SPRING LUNCH or WHAT I SCARFED DOWN TODAY AT NOON

My lunches of late have consisted mainly of a salad of some sort, possibly with a bit of protein thrown in. Lots of romaine, cukes, red peppers, tomatoes, red onion , and today, a couple ounces of baked chicken breast, leftovers from yesterday.

I like a festive looking salad, don't you?
Lots of color....eye candy for the tummy.

And just this morning I came across this fabulous stir-fry spinach recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen, and just had to try it.

STIR-FRIED SPINACH WITH GARLIC AND PARMESAN

8 OZ BABY SPINACH (I USED MORE, MAYBE 10-12 OZ)
2 T OLIVE OIL
6-8 WHOLE GARLIC CLOVES (I SLICED IT, KALYN DOES NOT)
1-2 T FRESHLY GRATED PARMESAN CHEESE (IS THERE ANY OTHER KIND?...YES, I KNOW ALL ABOUT THE GREEN CAN...MY KIDS LOVE IT!)
FRESH GROUND BLACK PEPPER, TO TASTE

Use a large fry pan or wok for this. Heat pan for a minute over med-high heat, until it feels hot. Add olive oil and heat till shimmery., then add garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until you can smell garlic. Do not let garlic brown as it becomes bitter. Remove garlic. Kalyn says to discard garlic, but I didn't. I added a bit to the finished dish, and lots to the afore mentioned salad. Do not try to kiss me tonight, unless you have eaten the same amt. of garlic. Fair enough?

Add spinach to hot, seasoned oil and immediately start to stir, lifting spinach from bottom of hot pan as it wilts and letting the uncooked spinach move to the bottom. Cook briefly, only until all spinach is hot and slightly wilted, maybe 2 minutes.

Remove spinach to serving plate. Sprinkle with parmesan and season with pepper. This is where I added a bunch of that sliced, cooked garlic I told you about.
Serve hot.

DISCLAIMER: Kalyn CLAIMS this serves two. I know for a fact, it does not. Barely served one.

POSTSCRIPT: This morning Farmboy told me I stunk like garlic last night. In fact, he said the whole bedroom stunk like garlic. (I ate a LOT of that garlic...like maybe 6 huge cloves worth!) Didn't stop him from smooching on me, tho. Forewarned is forearmed.

SPRUNG SPRING!

The lettuce beds...now how does one tell the weeds from the lettuce?

The perennial bed looks so forlorn, with just a bit of fresh growth here and there. It will really fill out after we toss in some sweet alyssum seeds in a few weeks!
And some snapdragons.
And some more Russian Sage.
And possibly another rosemary topiary.
And more alyssum.
And perhaps some cosmos.
LOTS of cosmos.
I think you get the picture!

My hens will take a nap just about anywhere!

Albie Darn I'm a Rooster, watching out for his harem.
"Are you lookin' at me?"

Grape Hyacinths... aaah...the sweet smell of spring!

When I bought this cement bunny, he had only one ear, and a piece of re-bar where the other ear used to be. Over the winter, someone has absconded the other ear. With only one ear, he had a bit of character...
Now...he just looks sad and forlorn.

Constance Spry rose bush.
I bought this when we 1st moved into the farm, over 6 years ago now.
My moms name was Constance, and I thought it a fitting rose for my garden.
She only blooms once, but she is spectacular and so very fragrant!

Chives.
An herbe garden is incomplete without them!

My ever faithful sage. It comes back year after year after year.
With absolutely no help from me.
Has anyone ever taken the leaves and fried them in butter till they are crispy like a potato chip?
Addicting.
Enough said.

What's growing in YOUR minds eye?

SPRING SWIM!

We have had 10 days of 70 degrees plus here in West Michigan, and the kids were just itchin' to get in that pool! Farmboy had it all cleaned out for Cityfarmer Joy and Don's visit last weekend...not that we would have gone swimming, but a clean pool is so much nicer to look at than a nasty pool cover with the winters debri floating in it!
So...yesterday, with the sun beating down and temps in the upper 70's and the pool at a cool 69 degrees, the kids took the 1st plunge of the season.
Oh to be young and foolish again!
Here is Avery (on the right) with good friend Becca.

Austin was so excited to see that the girls could go in swimming, I didn't have the heart to tell the scrawny little guy no.
So off he went, spending nearly 1/2 hour playing around with fins, goggles and floatie stuff!

And after the cool pool, nothing feels as good as a hot tub, which is where they all ended up, getting warm and cozy again!

Did you hear we are supposed to get some snow next week????
AAAGGGHHHH!!!

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE...OR...WHAT WE CRAMMED INTO A 60 HOUR VISIT!

Not really!

But...We really DID work out at 8am.
ALL 3 days!

Something we always look forward to is the opening of what we call the "goody bag".
Most of the time it is stuff we have found at tag sales, Goodwill, or something out of our own house, that we just KNOW the other one will love!
As always, Joy hit it on the mark!
I got sweet pj's from Victoria's Secret, a cast iron rooster doorstop, a new bag of socks, french soap, perfume and perfume samples, etc!
AND...the darling "C" bag that everything was stuffed into!

On Friday, after stopping at just a few tag sales, we headed over to Homemaker Ang's for lunch!
What a treat that was!
Ang is a true farmgirl, but cleans up right purty, yes?

Here we are in front of their tractor, with the little chicks at our feet.
The light colored ones will be dinner sometime in the next few weeks!

We are already planning our next visit...sometime in May we will be heading West to the burbs.
Then in June we'll see each other again for Nic and Victoria's wedding.
And they come back to us in August, when the pool is at it's warmest, and we are pretty much guaranteed incredibly warm days in which to do absolutely nothing but vegetate by the pool!
Yup...we pretty much have it all laid out and penciled in the calendars!

Till May, my friend!

BFF

Joy and Cindy
2 springs ago, in the burbs of Chicago

Tomorrow evening Cityfarmer Joy and her darling hubby Don will be here for a weekend of R & R.
Now, these aren't your ordinary, every day guests...
these are...
BEST FRIEND GUESTS!!!
We are so psyched to see each other!
We try to make it over there at least once a year, always in the spring/summer, and occasionally during the holidays. And they always make it here once a year...the last time being August for my birthday.
So, it has been a long time since we have actually seen each other, tho we talk several times a week. (love my Verizon free evenings!!)
So much to talk about, so little face to face time.
We will make the most of it, and as always, make good memories that will hold us till the next visit.

CAN I BE MY MAMA'S DAUGHTER?

I can't say my mama would be proud, cause she never did understand my affinity for "old", "vintage", "land", or "gardening/farming". And she most certainly would not understand the chickens. Or the 4 cats, one Golden Retriever, numerous ducks, and the turtle.
Can't say that I really understand it myself. Mom always thought I was born in the wrong century. More like Laura Ingalls than the city girl she raised.
Regardless...here I am today.
All I can say is, I must be full of self esteem if I dare to publish such an unflattering photo of myself.
None the less...this is the real deal.
I took my new veggie seeds, and threw on a sweatshirt of Farmboy's , an old hat, a pair of mittens, an apron(cause I needed the extra pockets), and my chicken shoes (a VERY old pair of Keds) and hightailed it out to the potager...
In the rain.
In the cold.
Does anyone out there know what the combination of cold and rain does to one's glasses?
Fog and blur.
Oh...by the way...
Can you tell I've lost nearly 10#?....I didn't think so.

While I'm out there I might as well check the hen house for eggs...yup.
That's where the apron pockets come in handy.

And, while I'm at it, best go collect the mail.
Down the long driveway, praying no one drives by as I approach the mailbox.
See above photo for reason to avoid strangers.
Scary.

Multi-tasking...that's what I'm all about!

Can you tell I'm geeked about spring?

OVERBOARD!

Once again, the lure of the seed catalog has mesmerized me, and I have fallen for their sweet talk and cheap promises.
I couldn't help myself.
Like a drug addict, I dream of more, more, more!
Their seductive photos entice me.
"Rare"!, they say.
I MUST have it.
No matter that $2 worth of seeds equals 800 carrots!
No matter that the cucumbers will be producing LONG after the thrill wears off.
That we will be eating organic salads created from the finest lettuces, tomatoes and cukes....for what will seem like FOREVER.
That I ALREADY have this years membership in my local CSA paid for.
Who cares that I will be able to feed a family of 16, when in reality we are a family of 4.
I am bewitched, bothered, and finally, bewildered.
WHERE WILL I PLANT ALL THESE SEEDS????
Gotta run.
Sam has to dig me up a new, extra large garden bed.
Soon.
It's spring here, and that can only mean one thing.
Time to sow.

Now picture this...

Several weeks from now, this little potage will be filled, yes, filled I tell you, with French mesclun, baby arugula, sugar snap peas, green peas, and Italian salad mix. Doesn't look like much right now, but I have faith that all the teeny seeds I sowed a few days ago will bear much veggies. (We had to enclose it this year to protect it from very inquisitive chickens, who have no qualms whatsoever about digging up and eating all the precious seed I have sown)

Here is sweet Twiggy, taking time out of her very busy day, to lay me a beautiful, tiffany blue egg.

Not sure what perennial this is...it will be clearer in the next few weeks, but...
IT'S GREEN!!!!!
And that's all I care about right now.

Memories are made of this...

2006 perennial bed

07' New perennial beds

07' New herbe garden

Mid-summer 07' new perennial bed

Can't help myself.
Had to go back and see how this now-barren land looked less than 1 year ago.
Spring hopes eternal.

For REAL inspiration go to:
Cityfarmer Joy's country garden in the city...
or
Parisienne Farmgirl, Ang's blog and look for her gardening posts.

These gals inspire me.

For now, I am content that there is no more snow in the yard, today promises temps near 50, and I have several packages of lettuce, peas, and arugula that I can sow as soon as I clean up the veggie beds.
And poppy seeds that can be tossed willy nilly, and just scratched into the earth, very gently.

How does YOUR garden grow?