What recipe?

 

I have had a lifelong passion for cooking.  Before computers, I collected dozens of cookbooks and subscribed to several cooking magazines.  After the Internet came along, I would browse it for recipes.  I was eager to try new techniques and was undaunted by a long list of ingredients.

As my eyesight began to fail, I used stronger and stronger magnifying glasses to read recipes.  Then I began seeking easier recipes. The next step was trying to limit the number of ingredients so I could memorize recipes that my husband would read to me.   Finally I am at the stage where I use no recipes at all and improvise 99% of the time.

Now I rely on my many years of experience.  Actually it is going quite well and have come up with some interesting results by just throwing things together that sound good to me.  Mostly I rely on recipes that do not depend on specific amounts of ingredients to be successful and have a large margin for error.  For example, this week I made individual tarts with caramelized onions and goat cheese with egg and cream.

Two things that work in my favor: one is my husband loves to eat and eats everything--even  my mistakes.  And never criticizes what hits the table.  Secondly, there are lots of basic recipes that are very flexible. 

The two biggest cooking challenges are deboning meat or fish and detecting  mold on things, like cheese. This spring I've had my husband take over these chores.

How I come to terms with my stove is a whole other blog post.

garden he;per

I'm happy to announce that I have at least one toad living under my deck. That's the sign I have a healthy garden. 

Their diet is insects.  In your garden the toad is quiet during the day.  In the evening it starts croaking.

I had toads at the farm and frogs as well in the pond.  I had lots of small garden snakes that eat insects as well.

When the forest I planted reached a certain height, I noticed ants building a hill. Eventually it was about 3 feet tall and full of activity.  I asked my friendly forester if I should do anything about it. He told me the anthills are the sign of a healthy forest.  Eventually there were about three or four big hills.  The ants would be active for a while, and then all of a sudden the ants would abandon the hill and move someplace else.  They help decompose the debris on the forest floor which enriches the forest soil.  I miss my florist. 

Food rip

 

[unedited]  On  a television cooking show they served seared tuna with a creamy mustard sauce. I thought this would be fun to try as I have never done this sauce before.

 

 It turns out it's very easy. You just add one tablespoon of whole grain mustard to 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Let it set up a few minutes until it thickens and it is ready to use.

 

 I was not all that impressed with this sauce served with the tuna but the next day I used the same  creamy mustard sauce on  roasted cauliflower and it was absolutely yummy. I'm delighted to have found something new and differerent

Idea for fiinding seedlings

 

I planted my peas and beans in my weed -free raised beds. When they emerge I'll be able to identify them and not accidentally pull them out.  I'm planting my squash in a crowded flower bed by the deck, and recognizing them when they emerge is going to be difficult.

I was looking for some way to protect them and make it easy for me to identify them until they get big enough to grow up on the deck.

I'm so proud of my solution. I took the removable bottom from my smallest tart pan and turned it upside down in the soil. Then I planted the squash seeds in the middle.

Tis is going to work so great.  Instantly I began  searching my brain for something similar to use around other plants that I'm may mistake for a weed.   Suddenly I thought of large canning-jar rims. They are the same shape as the tart pan and should stay in one spot if pressed into the soil.

A friend is coming Monday to help me find my perennial sweet peas and my short alliums.  I'm going to try this trick on them.

a win-win situation.

 

Recently when visiting a nursery, my friend mentioned to the clerk that I had once owned a nursery.  Not only had he visited it, he thought  it was amazing.  I was really touched, since it's been over 25 years since it closed.

Then a few days ago my husband dropped me at a nursery to pick up a few plants for baskets and he went to Starbucks.  A lady approached me and asked if she could take a picture of my cart [she wanted to find the same plants for her baskets].  The ironic thing was that I wasn't sure what I had.  I knew I was in the annuals section and I was pulling plants by feel and color.  I told her how I buy fewer plants and propagate them myself.

Then, while I was waiting for my husband, another lady approached me and asked if the plants I had would be safe from deer.  I told her no, but I shared with her a list of plants that are safe from deer.  Again we had a nice chat about gardening and I had another great day.

So I'm thinking I'm going to get out some old business cards and put my new number on them and stand around in nurseries.  And when people talk to me, I will offer to share plans with them for free.  A new way to make new friends.

Perennials multiply quite rapidly, and in the spring in the fall I need to trim them back.  The gardens in our community range from small to tiny, and most anyone that likes to garden plants only vegetables.  I have given plants to all my neighbors until they throw up their hands when they see me coming.  I hate to put perfectly good plants in the compost bin.  If I could find new gardening friends that would take my extra plants, it would be a win-win situation.