Mother's Day 2013

2013

Yes, another Mother's Day came and went! I hope everyone's day was a good one, whether spent with your mother or longing to spend it with her.  I am lucky to have my mother still mothering me at 94 years as of 5/15/13!  She should have been born on the 4th of July because she is a real firecracker!  Here she is with some flowers one of my siblings sent her for Mother's Day.

What a neat idea for a flower arrangement.  I think my brother sent the arrangement to her with the idea to keep me busy in my garden later.  The basket was filled with 4 separate pots of azalea, miniature rose, shasta daisy, and a yellow, daisy looking flower.  I need to figure out that one.  I have never had luck with azalea but will try, try again.   This will give the two of us something to do with the quick arrival of summer weather yesterday and today.  Jeez, Mother's Day was a bit nippy, 54 degrees!  Someone must have called 911-HEAT because it was 91 degrees here on Monday!  How's that for a HOT FLASH!

My email address here outsideNinside@gmail.com gives a hint of my 2 personalities...maybe they're traits or just a split personality.  Either way with the chilly temps on Mother's Day there was no outside garden work done so inside it was.  I love to search out recipes, create and conjure up recipes also go back to some good, old family recipes to whip up inside the kitchen!  I had some company for Mother's Day and cooked for 6 of us.

Thanks to Bon Appetit June 1999 for the delicious Roast Pork Loin with Garlic and Rosemary via Epicurious.
If you live in the Chicagoland area and have been considering the idea of supporting local farmers and choosing to eat pastured meat, do try C&D Family Farms.  They are in a co-op with farming neighbors that share their philosophy about raising farm animals.  Their website cdfamilyfarms.com tells their story and lists the farmers markets they visit, making it easier for us, their customer base, to purchase their natural meat products.

The early asparagus is so tender and delicious.  I started my own patch last year but it needs at least one more year to develop.  Even though asparagus is on the "Clean 15" list of vegetables and fruits I still purchased organic asparagus and got a great price at my local grocer.  I oiled it lightly with EVOO, seasoned it with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, heated up my indoor grill pan and topped it with a chive vinaigrette.  My chive patch is heavy with the beautiful thin shoots and just starting to bud and flower.  The parsley is very full also.
                                                     CHIVE VINAIGRETTE
1/2 cup of chives, rough chop
1/4 cup of parsley, rough chop
4 T red wine vinegar
2 T dijon mustard
2 T water
4 tsp honey
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
2 T + 2 tsp EVOO
1/2 fresh lemon
Put first 7 ingredients into a Cuisinart food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Add the EVOO while processor is running until the mixture is smooth.
Plate the asparagus, top with the juice of 1/2 a fresh lemon and pour the vinaigrette over.

  We enjoyed roasted, herb potatoes (on the Dirty Dozen list), green beans (Dirty Dozen list) with white onions (Clean 15 list) and cream, sauerkraut (cabbage is on the Clean 15 list) and applesauce (apples are on the Dirty Dozen list).

My grocer also had beautiful, organic strawberries and rhubarb!  I made a rustic strawberry rhubarb pie with whipped heavy cream!  YUM, YUM!

1 recipe Martha Stewart Pate Brisee Dough
2 pints fresh strawberries, cut in 1/2
2 cups rhubarb, chopped 1/2 inch pieces
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C instant tapioca
1/2 fresh lemon, squeezed
pinch of cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
Coarse sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Follow Martha's recipe.  Do not divide the dough.  Roll out the dough to a large, rough circle.  Transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper..
Put the strawberries and the following 5 ingredients in a bowl and mix with a spoon to combine.
Put the fruit mixture in the center of the dough, fold over the edges leaving the center of the pie open.
Brush the crust with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.

If you try any of the recipes, have fun and I hope you like them.  There is nothing like preparing great food for family and friends that come over to gather around your table for a visit.  Today I will be OUTSIDE enjoying the beautiful sprummer (spring/summer) day with my mom on her birthday doing some garden work and taking her out to lunch for her birthday and who knows maybe we will head to the "boat" for a few pulls on the slot machine...birthday luck!!!

Here's the Dirty Dozen, Clean 15 List.

2012 Dirty Dozen List: Foods to Buy Organic

1. apples
2. celery
3. sweet bell peppers
4. peaches
5. strawberries
6. nectarines (imported)
7. grapes
8. spinach
9. lettuce
10. cucumbers
11. blueberries (domestic)
12. potatoes
This year the EWG also mentioned green beans and leafy greens (such as kale) as additional foods that contain enough pesticide residue to warrant concern. The organization also added a note saying that shoppers who are concerned about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) should buy organic sweet corn, as GMO sweet corn is not labeled as such in U.S. stores.

2012 Clean 15 List: Foods Okay to Buy Non-Organic

1. onions
2. sweet corn
3. pineapples
4. avocado
5. cabbage
6. sweet peas
7. asparagus
8. mangoes
9. eggplant
10. kiwi
11. cantaloupe (domestic)
12. sweet potatoes
13. grapefruit
14. watermelon
15. mushrooms
For more information on pesticides and produce, check out the “EWG’s 2012 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce.”


Read more: http://www.motherearthliving.com/natural-health/2012-dirty-dozen-clean-15-lists.aspx#ixzz2TLarr6Vh

my hyperlinks took in the draft but not on the save.  I wonder why?
http://www.gardenersnet.com/tree/azalea.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Miniature-Roses
http://www.burpee.com/perennials/shasta-daisies/shasta-daisy-article10292.html
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roast-Pork-Loin-with-Garlic-and-Rosemary-101684
http://cdfamilyfarms.com/
http://www.marthastewart.com/343815/pate-brisee
http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php