Fresh Veggies, Well Baby Veggies

I posted a few days ago that I finally had some produce in the garden. While it's going to be a while before it's ready to eat, I'm excited to see some growth. The proof is in the pictures.

On the right is a teeny tiny pepper. I'm not sure of the variety. It's probably some kind of hot pepper, but not a jalapeno. I started this plant in my areo garden because I had a few seeds left over and a seed pod that never grew anything taking up space. I wasn't sure the plant was going to make the move from the hydroponic system to the real dirt in the group, but it did and it's my first to produce.

On the left is my single tomato. Still green, but growing. This tomato looks strong. I hope more show up on my plants.

My parents have been harvesting cucumbers. I also had a fresh radish from their garden yesterday. It was so hot or sour or tart. I'm not sure the taste description you give a radish, but it was delicious.

So far, other than a few little cabbage worms on my broccoli, we've been keeping the pests away. Yesterday I learned of a new threat to the garden: neighborhood kids. They aren't pests, but they are curious, and they are not afraid to ask if they can have my fresh food. As long as they keep asking that's fine, but I don't want anyone stealing from my garden.

Rhubarb Strawberry Cobbler

I read this post by The Pioneer Woman and decided I had to try this Rhubarb cobbler. I picked up rhubarb at the City Market from a farmer who could measure a pound better than the scale and took it home to chop and bake.

At my husbands request (and because I bought some VERY ripe strawberries) I modified the recipe to be a rhubarb, strawberry cobbler. It turned out really good. It had a little crunch from the rhubarb. I reduced the sugar because of the strawberries and that kept the sweetness at the right level.

Also, it was pink and who doesn't love to eat pink food. In this picture you can see the beautiful pinkness secured into place by the delightful cobbler.

Of course to serve this treat in style, I had to make some homemade whipped cream. Now I'm not saying that my whipped cream is the best out there, but I've gotten the routine down to culinary science. The secret... put everything in the freezer for about 15 minutes before you start, and use a metal bowl. The metal bowl gets cold fast and stays cold. For some reason the cold really helps the cream to peak and thicken.

Dinner is off to a late start, which isn't surprising when there is so much to do around the house and the weather is so nice to get it done, so to ward off starvation we opted for dessert first!

Flooding, so indoor crafts

It's been a rainy day in the mid-west. Three to four inches in Indianapolis this morning. I drove through the yard to avoid the rising water in the street to get to work this morning. I got drenched from head to toe and kept my shoes off most of the day because they couldn't dry out.

I got home tonight, and my garden looks like it survived. One potato plant and one Brussels sprout plant were a littl tipsy-turvy, but I think that was from the wet ground. They look like they will be okay as long as it deoesn't rain too much more tonight.

So I decided to use my evening to work on a great project for an upcoming Swap-bot swap. I'm going to wait to post pictures until I drop it in the mail. I've got to pick up some yummy teas before I can do that, but you can learn to make your own Tea Wallet here from "Is it Naptime Yet?"

I've got weeds

I need to find some time to get out in the garden and pull weeds. They are there and they aren't going away without a few hours of attention. I pulled out a few while I was checking things out last night. I also made a big salad from our fresh lettuce. It was delicious.

Around the house, the cats are starting to get a little case of cabin fever. They are indoor cats. They have been indoor cats since they were about three months old, but Dicey especially has been crying as he starts out the window. We've started letting them out while we're prepping dinner. He never goes more than a few feet from us. Racer, our more timid cat, will hardly do more than stick his head out the door. I'm hesitant to let them out until I get them to the vet for additional shots and flea medicine. Maybe we can do that later in the summer.

Delicious, Fresh, Dinner

We had a great dinner the other night. Grass fed New York Strip from the local butcher's shop, Corn and avocado salsa with fresh indoor basil, and a fresh green salad with lettuce straight from my own garden.

It was so exciting to finally get to eat a little of the food we've been working to grow. The lettuce is still in a bit of the baby stage, but it needed thinned out so there was room for the rest to get larger and once the heat sets it, it will dry up and be gone.

As for the salsa. It was delicious and unique. The corn came from our grocery delivery. It wasn't local because it's too early for that, but it is organic. The avocado and lime came from the produce stand at city market. If I can't get those things locally, I figure I can support a local vendor.

The recipe:

Two ears of corn, roasted on the grill
One avocado, peeled, pitted, and chopped a little
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup of fresh basil leaves, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Scrape the kernels off the ears of corn into a bowl, then milk the corn cob using the back of a knife to collect the milky juices (they act as thickener).

Combine the milky juices and half the kernels and process in a food processor until pretty smooth.

Mix processed mixture back in with whole kernels. Add avocado lime juice, basil, salt and pepper. Mix well and serve.

*Adapted from Weber Grill Grill Book

Red Basil

I picked up a stalk of red basil at the farmer's market last Wednesday. I don't think it's going to make it.

I planted it in the herb pot with my other basil, but the leaves fell off pretty quickly and the trunk is pretty frail looking. I'm not giving up hope because I know how strong basil can be. My indoor basil has been growing like crazy since I turned off the aerogarden light for summer. It's not getting as much light as I thought it would need, but apparently it likes that. Soon I'll have enough for some pesto. Pesto with walnuts most likely instead of pinenuts.

I'm debating buying another red basil, or maybe purple basil, tomorrow at the farmer's market, but I don't know if it's such a good idea.

Today, I'll have to swing by the produce stand at city market for an avacado. I'm not sure what the menu is for dinner tonight, but I saw this recipe for corn and avocado salsa. It looked amazing.

Surviving the storm

Saturday night we had terrible storms in Indianapolis. Actually, I can't say that. I wasn't here. I was driving south at the time and watching them with my white knuckles gripping the steering wheel.

There was more lightening in the sky than I had ever seen and by the time I got home the power had been kicked off and back on. I was worried about the garden on Saturday night, but it seemed to survive and maybe even thrive from the rain.

I've got another strawberry on my plant. I ate the red one on Friday. I hope a few more start growing because one at a time isn't quite enough.

I thinned my carrots yesterday. I hate to pull out too many because there really aren't a lot of them to begin with, but I know that if I leave them too close together they will not grow. I did that last year.

All Things Red

I planted strawberries in a pot. See that little bit of pink? It's a strawberry. And it's almost ripe enough to eat now. It's the only one so far that looks like a strawberry and not a green nodule.

I have to share it with Alex. One strawberry cut into two tiny pieces or more likely one strawberry and his will have a bite out of it as I remove it from the plant. I'm surprised at how well they're growing. Hopefully I'll have a successful strawberry summer.

Other red things in my garden are doing well. I planted tomatoes. Some tiny plants, which you can't see in this picture, I started myself indoors. These big tomato plants are from a local hardware/garden store. They have flowers on them now, which means tomatoes will follow soon. I got a variety of types because I'm not sure what I like. I remember my grandma growing big boys, but I'm sure she grew other varieties, too. I picked out the Indy tomato and have one plant of that variety for local sake. We'll see.

I've already started planning for next year. We're going to build/install a light table in the garage so I can start more plants from seed. I saved my plastic starter pots this year so I have a good stockpile of those.

I need to research prepping the ground after the garden, but I've got a few months before that and I'm ready to enjoy the summer!

My Opinion on Foods

I like food. I like to eat food, mainly real food. I like the occasional treat. I do eat prepared food at restaurants. I do not eat frozen or even typically packaged food from the grocery.

I do not like the government to tell me what to eat. I do not like the new food plate. I did not like the 2005 food pyramid, and I do not like that the general consensus is that people are too stupid to understand the pyramid that was released in the 1990s.

I like meat and other animal products. I especially like meat when I know the farmers that raised the animals or at least when I know the butcher that knows the farmers that raised the animals.

I do not like it when people call margarine butter. Drives me crazy.

I put cream in a my coffee (not nondairy substitute). I eat full fat varieties of most foods that come with an option (the exception being milk, because like beer, full flavor is just too filling). I do not think that a low fat life style is healthier.

I like the idea of the slow foods movement. I don't like the name because who has time for slow foods. My meals are all prepared in 30 minutes or less, unless the baking time is longer than 30 minutes in which time I am able to get other things done. I like meal plans. I don't always make them. I like breakfast. I don't ever skip it. Lunch I can give or take, but dinner is a must.

I eat dessert. Today it's fresh berries. They aren't good yet because they are out of season. Sometimes it's cookies or chocolate.

I grow herbs. I think they have healing properties. I think the food we eat affects our bodies. I think too many people do not make that connection. I think we can train our thumbs to be green and we will benefit from getting our hands dirty working on it. I'm at least going to try.