The Yard right now....

I know these croscuses won't win any beauty awards but to be honest they are the favorite thing I have in my yard. They are what I wait for to pop up, not only because they scream spring but they carry a sense of belonging and history to me.  


Before we bought our house I had moved every 6 months (or even more frequently some years) for the previous 4 years.  I dreamed of having a garden, of being able to watch things evolve, grow and create my "vision".  To put things into the ground and not always into pots.  So when we finally got our house (it was late august) the first thing I planted was those crocus bulbs (also planted some daffodils thought the chickens seem to love those for a little snack..oy).  So much was changing and so much was hoped on.  Our blank slate of a house and yard was overwhelming, exciting.  Though by august there was little to do, and honestly little funds or energy to devote. One bag of bulbs was what I had.  And with each bulb a little promise of what was to come, a whisper of my dreams, fears, and hopes.  Fall came, Winter lasted forever and then in the spring up they came reminding me of that August.  It also made me stop for a moment and go back over the year.  As it does every year that they pop up, each year multiplying just a bit more.  I am so thankful to be heading towards our 4th summer here and honestly while the land is a bit less of a blank slate there is still a lot of work to be done.  


Here is where we are at now:

Our "chicken proof" raised beds.  In the middle is garlic and the ground cover is coming in nicely.  I actually forgot what ground cover I used so if anyone has any ideas that would be great...

(note to self: create a garden notebook..)

An artichoke is actually already coming up! Planted this last year thanks to our warm winter it is already growing up a ton of new leaves.  

Our asian pear tree we planted last year has tons of new buds!  

The rhubarb is starting its 3rd year and is just starting to peek up.  

I want to say that gardening is a learning process and I am FAR from an expert.  I think the great thing about staying in one place for multiple years though helps you really learn your lessons.  I have found that certain plants hate certain areas, chickens have their own gardening agenda and plants need tending to become real stars. Each year I get a bit smarter with my planting, a bit more relaxed, gutsy.  

Today as I submerged my hands in dirt to plant loose strawberry roots (this is the third year we are planting and each year we have had little to no success...so fingers crossed!) and peas (these are the best to start gardening with, hard to mess up) I realize how much I have missed this evolving world, this connection.  

I am so excited for summer! for sun! for gardening! (to be truthful I am just as excited for hammocking...)

Copy Cat....

So there is this place close to me that has the MOST epic spiced pickled pineapple!  Like I *might* have a problem good...when you put a segment into your mouth it explodes with the sunrise of the pineapple, the pucker that comes from the vinegar and just the right amount of heat to make you grab another.  I think about them a bit too much, pass over their other amazingly pickled veggies just to gobble them up before anyone else can....they are sooo good.

So whats a girl to do when she has asked time and again for the recipe and they state "insider secrets"?? You start to google the shit out of the universe to find a recipe that might just be good enough....when nothing fit I actually hit the my book shelf and to my surprise The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving had a pickled peach recipe that had a 'pineapple' variation....so out comes the ol' Kettle, dusted off the vinegar, sugar and hopefully in a month my addiction shall be sated.

Spiced Pickled Pineapple
Adapted from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving

3 pineapples peeled, cored and cut into chunks.
7 cups of sugar
3 1/4 cups white vinegar
6 cups of water
6 cinnamon sticks (3 inches long)
2 tbsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole all spice
 chili flakes

1. Bring sugar, vinegar and water to boil over high heat in a saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved.  Tie cinnamon, cloves and allspice into a cheesecloth bag and add to sugar (I made two smaller bags instead of one big one).  Reduce heat, cover and boil gently for 10 minutes.

2. Add Pineapple to syrup.  Boil for 5 minutes.   I added my chili flakes to the bottom of my hot jars right before the time was up, I did pints and prob added 1/4 to 1/2 tsp to each jar...

3. Remove pineapple from liquid with a slotted spoon and pack into jars.  Pour liquid over pineapples but allow for 1/2 inch head-space.  Process for 20 minutes for pints, and 25 for quarts.  

My 3 pineapples made 3 pints and some half pints.  Honestly I just used a variety of jars and started munching on the pineapple so I lost a bit in the "testing" phase.... ;)

So in a month I shall know if these are any good.  I do know that after a couple of months of not canning it felt good to get the equipment out and create.  The pineapple is just so damn lovely that honestly even if they taste like garbage they will be pretty to look at. 

Ridiculously Amazing Risotto

soooooooo........I sometimes dream of food and then when I awaken I just keep thinking about it until I must stop and make it.  It seems to be happening more and more lately and I credit my ever broadening assortment of bulk foods that resides at my home (thanks to my buying club).

So this weekend was one of the first "feels sort of like summer isn't raining too much" kind of weekends in what seems like FOREVER and I dreamt of a Risotto that tasted like sunshine.  So I thought I would share my recipe to hopefully bring sun to everyone!

(please note that all of this was just made up as I went so feel free to change it, add more of some and less of other, etc, etc)

Summer Risotto )
serves at least 4 good portions


2 cups of Bob's Red Mill Arborio Rice 
6-8 cups of broth (I used chicken because that is all I had..veggie would be good too!)
1/4 cup sweet onion, finely minced (I think leeks would be amazing as well)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 1/2 cups roasted beets*
some Basil chopped up
6-8 figs chopped up
Che'vre (soft goat cheese)..I used up about 4 ounces of it for 4 people.


* To Roast the beets I covered a pan in tinfoil and then placed beets on that and topped it with more tinfoil.  I shoved the beets in a 400 degree oven until they were done (able to stick a fork in them).  This took probably an hour and a half because I had some huge ass beets.  You can do this before hand to save time.  Some recipes state you can cut up the raw beets and cook them with the rice as you are making it...if you try that let me know if it works!

 After they are roasted the skin should just slide off........either wear gloves or be prepared for pink fingers.   Also I left the beets in pretty large chunks because I am sort of a beet addict...

Once that is done you can start the rice!  Saute the onion in the butter & oil in a heavy pan over medium heat until soft.  Add the rice (and if you are cooking the beets this way add those too) and cook over medium heat until the rice is well coated (2-3 mins).  Now here is where your arm is going to get a good workout...or in my household the Mister is gonna be put to cooking duty!  You slowly add 1/2 cup of the broth at a time until the liquid is completely absorbed before adding more.  This requires constant stirring and when I make risotto it takes about 30-40 minutes and usually around 6 cups of broth...once you get past the 5 cup stage start to taste test it to see if it is done.

You want to keep adding broth until the rice is creamy tender, with a slightly firm center.  You then want to remove it immediately from heat and serve right away!  

Ok so when the rice was done I added the beets, dates, & basil to it until I felt that there was a good blend.  I ended up not liking the basil in the dish but both males (who really eat anything) stated that they liked it in there.  Sooooooo if I was making it again I would use slightly less basil, enough for the occasional bite or none at at all...up to you.  

Then I dished it onto the plates and added the Chev're on top.  (I am also addicted to Chev're and I do realize that there is probably like 9 servings on just this one plate but you can take that info and shove it...my stirring arm was super tired & required more cheese!)

I was hoping that by not cooking the beets in the risotto it would prevent the dish from turning pink but alas that was not the case.  I served this with Bittman's Roasted Carrots with Scallion & Ginger Glaze

and some Ham steaks we received from Taylor-Made Farm which we bbq'ed, because it was fake summer of course.  Kind of an eclectic dinner but really good!  It made it seem like summer was here...

well until the next day when it rained...oy.

Next posting will be *hopefully* about our bees being delivered and our tiffany blue inspired apiary!  

Lacy