Radishes, Rutabagas and Roast Beef

Helleborus in the garden this morning, the first to open this year

Since it was rather breezy and not too cold today, I decided to make pot roast. I like to be able to open the windows when making it since it does get stuffy in the house when the roast is browning. When it comes to meals during the week I try to keep it simple.

5 ingredient pot roast!

Step 1: season chuck roast with salt and pepper and coat with flour

Step 2: brown both sides of beef in some oil

Step 3: After beef is nicely browned, remove and set aside, add 1 sweet onion

Step 4: When Onions are fragrant, return beef to the pot and add red wine(enough to come up half way of roast). Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 3 to 4 hours, till meat is falling apart

While the beef simmered, I went about the rest of the afternoon. I finally got around to getting the "white icicle" radish seeds planted. They will be lovely in a spring salad if successful. Also planted a couple of $2 Parsley plants I got from Publix last night.

For an afternoon snack, I made Korean Glutinous rice balls with pecans. Another easy dish to make since it starts with a mix.

To the mix is added some water, and egg and pecans

shape into balls

Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes, YUMMY

The cats were happy to have the windows open, they spent most of the afternoon parked in the bedroom window watching me work in the yard

"cats behind willow"

To go with the pot roast, a simple Rutabaga puree and steamed Haricot Verts

mmm cream...

Tender and succulent after cooking in the wine for 4 hours

Dinner is served!

And for the simplest dessert, sliced Asian pear, sweet, juicy and crunchy.

"Empty Bowls" Fundraiser is upon us!

I had the luxury of a "slow morning" today. I had planned to sleep in but it was almost impossible with two rambuctious cats running around. Filbert and Socrates were definitly up and ready for the final day of The Great Backyard Bird Count.

After quick breakfast while counting birds, it was time to get on with the day.

With a variety of gardening tasks I intend to get accomplished this week and a full week of piano lessons and Willy Wonka rehearsals, I decided today to get a head start on my small contribution to the Empty Bowls fundraiser for the Carrollton Soup Kitchen. This is the annual fundraiser for our local soup kitchen. I will be preparing a soup to add to the menu for the day. I spent some time reviewing my favorite soup recipes and I think I have narrowed it down to Miso, Thai coconut or Congee. I will decide on Thursday when I see whats available at the Oriental Marketplace .

My bowl collection by local artist Robert Roller, the 2 darker green ones I picked up at Empty Bolws last year

The main fund raising activity at Empty Bowls is what I'll call "Soup and Bowl". Attendees make a minimum of $10 suggested donation and in return get a soup of your choice from the menu of delicious soups donated my local chefs and restaurants, and a handmade bowl of your choice. The handmade bowls are donated by local potters and also come from community bowl making workshops that are held throughout the year. A truly wonderful(and delicious ) event.    More information about Empty Bowls

With my list of soups to make narrowed, I proceeded to my contribution to the silent auction portion of Empty Bowls, what I would call my "Live orchid art piece". As I gathered my materials, I realized I was short on reindeer moss so I trip to the garden center ensued. This included a quick stop to The Haystack consignment store to see if any of my stuff had been sold. I collected my few dollars but also came home with my "deal of the day", a sterling silver butter knife with beautiful botanical motifs for the great sum of $2 and change, what a find!(Thank you Jean for spotting it)

diamond in the rough

stunning after a quick polish

With my supply of preserved reindeer moss in hand, I was ready to proceed with my orchid artpiece.

Start with a beautiful fresh orchid off course, add some moss, twigs and raffia..

All ready for the silent auction

Yellow Dogwood and Pussy willow from the backyard

With the orchid dressed up with "minimal" effort, I headed out into the garden to survey the situation.  I did a little pruning and also added a few yellow twigged Dogwood to the front porch decorations. After that, I addressed the issue of the very long wire vine's vines. I had to give them a quick trim.

These plants have been growing nicely indoors since I brought them home around Christmas last year

2 peas in a pod

It was quite a productive day in the garden and next, a quick nap before a full run though Willy Wonka rehearsal this evening

A Springy Sunday*

*this blog entry was for Sunday February 20th but was inadvertently published late
After the excitement of our day in the city yesterday(see previous post), a low key Sunday was much welcomed. I was looking forward to spending time in the garden.

 

With a lovely week of warmer days, the Helleborus  have started blooming. A much welcomed event!

But the first order of business for the day was to whip up a batch of macarons for a baby shower at St Andrew. Since the shower was for a soon to be baby boy, I thought blue macarons would be nice.

macaron shell ingredients

1st step: 1 1/2 cups confectioners and 2/3 cups almond meal is ground in the food processor

2nd step, 3 room temperature eggs are separated, yolks reserved for another use

 

3rd step: add 4 tablespoons sugar to egg whites and beat to a meringue

After the meringue is ready , food coloring is added (this is optional off course) but brightly colored macarons are so much fun

Almond meal mixture is dumped into the meringue and folded in

The batter is folded till slightly runny

Batter is put into a pastry bag and then piped out onto parchment lined sheets. The batter is then allowed to dry(sometimes with the help of a forced air heater, depending on the weather). When the batter is ready, they get popped into a 350F oven for 12 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the shells

Batter is ready for the oven when it has formed a leathery skin

Perfectly formed feet on the cookies means the batter was dried properly

Shells are cooled on a wire rack and then removed from parchment

Shells are lined up and ready to be filled

Blueberry jam is filled into a piping bag to make it go quickly

wild blueberry macarons!

Macarons done, it was off to church! 

A couple of weeks ago, I purchased some Lily of the Valley pips. I make it a point to add a few new plants to the garden each Spring.  I envision a field of Lily of the valley in the backyard someday. Lilies of the Valley typically bloom in April and May in my climate but February is when the pips start to become available at the local garden center. This makes it a bit of a trick to start them because the pips are always practically blooming in the bag. My trick is to pot them up in a pretty pot and enjoy them as forced bulbs indoors and plant them out when the soil is warmer in March and April. They fare better this way since it is almost always too cold and wet for the sprouting pips to survive outdoors in February.

Lilies looking good this morning after 2 weeks, still could use a few more leaves

 I received a bag of "white icicle" radish seeds yesterday and had planned to plant them but felt a little lazy....

I decided instead to take it easy, relax and enjoy the orchids and participate in The Great Backyard Birdcount The cats decided they would help too:

The cats now have their very own bird counting pedestal, but I think Socrates was plotting an attack on the yummy orchids nearby..

Filbert testing out the new perch

Inspired by the orchid displays we viewed yesterday, I added a few tall white Phalaenopsis to the trays of green Phalaenopsis on the dining table. Green and White, my favorite colors and perfect to welcome spring.

Not a whole lot of actual gardening got done today, maybe tomorrow....