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…
will garden for cake 