Changes to the Garden

I followed the advice of a few people and pulled my chocolate mint from my vegetable garden. I replanted the mint in one of our side yards to fill in the missing ground cover.

I also removed the kale and lavender and replanted them in the front side yard. I think the purple plants look pretty next the pink flowering bush. These are now the first plants I see when I leave the front door. How pretty!

I ran to Home Depot today to buy some wooden dowels or something similar to help support my tomato plants. I left the store with another tray of goodies including: dill, purple sweet bell pepper, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, and corn. One of my cats ate all of the corn seedlings that I planted in my house. Tomorrow's goal is to plant all of these new plants outside.

Can you find the chocolate mint? It is planted on the lower right side of the dirt crack. The plan is for the mint to beat out the other ground cover and fill the little spot of dirt.

Today, I also planted (and created, ie dug up all the weeds, prepped the soil, etc.) yet another small side garden in our backyard. This is a small mystery garden. I planted some of the seedlings that I first started inside. However, the cat ate some of these and the others were unmarked. The only surviving plants that I am sure of is broccoli and sugar snap peas.

My green onions sprouted this weekend. I planted these seeds directly into the ground a few weeks ago. After reading excerpts from You Grow Girl, I decided to cut the bottoms off of some empty water bottles. Then I placed these bottles around the baby plants to protect them from the wind and insects. I don't know if that was necessary and I didn't take any pictures.

Colcannon

I never heard of Colcannon until I was browsing the internet and found Tyler's Ultimate Colcannon.

Creating this dish is so unlike me. I haven't made mashed potatoes or eaten bacon in ages. Also, we haven't had any type of butter/margarine in our home since December. But alas, I was eagerly filling my grocery cart with such sinful delights.

I checked out a few other recipes, but ended up working from Tyler's.

As I cooked, I thought about dinner at my grandparents home. My grandmother almost always served mashed potatoes and some other vegetable - usually corn. My grandma would make a mountain of his potatoes, stir in his corn and pour on some homemade gravy. My siblings and I would mimic this behaviour as we ate our meal. Soon mashed potatoes, corn and gravy became one of my comfort foods. (Nothing beats homemade pierogi!) Oh, how I had forgotten this ritual.

This is how I made Colcannon:

• In one pot, boil the potatoes with skins on. I used 2lbs of red mixed with 2lbs or Yukon Gold.


• Once the potatoes are cooking, chop the cabbage (one head). In a separate pot, boil the cabbage until you think it is done. I prefer most veggies over cooked. I don't think they are over cooked, but I know others do.


• Time to fry the bacon! I added about 1lb of bacon. Of course, drain the bacon from the fat. Next time, I will probably use turkey bacon, Canadian bacon, or even Baco-bits!


• When the potatoes are done, drain and remove the peels with a fork. Mash potatoes with a tad butter and skim milk.


• Stir in the cabbage, crumbled bacon and scallions.


• Eat!

My New Garden

This weekend I started my first garden. Being able to step out of our back door and pick fresh vegetables to cook or enjoy raw has always been a dream of mine. It makes me giddy to think that I may be picking my own luscious tomatoes fresh from the vine this summer. The first challenge in creating my garden was picking out a place in the yard that would work visually and spaciously and still receive the necessary sun for the plants to grow.


After picking the location, the digging began. It took me about 2 hours to dig and line the border of the garden with rocks. There is my new plot waiting to be planted. Look at my pretty kitty posing in the picture.

Part of me wishes that I made this garden plot larger. After today's planting, I still need more room for the seeds that I started indoors and the few plants that I have on order. (I have a second garden plot planned for these.)



The plants in my new garden plot:

Chocolate Mint
Chives
Barbecue Rosemary
Sweet Basil
Lavender
Eightball Zuchinni Squash
Red Beauty: Sweet Bell Peppers (6 plants)
Gourmet Salad Blend Lettuce (3 plants)
Early Girl Tomato (2 plants, still have 4 plants left)
Tomato: Mortgage Lifter
Tomato: Supersteak
Tomato: Red Cherry
Green Beans: Blue Lake Pole
Green Onions (several seeds planted directly into the ground)
Strawberries (6 plants)

I hope my garden is a success and has a high yield of delicious produce!

Oh, and the purple plant in the lower left corner is kale. I thought it was pretty and edible. After the kale was planted, I went to Home Depot and they sold the plant as "ornamental kale". I am going to have to look into it. At least the plant is pretty!

Martini Weekend

This weekend, I tried to come up with a good martini recipe of my own and failed. I wanted to use my Malibu Pineapple Rum, which I love. I tried mixing it with Barcardi's CoCo Rum and added an orange slice (because that is what I had). It was ok, but nothing to make again. Of course the pineapple and coconut liquors compliment each other, hence the Pina-Colada, but the martini wasn't quite right. Next time, I might use coconut milk or accent with a pineapple slice or something!

My tropical "martini" failed, so here is Alton's successful martini recipe. *We used a cocktail onion as an accent instead of the olive.

AB's Martini

1 cup crushed ice, plus extra for chilling glass
1/2-ounce dry vermouth
2 1/2 ounces gin

Place some crushed ice into the martini glass you will be serving in, and set aside.

Place the 1 cup of crushed ice into a cocktail shaker. Pour in the vermouth and swirl it around, making as much contact as possible with the ice. Using a strainer, pour the vermouth out. Add the gin and stir well to combine.

Remove the ice from your serving glass and add the olive*. Using the strainer, pour the gin into the serving glass.

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005
Show: Good Eats
Episode: Raising the Bar

Lemon Drop Martini

I finally found a use for all of our lemons!

This lemon drop martini is wonderful and tastes better than most of the lemon drops I have received from bartenders. Depending on the size of your martini glass and your nightly plans, I would recommend doubling this recipe. Two of these drinks were enough to last me all night. Additionally, I think the glass looks prettier when it is full.

Lemon Drop Martini

1 1/2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce Triple Sec
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
Ice cubes

Mix the vodka, Triple Sec, sugar, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice; shake well (supposedly the cocktail is to be shaken 40 times to make sure the sugar is well blended). Pour strained liquor into sugar-rimmed martini glass and garnish with a twisted peel of lemon.