In Giardino

I have been wanting to share my herb garden.  I decided it would be easier to over winter my herbs in pots, so I decided to do a container herb garden.  Plus, the new patio needed some softness and a water feature.  Buddha overlooks my herbs and provides serenity.

The other reason for pots was I wanted to have a couple of mint varieties.  Mint is extremely invasive, so better in pots than my garden.  However, these aren't thriving the way I would like.  I think they need bigger pots and not so much serenity.  The big container has a couple of thyme varieties, creeping rosemary, chives and sage.  A big pot of garlic chives at 11 o'clock, lemonbalm at 7, chocolate mint at 5, basil and lavender at 3, rosemary at 2, and a hot and spicy oregano variety at 1 o'clock.  I had cilantro in there, but it didn't like our hot summer.  

I like being able to enjoy all of these visually, they also deter bugs, and I can use them in my cooking!

I learned from my cilantro mistake and put my parsley in the shade.

Today's tomato harvest, ready for washing and more ripening.

And, here is my garden guardian, our puppy, Chai.  She isn't so much a guardian as she is a helper in the garden, so a nice fence was erected to curb her digging enthusiasm.  This was one of her more serine moments.  She loves laying under our few trees.

On the menu today, an Asian Chicken and Rice Noodle Salad inspired by Buddha and to use some leftover roast chicken.

Until next time,

Ciao!

Birdie in Cucina

In Cucina

There was a lot of action in the kitchen yesterday.  First thing was breakfast.  I had put some corned beef in the crock pot the night before so we could have some corned beef hash and eggs. I never knew what good corned beef hash could be until I made my own.  I will never eat that awful canned stuff again. Most diners don't even make their own anymore and that is very sad.  It's frankly not that hard and well worth the effort.

We usually have leftovers for lunch, so I spent my day cleaning.  The kitchen had a good scrubbing coming and I gave it!  Deciding that if I am going to be a Domestic Goddess, I had better get a schedule started and stick to it.  I cleaned and cleaned.  It feels good to have a really clean kitchen to cook in.

As the day was a rather chilly one for July, I decided that we could handle a heartier meal.  Pasta with tomato sauce and italian sausage.  As I avoid chemicals and processed foods, this means starting with good tomatoes.  I had a couple store bought ones starting to turn and a bunch of ripe garden tomatoes as well.  I wanted a very rich flavor to stand up to the sausage, so. i decided to roast the tomatoes first.  Looking back, I think a sheet pan would have been a better choice to give the tomatoes more room.  Aslo, I think next time I will deseed and dejuice the juicier ones.  But they still did their job.  I sprinkled them with olive oil, oregano, rosemary and salt.  Put them in the oven for about 45 minutes.  I think I will try a higher temp that 350 next time as well.

Now to construct the sauce.  Onion, garlic and the sausage go in first.  I use both hot and sweet sausage.  Get that browned up and add the next layers.

Chopped bell peppers -I like the little ones for more choice in uses and they have good flavor.  The tomatoes and the juices, and a cup of good red wine.  I like chianti for sauce, but anything you will drink, except the sweet stuff, is fine.  More spices, salt and some red pepper flakes.  We like it spicey!

This all needs time to cook down and thicken.  It isn't one of those sauces that cook for hours, mind you, but the longer it cooks the richer the flavor.   i start my pasta water now and by the time the pasta is cooked and ready, so is the sauce.

It was a yummy and satisfying dinner served with salad and some wine.  Well, hubby had the wine.  I am supposed to avoid that too, so I figured the addition to the sauce was enough for me. And we have leftovers for lunches!

Hoping to keep up with my cleaning schedule well enough to make each day's zone take very little time and not have to rush to clean when we have people come over.  Wish me luck!

Ciao!

Birdie in cucina

In Giardino

What a difference a couple of days makes.  We also had a doozy of a thunderstorm last night.  Watered the garden nicely.   But in just a couple of days I see great changes in the garden.

A pepper has finally appeared!  I was getting worried that I had planted too late.

An eggplant is forming as well.   I love new beginnings!

Look how much the beans have grown!

Tomatoes are ripening at a nice pace.  One year they seemed to ripen all at once and we couldn't keep up.  I am sure that will eventually happen here too, as there is quite a bit of fruit on the plants.  But for now we can enjoy them.

Good thing too.  We have an abundance of lettuce to eat.  Some has bolted, so we had better get to it.  There will be salad with home grown ingredients tonight to go with our grilled London broil and fresh corn on the cob.  It is a very good corn year and, as it is difficult to grow, I am happy with what has been at the store.

The marigolds were planted for color and pest deterrance.  A particular pest I had in mind was our new puppy.  I had read that marigolds keep dogs away.  They did not have determined puppies listed, so I guess I overestimated the power of these flowers.  So rabbit wire and a crooked but effective gate was put up around our treasures.

The dogs and I are enjoying an afternoon al fresco.  Enjoying the cool breezes and happy that another storm has blown over.  We are grateful that it has been what I would call a normal summer.  We have had our hot days, but they have been interspersed with days like today, sunny, breezy and warm.  A godsend when housebreaking and entertaining a puppy.

Our new patio has allowed us to enjoy these days even more.  We have never spent much time in our yard.  Our property sits at the bottom of the bowl that is our block.  We have clay soil and a high watertable, so our yard would flood and become marshy and useable.  Some drainage our neighbors have done and the addtion of the large patio have made outdoor living possible.  The gazebo for shade - since we have no trees except those that hang over from next door - and comfy furnature make afternoon siestas wonderful.  A firepit and awesome benches constructed by my husband make evenings just lovely.  S'mores anyone?

I will talk about my other features another day.  For now, we are just relaxing and catching the breeze.  I hope you have someplace like this to enjoy.

Ciao!

Birdie in Cucina, al fresco

In Giardino

We are doing very well in the garden this year.  We haven't had one in a few years.  When I was working I just couldn't keep up with it.  Although,  I admit we went too large with those gardens also.  Just bit off more than we could chew, so to speak.

White Japanese Eggplant

Now that I am a domestic engineer, I can keep a proper garden.  We started about half of the size and I thought that would be manageable.  I did my homework and put in the garden at the same time we were installing the new patio in our yard.  This was the first time I did cold weather veggies - kale, spinach, lettuce, and a nice leafy cabbage.  Everything did well except for the spinach.

Now we are into the warm summer months, the tomato plants are monsters.  I need to get bigger tomato cages next year.  The yellow cherry variety is heavy with fruit, the roma are ripening as well, and the purple heirlooms are a bit slower.  All are very tasty and I am pleased with my choices.

Look at them beans!!

After the cold weather veggies vacated their space, I planted some peppers, and two variety of small eggplants, as well as bush beans, and scallions from seed.  The beans are sprouting quickly, there are pretty purple flowers on the eggplants, but the scallions are a no show so far.

Tomatoes and nasturtiums, with some late kale making an appearance.

We also planted nasturtiums.  If you have never tried them, they are easy to grow and taste wonderful in salads.  The whole plant is edible and it has a peppery taste.  Some folks pickle the flower pods and treat them like capers.

Just for fun, I thought you might like to see a visiter to the feeder.

I just love being able to use produce and herbs I have grown myself.  They somehow just taste better knowing that your effort was rewarded.  I can wait for the beans to come.  I have never done beans before.

We are so pleased with our efforts, we feel good about extending the garden by another third.  This bed will be under the one tree in our property and get some shade.  I think the cold weather veggies will like it even better under there and I hope we can have a nice fall crop.  I am also going to put in a potato barrel and give those a go.

Until then, all there is to do is eat a lot of salads.  We have a bunch of lettuce close to bolting, so we had better eat like bunnies.  Another entry will highlight my herbs and maybe the new patio space.

Ciao!

Birdie in Cucina

In Cucina

 Hello!  Welcome to my culinary blog.  I have been blogging for a long while.  I have a dog blog and a creative blog, where I write about my sewing, quilting and crocheting.  I have been feeling lately that my newest creative enthrallment has been in the kitchen. 

I have been cooking since I was a young kid.  As a latch key child, it was a necessity to be able to prepare my own food. Cooking has played a pretty important part in my family from the beginning.  I am a second generation Italian American on my father's side and Anglo-Saxon Celtic on the other.  Both of my parents were very good cooks.  My father in particular took great pride in his cooking and creating family recipes.  I remember my father teaching me to make gnocci on our kitchen table.  The big pile of flour and potatoes, making the well, adding the eggs, mixing the dough and rolling out the little dumplings with our fingers.  I have loved making those family recipes as an adult.

I have always enjoyed cooking.  It has been a very important part of my life, especially in the past year.  I found myself unemployed due to auto-immune condition and have a lot of time on my hands.  When my husband said that I could be like a housewife, I was releived and thrilled.  I had not been able to cook while I was working.  By the time I got home, I was just too exhausted.  Now, I have the time and energy for cooking!

It was a bit of a challange at first.  I have been following a pretty strict diet due to my illness to see if I could alleviate my symptoms and improve my quality of life.  This meant eating gluten-free, dairy free, fresh produce, avoid processed foods, sugar and chemical free.  The challenge proved to one I can deal with, for the most part.

Anyway, I have decided that this blog will be my way to share all of the fun I have been having in the kitchen instead of just being one of those annoying people who posts pictures of their food on facebook.

Take the grilled duck pictured above.  My husband challenged me on this idea.  Challenge accepted!  I did my homework and the results are, if I do say so myself, one of the best things I have ever cooked.  A standing rack, a drip pan and indirect grilling with a mango chipotle bbq sauce.  Making sure to score the skin to encourage the fat to escape.  Add a salad with greens from my garden and steamed asparagus.  He loved it!

I hope to be a good blogger and post more frequently that I have been on my other blogs.  I also hope you have fun here.  I plan to have fun.

Until next time, Ciao!
Birdie in cucina