In The Garden :: First Day of Spring

On the first day of spring, Mom and I walked around the garden and decided what our plans should be for this year.  We bought travertine pavers for a walkway-that's-never-going-to-happen about 2 years ago and after fighting weeds beyond measure in between the beds last year, I decided we should put them down in the veggie garden.  I did quite a bit of research on Pinterest about laying paver paths and I realize this is going to be a major endeavor, but I'm excited about it.  We laid some down on top of the soil just to get an idea while we were out there.  The first row of pavers is going to be just straight down the sides of the beds so that we can easily pull them up to get to the PVC pipe underneath, and then we'll do some sort of pattern down the middle.

The strawberries had decided to abandon their beds and grow all over the ground instead, so cleaning out the beds and getting the strawberries back in there is a top priority.  Mom was so excited about it that in the past couple of days she's already gotten a lot of it done!  We had so many strawberries that she's started cleaning up the flower beds close to the house and is putting the leftovers there.  And the rhubarb is also starting to come up already, which is a strawberry's best friend!  I'm imagining pies and cakes and tarts already...

The tops of the beds that are inside the fencing are getting pretty old and most aren't screwed down anymore, so we are probably going to get new wood for them and re-stain all the wood that needs it.

Last year I had troubles with watering the beds.  A couple of soaker hoses split, then as the summer went on most of the soaker hoses got clogged up with algae from the irrigation.  I did some research on better watering systems and found a genius idea on Pinterest using PVC pipes.

I plan on building them to fit the beds and then attaching them to the underground system with small hose sections.  Since you just drill holes in the PVC, if it gets gunked up this summer I'll just take the drill out and clean out the hole!  Mom was worried that there wouldn't be enough water pressure, but I don't plan on having the water on like a sprinkler, more like a good healthy drip.

Other than that it's just the usual clean up of weeds in and around the beds and maybe we'll get to laying some straw between the long beds to keep the weeds from growing too quick!

Recipe Tuesday :: Lemon Curd Cupcakes

Cupcakes are required for every birthday as far as I'm concerned.  Back on May 1st that birthday was the lovely Vida's and her requested flavor was lemon.  I perused Pinterest and I found an excellent Lemon Cream Cheese Cupcake recipe by Your Cup of Cake.  I thought I would jazz it up a bit by topping the cupcakes with some lemon curd before the finishing touch of as much lemon cream cheese frosting as possible.   I have to say they were so good they could probably solve world peace.

The cake was moist and fluffy.  The lemon curd was sweet and tangy.  The cream cheese frosting was perfect with just a hint of lemon.  Never over-the-top, just a lovely combination of flavors.

So you can make your own perfect lemon cupcakes you'll need a spot-on, foolproof lemon curd recipe.

Carrie's Perfect Lemon Curd
(Adapted from a Martha Stewart Recipe)

1 box of lemon Jell-O, 3oz
1 Tbsp cold water
4 eggs plus 6 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
zest of 2 lemons
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (5 to 6 lemons)
6 Tbsp butter, cut into 1 inch pieces

Sprinkle water over Jell-O and mix, it will be thick.  Let it sit about 5 minutes.  In a double boiler (bowl set over a pan with boiling water in the bottom), whisk together the eggs and egg yolks.  Whisk in the sugar, zest and lemon juice.  Cook, whisking constantly until thick, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and add in the Jell-O, stirring until the gelatin dissolves.  Add the butter a little bit at a time and stir until smooth, continuing until all the butter is incorporated.  Strain through a fine sieve into another bowl.  Put plastic wrap on top of the curd to prevent a skim from forming on the top.  Use right away while warm or refrigerate until needed.  When you pull it out of the fridge, microwave the amount you want at 10 second intervals until it's warm and spreadable.

I'm pretty sure these will be on the permanent rotation list...

Recipe Tuesday :: Upside-Down Rhubarb Cake

The person who writes Martha Stewart's recipes needs to learn to do a better job of describing how to bake something.  That being said this cake was really delicious.

I've been searching for new ways to use rhubarb and this cake just looked like something to eat at tea.  Which is what we did of course!

While the recipe I used was from Martha Stewart, I saw lots of similar versions on Pinterest by other people, so I feel no guilt posting my own version of the recipe.  Especially since Martha's was poorly written.  At one point it was like, "Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the middle is set."  And I was like, "Okaaaay, but how long?" and then it said "about one hour."  Hello!  Let's start with the declaration of baking one hour and then give me the specifics!  It's like a manual on how to defuse a bomb saying, "Cut the black wire, but first..."  Really?!?

Upside-Down Rhubarb Cake

For the crumble topping:
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar

For the rhubarb layer:
1 pound of rhubarb
3/4 cup sugar

For the cake:
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 heaping tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the topping by combining the butter, flour and sugar until moist and crumbly.  Set aside.

Trim and cut the rhubarb on a very sharp diagonal so that each piece is about a 1/2 inch thick.  Place the rhubarb in a bowl and toss with the sugar.  Let stand for a few minutes.  Toss again and arrange in a round cake pan.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt for the cake and set aside.  In a mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the lemon zest and juice.  Beat in eggs, one at a time and scrap the sides of the bowl.  Mix until well incorporated.  Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream, and mix until smooth.  Spread the batter evenly over the rhubarb in the cake pan.  Crumble the topping over the batter.

Bake for 55 to 70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the center doesn't jiggle.  The top should spring back when touched.  Let the cake cool for 10 minutes and then run a knife around the edge and invert onto a plate.  The cake needs to cool because the rhubarb is quite hot but should be removed from the pan after 10 minutes because if left much longer it may stick.

This cake was so moist and dense and had a wonderful lemon flavor to it.  If you aren't into topping it with rhubarb you could probably try other fruits or even just add strawberries to the rhubarb.  We chopped some up and added them fresh on the side for tea!  A truly decadent cake!!

In The Garden :: March and April

In January of every year I feel this need to start planning my summer garden.  I imagine the ripening vegetables and the beautiful green beds, watered on timers with just a few weeds to pick as I walk through looking for a zucchini or a cucumber.  I manage to forget every time about the effort required to get the garden looking like that.  This is what March and April are for.  To take my garden, which has become a garden of weeds like this...

And turn it into the clean beds waiting for seeds or seedlings like this...

I took a few extra days off a few weeks ago to do all that weeding, which took 3 days mind you with help.  Mom and I spent Thursday, Saturday and Monday mornings clearing one space at a time and loading up 5 full wheelbarrows of weeds that went to eagerly waiting chickens.

Then Monday afternoon we spent 3 hours trying to get the irrigation on and finally succeeded, much to the relief of the peas, carrots, onions and radishes that have been only watered sporadically since they were planted in the middle of March.  We haven't had much rain this spring and getting the water on was a desperate thing for all of our fruit trees as well.  While the nights have been getting below freezing, it looks like we may still get cherries.

And our other fruit trees are doing well and it's possible we may have pears for the first time this year!

The new peach and almond trees are doing well and our apricot flowered earlier this spring, so we'll be waiting eagerly to see what fruits we get later this summer and fall.


I already have tomato and pepper seedlings started and getting them going and transplanted is all old hat at this point.

And we've also been slowly working towards improving a corner of our garage that was once used as a shop area and turning it into a potting bench.  This is in the garage closest to the vegetable garden, so it would be great for keeping all those items we need when we're out there, rather than walking all the way back to the Tuff Shed in the yard that is the current home for all those tools.  During our last yard sale we got back far enough into the other garage to find an old hutch that was my great-grandmother's.  It was her baking cabinet and used to be attached to a base that had bins for flour and sugar, but that part is long gone.  It was just sitting in there un-used and left wanting.  So Mom and I decided to put it on the bench, give it a good coat of new paint and use it to hold potting and gardening supplies.

Before...

And after!

I chose a light green to lighten up the space and it took two coats to cover the pink.  You can see it coming through in a few places, but it makes it quaint.  We bought some new knobs for the drawers that are still waiting to be painted and I tried to convince Mom that we needed the ones that looked like little trowels and spades.  For some reason she didn't think we needed to pay $15 a knob for something that was going in the garage.  ;)  I, of course, have Pinterest dreams for this area.  Baskets hanging from the rafters, old jars and bottles on shelves, twinkle lights to brighten the area and pots, trowels and assorted gardening supplies placed in aesthetically appealing messiness.  I'll keep you updated...

First Try :: Pedicures

Last Friday I had my first ever pedicure.  And I loved it!  Vida, a friend from work, suggested we go to a nail salon that served drinks while you got your nails done and I was totally game.  We met up and arrived to find a full salon at 11 AM on a Friday!  There was a wedding party ahead of us and so we chose our colors and then went and shopped a bit and got some Starbucks and headed back to see if the big group had been taken to their seats yet.  We only had to wait a bit more and we were taken back.  At this salon they also serve wine, beer and a few mixed drinks while you get your manicure or pedicure!  It took a while to get our drinks but eventually we got our Mimosa and Lemonosa.  Yum!

The drinks were better than some you get at nice restaurants in town.  And once I got into the idea of someone else scrubbing my feet and massaging lotion on them it was really enjoyable.  They massage your feet and legs and you just feel so relaxed at the end of it.

I got French tips with a nude base and Vida got French tips with a blue base.  We've decided that this needs to be a monthly gift to ourselves, so I've already scoured Pinterest for some ideas for next time.  Maybe I'll do pastels.  Or glitter.  Or just one with glitter.  Or maybe polka-dots with one nail reversed colors, or mermaid, or one with a heart! So many ideas!  Thank goodness there are 12 months in a year...  :)

Springtime Chicks!

Spring in our household usually means a shipment of baby chickies at some point.  Last year we didn't get any and our egg production is suffering because of it.  Mom is feeding around 30 chickens and only gets around 6 eggs a day.  Since a hen should lay about 1 egg a day or even every other day, that means we have a lot of slackers in our coop.  So Mom was certain she needed a fresh batch of chicks this spring.

We have always gotten ours through the mail from Murray McMurray Hatchery.  They ship them at only a day old and since they are going through the mail they have to send a certain quantity at a time.  We have always gotten 25 for this reason but recently they lowered the number to 15 if you have them shipped after April 1st (it's warm enough that you don't need so many).  There are plenty of varieties to choose from and Mom likes docile hens that are good layers.  This year we got...

Ameraucanas

Who lay blue-green eggs

Buff Rocks

And Australorps

Who both lay brown eggs

They are currently living in a large cardboard box in the laundry room and every morning Ariel goes to the door and looks at you like, "You gonna take care of my chickies?"

She's a pretty good mother hen.  At almost a week old you can see the tiny feathers showing up on their wings, they've gotten visibly bigger and the running from one side of the box to the other has started.  

By next week will probably move out to the coop because they will start jumping and trying to fly.  We have the big coop cordoned off into a baby chick and an adult hen side so that the hens don't pick on them.  Eventually as the new chickies get bigger Mom moves the older hens to the far run and small coop and lets the new ones have the run of the bigger coop and yard.  The fence in between lets them get used to seeing each other without hurting each other.  In time the door will be opened and the two will mix pretty well.  Of course there is always a pecking order to be established.  Can't help that!