Edible Gardening

A friend's recent announcement of a move to sunny CA has me ready to stow away in her moving van so that I can enjoy the lovely weather and the joys of year-round fresh produce grown at home or from the many local farmer's markets.

Since I would miss my kiddos too much and they probably won't have room for me in their soon to be teenier California home I'll just have to start thinking about what I am going to plant this year in my ever-growing gardening experiment. Incorporating edibles into a more traditional landscape is a beautiful and practical way of increasing access to fresh produce, especially leafy greens that I can never get enough. Little A could live off of strawberries so I'll have to make a point of supplementing our tiny patch throughout the yard if the creatures don't eat them first.

Looking at these images has me wondering if anything could be more delicious and appealing than eating produce within minutes of picking it. I am enjoying fond memories of A insisting that there were more ripe strawberries somewhere and of the four of us sitting under our pear tree, contentedly eating just-picked pears. (My kids swore they hated pears until they had them like this, and now they are addicted.)

images via Garden Design July '08

"We're at a crucial point in history. The way we produce and cook our food is going to radically affect what the next generation grows up on."

Jamie Oliver

Meiji Almond

My favorite Asian Mart Treat has gotten even better...

Meiji Almonds with bitter chocolate: I think I love you.

I'm a dark chocolate girl and would be perfectly fine never eating milk chocolate again. There was no online resource for these - fortunately I will be loading up on my next visit to my local Asian store. If only they would start stocking the massuman curry paste again...

More Eye Candy

I've been "collecting" any images I find from Amy Atlas Events to supplement the first few I found. Everything she does is so delightful and inspiring - I could stare at her creations all day.

I want to plan a party...

Check out the eye candy at Amy Atlas events! Oh my...

via all sorts of fun sites

"Fruit Cocktail?"

A really old paper I had saved. I love how fun and refreshing these drinks look.

Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone

These banana split pops look amazing.

Ice cream sandwich on a stick? Brilliant idea if kids are around.

I like the idea used in these white grape pops of just combining juice with frozen fruit.

More icy treat ideas and recipes here, although I am just going to add the book (Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone) to my Amazon list.

Pretty Food Ideas

Wrapping fruit in parchment paper rather than scooping it from a bowl/plate would allow you to walk around and chat while you ate. This would be great to have out when friends arrive. Or for hungry kiddos who just need to eat more fruit throughout the day....

hmmm....

I usually try to throw chips in a nice bowl rather than leave them in the bag, but this is even better. I may never actually label containers with flavors and line them with parchment paper, but it looks good!

I love using my white bowls to put sides and dips in. These look almost look like pots or vertical take-out containers. I'll have to look for something similar.

via July's BHG mag

We Love Jam - Labels

Isn't this label delightful? I love its simplicity. I might have to get ambitious and come up with something similar for next year's freezer jam or to encourage my plans to learn how to can. Seeing how our fruit trees are starting to come back to life I need to figure out how to preserve the abundance of produce.

This company, We Love Jam, makes small batches of jam with disappearing and high quality fruit varieties. I am tempted to get on their waiting list.

Oh my . . .

My Dad is a wee bit obsessed with Haagen-Dazs, so when I read that they now make single serving size containers in this month's Gourmet mag, I had to laugh because he is always complaining that you can't buy HD in a half gallon size. I decided to check out the website and email him the link for laughs, and discovered a "serving suggestion" section with all sorts of recipes and ideas for different ways to use your ice cream.

I am intrigued, but know that somewhere my Dad is crying out in anger at the thought of decimating the perfection that is an unadulterated pint.

I had to write it that way because that is how passionate he is on the subject.

pssst, Dad! There is a quarterly newsletter you can sign up for!

Pineapple Slices and Frozen Peas

A series of food that takes the shape of its container

So perfect . . .

via a cup of jo

Chocolate Bird's Nest Cake

scanned from MS Living's April Issue

Butter

A favorite activity as of late has been making our own butter. Eating it is another favorite activity. It is so delicious. My plan was to get the kids involved and have them watch the progress. While their participation in the shaking only lasted a minute, they liked me showing them all the different stages that took the cream to butter and buttermilk.

We followed the "recipe" from this link and I halved the amount of cream. Because the shaking can get tiresome I would just stick the jar in the fridge in between the occasional shaking session. It still turned out great. The buttermilk wound up in our waffles!

I must admit to pining after a butter churn, but cannot rationalize spending $150+ on one seeing as we don't have our own cow (and that is for one that you still have to churn by hand which is what I want, electric would take too much of the experience out of it!). Who would've thought?

Cheesecake Toppings

January's Better Homes and Gardens Magazine had this in it, and I thought some of the toppings were definitely worth keeping track of. You can click on the image to see and read the details.

Strawberry Cake

Such a fabulous cake by Bakery Bar

Rolo Turtle Pretzels

I've seen this done with varying kinds of Hershey kisses with m&m's smooshed on top (the white striped mint ones are delicious with this!), but this is a new combo for me.

image via Hostess Blog

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

My chocolate curls finally worked out!

Candied hazelnuts, not poop turds.

Cupcakes!!!

These cupcakes make me feel like Spring (and make me think of Rainbow Brite, funny)

Click here to see more from the hello naomi's cupcake and cookie flickr gallery, it is amazing.

via hostess blog

White Winter Party

This is delightful . . .

via Domino

Sugar

My friend has given up sugar and red meat for Lent, and while I am not converting to Catholicism I though it would be interesting to join her in the no sugar part after V-day. I've never given up sugar and am curious to see how it will go. I like savory more than sweet, so I have to think that it shouldn't be too bad, although we all know what deprivation will do to us! I am making an exception for A's b-day cake and our favorite Rice a'la monde that I will be making for M's class this week (I have to bring in something with cherries for a snack (?) and I sweeten this by taste so I'll have to have a bite or two!). We'll see how I feel about this whole thing come Easter!

Found these darling cupcake bites on Bakerella; they are just too fun. The cake pops would be a fun way to dress up Ashley's Oreo truffles.

Images via bakerella