A few nice days.

We're so lucky that when its nice outside, we have the time and ability to take advantage of it. And I don't mean to complain, but FINALLY we have us some spinach (poor Charlie wasn't feeling that great, but I think the fresh air was good for him).

We didn't even use dressing, they were delicious!

I found this lovely little garden basket for Charlie at Salvation Army- perfect for picking radishes with Daddy. And of course, a hat just like Grandpa Wiste's.

Our first Sun Tea of the season. Tea in water, sitting in the sun. If you want to try it, you can even put a small amount in a quart or half gallon glass jar with a lid. Plus it won't take up as much room in your fridge.

We probably needed the rain days after to recuperate. Trav has a few things left to plant, and if he doesn't get it done soon, he might be too far behind to catch up in the garden competition this year (plus, fresh beet salads, mmmm). I am pleased that I got a few beds weeded, with a few left to go. My goal this year is to try to maintain; we'll see how that goes. I keep going back and forth with myself as to whether or not I'm willing to sit in my flower bed for a million years to try to get rid of some kind of invasive flower that produces trillions of bulbs. But so far I've prioritized the garden and I might decide I don't care enough to be so uncomfortable. ~Becky

Last day of school.

I kind of forgot we were going to have radishes- good thing Trav and Charlie are on the ball. A tasty treat to go along with brats, potato salad and jello for lunch on our last day of school- very traditional.
~Becky

Bebop-A-Reebop Rhubarb

 Rhubarb Lemonade (from Beth Dooley in the La Crosse Tribune): Put about 3 cups chopped rhubarb into a large glass bowl and cover it with water. Let the rhubarb sit overnight. Strain off the "lemonade" and sweeten to taste with sugar or honey. Serve over ice. We used honey, and it was delicious!

Asparagus Frittata (from Parents magazine): 5 eggs, 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper, and 1/2 cup fresh asparagus cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1/2 lb.)
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray and set it aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir in asparagus and pour into prepared pie plate. Bake about 20 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and let stand about 5 minutes before slicing. Makes 4 servings. I also added spring onions, and again delicious!

And with whole-wheat toast and jam, we had ourselves a very scrumptious breakfast for lunch (no leftovers). Seasonal eating is the best. Credit to the Wiste farm for the eggs and honey.

~Becky

It's that time of the year again (finally).

We love us some spring multiplier onions around here. While I'm waiting for my favorites- lilacs and peonies, to bloom, I like to have a few extra picked and cleaned so I can admire them in a clear glass as one would a flower bouquet, with the convenience of pulling out a few to use (just remember to change your water once or twice a day). We don't have as many this year because we moved them last year, but the ones we do have are dandies and it is so fun to start using some fresh veggies. For green vegetables, I only have a half bag of broccoli and a few small miscellaneous bags (asparagus and okra, I think) left in the freezer.

So today, with spring onions, I made Rice with Carrots. I do have a lot of frozen blanched carrots left, and this is so far my favorite way, besides soup maybe, to eat them. They just aren't as good cooked and eaten plain as fresh ones are. This is the first time I didn't over cook my rice (it only took me three times), and I substituted about 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth I needed to use up for some of the water. I'll probably halve the recipe next time, but it went over pretty good with marinaded pork chops. I would put that recipe on here, but it wasn't a favorite. It was still good and moist, and the pork chops themselves were amazing, but it had more lemon juice and vegetable oil in it then I have used before. Typically I like a marinade with a lot of vinegar, and small amounts of soy sauce and Worcestershire with a little bit of olive oil.

I figured why not blog a little bit more about food. Gardening is our biggest summer hobby so its actually a good insight as to what we've been up to, and Katie and I both listened to a public radio broadcast this week about Michael Pollen, who is an author of many food books. Trav also brought home an article from the star tribune in which they interviewed the same guy! The premise of his book is that cooking is one of the most important things we can do, and yet the average person spends only 27 minutes cooking and 4 minutes cleaning up. That's per day!
I think this is the correct link, if you'd like to listen:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/npr.php?id=180824408

~Becky