Snow Drifts for a Table ….. and Garden Visions

lunch on the patio.... — lunch on the patio….

Homemade goat cheese + homemade crackers + hot sun in the snow out the back door = Perfect.

So grateful for wonderful food and friends…and early samples before they arrive…

my first bake off for these very tasty, whole grain crackers

I had fun making these:

And need to tweak the recipe just a little before I send it out into space to you….alright?

The garden was so beautiful with the hot sun beaming down, snow drifts and all. I’m planning out this year, little by little, what I’m itching to try, what I want to repeat. Lots of sugar snap peas. Lima beans. Fingerling potatoes. Golden beets. Delicata squash. Fun new lettuces. Napa cabbage. Not as many green beans! More chilies! Plenty of that Luscious bi-color sweet corn. How about pop corn???…..plus naturally many more…. I set my sights on finding an old orchard ladder, so I don’t miss any of the apricots, plums and apples this year. I plan to build awesome tomato trellises so the jungle will be more navigable. And keeping the Virginia creeper at bay with a bit more vigor before it engulfs the side fence. I’ll grow my chards and kale from seed in hopes the plants will be stronger to ward off the aphids which dearly loved them last season.

shadows of the garden fence rippling in the sun

It’s a rare morning lately that sees coffee in my cup, but I dove into that reality full on today … basking in the snow. Anticipating friends to come. Garden dreamin’, with the pleasure of knowing even more sources of fantastic local plants and foods than I did last spring. From visions into reality. I’ve been working, as the spirit moves me, on the next stages of my cookbook – Pachamama’s Beautiful Food – based on Cooking with the Elements. Have you noticed that new page on my blog? From being immersed in the traditional culture of South America for a time, and always in my heart, the amazing Earth with all of her gifts holds a place of honor in me. Here is a direct link to the page “Cooking with the Elements.”