Archive for January, 2009
An Alluring Cauliflower Soup
I looked at a cauliflower the other day and thought it looked voluptuous. That’s what January in the northern hemisphere will do to a person. Later on the cauliflower soup did look and taste voluptuous, robust, creamy, curvaceous and thick with garlicky croutons.
Before the big freeze in December we had a regal purple beauty in [...]
While on Orcas….Doug Fir Granita
Winter is the time of year to gather a couple of big handfuls of fir fronds on stems because once the weather warms up, the pitch starts running…. In a large pot, mix together 4 cups of water, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup honey, 3 T apple cider vinegar and 1 T black peppercorns.
January’s Healing Nettle Tea
It is said that the “sting of the nettle is but nothing compared to the pains that it heals”.
Immersed in mid-winter’s landscape, hibernation happening everywhere, I rambled happily through the woods this morning: stumps and boulders blanketed with piles of verdant moss, lichened branches overhead, paths underfoot cushioned with fecund layers of frosted grass and [...]
Converting Your Lawn to Garden
While looking at the Scallops (Sustainable Communities all over Puget Sound) website, I came across this informative video, appropriately named Lawn Gone, from the Urban Farmers Guild of Sustainable NE Seattle. It clearly shows two options for converting your lawn to garden. One method is sheet-mulching — basically covering the sod with compost, amendments, cardboard [...]
Seeing Roasted Roots in a New Light
This time in history, as well as this season of the year, calls for us to put what we already have on hand to good use. If you take lots of photos like I do, you learn to create some of that newness by looking at things in a different way.
In the Mood for Slow Food
Slow Food USA, an organization devoted to the practice of using local whole foods in preparing meals, originated in Italy, not surprising, and has inspired an international slow food movement.
Sixty bucks a year gets you into their inside track, in touch with a local chapter, and, importantly, informs subscribers about and supports local food [...]
Make a Crock of Sauerkraut
I know, I know. Making sauerkraut is probably the last thing on your mind today. Not very inaugural but definitely an investment in the future of your good health and sustainability. Still not convinced? It took my friend Lorna inviting me over in mid-December to get me going. Don’t get me wrong. I love projects [...]
Scatter Your Sushi
Hallelujah, throw confetti, scatter sushi. Inauguration day around the corner, finally, and time to celebrate. The confetti part comes easily, I’ve been practicing my mental confetti game for eight years now. Scattering sushi is attainable too and I suppose requires some clarification.
Count the ways one might revel and one is with food. I’m trying something [...]
Just Garlic
Three heads of last year’s garlic crop left. The final three. Recent harvests have dwindled due to an as yet unnamed rot, so we’ve decided to give the soil a break and not grow garlic for a while.
Thanks to Bob’s attention to it all we rotate the garlic crop annually as recommended, but something’s [...]
Countertop Crops: Grow Some Sprouts
Once I start thinking about seeds and spring, it’s hard to stop. Maybe it’s time to pull out the sprouter and start a crop of sprouts — talk about practically-instant-gratification. In just 2 – 4 days, you can grow enough to whip up a batch of sprout burgers or to sprinkle on just about anything. [...]
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