Garden Fever

Back in January, I received this lovely package of Garden Bon Bons from my brother and sister in-law.  At the time, I was excited by the prospect of planting them, but I was patient for spring; enjoying our snowy winter.  Fast forward to the eve of April and I am no longer patient for spring and all of it's gardening adventures.  I am anxious to free the yard of the decaying leaves, fallen twigs and branches to expose all the new growth underneath.  I may have started seeds in my kitchen a tad too early, also.  The sunflowers I planted have to make it at least another month before I can even consider planting them outside. 

Seeing how leggy my sunflowers are getting, I made sure to wait a little longer before I placed these little bon bons in their peat pots.  Although they look good enough to eat, they are "candy for planting - not eating!" The bon bons pictured here are seeds rolled in rich compost and clay; then dusted in natural pesticides, like coffee, cinnamon and pepper.  The eight pictured here are part of the culinary basil collection.  Thanks to the thoughtfulness of family, the four types of basil I will be adding to my garden this year are: Italian Leaf, Cinnamon, Thai and Mrs. Burns' Lemon Basil.  As I write this, I am imagining the plates of fresh basil, tomato and mozzarella layered joyously with balsamic vinaigrette or the pesto made possible because of four varieties of basil!  I can smell the the aroma now....

So, is it any wonder that I have garden fever?

Sure, I could go to the grocery store and buy some basil, but I think it tastes better because my hand will have nurtured these plants from start to...well, dinner.  

Dandelion Days

Dandelions.  They are popping up everywhere.  And, I'm conflicted over these pint-sized puffballs.  On one hand, the mere sight of them requires me to make a wish, on the other hand, I'm concerned that scattering these will result in the ominous take over of my lawn.  The bright yellow bouquet that my seven-year old excitedly hands to me, is a reminder of the beauty present in this simple weed. But then there is the sticky "sap" that, as a child, stained many of my light colored shirts, while I struggled  to wash it from my hands.   In the end, though, it is that luminescent white puff perched up above the grasses that finds me feeling sorry for the somewhat underappreciated flower. 

Aside from the fact that the greens make a lovely addition to a salad, I am also dismayed by how difficult it is to uproot these stubborn little plants.  If they are going to come out of the ground roots and all, tools are required.  But, tonight, as I went about the chore of clearing some from my more orderly flower beds, I couldn't help but notice how delicately each little parachuting seed caught the wind.

I find myself simply awed by the sheer design of this wonderous globe.  I mean, look at it!  Although I didn't photograph it's humble yellow beginnings, the transformation from radiant petals to what you see here: a compact white orb dependent on the wind or the puckered lips of children to sustain its very existance, is nothing shy of an ordinary miracle.  And it is the latter, and possibly by my boys alone, that we find this to be one of the most capable of survivors.  In fact, I think Darwin had the persistant dandelion in mind when he penned his notorious evolutionary theory. 

A Sampling of Springtime

It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely, lonely, lonely......Oops, O.K., so I was about to start this post off with, "It's been a long time..." and I was sidetracked, like I often am, by the recollection of a song that has similar phrasing.  With the sounds of Led Zeppelin reverberating in my head, I will continue on with the main point of this post, which is to give you a little sampling of my springtime.

This year, Easter found me making macaroons, a fantastic recipe I found in a 2001 issue of Country Living Magazine.  They come out light and airy and then after being dipped in bittersweet chocolate they are divine.  The recipe is as follows: 

Chocolate-Coconut Macaroons

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut

3 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1 teaspoon vegetable oil 

1. Prepare the batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl with mixer on medium speed, whip the egg whites until soft peeks form.  With the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar in a steady stream and mix until well blended.  Add the vanilla extract and continue to beat until mixture becomes soft and glossy peaks form.  Add the flour and beat until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold in the coconut.  Allow the macaroon mixture to rest 10 minutes.

2. Bake the macaroons: Line a baking pan with parchment paper.  Place heaping tablespoons (I use a cookie scoop) of the macaroon batter on the pan, two inches apart.  Use thumb and index finger to pinch each small mound of batter into a pyramid shape.  Bake until golden brown - about 13 minutes.  Remove from oven and let the macaroons rest on the baking pan for 2 minutes.  Transfer macaroons to a wire rack to cool. 

3. Dip the macaroons: Place chocolate in a heatproof dish over simmering water or in the top of a double boiler.  Melt, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.  Remove from heat and stir in the oil.  Dip the tip of each macaroon into the melted chocolate.  Place dipped macaroon on wire rack and let cool until set.  Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

So, there you have a recipe from an 11 year-old magazine.  And, I'm a little surprised that it's been that long since I first discovered this recipe. Some notes I might add are that I have actually used semi-sweet chocolate chips and they come out just fine.  In the future, I would also like to try shredding the coconut finer before I mix it in to the batter.

  

And then, finally, daffodils....a whole field of them to be exact. After eating the macaroons, (well, not right after) we took a little trek through the woods to a daffodil field that is surely a sight to behold.  The field can be found in Parson's Reserve which is one of many reserves that are part of Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust. 

With that, you've had a little taste of my springtime.  There's more to share, but I'll save that for another post.  And, I promise not to serenade you with any more from Led Zeppelin.