Sometimes I go to Sam’s and get the big pack of garlic. This time I didn’t use it all, so these two heads sprouted.
Now they are growing in the garden. It won’t be long before I can just pull some when I need garlic.
These chives jumped to garden path two years ago to grow in the mulch. They are ready to be used on baked potatoes, or in recipes.
Here is a recipe that uses both garlic and chives, and is a wonderful dip for raw vegetables.
Dip
1 cup homemade olive-oil mayo
Blend: 1 whole egg
2 tsp wine vinegar
1 tsp dry mustard
Add in drops: 1 cup oil (this can be done in a blender or food processor)
Add: 1 cup sour cream
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 T chopped capers
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 t Tabasco
1/2 cup chopped chives
I tried using my hand blender for the mayo. It made nice, thick mayonnaise.
And the garlic is growing!
The rhubarb that looked like this,
now looks like this.
The flower that is forming needs to be twisted off so the strength of the plant can go into the stalks, the edible part. The leaves are poisonous, but I don’t know about the flowers.
Some stalks are ready to be picked to make rhubarb sauce or cobbler.
I love this cobbler variation:
Rhubarb Sweetie
3 cups diced, fresh rhubarb or frozen, thawed
2 T orange juice
1/3 cup honey
1 T butter
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup honey
1 t vanilla
2 T sour cream
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t soda
Arrange rhubarb in a 8×8x2 inch greased baking pan. Mix orange juice and honey and drizzle over rhubarb. Dot with butter. Bake in 350 degree oven until tender (or microwave).
Mix egg, honey, vanilla and sour cream. Mix in flour and soda.
Spread batter over hot rhubarb and bake in 350 degrees oven about 30 minutes, or until nicely browned.
Although this sauce takes time, it is very easy:
Rhubarb Sauce
Trim and cut rhubarb stalks into small pieces. (as shown above)
Put in a microwaveable bowl and add butter and honey (or sugar) to taste.
Microwave four minutes, then stir.
Continue microwaving, then stirring until sauce is smooth and thick.
This can be served warm on toast, pancakes, waffles, etc., refrigerated or frozen. It can be used just like applesauce.
One more good rhubarb recipe is Rhubarb Bread. I still like to microwave the cut-up rhubarb first and add whole wheat pastry flour instead of white. Also, if you add rhubarb sauce to replace some of the oil it is healthier.
My Stamen apple tree is usually filled with ripe apples in the fall, but the damaging snow last spring came when the tree was full of blossoms. So the honeybees and I were very disappointed.
The Stamen apples make the most wonderful applesauce. It’s simple to cut out the core, peel them and cook in a little water until they are soft, adding cinnamon or other preferred spices. A hand held immersion blender completes the task. When frozen the applesauce lasts for the winter, and tastes fresh when thawed.
Another easy way to fix fresh apples is to slice them into a microwave safe glass container. Add cinnamon, butter, and sugar if they need it. Then microwave, stirring after each two minutes, until they are soft.
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When visiting Long Island, NY, my friend Methel fixed this luscious apple tart. She graciously shared the recipe.
This display is from my friend Judy’s house. Her husband Dan grew the pumpkins and candyroasters, sharing half of one with me. After cooking down the pulp in the crockpot I had four quarts to use and freeze. Candyroasters are usually sweeter than most pumpkins, and are preferred in these mountains.
Other than this fun use for pumpkins,
these pumpkin bars are my choice. Pumpkin Bars Recipes
This year I used the candyroaster in the filling. I also doubled the filling, except for the sugar
and butter. It has twice the servings of a pumpkin pie, and is easier to make. With a little whipped
cream on top they go fast!
Pumpkin Bar
and volunteer gourds from the garden in the basket
