Springing into Summer in the garden . . .

 I was up early this morning so the dog and I went out to see how the garden grows. My husband puts a lot of effort into it every year. The best part is watching the little plants and seedlings grow and flourish as the months go by.

When we moved into this house, we didn't realize we had a treat awaiting our first Spring here until the blackberries showed up along the back wall. They take very little attention except for some water and always reward us with several big bowls of sun-warmed fruit. The blackberries seldom make it into any baking. The first year, we got just a few berries. By accident, my older son mowed all the plants to the ground and we sadly figured that was the end of that. The following Spring, however, they came back ten times as strong with a lot more fruit. I guess the plants had gotten straggly and needed that shock.

My husband's favorite flower in the garden is his Star Jasmine plant. The tiny white flowers are pretty but the scent is amazing.

We tried growing green beans this year and it looks like we are having beginner's luck as they are taking over their half of the garden. You need acres of the plants to have a lot of meals from them but we are excited about the prospect of even have two or three meal times with our own grown green beans.

We have also figured out that since Basil goes to flower and seed rather quickly, my husband has three pots with staggered plantings so we should always have lots of the tasty green leaves on hand for Italian cooking. There is nothing like adding a quarter cup of freshly picked Basil to your pasta sauce just before serving.

The tomatoes are showing a lot of blossoms which we hope promises another bumper crop of them this year. We learned that you cannot plant tomatoes in the same place two years in a row. They tend to deplete the soil and by the second year, the ugly tomato worms have discovered them.

I have hopes for my little pomegranite tree this year. It has a lot of big, red blossoms so it may be possible that I will have my own fruit to enjoy this Fall.

The orange and lemon tree have finished their blooming and tiny oranges and lemons are showing up among the leaves.

Interesting that anyone can believe there is no God when He goes to all this trouble to renew our earth on schedule.

Yet Another Oatmeal Cookie

As you might have noticed, my favorite cookie is oatmeal and I'm always looking for ways to tweak the recipe to see if I can add another layer of flavor to the basic one. There also seems to be a mind set of less guilt involved in eating oatmeal cookies because they do have oatmeal in them and we all know oatmeal is good for us. Don't think about the sugar and butter!

YET ANOTHER OATMEAL COOKIE
1 cup butter, softened (not melted!)
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon cinammon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
3 cups oatmeal - not the instant type
1 cup dried cranberries (1/4 cup fresh orange juice, tablepoon of brandy.)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Soak the cranberries in 1/4 cup fresh orange juice with a tablespoon of brandy. Beat eggs and vanilla together. Stir in the cranberries and let them soak for an hour.  My mother taught me to infuse dried fruit, raisins, or such before baking to keep the moisture in the fruit. If you don't have time, just keep going and you will still get a good cookie.

Preheat over to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment or grease them with vegetable oil spray.

Whip together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Stir in the dry ingredients until and mix well.  Add in the egg  and cranberry mixture. If you have a stand mixture with a paddle, this works well. Then add oatmeal, nuts and mix well. Scoop into walnut-sized balls and place about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.  Bake 8-10 minutes. Allow to  cool on baking sheet until firm enough to transfer to wire rack.

Made about 2 1/2 to 3 dozen cookies depending on the size.

Ideas . . .
Try half raisins and half cranberries or go totally with the raisins.
Add 1/2 cup or so of your favorite chocolate or white chips to the mix.
Peanuts would making an interesting flavor profile.
Half dried cranberries and half candied pineapple bits. I wouldn't soak the pineapple.
Leave out the fruit and nuts and go with a basic oatmeal cookie.

The liberal mind set . . .

"It's weird, Obama says he was born in HAWAII, his literary agent says he was born in KENYA, and yet, the LIBERAL media still claim he was born in a MANGER!" -Jodi Miller