Is anyone else having troubles on Blogger? I have been so busy getting the patio arranged and the indoor plants out, and getting the garden started....and cooking! Gotta use those eggs! That I haven't been here in almost 10 days and everything seems different..it took a while to find the link to VIEW the blog itself... It seemed as if it changed even since the last time I was here!
I am not sure what to do..stay here? Change blogger engines??? The last time I came here, I did find it easy to change the background to something more spring-y, but still haven't changed the header..I need a block of time to sit down and do that!
The garden is a whole other issue this year... I started some spring crops in pots..some lettuce and cauliflower, but not much else. Nothing was growing! This winter was such a crazy winter. I am not seeing the flowers we usually get in the spring. There were little of no garden violets in the lawn. Last year we had so many we didn't know what to do with them (the leaves have more iron then SPINACH! And are great in salad (or cooked like spinach!) and the flowers can be used in salads also.). The plants are there.....the leaves are not as big, or plentiful, as last year but the blooms are far and few between.. Even at our local stores. Last year I bought a flat of white Impatience..this year no one even has any... I am beginning to think learning about foraged plants might be a good idea. (I know a few of them, Lambs Quarters have more iron then spinach also. And they do have taste..as do the violets..) And then there's Chickweed. I have a BUMPER crop of chickweed in the garden I have to remove. The chickens work their way through it, but as far as taste? Not so much...although it is supposed to be healthy...
But all in all, I still prefer cultivated grown garden crops, but that brings us back to the weather and the garden this year. I am growing more and more in pots so they can be controlled, but that doesn't give much space for preserving amounts. Next weekend (or whenever it stops raining) I'll plant tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, so we'll see how they grow. And transplant I have to the cauliflower (2 kinds-a white and a golden yellow!) into larger pots. I will keep them out of the ground until mid June or so, for a later crop. Meanwhile, once June is up and running, plant beans (4 kinds), summer squash and winter squash, and one of my favorites..cucumbers..I LOVE cucumbers... I'll also plant more lettuce and spinach and other spring plants in pots..to go through the summer and into the fall...
and of course there's annuals of marigolds and zinnia and more daylily's...
Here is but a few violets I picked last year (I put some up in the last post too) out of the lawn so they wouldn't get mowed and there was plenty more where they came form! but throughput this winter I would see blossoms here and there...
This year I dared not pick any blooms, because there wouldn't be enough to seed for this spring, although it seems like the winter took care of that.... And the leaves, as I said were tiny this spring.
My indestructible New Dawn Climbing rose is all but dead in the back corral fence. (the one I moved several years ago from a too shaded back fence..) I will cut back the dead but after looking yesterday there only appears to be one or two branches still with leaves (I am very sad about that)
Much died over this winter because of lack of snow and water. Not as many daffodils came up..the chickweed, as I said thrived!!
I am still in transition. I thought that was over..my life is changing yet again ..(through others in my circle if not directly. Which means I really have no control over the changes, and do not have a clue where things will end up...) These changes used to be exciting for me, but at 65 I am wanting some stability now. At least changes within my control! I don't mind changes within my "realm" but if they would only stay inside that!
Every time we think we have a handle on what needs to be fixed in this house, something else comes up and we need to re-organize how we are going to go about doing the fixing...
Meanwhile...cooking!! I made some thing for my sons the other day that was out of this world! (ops no eggs in it, BUT the strawberries were calling)
http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/04/roasted-strawberry-brie-chocolate-grilled-cheeeeeeeese/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+howsweeteats%2FsmSp+%28How+Sweet+It+Is%29
It is a Roasted Strawberry Chocolate (dark) Brie grilled cheese.......
We just happened to have everything on hand and I made 2 for the 3 of us, not knowing how they would be, and cut them in small pieces......OM Goodness! I never tasted anything so good!
The roasted strawberries, the butter and toast...OMG! The melted cheese..(if you can not find brie I am sure a mild melting cheese would work..I am thinking Muenster.. but I think even mozzarella would work too)
I hope you get a chance to go there and try this recipe...I am not sure if it is a dessert or a meal..It FELT like a meal.... delicious, gooey, chocolatey, melt-y meal.... (even with the small pieces) A decadent MEAL! And I wanted MORE!
Great blog..."How Sweet Eats"....
That's all for now. Hope to be back soon.
See ya later,
Janie
