Ready for Winter

It's the last day of July in Iowa right now.  Things are starting to turn brown and it leaves us with the feeling that summer is winding down to it's end.  In Iowa, the whole point of August is to finish up any excursions or events that are typically summer fun - such as the token summer baseball game you wanted to attend, the camping trip you didn't get around to taking yet, that trip to a pool party that never happened over the summer or backyard bbq party you missed having all summer long.  This is the time of year too, that if you live in Iowa you are preparing and gearing up for fall and winter.  I think I have that seed in me right now actually.  I have been scouring cookbooks for recipes of things that I can make now, freeze and eat later this winter.  And really, even in Iowa there aren't too many days that you can't leave the house because of the blizzard conditions but the less I have to fight the crazy 'the world is coming to an end because we are going to have 6" of snow' people that rush out and drain the shelves of food after the weather forecast then happier I will be this winter.

So far I have found several recipes that make decent quantities of food and are worth freezing- home-cooked pulled pork, salmon, homemade tomato sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.  are all things that are being neatly packed into the freezers at our house.  But most recently I froze fresh herbs for the winter.  I was blessed with 3 lbs. of fresh basil and 5 lbs. of fresh parsley.  Both I love to cook with and if I can have fresh over dried, the better the dish is!  I did a little research and found out the proper way to freeze both and here is what I came up with.

Fresh basil ready to freeze.

Freezing Basil

Pick the good leaves off the stems.  Wash well.  I used a salad spinner for this. Pat dry.  Fill the cup in a food processor with leaves.  Don't pack them, just fill to brim.  Drizzle a little EVOO and lemon juice over it.  Place lid on the processor and push the chop button repeatedly to get a course chop on the leaves.  Empty into FoodSaver bags or into plastic containers.  I used our FoodSaver to vacuum seal them to keep fresh otherwise use plastic tupperware and seal tightly.  Store in freezer.  I have read this will last for up to 6 months.  I read too that if you don't add the olive oil or lemon juice, the basil will quickly turn black once frozen.

Freezing Parsley

Wash thoroughly and pat dry.  Simply lay parsley in freezer bags and freeze- push all the air out.  No olive oil or lemon juice is necessary for parsley.  I would assume it would last about 6 months in freezer as well.  You can chop or leave stems whole.  From what I've read, if you work quickly, you can just break off the amount of parsley you need from frozen state.

Tommaccio Harvest

Before

After

Soaking in olive oil, garlic and special seasoning.  

Love in Lily of the Valley

I worked on our lily of the valley garden tonight... and thanks to a wonderful friend of mine, I made our special garden grow with love.  The lily of the valley is a funny story for us.  Last year we received the most beautiful lily of the valley plants from my husband's 95 year old grandmother who had them growing in her garden from her mother's.  Those started our little 'love' garden.  We loved them so much before we received those and especially upon receiving them that we wanted lily of the valley for our wedding in June last year.  When we talked to our florist (who was one of the last vendors we dealt with) we were saddened to hear that we were a month too late for those beautiful flowers.  Even though I was willing to change the date of our wedding to make it in time for lily of the valley, I realized this was not humanly possible.  So we did what we could do and did all the wedding details in lily of the valley and used all old fashioned white flowers for our wedding.  Now, almost a year later we received these beautiful lilies to add to our special garden.  The garden now not only represents generations from our family but it also represents our friendships.  The combination of those two things in addition to everything we are, is the foundation for our love.  We felt it fitting to place the 'love' stepping stone we received as a bridal shower gift to express this little portion of our growing garden.

Foxglove

Foxglove
'Pink
Height: 2-5'
Spread: 8" 
Bloom Time: Mid-Summer
Sun-Shade: Partial Sun - Sun
Zones: 3-9

Description: Foxglove bears tall, dramatic spikes of tubular flowers with speckled throats. Foxglove blooms in midsummer and adds elegance to a perennial border, woodland area, or shade garden.  
Factoids:  Foxgloves are biennials or short-lived perennials. However, although individual plants may be short-lived, foxglove readily self-sows and multiplies. Foxglove leaves contain digitalis, a potent heart medicine, and are considered poisonous.

'Spooky' Pinks Dianthus

Dianthus Superbus
'Spooky' Pinks Dianthus
Height: 12"
Spread: 8" 
Bloom Time: Summer
Sun-Shade: Partial Sun
Zones: 3-9

Description: Frilly, fragrant flowers over attractive medium green foliage.  Excellent cut flowers and lovely in herb, rock or flower gardens.


Reminds me of...  "Bonus Bucks" I Love Lucy Episode
Lucy, finds a bonus buck and through a string of misfortunate events, she ends up chasing the 'bonus buck' to a laundry mat where she goes through the starcher.  When she comes out of the starcher, she is stiff as a board and her collar is frilled.  When I saw this plant last night at the garden center it's frilled petals reminded me of Lucy's collar.  

Westerplatte Clematis

Clematis; Westerplatte 
Clematis


Height: 3-6 Feet
Spread: 15-18 Inches
Bloom Time: Spring-Late Summer
Sun-Shade: Full Sun to Mostly Shady
Zones: 4-9

Description: Clematis 'Westerplatte' shows off dark velvety-red flowers made up of broad, overlapping, perfectly formed petals. The petals also recurve at the tips giving the 5" flowers a very nice rounded appearance. Blooms in late spring on old wood and again in late summer on the new growth. A very compact habit makes it ideal for containers.


Wiki says... Westerplatte is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the Vistula delta estuaries), in the Gdańsk harbour channel. From 1926 to 1939 it was the location of a Polish Military Transit Depot (WST), sanctioned within the territory of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk).
It is famous for the Battle of Westerplatte, which was the first clash between Polish and German forces during the Invasion of Poland and thus the first battle of the European theater of World War II.. 

Black Forest Parfaits

1 pkg. brownie mix, baked
1 (6 oz.) pkg instant chocolate pudding mix prepared
1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling
1 (8 oz.) carton whipped topping
4  to 6 parfait glasses

Crumble brownies in bottom. Spoon pudding in next, pie filling and whipped topping.  Garnish with a few brownie crumbs on top.

Red Plum and Napa Cabbage Slaw

3 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
3 tbsp. sesame oil
1 lb. napa cabbage, thinly sliced
2 large plums, cut into matchsticks
6 scallions, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup wasabi peas

1. In a large bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce and ginger; whisk in the sesame oil.
2. Add the cabbage, plums and scallions and toss to coat; season with salt and pepper and wasabi peas.

Rainbow Tomatoes and White Bean Salad

2/3 cup chopped parsley
2 tbsp. drained capers, chopped
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. multicolored tomatoes (orange, yellow, green, red) cut into thin slices
1 can (15 oz.) cannellini beans, rinsed (you can use navy beans if they don't have cannellini)
1/4 cup pine nuts  (I omitted these as they are a bit pricy and the salad still tasted wonderful)

1.  In large bowl, combine the parsley, capers, vinegar, garlic, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper, whisk in the EVOO.
2.  Add the tomatoes, cannellini beans and pine nuts and toss to coat.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Salmon BLTs

There is nothing more summery than a good ole’ BLT.  Especially, when you pluck a big, juicy tomato right off the vine to slice up and sandwich between lettuce and bacon.  Well, let’s take it a step further.  Nothing and I mean nothing tastes better during the summer than a Grilled Salmon BLT.  I am sure people from coast to coast have tried this or at least thought of this sandwich before but it wasn’t until last summer did my husband and I come up with this delectable creation.  It was so tasty that it became our ‘signature summer sandwich’ last year and is going to be made for the 1^st time this season coming up this Saturday for my father-in-law’s birthday dinner.  Check out this classic recipe made with a fishy twist!

Grilled Salmon BLT’s
1 bag Ciabatta rolls (we get the bake at home ones from the bakery at Hy-Vee)
15 oz. salmon
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Mayo (Hellman’s Olive Oil Mayo with Cracked Peppercorn is excellent and adds some zip!)
1 lb. bacon

1.     Grill salmon as desired- season to taste (my husband really likes his marinated in something but I prefer mine plain)

2.     As salmon is grilling, halve each roll and place on top shelf in grill or in indirect heat.

3.     Wash and prepare lettuce and tomatoes.

4.     Add bacon to grill when 5-10 minutes left for salmon.

Once salmon and bacon are cooked through, remove meat and bread from grill.  Assemble sandwiches as desired. Here again, my husband prefers his salmon flaked on sandwich and I prefer a halved salmon fillet.  Serves 4; 2 sandwiches each.

Want to make a meal? Try these recipes…
Red Plum and Napa Cabbage Slaw, Rainbow Tomatoes and White Beans and Black Forest Parfaits

Lulu B. by the Fireside

To add to an already lovely evening on the patio sitting around the 1st fire of the season, we broke open a bottle of Lulu B., Moscato.  For being such a reasonable price ($6), we were delighted with the sweet taste of this wine.  It was a perfect wine to sip by the fireside as we enjoyed an early summer evening.

Lulu B. Moscato ]

Lily of the Valley

courtesy of Flickr

Convallaria Majalis
Lily of the Valley
Height: 6 - 10"
Spread: 6 - 12", 2" deep
Bloom Time: Mid to late spring.
Sun-Shade: Shade/Partial Shade
Zones: 2 - 8

Description: Unforgettably fragrant! Clusters of dainty, white bells on 8-10" stems grace the garden in mid to late spring, and they make wonderful corsages. Thrives in the shade, where it spreads rapidly to create dense clumps of emerald foliage for an elegant summer ground cover. Remarkably long-lived. Space 6-12" apart. 


DIY Project:  Lily of the Valley Potpourri 
1 cup dried lily of the valley petals 
2 cups dried violet and viola flowers 
¾ cup dried rose blossoms 
4 tonka beans broken into pieces or 1 tsp vanilla extract 
3 TBS orris root powder
Seal and let set to "cure", occasionally shaking the mix.


*I will definitely be trying this potpourri recipe with my lily of the valley this year... I'll post a review of the potpourri once I make it at the end of the season for my lilies. 


UPDATE:  Our lilies have popped!  We noticed they were bloomed May 13th! Hope everyone is enjoying their lilies!

Caradonna Meadow Sage

Salvia Nemorosa
'Caradonna'

Height: 18"
Spread: 24"
Bloom Time: Early summer to fall
Sun-Shade: Full sun
Zones: 4-9

Description: Spikes of violet-blue flowers on striking purple-black stems rise above the contrasting gray-green leaves. Especially effective when massed bus also nice for the mixed border and containers.  A great fresh or dried cut flower.  
Good conversation topic at a party: Sage is a member of the mint family and there are over 750 different varieties of sage scattered across our planet. 

Creeping Phlox

Phlox Subulata- 'Red Wings' 
Creeping Phlox


Height: 12-15"
Spread: 12"
Bloom Time: April-May
Sun-Shade: Full Sun to Mostly Shady
Zones: 2-9

Description: Great numbers of wide, star-shaped dark red centered flowers are carried on creeping stems of stiff, needle-like evergreen leaves.
If you are ever on Jeopardy: Best-known name associated with an activity toy made by Mattel beginning in 1964. A more generic term for the toy is "Thingmaker".  Answer: What is Creepy Crawlers. 

Creme De Menthe Tatarian Dogwood

Cornus alba 'Crimzam'
Creme De Menthe Tatarian Dogwood


Height: 5 feet
Bloom Time: Early Summer to Early Fall
Sun-Shade: Full Sun to Mostly Shady
Zones: 4

Description: A colorful and extremely hardy accent shrub with green and white variegated foliage, some red color in fall and yellow-green stems in winter, quite compact habit; very versatile from a landscape perspective. Creme de Mint Tatarian Dogwood has attractive white-variegated light green foliage throughout the season. The pointy leaves are ornamentally significant and turn an outstanding brick red in the fall. It has clusters of creamy white flowers at the ends of the branches in late spring. It produces white berries in mid summer. The chartreuse branches are extremely showy and add significant winter interest.

Good conversation topic at a party: In the Victorian Era, flowers or sprigs of dogwoods were presented to unmarried women by male suitors to signify affection. The returning of the flower conveyed indifference on the part of the woman; however, if she kept it it became a sign of mutual interest.
Best darn drink to have at a party: 
Dirty Girl Scout: 
1 oz. Baileys Irish Cream 
1 oz. Vodka 
1 tsp. Green Creme de Menthe 
1 oz. Kahlua 

Shake with ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with an orange slice.

Black 4-Leaf Clover

Trifolium repens Purpurascens
Four Leaf Clover, Black, Clover, Chocolate


Height: Short 4" / Plant 12" apart
Bloom Time: Early Summer to Early Fall
Sun-Shade: Full Sun to Mostly Shady
Zones: 5-9


Description: Deep purple to black foliage and white blooms in summer.  Ground cover and will spread as far as you let it.


Good conversation topic at a party: The 4-leaf clover is an uncommon variation of the common, three-leaved clover. The fourth leaf, which is the lucky one, is smaller than the three other leaves. The four-leaf is a mutation and is quite rare, occurring once in about 10,000 specimens.
Even better conversation topic at a party: The most ever recorded is twenty-one, a record set in June 2008 by the same man who held the prior record and the current Guinness World Record of eighteen.  *Note* How much time does a person spend looking for clovers to achieve a world record of it not only once but twice?