Orange Glazed Beets

A friend of mine made a similar recipe, but I didn't have a chance to write it down. Having never been a fan of beets (there's a story behind this that I will tell at a later date), I desperately want to become a fan just because they're so darn nutritious... Anyway, I tried this recipe* last week after planting a few rows of beets in my own garden, and they were DELISH!

* From the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook (75th Anniversary Edition)

4 medium beets (1 lb) or a 16-oz can of beets (drained
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. orange peel (finely shredded)
1/4 c. orange juice

1. Cut off all but 1 inch of fresh beet stems & roots. Wash. Cook, covered, in boiling salted water for 35-45 minutes, or until tener. Drain water and cool slightly. Slip skins off the beets and slice.
2. Meanshile, melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stirn in brown sugar and cornstarch. Stir in orange peel and juice. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 more minutes. Stir in beets and heat through.

Suggestion: Serve with dark meat. We ate these with steak, but it would go well with any dark meat. My hubby is an avid duck hunter and is looking forward to this recipe in the Fall when duck season opens up again.

One Small Change

This is awesome: an essay that I wrote was featured on the blog One Small Change. Click on over and check it out. Hope you like!

Cheese Tortellini Salad with Fresh Spinach

This recipe (by Sheila Sackett of VT) was in the monthly newsletter of our local Coop market. I made it for a backyard lunch with friends and it was a hit! It's quick and easy--a must for my own cooking--and I was able to use scallions and basil from my garden. (When I make it again, hopefully my spinach and tomatoes will be ready for picking!)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs cheese filled tortellini
3 oz. fresh baby spinach
1 pt. cherry/grape tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
1/2 c scallions
2-3 Tbsp. fresh basil (chopped)

Dressing:1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. lemon juice
2 tsp. fresh garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. coarse ground black pepper

Prep:
1. Cook tortellini according to package directions.
2. Drain and cool. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt & pepper.
4. Add sliced tomatoes, bell pepper, cooled tortellini, basil & scallions. Mix together and marinate in the fridge for ~ 15 minutes, mixing often.
5. Tear spinach into small pieces and add it to the mix. Stir it up and wow your guests!

My 2010 Veggie Garden

I had most of my plants in the ground a week ago. I'd planted zucchini, corn, sweet peas, spinach, potatoes, onion, garlic, tomatoes, green chile...and there's my strawberry bed. My garden was on a roll. Most everything had sprouted and we had some really warm late spring weather. Then a cold front blew in...

Yup, about half my plants froze. And there I was kicking myself for not having started my plants from seed. You see, I dropped about $40 on tomatoes and chile plants alone, so that cold snap cut me deep. I'm not broke, but I may as well have gone to the nursery and just handed the cashier $40 and walked away empty-handed. (It still burns to write about it!)

But I have the best husband in the world who graciously replaced my plants. He went to the nursery yesterday and bought the best-looking tomato and jalapeno plants he could find. So now we'll have our salsa garden like we'd hoped. Here's a shot of my strawberry patch with tomatoes, jalapenos, and peas in the background:

And here's a tweet's-eye view of my corn:


Since my zucchini froze, one of the beds has empty space, so I stuck some carrot and beet seeds in the ground yesterday. We'll see how it all turns out.

I'm now scheming a garden expansion and have started making a layout for our front yard's flower garden. I checked out a book from our local library called The Family Garden by Jan and Michael Gertley. It's an older book, but it's full of great ideas like a boat planter, an arbor, and a bean house for the kids to play in. (Plans for building these things are included in the text.) This will be a research summer! Oh, I'm excited!

Our Feathery Visitors

There is a large bird feeder on a pine tree right outside our living room window. It's quiet and protected from the wind, and it's usually teeming with birds during winter months. Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, and we had quite a variety of bird species out there. Luckily my husband had his camera handy.

(Very Shy) Western Tanager:


Lark Sparrow


Black-Headed Grosbeak:


(Sleepy) Eurasian Collared Dove


House Finch


(Pesky) Western Scrub Jay:


Lark Sparrow Enjoying a Bath:

Hope...

As promised, I took my camera with me on a short walk this a.m. I took some photos of my tulips, but this one is by far my favorite.

For me, it captures the essence of hope: a beacon of color against a drab background, hiding something wonderful within the petals, urging you to believe. Looking back on some of the things that have happened in my life, there have been many instances when I thought I was done. Somehow, I have kept on, and I feel blessed to look at the fruits of my efforts. They're not perfect--nothing is--but they are beautiful and they are worth every struggle...

I'm back with This & That

Wow, the last time I posted here was last July. I think I was suffering from a mysterious case of acne and weird food cravings... Um, turns out I was pregnant. So, I've been busy blogging about motherhood here, which should explain the silence over the last 9 months!

Anyway, living in NM has taught me to expect nothing more than a very windy and short Spring season. It's a pessimistic outlook, but every few years, Nature will surprise us with a more typical, wet and green Spring. The last few weeks have been great. We've had some wind, which is to be expected to some degree in NM, regardless. But, most surprising and pleasant, have been the recent rains. The grass is green! Our fruit trees are in full bloom! The lilacs are starting to bloom! My tulips are full of fat, colorful buds waiting to burst in the next day or two! You have no idea how exciting this is for someone who usually can't wait for the Spring winds to subside and give way to hot, dry June! What an optimistic way to start a new season, and ironically it echoes lots of changes that have occurred in my own life recently...

Here's what our cherry trees look like right now:


And, because I've been busy photographing my daughters instead of my garden, here's a random photo of my cyclamen, which sits on the shelf in my home office.

(I love this plant, and the light is perfect as it streams through the west window in the afternoon.) Anyway, as my garden grows, and as I get better about carrying my camera around the yard with me, I'll post more!