Happy 2022 - January in the garden

 Happy New Year!  Another new beginning and hope for a great year!  It's time to clean out the pantry and the doors to the fridge.  Do your storage containers all have lids?  Toss out the pieces that don't have their mates!  It's time to start fresh.

Even though it's winter I have gifts from the garden and farm.  Of course I have eggs.....fewer on the short days of winter.  Poppy gives me about 2 cups of delicious milk each day...plenty for my lattes and making cheese and ice cream.  I think I'll try buttermilk this week!  The deciduous fruit trees have all dropped their leaves and are waiting to be pruned but my citrus trees....as young as they are ...are my benefactors this month.  Surprisingly I am still enjoying fresh tomatoes....but my garden's abundance is leafy greens,  Here's what nourishing me this month:

Ruby Red grapefruit.  There are about 20 of these beauties even though this tree is only about 2 feet tall

Leafy greens: Mizuna lettuce, red freckle lettuce, kale, arugula

Swiss chard, rainbow...such pretty red ribs....filled with nutrients

A new crop for me this year: celery.  I know it sounds boring but celery from the garden is delicious

Oh yes and I will harvest my first sugar snap peas today

definitely too pretty to eat

and the never ending stream of passion fruit

Enjoy your January and your New Year!

Good morning!

I am a creature of habit.  I usually have the same thing for breakfast every morning.  I do my best to make it delicious, healthy and from home grown or the best food available.  I broke out of my old habit into a new one after Brad made me a fabulous breakfast of lightly sautéed leafy greens with a poached egg on top.  Here's my version:

sautéed leafy greens with over easy egg over sour dough toast

with half grapefruit

mise en place


leafy greens ( this blend is spinach, chard, kale and mizuna)
one handful
one fabulous backyard egg
toast - optional
a little olive oil
grapefruit

Lightly sautéed the power greens in olive oil until soft, add room temperature egg, cook as desired.  Place greens on toast and top with egg.  This is a low calorie high nutritious breakfast with one serving of veggies, one of protein and one of fruit and a bread if added.....and a fabulous way to start your day.

Bon petit déjeuner!

July is "ice cream" month

Grapefruit and basil sorbet, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

President Ronald Reagan declared July National Ice Cream month! He further declared the third Sunday as the official "Ice Cream Day"
I already posted my lavender honey ice cream recipe 2 weeks ago but here's another. This was an experiment. I have made other citrus ice creams and sorbets but I thought I would try one with grapefruit. Here it is: Grapefruit and basil sorbet
simple syrup made from
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
heated stovetop until sugar melts and then cooled in the fridge
1 cup grapefruit juice, fresh squeezed, cold
4 large leaves basil, julienned
You know the rest...
That's it!
Bon Appetit!