Blending- A Lifestyle

While grazing our way through Costco, lunching on samples, we were obliged to wait at the demonstration of a blender to get the goodies. Earlier we had been mocking the price, wondering how it could be better than a $20 model. We were soon to learn.

I was fascinated by the fact that this brand of blender is the one used on Will It Blend.com so I stayed around hoping the demostrator would have a Sham-Wow "Are you gettin that camera guy?" moment. No luck on that score.

But we had soup and ice cream out of the damn thing, and that was impressive. Back we went the next day to learn more. What we learned was enough to sell us. We even cut a deal that if we got 3 more sales we would get an extra blender vessel free! I was hooked when I read the book introduction page, titled Lifestyles Recipe Book. I am always seeking to participate in Lifestyles, so away we go.

We have been enjoying some quick soups, and the Blend Tec has won a place on our counter- recognition of its contribution to the cuisine.

The sales referrals didn't work out.

Apple Harvest

In between fall storms the peninsula is paradise. We have been reveling in days of little wind, intense sun and cool mornings. The shortening days make one appreciate these days even more.


One of the activities that get our attention is harvesting apples. Apples of all kinds, including the derelict orchards we sometimes find in the woods. But today it was a friend's mini orchard that needed pickin. A ladder, a bucket, a trailer behind a tractor and three of us can pick a tree clean in no time, enjoying the weather and companionship as we do so.



- Exechobo

Latke

Recently I had latkes or potato pancakes at Katz' deli in NYC. They were good enough to make me think about mine. The recipe I use I got from my mother. My two brothers and I peeled potatoes and ground them and mixed the batter while she fried em. We did 5# batches. So delicious were they. Now I make em.

I pulled some potatoes, onion and zucchini from our garden, and decided this fritters would be the best way to enjoy the bounty. Add some flour, a couple of eggs, salt and pepper. The real secret is how the produce is shredded. My secret.



- Paul/ BlogPress/ iPhone

Potato Blossoms

Our Taters are doin well. We discovered many seed potatoes while prepping the beds in the spring, so I started sticking them in the ground wherever I could.

Sta-ra-wa-berries

That is how my most darling daughter learned to enunciate these ruby red orbs of flavor.  I can't see a strawberry without thinking of her, and smiling!

First luscious berries from the patch.  Ironic that we are now getting some strawberries off the same land that was a strawberry farm years ago, isn't it?  Knowing that makes me think of that great novel Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson.  But we don't think any Japanese were taken off this land- the farm was here more recently than the war.  

le Potage, il est bon!

Raising vegetables in France is a given.  Anyone with a plot of dirt bigger than a postage stamp works it.  The passion for good food in France begins at home, in the potager, where the best, freshest vegetables start.  We don't understand why this obsession is not part of our American consciousness, for it is rewarding, relaxing and interesting.  All the hue and cry of the Woodstock generation talks around the values of the earth, simplicity, and self sufficiency, but actually turning over some dirt and sticking a seed in the ground seems to be asking too much. 


The weather has been interesting- wet Nov, as expected. Dry Dec- surprise. Wet Jan, catchin up. Dry Feb, I'll take it! Wet March, as expected. Dry April- watering here in April!?  Wettest May in 75 years.
The garden is doing what gardens do- growing nicely. Harvest of lettuce, rhubarb, radishes, turnip greens, asparagus.

Today I took out 15 gallons of weeds from the garden annexes. Due to our wet weather, pulling was very satisfying. Out damn weeds, out I say!

The leeks are going to seed, as planned.  They are a mighty plant when they run wild.  I hope we can perpetuate these, imported from France.

Now, if we can continue to control the deer (and the dear), we will have a nice little strawberry harvest soon.

Flowers in the Ditch

On one of our walks I noted several varieties of wildflowers along the way. I started to take some pictures with my feeble BB phone. I just wish I had captured the elusive Co que li co. Also known to us as a red poppy.  The focus on this phone camera is so poor that you have to squint to enjoy the pictures.  But they are colorful.  

Jardin du Maison

Ca allors!  Quelle magnifique!  Every week the flower gardens change as another flower comes online.  Or "blooms", as we say.  There is a pleasant flower aroma in the area as you walk around.  This photo is version 3.0, and will be my BB "home" screen.

The jardin du potage is going along too, with radishes, carrots, lettuce and turnips ready to thin, and radishes to eat! Turnips are almost ready to harvest greens, as is lettuce, but the mache is a disappointment.  We are letting the leeks go to seed so we can use them later in the year.  The asparagus season is over, and next year will reward our patience, as these stalks feed the roots.  Deer have crashed the fence, but damage seems limited to strawberries and beans, which other than that are looking healthy.  Must start more beets and lettuce, weed, thin.  Peas, onions, garlic and potatoes all are doing very well too.  

V is for Verdant

Verdant mean green.  Plain, pure and simple.  Green.  That is how our world looks.  We like that.

First Asparagus

We harvested enough new asparagus for a couple of portions last night- sweet, tender and flavorful.  A little more delicately flavored than store bought- maybe a bit "brighter", is that acid?  Color was very green.

Deer Defense

Hi Tech Spectra filament vs. the enemy- DEER!  The perimeter is set, the Cottage Garden is fortified with a high tech defense.  We are led to believe that the deer touch the line, which they can't see, and are spooked, so run away to avoid it.  Our local deer are cunning, depraved and insatiable.  We employ every tool in our arsenal in the campaign.  Wish us well.

The Best Tool Since Shovels

Today, I had to thin out the weeds behind my shop- they were crowding out the weeds.  This is the tool I use for that- it is great for yanking out bushels of broad leaf weeds.  If you ever see one, buy a couple- one for you and one for a gift.

Gardening

The garden is in!  Potatoes, onions, beets, cabbage, lettuce, radish, turnips, garlic, and the asparagus is growing by the hour.

Next step- erecting the perimeters to defend from the deer.  "Zips in the wire! Expend all munitions on my pos, I repeat, expend-all-on-my-pos!  ITS MY CALL!"- Platoon

Fire!

First Crop of Spring

I donned my kevlar chaps and grabbed the Husky, headed out to harvest the first asparagus.
Last year we bought a few roots, at a crazy price, then a friend asked us to help him dig out his old patch of asparagus- we took crates of the roots home. Now we have quite a bit of the elegant vegetable coming up.
Along with the leaks, a few volunteer onions, and the wild nettles along the trail, we are already cutting down on market bought vegs.