The Power of Mother Nature

A view of the storm clouds from my front door

A thunderstorm woke me up this morning.

It's unusual for a storm this size and strength to come through this area. Even more unusual for us is to have a thunderstorm also drop so much rain, especially in August. How unusual? I haven't seen a storm like this in my lifetime. The last time we had a storm that even came remotely close, I was a little girl experiencing my first thunderstorm and saw lightning strike the flagpole at the high school near my parents' house. It was an early lesson on the power of Mother Nature. My mom's enthusiasm for stormy weather was in full swing that night, and I think it was contagious. I've been fascinated with thunderstorms ever since. 

A gardener quickly learns that she is at the mercy of Mother Nature every day. We have no control over heat waves, dry winters, cold snaps, sudden downpours, or thunderstorms. We plant with care, feed and water our gardens, treat plant diseases as best we can, maybe talk to our plants, and...that's where our control ends. We cannot fight the weather, and we have to take our metaphorical punches if it all goes cattywampus. If Mother Nature is not too unkind, our plants will flourish. And if not...

...well, you may have to start over.

Right now, I'm worried about some of my veggies, the spaghetti squash in particular. We've been treating the leaves for powdery mildew (a tough plant disease to get rid of if it's allowed to spread too far), and I worry that too much moisture will exacerbate the problem beyond our ability to treat it. We have a few squash very close to harvest, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they pull through. Tomatoes, in my experience, are very fussy about getting watered on their leaves (they hate it--always water them at the base of the plant), so I hope ours don't protest the rain too much and still decide to continue producing their lovely fruits for us to enjoy.

We'll go out and check the garden once the storm passes on. For now, I'll sit and catch the flashes of lightning, and listen to the booms of thunder.

Homemade Fine Dining

Mom and I love to cook for other people. Before the pandemic, we would have dinners every so often that we would plan elaborate menus for and cook amazing food to share with loved ones. Obviously, that isn't really happening. Scooter is considered an essential worker, so he's been going to work everyday and missing out on our twice-weekly lunches in the garden. He's been hearing me talk about what we enjoy at lunch, and I know he's been feeling a little left out. He needed to work on my parents' RV this last weekend, so Mom and I decided that we would give him a fancy lunch to enjoy after he was done working.

We planned a multi-course Italian luncheon with dishes that we could incorporate ingredients from the garden into. We used fresh herbs, different textures, different flavors, and made everything from scratch. Mom and I wanted to especially highlight our tomatoes, which are starting to arrive in earnest. We delved into our wine inventory to find perfect wines to pair with the meal. I carefully chose the silverware and flatware, the glasses, and the napkins with everything color-coordinated. To make it even more like a fancy restaurant, I used a Canva template to create a menu--in Italian of course. Collectively, it was an homage to the meals Mom and I had planned and shared when things were still "normal."

For the food enthusiasts, I'm posting pictures of all of our food. We like to pull out all the stops. If you are interested in a specific recipe, mention it in the comments and I can include it in a future post.

Bruschetta made with zucchini, shallot, and tomato (all from the garden),
topped with basil and fresh-grated parmigiano reggiano

Tuscan melon with prosciutto di parma

Black Krim heirloom tomatoes from the garden with fresh mozarella
and basil, with olive oil from family olive trees and balsamic vinegar

Squash blossoms from the garden stuffed with ground beef, chard from the
garden, fresh herbs, breadcrumbs, and parmigiano reggiano

Chicken cooked in Marsala wine with fresh garlic, shallots from the
garden, and mushrooms

Peaches from my aunt's tree drizzled with French peach liqueur

Starting in the upper left and moving clockwise: sheep's milk gouda
with truffle, honey-soaked goat cheese, cow's milk cheese soaked in
balsamic vinegar, and a sheep's milk cheese from the Basque region
in France

Homemade biscotti from my great-grandmother's recipe

Mom has dubbed this a "Super Saturday" and wants to do something like it once a month. The menus and "look" of the table and food will change, but it will continue to be a chance for us to enjoy each other's company and good food during these crazy times.

Buon appetito!

The Tomato Plant That Ate New York

Tomatoes - Day 1

Tomatoes are an integral part of Italian cooking. It's hard to go a whole day without seeing tomatoes somewhere on the menu. A good tomato is just as important for a hearty pasta sauce as it is for a salad or bruschetta. Not all tomatoes are created equal, and one that's good in sauce may not be quite as good in caprese. A gardener that also likes to cook will want to have a few different types in her garden so she can use the optimal variety for her intended dish. It was with this philosophy in mind that we planned our tomatoes for this year's summer garden.

We've grown tomatoes most years for the past decade or so, but we tended to be more conservative in the number of tomato plants we chose. Typically, we'd only have one or two plants--enough to enjoy most days of the week, but not necessarily enough to make sauce or can. The area in which they are growing this year has proven to be fertile tomato-growing ground in years past. The first year, we grew a single tomato plant in this area and ended up with a plant that outgrew its tomato cage by about 10 feet. No, really. We didn't feed it extra plant food, we didn't do anything special. We just put it in the ground, watered it regularly, and let nature do her thing. The plant's unbelievable growth spurt defied any growing guides we could find for any variety of tomato. They just aren't supposed to get that big. People we told about the tomato would give us the "are you sure?" look, assuming we were pulling their leg and engaging in a loose association with the truth. I assure you, we were not.

Tomatoes - Day 115

One or two years later, we planted there again. And again, we grew another Tomato Plant That Ate New York. This one might have been a little bit bigger than the first one. Again, no special plant food, just put it in the ground, watered it, and let it be. My parents blamed my green thumb; my dad claimed that because I had touched it, it was imbued with some magical plant energy that made it erupt into a monster-sized plant. I think tomatoes just like it there. There's good, rich soil, plenty of sunlight, and it's on an automatic watering system with good drainage so it doesn't get over-watered (yes, that's a thing with tomatoes). We've even had tomatoes reseed themselves and come back on their own because they like the garden so much! Tomatoes break the rules a lot with us.

The mystery tomato

This year, we have four tomatoes growing there, enough for us to enjoy and share with family, and enough to turn into sauce or can if we want to. And we seem to be experiencing more of the same Giant Tomato Plant trend. Three of the four tomatoes in this area have far outgrown their tomato cages, which were custom-made to be bigger and stronger than what you'd find at a nursery. One of the tomatoes has pulled the cage up off the ground(!). We've had to tie up multiple branches that were so weighed down with fruit. The three big plants are taller than either Mom or me (and we're 5'5"). To give some perspective, the Black Krims are only supposed to have a spread (width of the plant) of 18 inches; it exceeded that by about double. In 115 days, we've created three monsters. And to make things even more interesting, we have a mystery tomato in our midst. We thought we bought two San Marzano tomato plants, which are red tomatoes that are great for saucing. What we ended up with is one San Marzano, and one plant with these yellowish tomatoes that have green stripes. I think it's a Green Zebra tomato, but I'm not 100% sure. It's tasty and full-flavored, and works well in salads. If we can find out what it is, I'd like to have one next summer.

I dare say it's another good year for tomatoes.

Lemon Verbena

Our lemon verbena "tree"

Hardly anyone I know is familiar with lemon verbena. It's not a common herb to grow in gardens around here. It's not something I've seen mentioned in any recipes I've come across; as far as I can tell, it's not a "core" herb in cooking. I've never seen it mentioned as an ingredient on any menu or food label. It smells amazingly like lemongrass, a staple in some Asian cuisines that I love for the unique flavor and the strong lemon scent. A whiff of fresh lemon verbena immediately brings to mind the Thai coconut milk soup that I adore. Sadly, I don't think it's interchangeable in the recipe; the flavors of lemongrass and lemon verbena are different. The only way I've seen lemon verbena used commercially is in scented products such as essential oils, lotions, candles, etc. I'm slowly becoming more and more earnest in using as many of our garden plants as possible in our food. I was determined to try and use it for something, especially since it has been our most prolific herb in the garden. The question was, could lemon verbena even be used for something that's not just edible, but delectable? Recently, we did some digging (metaphorically) to find out what is possible.

Turns out that yes, lemon verbena can be used. I found this site with a whopping 35 ideas on ways to incorporate lemon verbena in food. One of the simplest ways to use it is for a tea. I have never made tea from fresh herbs before (does that make me a tea amateur?); my tea experimentation has been limited to unusual and unique pre-made blends I've purchased. A little more research resulted in a very easy recipe: 1/4 cup of fresh herbs per 1 cup of boiling water, let it steep for a few minutes, then drink. Easy, right? Mom and I were in the mood for a hot cup of tea, so I picked four branches of lemon verbena to try this.

A close-up of lemon verbena leaves

I stripped and washed the leaves, ending up with about 1 cup of fresh herbs. I didn't chop or cut the leaves, preferring to leave them whole for this first test. We added the leaves to a teapot, and poured in water we had heated on the stove. After about 3-4 minutes, we poured and sipped the first cup--and our eyes widened. Where has this been all our lives? The flavor is light and fresh, and you definitely get that tone of citrus that you can smell from the fresh leaves. It's even slightly sweet, meaning you don't have to add anything to the tea. Just brew, sip and enjoy. After the success with the hot tea, we decided to try ice tea. It was even better better than the hot tea, in my opinion. The freshness becomes even more pronounced, and adding a little sweetener (a little goes a long way with this tea) heightens the natural flavors even more, making this a prime candidate for sweet tea if that's your preferred tea incarnation. In short, if you are a tea drinker, get yourself some fresh lemon verbena tea.

You can see the buds of the flowers coming in here.
These flowers will be trimmed off the plant soon.

We grow our lemon verbena in a raised herb bed that is exposed to the ground on the bottom. All of the herbs in this bed can send their roots deep if they want. That area of the yard is southern-facing and gets a lot of sun, meaning the lemon verbena is in full sun a majority of the day. The plant is watered daily, and had been coming in very lush and full this year. I also make sure to trim back the flowers; we do this with most of our herbs we don't harvest flowers from to help the plants concentrate their grow energy into their leaves, the part of these herbs we do use. Our lemon verbena has become more of a bushy tree, so if you're not looking for a plant quite that large, you can grow it in a pot to help control the size.

Lemon verbena surprised us, so much so that we made it the drink of choice when we celebrated July 4th. Give it a try. I bet it'll surprise you too.

Sidebar: Plant Rescue

When my school site closed because of the pandemic, we had to quickly adapt. I was not allowed daily access to my site, and I realized that there were some members of my library that would rapidly become casualties to the pandemic if not cared for: the plants. We had five pots of plants in the fiction room, and several more in our library office. Many of the plants have been at the library longer than I have, so I am understandably protective of them. Some of them have names; three of the pots from the fiction room contain the same kind of plant, so three years ago they earned the name Alvin, Simon, and Theodore (brownie points for recognizing the reference). Some of the plants have been added since I joined the library staff there. An old student of mine gave me a small succulent when she graduated in 2018. We rescued an orchid from the dumpster at the end of a school year when a teacher (I assume) threw it out after the blossoms faded. Two pots were given to us by a colleague who retired and didn't have a place for them at home. I couldn't let these plants die.

The solution? My home became a plant rescue. All of the fiction room plants and all of the plants in the office that require fairly frequent attention came home with me. Some of them have done a lot better with me at home than they ever did in the library. The orchid we rescued three years ago? She currently has eleven(!) blossoms on a single branch with number twelve about to open up. She has thoroughly settled into her spot on my bedroom window sill. The succulent has grown at least a third bigger than he was when he came home with me. Alvin, Simon, and Theodore all got a much-needed pruning and are coming back even bushier than they were; they seem to really like sitting on top of the cabinet in my front room.

And now, the madness is spreading. I'm compelled to rescue other plants in need. Our run to the nursery on Thursday resulted in the rescue of orchid number two, seen in the picture for this post. I didn't even think twice before claiming him from the counter at the register. All I saw was the pink post-it saying "FREE" before my hands seemed to move on their own and protectively clutch his pot. He seemed in really good health, so Mom and I can't figure out why someone was trying to get rid of him, unless they couldn't sell him without blossoms. He is currently sharing the shelf in my bedroom with one of the library plants. Scooter and I have named him Ricardo Shillyshally (more brownie points for this reference). I can't wait to see what color his blossoms will be, but it may be quite awhile before the next buds start to appear. If you have any guesses, you can leave a comment.

Place your bets for my next rescue plant...

Not Your Average Garden Lunch

Mom and I have settled into a routine. Two or three days a week, we go out and work together in the garden. The whole garden is quite large, so the work is never-ending. There's always a pot with a plant we need to replace, or a long branch that needs to be tied up or removed. This has been a fantastic year for roses, so there's always more faded roses to remove. There's herbs to trim, and fountains that need to be refilled because the kitties keep drinking out of them. We weed, we talk about what we'd like to do, we rearrange pots, we water plants, we tackle small garden projects, we harvest, and then...we cook. 

Cooking from the garden has become almost a religious experience. There's something spiritual about picking tomatoes that you then go and use in a salad or a sauce only minutes after they were still attached to the plant. It has become a never-ending source of satisfaction to incorporate the literal fruits of our labor into the food we enjoy at lunch. Cooking has become more experimental, which has added even more joy to the process. The results have been exquisite explosions of flavor and texture that any restaurant serving haute cuisine would be envious of. Today was no exception.

We needed to make a trip to the nursery to get some more colorful flowers and a couple of herbs we wanted to add, so we started the morning by prepping the pasta sauce for the pasta we planned on for lunch. A good pasta sauce is layered. You shouldn't dump all the ingredients in the pot at once because the aromas and flavors will never fully open. Fresh ingredients are a must, and the old-fashioned methods are sometimes better than the modern ones. In my family, any good cook has a wooden chopping bowl for chopping herbs and garlic; my mother and I both have our own. The scent of the garlic and herbs wafting up as you chop is a heady perfume, a sign of good Italian cooking about to happen. 

Our pasta sauce started with olive oil and loose mild Italian sausage meat. We wanted a hearty sauce, hence the meat. If you're looking for something lighter, stick with just herbs and veggies. After the sausage cooked through, in went the diced onion. Next came the chopped garlic and herbs, including basil that we grow ourselves. In went chopped San Marzano tomatoes from our garden; this is a great tomato for cooking. Once those flavors opened up, it was time to get serious. And by serious, I mean wine, a cabernet sauvignon. The wine helps to deglaze the bottom of the pot and adds amazing body and flavor to the finished product (pro tip: don't use any wine in your cooking that you wouldn't drink by the glass--trust me!). Once the wine cooked down, we added the last ingredient: tomato sauce Mom made herself from a previous year's San Marzanos. We brought it to a simmer, covered it, and left it to slowly cook while we went to the nursery.

When we returned, we planted the few things we purchased, then went to work on the rest of our lunch. By the time we sat down, we had bruschetta, salad, porpeta (essentially patties made from ravioli filling), penne pasta with the sauce, and biscotti. As Mom is so fond of saying, "this is all we have." Each dish had something from the garden. The pasta had tomatoes and basil we grew. The bruschetta had our own tomatoes, shallots, and zucchini. The salad had our own cucumber and vinegar. The porpeta had our own herbs and swiss chard. Each bite had us in ecstasy, almost like some illicit form of dining. "This is soooo goooood!" "Oh my god, did you taste this?" And when we paired it with the wine that had gone into the sauce...absolute perfection. Food tastes so much better when you grow it and make it yourself. 

And for today's garden surprise, we discovered the parsley we thought we bought is actually celery. Looks like we'll be growing that too now! We've been gardening for years and were so confident at the nursery. I guess this is proof that even "experienced" gardeners can still be surprised. It'll be perfect in the box that currently has the last remaining sprigs of lettuce...

Cooking Librarian Remix

Day 1 of the veggie garden

My last post was made over 5 years ago. At the time, it didn't feel like I needed this blog anymore. So I started another one with a different focus, but that one didn't last long either. I wasn't feeling inspired anymore. I didn't feel like I had anything to say, anything worth sharing. Things felt...stagnant. Well, many things have changed since then.

As a cook, the source of my food has become more important to me as I get older and more experienced with cooking (and eating). To me, the connection between the garden and the kitchen table has never been more evident. Scooter and I make weekly trips to the local Farmer's Market, where I've found more aromatic herbs, juicier peaches, fresher lettuce, and tastier strawberries than I've ever been able to find in our local chain supermarket. To be fair, the supermarket has fine produce; what the Farmer's Market has is just better. As a bonus, I can also support the smaller farms and businesses in my area.

But relishing such delectable organic food got me thinking. My mother and I had always wanted to do a big vegetable garden that we would cycle crops through so we could harvest year-round. The thought of tomatoes, string beans, zucchini, lettuce, root vegetables, and others that we could grow and harvest ourselves was so very tempting. Since we both love to cook, it seemed like a no-brainer. The problem was finding the time to get the garden going and established. She was always doing something church-related, or chores around the house, or running errands with my dad. I had a full-time job, plus a year ago I started a teaching credential program. Neither one of us had the time or the energy to attempt such a project.

And then in March the world fell apart. The schools closed, so I suddenly found myself with some unexpected time on my hands. Everything else closed, so there was nowhere for us to go: no picnics at the park, no camping (or travel of any kind), no eating out. Everything. Stopped. It was a particularly difficult time for me. I missed my students dearly, I was worried about my dad (not related to COVID, but a story for another day), I was worried about Scooter who still had to report to work, shopping for food had suddenly become A Big Thing, and my mental health was starting to decline. Mom and I decided that now was the time for the garden. We needed something therapeutic, something positive we could do in the middle of all this negativity, and we would become more autonomous with sourcing some of our food. So we sketched out a plan, called up our local nursery--who was thankfully doing deliveries--and put in an order of veggies.

Back in April when we planned out the raised beds and planted all of our new, tender plants, we could not have foreseen the amazing things that have come out of this project. Every day in the garden has become a much-needed refuge, a chance to step back from the world and take a breath to regroup. We have poured hours and hours into our little oasis, and it has responded in kind. Our garden has become the perfect compliment to our mutual love of cooking, so my blog will be used to record our gardening and cooking "experiments." I don't work from a recipe much anymore, so I don't know if I'll be posting many. But I promise to share what I can on what I do in the kitchen and in the garden. 

Step into my oasis. A ogni uccello il suo nido è bello. Home sweet home. 

At One With Nature

Ever have that feeling that you just need to be outside in the sun and fresh air? I got that last weekend, so Scooter and I packed up a picnic lunch and went for a drive to a place in the bay area that I haven't been to in years.

It's near the bay waters, so the park has this great marshy area. A boardwalk leads you right over the water of the main marsh through a tunnel of green reeds so tall you would be lost without the trail to follow. You can't see much around you, but you can hear everything. The birds were singing a glorious symphony of chirps and warbles, tweets and quacks. Marsh wrens were building their nests and defending their territory from other birds and the multitude of park visitors. Scooter and I heard small critters scurrying through the leaf litter at the base of the reeds. The quiet footsteps of other people thudded quietly on the wooden boards. Ducks and geese called to each other across the water. Off in the not-so-far distance, bicycles rode down the gravel trails. The reeds whispered to passersby as the wind blew gently through the green strands.

And then, suddenly you come out of the reeds and you can see. You see the open water, the swallows and gulls wheeling overhead, the geese as they land in the water with a splash, the bright shirts of people, and the sun bouncing off the surface of the marsh. The wind created ripples in the water, breaking up the reflection of the hills until it was a vague blur. The hills were green but just starting to turn to brown, much too early for the season and a reminder of the drought felt all across the state. Under a clear blue sky in the warm sun and gentle breeze, there is nothing more calming, more relaxing, and more invigorating.

With summer quickly approaching, I hope that this is only the first of many day trips and camping trips this year. The two hours we spend walking and picnicking showed me that I absolutely need more time outside. We've already started planning our next day out.

Hi there, remember me?

The last seven months have marked a personal journey, one that has touched work, family life, and health. Throughout this time, I have been reflecting on whether or not I would continue this blog. It was originally meant to record my progress through my MLIS program, then morphed into something that still encompassed that but also included some of my other interests. But after my last post and during the time since then, I wasn't sure if my blog really had a place anymore, like a favorite shirt you outgrow. I liked it, but was it really still for me ?

Other things in life took center stage and this was pushed back to the shadows. But now I feel ready to take it out again, dust it off, and try it back on in the hope that it will fit.

What has changed? My job, my marital status--sorry guys and gals, I'm officially taken--and my husband's health. In two hundred characters or less, I'm now working in two elementary school libraries (a job I love), Scooter and I got married last December, and Scooter has been diagnosed as diabetic. It's a lot of life-changing events, and I'm sure you can see why I both neglected my blog and began to question its relevance to me. Now, I see a bit clearer that it can be a forum for me to discuss my successes and failures in my new job, especially since I've been able to develop new skills and have new experiences; it's been very liberating to be "just" a librarian for my two schools, rather than the librarian/test adminstrator/student success coordinator/event planner/anything-else-they-could-make-me that I was at my last job. I don't feel spread too thin and can concentrate on what I love to do. My blog can also continue as a recipe book, with the new addition of diabetic-friendly recipes. It's not easy to find stuff that Scooter will like that won't spike his blood sugar, so it seems only right to share our culinary successes here for others to use. And lastly, my blog can continue to be a space for my creativity and my other thoughts, as it was before.

So, my new journey begins. I can't begin to guess where it will take me this time, but I can almost promise some fun along the way.

How about some mashed potatoes with that chicken?

Things have been rather active professionally. In addition to passing our accreditation review with flying colors, I've also had some opportunities come up for new positions elsewhere. While I have had a lot of rewarding experiences where I currently work, I'm ready for a change. I'm hoping to get into a public library system where I can work with the public at large. I may be making this change as soon as mid-October. It's a very exciting time for me and although it will be hard leaving the campus where I have spent the last six years, this is a decision I feel is right for me both personally and professionally.

Since my last post in early August, I have tried out a number of recipes that I'll be sharing here over the next couple of weeks. I anticipate that I will be doing a lot more cooking too if I make the job change I'm hoping for, so recipes could come rapid fire. I'm also hoping for time for gardening and some of the other things I've had to put aside (art, music, spending time outside).

Today's recipe is a mashed potatoes recipe that compliments the oven-fried chicken recipe of my last post. These mashed potatoes are so creamy and good. This is not heart-healthy, low-fat, low cholesterol, or any other healthy moniker. Actually, there's no wheat in this recipe so it would be OK for someone with a wheat allergy. There, that's something. So here ya go, mashed potatoes with caramelized shallots.

What you'll need:
5 lbs. potatoes (your choice, but I like the sweeter red potatoes)
5 medium shallots
1 Tbs. bacon grease or olive oil
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. heavy cream
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

What you'll need to do:
1. Peel and cut the potatoes into 2-in pieces. Place into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cook until you can easily poke them with a fork or toothpick (about 15-20 min).
2. Drain potatoes and return to the pot.
3. Peel and chop the shallots (they always makes me cry).
4. In a medium frying pan, heat the bacon grease over medium heat and add the shallots. Saute and stir occasionally until the shallots have turned golden brown. You may need to reduce heat slightly to avoid burning them (low and slow is the key to good caramelized onions). Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Add the butter, buttermilk, heavy cream and spices to the potatoes and mash with a potato masher (the handheld kind) until creamy. Use a spoon or spatula to fold in the shallots. Serve warm.

You can up the ante even more with this recipe if you add bacon. You can soft-cook your bacon (even cook it way ahead of time), cut it into smaller chunks, and reserve the bacon grease if you don't have any already on hand.

Crispy Oven-Fried Chicken

I love fried chicken. It's one of my guilty pleasures in American cuisine (save the oxymoron jokes and comments for another time). The crunch of the batter, the moist meat, the flavor of the seasonings on my tongue. Every so often I get a craving that nothing else seems to satisfy except a bite of good fried chicken. Well, I found several recipes for oven-fried chicken that I borrowed from and cobbled together to create the recipe below. The beauty of oven-fried chicken is that it shaves off some of the fat and calories that inevitably come hand-in-hand with chicken fried the old-fashioned way in oil and grease. And this recipe allows you to still get that crunch that is such a key characteristic of fried chicken.

What you'll need:
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbs. salt
2 tsp. onion powder
1 Tbs. garlic powder
1 tsp. dry mustard
6-8 meaty chicken pieces
2 c. buttermilk
5 c. ground cornflakes
4 Tbs. melted unsalted butter

What you'll need to do:
1. Mix together the cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and dry mustard in a small bowl.*
2. Arrange the chicken pieces in a 13x9-in baking dish so that no pieces overlap. Sprinkle with the spice mix. Pour the buttermilk over the chicken, cover, and put in the fridge for at least an hour. You can also chill overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degree and fit a wire rack inside a baking sheet.
4. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and dredge in the cornflakes. Drizzle the melted butter over the top of the chicken.
5. Place chicken on the rack so that no pieces overlap. Bake the chicken until crispy, about 35-40 minutes.

*You can adjust the spices to your taste. Scooter and I like garlic, so I added more. If you like your food with a little bite to it, up the amount of pepper you use.

The buttermilk "marinade" helps to keep the chicken super moist. You can use low-fat buttermilk and cut calories and fat further. Also, because the chicken cooks on a rack, the excess oil and grease drips down and away from the meat, meaning it's not cooking in a pool of fat. This is by no means a fat-free or low-fat recipe, but it will help trim some of the bad stuff and will be better than getting fried chicken from a fast-food chain.

You can serve this dish with this mashed potatoes recipe.

Core Comfort Food: Meat Loaf

I'm going to gloss over the fact that I haven't posted at all in the last two months. There was a move (which is still in progress), job hunting (also still in progress), and heightened activity and stress at work. The combination of the three has been, shall we say, challenging. My physical, mental, emotional, and at times moral capacities have been tested. In times of great stress, food can often be a comfort; meat loaf is, in my opinion, the epitome of American comfort food. And when you have a good recipe, this meat-and-potatoes ordinary meal can turn into something quite tasty. Here's a recipe I have used and pass on to you.

What you'll need:
2 eggs
3/4 c. milk
2/3 c. dry bread crumbs
1/4 c. onion, finely chopped
2 Tbs. snipped fresh parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup*

What you'll need to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs then add the milk and combine. Add the bread crumbs, onion, herbs, and salt and pepper. Stir together.
3. Add the ground meat and mix the contents of the bowl together well.
4. Put meat mixture into an 8x4x2-in loaf pan. Even out the top and pat down gently. Bake in oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
5. Spread 1/2 the mushroom soup on the top of the meatloaf; add more if you wish (and if the pan can hold it). Bake for another 10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Cut into slices and serve with roasted potatoes.

*My mom used this on her meatloaf instead of ketchup, and I think the flavor is better. We were not big ketchup people except for hot dogs, hamburgers, and fries. Putting ketchup on meatloaf just seems...wrong.

Le Fin, Le Commencement

It is over. It it just beginning.

This is the sentiment I feel now having officially graduated with my MLIS. Four years, fifteen classes, hundreds of readings, and about a bajillion pages of writing later, I'm done. The computer problems--wireless/Internet disconnects, computer crashes, and lost work--are no longer the dire threats to my academic and professional future they have been. The nervous breakdowns, the feeling that it's just all too much, and the sessions of crying on Scooter's shoulder are over (or at least my academics will no longer be the cause of them). The need to juggle work and school like a professional entertainer is no more. No more late nights, no more logging on to my course site every day, no more stressing over grades. I don't ever have to write another paper if I don't want to. How liberating that thought is! I have gained not only my MLIS but my ability to pursue the little pleasures of life once again. Having to sacrifice pleasure reading for class lectures and assigned articles is a thing of the past. My time (outside of work) is my own again, and it's a strange freedom.

And while my academic program is indeed over, my professional career is still in its youth. I have been a librarian for the past 4 1/2 years, and considered myself a "professional" long before the completion of my degree. But the MLIS is an acknowledgement of my skills and adds a validity to what I've done and continue to do. With the degree, new doors have opened and new opportunities have now become possible. So while the degree marks the end of my academic career, my professional one is in essence just beginning. And will hopefully blossom, as I'm praying it will in the near future.

One thing that multiple people have asked me is "Will you pursue another degree or a doctorate?" Well, even though I know Mom would love to be able to brag about another doctor in the family (Dad and sister have a PhD), the answer to that question is a resounding "NO!" I intend to be a life-long learner, but I am content with the single Master's. School is draining; doubly so when you are an adult with a full-time job and an active life. I don't see myself going back to school anytime soon, if ever. This was the first degree I pursued on my own and for myself. I think it is my last. Besides, I have that wonderful taste of freedom. And the memory of being a student and not having that is too fresh to want to go back. I have a serious case of post-senioritis.

And so I'll just enjoy life for a bit. Maybe in a few decades I'll be ready to go back.

A Summer Dessert Part 2

Lemons are the epitome of summer fruit. Chilled lemonade, lemon meringue pie, lemon cake--all summertime treats that speak of long days, picnics, and hot weather. So it should be no surprise that my other proposed "perfect" summer dessert is also from the lemon family: lemon bars. These are an absolutely scrumptious sweet, and they are not that difficult to make. This particular recipe results in a bar with a crust that's like a buttery version of shortbread and a lemon filling that's similar to a rich lemon curd. Topped with a little powdered sugar, it's a perfect picnic dessert to enjoy with a glass of cold iced tea. And by the way, yes it does matter which lemons you use. More about that after the recipe.

What you'll need:
2 c. flour
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 Tbs. corn starch
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
3 Tbs. flour
1 tsp. lemon zest
3/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. half and half
powdered sugar for dusting

What you'll need to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9-in pan (a Pyrex pan works very well if you have it).
2. In a medium bowl, add the 2 cups of flour, powdered sugar, corn starch, and salt. Quickly mix together. Add the butter and combine with the flour mixture with either a pastry blender or your fingers. Mixture should resemble breadcrumbs.
3. Press flour mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake about 20 minutes or until edges start to become golden.
4. As the crust is baking, mix together the eggs, granulated sugar, the 3 tablespoons of flour, the lemon zest, lemon juice, and the half and half.
5. After the crust has finished baking, pour the lemon mixture over the hot crust. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the center is set (it won't wiggle when you gently shake the pan).
6. Remove from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool completely in the pan. After the bars have cooled, cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar. Store in the fridge and serve chilled.

As I mentioned above, it really does matter what kind of lemons you use. For anything with a lemon-type filling (lemon meringue pie, lemon bars, etc.) I always use Meyer lemons. This particular type of lemon has a juice that is sweeter than other lemons (others types I have found to be VERY bitter). Meyers also have the good fortune to be very juicy. For this recipe, I only needed 3 large Meyer lemons off of my mother's tree. Using other types of lemons would likely require more of them to make the 3/4 cup of necessary lemon juice. Meyer lemon skin can be used for the zest in this recipe (and when I made it, I did), but there is another kind of lemon Mom has that has great skin for zest--it's sturdier and more tart than that of the Meyers. Sadly, I don't know the specific name for it. All I can say is that it has a thicker skin and is larger in size than the Meyers.

Enjoy your summer desserts!

A Summer Dessert Part 1

Mother's Day was very low-key this year, more so than usual because Mom is still recovering from shoulder surgery. But we still managed to do a fine job with dinner. And because I couldn't decide on one dessert, I made two. The first is here, the second will be posted later this week.

Berry tartlets are one of two truly perfect summer desserts. They are light and should be served cool, which makes each bite wonderfully refreshing. I like fruit and I like making something yummy with fruit. And because fruit is healthy, a dessert with fresh fruit adds that little touch of anti-guilt to help kill the mental "I shouldn't be eating this" when all you want to do is indulge just a bit in something sweet. And what better way to enjoy fresh fruit then when it's the finishing touch of a berry tartlet?

What you'll need:
3 Tbs. ground almonds
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
3 Tbs. butter, chilled
2 Tbs. water
3/4 c. vanilla pudding
enough berries for 12-15 shells

What you'll need to do:
1. Add the ground almonds, flour, and granulated sugar to a food processor. Pulse to combine, then cut up and add the butter. Pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
2. While running the motor, slowly add the water until a dough forms. If needed, add a few extra drops. Remove the dough and form it into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a tartlet pan with butter or cooking spray.
4. Thinly roll out the dough on a floured surface. Use a 2 1/2 or 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out rounds. Press together remaining dough, roll out, and continue cutting out rounds. Repeat until you run out of dough.
5. Gently place the rounds into the prepared tartlet pan and prick with a fork. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until the dough starts to get golden in color. Let cool on a rack.
6. Carefully spread pudding on the cooled shells. Arrange berries on top. See the picture at the beginning of this post to view the assembly. Prepared tartlets can be stored for several hours in the fridge. Serve chilled.

The only truly fattening part of this is the butter in the tartlet shell. Everything else is low or non-fat. No eggs are used, so this is a great recipe for anyone with egg allergies. Also, you can choose other fruits. Kiwis, bananas, and tangerines could also be used if cut into small pieces. I'm just particularly fond of the berry medley for this bite-sized dessert.

A second summer dessert recipe will follow later this week!

Making Magic with Julia Child

It's been awhile since my last new recipe. Scooter and I have been using a lot of repeats lately simply because both weeknights and weekends have been busy. And when you're busy, it's a lot faster to whip up something you've made before than to try out something new. But this last weekend, I decided to try a new recipe for Sunday dinner. When looking at my line of cookbooks, I grabbed one I hadn't turned to in awhile: Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And the recipe I chose was her "Roasted Chicken Steeped with Port Wine, Cream, and Mushrooms." This was truly an experience for the palate. So much so that I couldn't help but exclaiming "Oh my God!" after I tasted the sauce and making Scooter come to the kitchen to taste it too. He got this dreamy look in his eyes and just stood there with a smile, savoring the flavor. We licked up every drop (in my case, literally) from our plates when we sat down to our meal. I don't know how she is able to do it, but decades after writing her recipes down Julia still inspires cooks and gives them the steps to make magic in their kitchen. Turning basic ingredients like the ones above into something so incredible can't be anything but a kind of magic. So without further ado, here is my slight variation on Julia's recipe.

What you'll need:
3 lbs. meaty chicken pieces (thighs worked really well)
olive oil
1/2 lb. cremini mushrooms
1/4 lb. white mushrooms
1 pkg. dried porcini mushrooms
1/4 c. water
1 1/2 Tbs. butter
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch, mixed with 1 Tbs. of the cream
1 shallot, peeled and diced small
1/3 c. port
1/4 c. brandy or cognac
salt and pepper to taste

What you'll need to do:
1. Put the dried porcini mushrooms into a small bowl and add enough water to almost cover them. Set aside.
2. Rinse and dry the chicken pieces. Place them on a flat rack in a roasting pan. Baste with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes or until juice is clear. Remove and set aside.
3. While the chicken is roasting, clean and trim the other mushrooms. Cut into quarters or thick slices. Set aside.
4. In a large saucepan, add the water, 1/2 Tbs. of the butter, lemon juice, and salt. Bring to a boil and add all of the mushrooms, including the porcini mushrooms' water. Cover and simmer for 8 minutes. Pour out the cooking liquid and reserve.
5. Add the cream and cornstarch mixture. Simmer for another 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper as desired and set aside.
6. When the chicken is done roasting, remove from oven and set aside to rest.
7. In a small saucepan, add 2 Tbs of the fat from the roasting pan. Stir in the shallots and cook slowly for 1 minute. Add the port and the reserved cooking liquid from the mushrooms. Boil rapidly until mixture has reduced to about 1/3 cup.
8. Add the contents of the small saucepan to the large saucepan and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until sauce starts to thicken.
9. Smear the inside of a dutch oven or casserole dish with the remaining butter. Add the chicken pieces and arrange. Put the dutch oven over medium to medium high heat until you hear the chicken starting to sizzle.
10. Pour in the brandy and use a long-handled match or lighter to light the alcohol. **BE CAREFUL and LEAN BACK FROM THE DISH when you do this** Remember, safety first! Tilt or shake the dutch oven until the flames disappear. If you get too nervous, put the lid on the pot to instantly put out the flame.
11. Pour in the mushroom mixture, cover and turn down to low heat for 5 minutes. Serve hot with rice or roasted potatoes.

This recipe suggests a white wine, but I'm so much more partial to red. We decided to try one that I bought at the store on a whim. It was of a winery I had enjoyed in the past (I like their Merlot), but a particular type that I hadn't yet sampled. Oh. My. God. It was fantastic! It was like the icing on the cake--a perfect way to round out the chicken. You can see the label here. If you ever come across this wine, do yourself a favor and buy it! Scooter and I finished the bottle. It's already on my shopping list for this weekend.

Between the outstanding food and the wine we fell in love with, it was a truly amazing meal. And the leftovers (sans wine) were just as good.

Go make some magic in your kitchen and bon appétit!

The Romance Novel

I admit it: I thought that romance novels had nothing to offer me. It wasn't so much the content. Yes, I am quite familiar with the genre stereotypes and tropes dealing with the content of romance novels, and I can hear the mental snickers of some of you as you read this. But honestly, it wasn't about the content. It was more that I didn't think I would find any good stories within the pages of a romance novel. To me, romance had been synonymous with "brainless fluff." This is a comparison that I know now is not uniformly deserved. My foray into this genre has been a journey, one that has been helped by friends and family including the very strong recommendations of my sister. It's not just about bodice-rippers or trite plots, although there are books of both types (sometimes both in the same book!) in the genre. It's about exploration and discovery, not in a sensual sense, but in an emotional I-know/wonder-what-that-feels-like sense.

Which brings me to another question: what makes a book a romance? I've read more books than I can count, and many of them have elements of romance in them without being romance novels. That includes many YA novels that I've read. To me, a romance book is one that centers around the human emotional experience: how we search for love (or lust) and what happens when we find it. Because no two people are exactly the same, there are countless ways in which this can manifest--and it's not all rainbows and unicorns (as Scooter would say). Love is a complicated emotion, so the stories that are inspired by it and in turn inspire us can be just a complicated. That's not to say that the novels with trite plot lines are bad. Sometimes I want to read a story that's like a really long fairy tale in the non-Grimm, Disney-esque sense: simple to follow, funny and light, with bad stuff that's not really bad and a guaranteed happy ending. And sometimes I want to read a story about the struggle behind love, about the not-so-perfect stuff and the bittersweet ending that's not the happily-ever-after you imagined (and even wistfully want just that little bit) but is just right anyway.

Right now, my experience is limited to only a few authors (although I plan to incorporate more works by more authors as I exhaust my sister's resources). My sister has introduced me to most of the authors in this genre that I've read--most recently Nora Roberts--but one was introduced to me by my old boss who passed on a recommendation from his wife, Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand. I enjoyed it so much, I bought my own copy and invested in some of the other titles she wrote. Reading romance novels is almost like watching chick flicks, a movie genre I like a lot (much to Scooter's chagrin). Not sure why I held romance novels at arm's length when I watch and enjoy so many chick flicks, and the two share so many themes. I don't have to over-analyze these books--I get to simply sit back and enjoy them. To feel them. Which yields a truly satisfying reading experience.

Here are some that I highly recommend for the curious:
Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand
Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand
The Beach Club by Elin Hilderbrand
In the Garden Trilogy by Nora Roberts
Three Sisters Island Trilogy by Nora Roberts
The Donovan Legacy Series by Nora Roberts
Arranged by Catherine McKenzie

I'll add more to the list as I think of them.

Higher Education Woes

We need an education make-over. This is a conclusion that I have come to after quite a bit of reflection, observation, and discussion about student performance and opportunities for higher education. I don't know what the education in other states is like, but in California there is definitely room for improvement.

Students aren't what they used to be. Perhaps this observation is skewed by my naive outlook on life and the academic achievers that I was encouraged to associate with when I was younger, but it seems like students as a whole don't seem to care as much about reaching academic goals. Sure, everyone wants to do well in life and be in a successful career, but I'm beginning to wonder if students have mentally disconnected the line between academic success and career success and don't feel that the latter is dependent on the former. Could it be that in their view good grades do not equal a good job anymore? Considering that we are limping out of a recession, that's not such a surprising conclusion for students to have made, especially if they or others close to them were experiencing unwanted unemployment and had a degree. If college is not seen as a valuable investment (as many of us have been told all our lives), then students are not going to clamor to get in. They will choose other paths, perhaps career training schools that advertise preparing individuals for entry-level positions and promise to assist students with finding jobs (not all of them deliver, and I have other issues with career school, but that is for another time and place). Perhaps it's not that the students have changed, but getting the bang for your buck in college has. Well, maybe so, but I don't think that's the whole story.

Education isn't what it used to be. Students in K-12 are not being as prepared for college and higher education as they could be (used to be?). Believe me, I do not blame the teachers. I was a teacher once, so I lived the challenges that they face in the classroom everyday. It's hard to make your students college-ready when your classroom is over-populated and daily lessons are completely taken over by pacing guides and district-mandated subject schedules that define how long teachers are allowed to spend on one area--and if students don't get it, too bad you have to move on. I know that seems unbelievable, but that was the situation I dealt with when I taught in a district in Northern California. So knowing that, it's not hard to accept that students are not being prepared. Not every teacher or even every district deals with like situations, but they exist. So by the time students get to high school, many of them are struggling because they didn't understand everything they should have in their K-8 classes. They enter high school already behind. They may graduate high school but they are not college-ready when they leave because they've missed important concepts or opportunities that help to build their critical thinking and reasoning skills, among other academic abilities. They are not by any means stupid or dumb...just absurdly unprepared. I see it everyday working with the students I do. I see students that are unable to think through a problem, even one that I would deem relatively simple; students that are very computer illiterate (what happened to giving them the chance in K-12 to familiarize themselves with the computer?); and students that don't know how to take notes or even write coherently. Writing skills, computer skills, critical thinking skills...all of these skill areas are supposed to be a part of every student's K-12 education. And perhaps for the majority of students it is happening, but I feel as though too many students are falling through the cracks. Education isn't what it used to be in California. Years ago, California ranked high among all the states (I want to say in the top ten, but I can't find the data) in terms of K-12 education; now, it ranks 33rd and performs poorly in several key areas.

One more piece of the puzzle still needs to be acknowledged. Let's face it: the cost of higher education isn't what it used to be. Every year, tuition for higher education rises, even for the state-run colleges and universities that are supposed to be "affordable" for students. The current cost of tuition and fees for California residents at UC Davis, a university I attended for two years before transferring to another, is $13,902. It's almost three times that much for out-of-state or international students to attend. When I attended the campus, tuition was only a fraction of that (my parents wrote the checks, so I don't have the receipts for the exact amount). That figure, as shown on the page I linked to, doesn't even include the other costs for school: health insurance (if you don't have proof of insurance through a parent), books, room and board, and other expenses. It adds up very quickly and means that students from low-income families have to take on substantial debt in order to attend school. What compounds the problem is that many students are finishing in 4 1/2 or 5 years, rather than 4. So that $33,073-per-year price tag noted on that same page I linked to just went from $132,292 for four years (as long as tuition doesn't continue to increase) to $148, 828 for 4 1/2 years or $165,363 for five years. You can buy a nice house in some parts of the country for that kind of money. For many students, taking on that much debt isn't an option. It's an insurmountable price tag for education, something that all students attending public school didn't have to pay for until knocking at the gate of California's public colleges and universities. This goes back to the idea of value I touched on above. What is the education one gets at the public colleges and universities worth? Is it worth the all-expenses-included-$33,073-a-year price tag? Is it worth more? Less? I think that more people are starting to say "less" and choosing other options. Could we start to see more growth in career training schools or other alternatives that focus on career opportunities rather than education? I don't know. Even many of these options come with a stiff price tag that could discourage people; a 15-month program at the school where I work is priced at about $30,000 and there's no way for the school to guarantee that every student will get a job in their field, even if there is staff to assist students with finding positions (and they do maintain a certain percentage of placements for accreditation purposes). Education costs are a gamble, and students have no way to be assured they will get a job after graduation, although job prospects have improved over the last couple of years.

I know I'm writing a lot of doom and gloom here, but there is a silver lining, a light for hope. Can you guess what it is?

The heroes of higher education are community colleges and libraries. Community colleges especially are not given enough credit for what it is they do. They take in all students that want to walk through their doors and get an education. If a student isn't college-ready, they have remedial courses and other services to help prepare students to transfer to a four-year college or university if that is really what they want to do. And if a student decides that a four-year college is not where they want to go and they want to concentrate on preparing for a career, well community colleges do that too. I didn't really appreciate the significance of this role until recently. And community colleges manage to perform at a cost that would be a dream come true at a UC or CSU campus. This local community college charges a mere $46 per unit. A student attending full-time and taking 12 units a semester is only spending $1,104 for the whole year in tuition, $1,166 if we include the other fees. Community colleges are giving students the ability to prepare for pursing higher education at four-year institutions or prepare for a career and doing so at a much more affordable cost. And let's not forget about libraries. Academic libraries, and yes even public libraries, are helping patrons of every age to pursue life-long learning and education. Remember my mention of students that are computer illiterate? My local public library system offers computer literacy classes. Academic libraries, particularly those at community colleges, offer instruction that builds critical thinking skills and helps students to be more prepared at being students (like being able to research for a class assignment). And they work with every skill level. Academic libraries do often offer for-credit courses as well; public libraries don't, but their workshops and other resources are often helpful when someone wants to concentrate on a specific skill set. And let's not forget the price tag for using the library: $0. Even academic libraries (excepting for-credit courses) offer their services for free, and sometimes people in the community are able to take advantage of what the library offers even if they aren't students.

So today, I salute all libraries and community colleges for what they do to help people with their life goals. Our education system is in trouble, but I think there's still hope. As long as these two entities exist to help address the needs of those that have career rather than academic aspirations, or need more preparation for college, or can't afford high tuition, then things are not broken beyond repair.

But they will eventually have to be fixed.

Italian Fruit Tart

I haven't made anything new for awhile, but this recipe is one that I keep forgetting to share here. I started making fruit tarts some years ago and am definitely overdue for my next one. I much prefer a cake-y base for a tart, rather than the harder pastry crust I've found in some store-bought tarts. The key to making this dessert both yummy and beautiful is to use fruits of different colors. I tend to use kiwis, tangerines and strawberries for the bright colors they have, and will add small berries, bananas, or other fruits that are in season. With the abundance of fruit available in the summer, this is an excellent warm-weather dessert.

What you'll need:
3 Tbs. finely-ground hazelnuts or almonds
3 Tbs. finely-ground vanilla cookie crumbs
1/4c. brown sugar
3 1/2 Tbs. butter or margarine, divided
2 eggs
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. flour
2 Tbs. rum
1/2 c. milk
4-5 kinds of fruit, peeled and divided into pieces as necessary
3/4 c. apple jelly

What you'll need to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the ground nuts, the cookie crumbs, brown sugar, and 2 1/2 Tbs of the butter with your fingers. Butter and dust an 11- to 11 1/2-inch tart pan. Sprinkle the nut mixture on the flat part of the pan and gently press down.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs with an electric mixer until foamy. Add the sugar and mix together at high speed until thick. Stir in the flour and the rum.
4. In a small pan, bring the milk and the remaining 1 Tbs. of butter to simmering. Immediately mix into the batter.
5. Pour the batter into the tart pan and bake on the lowest rack in the oven for about 25 minutes. Cake will be golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the deepest part of the cake should come out clean.
6. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Flip the pan over and ease the cake out of the pan. The nut mixture may stick. If this happens, scrape it off of the pan and gently spread it back onto the cake with a knife. Let the cake cool completely.
7. While the cake is cooling, strain the apple jelly (to thin it out so the consistency remains even) and add it to a small pan. Heat over medium-low heat until runny.
8. Arrange the fruit on the tart. Glaze with the warm apple jelly and let cool.

Now sit back and enjoy the ooos and ahhs when you serve your picture-worthy dessert. You can have it with whipped cream or all by itself. Enjoy!

Working With the Green

The hills are green, and the grassy turf is sprinkled with color from the spring wildflowers decorating the fields. The flowers have come in early this year, many in February because the lack of rain and the warmer weather have tricked them into thinking it's well into Spring. I see splashes of orange from California poppies and purple blushes in the fields from some tiny flower I don't have the name of every morning and evening as I drive to and from work. I feel like a flower myself, ready to pop out of my winter shell and bask in the sunshine and the spring breezes.

Even so, I never feel like it's truly Spring until I can get my garden going. The last couple of years, I've missed out on this because there wasn't enough time and space to really branch out (pardon the pun). This year, I have the opportunity to literally get my hands dirty and get a modest garden up and running. Poor Scooter has had to listen to me prattle on about vegetables and roses and bulb plants and bird feeders and outdoor furniture since Fall. Come hell or high water, I was going to have a garden this year. I am an unstoppable force that really needs my green. I'm almost embarrassed to say that a recent trip to OSH nearly had me spending on gardening stuff what other women spend on shoes. But in the end I had to be sensible; we're not able to do as much as we did three years ago. Part of it is because the backyard of our current place is cemented over, so everything has to be in pots or planter boxes (but I'll take what I can get). Part of it is because while I do have more time, life is still busy and I don't want to take on more than I can handle. And part of it is because the area is in a drought and it doesn't make any kind of sense to have a large garden that needs a lot of water. But all those garden goodies were very hard to resist.

So, we're starting small: some strawberries, some tomatoes, basil (other herbs to come), and one zucchini. The tomatoes and zucchini don't need tons of water (and actually zucchini--we found out--is susceptible to fungus if over-watered). The strawberries and basil are my two concessions that will probably need water every other day or every day, depending on how hot it gets. I also chose some flowering plants that don't seem to need a lot of water (every 2-3 days until established, then less after that). The few pictures below show our progress at the end of day 1.

We planted sequoia strawberries, the variety that Scooter likes.

A basil plant for pasta and to eat with tomato--an Italian must!

Scooter found this container at a swap meet. It's a perfect match for the red tomato.

The herb bed is ready and waiting. I just have to buy the herbs.

The zucchini bed before we lined and filled it. Scooter also added support on the sides to make sure it lasts the whole season.

Some of the pretty flowers we got to adorn the garden and not need tons of water.

We added another wine barrel with two tomatoes on day 2 (thank you K and Z for the donation of wine barrels!). We also added protection in the form of chicken wire for the strawberries and the zucchini; with cats in the area, the dirt would of course seem like a convenient litter box and I don't need that kind of surprise when I'm digging around. I hope to add thyme, oregano, and sage to the herb bed by May (there's a rosemary hedge out front, so we're good there); now that I'm cooking more again, I need my Italian herbs! And I have plans for adding bird feeders--high out of the reach of cats--and comfortable chairs to enjoy my new green space. Spring is just too much fun!