message in a bottle

spring arrives and we run in full sprint

preparing and tending

summer has us watching, patient-waiting

fall arrives with a prize

fruit grown 

in 

the bottle

almost complete

almost

large jars of ripe pears

bathing in brandy

infuse for months

monitored

sip after sip after sip

when the time comes

the brandy pours

briefly veiling 

the pear

bottles

corked

-

ready

for night capping

and

mood enhancing

-

hold secrets of the garden

and

whispers of the trees

gophers kidnapped julia child

ugh

double ugh

triple ugh

a couple of weeks ago, we planted 61 gorgeous tomato plants...all in a row, perfectly spaced, bordered by marigolds. it took hours.

2 days later we noticed that rabbits had nibbled on the leaves of a few, and 2 plants had disappeared completely

i drove to town, picked up supplies and fashioned a secondary fence to protect the plants

6 more plants disappeared....and fresh gopher mounds appeared in their place

we planted gopher bombs, traps and ran water in the tunnels...and went to bed

the next day, all looked good

3 days later...

julia child was gone

a special tomato that i can only imagine would have been colorful and plump

a real vivor

 we will never know

a gopher kidnapped julia child and michael pollan and 40 other tomato plants

this is what the tomato patch looked like when it was all said and done

decimated

no ransom notes, just holes, mounds of dirt & tipped name plates--where julia, michael, cherokee and others once stood

rather than feed another generation of gophers, we pulled the plants, and are starting again.  we transferred the plants to larger pots as a transitional step.  it was slightly heartbreaking, as they were  rooting really well, and had begun to sprout roots from the deeply planted stalks.  i gave them a good feeding and mixed up a delicious soil (1 part dirt: 1 part organic potting soil: 1 part compost) and crossed my fingers

today

the plants we saved are doing very well...and should produce a nice healthy crop of tomatoes

soon

we will plant again. in gopher safe-raised beds

(this post is from my other blog which catalogs our journey on our new ranch--www.keepingupwiththeclampetts.blogspot.com)

lemon lavender cake

i love lavender-trimming day

delicate buds

not yet spent

but 

given their pollen

to the bees

at the ready

for

culinary cajoling

i bundle the limping stalks

tacking my baker's rack 

with 

lines of purple

a

scent of  Provence

filling the air

i toss the dried buds

in everything 

from

simple syrup to custards

aioli to bitters

shortbread to biscotti

i especially love it

in this cake

lemon-lavender cake

(this is a riff on a classic 1-2-3-4 cake)

(printable recipe)

Cake

1 cup unsalted butter--room temperature

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

4 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 Tbs lemon zest

juice of 1 large lemon

1 generous tsp dried lavender buds

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each

addition. Stop and scrape down the sides with a spatula and resume beating until the mixture looks like

buttercream frosting. Meanwhile…in a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice and buttermilk together. With the mixer on low, alternately mix in

the flour and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, in 3 additions. Do not over-mix, just allow the ingredients to come together. Stir in the lavender. Pour into 2 loaf pans that have been coated in pan spray. Bake at 325 F for approximately 50 mins. Check for doneness after 40 minutes. Cake is fully baked when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.When cool, pour glaze over

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbs cream

Juice of lemon (more or less to your taste)

Stir together and pour over cooled cake.

i've linked my cake up to this great weekly party

"sun dried" tomatoes

our first tomatoes to ripen

this season

were our romas

unfortunately

they ripened 

while we were away from home

by the time i picked them

they had

shriveled on the vine

handfuls upon handfuls

baking in the sun

going from

sun-kissed

to

heat stroke

solar energy

had zapped my tomatoes

once picked

i sliced each tomato in half

placed cut side up on a sheet pan

sprinkled with sea salt

and

placed in a 175-200 degree oven to dry

about 2 hours later

or maybe 3

i lost count

(check on them every 30 minutes after the 1st hour)

they were done

dry but not dried out

after cooling 

i stuffed the deep red chewy goodness

 into a fancy jar

and 

smothered them 

with good olive oil

sugared roses

 it has been mentioned before

that our mountain cabin was once owned by 

the character actress dodo denny

by all accounts

she was a lover of roses

her rose garden is the talk of the neighborhood

who collectively
may have been

a bit disappointed in our attention to it

i personally believe

dodo is a bit put off too

let me explain

we purchased the home after dodo passed

4 years after

the grounds had been neglected

and the prized roses left to die

i am not fond of taunting the dead

so

i pruned the bushes back

to almost nothing

retrained the trellis roses

pulled those that were not going to make it

and then

 i let them be

while we worked on the rest of the garden

finally

2 summers later

dodo's rose garden

is making a comeback

we are enjoying the scent and beauty of the flowers

but
i couldn't resist

cutting a few 

to make sugared rose petals

please don't snitch

dodo is just starting to like us

Sugared Roses

(printable recipe)

freshly picked, pesticide free roses*
granulated sugar (about 1 cup per rose)
vodka
wash the roses while whole gently, and allow to dry.  i swish them in a bowl of cool clean water.  once the roses have air dried, carefully remove the petals. discard any that are discolored or are browning (or set aside to dry and use as potpourri). spread the petals out on paper towels while you work on the other flowers.
place about a 1/4 cup of vodka in a bowl.  pour sugar in a shallow dish about 1/2 inch thick. you will need more sugar, as it will get damp and become difficult to work with. do not pour in all your sugar at once. 
prepare a sheet pan with wax or parchment paper on it to be used for your sugared petals.
dip each petal in the vodka, then lay it on the sugar.  you can do 4 or 5 at a time, but work quickly, as the vodka evaporates.  once you have 4 or 5 petals resting on the sugar, spoon more sugar on top.  gently press the petals and turn once to coat evenly.  remove from the sugar and place on parchment lined sheet pan.  resist the urge to move/touch them. allow to dry about 12 hours, but can take up to 48. store in an airtight container, lined with paper towel in a single layer until ready to use.
note: i used vodka rather than egg white, for ease. you can use powdered egg whites with a bit of water and have a great result. if you choose to do it this way,  use a paint brush to get the whites on the flower.


*it is very important that you know firsthand that your roses are free of pesticides

strawberry harvest

this evening

i worked my way through our strawberry patch

delicately cupping clusters of

sun warmed crimson fruit

hunched like a greedy troll

while on tip-toe

i

may have looked like a mountain dancer

while in reality

i was minding the space underfoot

careful not to crush

those berries not yet at perfect pitch

last year

we planted 4 varieties of strawberry

two june bearing

chandler and sequoia

one everbearing

quinalt

and finally

alpine

which we grew from seed

direct from italy

the berries grow different sizes

at different rates

each with its own flavor profile

but equally sweet

very sweet

with strawberry flavor

that

saturates your tongue

our first harvest

is strictly for eating

one by one

until our bellies are full

and our lips

rosy red

i'll let you know if there are any left for sharing

prepping the drink

we love our garden

and spend countless hours

tilling soil

dead heading roses

training vines

adjusting drip lines

repairing bird houses

and

tending to our bees

however

we are in the mountains

which makes our

season

really short

and

slightly tenuous

snow seems to fall at its whim

scorching blossoms

with a cool blast

as a result

what we harvest

is

revered

i prepare and preserve

everything

very little is wasted

speaking of wasted

this year

we are trying something new

liqueurs and elixirs

are 

one of my true loves

 lucky girl that i am

my other true love

humors my every whim

which is how we found ourselves

on a beautiful spring day

perched on ladders

wiring

bottles

to our pear tree

we picked through the tree

like it was a rummage sale

for the perfect 

barely formed pear-on a just the right size branch

once discovered

we removed the leaves 

gently plied the bottle up the branch

and

tied it off

and crossed our fingers

if all goes as planned

a beautiful pear

will grow

in 

each bottle

it will then be preserved

with pear soaked brandy

garden bounty

we have been well nourished 

by our summer garden

aside from 

the unfortunate

bee sting on the tip of my nose

incident

(which swelled my face to an unrecognizable state)

it has been as simple

as 

pluck and eat

Franken-Tree

if you have been following my blog for a while

you know that we purchased a mountain cabin

last year

and have been working on it 

in bits and pieces

the interior

while not perfect

is 

perfectly livable

and even a bit

charming

spring has sprung

in our little mountain community

and we are planning our garden

sprinklers are going in

along 

with raised beds for vegetables

our berries and fruit trees have come through the winter looking strong

and 

we have been sprouting seeds while waiting for warmer days

lots of work

for homegrown fruit and veg,

summer evenings in the company of our well-pollened bees,

and an unobstructed view of 

this

FrankenTree

this little sweetheart

is a plum tree that bloomed last year

with 

just a few pieces of fruit

that 

never fully ripened

so hubster

being a mad scientist type

felt

it would be perfect

for grafting

so

under each brown paper wrapping

is a graft

from

a plum tree

a pluot tree

a peach tree

and

a nectarine tree

it seems a bit nutty

but if it works

i will be up to my elbows

in stone fruit salad