The Scoop On Poop

This is a great article by Enumclaw’s own garden guru and author Marianne Binetti.

Now is a great time to get the scoop on poop
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Recipe: Perfect Pico de Gallo

Here is another recipe from our Super Bowl feast. I am known as the Salsa Queen in my circle of family and friends. A few years back I perfected making many kinda of salsas, from verdé to roasted chili to this one...my Perfect Pico de Gallo. I am so proficient and efficient at this one that I had to actually practice it to come up with the recipe you see here. Feel free to adjust and substitute ingredients to taste. I love cilantro so I usually have more than some folks like. It can be an acquired taste. This is best eaten with fresh, warm homemade tortilla chips, but store-bought are much less labor intensive. I think this rivals restaurant salsa because of the use of sweet onions. If you find that you have too much jalapeño, use more lime juice to cut the heat.

OK, I just made myself hungry typing this post...time to hunt down the chips and salsa in the kitchen! And maybe a beer to go along with it. Enjoy!

Recipe: Black Pepper Dip

Our local QFC grocery store occasionally has this killer dip in the deli that is outrageously priced. I have succumbed to buying it twice in the past month, but no more. I went through the ingredients on the label and did some internet searching and came up with my own version that tastes almost identical, if not better.

I didn’t perfect my recipe in time for the Super Bowl, but I will now use it as my staple for chip and veggie dipping. And it beats the salt-laden packages of Hidden Valley Ranch and Uncle Dan’s that you get in the stores, too! Tweak it to you heart’s content!

Sunday Stills Challenge: Color

Sunday Stills Challenge: Color

This was one of the easier challenges for me as I knew I wouldn’t be able to shoot much color this week. However, that doesn’t stop me from digging through my archives and pulling old pictures out that people haven’t seen yet. All of these shots were taken on May 18, 2008. And these are only a select few. There are lots more. I would have to say that this was one of those days where things just clicked, literally and figuratively. Sorry it too me all day to dig them up, but I think you will find that this little bit of spring in the middle of winter is well worth it. :)

Mmmint Jelly

Peppermint to be exact.

Followed by spearmint late this afternoon.

Maybe I’ll try chocolate mint or pineapple mint.

Yes I do have all of those varieties. Some were pictured in my herb garden photo.

Paddock Boy may not partake of the mint jellies since he has some flashback/bad memories of mint jelly with some sort of liver as a kid. I don’t blame him for curling his nose. Just means more jelly to share. He calls me the “Jelly-Making Fool” this year.

A few folks had guessed serviceberry earlier in the Mystery Berry Game. I doubt that will happen this year as we have very few berries left on the two bushes out back. Maybe next year. I sampled one of them and they are similar to a blueberry, but the texture isn’t and nice and the seeds are a little bit larger inside the fruit. There are still tons of twinberries to be had on the four or five other bushes out there.

However, my plan is to score some blackberries or huckleberries on Sunday up in the mountains!

Barn Herb Garden

I have mentioned my herb garden in previous posts and comments. Here is what it currently looks like:

And here is a labeled larger photo that shows most of what I am growing this year:

Jelly Batch #2

My son and I stopped at Tracy’s Roadside Produce on Tuesday. I needed to drop off my second batch of herb bundles to sell. Yes, I am really farming! Sold 3 bundles last week. Took in 5 more on Tuesday.

Little Man said wanted some berries. We had a choice between blackberries, tayberries, and golden raspberries. He picked the golden raspberries.

In reading some blogs the other day I stumbled on the Crunchy Chicken Cooks blog where she mentions a great recipe for Triple Orgasm Strawberry Jam. I decided to play with tweaking a raspberry jam/jelly recipe this time around.

My end product...Golden Raspberry Ginger Jelly. And I must say, that I am very happy with the resulting taste. The color, however, isn’t the most appetizing. Probably comes from the fact that I didn’t cook the jelly right after squeezing the juice and refrigerated it overnight in the stainless steel pot. Or maybe the ginger juice made the raspberry juice turn brown. Oh well. Next time I will try it differently.

Oh, and this is where my rosemary and other herbs currently reside. Most are in pots in front of the barn, and most are planted in composted horse manure!