Sunday after mass, the temps were already reaching 75 degrees. The high was planned for 85 so I had to get my chores done quickly. Two hours spent shoveling chicken poo out of the babies chicken coop, shoveling new hay in the babies coop and adult hen's nesting boxes, lead to an hour of digging up Day Lillies since they were growing in a very inconvenient spot, right in the middle of the lawn (very hard to mow around). I gave the Day Lillies to Sue next door to decorate her side of the barn. She doesn't have free-range hens that eat all her flowers, like we do.
After showering off all the poo, we had dinner Alfresco! With a gorgeous purple sunset, chilled glasses of wine and my favorite chicken recipe of Bobby Flay's, chicken with lemon, cumin, parmesean cheese and a fabulous mango sauce on a bed of cilantro pesto mashed potatoes.
Yummy!
I also came up with another dandelion salad, even better than the last one. This one is adapted from my favorite Mediterranean salads with sliced oranges and olives. Pick your dandelion greens before the plant blooms. Baby greens are best.
3 cups baby dandelion leaves, washed and cut in half.
3 small oranges, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
1very small red onion, sliced thinly
1 cup green olives with pimentos, sliced
5 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt & pepper to taste
In a platter, lay greens on bottom and layer sliced oranges, then red onion slices and top with sliced green olives.
Wisk dressing ingredients together and drizzle over salad. Let set about 5 minutes to meld flavors and spoon onto individual plates. Enjoy!!!!!!
By the time Spring is over, you shouldn't have any dandelions left in your yard! Send gifts as thank you's.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Spring salad tonight!
After spending a warm spring day in the garden, transplanting my swiss chard and collard green plants that did not die over the winter and fertilizing the lettuce and beet beds I scanned the edges of the garden fence and noticed how plentiful the dandelions were. Even the dandelions benefited by all that organic fertilizer in our garden. The leaves were tender but very plentiful so I picked a basket full for a salad with dinner.
I was thinking of a sweet maple blasamic dressing to balance the bitter greens.
The dandelions were not bitter at all but crisp and tart. What a treat from a weed!
Spring Dandelion Salad
Salad ingredients:
4 cups, tender dandelion greens washed & torn in half
1 large stalk celery washed and thinly sliced
two kiwis peeled and sliced then halved
1 small granny smith apple peeled and chopped
Dressing ingredients:
equal parts:
Balsamic vinegar
Maple Syrup (the real stuff)
Olive oil (extra Virgin please)
Fresh ground black pepper
Mix all salad ingredients together except the kiwi. Wisk all the dressing ingredients together except the black pepper. Place salad on 4 plates, top with kiwi slices, drizzle with dressing and add black pepper before serving.
So get out there in your lawns and dig up those tender greens while they last!
I was thinking of a sweet maple blasamic dressing to balance the bitter greens.
The dandelions were not bitter at all but crisp and tart. What a treat from a weed!
Spring Dandelion Salad
Salad ingredients:
4 cups, tender dandelion greens washed & torn in half
1 large stalk celery washed and thinly sliced
two kiwis peeled and sliced then halved
1 small granny smith apple peeled and chopped
Dressing ingredients:
equal parts:
Balsamic vinegar
Maple Syrup (the real stuff)
Olive oil (extra Virgin please)
Fresh ground black pepper
Mix all salad ingredients together except the kiwi. Wisk all the dressing ingredients together except the black pepper. Place salad on 4 plates, top with kiwi slices, drizzle with dressing and add black pepper before serving.
So get out there in your lawns and dig up those tender greens while they last!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
March 6th and 71 degrees!
With the crazy weather we've been having and early tornados here we decided to get all our tree trimming done. The pecans, pear, apple trees and flowering shrubs are now trimmed and all broken limbs removed. This took several hours under windy conditions. Next time I am wearing a face mask. I got whipped in the face countless times by branches waving in the wild wind.
We trimmed the overgrowth around the pond and removed a few dried stumps to make more room for the water we will no dfoubt get in the spring rains. The malard duck thought this work was interesting and kept swimming by to observe. She's very happy living in both locations, our pond and next door with the boys. She visits our pond during the day and spends the night next door with her beau. Hussy!
For dinner I used the last bag of frozen tomatoes, my home made ricotta cheese, swiss chard, of course and made lasagna layering the chard with the cheese between the noodles. The fresh marinara sauce was outstanding, heavy on the garlic. Yummy!!!! What a treat!
We trimmed the overgrowth around the pond and removed a few dried stumps to make more room for the water we will no dfoubt get in the spring rains. The malard duck thought this work was interesting and kept swimming by to observe. She's very happy living in both locations, our pond and next door with the boys. She visits our pond during the day and spends the night next door with her beau. Hussy!
For dinner I used the last bag of frozen tomatoes, my home made ricotta cheese, swiss chard, of course and made lasagna layering the chard with the cheese between the noodles. The fresh marinara sauce was outstanding, heavy on the garlic. Yummy!!!! What a treat!
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