A Love Note to Seed Catalogs

Remember those ground cherries I harvested last summer? I don't either, I only I harvested almost a full pint, not really enough to do anything with...

But now I have something to shoot for this year. My Baker Creek seed catalog arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I found this recipe in it for ground cherry crisp. I was debating whether to grow ground cherries again this year and when I saw this recipe, I got inspired to try again.  I hope to grow enough to make dessert.

Baker Creek is my favorite seed catalog. The pictures of food and flowers are so good. They're worthy of framing, I think. They certainly inspire me to try growing different things, which is probably why the company invests so much effort into making such a gorgeous catalog.

Look at that purple cauliflower! I'd love to see something like that at my farmers' market.

Look at all these carrots! Makes me want to try growing them again.

last year I grew a cucumber variety called Beit Alpha, which I ordered from Baker Creek. It did well. This year I have their Bronze D'Amposta red onions that I want to try. I need to get them started soon.

I can't wait to grow sunflowers again!

This time of year is probably very difficult for gardeners. As all the seed catalogs arrive we have to decide what our garden will look like for the coming seasons. The tough part for me is not getting carried away. I hope one day to have a real back yard with more space where I won't have to restrict my seed purchases so much.

Pine Syrup

Source: foodnetwork.com via Angela on Pinterest

Here's something random I found on FoodNetwork.com : How to Make Your Own Pine Syrup.  I've never heard of pine syrup, but they said to try it in cocktails so now I'm intrigued.

We've already taken down our Christmas tree and recycled it. But maybe I'll snip some branches off the trees outside and try it...

Have you ever heard of pine syrup? Have you ever made it? I'm curious!

Just an Omelet

We're seven days into 2013 but it wasn't until today that I felt like it was really the New Year, and not just because I'm in withdrawal from not hearing "Winter Wonderland" or "Sleigh Ride" 200 times a day. Last week at work a lot of people were still on vacation, but yesterday many meetings started popping up on the schedule. The Metro is crowded once again, and --here's how I really know the new year has started -- the number of people in my gym classes has doubled.

 

January is the time to get back to my routine, and I'm playing catch-up in a few areas, such as with my local food challenges. I recently missed our themed Brunch Week, and while I had ideas about whipping up some fantastic apple pancakes, on Sunday we decided on just a plain old omelet. I tried to make it fancy with spinach and mozzarella. 

It may  be hard to see where everything came from in the pic so I listed it here.

• Eggs - Bivalve, MD (but purchased at WF in the local food section)
• Mozzarella - from the Blue Ridge Dairy in VA
• Butter - this butter came from PA, but I;m actually switching to a non-dairy/non-soy butter
• Spinach - farmers' market (frozen)
• Onion - harvested from my garden earlier this year
• Bell pepper - from my garden. We have overwintered some pepper plants indoors and they're still producing!

 Here's the best part--all that gooey cheese inside. You can click on the SSFC badge above to see what other Challenge participants are eating this week.