Thursday, June 18, 2015

A big spring ...

Yes, it has been a big spring. A few good items have been crossed off my mile-long to-do/wish-list. More than half the brambles are cleared, the second garden bed is filled with compost, an arbor now graces the south side of the garden, three dead and/or dying trees have been felled.

After a slightly rocky start what with no rain for several weeks, we are now receiving rains regularly. The rainy days have been book-ended by beautifully sunny, warm spells. Yet, it's still cool enough--especially on the rainy days (in the 50s)--as to keep the peas and radishes pleased. It also dips into the 50s at night. The wool works are useful up here and that feels good.

I was recently challenged to share my garden with friends on the ubiquitous Facebook: 3-5 pictures a day for 5 days, so I'll share the same pics here for those who don't see me there. Below.

I'm enjoying salad from the garden this week and it's been good to lunch on arugula/lettuce mix and spinach with fresh radishes topped with some peelings of parmesan cheese. Good for my waistline as well, it wanting attention for some time now. Not to say I'm trim from 3 days of salad lunches, but one needs start somewhere! My efforts, sadly, are somewhat undermined by the lemon meringue pie, and the banana cream pie I made on Monday and Tuesday respectively. Yes. But I'm being as good as I can and they'll be shared with others tomorrow so the threat is temporary, so long as I refrain from baking anything more. But I really had my heart set on some fruit tarts and have the ingredients, so they will happen, but I'll share around.

The banana cream was still awaiting it's cream in the picture.


Do you know there's a trick to making meringue? Yes there is. When adding the sugar, it must be done slowly--a few tablespoons at a time and those few tablespoons need to be dissolved before you add any more. Pinch and roll a bit of meringue between the thumb and finger after each addition; if it feels gritty, keep beating until it feels smooth before adding any more sugar.

The secret to the deep yellow color of the lemon curd is farm-fresh egg yolks!

The garden picture challenge pictures:


No comments:

Post a Comment