The Garden's Last Gasp

Before I broke everything down, cleaned, and put the garden to bed for the winter, I wanted to share a few snippets of it with you.

Lavender

Rosemary and thyme

Chiles

The last of the Nyagous that escaped freezing

Same tomatoes transformed into a caprese salad

Adventures in Stock Land

<in Julia Child's voice> You start with the vegetables (celery, onion, carrot, garlic).

Then you add a pile of sage that's been hiding in your freezer for longer than you want to admit.

And then you toss in a carcass of some sort (I believe it was fowl in origin), also dredged from the frozen depths of the freezer.

Baby Got (Sprained) Back or Driving Miss Erica

Gracie and her gigantor paws during a nap

I spent most of the weekend sprawled on the couch because I sprained my lower back last week. After a mostly sleepless night on Thursday, C. and J. shuttled me to and from the urgent care clinic on Friday. (Thanks, guys!) Since then, I've been communing with my heating pad, taking meds., and doing some world-class snuggling with the catbots. Shifting does a number on the injured muscles, so I've also been abstaining from driving. (Anyone want to recreate Driving Miss Daisy?)

Cannellini with Garlic Sausages

This morning, I visited with J.'s family and welcomed the sun back with a brief walk along the lake. Then I read a bit of the Sunday paper and my book (Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra: A Life). After waking up from my muscle relaxant-induced nap, I made David Rocco's Cannellini with Garlic Sausages (Salsiccie e Fagioli). The recipe calls for rosemary, but I also added a bit of sage to add more depth. I also watched approximately five minutes of Sarah Palin's speech from Saturday, which was about as much as I could stomach. (What can I say? I have a low crap threshold.)

I think this evening holds a bath, some reading, and perhaps an episode of Upstairs Downstairs on PBS.

Why celery got the boot

This week was pretty uneventful, although dancing on Saturday was a hoot.

Today I made Mushroom Barley Soup. Here's the recipe: http://bit.ly/9P8Kxg. I omitted the celery largely because after using 2 or 3 ribs of celery, the remainder languishes in my fridge until it's desiccated and sad. And then I throw it out. Omitting it keeps me from killing yet another innocent 3/4 bunch of celery. And I added rosemary because I had some frozen from last season's garden, and it sounded like it'd pair well with mushrooms and barley. And I was right. :)

What else? I did my taxes and met a friend for coffee at Ground Zero. The walk to and from the coffee house reminded me how much I love my neighborhood. Often, I'm either driving or reading on the bus. And there's no better way than walking to truly observe and engage with a neighborhood. I forgot about the funky houses and the fun gardens (they're just starting to peek out) and the vibrancy of people out and about. It was lovely.