Food & Flowers

 Seems as though my interests come and go in spurts.  You know what I mean, don't you?   You "get in the mood" to garden because the weather is exceptionally beautiful after several dreary days.   Or you are tired of the same old menu so you pull out a cookbook and suddenly your tastebuds are wishing the food could jump off the page and majically appear on your plate.  Well, this bolognese sauce "appeared" on our plates, and boy, was it yummy!!  Thank you, Giada.

 Of course, an Italian meal wouldn't be complete without soft, garlic drizzled knots.  These yeasty, puffs of goodness get lavished with olive oil, minced garlic and herbs....not to mention a healthy dusting of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  Here they are as they rise in a draft free warm oven.

 Oh........my.........goodness.......

 And I really needed to show you the ground orchids that have been blooming on my front porch for the last month.  They just keep going and going and going.   Orchids are my favorite flowers.....I never get tired of looking at them or smelling their delicious perfume.

How wacky is this Christmas cactus?    Mine seem to bloom twice a year, most years, and this one is really putting on a show.  Of course they bloom at Christmas time, but when the plants are placed outside for our chilly winter, they get confused and bloom again in the spring.  This one bloomed in time for Easter.

So there you have it, food and flowers.    Not very profound, but definitely a happy part of my everyday life.
Debbie

Salmon, anyone?

Does anyone else love salmon as much as I do?   AND, it's good for you!   Made this last night and just had to take a pic of it before diving in.....yum, it was delish.  The recipe was Arugula, Asparagus and Salmon, but I don't care for arugula so I substituted curly leaf lettuce and it worked just fine.  

Basically, you bake the salmon in a 400 degree oven for 18 minutes and let it cool while you steam (2 minutes only) fresh asparagus cut into 2" pieces and let them cool also.   Arrange cut up lettuce on your plate with asparagus spears and 6-8 (or more if you're like me!) fresh blackberries sprinkled around.  Then place salmon on top.

For a scrumptious fast sauce/dressing, smash 16 blackberries in a bowl, add 2 tsp. honey, 4 tsp. low sodium soy sauce, 2 tsp. dark sesame oil, and 1/4 cup fresh orange juice.   Whisk to combine and drizzle over lettuce and salmon.   I decided to make some couscous with peas to go with it and it worked beautifully.   A light, flavorful, healthy meal.........now where did I put that Gelato in the freezer?  

Berry-licious,
Debbie

Spring Garden-2011

It's hard to believe my garden is even surviving this year.   I've been neglecting it for long days on end, but I guess the fertilizer that was applied back in early March is working for me.  

How satisfying it is to walk out around the raised beds and drench them with water, all the while checking out how much things have grown since the last time I looked in on them.  Yippee, tomatoes!

Here's one of my all time favorites, fennel....yum!   I can hardly wait until the bulbs have doubled in size so they can be brought into the kitchen and cooked up in a favorite casserole.

Thyme anyone?   Have you got the thyme?   Thyme to get cooking.....ok, ok, you get the idea.   But seriously, this stuff is really taking off!

And it looks like we may even harvest some blackberries this year.   Woo-hoo!   Pie, cobbler, shortbread anyone?   Yes, it looks like spring is officially here. 

Happy Spring,

Debbie

Going, Going, Gone.....

It's another River Weekend for me! During the crazy storms that roared across the southeast on Thursday, I tried to dodge the worst of the storm and scooted up I-75 wanting to get to the river ASAP.   My  mom's sister, Gladys, has been in Florida for the winter, and they have a second cousin they wanted to visit who lives 45 minutes from our place at the river.  Road trip!

 Well, we three came up together, stopping for the required breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then on to visit their cousin.   By the time we arrived at the river, the rain had pretty much tapered off and I showed them around our Tin Can Cabin.   I had recollections of my childhood as we played Scrabble late into the night, drank tea, and laughed until we almost pee-d our pants!!  Aunt Gladys, I still say "gooey" is not spelled "G-U-E-Y"....giggle.  I'm buying a Scrabble dictionary this weekend for future reference!

After breakfast the next morning we headed out on cousin Steve's boat for a 2 hour tour of the river which included Blue Springs Creek. There were so many turtles sunning themselves on fallen branches peeking up out of the lazy river. Aren't they cute?  They were everywhere!

Then we rounded the corner of my favorite spot on the river, and there HE was! Yup, the bull gator, or as I like to call him, the Grandaddy of them all. Oh-My-Goodness, was he ever huge, magnificent, scary, prehistoric, and did I already mention...............HUGE?!? Steve angled the boat and ever so slowly we putt-putted toward him....all the while Steve is excitedly saying, "Debbie, click your camera, get his picture!!!" I'm clicking, I'm clicking...and here he is.  If you "double click" on the pic with your mouse, you will get a really good look at him.

The closer we approached him, the more he slid down toward the water's edge.   Watching him move was mesmerizing....this wasn't on tv, this was right in front of us!  Steve estimated that he was at least 10-11 feet long, but who's going to get out a measuring tape to check? 

 

And then he was going, going, going and splash, he was gone.

Awesome day on the river,

Debbie