Kids hate vegetables for the wrong reasons

My ten year old has explained to me in her words the reason kids do not like vegetables. She insists the majority of kids she knows is being raised on a diet rich in artificially flavored fast food meat and sugar laden snacks that come from a box. Once they taste and sometimes just smell real vegetables they immediately demonstrate disdain using words like blech and gross with extra syllables.

My daughter learned at a young age she would starve if she didn’t eat the meals prepared for her that included many vegetables. Perhaps she has acquired a taste for vegetables and likes most of them even weird varieties like artichokes, mushrooms and cabbage.

There are various theories as to why kids do not like vegetables. Kids have more taste buds than adults so maybe vegetables are overwhelmingly flavorful to them. Kids do not like bitterness. This one puzzles me because there are only a handful of bitter vegetables. My favorite has to be the scientific research; yes scientists have researched this pressing issue and have detected a gene that gives the carrier a heightened experience of bitterness. They have named this remarkable gene TAS2R38. It’s not likely to be easily recalled.

It’s back to bitterness. Kids that don’t like bitter foods can easily avoid kale, broccoli and dandelion greens along with black coffee and craft beer while still eating nutrient rich carrots, mushrooms and sweet peppers which are technically fruit.

Getting kids in the garden helps them to gain a finer appreciation for vegetables and fruits they might otherwise avoid. Asking kids to remove sod or spread manure is not the way to get them interested in growing food, however. Nor is asking them to turn compost or work amongst the bees acceptable.

Kids like to plant seeds and water the garden. They like to dig holes that don’t always have a purpose. Kids especially like to harvest vegetables and fruits from the garden.

Armed with properly fitting gloves and a bin or basket, kids make great harvesting companions and can get to the low-growing peas, beans, tomatoes and peppers virtually eliminating the need for us older folks to bend over, something that becomes increasingly difficult with each growing season. They can fit between rows and spot the splash of red in the strawberry plants. They can find every last potato deep in the soil and meet many an earthworm along the way.

Getting kids in the garden can often begin before the garden is even growing. Now is a great time to share seed catalogs or make a trip to the local garden center where seed packets are colorfully displayed.

Allowing kids to choose what they grow will make them much more interested in eating the vegetables or fruits the plant produces. While not as exciting as getting a new puppy, kids appreciate the time it takes to nurture the plants, water the plants and protect them from high winds or an unexpected frost.

There are no pizza seeds but there are seeds that will grow the numerous toppings that can turn a junk food into a nutritious and delicious meal. Just the same there are no chicken nugget seeds but there are plenty of seeds that would make a complimentary side dish to a roasted chicken you bought from one of many fantastic family farms in our region.

It is never too early to plan a new garden....

With a new year come plans for a new garden. The chance to begin again is reassuring because as we resolve to be healthier, happier or both we can also seek to avoid the mistakes made in last year’s garden that resulted in too few tomatoes, too many weeds and not enough time to fix either one of them.

The seed catalogs are trickling in earlier than ever before. Glorious examples of impossibly perfect plants set me up for failure before the ground is even broken. I have been gardening for way too many years to believe perfect tomatoes don’t have cracks and are certainly not susceptible to disease or blight.

For me perfect tomatoes are the ones I grow myself. I can cut the ugly parts off before they reach the salad or the salsa.

While the seed and garden catalogs might be unrealistic there are ways to improve the garden before the garden is planted. Taking the time to figure out why plants performed poorly will allow a mediocre garden to be one that produces bumper crops and hours of therapeutic enjoyment for the gardener.

Solutions might be as simple as correcting soil pH or watering more often at the correct time of day. The novice gardener might make the mistake of thinking if a little is good a lot must be great. Wrong. Too much of anything whether it is fertilizer, pesticide or even water can cause a host of problems that might not show up until it is too late for a second chance.

Remember why you garden and if you’ve never gardened before consider the purpose of taking on such an endeavor that could make you the happiest person on the planet or dip you into a world of madness. Effective communication begins with listening. Listen to your garden. Listen to what it is telling you.

January is a great time to plan and dream and a great time to resolve to be realistic about the garden and what you hope to get from it. If you are a busy person and rarely home except to eat and sleep a big garden might not be the best idea.

Big gardens take time and energy, lots of energy. Big gardens also take money. Unless you have resources, tools and time you will need a way to finance the garden that was supposed to bring healthy food to the table at a cost lower than that from a supermarket or farmers’ market.

A small garden that is well tended will be more productive, look better and benefit you and your family a lot more than the south forty gone wild.

Plant what you love and in amounts that can be eaten or preserved for later use. This is a concept I cannot stress enough. The seed catalogs will seduce you with eggplants in a variety of sizes and colors that have never before been seen in nature. If you do not like eggplant do not plant eggplant.

If you love peppers plant peppers but unless you have a cannery, a family of 16 or a full time staff there is no reason to plant 72 pepper plants. Monoculture can and does take place in agriculture as well as in some backyard gardens. The problem with planting too much of one thing is that one pest or disease can wipe out your entire garden.

Another problem with planting too much of one thing is the alienation you will experience from friends, neighbors and coworkers who don’t want any more of your vegetables!

2013 shall prove to be a good year. My daughter turns 10, my house turns 146 and once again I am after the perfect tomato from my backyard garden.

 

 

Turning 10

 

 

I don't know if it is true for boys but for girls the right of passage as one enters the realm of double digits is important. Turning 10 is not as important as say turning 16 or 18 or 21. It might not be AS important but to a girl who has had nine birthdays the tenth birthday is one to remember.

I can remember my own. It was a warm November day, one that would be called Indian Summer by TV weather reporters or readers of the Farmers Almanac or Yankee.

I wore a long-sleeved striped v-neck sweater on a day that was filled with the smell of autumn brought on by wind gusts that travelled across a former corn field that was now home to a real estate development that displaced numerous four-legged creatures while creating a forbidden playground for me and my brothers.

I stood beneath the maple trees in the front yard of our rented house glowing in my 10 year old skin as I posed with my new 10 speed bicycle while my dad snapped a picture with the Polaroid camera.

Immortalized forever. 10!

It was a glorious red bicycle that would carry me to the pool and the houses of friends. It was 1979.

Everything about the bike was perfect.  It was red and it had the curled handle bars and gears that would make climbing the hill to the pool easier and coming down the same hill faster and more exciting than the purple banana seat bike I once thought was so cool.

I was tall for 10 and it wouldn't be long before I was trailing nervously behind my mom as she bought me my first bra at Montgomery Ward or Penney's at Miracle Lane Shopping Center.

Good Lord.

Now my own daughter is turning 10. 

Francesca was born just before 4 o'clock in the afternoon on a cold January day. A dusting of snow blew about on the dry parking lot I could see from my window at the hospital and reminded me of powdered sugar.

On January 9 Francesca will turn 10.

10!

A Year Off

I didn't intend to stop writing SIFT but I did. I think it is time to get back to it.



Refrigerator Pickles

Many of you asked for my refrigerator pickle recipe. Despite my pension for being a fly-off-the handle, vicious liberal with extremist tendencies...I still like to share.
This is a super-easy, basic recipe that can be adapted in many ways.
Get creative and add whatever you like to flavor your cukes.

1 1/2 c water

1 1/2 c cider vinegar (no need to get fancy...the cheapest vinegar will give you the best flavor)

1 Tbsp Kosher salt ( I like Morton's, that other stuff just doesn't cut it)

3 sprigs fresh dill still hot from the garden sun

6 gloves garlic, crushed but left whole (squoosh them with the side of a chef's knife...make sure you know the chef)

1 Tbsp peppercorns

1 small onion, sliced thinly

cukes..little ones left whole or big ones cut into spears

1 cool, vintage Mason jar or something along those lines

.......

Stuff everything into the jar except the water and vinegar. It doesn't matter if you layer it or just manage to get it all into the jar. The pickles will look prettier if you use some form of rhyme or reason when placing all the ingredients into the jar.

Place water and vinegar in a small sauce pan. Heat until just before boiling. There is no reason to worry if the liquid actually reaches a boil. It won't make a lick of difference in the long run.

Pour the liquid into the stuffes jar. it should just fit.

Put the lid on the jar and leave it on the counter until it has cooled. Place in the fridge for 24 hours. Eat your pickles as needed.

Finally

I finally took a day off and went to the garden. Today I planted radishes,Walla Walla and red onions and cabbage. The chives are abundant. Some garlic is coming up but it doesn't look so good. Oregano is spreading everywhere. The tarragon over-wintered and so did some English lavender.

Mud Season...

The spring thaw seems to be coming and going and coming back and then going. Needless to say…we’ve got some mud out there. With mud season upon us it is easy to jump the gun and want to get the garden ready for planting cool weather crops. There are several that can be planted as soon as the ground can be worked.

I suggest waiting. The ground can certainly be worked. All I have to do is stand in my rubber boots and I begin to sink in. It is still too wet to do much in the garden. Tilling or turning of the soil too soon will result in poor conditions later. Wet soil will compact easily and plants will have a difficult time getting established when planted after the fear of frost has passed.

Brussels sprouts, onions, rutabagas, carrots, spinach, turnips, cabbage, peas and broccoli can all be planted two to six weeks before our region’s frost date but until some of this mud dries up you don’t want to get ahead of yourself.

Soil can only take in and hold certain amounts of water. Recent snowmelt and heavy rains have saturated my garden, yard, driveway and pretty much every surface I need to walk on. Even the deck and porches have a nice covering of mud thanks to the four legged creatures I so graciously allow to live indoors with us humans.

I don’t pay much mind to the groundhogs in captivity. They are just an excuse for men to don a top hat and get on television. I know spring is just around the corner as the musty, putrid scent of skunk is apparent every morning. Skunks don’t actually hibernate in winter but they do get very lazy. Once they emerge from their dens you know spring is near as they begin their breeding season.

So March brings us mud and skunks? Sounds like a winning month. It’s not as bad as it seems. There is much to be done to prepare the garden and armchair gardening is just a small part of it.

Indoors you can repot houseplants that will eventually make their way outside in two months. You can also start feeding houseplants at this time. If you overwintered any herbs indoors you can repot them unless, of course, you plan on putting them in the garden. Don’t despair if they look really lousy. I have a 13-year-old lavender topiary that comes in every winter, mutters insults under its softly scented breath all winter and then thrives the moment I put it back in the garden in May.

If you mulched the garden, now is a good time to start peeling that off. Pull any weeds you see now before they go to seed. Trust me, you’ll see some. Don’t walk in the garden while it is wet if you can help it. Tools have long handles for a reason. You don’t want to compact the soil.

Cut back ornamental grasses left from last year. They have proved to be great hiding places for wildlife all winter but it’s time to give them a haircut. Compost the cuttings or scatter them about the yard if you want to provide material for the numerous birds beginning their nest building season.

Finish pruning trees. Bring some inside for forcing. Pussy Willow, Crab Apple and Forsythia will bloom in short order when placed in a large vase of water. What better way to get in the spring mood.

Invest in a good boot scraper. Trust me, mud season doesn’t pass quickly.

You are What You Eat

You may have read or heard about GMO or genetically modified organisms making their way into our food supply. GMO is the result of a laboratory process of taking genes from one species and inserting them into another in an attempt to obtain a desired trait or characteristic. This process may be called Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic Modification (GM); they are the same thing.
GM food goes beyond selective breeding and grafting. Some plants are combined with animal and even human genes to produce desired characteristics. Imagine a frost resistant strawberry. The plant was spliced with arctic fish genes, yummy. No such product exists in your grocery store…yet.
No long term studies have been done to show that GM food is safe. The tests that have been done are done by the very corporations who create the seeds. GM foods are showing up everywhere. According to the Grocery Manufacturers Association up to 75% of processed food in the US contains GM ingredients.
Most GM food is consumed when we eat processed food. Processed food containing GM ingredients include cereals, baby formula, bread, mayonnaise, hot dogs, salad dressings and corn chips. It is impossible to list them all because our government does not require labeling of food containing GM ingredients. Only certified organic foods are GM free.
Meat and dairy can be included as GM food because animals we eat or provide milk for us have been fed a diet consisting of GM crops.
Farmers who choose to grow organic or non-GMO crops are fearful of cross contamination because crops are pollinated by bees that can carry pollen for miles.
Many countries are saying no to GM foods. European nations oppose GM foods. Companies like Kellogg’s sell products in the US that contain GM ingredients but they manufacture non-GM products for their European customers who have spoken loudly and clearly about their desire to stay clear of untested, potentially hazardous food.
Opposition continues to grow about the safety of GM food. The key traits that have been added to commercial GM crops are herbicide tolerance, which allows farmers to spray GM crops with herbicide to kill weeds while not killing the crop itself, and insect resistance, particularly through the expression of Bt-toxin (a toxin produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis). Some crops possess both traits.
Growing your own food or purchasing it from a farmer you know will allow you to consume healthier, safer food. Cutting out processed food will virtually eliminate your chances of consuming GM food. These so called convenience foods are not necessarily so convenient when you consider the lack of testing on the ingredients and the potential dangers associated with eating food that is engineered to outsmart nature.
Nature provides what we need to grow food. She also gives us challenges that we overcome like too much rain, too little rain, too much heat, too little heat, insects and weeds. Herbicides and pesticides do not contribute to the health or delicate balance we need to raise plants or animals for food.
Humans have been farming for thousands of years without the use of herbicides and pesticides. One third of the world’s workers work in agriculture, but this giant workforce produces less than five percent of the gross world product. Our food system is broken.
Try growing some of your own food and if you can’t, buy some from a local farmer who can tell you how he did it. I can guarantee he wasn’t wearing a lab coat and a mask when he planted, nurtured and harvested his livelihood and your supper.

Photo courtesy of picedit.blogspot.com

Inappropriate?

Francesca wore her Jolly Roger gloves to school yesterday. She was told to turn them inside out because her teacher deemed them inappropriate. I fail to see how the gloves are inappropriate. Is it me? Am I missing something?

Olde House Parts

The Tuscarawas County Heritage Home Association is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to the documentation and preservation of the architecturally and historically significant homes, buildings, and neighborhoods of Tuscarawas County.

Their mission is to cultivate awareness and appreciation of this part of the local heritage, encourage interest in preserving historic structures within the community, and to educate those who are interested in preservation or are actively involved in the restoration of historically significant structures.

Olde House Parts is the association’s newest project to create an additional source of revenue to further their mission. It is an architectural salvage shop specializing in old and very old interior and exterior hardware, fixtures and accessories. Customers might find light fixtures, doorknobs, hinges, mouldings, pillars, staircases, windows, latches or sinks. Some days shoppers might find signs, corbels, mantels, gas lights or spindles. On other days, heating grates, drawer pulls, brackets, doors, shutters or slate roofing might be available. An ever changing inventory comes strictly from donations.

Members of the association staff the shop. Everyone who works in the store does so as a volunteer. A love of old homes and buildings brought this group together and they will be on hand to help each person peruse the inventory.

Olde House Parts held their grand opening on Saturday, Nov. 6. Volunteers who arrived early to ready the shop for the day found customers already waiting. Dealers, old house enthusiasts, artists, craftspeople and those just looking at the interesting inventory stopped by.

Nearly everyone made a purchase and walked away with a historical piece or part. By day’s end the inventory was drastically reduced.

Members of the association are constantly looking for new inventory to add to the shop. Donations from the public are encouraged and are tax deductible. Only items that date before 1950 are accepted at this time, during business hours or by appointment.

The shop is located at 123 W. Third St., in Suite 101 of The Galleria, in downtown Dover, and is open for business each Wednesday from 4-9 p.m. and each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment. Contact them at 330-364-5757 or via e-mail at OldeHouseParts@tuschha.org.

For more information about the Tuscarawas County Heritage Home Association, visit their web page at http://www.tuschha.org.

It's Only the First Day of Winter

My brother lives in Lemoore, California. The weather there is a little different than it is here. I just checked the weather report for his region. He’s suffering in 56 degree weather right now with light rain. He made a point to let me know he just received an heirloom seed catalog and is very excited about it. He, like me enjoys gardening. He’s always been resourceful so growing food for himself and his family is a given.
I love my brother but right now I am saying things under my breath. While he is tending his winter garden probably filled with cool weather crops like spinach, lettuces, herbs, carrots and radishes I am lucky to be getting baby carrots from a diligent farmer in Big Prairie whose season extension methods far surpass my own.
My mailbox is yet to be filled with seed catalogs. They usually arrive in February just as madness begins to set in. They will pull me out of my doldrums rather quickly and I will dream of warmer days and green things.
I walked to the compost bin this afternoon to drop off several days’ worth of kitchen scraps. There’s not much activity at the top of the pile but I managed to open the bottom door with a few gentle steel-toed kicks. Delight filled the nineteen degree air as I saw a bit of steam rise from the lower part of the pile…I did have to poke it with a stick. The smell of earth and the sight of worms was enough to make any gardener smile.
Winter is difficult for gardeners. We sit around thinking about all the things we could be doing. It’s too cold to fix the fence. It’s too cold to do much of anything outside. As I watch the birds, squirrels and barn cats I realize what a wimp I am. Granted, I do adapt and don’t complain too much about the cold. In fact, I really love the snow and how it blankets the Earth with its whiteness. Still, winter is long and I long for dirty hands, muddy boots and perhaps a new shovel this spring.
Christmas is coming and it helps to put a lot of woes out of my mind while I fill the house with cheer and watch magic appear in a wide-eyed little girl who is probably as anxious as I am to get outside. Her hula hoops and pogo stick are put away for the season. I reluctantly brought her bicycle inside but it doesn’t cruise well amongst the furniture and throw rugs.
Sled riding is certainly in order and the fresh air will do us both some good. Fashion and winter do not exist in our home so we will don our ear flap hats and the extra long scarves my mom made for us. It’s so much fun going down and so much working coming up but its winter. What are you going to do?
Before long February will arrive and my letter carrier will be faced with the mountains of seed catalogs she must stuff in my mailbox. So what if my brother has tomatoes months before me. So what if he can garden all year while I must wait patiently for my spring to arrive. To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven.

Being in Hot Water is Not So Bad...

Here's a piece I wrote for a weekly newspaper. After the fact I spoke with a plumber friend who said even this routine maintenance will not do much good and a typical water heater will last about seven years. I bought the nine year warranty with this new one so at least I did THAT right.
...
My water heater died. It died a long-drawn-out death because I paid no mind to it. I mean, who actually looks at their water heater? I had no idea, and by the time I discovered it had serious issues, I had no hot water…for days. Come to find out, a smart homeowner does look at their hot water heater…about every six months.

Routine maintenance of systems and appliances keeps your home running smoothly. You can spot problems before they get too big to fix and in some cases prevent the problem from starting at all.

No one ever told me a water heater had to be maintained. I suppose I believed it to be a self-sustaining system that would, of course, eventually need to be replaced due to age but not my own inadequacies as a homeowner. Looking back at high school math, I see I really don’t need to know too many equations or theorems but I sure wish somebody would have filled me in on basic, biannual water heater maintenance.

My new rule is this: if it plugs in, is connected to a gas line and subsequently costs me money to maintain through one utility or another, it requires a biannual checkup of sorts. I will follow this rule come heck or high water…or in my case, cold, very, very cold water.

My plumber had several tips to help keep your water heater in optimal condition:

To maintain your water heater, begin by determining if it is gas or electric. Gas heaters will have a knob on the gas valve and electric heaters will have a thermostat behind a panel.

Turn down the heat. Most of us keep our water heaters set too high. A temperature of 115-120 degrees is suitable and will save you money on your utility bill. Keeping the water any hotter is a waste of energy.

Next, check your temperature and pressure release valve. This valve is very important in allowing your water heater to function safely and efficiently. If the temperature or pressure in your water heater tank gets too high, this valve releases a small amount of water. If your temperature and pressure release valve is defective really bad things, including explosions, can take place.

To check it simply lift up the valve lever a bit and allow it to snap back into place. You will hear a gurgling sound as the valve releases a small amount of water into the drain tube. If it does not, consult a plumber who can replace the valve.

Sediment develops at the bottom of your water heater over time. It is important to remove it so it doesn’t cause rust and corrosion to slowly eat away at your water heater tank. Water heaters have a drain valve near the bottom of the tank.

Depending on the make and model of your water heater, the process in opening this valve may vary. Consult your owner’s manual (there is a reason to keep those pesky manuals) to see how to open this drain valve. Drain a few gallons into a bucket. At first the water may appear dirty. That is OK.

The whole point of doing this routine maintenance is to get that dirty, sediment-filled water out of the tank. Close the valve. Empty the bucket and give yourself a pat on the back. You have just fulfilled your duties as a homeowner.

They're HERE!

They have finally arrived.

Here's a column from a few weeks ago...

There’s an old Guy Clark song from the ’70s that epitomizes how I feel about homegrown tomatoes. If you haven’t heard it, you ought to. If you have, then you know what I’m talking about. When I was a kid, my dad played that song over and over again on a jukebox in a local restaurant, much to the embarrassment of me and my brothers. I can’t imagine the other patrons liked it too much either. When you’re passionate about something, however, you don’t mind how it might annoy others.

“Ain’t nothin’ in the world that I like better

Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes

Up in the mornin’ out in the garden

Get you a ripe one don’t get a hard one

Plant `em in the spring eat `em in the summer

All winter without `em’s a culinary bummer

I forget all about the sweatin’ & diggin’

Every time I go out & pick me a big one

Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes

What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes

Only two things that money can’t buy

That’s true love & homegrown tomatoes

You can go out to eat & that’s for sure

But it’s nothin’ a homegrown tomato won’t cure

Put `em in a salad, put `em in a stew

You can make your very own tomato juice

Eat `em with eggs, eat `em with gravy

Eat `em with beans, pinto or navy

Put `em on the side put `em in the middle

Put a homegrown tomato on a hotcake griddle

If I’s to change this life I lead

I’d be Johnny Tomato Seed

Cause I know what this country needs

Homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see

When I die don’t bury me

In a box in a cemetery

Out in the garden would be much better

I could be pushin’ up homegrown tomatoes”



Well, they have arrived. They are out there in the garden. Sure, they’re green but they won’t be for much longer. They get a little bigger every day. There’s not a bug or a blight on them. The waiting is killing me.

I’ve enjoyed some local tomatoes already from the farmers market. They were delicious. They were, in fact nearly perfect. Big and red, a few heirlooms too, of various shapes and shades. Only trouble is they weren’t from my own garden.

In my own garden I can tend a little, pull a few weeds and gently tie the tomato vines to their stakes with pieces of old, torn T-shirts. In my own garden I can watch little seeds turn into little plants. I can watch the sun and the rain turn those little plants into big healthy plants that develop pretty yellow flowers. I can get that weird itch you get when you touch the leaves of the plants. I can water the plants with water from the rain barrel when it doesn’t rain enough.

When I was a kid, my dad always walked the garden with a salt shaker in his pocket, waiting for the first homegrown tomatoes to never make it to the kitchen.

Soon I’ll be complaining there are too many and we’d better get to freezing and canning them before it’s too late. Soon I’ll be leaving them on my neighbor’s porch when he’s not home.

In the meantime I’ll wait, salt shaker in hand, humming that silly old song about homegrown tomatoes.

Turn off the TV and Get in the Kitchen

I did not learn to cook by watching television. I learned to cook by not watching television. I know there are a lot of cooking shows on TV these days and they seem more a marketing platform for cookbooks, cook wear, pre-packaged processed food and the not-necessarily talented celebrity chefs that star in them. Since when is a chef worthy of celebrity. It's food people, we all need it and some of us are pretty good at taking the right ingredients and creating near works of art...but the celebrity thing puzzles me. Celebrity is never more admired than by the negligent. Real chefs don't have time to show the world their creations between advertisements for Stove Top Stuffing and Hot Pockets, they are in their kitchens. Most people who watch cooking shows don't even know the difference between a food mill and a mandoline. Granted, there are exceptions and some people who really like to cook get inspired by these shows. I'm sure some people who want to learn to cook might also get inspired and actually give it a go. Watching Tyler Florence chop ingredients and then pull a beautiful blue cheese souffle with figs and honey out of the oven is not going to teach you to cook. I could not even find one recipe on his web site. I don't care how good he looks in a sweater, I am not going to buy his over-priced zinc cheese tins. When I saw Mario Batali's pasta sauce in a jar available at the local grocery store I nearly gasped. No, I did gasp. At nine dollars a jar I really had to wonder, are there people so stupid they would buy this? For nine dollars I could make enough pasta sauce to last a month. Even though Mario's line is made in small batches (sure) with no added sugar (who puts sugar in pasta sauce?) in a certified green facility (just what does that mean anyway?) I'm going to make my own. Nine dollars? Are you kidding?

The Pound

Mom and I went to the dog pound today. We had agreed to foster an abused dog named Sophie. She is nearly eight months old. She was living with a crazed hoodlum who "disciplined" her as he saw fit. He threw her against the wall and fractured her leg...more than once.
They euthanize dogs at the pound after they have been there for too long, sometimes as soon as three days. Sophie needs surgery to fix her leg. Had we not stepped forward to foster her while she recovers they would have euthanized her. Members of the community donated money to pay her medical bils.
She had a housemate who is also at the pound. She may not be as lucky as Sophie. Her name is Brownie and she is a playful beauty.
Mom cried and had to leave the building...who can blame her. I held back tears.
I saw each of the dog's faces, and there were a lot of them. I saw their tails wag with hope as I passed their kennels. I touched as many as I could. They all touched me...my heart.
I cried hours later while I made Francesca and Clint's lunches for tomorrow. We have a tomorrow. Sophie has a tomorrow...and hopefully a forever family will find her. She will be healed and ready to start her life over with people who will love her. She will be disciplined with a raised eyebrow and not a raised fist.
Several of the dogs we saw today have no tomorrow. Time ran out for them.
How I wish I could help them all.

I adore this song....

French Breakfast Radishes

This morning's harvest was exciting. It marks the season of eating food we grow! We've been eating herbs like chives, oregano, tarragon, thyme and green onions but radishes, these radishes, we can really sink our teeth in.
French Breakfast Radishes are longer than the typical radishes you see in the grocery store. They are red with a white tip and have a milder, almost sweet flavor. They can be eaten cooked or raw. We prefer them raw. The greens can be blanched and eaten as well but none of us seem to like furry leaves so they will go to the compost bin.
Harvesting the radishes left an open spot in the garden so I planted more. This time a variety called Violet de Gournay. They should be ready in about 35 days.

Making Crafts

I am writing a feature for a local newspaper about inexpensive crafts for kids to make for Mother's Day. I had been experimenting with the ideas prior to picking up Francesca from school including tissue paper flowers and thumbprint flowers. When she jumped in the Jeep she immediately said, "Why is your thumb red?" I explained I had been testing crafts for my article. She wanted to make something too. When we got home she went straight to work. She made a lovely picture.

Climbing Trees

Francesca climbs trees. In fact, she climbs most things that can be climbed...grocery carts, counter tops, cars and trucks, deck railings, her dad, desks and occasionally, the dinner table...filthy feet and all. I don't often mention this to our dinner guests and I do make a habit of washing the table often.

No Ordinary Meal

Asparagus-Leek Frittata

Spice-Broiled Tofu Fillets

Here at the Compound we tend not to prepare traditional meals like Turkey for Thanksgiving or Ham for Easter. For Easter this year the meal was mostly vegetarian with the exception of salmon for the three carnivores in attendance.

Spice-Broiled Tofu Fillets with Jade Pesto (to even call tofu a fillet is somehow funny to me)



Asparagus-Leek Frittata (the Pièce de résistance)


Mushroom Rockefellers (yes, a variation on a theme, Rockefeller would not have approved)


Baked Potatoes with Butter and Panko


Spice-Broiled Salmon

The tofu looked great but had a custardy texture I am not fond of. I will not make it again. If there was a way to make tofu crunchy I might like it. The frittata was delicious and never have I been so proud of the poof these eggs performed at 400 degrees. The Mushroom Rockefellers were good and I will make them again with a few minor adjustments. The potatoes were, like all potatoes, potatoes. Not much to like or dislike. The small amount of salmon left over made its way onto a salad that I packed in Clint's lunch. I expect it was well received.