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...

Citrus

One thing that we really liked about the house we decided to rent was the backyard. I was especially excited that there were four mature citrus trees ( orange, blood orange, lime and meyer lemon). I hope to one day have enough property to grow all sorts of fruits and vegetables but for now this makes me happy. We also have a small eureka lemon that we had down in the Bay Area and it is thriving in its new home!

For Christmas gifts I made two types of marmalade--vanilla clove blood orange marmalade and meyer lemon marmalade. The meyer lemon version came out too bitter for our taste but we liked the blood orange. It was my first attempt at canning and I think it went well.

We had so many limes that I ended up spending a few hours juicing over 60 limes--and that hardly made a dent in the tree. I juiced by hand and about 10 limes in I was wishing we had an electric juicer. I filled 8oz canning jars and froze the juice and have been using it for limeade and margaritas.

Josie

We adopted Josie at a rescue in Woodland, CA on August 25th 2012. We had been thinking about getting a dog for a long time and finally had a suitable home for one. We knew we wanted a large dog and so we made sure to rent a house with a decent size backyard. I came across her listing on pet finder. We liked her description but weren't super attracted to her in the photos (they didn't do her justice as we soon found out). My hubby and I decided to do a test visit with her to see what it was like visiting a dog at a rescue.

The next day we went by and asked to meet her. The woman warned us that Josie "didn't like men" and that Ryan should keep back. Well, Josie immediately went to Ryan trying to cuddle. The whole time we were there with her she was attached to him. Eventually she came to me and snuggled up. We knew then that she was ours and we were hers. We took her home the next day and while she can be a pain we couldn't imagine our lives without her.

Josie loves...
-Cuddles (with us--wary of other people but slowly warming up to family)
-walks and runs
-being chased around the yard
-hunting squirrels
-playing with other pups
-soft squeaky toys
-her chair

Josie dislikes....
-most fruit and vegetables (she is the pickiest eater (dog) that I've ever met--even when we got her and she was underweight with ribs, spine and hip bones sticking out.
-people riding bikes next to the car
-strangers in the house
-when I'm still in bed after Ryan gets up (she won't leave me alone until I get up).

Soups

By the time I'm home from work and walking the dog I usually don't have the energy to cook a complicated meal. These two soups are on my go to list. The lentil soup is a bit heartier and yummy with some crusty bread. The pea soup is lighter and would be tasty with a salad or small sandwich. In an effort to save time ( I'm writing this on my phone) I'm only going to post links to the recipes.

Spanish Pea Soup (pictured)

Red Lentil Soup

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

It's been a while (years) since I posted last. I've had the urge to try blogging again (thanks A for inspiring me to do so). I'm going through some old draft posts that were never published. The Christmas baskets was probably from Dec 2009. This photo was taken around January 2010 and added to a draft post with no text. I don't remember the recipes I used (maybe barefoot contessa chocolate cake) and a coconut cream cheese frosting. I just like the photo. A lot has changed in the last 3 years--got married, moved, new job, puppy. We are renting a house now with a nice big back yard and a big kitchen (hurray)!  

Holiday Baskets

***This post was sitting in my draft folder for a long time--finally posting***

I made a few of these to give to some coworkers this week and might make a few more for friends/family if I have time this weekend. The basket consists of Orangettes (chocolate covered candied orange peel), Chocolate Chip Cookies with sea salt (I posted the recipe here), Pecan-Walnut Snowdrop Cookies (aka Mexican Wedding Cookies/Russian Tea Cookies and a whole bunch of other names), Rocky Road Bites and Truffled Thyme Cheese Crackers (a recipe I found on another blog).

Orangettes

6 oranges
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup water
Additional water to boil
4-5 oz good quality Dark Chocolate (not too dark though maybe 60-70%)

I am usually pretty lazy when it comes to peeling oranges when making candied orange peel and will often just take a potato peeler to it--this time I took my time.

Quarter the oranges and cut each quarter in half again. With a pairing knife carefully cut the peel away from the flesh of the orange (I left a lot of pith at this stage). Put the peels in a large bowl of cold water with some koser salt 1/2tsp-1tsp (I didn't measure). Let them sit for a few minutes and then take them out one by one and cut off most of the pith I left a little bit on. Cut each peel into 1/4 inch (width) slices and return to water. Fill a large pot with cold water, add peels and bring to a boil over med-high heat. Let boil five minutes and drain. Repeat process with new cold water, bring to a boil, let boil five minutes then drain. Let dry overnight (sometimes I toss in sugar for a crunchy texture but tend to prefer it without). Melt chocolate in the microwave in 30 sec increments making sure to stir each time--don't overcook. Or melt over a double boiler. Dip the orange peels in the chocolate 3/4 of the way then place on a piece of wax paper, repeat until all of the peels are covered in chocolate.