but I think it is best if it sits for several hours.  You can store in the frig for up to 48 hours.  If it is too thick you can always thin it a bit with a little buttermilk. 
Depending on how many people you are serving, I would suggest to at least double this.

Happy New Year!

This is my prayer and desire for the new year.  I found this beautiful song when I was looking for something else on YouTube and I wanted to share it with you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_ycWN9vg6Q

I want to thank you for visiting my blog. It has always been my desire that in some small way I might encourage you or brighten your day.  I hope you have enjoyed my recipes and gardening ideas.

I wish you a wonderful new year that is filled with peace and love.

Always love to you,

galatha  xo