Gingerbread man and a pinwheel

This is a photo I took of Phil's big leather chair after the kids went home today.

Does this tickle you as much as it does me?

I'm babysitting extra this week because its daycare's vacation week.

today I took both kids to the Farmer's market to pick up my vegetables.

Tori loves to borrow my camera. 

Here are some of her shots

giant radishes that made her laugh

she liked the shadows and reflections on these plums.

Gotta get a cookie at the market!

Tori wanted a gingerbread man (not the girl, grandma).  I told the seller and he said "do you want your gingerbread man in a dress or in pants? " ... I've never seen Wyatt as meticulous with a cookie as he was with his pinwheel. He didn't waste a single crumb!

We had a great day. 

Grandma's getting tired though. 

One more day this week with just the baby.

This week's vegetables

Vegetables!

This week I have a few veggies left over.  I will use them though!  I think I'll chop, saute, and freeze everything that's left for a future vegetable soup.  Radishes are always a problem.  What can you do with them, other than eat them raw or put them in a salad? I do have a recipe for roasting them. Maybe I'll try that with my next batch.Or maybe I should give them to my mom and dad. I think they would eat them up.

We have eaten a lot of salads this week.  I like to make a salad with mixed greens, including spinach and arugula, and then add shredded mozzarella or Parmesan and chopped salami, dressing and a few croutons on top.  I remember how much I missed the salads when the greens stopped coming last year.

I made a pretty yummy fried rice one night with bok choy, garlic scapes, and garlic I still have left over from last year's CSA. I get just enough garlic to last one year!

But my best dish was this:  PASTA WITH SPINACH,WALNUTS, & CHEESE

1 T olive oil
3 slices bacon
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch spinach + one chopped baby zucchini + chopped bok choy
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

I sauteed all of the above together (bacon first til it was crispy) then added the rest. I had some sun dried tomatoes I threw in at the last minute too.

meanwhile I cooked thin spaghetti;
I drained the spaghetti, added a bit of olive oil, then the above vegetable mix. 
Then I added one half cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Toss it all with a little salt and pepper; pile it on a plate with a touch more Parmesan.

It was so good I forgot to take a picture. Maybe next week. I think I'll make it again.

A week of green eating...

My first week of fresh organic vegetables is at an end.

Here is what I did with it...

Thursday:  chicken Orzo soup, with bok choy, carrot and radish tops.

Personally I could have lived without the radish tops but Walker thought they were good. He may have just  been being polite. It was a nice way to use up quite a few vegetables, and Walker made a two nice foccacia loaves to eat with it. 

 I never can use up a bundle of mint very quickly so I tried two methods of preserving them.  Above, I laid them out flat on a cookie sheet and froze them, then put them into a plastic bag in the freezer.

I also chopped some and put it in ice cube trays with a little water to freeze, for lemonade, iced tea and other minty drinks later this summer (when it finally gets hot!).

Friday I made a big green salad with two types of lettuce and some arugula.  Then I finely chopped radishes, carrots, bok choy, and black olives, and added a splash of vinaigrette and topped the salads with that.

 Saturday morning I made a green smoothie with spinach, other greens, a banana, and blueberries. Delicious!  Then for dinner I made grilled meat with steamed carrots, and roasted potatoes with arugula pesto (that green blob above - it was very yummy and worth making again!)

Sunday we had another green salad with a flank steak and potatoes

Monday was a delicious pasta dish made with fresh spinach, walnuts and Parmesan. Walker declared "this is the best way to eat spinach!". So delicious I forgot to take a picture!

Tuesday I made a Spinach Cheese Bake, which I had high hopes for but ended up throwing in the garbage.  It was a layered "delight" with cottage cheese and an egg and spinach and toasted crumbs on top. Sounds good, but it was VILE! never again.

Luckily Walker made the above yeast dinner rolls and saved our meal. They were wonderful.

I only have one thing left from the CSA box of last week -- two mini bunches of Bok Choy.  I plan to grill them with olive oil and garlic tomorrow with whatever we have for dinner.

Here is what I learned this week:

1.  Some things I never thought of are EDIBLE (radish tops).
2.  You can't go wrong with Pasta, greens, nuts and Parmesan.
3.  Throw recipes in the garbage that you don't like so you are never tempted to try it again.
4.  It just takes a little focus and a list to use everything up.
5. My vegetable recipe book I made last year and have been adding to since is very helpful when looking for inspiration for some of the lesser known vegetables.
6.  A fine loaf of bread makes any meal a feast.

a walk through my wetlands...

Everything is to wet and lush!

 The flowers must be loving it...

The ferns are happy...

 the Iris, not so much

But today I picked up my first CSA box of organic, locally grown vegetables: Spinach, arugula, carrots, radishes, mint, baby bok choy, and red leaf lettuce and green leaf lettuce.  They have obviously loved the rain!

Now, my challenge is to use up all those vegetables in a week before the new batch arrives.

I have challenged myself to "no waste" this year.  Just to see if I can do it,  even if I end up chopping up the leftovers and freezing them for soup later.  Tonight I'm making chicken soup for dinner and I'm going to chop up the radish tops and throw them in for greens.  Have you ever eaten radish tops before? I certainly haven't, but I bet they are peppery-delicious!

September 29, 30, October 1, 2009

Working backwards, today (October 1) I went to the Farmer's Market with Vicki. I thought these peppers were beautiful! I didn't buy any, I just admired them. All I bought were a bunch of carrots, half of which I cooked for dinner tonight. Another view of the market. We have had such fun here this summer. Clam chowder, Panini blt's, soup and salad, coffee, bakery treats! A lot of good times talking and sharing and helping each other out too.

Today was a teeny bit rainy and cold, and we saw a sign at Anthony's Restaurant (the parking lot we were in) that said HUCKLEBERRIES! Vicki looked at me and said, hmmm that sounds good for lunch! I said hmmm I'm game! and next thing we knew we were sitting in a fancy restaurant with a huckleberry slump topped with vanilla ice cream in front of us! It was delicious! We made it all last an hour and a half. : ) across the restaurant - through the window, I saw something interesting out in the bay. I happened to have my camera along and took this shot -- its a blue heron on top of a piling! Usually you see seagulls there. The herons like to wade in the shallow water. It must have been there just to be beautiful.

Tuesday (September 29) I had a nice visit with my sister. She has a new house and lots of new furniture. I should have taken a picture! Its very nice and even though she still has lots of plans, it looks great and will be very comfortable. I envy her little "studio" outside. I had such a good time I forgot my phone there. hmmm, doesn't that mean I want to come back soon?

Wednesday (September 30) I worked most of the day, then had an activity at Sharin Memories, my favorite scrapbooking store. Claudia was there and many of my Rubbermaids friends.

We're still watching Star Trek!

I am still working on my Michigan scrapbook and my craft room, but have nothing to share from it yet. My brain is just bubbling with projects I want to work on. Little by little, I'll get to them!