home – Make me eat my words.

Pressed for time – the panini solution

October 1, 2017September 6, 2017 Darcy L. HooverLeave a comment

There are some days that I just don’t have the physical or mental energy for coming up with a good meal that pleases the whole family.

The trick to dealing with dread of turning on the oven is to use the stove top. The trick to getting around the pressure to appeal to many different tastes is to make a meal that each person customizes for themselves. Paninis are the perfect solution.

Bonus – you get to clear out the fridge!

Bits of cheese,
open packs of lunch meat,
condiments (my goodness, all the condiments),
half a bell pepper and/or half an onion,
yesterday’s fried mushrooms,
half used jars of olives, pickled peppers, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes…

…put them on the counter and everyone participates in cleaning out the fridge clutter.

Don’t have a panini press? Me neither. I place a cast iron pan on the sandwiches to get the press effect.

I have used sturdy Italian bread and it works, but recently I have been using a store bought flat bread. It gets a nice crisp on the outside and holds up well to condiment seep so you don’t lose the whole sandwich when you flip it.

Pair the sandwiches with a quick salad, potato chips, fruit slices, or some quickly sautéed vegetables and easy-peasy-eat-a-panini diner.

Opportunities missed – suburban agriculture

September 10, 2017September 6, 2017 Darcy L. HooverLeave a comment

As long as I’ve had lawns I’ve resented them. I love having a little plot of land, but the modern suburban yard – water hungry, weed prone grass with no privacy and often rendered unusable because of misguided bylaws – is wasted a opportunity that offends my pragmatic tendencies.

Apparently I’ve been ahead of my time. Urban agriculture is now in vogue; front lawn vegetables, urban chickens and beekeeping all are being practiced in my hometown now.

That’s where my blog starts.

Five years ago I moved into a beautiful mature neighbourhood. As I have in past homes, I instantly began planning to make my yard productive.

My hubby started us off by building raised beds for vegetables. This year we have a bumper crop of tomatoes and jalapenos. Lettuce does well, arugula thrives. Peas and beans still fall victim to rabbits and deer that wander out of the ravine.

Our four year old grape vine produced well this year after I gave it a good pruning last fall.

Two years ago we planted an evans cherry, and last year we planted a pear tree. Both flowered but neither fruited well this year. I’m building two bee hotels for the yard so hopefully next year blossoms lead to fruit.

My french tarragon, sage, thyme and oregano all came back this spring, making me very happy.

That’s the part of the plan I can check off. I have plenty more to work on.

This summer I began the next urban agriculture stage – hedge replacement. I love the privacy the hedge gives our yard, but a cotoneaster hedge is a wasted opportunity. I am slowly removing and replacing it with berry bushes.

This little lady is the ‘currant’ resident of my new berry patch.

So far I’ve removed about six metres of hedge, and planted three saskatoons and two gooseberries. I expect in two to three years they’ll give us the same level of privacy as the hedge, with bonus yummy berries.

I’ve earmarked two shrubs to replace with beaked hazelnuts in the spring. Getting hazelnuts will be a long shot given the squirrels activity in our yard, but I’ll try.

We took out two diseased maydays this year. When we get the stumps pulled out I’ll plant an apple tree there. We’re one of the few houses in the neighborhood without an apple tree and I suffer from apple envy.

I know I’ll come up with more ideas for my ever expanding suburban agriculture experiment next year. A proper garden is forever a work in progress.

Winter window gardens

February 5, 2017January 30, 2017 Darcy L. HooverLeave a comment

I watch Jamie Oliver cooking shows with such envy. I covet his wonderful kitchen garden.

For about half of the year I have a garden, but then the Canadian winter comes and my access to fresh veggies, herbs and cheerful flowers gets blanketed in ice and snow.

This year we had a kitchen renovation done, which included running a counter under a west facing window. I’ve tried to grow herbs indoors before with spotty success – I am infamous for my annual early winter rosemary death watch. Part of the new kitchen plan was that to create this sunny spot that would, hopefully, be able to support a few potted herbs and cheery flowers.

The kitchen renovation dragged out a bit longer than I had hoped, and potted kitchen herbs aren’t in stores right now, but shortly before Christmas I managed to pick up a ‘turkey’ herb mix and some bulbs at Home Depot. The herbs and some tulips are sitting in my kitchen window now, and I have some some crocuses are in my office.

I’ve already used snips of rosemary for some roasted grapes and some fresh parsley in chicken soup. Hopefully I will find further uses for some of the four herbs I have.

I’m gaining daily consolation from my tulips and crocuses. They remind me spring will come back sooner, rather than later.

Hopefully I will be able to find and nurture a broader range of herbs and repeat my spring bulb success over all my future winters in my new sunny kitchen window.