Herb Garden ~ Yogurt Dip with Herbs

Since it's raining out, and I'm cleaning and shampooing carpets, I'm sharing the update on our herb garden.  By the way the rain came back in full force - flood warnings every where.  And it's cold.  I had to put on my winter coat yesterday.  Brrrr.  So it's wet, cold, windy, cloudy, and it's May.  May.  I repeat May.  Mother Nature must be drunk.  And my year-old $78.00 thermal muck boots have holes now.  Holes.  I have to walk through a river to get to the barn and my socks are soaked.   I'm about to get the canoe out, ha ha!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam ~ Dandelion and Pumpkin Seed Pesto

In 2016 I missed out on getting any strawberries put into the freezer.  Zero.  In 2015, I put up a lot, so we were lucky to have enough for 2 years.  

We are down to the last 3 bags of frozen strawberries and I wanted to use them up before this new season starts.  

I decided to make strawberry-rhubarb jam next.  We also did the taste test on this the same night.  We eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly/jam over summer (when I have zero time to cook).

Now I can't decide on which to gift for Christmas.  Hm.  

We grilled out again.  It was a bit chilly, but the sun was out all day and it got up to 60°F.  I also made dandelion and pumpkin seed pesto pasta dish so the vegetarians had something.  Truthfully, I wanted to taste the pesto myself. 

You can find the recipe here online.  I used 3 somewhat smallish cloves of garlic, so next time I'll be sure to add a bit more.  It was very good!!  The dandelions were not bitter.   A hunger/crowd pleaser for sure.  You could use any pasta or any other dish for the pesto.  I had a box of organic spaghetti noodles that worked perfectly.

It's raining again today.  It'll be a crock pot dinner, so I can attack my rainy day to-do list with gusto.  I need a clean house for a graduation party next month, and I am way behind in getting those dust bunnies to disappear. 

Then again, I need to restock my freezer with homemade noodles too.  Hm.  Tough decision.  Most likely "dust bunnies" will win today.

Rhubarb Ginger Jam

We have waited 3 long years to finally get a good harvest of our rhubarb.  I have made a BBQ rhubarb sauce in the past (and loved it), so I am taste testing a new jam recipe - Rhubarb Ginger Jam.

 I originally found the recipe in this cookbook....

...but it calls for "calcium water" and only a few specialty stores sell that specific pectin.    I just googled the same recipe online and found one that didn't call for calcium water. 

Random Tidbits

The rain is coming to and end.   Maybe.  Boy is it wet out, but the garden is loving it.  The peas look great, the greens are looking nice, and the potatoes are getting more tops.  I brought in a bit more asparagus too.

My organic arnica seeds arrived, so I got a few seeds planted in some organic soil.

Baked the family sorghum gingerbread.  Nom, nom, nom.  


I also made my first lilac simple syrup....

Ball Lids ~ Sinus Help ~ Lilac Lemonade ~ Vegetable Garden

Has anyone cut themselves on Ball canning lids they bought last summer/fall?  So far, one of my daughter's and myself, have seriously cut our finger opening a jar.  They seem to have a sharper edge.  Maybe it was just the boxes I bought?  Well, I emailed them, and they are telling me they are not making them different, but I think they are.  I've never cut myself opening a jar.  Both of us had deep, throbbing cuts that probably should have had stitches.  Just some Ball lid canter.....and wondering if anyone else had this happen.


I went to the health store to re-stock my "Thieves" oil.  I have it in parenthesis, because they make it themselves and call it something else.  Anyway, while I was there I picked up this....

Taste Test: Pickled Asparagus ~ Early Birthday Presents

Hubby and I played hookie yesterday, and almost forgot to open a jar of our pickled asparagus.  At 9pm, we were tasting it.  Yum!  Crunchy and a delicious side dish or snack.  More of a snack for me, ha ha! 

It rained, and it was cold yesterday.  Too cold to get the Harley out.  So....

Exercise ~ Water Glassing Eggs ~ Lilacs

I'm feeling much better, and back to my 60 minute walks.  I am picking up the pace some days, so I can get somewhere between 3 and 3 1/2 miles in now.  That's not all, I still lift weights, do 1/2 push-ups (getting back on track), and of course my yoga stretches.  It takes time in my morning, but like Hubby said, it's worth it.   

I just have to get up earlier, and in hopes to return to the 4:30am gym visits.  I finally put my new speed bag up, so it's time to start moving stuff out of the garage and purging in there too.  And this is all before I do my chores. And the weight loss number has not changed (frustrated, but I may be building muscle now).

Rain was not arriving until evening on Friday, so I headed outside to work there. I picked up tree debris racking up over 16,000 steps on my fitbit (by 7pm).