ElainaA

Watching all the gardens getting going makes me so anxious to get mine started. Sigh. I love where I live (except in January and February. And sometimes March. ) but our growing season starts late and ends early. My garden was tilled last Saturday but it has rained since and will rain more later this week so it is too wet to rake and plant - probably for another week. Which actually would still be earlier than many years. In fact most years nothing is planted until the end of May. I am working on making beds in the new green house so that feels like something garden-y is being accomplished.

Steelhead trout with vodka, chives and green peppercorn cream sauce. With roasted asparagus and rice. The cookbook (published in 1991) comments that this recipe may seem too trendy or yuppie. I guess the 90's were the era of vodka sauces? And also green peppercorns? I've never managed to be trendy at all - this was the first time I've made or eaten one. It was good but I'm not really sure that the vodka contributed much. This was inspired by a bottle of green peppercorns that someone put in my Christmas stocking.

@Cocoa Joe As a fellow psychologist/ amateur chocolate maker I think I know where you are coming from. All of the above advice is important. For me, finding a book that I could really use and explore was a real learning tool - for me it was Greweling. Trader Joe's chocolate is fine but also look at on line sources. I use Callebaut from gygi.com. Before you even think about selling though, find out about your state's laws. I'm in NY and can not sell chocolates unless I have a commercial licensed kitchen. Which would mean building another house or renting a commercial space. I decided I would rather just make chocolates to give away.

We weren't nearly so sophisticated but back in the late 70's, some friends baked me a rather interesting spinach and marijuana quiche for my 30th birthday. I remember it as being very good but basically tasting like a good spinach quiche. The party was quite a lot of fun. (I'm sure the statute of limitations has run out, so please don't arrest me.)

I think my local store would be right there.

Several recent meals: From the NY Times: Chicken with artichokes with garlic mashed potatoes. And, of course, salad. Roasted pork butt with artichokes, roasted potatoes and carrots. Italian frying peppers stuffed with breadcrumbs, Parmesan, capers, garlic and shallot cooked in a quick tomato sauce, served with bread I made today and salad Risotto with asparagus and peas and shrimp - which were supposed to be grilled but it was 30 F and raining/sleeting so they were sautéed.

@Shelby I've been wondering where the bunnies went. We usually have dozens in our yard and on our hills this time of year; this year - none. Now I know, they are all in Oklahoma. Sorry...

@dcarch Thanks! The thermometer is a good idea. The doors roll up so there is good ventilation - and on our hill the breeze/wind never really stops. Also, it doesn't get really hot here very often a day in the 90's is worth a mention in the newspaper. We have been advised to remove the skin after growing season - less because of sun than because of the burden of snow. @gfweb and @kayb For me the problem with newspaper mulch is getting it to stay in place. Spraying it with water after you put it down helps but I still either find it blowing around the garden after a few days or else I have to use lots of stones to weight it down - the very stones that I have been digging out of the garden! I like that newspaper decomposes and can be tilled in and do use it every few years but generally I fall back on black plastic. I buy the type sold for painter's drop cloth - much heavier than the 'garden plastic' and it last 3-4 years.

I'm assuming that if we had super powers it would not have taken us 2 days rather than 2 hours. He did much more of the work than I did. He is currently sitting in his garage contemplating the 1958 MG that he didn't have a chance to work on this weekend and listening to Anna Netrebko. I'm making him a very nice dinner and we have a bottle of good chianti. That will help a lot.

I have a greenhouse! We bought the kit last fall and spent all this weekend putting it up. The directions say 2 people = 2 hours. To which I say HA! Maybe Superman and Wonder Woman but not Barney and I. It is the cheapest kit on the market and kind of looks it but I have a friend who has had one up for 3 years and it is still in perfect shape. It is, I think, more properly called a hoop house since it has no heat and no lights. I have parts to extend the drip irrigation system, using individual emitters for each plant, into the structure. I've never gardened with a green house so it will be a learning experience. The plan is to use it primarily for tomatoes - partly as some degree of protection from the air-bourne blight that is endemic here.

The jars come with lids.

How about wide mouth pint canning jars? The wide mouth ones have straight sides. They cost about $8.50 for a dozen at walmart.com - I assume they are about the same in the stores. If you want to take the time, check out garage sale ads - you can often find canning jars that way. I got some recently for .25 each. I like the 24 oz. ones for storage too -also wide mouth, straight sides.They are harder to find though.

I purchase bean seed especially for planting. The coco noir came from PineTree Gardens. It would probably be a bit cheaper to try beans sold for cooking (This packet of coco noir seed cost $1.75 and contains more than I have room for.) but I don't think I would trust the age of the seed.This way I know they were packed for this year's germination.

Beautiful meals from everyone as always! It has been really busy here this week and I haven't posted much but I did take pictures. Grilled pork chop with grilled pineapple and red onion and black beans and rice. That was the last of my coco noir beans from last summer's garden. Since I've been growing them I just cannot use commercial black beans any more. Bruschetta on home made bread with Trader Joe's red pepper spread, seasoned ricotta, fried, chopped artichokes and roasted red pepper. With pasta with a quick tomato and pancetta sauce topped with more of the ricotta and some of the artichokes. A really easy one: grilled chicken with tomato chutney, roasted broccoli, and roasted potatoes and garlic. And last night: kielbasa, potato and pepper hash. With a salad.

I don't have to deal with clay but our so called soil is largely rock. After 25 years of adding huge amounts of compost and manure, the level of my garden is at least 6-8" below the surrounding area due to the amount of rocks i have pulled out. If I had had the forethought - and skill - I probably could have saved them and built a lovely stone garden shed. I spent today digging out my compost heap and carting it into the garden. It's ready for tilling - however the weather people are predicting rain for the next few days so I am not sure when it will actually happen. It also depends on the work schedule of my neighbor with the rototiller. All the locals who advertise tilling services use tractor mounted tillers - which will are much to large for my garden, which is fenced. They wouldn't be able to turn around even if they could get through the gate. When I hit 65, several years ago, I decided I was through digging it by hand. It's so much easier to watch someone else with a machine. My husband and a friend spent Sunday working on the new greenhouse. If the weather permits, we hope to finish it next weekend. !!!!!

I think the important element that is being ignored here is economics. A lot of Italian-American families were (and many are) poor. They could not afford the traditional meats in a "Sunday gravy". My mother in law was Molise - her sauce always included pork chops, beef meatballs, chicken wings and sausage. It was not cheap. Hot dogs are cheap. When you don't have a lot of money you use what you can afford. It is not sacrilege it is necessity. And the American kids probably were happy with it.

I'm not sure if this is the only source but I read that story in Laura Shapiro's Something From the Oven. It's a rather scary book about how the food industry maneuvered their way into people's kitchens after World War II. It's sort of a follow up to her book Perfection Salad about how, in the 1900's - 1920's, home economists persuaded women that cooking the way their mothers had cooked was not "scientific" and that women who were not being appropriately "scientific" were failures as wives, mothers and probably as people. (Because if you were a woman then, what mattered other than succeeding as a wife and mother? Unless you were one of those home economists in which case you were clearly in the vanguard of home science.) edited to add - When I think about it, isn't there a parallel of sorts with Blue Apron and their competitors that goes beyond the sweet potato?

Today was transplant day here. That is, I moved most of my seedlings from seed trays into their own pots. I probably should have waited a few days to take pictures - the seedlings go into transplant shock for awhile - they'll look better soon. No plant goes out side here for another month. Bel fiore radicchio in front, basil (still in seed trays - it is slow) and rossa di chioggia radicchio in back. One tray of tomatoes - there are 4 trays plus a few pots with the cabbage. 70 plants, 15 different varieties. 2 kinds of mini cabbage - a red and a green. Last year I grew gonzoles, supposedly a mini head type - they got huge. More tomatoes in the back of the tryay. These are the extras for trades or give aways. They are not all claimed so anyone showing up in Virgil, NY can have some! As you can see from the question marks, I forgot to label some of the pots immediately. Nothing wrong with a little mystery. I'll trade some radicchio and tomatoes for pepper plants with a neighbor. Everything else in the garden goes in from seed. I'm hoping to start planting by early May.

Steelhead trout baked with garlic and rosemary, roasted asparagus and orzo with peas, tomatoes, shallots, garlic and a little cream.

Last spring we had lunch at a friend's house. After the meal, as we sat around sipping limoncello my friend Judy nudged her husband and pointed out the window. He got up and left the room. A minute later we heard a gunshot. He came in, looked at Judy and said "Rabbit stew." I depend on our cats and the dog. And a fence. But I do like rabbit stew.

I agree with you here. I am not sure how this whole kale thing got going. When my daughter lived in Princeton, NJ about 6 years ago, the stores had windows full of tee shirts saying " Eat more Kale". Clearly the campaign worked. If you add am equal amount of bacon it (kale) becomes somewhat edible. But, in my opinion, only somewhat.

The year that they got all my peas inspired a 4' fence, buried 4" below ground.

@Shelby That looks great. I might fly to Oklahoma for that meal.

Pork chop with sweet peppers and vinegar, broccolini sautéed with garlic and fried potatoes. I love broccolini - I grew it last year and found that there was approximately 15 minutes between when it was ready to harvest and when it burst into bloom. Maybe it was just the weather but I opted to not try again. Our local supermarket has started to carry it regularly. I feel compelled to buy it so they don't discontinue it. edited to add: Someday I will remember to wipe the edge of the plate before I take a picture.

I've used old sheets held down with rocks - I keep a stash for that very purpose. If it only goes down to 29 that should be sufficient.