Herb Pallet

Here's a typical spot of my kitchen counter.

 From top left to right: Mortar and pestle for dried herbs, lavender oil, limon sea salt I picked up in Baja, Ginger Juice, Mortar and pestle for Celtic Sea salt, usually blended with herbs. Next row, left, an empty jar from an awesome sea salt and herb mixture. This was one of my first kitchen gifts from Morgaine's Kitchen Witchery. She was kind enough to list the ingredients on the jar. I liked it so much I leave it there to remember what to use when blending salt. In front of that is fresh ground pepper, a magnifying glass because some of my parts are getting older, then some fresh ground allspice, and cardamom. In the center is a sugar bowl with turbinado sugar. I had a guest over the holidays and needed some sugar for her tea. It will probably be months before it is completely used.

In the restaurant business we used to say clean up after yourself, don't leave "a trail." Here's my trail. This is evidence of the herbs and spices I used in the last week or so. My meals have sometimes been called 'food art.' I guess this is my herb pallet.

I went out to the garden spot yesterday. I hope the weather is good to us Sunday, we do have some work to do. There are still lots of plants from last year to get out and the soil needs some work. We did have a couple things make it through the winter. There are leeks and kohlrabi still growing.

So about the garden mouse, we set some traps and I replanted some more peas. My husband laughed at me because I also bought some bait, peanut butter. He wasn't laughing at the peanut butter, he thought it funny that I got freshly ground organic peanut butter for our mouse. That's just how I shop I guess. There were two mice that didn't make it to the planters last night. Don't worry, I am not posting that picture.

I also planted some salad greens last night. I still am amazed at how small some of these seeds are that grow into the big, beautiful full plants that they do.

Gardening Casualties

I love our home, it's big, old, and very quiet. We have the illusion of being rural but very close to town. There is a tiny piece of the forest in the back. My sister calls it a cabin in town.

There are many beautiful trees and lots of critters: raccoons, possum, squirrels, and sometimes a doe will raise a couple of babies back there for awhile. However, all this beauty prevents me from growing a successful garden. The trees don't allow the sun to get through most of the day and the animals enjoy the buffet I plant. That is a big benefit of the community garden, it's in town and in a spot where there is lots of sunshine and where all the critters haven't found yet. The biggest pest there is human.

Who would have thought starting the garden inside the house would invite something. I kind of thought the peppers were being eaten and not just dying. They would get to the second set of leaves and then in the morning, the leaves were gone and a stem was left. It looked just like after the slugs have had their way with the new starts outside. Saturday it appeared an onion had been dug up, but I wasn't sure if I had knocked it over the night before or not. Then yesterday I had my proof, this little planter was full of little pea starts before I went to bed, now there are only two in the whole tray. Looks like something had peas, onions, and fennel for dinner last night.

My friend, who has a little more experience with gardening, suggested I put peppermint oil around the edges of my planters to deter the little critter. I followed her suggestion and it seem to work last night. Whomever has been visiting was there, but it looks like only the peas that had already fallen over from the damage were taken. I guess I will be purchasing some mouse traps on the way home from work today. I wish it would just go away, but I don't think that will happen. Luckily it hasn't found the other table with the happy artichokes, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and many herbs.

The Uppity Women Blues Band

 I just got new reading glasses yesterday for the computer, a reminder that some parts are getting a little old. My new and improved bifocals will come sometime this week too. I didn't know I couldn't see well until the eye doctor pointed it out to me. So then, I noticed. It made work last week rather difficult. Maybe now my spelling will improve. I know I put these on and my eyes seemed to relax instantly. Woo Who!

Lemony Vegetable Barley Pilaf

Another whole grain dish I tried this weekend was given to me by a friend at work. This is a very easy, light and healthy dish. It would serve as a great side dish or a full meal itself. There are eight grams of protein and fiber per serving in this dish. There aren't many ingredients and the prep time is about five minutes with about 30 minutes cooking time. I added a Portabello mushroom diced very small and used organic vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth called for in the recipe. I also added a little more lemon juice than the recipe called for. I like the lemony taste. My husband isn't too fond of asparagus, but he liked this. I took it today for lunch with some of the eggplant I prepared this weekend.

Lemony Vegetable Barley Pilaf

~~~~Eating Veggie is Not Boring~~~~