Around The Garden - Flowers, Frost, Harvest, Food

Dear Folks,

It has been busy and varied around here the last week or so.

I took advantage of the current flowers blooming to harvest some petals for drying.  Pictured is a selection of rose, sugar pea (Magnolia Blossom variety), nasturtium and pigeon pea, and in the frig for drying.  I have a partial jar of already dried flowers which I will use to decorate something later.

One of the things I love to do is eat and plant something!  By that I mean "recycling" food items that I can't use to actually eat, but that I can re-grow for later harvest.

Two fun things are celery and potatoes.  I had some older small potatoes I was preparing for dinner on the Sunday before Christmas - I NEEDED to cook a turkey - and potatoes were starting to sprout.

So I cut the sprouting parts off and allowed to dry before I stored them to plant tomorrow - January 1st - my tradition of planting potatoes on the first day of the new year to get the "new" garden and year off to a really positive start.

The other thing I do regularly is cut the bottom off of celery and sprout on the counter until I have some nice growth then plant out in the garden.  I do this when I need to purchase celery bunches from the store if I do not have enough to cook with.  I purchase organic when I can.  [celery pictured today about 10 days later - I gave the other one to a friend - I will plant this one out tomorrow]

So, about the turkey dinner.  My traditional stuffing is celery and onion sauteed in butter, poultry seasoning, bread cubes and stock/broth.  A while back Sweet Paul Magazine posted a Mediterranean stuffing which looked so wonderful I thought I would try it the next time I wanted stuffing.  Here is the link for his recipe.

The recipe called for preserved lemons, artichoke hearts and olives.  I had been wanting a reason to try preserving my limequats and this was it.  So back in early November I started the preserving, then refrigerated them.

Check Sweet Paul's link for the original recipe.  I also wanted to make this a one pan meal so I made the stuffing, spread in the pan, made a small indentation in the center and set in the turkey breast. 
 While it may seem a stretch to use poultry seasoning on the turkey the combination of flavors in the stuffing blended well as the rosemary and thyme in the stuffing are also part of the herbs in poultry seasoning.

My Version December 22, 2019 Sweet Paul's Mediterranean Stuffing.
I used fresh rosemary, parsley and conehead thyme from the garden

1/2 stick of butter
1 cup of diced celery
1 cup of diced red onion
Sautee until soft.
Equal parts of rosemary and conehead thyme for celery/onion
Poultry Seasoning and Butter for turkey

I used Pane Tuscan bread - about 4 cups+
2 cups of homemade turkey/chicken broth
1/3 cup of marintated artichoke hearts
1/3 cup kalmata olive cut in 4ths
Fresh parsley about 1/3 cup
2 preserved limequats slivered


We agreed this stuffing was a keeper - I will use it as an alternative to my traditional version - maybe every other time.

Usually my family and extended family gather for big meals on Christmas Day.  This year most chose quieter Christmas Day PJ open house and it was sweet and peaceful.

Knowing this ahead of time, I still personally needed more celebration, so I had some family over Christmas Eve and got to try out a "grazing board" concept for a low key - nibble until you are stuffed - tray.  Everyone loved the display and the selection.  The fully covered dessert table was in another area and included my cookie exchange bounty - sorry no picture :-)

The garden was hit by frost the night of December 28/29th.

The sugar peas just shrugged a "whatever" and just continued on their delicious and lovely growth. The flowers are visible in the middle and lower part of the vine and that is a yellow nasturtium in the lower left.  P.S.  I used some of the nasturtium and sugar peas flowers on the grazing tray.

The morning after the frost when the lawn was brown and frosty crunchy I happened to look out towards the south.  The sun was just hitting the post of one of out split rail fences and I was so surprised to see vapor coming off it.  The sun was heating the very, very damp wood and releasing a visual display.  I hope this picture does it justice.

   

  































The actual frost damage was about what I would have expected.

Our banana plants which have two sets of fruit on them was hit, however the fruit itself seems undamaged at this point.  They are not nearly along enough for me to cut and bring them inside to ripen, so I just have to hold out hope they will survive.

The soft-leaved plants always get bit by frost, particularly basil which is a tender perennial and hates the cold.  As I noted about the Sugarpeas, they just shrugged.

In the picture you can see bright green growth at the base of the Stevia - this is a "bit" early for the new growth on this about 7 year old plant - it dies back in the winter, then sprouts in late January/Early February, so I hope this is not a problem having new growth this early during frosting times. 

One last garden picture.  I harvested the last of my sweet potatoes and the Candy Roaster Squash which has quite the story.

I sowed the seeds for the Squash on June 20th.  The plant was going gang busters when something caused it to go down almost over night in late October- but not quite all the way.  I chatted with a gardener friend and I did some research and came up with a possible culprit - nematodes.  But the plant was not down all the way, so I decided to just see what happened.  It had put on one fruit while it was challenged and it may have even been one I pollinated.  At any rate, the frost took the plant down completely so I harvested it.  It is supposed to be a pinkish color when ripe and is not anywhere near that.  I will cut it later and see what I can do with it.  The planting time of June was not helpful to this variety, so I will try and sow in mid-to late May as I am eager to give this heirloom a real try.

I wish you a Happy New Year, one filled with joy in and from the garden, patience, and kindness towards others.  I believe these things will bring contentment.

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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Seasonal Harvest and Next Season Seedling Sprouting.

Dear Folks,

A tiny hint of the new year and next season.

Today is December 21, 2019 and I thought it was a lovely portend that one of my Yellow Summer Squash seedlings sprouted today!

On December 10th, I started several types of spring/summer seeds in Jiffy Pellets to plant out on or about February 1st.  I like using these starter options as there is no transplant shock.

I am using several grocery store produce boxes as mini-greenhouses, putting them out in the sun during the day then back into my laundry / water heater shed at night.

Meanwhile,yesterday I harvested some fun things from the garden. Pink Grapefruit, 2 kinds of Navel Oranges, Breakfast Radishes, Detroit Dark Red Beet and Chantenay Carrots (my favorite, tasty at any size).

I kind of planted the beets in the wrong orientation, so I harvested these for the stems and greens as the roots are not getting mature.  Hoping the remainder will bulk up now that I have thinned the area out.

Planting orientation:  I made the mistake of planting north to south instead of east to west.  This may not seem like a big deal but it turned out to be a very big deal as the radishes to the south completely shaded the growing beets most of the day, so I got a big growth of greens, but not the roots - yet.

I cooked up the beet greens for my guy last night, carrots for him tonight (I'm slightly allergic to beets and spinach, but I will snag some of the cooked carrots tonight-- I actually prefer my carrots raw :-).

I added some sliced radish to a mini ham and cheese sandwich for some crunch.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.



-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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Peanuts, Garden, Microwave Omelette, Peanut Butter Cookies And Holiday Entertaining!

Dear Folks,

Pictured are my peanuts drying - more on that below, but first. .
Peanuts...and chocolate.  I like both but not necessarily in the form of say a Reese's.  They do not have a 'balance' of flavors with the peanut butter over-taking the chocolate.

I found a combination that pleases both myself and my wonderful guy, who loves Reese's but is always willing to try something I make.

A couple of years ago, during one of my holiday baking times, he asked if I would make peanut butter cookies.  I said sure, then started looking at recipes and got to thinking how I might add chocolate to it (he is after all a true choco-holic).

After looking at recipes and while shopping later I found the solution.  Chocolate Peanut Butter, oh my!  And it was DARK chocolate peanut butter - even better.

The brand for your notes is "Peanut Butter & Co. - Dark Chocolately Dreams" and it is non-gmo and gluten-free, if that is a consideration.  There is at least one other brand and you could probably substitute something like Nutella - but it has a lot of extra ingredients.

So to the recipe.

It is really simple.  A 4 ingredient delight that whips up quickly and turns into a flattened crinkle cookie.  If you like to embellish you can add chocolate chips (my guy said when I tried that in one version he felt like it was too much - I said "what did you do with Deane?"), or you could add more nuts.  But the plain recipe is just wonderful as is.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies.

1 whole jar (2 cups - 16oz) Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter*
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Line your baking sheets with parchment paper - it is just easier to slide them off with all the fat in them.
Drop by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets
Do NOT flatten
Bake 7-9 minutes or until cookies are puffed and cracked (you will see the cracks forming when they are ready)
LET STAND on baking sheet 5 minutes or until firm.
Remove to wire rack to finish cooling and cool completely before boxing up.
They freeze nicely.
NOTE:  If your oven runs hot decrease temp to325 and bake 10-12 minutes
Enjoy.
* If you use a chocolate peanut butter which is 14 oz I would not worry about adjusting the other ingredients.

Makes about 53 cookies and gives you a little less than 2 grams of protein each cookie the calories are high, but at least you are getting some decent protein :-)  

45 Second Microwave Omelette

This is a super fast breakfast or snack.  These minute microwave scrambled egg recipes are all over the internet.  I modified one to suit my tastes adding herbs from the garden and/or cheese.  This morning I decided to serve over toast with a bit of cheese under the egg to add a little extra to the meal.  I used snipped celery, parsley and I'itoli onions from the garden.  Many recipes suggest a mug, I use a soup bowl to get the egg to spread out.

1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
salt and pepper
Optional herbs and/or cheese
Optional toast

Toast the bread and butter if you like.  If you are using cheese put it on the toast.
Mix the egg, milk and salt in pepper in a mug, then pour into a soup bowl.  Top with optional snipped herbs and microwave on high for 45 seconds.  The omelette slides easily out of the bowl.

 Around The Garden

I have been growing peanuts for a couple of years now.  I just wanted to try it.  The first year I tried, I did not quite get the culture right.  I generally mulch much of my beds and/or containers and that is mistake with peanuts as the plant puts out a flower which then "dips" down into the soil to great the "ground nut" meaning they grow as clusters around the roots.

Once I got that figured out the rest was easy.  Break up - gently - the shells and plant each peanut with the skin on about 1 1/2 - 3 inches down.  Ideally you will be planting in a bed and spaced about 8 inches apart.  Plant in April (interestingly they have similar heat requirements as sweet potatoes) and plan on harvesting late fall early winter - the past two years I have harvested mid-December as the plants began to go down.

"FALLED"
 

Fall Leaves - our deciduous trees here in the desert crack me up - about the beginning of September 1st the first couple of leaves fall and then a few here and there.  Then one morning - overnight - in December I will walk out and the majority of the rest of the leaves had fallen - all at once!  It decided "IT FALLED"

Last week the trees, Saturn Peach and Fig - FALLED!

Great mulch.  Much of it we rake back into the tree wells, but I also use the dried leaves as mulch for beds, and containers.

TWO More recipe ideas - or not so much recipe as just really cool entertaining ideas - even if it just for a special date night.

I am going to be making a "board" grazing tray for Christmas Eve when we a couple of family over.  This so cool ideas from the folks over at Sweet Paul Magazine is going to be incorporate in my board as I have a lot of rosemary. 

I have been gathering various items for my board and hope everyone really enjoys the idea.  I usually do big dinners but I have been so wanting an opportunity to do one of these attractive, casual, nibble/graze arrangements.

The other idea which really caught my eye is for a cocktail - served in a glass Christmas Ball.  How cool it that!

Besides the choice of this serving container, the recipe uses fresh pine tree tips which have a citrus flavor. If you have fresh pine or fir trees the bright green new growth is perfect for this.  You can use older but newer is better.  I experimented with pine tips a couple of years ago and it was fun.  Of course you could make and serve any cocktail in this so-fun container.

Here is the recipe. 
   

If you missed my January Planting Tips - here is the link. 

I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year and Yuletide.  Enjoy your personal celebrations in comfort with peace, kindness and patient understanding.

 -- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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January Planting Tips - Ready, set . . .

Dear Folks,

At this time in December, while the citrus ripens on the trees, colorful fruit hanging like ornaments, and we make our plans for Christmas and all other holiday gatherings, make some plans for planting and sowing.

Growing up back east, we had to wait until April or even later to even begin to think about in-ground planting/sowing. So while 4-season gardeners can only dream about the gardens, cruising through seed-catalogs, we can start, plant and sow NOW.

I like to plant my regular potatoes on January 1st, as a way to say goodbye to the holidays and hello to spring coming.


I have started my seeds in jiffy pellets for transplanting on or about February 1st - with Poor-Man's cloches as frost protection.  I am setting them outside during the day and bringing them into our laundry shed with the hot water heater overnight. I had decided not to put up my greenhouse. Predicting this winter's weather is almost a dart game, so by putting the seedlings in near the water heater, I want to ensure my seedlings survive whatever mother nature throws my way.

While I am dreaming about starting tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and summer squash, I am enjoying good things from the garden right.  I have two multi-year lived pepper plants and the harvesting is good.  Lipstick on the left and Paradicsom on the right are very happy now with the extra rain (isn't that wonderful!!) and cooler temperatures.  Paradicsom (a Hungarian thick-walled variety) is about 4+ years old and the Lipstick (sometimes called Lunch Box Peppers) is about 6+ years old.  Pepper plants in the Valley tend to produce abundantly in the spring and fall/winter - sagging a bit during the hottest part of the summer.

Other harvests recently were ripe Pardiscsom peppers, Listarda Eggplant, radishes, young garlic, mixed greens and herbs.  I used the herbs and greens in soup and roasted the eggplant with the garlic.  I like to eat the radishes straight :-)

I have two pea varieties growing right now:  Sugar Pea (Magnolia Blossom with those gorgeous purple/lilac colored flowers - and I ate the first pod yesterday), and Pigeon Pea.  I plan on harvesting the Pigeon Peas as green rather than dried (except for saving for re-sowing).

A while back I saw a fun "life hack" video by "Blossom" on re-planting vegetables and this one on using THE pepper as the planting "medium" where you slice the pepper in half, push the seeds down into it, fill with soil and plant, caught my eye.  Well I have grown/germinated and otherwise re-grown plants and I thought this was such a good idea I decided to use it when one of my peppers was at a good point. (In the same video she shows using an egg carton to regrow scallions/green onions which you can harvest as needed.)

Well about 2+ weeks ago I had a Lipstick pepper which was a bit shriveled, so I cut it in half, pushed the seeds down, filled with soil and buried it next to my eggplant.  I forgot to mark the day I planted it, but it was probably less than two weeks when I took this picture of the seedlings coming up on December 1st!!

I will decide which one is the strongest as they grow-along and snip the others out.   I will also have to have the poor-man's cloche handy for frosty nights.

GARDEN TIPS for January
    As we are nearing the end of the primary perennial planting season, I like to celebrate the start of the new year by planting at least one new plant on January 1st.  I have not made my decision yet on which new-to-me plant.
    Celebrate New Year’s Day by planting potatoes.
    November through January can be a ‘rainy’ season for the desert. You can usually hold off on regular watering if you have received a half inch or more of rain within 2 days of normal watering days.  Make good use of your water meter to determine soil moisture.
    If rains are heavy this month, in addition to foregoing some water days, you may need to put down Ironite or green sand to compensate for mineral bonding (which makes iron unavailable to the plants) due to both the excess water and the cold soil.
    Prune citrus and deciduous fruit trees no later than early January before flowering starts.  We generally prune our trees mid-December.  Shrub trees such as pineapple guava which bloom in late spring, need to be pruned later -- in April approximately.
    Asparagus – Cut back to the ground - don’t go deeper than soil surface.  The plants will begin re-sprouting by mid-to-late January, give or take depending on soil warmth.

WHY Edible Flowers? To attract pollinators to your fruit, herbs and veggies year round and to use as safe garnishes and additions to your dining table.

FROST damage:  DO NOT prune until danger of frost is over - the damaged plant protects the lower growth.

FROST/FREEZE NOTE: Have protective covers ready anytime the overnight forecast is 40 or lower.

FORCING BRANCHES

One of the delights of spring is the peach and apricot bloom time - clouds of light to dark pink flowers cover the ends of the tree branches with the bees busily doing their work.

Just as the tree's flower buds are starting to open you can select a few branches to 'force' into bloom inside for a lovely arrangement.  I emphasize 'a few' because you will loose that potential fruit.

Select a branch and clip off 12-18 inches - arrange in a vase of room temperature water or slightly warmer, after re-cutting the branches under water.  You will be treated to a spring display as one each of the flower buds are 'forced' to open in the warmth of your home.  Change or freshen the water each day - if you need to, re-cut the branch, under water, every several days to keep the moisture flowing up to the buds.

At the end of the display, add to the compost pile, or dry and use as kindling for the grill or firepit.

JANUARY PLANTING:

SEED Selection:  Where possible choose short maturity (75 days or less) for maximum production.  Plant short rows in succession of veggies like carrots ( 2 feet at a time) to provide continuous harvest potential (can you really use 12 feet of carrots all at once?).  Also, start seeds like tomato, basil, eggplant and peppers  indoors under lights or in a greenhouse to set out February 1st (with frost protection)

Anise
Asparagus
Beets
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cabbage
Caraway
Carrots
Cauliflower
Chamomile
Chervil
Cilantro
Dill
Fennel, Leaf
Fruit, Bare Root
Fruit Trees
Garlic, Green (planting cloves for use as scallions through spring - they will NOT produce heads)
Greens (lettuce, kale, arugula, spinach etc.) 
Kohlrabi
Lavender
Lettuce
Marjoram
Mustard
Myrtle
Onions, Green
Oregano, Greek
Ornamental Cabbage/Kale (Brassica Oleracea)
Parsley
Peppers (seed)
Potatoes
Radishes
Sage
Savory
Shungiku Chrysanthemum
Spinach
Strawberry
Thyme
Turnips
Watermelon

EDIBLE FLOWERS TO PLANT:

Carnation (Dianthus)
English Daisy
Jasmine Sambac (Arabian)
Nasturtiums
Pansies
Primrose
Scented Geraniums (with protection)
Snapdragons
Stocks (Matthiola)
Sweet William (Dianthus)
Sweet Alyssum

I wish you the happiest of holidays, whatever and how many you celebrate.

Be kind to all, and be patient with those who need a little more understanding,


-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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December Planting Tips, Around the Garden and Kitchen

Dear Folks,

Back on October 20th I posted that two of my banana plants had put out a flower - well we have beginning fruit.  Now I can only hope we do not get a freeze which will kill it back.  Fingers crossed I can make my homemade banana pudding in about 3 months. I tried to catch a bee working the flowers (they need to be pollinated) but I missed her.

I harvested a nice size purple sweet potato and my radishes are coming in nicely.  See below for what I did with the sweet potatoes.

I planted my root crops in a different bed this year and the radishes said "thank you for the move" and have been growing strong since Sept and the most of the ones in the picture came from the October planting :-)

My good friend Jacq Davis, over at Epic Yard Farm gave me some Pigeon Pea seeds and they also said "oh yes we like this area".  The plants are about 4 feet tall and have starting putting out flower/seed heads. These were amazing in growth. I direct sowed the seeds July 16th, and they were up in 9 days!!!

I plan on harvesting them for fresh peas, rather than dried, except I will let some dry for re-sowing next summer.  My timing worked great for sowing this past summer.

December Planting/Sowing/Maintenance Tips

Holiday time can be stressful. Your edible garden can be an oasis from stress.  With citrus fruit ripening like yellow and orange ornaments, pansies blooming, and dill waving in the breeze, winter is only a state of mind here in the Desert Southwest.

Anise
Asparagus
Beets
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cabbage
Caraway
Carrots
Cauliflower
Chamomile
Chervil
Cilantro
Dill
Fennel, Leaf
Fruit, Bare Root
Fruit Trees
Greens
Kohlrabi
Lavender
Lettuce
Marjoram
Mustard
Myrtle
Onions, Green
Oregano, Greek
Ornamental Cabbage/Kale (Brassica Oleracea)
Parsley
Peppers (seed)
Primrose (Primula Vulgaris)
Radishes
Sage
Savory
Spinach
Strawberry
Thyme
Turnips
Watermelon (by seed December 15 and after)

EDIBLE FLOWERS TO PLANT:

Carnation (Dianthus)
Chamomile
English Daisy
Jasmine Sambac (Arabian)
Nasturtiums
Pansies
Primrose
Scented Geraniums
Snapdragons               
Stocks (Matthiola)
Sweet William (Dianthus)
Sweet Alyssum

GARDEN TIPS for December
    Holiday time can be stressful. Your edible garden can be an oasis from stress.  With citrus fruit ripening like yellow and orange ornaments, pansies blooming, and dill waving in the breeze, winter is only a state of mind here in the Desert Southwest.
    November through January can be a ‘rainy’ season for the desert. You can usually hold off on regular watering if you have received a half inch or more of rain within 2 days of normal watering days (except for trees unless you receive 1 inch or more).  Make good use of your water meter to determine soil moisture. 
    If rains are heavy this month, in addition to foregoing some water days, you may need to put down Ironite or Green Sand to compensate for mineral bonding (which makes iron unavailable to the plants) due to both the excess water and the cold soil.  Ironite is not a fertilizer so it will not burn plants -- apply to the drip line (edge) of tree canopy.
           
Watering Guide:
As the temperatures rise or decrease, a guide (this is only a guide! make use of your moisture meter to check moisture content of soil) For mature gardens would be:
    70s water every 5-6 days for all but trees
    80s water every 4-5 days for all but trees
    90s water every 3-4 days for all but trees
    100s water every 2-3 days for all but trees

Garden Design tip - if you are considering laying out a new garden, use Ironite to 'draw' the garden layout on the soil, easy and safe.

FROST damage:  Do not prune until danger of frost is over - the damaged plant protects the lower growth.

PRUNING:

Prune citrus and deciduous fruit trees in December, or no later than early January before flowering starts.

Occasionally our crazy peach trees drive Deane nuts because they still have leaves on them when they start to flower in late December or early January.

The idea with pruning deciduous trees is to get it done before the 'sap starts running' in the warming spring weather.  Because we do not usually have extended cold spells some of the stone fruit trees may not actually go into full dormancy.

The commercial growers like Schnepf Farms have simply adopted the practice of prunning their peach etc. trees after December 15th. This ensures that flower buds will not be pruned off later on.

There is always the challenge of a cold spell coming in January or February while the stone fruit trees are coming into bloom, which in other areas of the country might mean the severe limiting of fruit production.  Here we have not generally found that a short cold period has killed off the flower bloom/fruit production.

If you feel you are in a colder area, you can cover the blooming peaches, apricots, plums and apples with cloth covers if you can reach high enough to make it worth the effort.

FRUIT TREE PESTS

Peach tree borers are a problem here in the valley as the special hybrid stone fruit trees are more vulnerable to borers because the pests are not killed off as readily as in very cold areas of the country.

Winter 'dormancy' of the trees is the time to consider treating the trees to an oil spray to discourage the darn pests

Generally called "dormant oil" or "horticulture oil" this is a heavy oil based control which is designed to smother the pests, and therefore can't be applied to the active growing parts of any plants.  It is sprayed on the trunks of stone fruit (not evergreen like citrus) from the soil-base line up.  Make sure you read the instructions carefully.

If peach and other stone fruit trees are new to you and your garden, look for swelling on the buds/edges of each branch which indicates the tree is going into active growth and DO NOT use the spray on those areas.

In future notes I will discuss thinning fruit and a nice spring bouquet option of "forced" branches.

Around the Kitchen.

I started Sauerkraut back in October and it will be ready to refrigerate tomorrow. I really packed it in using a new "packing wood tool" a friend gave me.  It was a kit and it also contained a larger glass weight (weights are not really visible in pictures - they keep all the ingredients submerged -- this is very important when fermenting foods) and silicone "pickle pipes" (the funny looking cap) designed to allow the CO2 gas (the gas is formed during fermentation) to escape without opening or leaving open (but covered lightly)  My sister and I are planning a holiday cooking / baking week shortly and I will be using some of the sauerkraut for our homemade Pierogies.

I also decided to, finally, "preserve" some of my limequats ala preserved lemon tradition.  I say finally because I have been "thinking" about doing this for several years and never got around to it.  I saw this awesome recipe by Sweet Paul for a Mediterranean Stuffing that had my mouth watering.  It called for the usual type base of onion, bread but added olives and preserved lemons.  As soon as the limequats are ready (in about 2 weeks) I want to make this stuffing by filling a casserole dish with the stuffing, laying chicken breast and/or thighs (bone-in, skin-on) over and baking until the chicken is tender.  Meanwhile all the juices from the chicken add additional flavor to the stuffing.


This is my first time using the Pickle Pipes and so far so good.  I am not a real big fan of all the silicone baking/cooking gadgets but this seems like a very good exception to my personal rule.

That sweet potato I showed earlier and some elephant garlic I harvested in late spring got the "roasting" treatment in the oven yesterday.

Garlic: I first decided rather than the more traditional form of roasting garlic whole with the top cut off,  I would separate the clovers, toss with olive oil and roast at 400 degrees.  Because they were so big (and harder from drying over the summer) they took about 60 minutes to the lovely caramelized gloss you see in the lower part of the collage.

I have not yet completely decided how to use the roasted garlic.  I separated the cloves from the skins, saved the skins (and froze) for making a pre-broth to make one or more of my soups and stored the cloves in the frig. I will be freezing most of them for use as I dream up some meals.

Next I put the spiralizer to work on the Purple Sweet Potato.  These purple varieties are a "drier" type and harder so I worked up my muscles getting it through the blades, but what a nice batch of curls I got.  I cut them up some so there were workable pieces.  I tossed with a little avocado oil, fresh ground black pepper and course Himalayan Pink Salt.  I roasted at 450 degrees for ten minutes, tossed then roasted for 15 minutes more..

Last night I used some of them for garnish on one of my "Cream Soups" and it worked great.

One last item from the kitchen.  I use a recipe from Jacque Pepin for his Saucisson (salami) which is dry/cold cured in the refrigerator.  I have made this several times and it is always wonderful. Here is the link to his original recipe.  A NOTE:  I use a small cooling rack over a large dish to place the curing meat on.  I put it on the top shelf in the back of my refrigerator and it is the perfect spot for drying as our refrigerators constantly remove moisture from the air.  Once it is finished to the degree of drying you want, I store in a container or ziplock bag to keep from drying out more.  It can get as hard as a rock which is not fun to slice.  Still tasty.  After it is all consumed, there are always tiny bits of spices and meat, which I toss into my freezer stock bucket for the next broth making.

This last one I made was done in 3 and a half weeks curing.  I will be putting another in soon as my two nephews asked for it for Christmas :-)

I hope the gardening and cooking give you ideas for your own garden and kitchen.

You can find my cookbooks and gardening calendar links on my publisher's site or on Amazon.

We have much to be thankful for and I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

A kind idea for the holidays.

Consider a Reverse Advent Calendar Food Box.  Try starting on Thanksgiving when you gather to appreciate family.  Take to the food bank of your choice a few days ahead of Christmas.




Kindness is the best choice.  Have a wonderful time in the garden and kitchen.

-- Catherine, The Herb Lady

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