In the garden

It's a hot one!

I harvested the first beans of the season and the other veggies seem pretty happy.

Almond Pear Crostata

This is one of my go to desserts. It is really easy and always tasty. I had some pears that were pretty ripe and needed to be used so I thought I'd make this tonight. The recipe is adapted from one my mom used to use (although I think she makes it more like I do now). I think she came across the original recipe at the state fair on a little recipe card given out at the pear booth. That recipe can be found here. It is yummy but it takes a few more steps than the version I make.

A few notes: I really like Trader Joe's frozen pie crust. It is great for this recipe and saves me some time. I normally use store bought almond paste but didn't have any on hand so I made some with this recipe. I halved the recipe but ended up adding a bit more egg white so it was a smoother consistancy. I also had slivered (raw blanched) almonds on hand so I didn't have to deal with removing the skins.

Almond Pear Crostata
1 pie crust
4 bartlette pears
almond paste
apricot jam/preserves
coarse sugar (turbinado)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Peel 4 pears and slice (I think I usually get between 10-16 slices per pear). Roll out pie crust. *The TJ's version is already rolled out in a nice circle. I usually have to take a rolling pit to it to repair the cracks that happen when you unroll it. I keep the plastic on the crust when I roll it to save having to wash the rolling pin. Transfer the crust to a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper. Add almond paste to the crust. I never really measure out how much I use. I just use enough to cover the crust in a thin layer (leaving about 1 1/2-2 inch rim of crust uncovered). Mound pear slices in the center extending no further than the almond paste. Fold remaining crust up to cover some of the pears. Make sure to smooth out any tears or cracks in the crust. Add 1-2 tablespoons of apricot jam to a small dish and microwave for 15 seconds or until melted. Drizzle apricot liquid over pear mixture avoiding the crust.Add coarse sugar (optional) to the exposed crust (you may want to brush it with a little water or egg wash first so the sugar adheres better). Bake for 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Almond Paste (recipe here)

Crust with almond paste layer and pears

 

Crust folded over pear mixture and apricot mixture drizzled over pears

*I used too much apricot jam and didn't heat it long enough so it was a little more thick than normal.

 

 

Garden--Veggies planted

Today we took apart the massive planter box and cut it down to a more manageable size. It is now about 2'x4'. We'll use the rest of the wood for another project. I stopped by the local garden store and picked up a few different veggie plants. I chose three tomatoes: "Michael Pollan", "Haley's Purple Comet", and "Red Rocket dwarf".  These are all new to me so I'm excited to see how they do. My parents are planting early girl, Juliette and green zebra varieties this year so I wanted a different variety so we could share. The varieties I purchased are all smaller fruit size and I'll probably pick up another one (maybe yellow or orange colored) next weekend. I also bought two sweet peppers (yellow and purple), alpine and quinault strawberry plants, Italian parsley, carrot/radish seeds and sunflower seeds.

 

 

I planted the "Michael Pollan" and "Haley's Purple Comet" in the planter box with the yellow bell pepper. The "Red Rocket" is in the larger pot to the right and the purple bell pepper is in the other pot.

 

 

Remember the dirt patch that I wasn't sure what to do with? I planted a few dahlia bulbs, rosemary (I have some already in my herb containers) and the sunflowers along the fence. There is still room so I'll see how things do and maybe plant some lavender there too.

 

 

I bought some hosta bulbs last weekend at costco (discounted). I'll plant them in a shady spot in the back of the yard in hopes that they will fill in some of the dirt patch back there. 

In the garden... so far

I love this time of the year. Everything is green, flowers are blooming, it's beautiful outside. Here's what's blooming in our yard--what's blooming in yours?

Easy Shepherd's Pie

I prefer to cook from scratch but during work nights it's often easier to reach into the freezer for something quick.

I whipped this up last night but ended up storing it in the fridge until this evening since the hubby ended up having to work late and we ate separately. Frozen veggies and mashed potatoes made it quick to throw together. I didn't follow a recipe and would make a few changes next time.

Here's the gist of what I did ( typing on my phone so please forgive any typos).
Chopped one large yellow onion and sautéed with a little olive oil until translucent. Add 1lb ground beef ( I used frozen grassfed beef from trader joes -- didn't thaw just threw in in frozen. Cook meat (**next time I'd cook the meat separately and drain the fat). Add fresh rosemary (1 small sprig) an thyme (3 sprigs) **maybe a little more of each next time. Add 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1tsp dried oregano. Salt and pepper. **next time I'd add some tomato paste (tube type) and maybe a little Worcester sauce**

Add 1 cup of water, bouillon cube and 1 tablespoon flour cook until thickened a bit.

Transfer meat mixture to a casserole dish. Empty a bag of frozen veggies (carrots/peas/corn) on top of meat mixture (I used trader joes organic vegetable foursome). Top with mashed potatoes. To save time I used trader joes frozen mashed potatoes. Microwave until soft and spread on top of veggies. Top with some shredded cheese -I lightly sprinkled the top with a Swiss/gruyere mix. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. I ended up broiling at the end to finish browning the cheese a bit more.

What to plant...

I haven't had much time to think about the garden as work was pretty busy last week with a 2 day conference (yay for comp time)! Tonight, while cleaning up photos on my phone I came across the pumpkins we carved for Halloween last year. I had a lot of fun and hope we can do it again next fall. I'm also debating if pumpkins would do well in the dirt patch... Here are some photos from last year's pumpkins.

Garden

Now that we have a backyard I'm hoping to be able to grow some veggies. Our last apartment didn't get much sun on the balcony, had squirrels that ate or destroyed everything I tried to plant, and I wasn't very consistent in watering. I think the only thing that actually did well was a jalapeño plant.

The house we are renting has a big backyard but we are limited to what we can do. On one side there is a dirt patch that we were told we could plant stuff in but anything else had to be in containers. I planted some tulip and daffodil bulbs in one section of the dirt area in November and have been trying to decide what to do with the other. The soil is a little iffy. It looks like paint was dumped in one section and who knows what else so I'm hesitant to grow any edibles there.

Last week I decided that we should build a planter box on casters that we could set up in on the patio. The side yard is concrete too and the space isn't bring used so maybe we can do something there as well. I found plans online for a box on casters and we ran by Home Depot this weekend for the supplies. We got home and assembled it and it went fast but the only problem is that it is huge! I wasn't really thinking about the size until it was built!

I think next weekend we will unscrew two sides and cut the boards in half buy a bit more wood and make 2 boxes out of the 1. So instead of 1 4x4 we will have 2 2x4 boxes.

I'm trying to decide what to fill them with. A part of me wants to try a sub irrigation method but it has to be filled with potting mix. At our local nursery I could only find organic potting soil at $11 ( 2 cubic). I'm looking into how much it would be to make our own. Or we could try a lasagna style where you layer cardboard, compost, lawn clippings and soil down. I'm going to research it a bit more and will have to make a decision soon since I'd like to plant in early-mid April.

we also need to decide what to plant...