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Pick Up Day - June 27, 2011

Popeye's Tort

What to do with that hail damaged spinach?  Here's a great idea, easy and yummy!

Homemade Spinach Tortillas

bunch of  fresh spinach, chopped- however much you have

2+ cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt or garlic salt (more or less)
dash of pepper or seasoned pepper
1/4 cup oil (more or less)

1.  Cook spinach in water, until spinach is wilted / soft.

2.  Put spinach and a bit of water into blender to make a puree, consistency of apple sauce.

3.  In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, and oil. Stir until crumbly.
4. Add the (hot or warm) spinach mixture, adding more water left in the pan from cooking if needed.

5.  Knead - adding additional flour or water as needed to make a smooth dough - for about 5 minutes.

6.  Divide dough into 8 parts (for 10 to 12-inch tortillas) or more (for smaller tortillas).

7.  Flatten with rolling pin on a lightly floured surface.

8.  Cook each tortilla on a preheated  griddle over medium heat. If using a cast iron or non-stick griddle or pan, you won't need oil (although you can use a little if you wish).
9.  Cook both sides for about 4 minutes, til browned a bit.
Enjoy!

Notes:  I hereby add these diclaimers:
*  used my kitchenaid, and my super cool tortilla press.
*  kept adding puree until I liked the consistency of the dough.
*  only mixed the dough for about 3 minutes.
*  omitted the pepper.

And that's the truth !

Rhubarb Cake

Hail Damaged Rhubarb

                                     

           Rhubarb Cake

 Ingredients:

•  1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups rhubarb, chopped
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup packed brown sugar  
• 
  
  In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
  
  
  Beat in egg and vanilla.     
  
  
  In another bowl, sift together 2 cups flour, soda, and salt. Add sifted ingredients alternately with buttermilk to creamed mixture.
  
  
  Toss rhubarb with 1 tablespoon flour, and stir into batter. Spoon batter into buttered 9 x 13 inch pan, and smooth the surface.
  
  
  Blend together 1/4 cup butter or margarine, cinnamon, and brown sugar; sprinkle evenly over batter.
  Bake at 350 degrees F  for 45 minutes.

A Reminder

 ... of the little things of beauty right in front of us.  I just happened to look out the window while paying bills this evening.

Oh I shouldn't have whined...

Only 2 days ago I whined out loud that it was cold in mid June, but the garden was fine...

Then as if to be reminded of Mother Nature's power, today it hailed like a crazy woman....

 There is so much damage, enough to effect the weekly pick up, but I think with lots of TLC some of the plants can rebound - although some of the tomatoes and broccoli may be goners - plucked and composted.

Ever see the movie Overboard, where Goldie Hawn just walks around in a daze speaking babble? That was me, repeatedly saying " ugh, ohgh, ack, oh noooo" while I assessed the garden.

If you look closely you can see where the hail actually ripped holes right through the Agribon fabric, then managed to rip through the plastic mulch too.  The broccoli and greens were shredded - they look like prepped slaw.  About 20% of the tomatoes were damaged, and the heirloom varieties in the lower garden were creamed.  Sad, sad, sad.

Time to see how it all fares, then replant.

Brrrr....

Really? It's June 14th and I started the wood stove.  And it wasn't to take the chill off, its because its actually stinking cold and damp.  I hope those seeds are not rotting....

Hmmm...

Forget crop circles, can you tell who has been visiting my garden?

Chance has gone a little crazy mowing this Spring - this little nest near the rhubarb survived somehow.  We made a shanty to camouflage them from our cats and other predators.
Hope it works.

Dear Family, Please come visit us in Maine...

The black flies won't bother you, it those pesky ticks you need to watch...

Future 'Deadliest Catch' crew member...

Love on the rocks...

Ice still on Land's End

Garden Update

Asparagus - devine
Rhubarb - huge this year!
Peas - about 700ft planted, trellised and growing in this lovely rain
Spinach -  looking forward to my favorite Bordeaux
Cabbage - transplanted and thriving
Broccoli - ditto
Onions and scallions - go, go, go
Beets and turnips - amazingly not washed out after direct seeding before a onslaught of rain
Mixed greens and mesclun happy growing.....

Easter Hunt la Enchanted Forest

Hmmm, what's this?

Easter Crew

Henry - he was a dog in his former life....

Seriously, no coaching for this shot

Looking for the lost marbles

We did make it to see and hear the loons

The water is this deep...

I see trouble headed our way...

Cockadoodle who????

Drive South and Play!

Busch Gardens after 8 hours

Soaked on a ride- EOC not too happy about it...

Memories to last at least 3 days...

GW somebodies big boat... Norfolk shipyard

Twosome Trouble

The Egg Queen