Confessions and a possible mid-life crisis

If you didn't have a chance to read the last post, you didn't miss much, and I deleted it.  It was short and boring and didn't say anything really.  So, I'm trying again.
So, its April, and I think that this makes it about a year since I started this endeavor.  I can't really say that this has been a huge success, but at least, I have a way to vent without anyone smacking me about the head.  As far as gardening goes, I have plenty of seedlings hardening to put into the ground in the next week.  The first round of green beans and already in the ground, and the next wave will go in with the tomato, eggplant, and pepper seedlings.  I think I need to wait 2 more weeks for okra to go in, but I think that I am safe to put in the corn.  Dill and basil seedlings are everywhere.  The asparagus is sparse but growing.  And if ANYONE has any idea how to stop the spread of the freakin' Chinese chives, I would love to hear it.  I am going to try not to be obsessed with the garden this year, but I can tell that my search for balance will probably have to continue on a bit longer.
I've been finding, recently, that balance is no longer something that I'm really good at.  If I could find a turning point for when this started, I would have to say, maybe 2 years ago.  Perhaps it was one of the millions of moments that I've had thinking, "this is not where I thought I would be at this point in my life".  Maybe not. 
All I know is that when I find something to do, believe in, think, there ain't no stoppin' me.  I started to workout on a regular basis again about 6 months ago.  I couldn't just go to the gym and lift weights and run on the treadmill or take an aerobics class.  I had to join an outdoor boot camp, and workout intensely for 3 days a week.  And then that wasn't enough, so I had to add 1, then 2, then 3 days of running to go with it.  Thankfully, I have reigned that in a bit.  Then I decided that I needed a goal - a half marathon.  So I signed up for that.  Wait, that isn't enough, so I need to do a Warrior Dash too.  No wait, that isn't enough either so I have to run another race this weekend.
I've never been too outdoorsy, even though I work in the industry.  But in the last few months, I've been on more hikes than I had in the past 5 years.  I tried rock climbing for the first time - climbed so much I couldn't open my peanut butter jar for 3 days.  I took my son backpacking.  I dragged my 4 year old on 3 mile hikes.  I worked out at boot camp AND ran 5 miles directly afterwards.  I washed, dried, and folded 8 loads of laundry in one day.  Wait, that last one is normal.  
In the garden, I started out with wanting to do the corn and beans again, let the strawberries continue to roll, and then maybe a tomato plant or two and call it a day.  Now, nothing new is in the ground yet, and I have strawberries, asparagus, 3 kinds of cherry/grape tomatoes, 1 heirloom tomato, 2 kinds of peppers, eggplants, 2 frames of corn, a full frame of okra, dill, basil, thyme, rosemary, ever present Chinese garlic chives, and am still trying to decide if I want to do sweet potatoes again.  Huuuuuuu, big breath.
I am also obsessed with Greek yogurt, soup stock, and cheese.  Did I tell you about the time that I went out and bought beef marrow and lamb neck bones just to make stock and then had nothing planned to do with the stock??  That was intelligent.  Stupid French cook boot that I'm reading.
So, while this blog is about coaxing out the best in something, I think that I need some reigning in.  And so, I blame the whole thing on a mid-life crisis.  I look forward to old age, so that I can take it down a notch.

I Miss You Long Time

A long winter (which isn't over yet apparently) and I look forward to ideas for spring.  I should be turning the ground now and adding my worm poop to get the beds ready for March.  What to plant, what to plant?  Any ideas out there?  Herbs and tomatoes in some form are forgone conclusion.  I'm looking for things you have grown that tasted amazing and didn't die in the southern heat.  Talk to me people.  My seed catalog sits patiently for me to start marking it up!

Fall takes Hold

Usually, I am not a fall season girl.  Summer is my time of the year.  Spring is a close second.  Winter is for cocoa, cider, fireplaces and hibernation.  Fall is ragweed, goldenrods, and razor dry air.  This fall has been no exception.  However, what is different this year is that I am newly inspired to get my kids to take advantage of a fleeting few weeks of nice outdoor weather that bridge the unbearable heat to southerners freezing our a**es off.  Perhaps my son joining the Cub Scouts has also fueled this.  He has his first overnight camping trip in a couple weeks, so we broke out the tent and sleeping bags last night, and he and Jon spent the night under the tent under the stars in our front yard.  They came in around 7:30 this morning after the birds woke them and went back to bed upstairs, but that's nature for ya.
This afternoon we went to a fly fishing clinic in a beautiful nature preserve.  Only Jon got the hang of slinging the fly rod, but we all got a few casts in and enjoyed some beautiful weather.

The garden is also slowly growing; it's definitely not the summer time trailblazing growth.  It's a more subtle development.  The roots have taken hold, there is a new set of leaves; the grape tomatoes and eggplant still grow slowly.  The basil hangs on.  My reluctance to cut down the bloomed stems eggs on the remaining bumblebees to continue to pollinate.  The days may be waning but nature pushes forward.

Yummy Fall Food

I'm just here to brag about my best yet clean-out-the-produce-drawer pasta dinner to date!  Let me just say that typically when I use the odds and ends out of the fridge to make dinner, it is met with the groans normally associated with cafeteria mystery meat or left over casserole at home.  So tonight, while one child colored on the family room floor and the other headed out to play in the neighborhood, I was smoothly evasive about what would be for dinner.  So, just crowing here, but the kids cleaned their plate.  Triumph #1.  It was only after they had mostly finished their meal that I revealed all the ingredients in the pasta.  And surprisingly, no shudders!  Triumph #2.  So because this turned out so well, I thought I would share.  Hopefully you have the exact same leftovers in your drawers!

Fall Odds and End Pasta serves 4
8oz fettucine (or half a box)
1/2 fennel bulb sliced thin
1/2 bag spinach
1/2 bag salad mix
1 green apple thinly sliced
2 slices of bacon and 2 chicken tenders minced together
2 scallions white portion sliced into rings
1/2 c chicken or veggie broth
1/4 t dried or 1t fresh thyme

Cook pasta according to directions and drain.
Mix apples, scallions and fennel bulb together in a bowl and set aside.
Saute mixed meat until just cooked through in a med high heated pot.  Remove meat but reserve oil in pan left from cooking bacon.  If necessary, and an additional tablespoon canola oil.  Toss fennel, apple, scallion mixture in and saute until fennel is tender.  Add spinach, salad mix and then broth and cook just until leaf veggies are wilted.  Season to taste with salt, if necessary
Toss pasta into veggies and broth and mix thoroughly.  Serve with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Fall Preview

Since I have been grounded from travel this week due to inadequate after hours child care status, I have had a lot of time to enjoy the waning days of Indian summer and the burgeoning of fall all the while getting a lot of badly needed office work done.  Being grounded rocks.
Today I spent almost 3 hours rooting out big chunks of weeds and spent summer vegetable plants from the main garden.  I saw a black widow spider and discussed how to tell the difference between a venomous and non-venomous snake while on the phone with a New England friend.  Gratified in my work done, I ventured to the fav garden store to supplement the fall garden.  Lettuces already in the works, I'm going to try some rainbow swiss chard, broccoli and cauliflower, and some beets - only 2 each of the last 3 items.  Last years cauliflower grew to the size of a peach and then just quit on us.  Beets - well I am just skeptical.
Anyhoo, just get yer-selves ready for next week's preview pics.  And I am still waiting on recipes, folks.  Let's go for something with the swiss chard or beets.  I think I can figure out the rest.

Woohoo - Fall! And Regret.

Today was not the first day of fall, but it sure felt like it here - only a few days late.  We've been waiting and waiting and waiting for the cooler weather.  25 days of September had highs in the 90s.  Yes, today is the 27th - so we had the 4th hottest September in 70 something years.  But the cool weather instantly inspired all things fall for me.  I cooked a big pot of chili heating my kitchen back up the 90 degrees that I escaped just yesterday. I started thinking about squash and apples and Chinese hot pot.   I wore long sleeves and steadfastly refused to push them up when the kitchen got said hot.  We opened the windows.
So, while I was stirring my big pot of black bean chili (with some eggplant sneaked in for veggie bulk), I looked at my can of roasted tomatoes.  And I felt regret for the end of tomato season.  Oh sure, I can get tomatoes at the supermarket year round, but, seriously, it just ain't the same.  And then I realized that there will be no more peaches, no more zucchini, no more blueberries, no more super succulent, sweet and tender corn on the cob.  I am so sad.  Like then end of a summer time fling, I leave summer satisfied, but secretly long for one more kiss from a sun drenched Caprese salad.  Rats.  I guess that is the beauty of eating seasonally.  We enjoy the best of the best, and then they leave us wanting more, waiting in anticipation for the next first fresh taste.
Oh well, on to fall.  Autumn is fledgling here.  Send me your favorite fall recipes, please.

Fall is Coming, I Swear!

I've been feeling the first inkling of fall coming.  When I let the dogs out in the morning, the air is actually not muggy.  The highs are below 90 degrees.  I actually feel like looking at something long sleeved.  Yep, fall is on the way.  The over grown garden is in emergency need of a weed-ectomy.  And once a harvest has happened, I'm not very good at removing the dying plants.  But here is my first inkling of fall:  sweet potatoes!!  This was pulled from 2 plants.  We are baking them tonight as company to shrimp pasta with home grown basil and anchovy a plenty.  I don't think I've ever had a sweet potato fresh from the ground a la Scarlett O'Hara.  I'll let you know how it goes.