Spring Dreams

Can you believe March is here?  I looked at my 'plans' and saw that I should be focusing on bread this month.  I'm just not into bread right now.  I'm unsatisfied with the recipes I've tried, I don't have a baking stone, and I don't have a mixer or food processor that can handle dough.  So if I want to make bread I have to be prepared to knead it by hand, a lot.  I would be happy to do this, maybe, ... another day. 

Today the sun is out and the garden wants attention.  I always have such high hopes for my garden in the spring.  I cram way too many plants, seeds, bulbs and dreams into a very small space.  Then I water sporadically, fertilize maybe once, and am so dissapointed by my yeilds.

I will do better this year.  I will not succumb to the wide variety of beautiful tomato plants and buy one of each.  I will not try to grow five different varieties of peppers or anything else.  What I really want is one slicing tomato, one cherry tomato, a few peppers and some herbs.  I also want to try potatoes again.  If I can maintain focus and not get sucked into trying all sorts of heirloom beans, carrots, and odds and ends maybe I'll have more success. 

It's still early, but we have a very warm climate, and sugar snap peas love cool weather.  These are already in the ground thanks to help from my little digger.  I'll plant potatoes next.  Apparently the conditions in my kitchen are perfect for sprouting them.  Some lettuce, spinach and shallots survived the winter.  Weeds are popping up so it's time to get crackin'.

 

Comments

[Anna]

Missing that boy! Hope the garden grows well.

[Jehan El-Jourbagy]

The recipe was in the February 2011 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Meatballs would probably work, especially if you included the egg into the mix -- though you might want to leave out the couscous (and boiling water) if you are going to serve them with couscous.

We have lettuce, kale, spring onions and cabbage going. We also planted carrots and broccoli (we've never had luck with them in the past and are keeping our fingers crossed). We're planning on a couple of tomato plants, a green pepper plant, cucumber, and the six blueberry bushes, which all should be yielding this year.

[sonya]

Thanks Jehan. That Moroccan recipe sounds interesting. I love those flavors. Where did you get it and do you think you could do something similar with meatball shapes instead of a loaf to serve with couscous?
What are you planting this year?

[Jehan El-Jourbagy]

Happy gardening and birthday! Since it's also "Happy PhD Day," your big day is easy to remember! We made your chicken thigh/tomato recipe with a few modifications (I didn't have grape tomatoes, so I just chunked a couple of slicing tomatoes . . . I always seem to be missing something), and it was delicious! Ryker loved it too.

A few days ago, we made Moroccan meatloaf, and even Ryker liked it! Frankly, it did not sound very appealing to me, but it was relatively easy and satisfyingly different. I preheated the oven to 425 with a rack at second to bottom (the recipe called for baking in the top third, but who bakes in the top third?! No me!) and mixed 1/2 of a chopped onion, 1/2 cup couscous, 1 cup raisins, a tsp of curry, a tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Then I poured 3/4 cup boiling water over the mixture and let it sit for about two minutes. Then I added ground lamb (not sure how much -- I used one of our recently slaughtered lamb ground packs -- about the size of a grapefruit). I was supposed to add an egg but didn't have one (I know -- what kind of kitchen doesn't have an egg in it?!). I patted the mixture into a meatloaf-looking structure (using a lasagne dish -- I'm sure it has another, more technical term, using dimensions, etc., but I think you know what I mean -- lined with aluminum foil). Into the oven it went for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, I made a "chutney" (okay, so normally, I think chutney sounds gross, but again, I was more than pleasantly surprised), mixing 1/2 cup raisins (more raisins?!), half of an onion, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, one pint grape tomatoes (okay, so I used chopped up tomatoes because yes -- you guessed it -- I didn't have grape tomatoes. Again.) and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan. I cooked, covered, on medium-high until it looked done (the recipe said until the tomatoes pop).

So guess who likes raisins? Ryker! And he managed to eat the lamb and couscous too.