Green everywhere

Are things greening up at our house too?

The green grass has brought the deer closer to the house. We had not seen them too much this winter.

Springtime also means asparagus.

Although these are not local asparagus, we enjoy eating them whenever we can since the season is so short.

Here is a wonderful recipe for

Roasted asparagus soup

Coarsely chop one bunch asparagus, one onion and 1 cup celery.



Toss with one tablespoon of olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast uncovered in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Do stir the veggies at least once.

Transfer the vegetables to a medium pot along with 1 tablespoon of flour.

Add 1 carton of chicken broth and stir. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Cool your soup and then use a stick blender, a blender or food processor to purée until smooth.

And voilà! a very green spring soup!

On the weekend I dyed this green yarn for myself.

I want to knit the Vitamin D after seeing it on a member of the knitters guild and at the LYS.

But then again, the Vodka lemonade looks real nice too.

But either way, this bunch is mine!

And last, but not least, I made a soap with a green top! This soap's fragrance is called Mountain Rain and smells so fresh!

 Can't wait to see what colour will show up next week!



Mmm.Mmm.Mmm.Marmalade!

What do you do when you haven't seen the sun for almost a week?

You bring a little bit of sunshine in the house by making marmalade.

This is the second time I make this recipe and we just love it so much.

It all starts like any other marmelade...with lemons and oranges.

But this marmalade has a little something unexpected.

3 cups of grated carrots!
This adds so much colour to the marmalade.

The recipe can be found on the Canadian Living Magazine website.

Carrot Orange Marmalade

All done and ready to be put on toast.

Go ahead and try it...it'll add sunshine to your day!

The best BBQ sauce and farm update

Summertime is BBQ time around here. Well, hubby will say it's an all year long activity but you know what I mean.
I came across a yummy BBQ sauce that doesn't have that smoked flavor, which I don't really care for. It does have a good blend of sweetness and zing to make it taste robust enough to pair with a good steak.

1 cup brown sugar
½ cup chili sauce
½ cup rum
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dry mustard
Black ground pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and simmer on stovetop for 30 minutes.
I poured the hot sauce in mason jars and put the lids on quickly. This was hot enough to seal
the lid and since the sauce will be used in the next few weeks, I'm not concerned about it spoiling.

I've prepared some extra to give to friends. Give it a try, I'm sure you'll love it too.

Farm update
The fencing is all up. Thanks to the help of family and friends, our fencing is up. It was one of the hottest days to do it, with no wind but the guys stayed well hydrated and kept at it with the sunscreen lotion.

Corners and up and down terrain added to the challenge but they got 'er done!



Of course, when 4 wheelers are involved, it's always a bit more fun !

Not sure what the deer think now that we have considerably reduced access to our yard but they still have plenty of good stuff to eat. They will have to learn to share the land with the alpacas.

Can you see the twin fawns? They are so cute with those spots.

Rhubarb in season

I am not a gardener at all. So what we grow around here must be really hardy and able to tolerate some degree of neglect or my lack of knowledge in gardening.
But still, I love to grow herbs in pots and in flower beds. My numerous lavender plants are thriving well enough. We almost always have tomato plants growing on the deck.
And let's not forget the strawberry rhubarb plant by the back door.

Now, this is as hardy as they get. I usually completely forget to water this plant and it still keeps on giving, year after year.

I made our favorite rhubarb coffee cake on the weekend from a Homemaker magazine recipe. This recipe was published in their May 2002 magazine. Yes, it's been around for awhile and I make it every year. 

I checked to see if the recipe was on their website but I did not find it. So in case you would like to make this cake here it is.

RHUBARB ORANGE COFFEE CAKE WITH BROWN SUGAR-CINNAMON TOPPING

Topping:

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp finely grated orange peel

½ tsp cinnamon

Cake:

2 cups flour

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup orange juice

1½ cups chopped rhubarb

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 8'' pan. Combine Topping ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

Stir together dry ingredients (first five ingredients for cake) in a large bowl. In another bowl, lightly beat egg; blend in vanilla, butter and orange juice. Pour egg mixture into dry mixture and stir just until evenly combined. Spread half in prepared pan. Top evenly with rhubarb (I actually put in almost 2 cups of rhubarb to make sure that every inch of the batter is covered withit). Spoon remaining batter on top and gently spread even. Sprinkle topping evenly over surface. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm or cool. Enjoy!