OH THE FLAVORS

A lady I attended church with told me a story once about how a small family had been going through a rough time and were all ill.  When God impressed upon her to make them a pot of chicken noodle soup she panicked because all she had in the fridge was a couple limp celery stalks and limp carrots.  Wanting to do what she felt God had told her to do she grabbed the limp veggies, added some onions and garlic to the pot with some left over chicken she had cooked the night before.  She added some some fresh thyme and other spices and left it to cook for a while.  Turned out it was one of the best pots of chicken noodle soup she had ever made.  That lady's story made me think twice about whats in my fridge and throwing stuff away that may not be perfectly fresh.  

I love flavor!!!  It can make or break a dish.  I have watched my grandmothers, aunts, and mother cook for years and years and never gave any thought to what they put in every recipe.  Everything my grandmother and mom made was full of flavor and goodness.  When I started cooking I didn't realize how important spices other than salt and pepper were but I have seen the light over the years and love herbs and spices.  
I have a list of foods be it herbs, spices, veggies, or sauces that are must haves.


Things one should always have in the fridge:

• Garlic
• Onions
• Ginger
• Cilantro
• Peppers
• Carrots
• Celery
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Hot Pepper Sauce
• Soy Sauce

If you have these things in your fridge you can make about anything taste good, from chicken to plain hamburger.  

And my list of go to spices that I must have are:

• Cumin
• Chili Powder
• Oregano
• Sage
• Thyme
• Curry
• Dill
• Paprika
• Crushed Red Pepper
• Cayenne

From all these things I can make pot pies, tacos, chili, meatloaf, stir-fry, soups, stews, salad dressings, and so much more.  

Right now I have chives, flat leaf parsley, dill, cilantro, cayenne, garlic, mint, and basil growing in my herb pots and around the yard and garden.  Herbs especially dill, basil, cilantro, parsley, and mint are hardy and can be grown from seed easily.   

Basil in Planter

 I planted my seed this spring in early may and as you can see from the pictures below the dill and basil are doing great!  The dill seed was even seed that I had harvested from my mature dill last season.

Dill Patch

MAMMOTH DILL

Someone appreciates the softness of baby dill.

 The dill was planted for the sole purpose of making dill pickles but Skittle seems to like the softness of the mammoth dill that has yet to mature.  The dill seed was saved from last years dill crop and I was so pleased when I planted it this spring that it came up and looks great.  As far as Skittle is concerned, this isn't the first time I have caught him inside the small fence of the dill.  He seems to think that this is an appropriate place to sit and hide and watch the birds in the bird bath just a few feet away.

The birdbath is pretty close to the cucumbers "Honey Hole"

The cucumbers are about an inch long right now and it will not be more than a week or two before I can pick them and start canning.  Dill pickles are one of the main things that I can each summer and I have a recipe that everyone who tries them loves.  I will post my pickle recipe later.  The first year I made them from this recipe I went to the farmers market and bought 10 lbs of small cucumbers and couldn't make enough of them because the kids loved them.

Another hiding place for Skittle.

EARLY VEGETABLES

Early vegetables that we plant and which can survive the harsh cold of early spring are cabbage, broccoli, red cabbage, kale, lettuce, and although there are many others that one can plant these are the staples that we enjoy and stick to planting year after year.

The first of the broccoli and cabbage plants are ready for harvest which is made even more delightful by the fact that we planted most of them from seed in the midst of winter and watched them produce to full maturity.

The cabbage and broccoli we harvested yesterday was used to make stir-fry today.

I simply use garlic, onions, and peppers and saute them in a little oil in my non-stick skillet and throw on top of them some fresh ground ginger, the broccoli, and cabbage that I have shredded with a knife and let it simmer on low till the veggies are done but not over cooked.  (Even if you over cook this its still good)

HUMUS RECIPE

Today I decided that I was going to try to make some humus as I am always looking for something to dip veggies in and figured that would be better than my standard go to of french onion dip.  I grabbed the can of chick peas from the cabinet and looked around for other goodies to add some flavor to this generally bland bean.  Here is what I came up with and I must admit it is quite tasty.

Avacado Curry Humus

1 can chick peas drained well
1 ripe avocado
3-4 cloves garlic depending on your love for garlic (I used more)
1/2 small onion
1/2 small pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons curry
salt and pepper to taste

I combined all ingredients in my food processor and set it to pulse, scrapping
down the sides every few pulses to make sure every pea was getting chopped.
Mine seemed to need a little more liquid to bind it so I simply added a squeeze
more lemon juice.

I think that if one wanted to they could substitute the onion and pepper and lemon juice for a few tablespoons of salsa and it would have been just as good. Maybe next time I will try this and throw in some  fresh cilantro from my herb boxes.

For those who do not know what curry tastes like I would describe it as a powdered form of Worcestershire sauce.  It is very yummy and worth adding to many recipes..

THE ALLEY GARDEN ... 2013

A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.
Liberty Hyde Bailey 
 

The Alley Garden, Gorham, IL

To begin I should tell you that so far this gardening season I have not stepped foot in this garden.  Which I am sure makes many people wonder if I have any business writing about it or anything gardening. I have a couple spots in the yard that are lovingly referred to as "Honey Holes" because they are loaded with great soil and produce many great things that would otherwise crowd or take over the garden. In the original honey hole is planted cucumbers and dill and the second honey hole has early Kale, lettuce, and now Ambrosia cantaloupe.  Both honey holes are where large trees once stood and were taken out by Mother Nature with age or storms. The roots that were left to rot make the best soil after a few years they were tilled and worked and now I can the best dill pickles ever from these spots. I will share my pickle recipe later in the summer when it's tIme to start picking cucumbers.