In the Garden....

These days I feel best when I am out in my yard.  I've been working on the front of the house which is where my vegetables and herbs are, because its the only place I get sun.  The back of the house is complete shade and woods.  The back is where I get creative with the decor.  So .... some before pictures of the front, and after things start to take off I'll post some follow up pictures.   Most people don't care, but I know my good friend Joan loves pictures of plants.  So this is for my Joan.

Lemon Thyme

 Oregano and Marjoram

 Rosemary and Chives

 Tarragon and Pineapple Sage

 Lemon Verbena and Lemon Balm

 Flat leaf Parsley

 Peppermint Spearmint and Chocolate Mint (smells just like chocolate unbelievable)

 Basil

Now the Vegetables these are 

Watermelon Radishes and I am very excited about them

They are green on the outside and pink on the inside...can't wait!

 Yellow grape tomatoes

 Heirloom summer squash variety

Red Grape Tomatoes

Green beans 

 English Peas

 Lettuce

And all the pots are sitting on Lilly of the Valley that I cannot seem to kill.

I have ornamental shrubs because grass will not grow here....my poor grandfather tried for years .... 

 This will hopefully be an overgrown pot of Nastursum (that's not the right spelling) 

its an edible flower that is very peppery.

 I am going to grow grass...right here where the stone came out....

just another reason for my Grandfather to haunt me

 This is a Peony that my friend Joan gave me ..... maybe 15, 16, 17 years ago

it had never bloomed ....

 Check this out... God has plans for me... there is a bud!

 and finally the newest member in my family of plants ... 

meet Bernard ( my sister Lisa named him) the Japanese Maple 

I got him a Mahoney's last weekend ... Some really good looking guy was watching me as I picked him out and he kept smiling at me and as he got closer to me I said "why are you smiling at me" and he said 

"you got yourself a good one" my sister said, "men are going to flirt with you ... enjoy it".

I love Bernard....

Making the effort...

effort (ef'ert) n.  1. The use of physical or mental energy to do something; exertion.

In this case it is both physical and mental for me.  I know I talked about this a few weeks ago but it truly is amazing to me how hard it is for me to cook.  It's amazing because 10 weeks ago it was the thing I lived for.  I could not wait to get home from work most nights to try and create something new.  Snow days at home would always mean that I would bake bread.  Most weekends I spent the majority of the time experimenting with new flavor combinations.  The days spent before the big summer party and Christmas eve were my favorite days, sometime crazy and hectic in preparation, but I loved every minute of it.  Now I can barely fry an egg, and then try to swallow it.  

Time is the great healer I have been told....I've also been told to "try"...."This too shall pass"....."I know it doesn't seem like it now honey, but things are going to get much better and you'll be fine" ....and I know I will but I just want to be able to do the thing I love to do, and enjoy it.  It just seems like a cruel punishment on top of everything else I'm dealing with ....but this I'm doing to myself.  

Anyhoo .... So I've been trying... to be creative and cook....and slowly, slowly its coming back... tonight I made braciole.  I made it and it was less painful than the spinach salad and French onion soup I made yesterday and alot easier than the crab cakes I made last Thursday.  I'm not eating a lot of anything but I am eating more than I was a month ago.  So we have progress ... I'll take it!

I am being very careful with money these days and I found this cheap cut of beef.

 I got four pieces for about 6 bucks, 

pounded the hell out of it (which was also very therapeutic) and rendered it tender.

Sprinkled it with bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, some herbs, salt and pepper.

Rolled it, tied it and fried it in olive oil till brown  

Then I added a jar of my sauce and let it cook slowly for a very long time on low heat.

For the crab cakes I cheated and used canned crab instead of the fresh stuff.

I had  two cans to which I added two eggs, chopped celery, a fine chopped shallot, some tarragon  

and enough bread crumbs to hold it all together 

rolled them in panko and fried them in a little olive oil and butter.  

I made some wilted spinach and quinoa.  

I also made a little sauce of olive oil mayo, lemon zest, lemon juice, chopped dill pickle and some capers.  

This is angel hair birds nest pasta that I browned in a little olive oil.

After it browned on both sides I added a cup of chicken stock and a can of cherry tomatoes and some herbs.

Just let it cook slowly and absorb the liquid as it cooks.  

I'm making an effort......

A Craft Project

Thought I would share a little craft project I worked on for a few nights last week.  My sister-in-law Cathy asked for help turning an ordinary white cotton sock into a doll for her.  It was for a group she participates in about losing weight.  Cathy is a little on the dirty side so I wanted the doll to reflect this side of her personality. Anyhoo, I figure when she is down to her goal weight this is the kind of outfits we will be seeing her in.  (and I saw her last week, she'll be wearing this outfit soon!)

These were before the hair and face but the detail of the navel is better.

Same with the cheeks here.

I am especially proud of the thigh high real black leather boots!

Not a bad looking white cotton sock!

Spring has Sprung

Thank God!  Everything is that beautiful fuzzy baby goose yellow green!  If one more flake of snow had fallen that would have been the end of me.  

A very large tree limb came down on my honeysuckle last fall... I thought about replacing this trellis but I have a new attitude on things "damaged".  Everything damaged gets to go on in my world now, besides it has so much more character than when it was perfect.

The herbs are in...now I'm happy!

For Mother's Day I made a Lingonberry Tart.  Lingonberries are native to Sweden (and so am I.... well 1/4 of me is) and are very delicious like a tiny cranberry.  Tart and sweet... (I've made homemade yogurt and added some lingonberries to it ...very good combo.)

The crust was made with 1& 1/2 cups of almond flour and 1 &1/2 cups of oat bran flour, 6 TBS of brown sugar and 1 stick of butter.  Combine and press into a tart pan and bake at 350 for a 1/2 hour or until set like a cookie.  spread with the lingonberries and cut into wedges.  We served it with vanilla ice cream.

Zachary really liked the lingonberries until he spotted the giant chocolate covered strawberries......then it was all over.