Pioneer Woman at Heart

I can say that my husband gets credit for finding this "pasta" at the store.  Ingredients are lentil, pea and cauliflower. (Source:  Google) I used the vegetable pasta to make Zucchini Linguini with Walnuts , but used the veggie pasta, and added some homemade pesto.  The texture is different from regular pasta, but it was good for being made with vegetables.  The only downside on this "pasta" is that it does not re-heat very well. I tried a random recipe I found online, to use that delicous rhubarb I picked (and my foot paid the price).  Anyway, the recipe called for any "berry" but I mixed some thawed strawberries with the rhubarb, and it turned out very good.  The recipe uses einkorn flour vs. all purpose white flour. It's called Einkorn Berry Crisp from Farmhouse on the Boone.  After I wrote up this post, I saw that I had tagged the recipe once before, so I apparantly made it before ha ha!  Oh my.  I also used monkfruit vs coconut sugar t...

  We a getting more asparagus thankfully, but I need to (again) plant more this year.  We are also getting rhubarb from the garden.  Yum!   The lilac bush is blooming, and it smells wonderful when I am outside.  You can even smell it clear on the front porch.   I"m so glad the pine tree did not ruin the bush.  It did some damage, but I think it's recovering.  It just doesn't have as many blooms, but boy it smells divine. Herbs in the herb garden.  Just ignore the weeds for now.  I hope to be back to that job sooner than later. Green Onions Sage Thyme Oregano Chives Lemon balm Peppermint My bleeding heart is blooming.  Terrible photo.  It was very windy when I took the photo. I have so many volunteer chives just about in every crack and nook around the herb garden this year. Yarrow What is this?  Wild garlic?  Wild onion?  They are growing up singular, and all over my flower beds this spring.  I can...

  It's probably a good thing I didn't have anyone around me this holiday weekend.   I'm a depressing, oh' poor me, kind of person.   The garden fence is not up, and I've lost 6 bell pepper plants, and all of my blazing hot peppers.  It's not our fault other than the fact work hours prevent the fence getting up.  I can't do it alone, and everyone else is having backyard barbeques, out on motorcycle rides for Bike Week, or camping.  It's not just me either.  My husband came home and said the same thing.  He's feeling very depressed.  Also depressing is the weather pertaining to the garden.  It's dry.  I watered, but the ground is so dry it's cracking.  I'm glad we didn't plant any annual flowers right now.  I'd literally be watering daily for weeks. I tried to perk myself up with some quiet reading on the front porch.  Nope.  Bees were attacking all over the place, and the bee removal has not come ou...

  I had a full day out in the garden.  It is a hot mess of weeds.  The asparagus bed is going to need TLC this year, or we'll just till the new part again, and buy plants this year.  We dropped seeds last year, and with everything going on called life, I neglected it.   Our wild violets are starting to come up, but I doubt we'll get enough by today.  Monday the weather forecast is snow.  Yes, I said snow.  Ugh.  I'm hoping the rhubarb and asparagus harvest is not affected.  I can live without violet jelly, but this weather is "all over the map." It is a bit on the early side for all three of these to be starting to come up. I managed to pull the long 30 some foot pea fence and t-posts all by my little ol' self.  Compost is being added today, so I am in a hurry to get 6 foot foxtail and other stuff pulled first.  I didn't get my other bean fence pulled.  It was already late in the afternoon, and the ground was drying u...

I checked the rhubarb after watering my garlic and checking the asparagus.  Woot!  I baked us a strawberry-rhubarb pie, and kept several stalks for another project.  This is a new pie for me this year.  So excited!  I thawed strawberries for this, that we froze last summer.  I know fresh is better, but it worked. Hubby did a lot of mowing, and we ripped out the weeds in the rose bed.  There is a lot of work to do in the rose bed, so while the pie baked I worked in that bed.  It's in progress, but lots to do to prevent the grass (again for the umpteenth time).  He promised to get the tiller out and do more of the garden.  We ran out of time yesterday.

Early photo from yesterday.  Purple dead nettle is up. Our rhubarb and asparagus is coming up too.

Rhubarb is in season now.  Guess what concoction I made?  Well, the title of this blog sort of gave it away, ha ha!  I created rhubarb vodka. You can find the recipe online just about anywhere.  I used the recipe from BBC recipes online, adapted with homegrown and organic ingredients.   Rhubarb Vodka ·          1¾ pints (3 1/2 cups) organic vodka ·          2 stalks of homegrown rhubarb           3 Tbsp sugar ·          Lemon zest from half of one organic lemon or homegrown ·          3 organic whole cloves ·          1 organic cinnamon stick ·           (right after adding the sugar - shake it up when you sprinkle it on the rhubarb) 1.  I used my food processor to chop...

I literally made a "possibilities" list yesterday.  The sun came out (shocker), and the rain was only 10%.  I had no idea what to tackle first.  Garden?  Herb garden?  Garlic? Wash rugs?  Clean off the porch?  Fix the vacuum?  Harvest chickweed, plantain and clevers?  Start another jar of Four Thieves Vinegar?  Take a lawn chair out into the sunshine and read a book?  Oh, so many possibilities. I just wrote out a list and went with the flow, starting with anything that could be washed and dried outside (taking a chance). First off the list - leaning tower of dishes.  Put them away only to get most back out again.  Oh look!  Rotten bananas! Second off the list - rugs washed and on the line.  I could not believe the sun was out and the rain went away for a day. Next?  I had all good intentions to get the bathroom scrubbed, tidied, swept and mopped. After checking the garlic and asparagus I notic...

It's the second year for this rhubarb.  I had so much trouble getting it to take on here, first in the garden, then in a raised bed.  I'm so happy to see it flourishing.  Next year we get to finally eat it.

Remember when I posted that we'd have a few "dry days?"  Well that same day (yesterday) we had thunderstorms roll in after 4:30pm.   The weather seems to have it's own mind these days. Today, the sky is cloud covered, but I am heading out to pick peas and berries.   The sun should arrive today. Here is our progress on just the cauliflower/broccoli/cabbage/brussel sprout garden.  First day weeding it:

Although very rewarding, gardening can be exhausting work to say the least.  No, we did not go camping (again).   I am just dreaming and looking at some old photos. We are having the most perfect weather, and where are we today?  

Once again Eating Well magazine provided a recipe that begged me to try.  My rhubarb is not ready to harvest this year, and I finally found some to buy. I made pork tenderloin (organic), but decided to make it in a pulled pork version vs. baked (as the recipe instructed).  The sauce can be prepared ahead of time and frozen for future meals.