bee creative

ragged things

For some reason my hearts always end up ragged...

I'm okay with that. This will be a patch for one of the blankets. 

Today I also...

planted beans in the rain and rescued a few peonies that had collapsed. 

And watched the rain fall from the covered porch.

And made nut bread with whole wheat flour, raisins, hazelnuts, walnuts and prunes.

The recipe was from Betty Crocker's Cookbook.  Mine is the 1978 edition.  A gift from one of my great-grandmothers on my 12th birthday.  It's a bit ragged too, but that just means it's well loved.  

this week's ingredients

  The primary ingredients for the week...

Plus broccoli from the garden, pork (2 pork chops cooked in slow cooker with vegetable broth), and risotto (made with remaining vegetable broth made last week).

I've been thinking about how May is a transitional month for eating local.  There are still things that have been canned, frozen, dried, or keep well in the refrigerator that need to be eaten and then the foods that have just been harvested...

Radish and pear for salad or sandwich.  The pears have been stored in the refrigerator over the winter.  I pull one out a few days before I want to eat it. 

Green salad with pickled vegetables and feta.   

 

two salads

Salad number one:

Lentils, apples, sprouting broccoli, walnuts, raisins with olive oil and vinegar for a dressing.

Saland number two:

Wheat berries, turnips, asparagus, and mozzarella with a lemon/mint dressing. 

What wasn't local:  olive oil and lemon from California. 

 

 

the day's projects

The important thing to remember about a forecast that says partly cloudy is that there is a chance of sun.  And a chance that the apple blossoms will almost open.

While I was waiting for it to warm up just a bit I worked on another linen stitch experiment.  This is cotton on size 10 needles.  Making dish cloths this way will be a nice option for a bus project.

And I made roasted tomato soup (cleaning out the freezer) and home made whole wheat bread.  A perfect dinner after an afternoon in the garden. 

things to try...

                                                         Thank you Cindy,  Ulrike , and Peggy.

roasted strawberries

Sunday's breakfast, roasted strawberries (recipe in Super Natural Everyday by Heidi Swanson)

and a flat dutch baby. 

Still tasted good.

leftovers

onions and carrots roasted to add to dishes throughout the week + noodles and broth (from Dashi Noodle Bar if you are local) + a bit of water +  a handful of sliced spinach added just as the rest was hot = satisfying and quick dinner. 

raw brownie

I am sure I will make this recipe over and over again...dates, walnuts, hazelnuts, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt. 

morning deserves to be celebrated...

The recipe at Chocolate & Zucchini

I substituted 1/3 cup cocoa powder for some of the flour and 2/3 cup honey for part of the sugar.  I also used olive oil for the vegetable oil. 

Strawberries from California, my once (or so) a spring treat while I wait for local strawberries. 

peanut sauce

President James Garfield said:  "Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter."

My mother has said (when I was a teenager) that I had a little bread with my peanut butter.

I don't even bother with the bread anymore. 

Which would lead to the expectation that I would like peanut sauce. 

Well, not really.

Until I decided to make peanut sauce and leave the cilantro out of the recipe.

(Used Deborah Madison's recipe from The Savory Way)

I've been eating it on whole wheat pasta.

Oh it's good. 

But not very photogenic.