lovin' the little green heads

i keep meaning to post 'stuff' more often.....but it never seems to work out that way. *sigh*
we planted some of the tomato seeds we saved last year, and are happy to report that our seeds are viable! That means big plans for the garden this year. Already we have tomato, broccoli, lettuce, cayenne peppers, sweet peppers, cumin, eggplant, celery, and basil all sprouting. It's so exciting to see all the little green heads popping up out of the soil.

in the next couple of days i'll hopefully catch up on some oh so delicious recipes and more gardening fun......

problems in the pea patch

About a month ago we planted some peas......and only two out of about 12 or so came up. Upon investigation, which consisted of digging around in the pea patch trying to find some remnants of the pea bodies, little greyish silvery slithery things were found coiled and twined around a pea full of holes that was still struggling to sprout. I say 'things' because I am not sure what they are. They are not worms as they have lots of squirmy little legs, but I don't think they're millipedes as they are so tiny and not quite as rotund in body shape. We noticed them last fall nibbling on the turnips, so they seem to thrive in damp soil (which we have for maybe 8 months out of the year.....). Other gardeners in the area have said they have also had low pea germination rates and noticed the mysterious 'things' as well. So we planted some peas inside (although they're said to not transplant well as they have long roots, not spreading roots.....) to try and give them a head start when put outside. They only needed about a week to pop their little heads above the soil and start forming leaves. We planted them outside yesterday, and then sowed about 15 pea 'seeds' around them as decoys. I WILL have peas this year.

B-Nutty Shake

nothin' like a nice cold shake on a cold and rainy winter day......

Ingredients:

4 small bananas (or 2 1/2 lg. ones)
2 T peanut butter
4 1/2 T cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cup soymilk
1/8 cup agave nectar
5-6 ice cubes

If you're like me and forget to always have frozen bananas in the freezer for the random day you feel like shakin' things up, then you rely on ice cubes. BUT if you do have frozen nanas in your freezer, use those and eliminate the ice cubes.
Throw everything in the blender till it's all smooth and creamy. this makes enough for two servings, with an extra gulp on the side.

Flooded and slug eaten

If you live in the northwest, this might be what your Italienischer lettuce is looking like......

Marigold Aurore

This is a good recipe for those colder days. We actually made this some weeks ago, when the garden wasn't so soggy, but I'm only getting around to posting it now. This is the kind of recipe that fills you up quick, as it's somewhat rich.

1 1/2 cups soymilk
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
2 large carrots, quartered
15 marigolds, petals removed
1 bay leaf
2 T flour
6-8 T margarine
1/2 cup soy cheese (mozzarella or monterey jack work best)
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of parsley
pasta

Put the soymilk, onion, carrots, marigold petals, and bay leaf in a small saucepot. Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the carrot and onion are tender. Take the bay leaf out, and put the rest of the ingredients in a blender. Be warned that putting hot items in the blender creates a lot of pressure and the top will explode off and all the contents will erupt out and onto your walls.....so it's best to leave a little air space by holding the lid a little ajar while you blend everything together. puree the ingredients, then set them aside.
The next part is making a roux for the sauce. This was the first time I really made a roux, so I'm not really sure if the measurements are correct. If it starts getting too thick, add a little bit more margarine or even some soymilk. Melt the margarine in a pan, then add the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until it's somewhat smooth. Add the pureed contents, soy cheese, salt and pepper, and parsley. Simmer gently for a few minutes until you've managed to make the cheese look like it has melted into the sauce (even 'melting' soy cheese doesn't ever seem to melt all the way....), then serve over pasta.

spicin' things up

my pride and joy:




after some months of having to search through a crowded spice cabinet any time a meal was made, i finally decided it was time. time for organization. time for spice clarity. time for powertools of destruction.
and thus was born the spice rack.

p.s. i know- the picture is crooked.

mushroom and leek soup

it's mushroom season. last week (or maybe that was two weeks ago....) we went to the mushroom festival where hundreds of edible and non- edible mushrooms were on display. there was renaissance music and young men with feathers in their caps. there were mushroom starter kits, and mushroom food, long lines for the honey buckets (portapotties), and hay rides sans hay. at the farmers market every stall has chanterelles. and the occasional adventurous farmer will have some exciting foraged mushroom on sale. so this week we bought some chanterelles and 'fried chickens', harvested the last of the leeks, and made a tasty soup.

3 leeks, chopped somewhat fine (we wanted to use the last of our leeks up, but 1 cup of chopped leeks would do)
1 1/2 cups chanterelles, chopped
1 1/2 cups 'fried chickens', chopped (or another mushroom like portabella, the buttons, porcini, etc.)
1 T olive oil
1 T margarine

1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups soymilk
1 t yellow miso (or another mild miso)
1 T parsley
4 T veggie broth powder (or if you have liquid broth, just use 1 cup of it in place of water)
1 t pepper (or to taste)

saute the leeks and mushrooms in a pot until the leeks are tender. take out 1/2 of the leeks and mushrooms. puree in a blender, then add back to the pot. add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes or so. the mushrooms should be tender, but not mushy.
and that's it. you can eat it now.
if you really wanna get snobby, add some red wine or sherry to the leeks and mushrooms while they are being sauted. or add 1/4 cup of cream cheese for a richer soup. or add both for extra pretentiousness!