Lemon Tree is Blooming Again

Y'all know how prolific my lemon tree was last season.  I bet I got over 80 lemons from that tree.  No kidding.  And I used or gave away nearly every single one.  I lost a few to frost over the winter; but only four or five, so that's not bad.

Well, the tree bloomed out again and it is full of tiny green lemons-to-be!  All I did to revitalize my lemon tree this spring was to scoop out a good bit of the top layer of soil, maybe 1/3 of the pot.  I made a mixture of equal parts of fresh potting soil, compost and Medina Growin Green granular fertilizer.  I added that to the pot, mixed it in real well and watered it.  Seems to have worked because it looks great and is full of blooms!
 

The bees had a really good time pollinating all the beautiful blooms :)

And look at all these tiny new lemons!  The tree is living out by my greenhouse.  I was going to move it onto the back patio, but it seems really (really) happy in that spot.  It gets lots of sun, but some afternoon shade from the greenhouse and lots of cool breezes on top of the hill.  I think I'll leave it where it is!

 

It looks like I am in for another bumper crop of lemons!

And check this out...as I was photographing the lemons, I noticed these two walking stick insects hanging out on the underside of the leaves.  They are so well camouflaged that they are very hard to see.  But I'm always looking closely at my plants/trees, etc for signs of bugs/critters, both good and bad!  These guys are really neat and they are beneficial, too.  They eat the bad bugs that create havoc on my plants.

Anyway, I was really glad to see these strange but really cool looking bugs on my lemon tree!

Great Book

While I was surfing the Internet a few weeks ago, I came across this book, Grow the Good Life, by Michele Owens, who writes the hilarious and insightful blog, Garden Rant.   It looked interesting so I ordered it from Amazon and I was not disappointed.  This book is wonderful!  It's not a garden-how-to-book.  It's a book that makes an entertaining and persuasive case for having a vegetable garden.  Michele Owens is funny, intelligent and sarcastic.  It really is a great read.

This is from the back of the book and her words describe exactly, in a nutshell, how I feel when I'm in my vegetable garden.

"The vegetable garden is as much about the experience as the food, and the experience is simply one of life's most beautiful.  The smell of good soil, the exercise of digging, the beauty of the plants, the sound of the birds, the feeling of the sun on your face, the sense of accomplishment and power--these things are entirely irresistible.  While I garden for a million fine reasons, underlying them all is the fact that I never feel more optimistic, engaged, productive, or peaceful than when I am in my garden."

Michele Owens

Grow the Good Life

Another Great Arugula Recipe

...at least in my opinion :)

I'm still picking arugula from my garden and it's kind of fun to dream up new ways to cook with it.  As in all my recipes, I like to keep things as simple as possible and use ingredients I have on hand.

So tonight, I had a handful of arugula

1/2 box of whole wheat penne pasta that I cooked, drained and tossed with extra virgin olive oil

and a little (about 1 1/2 cups) of left over tomato sauce that I made for homemade pizza the other day.  As an aside, this pizza sauce is E.A.S.Y., delicious and very versatile.  I'll share the recipe at the end of this post.

To make this dish I thinly sliced the washed and stemmed arugula and thinly sliced a clove of garlic.

Over medium/low heat I sauteed the garlic for about 30 seconds, then added the arugula and cooked it until the arugula began to wilt, about 3-4 minutes.

I added the tomato sauce and simmered for about 4 minutes.

Then in went the pasta; stir until thoroughly combined.

Simmer over low heat until pasta is heated through.  Plate and top with a generous grating of Parmigiano Reggiano and serve.

Buon Appetito :)

Simple Tomato Sauce
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (15 oz) Muir Glen Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes
1 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup water
1-2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Kosher salt

In a small frying pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.  Be careful not to let it scorch or the garlic will taste bitter.

In a bowl, stir together the garlic-oil mixture, tomatoes, basil, oregano, thyme, pepper, water and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the vinegar.  Season to taste with salt and add additional vinegar if necessary.  Use right away or refrigerate in an airtight container for at least a week.  It also freezes well.  When seasoning with the red wine vinegar, add just enough to make the flavor really sparkle; the sauce shouldn't taste tangy. 

This is my basic, go-to pizza sauce and simple, virtually no-cook tomato sauce.  It's really tasty and lends itself to many different dishes.  I really hope you try this one :)

Fabulous Meal

...to complement a fabulous bottle of wine!

A few weeks ago we went to visit some of my husband's family in Michigan.  One of Harry's nephews and his wife just moved back to Michigan from Oregon and they brought us this wonderful bottle of wine from the Dundee Hills Vineyard in the heart of Oregon's wine country.  A good pinot noir is our favorite wine so we were very pleased with their gift.

As you know, for me, it's all about the food :) so I immediately began to think "What dinner will I prepare to complement this wonderful bottle of wine?" The answer was simple:  Cedar Plank Salmon.

Once you have salmon cooked this way, you will never want to eat it any other way.  It's that good and so very easy to prepare.

You will need:

     ~ A whole salmon fillet, skin on, about 3-4 lbs.  We like cooking the whole fillet because left over cedar plank salmon begets wonderful meals later in the week~~salmon cakes, salmon frittata, and hubby's favorite, salmon hash.

     ~ A 22"L x 10"W piece of untreated cedar plank.  We simply buy a whole cedar plank at the local lumbar yard and have them cut it into the lengths we want.  Twenty-two inches is a good length for a whole salmon fillet.

     ~ A mixture of 1 tablespoon each canola oil, pure maple syrup and soy sauce.

Scrub the cedar plank in hot water, no soap, and soak it in cold water for at least three hours.

Heat the grill to 375F and keep the temperature constant between 375 and 400 while the salmon is cooking.

Lay the salmon on the cedar plank and brush with oil/syrup/soy mixture.

Place the cedar plank on the grill, cover and cook for about 30-45 minutes.  The fish is done when it's firm to the touch.  I like my salmon a little underdone, where it's still moist and tender inside.

Remove the salmon from the grill, tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

It just so happened that the first of the baby gold beets from my garden were ready to be picked so we had roasted baby beets along side this yummy salmon.  The beets are easy to prepare and so tasty!

Clean and scrub the beets, place in a foil pouch, and roast in a 425F oven for about 1 1/2 hours.  Remove, open the pouch, let cool a few minutes and the skins slip right off.

I thinly sliced the beets, drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil over them, and topped with a sprinkling of truffle salt.

To round out this meal, I made a side dish of sundried tomato risotto.  I can't tell you how yummy it all was!

Salute Brad and Sara...Grazie!

Wish you could have shared this meal with us :)

Buon Appetito!

Spring Garden Progress

My spring garden is doing amazingly well this year and I couldn't be happier.
 

I've been picking baby lettuce for salads nearly every day for at least a week.  And well, you know about all the arugula I've harvested :)  And the beets are ready to pick as well.  As a matter of fact, I picked the first of the gold beets for a fabulous dinner on Friday night and we had roasted baby beets as part of our Easter dinner on Sunday.

I took a bunch of pictures of the garden last week that I'd love to share with you.  When I'm in my garden, I feel so humble and grateful for what I'm able to have a hand in growing and in feeding my family and friends.

Here are my gold and red beets and carrots

 

Golden Chard

Little Gem Romaine and Lolla Rossa Red Lettuce

Texas 1015 Onions - A couple of these are the size of large tennis balls!

And my tomatoes are growing beautifully and beginning to flower!

The three varieties of peppers, Italian white eggplant, golden scallopini bush squash, golden bush beans and Blue Lake bush beans go in the ground this coming week. I may be a bit late in planting these, but I have to keep reminding myself...it's only April!

The rewards I get out of tending my vegetable garden go far beyond good fresh food.  Being out there, working hard in the sun, watching things grow and flower, feeds my soul as much as (or more than) my appetite.  Yes, I am truly blessed.