Long story short, I am staying with mom while she recovers from a fall. While out in the yard, she fell, broke her leg and had to have a rod inserted to support the bone. Thankfully, she is well on her way to returning to normal but it will take some time and for the next few weeks, I will be here doing all of the things she cannot do and some of the things she does not care to do, like baking cookies.
Leaving my garden for a month was rough. We had really just begun to get the summer crops in and there is still much to do to eradicate the bermuda grass. Here in PA, spring is still in the air and the trees have only recently leafed out. In case you haven’t visited this blog before, I have posted photos of my mother’s yard before. In her community, deer are prevalent, and as a matter of fact, there are several grazing in the yard as I write this. Because they eat everything, including plants that they shouldn’t, mom gardens with things rather than plants. As you walk the yard, little statues and hidden treasures will become obvious. Of course, gnomes have a mind of there own and we never quite know where they will pop out and surprise you. Standing stock still and looking like a statue, you will almost think that someone placed them there on purpose…
Moss grows all over the yard because it is shady and moist. This little cherub spends his time watching the yard but if he knows what the gnomes are up to, he isn’t telling anyone. He sits and stares in disbelief as raccoons and squirrels come to the basin to drink water.
This little guy seems to be guarding the front door. We throw peanuts to him from the deck but he usually lets the squirrels eat them.
The yard is so lush and green right now that the only color that pops out is red.
All over the yard are these tiny blue blossoms, wish I had my wildflower book with me!
When you walk the yard, you really need to watch where you are going, it is easy to step on the residents. This moon face greets all that visit the pond.
It must be nice to have the time to lounge in the woods all day.
Mom is not a big fan of chocolate so I made a batch of crispy lemon cookies with a small amount of anise seeds thrown in for fun. Since I do not have my cookbooks here to flip through, I used this recipe from Taste of Home magazine. They really are crispy and for the most part, I followed the recipe except I used fresh lemon zest instead of the extract, threw in a half teaspoon of anise seeds and scooped them out with a #70 scoop. Because I am unfamiliar with the oven here, I lowered the baking temp to 375 which allowed them to spread out nice and thin but I did have to increase the baking time by 2-3 minutes. The review, mom tested and mom approved; this recipe is a keeper!
Happy baking and gardening and if I were you, I would keep an eye on those gnomes-just leave them a cookie every now and then, that should keep them happy…
We have been hard at work building our new garden. Actually, we have been engaged in a war with bermuda grass and right now, we are barely hanging on to the lead in this battle! Despite using lots of cardboard and wood chips, this stuff finds a way to break out and sprout up everywhere. Luckily, there is no shortage of cardboard or wood chips as well as my stubborn determination!
In late winter, I started a few beds by broadcasting a bunch of seeds over them. In this bed, the Chinese Cabbages are doing really well and we should be harvesting them soon!
These Tokyo Market turnips are a favorite of ours and we are harvesting them about once a week. They are wonderful when roasted and the greens are tender enough that you just have to saute them, no boiling necessary!
In a nearby bed, I threw in lettuce seeds, obviously too many but, we have had tons of lettuce to eat and to share.
We purchased about a dozen broccoli plants and we have been eating it roasted and in salads. Did you know that you can harvest those large leaves and eat them too? We have done this on many occasions making the individual plants twice as productive. Use the heads and some of the stems raw in salads and slaws or roast the florets with a little oil and your favorite spice blend. The leaves should be blanched first to soften them, then saute them with a little garlic, you won’t regret it.
Who doesn’t love surprises? Especially if it is a raspberry bush-we have found two so far!
Of course, we learned of the muscadines from a neighbor and earlier this spring, we gave them a hard pruning to alleviate some of the weight and shading on the vines. New vines have erupted and we are starting to see the promise of fruits.
Beyond the garden is an area where I am hoping to develop a meadow for bees and butterflies. Right now, it is a tangle of weeds and in the middle, is what looks like a dandelion on steroids. Goatsbeard, 
It was disappointing to learn that it is an introduced species and not considered a beneficial addition to the landscape. But that seed head!
Then there is this guy, Hunky Dory the Americauna rooster we got in the latest brood. He is a handsome fellow but a noisy one as well. We gave him that name because he will crow to let us know that something is not up to his standards. Not enough pellets; crow. No water; crow. Roosting bar fell down; crow. Clock strikes 3am; crow…
Not only is it against the law, we do not want fertilized eggs or more chickens so the handsome fellow will be rehomed as soon as we can find a suitable situation.
How time flies…We have been so busy here; the garden takes so much of our attention and leaves little time for anything else. The space the garden occupies is the footprint of the garden that was maintained by the man who once lived here but has since passed away. Funny coincidence, he too was a member of the master gardeners and more than one of my fellow members remembers him and stranger still, several of them would come here to help him in the garden. It has been interesting to learn about him and the methods he used here.
The recipe calls for golden syrup, a traditional British and Australian favorite but I used wildflower honey; it tasted awesome in the cookies. Oatmeal and coconut are the other predominant flavors but the surprise is that the cookies contain no eggs!
Crispy and chewy at the same time. These went fast at the potluck and I received many compliments. The verdict; must make these again! May even pick up some golden syrup just to see if it makes a difference.
To see how the other bakers did, check out 
Isn’t it wonderful when several of your favorite things come together? Everyone who visits this blog knows I love to garden and that baking is what I do professionally. But I am betting that not many of you know that I have a thing for hibiscus plants, specifically, Hibiscus sabdariffa. More commonly known as Roselle, this is the variety of hibiscus used to make tea. Just look at that bloom; how could you not love it?
While the flower is pretty, and edible, it is a day flower which means it opens for a day and then dies. As soon as the bloom withers, the plant begins producing seeds in the calyx. To make tea, you must gather them before the pod swells with immature seeds. It takes quite a few to make a pot of tea! Because of this, I generally plant 3 or 4 of them around the garden and yard. They can get quite large if the conditions are right; lots of direct sun, plenty of moisture but not soggy.
If you are looking at this plant and are thinking that it looks like okra, you are right! Hibiscus is also related to cotton and if you spend time in garden centers, you will find that there are lots of perennial and annual varieties of hibiscus. Unfortunately, this variety will not survive a freeze which means you must overwinter it indoors or start over each spring which is what I do. The seeds need heat and will not germinate until the soil is warm. Start them indoors or wait until about May to plant seeds outdoors.
They will begin blooming in late summer and that is when you will have calyxes to collect. Spread them out and dry them completely, I do it in the oven with just the light on. Then when dry, you can store them in a glass jar.
So what does this plant have to do with baking? This week’s recipe from Baking Chez Moi calls for hibiscus tea! This recipe mixed up quickly and easily and when it was all said and done, I sent these, along with the Valentine’s Share-A-Heart cookies to my girls for Valentine’s Day. They loved them!
Devon called hers a little pink pizza and looking at that shot, I can see why. However, they tasted like no pizza I have ever eaten! Crispy and flaky and full of vanilla(I was out of rose water) and with just a hint of tangy, floral notes from the hibiscus tea.
The recipe does not call for much tea so I only used a few calyxes-whizzed them in the spice grinder. My thought is that next time, and there will be a next time, I will use double the amount. After all, summer is coming and I will have more plants in the garden!
Join us sometime! We love the company. Pick up a copy of Baking Chez Moi and bake along with us. To see how the rest of the bakers did, visit
Although the space we have fenced in was once the site of a very successful garden, it hasn’t been maintained in years. Then as if to add insult to injury, some thoughtful person seeded it heavily with Bermuda Grass. Really heavily-inches thick on top with roots half a foot deep. What a nightmare!!! We started the process of building the beds today and in 4 hours time, we only finished 3 (4’x4′) beds. This is going to take a while to do and we may not have much of a garden this spring.
My good friend and fellow Master Gardener Shirley always tells me that Bermuda Grass is meaner than a snake and if you try to rip it out, it gets even meaner. She is absolutely right about that! Each jointed area is a node and it has the potential to become a complete plant. It isn’t enough to just pull it out, you must remove all of the little pieces or you will have lots of new little plants! We spent at least an hour sifting the soil as we turned it to remove as many little pieces as we could.
Once the soil was prepped, we spread the contents of a bag of 
Since we haven’t found an arborist to supply us with wood chips yet, we are using a combination of cardboard and leaves to control the Bermuda Grass in the walkways. Free leaves and cardboard make this project a lot more affordable and keep stuff from going to landfills.
We purchased a dozen broccoli starts to test our method. To plant each start, I cut an “X” in the paper and folded the pieces underneath to create a hole. Then I used my hands to make a hole and plant each start.
It isn’t the prettiest bed I have ever seen but it should work!
We are also without rain barrels which means using city water and decided to top each square with straw. If all goes well, this layer of straw will help conserve the water so that we do not have to pay Metro for tap water. The added bonus, the paper and straw will also break down over time and help improve the soil.
If only I knew what a Sunday in Paris was like; someday… Actually, in this case, it is a reference to a pastry shop in Paris and that is the name of it; Sunday in Paris. This cake is a specialty of theirs and a favorite of Dorie Greenspan’s which is why she developed the recipe for her book, Baking Chez Moi. The Tuesdays with Dorie bakers chose this cake for February and it was a great cake for Valentine’s day, or any day that chocolate and peanut butter are appropriate-otherwise known as everyday in my book!
Peanut butter is not that popular in Paris where Nutella apparently reigns but here in Tennessee, it flies and fast. We took this cake to a potluck dinner and I came home with crumbs on a dirty tray. The dark, rich cake reminded me of 
This is a recipe I would make again and if you have the book, do not hesitate to try it! To see what the other bakers came up with this week, visit 
It is so nice to be back to baking with the Tuesdays with Dorie gang! Especially when it means baking cookies, lots of cookies! If you recall my post from earlier this month, Dorie Greenspan recently began a 
Do not be intimidated by the call for rolling out the cookies with parchment paper. Over the years, I have rolled out thousands and thousands of cookies and one issue I have always encountered, the added flour from rolling out the cookies can change the consistency of the dough. If you have read any of my posts on rolling cookies, I have always instructed that you brush off as much of the flour as possible to prevent the dough from changing. Dorie has a brilliant suggestion in her recipe; place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and skip the flour! For small quantities, this is absolutely the way to go and it is definitely a technique I will use again. The parchment paper takes the place of the flour and the consistency of the dough remains the same from start to finish. Keep in mind, repeatedly rolling out the dough will toughen it as the gluten becomes developed but for small quantities like this, you won’t have to worry about that happening.
If you enjoyed this post, think about baking along with us. Pick up a copy of Dorie’s Cookies and bake cookies to share! Sweeten the world one cookie recipe at a time! To see what the rest of the gang did with their cookies, 
About a month ago, our chickens came home from their temporary location. We decided to put the coop within the garden so that they can help us with insect control and composting and more importantly, to keep the dog away from their droppings-we won’t discuss her disgusting taste in snacks…
The garden itself is approximately 38 feet wide by 94 feet long, which makes it about 3500 square feet. That gave us plenty of room for the coop and pen as well as the tunnels. The first thing I did out there was dedicate an area for composting and it is just behind the wheel barrow.
It took us an entire weekend to paint the PVC, build the hoop frame and cover it with the poultry netting. Knowing that we can leave them outside during the day without worrying about hawks. The large pen has another purpose; we will store leaves in there and the chickens will help us compost them. They constantly dig in the leaves which helps break them up and because the leave droppings as they go, the nitrogen in them will also help with the composting process. It takes at least six months to break them down so we will have to be patient.
The hoops are attached to the coop so that we can leave their door open to give them access to the pen.
If the chickens are going to help with insect control in the garden, they need to be able to walk through it but unfortunately, they could run into hawks and more importantly, they would make a mess of the beds. The solution; tunnels. We built them in Williamsburg so that they would have more space to roam and when we moved, we took them apart and moved them with us.
Starting at the far end of the pen, we are running the tunnels down the fence line and around the exterior edge of the garden. We may still let them out into the garden occasionally but not with out supervision.
We attached the fence hoops to the wire fencing with cable ties.
To keep them in place on the ground, we used lawn staples.
Join the revolution and change the world one cookie at a time. We need more kindness and Dorie Greenspan has decided that baking cookies and sharing them is the way to make the world a sweeter place; I like her thinking and couldn’t agree more! You can read her 
These are the January recipe, Olive Oil and Wine Cookies, and you can find the recipe 
My advice, make these on a day that you have the time and then let them age for three or four days. If you keep them airtight, you will be able to enjoy them for a week after that. They are perfect for sharing and just a perfect for an afternoon cup of tea. Spread the kindness; bake cookies and share them! 
Back in September, I learned we were relocating again. After a few bumps in the road, we have landed back in Nashville and are settling into our new home. During the move, one of the things I missed the most was being able to bake in my own kitchen and now that I have a kitchen again, I am also baking again!
The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate, shredded coconut and granola which all combine to make the flavor similar to an oatmeal cookie with coconut and chocolate chips. The only thing you need to know, use a good quality granola because it is a large part of the flavor and texture of the cake. With this in mind, I made a small batch of my own granola rather than buy it.
Granola
Want to bake along with us? Pick up a copy of the 
will garden for cake 