My Love - Hate Relationship With My Garden

It's true.  Sometimes I love my garden and sometimes I hate it.  It's not that I really hate the garden itself, it's just all the work that a garden requires.  I have a lazy streak that entices me to sit in an air-conditioned house and read a good book.  This is why I didn't plant my fall vegetables this year.   I was just tuckered out.  If this had been a good gardening year, I might have felt differently about it all, but honest to goodness, I fought the good fight, and lost.  Miserably.  So for weeks, I haven't stepped foot in my garden.

But today, well it was so beautiful and a perfect day to work outside.  I cleaned out the weeds from all of my raised beds and planted my garlic.  I love growing garlic. This is my third year and it seems to just get better and better.  You can go here to see how I planted my garlic last year, with detailed explanations.  This year I used some of the garlic I grew myself for planting and I'm excited to see how it grows, compared to the seed garlic I bought.  I have half a bed of soft neck Silver White Silverskin and half of hard neck Kallarney Red.  

It feels so good, knowing I have it tucked in the dirt, covered with straw and ready for winter.  I can basically forget about it now.  This is my kind of gardening, extremely low maintenance.  I have lots of garlic stored for use this winter and will see how long I can make it without having to buy any in the store.  I do use a lot of garlic.

I have other chores that need to be done before cold weather sets in.   I plan to cut back and clean out my strawberry bed and take some of the new shoots and plant them in another spot.  According to my gardening books, I can do this through November, and then cover them with mulch.  I'm new to strawberries, so we'll see how this goes.  My asparagus bed needs to be weeded and as soon as we have a heavy frost, I'll cut the plants down to the ground and lay a heavy layer of mulch on them.  Then, I can hunker down and wait for spring.  

What will I do differently next year in my garden?  

* I will plant more fingerling potatoes.  They were awesome, but I didn't have nearly enough.

* I will plant more beets.  Turns out, I love beets!

* I will plant a different variety of carrots.

* I will plant more Cherokee Purple tomatoes and not be tempted by every variety I see at the gardening show. (Tara, please tie my hands behind my back when I'm shopping for tomatoes.)  I will not feel badly when the leaves on my plants start to turn brown and die.  After all the research I did this year on how to fight blight, the thing I remember most was this comment by a seasoned gardener.  "In western NC, the question is not, 'Will my plants get blight, but when will my plants get blight?  It seems its almost a guarantee that tomatoes in this area will suffer from blight.  Just fight it the best you can and don't stress about it."   This makes me feel so much better.   All this time I thought I was doing something wrong.  Tomatoes are the reason I garden,  and I was beginning to feel extremely frustrated with my "ugly" tomatoes.

* I will grow an entire bed of cucumbers.   We need pickles !

* I won't bother growing cabbage and cole vegetables to feed the wild turkeys.  They can go somewhere else for dinner.

* I will hire a teenager to help me at least one day a week with the weeding and gardening chores.

I think that last bullet point is my best idea yet.  When summer hits and everything needs to be done at once, and I can't possibly keep up with all the weeding, well, that's when I start to hate my garden. I resent the hot hours spent pulling weeds, never. catching. up! 

But, I must garden.... because I love good food.  I love knowing that I grew the food on my dinner plate (well, me and God).  I love walking with friends through my gardens and showing them what I've grown, stopping to pick and cut food for them to take home and enjoy.  I love knowing that I can provide good food for my family and put that food in canning jars.  This winter, I will smile whenever I pop a lid and say to myself... "I grew this.  I'm a gardener."

Grandma's Apple Dumplings

Over the river and through the woods...  Yes, this recipe takes me right back to my grandma's kitchen on Thanksgiving Day.  She always made this dessert, along with pumpkin pie and probably one or two more, but this is the one  I remember the most from those delicious holidays in her home.  Now that I cook the Thanksgiving meal myself, I more fully appreciate the work this feast involves.  We all pitched in and helped a little, but really, she did it mostly by herself.  I know she would do it all over again if she could, especially if she knew the fond memories she created, for me and her other grandchildren. 

I don't usually make Apple Dumplings for Thanksgiving, but try to always bake them some time during the fall.  And, as I serve them, I make sure to remind my children that this was Grandma's recipe.  They spent a lot of time in her home when they were little, and I want them to connect the dishes she taught me to make with the loving memories they have of her.   Continuing to prepare these special foods is keeping her legacy alive and my favorite way to share family history.

I consider this a special occasion dessert, not because it's so difficult to make, although it does require a little extra effort.  What makes it really special, is that each dumpling is it's own individual dessert.   Bringing out a cooked apple wrapped in it's very own little pastry shell is pretty impressive.  It's like a gift on a plate.

The first thing I do is make my pastry dough.  You can go here to find a recipe for the perfect pastry dough.  Every time I make this, I'm still amazed at how well it turns out, so flaky and delicious, just like a piecrust should be.   Next, I peel and core the apples.

I rolled out the piecrust into a rectangle and cut it into 6 inch squares.  I doubled the ingredients when I made the pastry recipe, to ensure that I had plenty.  I can vaguely remember a time in the past when I was making these and had to stop the assembly in order to make more pastry dough to finish the recipe.  That wasn't fun.   A double recipe gives me plenty of dough to wrap the apples. with enough leftover to make a single crust pie on another day.  This pastry dough lasts for days in the refrigerator or months in the freezer.

I took each pastry square and rolled it a little larger than the recipe called for, so it would easily fold over the apple.  With the cored apple sitting in the middle of the pastry square, I filled the center with a cinnamon sugar mixture.

I topped the apple with a little square of butter.

I then folded each corner to the center, moistening the tips of the dough with a little water to help them stick together.

Here's what each dumpling should look like when you're finished.

This dish is ready for the oven.  But first they need to go back into the refrigerator and get nice and cold.  Right before I baked them, I mixed up a syrup that I used to pour into the bottom of the pan, around each of the dumplings,

like this...   Oh, and I topped each dumpling with another square of butter.  It just adds to the deliciousness!

Here's what the dish looks like when it comes out of the oven.  I really should have taken a picture of one of the dumplings on a dessert plate, but you'll have to use your imagination as to how pretty each one looks resting in a little puddle of that cinnamon and apple flavored syrup, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Sometimes, it's just hard to stop and take pictures.

Grandma's Apple Dumplings

6 small apples

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

1 T. butter

Syrup

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 t. cinnamon

1 cup water

Pastry dough

Peel and core apples.  Place 1 apple in center

of 6" pastry square.  Fill cavity with cinnamon

and sugar mixture.  Moisten points of pastry

square. Bring opposite corners together and 

overlap.  Dot tops with butter.  Place in baking 

pan with space between each dumpling.  Chill

thoroughly.  Make syrup by mixing ingredients

and boiling for 3 minutes. Pour hot syrup around

dumplings in pan.  Bake 7 minutes in 450 degree

oven or until slightly browned.  Lower temperature

to 350 degrees and bake about 35 minutes, until

dumpling is browned and apple is tender.  Enjoy

with whipped cream or ice cream.

*What special desserts are you making to celebrate the season?

Mom Wray's Apple Cake

In order for me to get excited about a dessert that isn't chocolate, it has to be really good.  This dessert is really good.  It's that lovely time of year, we call "apple season" and most of my apples have been going into the crockpot for apple butter.  I have however made this cake a few times this month, when we've had company over for dinner.  I'll warn you ahead of time, it's a dangerous one to make, if you don't have plenty of people to help you finish it off.  You know that kind of dessert that just keeps calling you back for another little bite?  Although Kenzie says it makes a perfectly delicious breakfast food, I wouldn't know.  

The credit for this yummy creation goes to my mother-in-law, hence the name, Mom Wray's Apple Cake.  It's very nice, cut into squares, still warm from the oven with a scoop of ice cream, but I like it best with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.  Yes, the real thing. 

Mom Wray's Apple Cake

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soda

2 tsp. baking powder

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups plain flour

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 cups, peeled and chopped apples

chopped nuts- optional

Mix sugar and oil in mixer. Add eggs and beat one minute at medium speed.  Combine flour, salt, soda, baking powder and cinnamon.  Add to egg mixture and mix one minute.  Add apples and vanilla and mix one minute until blended. Pour into greased and floured 9x13 pan.  Bake for 55 minutes at 350 degrees.

Glaze

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix ingredients in saucepan and bring to a boil.  Boil 2 1/2 minutes, then spoon glaze over cake.

* If you pour glaze over hot cake it will be absorbed into the cake like a sponge and make it very moist.  If you let the cake cool  and then pour glaze over the top, it will form a nice thick frosting that will sit on top of the cake.  I like it best somewhere in between the two, so I let it cool slightly before pouring the glaze on and it makes a moist cake, with a little film of caramel frosting on the top.  Either way, it's heavenly.  Enjoy!

Trying to Be "Present" and "Thankful"

First Monday counting...
                                when I share entries from my Gratitude Journal

"Thank the Lord thy God in all things."

Doctrine and Covenants 59:7

3171- strings of onions, peppers and garlic

3172- a daddy daughter doughnut date

3173- flowers from Dillon and Jantzen

3174- fresh eggs with bright yellow yolks

3175- gluesticks

3176- shepherd's pie

3177- putting together straw men

3178- celebrating Tara!

3179- a father in law who enjoys mowing our pasture

3180- digging sweet potatoes with Mark

3181- questions that make you think

3182- photography class

3183- family home evening with Mark

3184- a new laptop computer

3185- phone calls from NJ

3186- walking the dogs on a pleasant afternoon

3187- stewardship meetings

3188- goldenrod and blue aster growing on the side of the road

3189- watching a spider spin his web

3190- clean floors

3191- mums on the porch

3192- finding treasures at TJ Max

3193- watching the first primary presentation of the year

3194- picking apples at the orchard

3195- apple cake with freshly whipped cream

3196- Time Out for Women

3197- dinner guests

3198- little girls and tea parties

3199- steamy bowls of soup and home made bread

3200- a quiet afternoon to read

3201- blue October skies

3202- hiking on leafy paths

3203-waterfalls

3204- reflections on water

3205- covered bridge

3206- Rogue River Blue Cheese with pears

3207- listening to owls calling to each other in the early morning

3208- a comfortable place to lay a tired body at the end of a busy day

3209- yogurt with fresh raspberries and granola

3210- thick sliced toast with peanut butter

"Everything in life can be nourishing.  Everything can bless us

but we've got to be there for the blessing to occur.  Being

present with quality is a decision we are invited to make

each day.  It is another way to become like God."

Macrina Wiederkehr

Roasted Broccoli and Farro Salad

It's the season for cole vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, collards, etc.) and my market had broccoli and cauliflower, Buy One Get One Free last week.  Therefore, I have an abundance in my fridge right now.  Sometimes we don't think about foods being "in season" because we are blessed to be able to buy pretty much anything we want in our grocery stores, anytime we want it.  But foods definitely have a growing season and the fall offerings are delicious.  Along with the cole vegetables, delicious winter squashes, like acorn and butternut come to mind.  When we buy our produce "in season", we're much more likely to spend our dollars locally, the food will taste better and the price will be right!  So, I filled my cart with some of all, along with some spinach for good measure.  This week, I've been working to use these foods in some new recipes.  

First of all, I have to ask, have you ever roasted broccoli?  I have roasted lots of vegetables, but never broccoli, and I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it is.  And, have you experimented with farro?  This was my first time, so I had to do a little research to educate myself on this grain.

Here's what I learned , from my Food Lover's Companion (which is a great little book to have in your kitchen).

"farro (FAHR-oh) - This ancient cereal grain belongs to the wheat family and dates as far back as 20,000 years.  Also, known as emmer wheat, farro was the primary grain cultivated by early Egyptians and became a staple of the Roman legions during their occupation of Egypt.  Over time, farro's popularity gave way to higher-yielding, easier to grow varieties of wheat grains.  However, farro began reemerging in Italy and is now attracting attention from cooks around the world.  Tuscany's Garfagnana area has been granted protected geographical indication status for its Farro della Garfagnana.  Though farro is often confused with spelt, they are different grains.  Farro has a dense chewy structure and a rich, nutty flavor.  It can be used in pasta, bread and for risotto-style dishes."

And it makes a great salad.  One of my tactics for trying to keep my weight under control is to have soup or salad for lunch each day.  Although, today I was craving a spicy chicken sandwich and waffle fries (from you know where), I had this salad instead.  It was a good day for discipline.  A big Greek salad is probably my favorite and I could eat one of those every day.   I love them that much, but a little variety is nice.  In this salad, the cooked farro is nutty and chewy, the roasted broccoli tastes almost sweet and the  feta cheese lends a little saltiness.  It's such a nice blend of flavors.    

Here's how it came together.

I chopped the broccoli into small florets.  Then I peeled the stem, cut it into strips and sliced into 1/4 inch sections.

I drizzled the broccoli with olive oil, salted it a little and mixed all together.  Then roasted it at 400 for about 20 minutes or until some of the florets were browned.

I bought my farro in the regular grocery store, near the rice and barley.  It was pearled farro and cooked in about 30 minutes. Then I drained it and let it cool a bit.

Into a bowl with the farro and broccoli, I added chopped scallion,

and sliced grape tomatoes.  The recipe didn't call for tomatoes, but I thought they made a nice addition.

I added crumbled feta cheese, chopped flat leaf parsley, red pepper flakes and salt.  Then I stirred everything together.

The dressing was a red wine vinaigrette, made with vinegar and olive oil.  I taste tested and added a little more to my liking.

That's all there was to it.  Very tasty!  I'll be making this one again.  

Roasted Broccoli and Farro Salad

(adapted from Fine Cooking magazine)

3/4 cup farro (pearled)

1 lb. broccoli

3 T. Olive Oil

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

2 scallions, thinly sliced

grape tomatoes (optional)

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

2 T. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1 T. red wine vinegar (more as needed)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat

the oven to 400 degrees.  In a 4 qt. saucepan, bring 

2 quarts of well salted water to a boil over high heat.

Boil the farro in the water until tender, 20 - 30 min.

Drain well and transfer to a large bowl.  Meanwhile,

remove the broccoli crown from the stem and cut into

bite sized florets.  Peel and halve the stem lengthwise,

then cut into 1/4 inch thick slices.  On a rimmed baking 

sheet, toss the broccoli florets ands stems with 2 T. of

olive oil.  Roast until tender and browned in spots, about

20 minutes. Add the broccoli, feta, scallions, red pepper 

flakes and parsley to the farro.  Also add tomatoes if 

desired.  Sprinkle with vinegar and salt and toss.  Add 

remaining olive oil and toss.  Season to taste, adding 

more vinegar and oil if desired.