Monthly Archives: October 2019

Savoring With Several Senses

Fruit blossoms are sweet smelling and tasty Fragrant & Edible Flowers I recently saw a wonderful old cookbook from pioneer days that was all about edible flowers. Those hard working women may have been living in cabins with dirt floors, … Continue reading

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Living Perfumes

To find a fragrant mixture that makes us happy, we have to play around a little. One way to do this is to make small bouquets or tussie-mussies, layering the herbal with the floral, mixing and matching until you develop a clear sense of what floats your boat. Notice how various scents make you feel or what they spark in your memories: Generally speaking, gentle herbal scents encourage stressed bodies to relax. Bracingly aromatic odors invigorate dull moods. Certain perfumes unfailingly entice us to abandon ourselves to enjoyment, while others seem exhilarating or fascinatingly mysterious. Fragrance gardening is per force a deeply personal enterprise because you and your nose are unique. Continue reading

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Bread of Life

My Daily Bread When times are tough, I bake bread. When grief and sorrow keep me awake, I get up and make bread. When outrage and fury send my blood pressure skywards, I make bread. Oh, and knit. But really, … Continue reading

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Green Tomatoes Galore

Bacon, Chantrelle & Tomato Tart

1 sheet puff pastry or pie crust
1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil
4 slices bacon, chopped
3 leeks, thinly sliced (white and palest parts only)
1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
4 cups sliced chanterelles or any mushroom
2 cups thickly sliced red tomatoes
2 cups thinly sliced green tomatoes

Spread puff pastry or pie crust on a rimmed baking sheet and brush lightly with oil, set aside. In a heavy bottomed pan, cook bacon over medium heat until barely crisp, then remove to a plate. Add oil and leeks to the bacon pan over medium high heat. Sprinkle leeks with salt and cook for three minutes. Add mushrooms, sprinkle with salt stir to coat and cook, covered, until barely soft (5-7 minutes). Remove mixture to a shallow bowl to cool and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. When mushroom mixture is close to room temperature, spread over center of puff pastry or crust, leaving several inches bare all around the filling. Layer on the tomatoes, sprinkle with bacon bits, fold up edges of pastry or crust to partly cover filling and bake at 400 degrees F until puffed and golden (about 20 minutes for puff pastry, about 30 minutes for pie crust). Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serves about 6. Continue reading

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