Violets

I sometimes complain reminisce about the early days of our marriage.

The days when Clarence would buy me flowers, just because.



Life changed.

We bought a house. Money was tight.

We had kids. Money was tight.

I quit my job to stay home and homeschool the kids. Money was tight.

I told him not to spend the inflated-for-the-holiday-price on flowers for Valentine's Day and Sweetest Day. He heard "Don't spend money on flowers". So I don't get flowers all that often anymore.

We were walking around a garden center this weekend and Julianne spotted these violets. She called me over and I was as taken with them as she was. I told Clarence that if he wanted to buy me flowers sometime, I'd take these. I'm subtle that way.

He brought this home last night after work.

I am delighted.

The girls' gardens

Last year, we studied Botany and the girls were supposed to plan and implement a butterfly garden. Julianne was excited about it but Allison, not so much.

They couldn't agree on anything. Julianne had extremely elaborate plans and Allison was adamantly opposed to helping her carry them out. She had some ideas of her own, but Julianne didn't really care to hear them. Compromise is good, but I ran out of patience trying to get them to work together.



I ended up telling Allison she had to take ownership of one of the terraces Clarence had constructed in the front yard. She could plant whatever she wanted, but it was going to be her responsibility alone. She grew green peppers and basil and did very well.

This spring, I asked her what she planned to grow this year. She didn't know, so I suggested that she try green beans since she always serves them when it's her night to cook. She got them planted recently and they are just starting to emerge and get their true leaves. She's pretty excited.

The pinks you see are on their third year. Allison went out quite early this spring, spread compost over her terrace and hoed the whole bed. The pinks in her garden are the most spectacular and we're thinking her early care gave them a big boost.

Julianne got the wilderness area we planned to use for the butterfly garden. The propane pig is just an added bonus she's had to consider when she plans.

A few weeks ago, Clarence and I mowed down some of the weeds so he could till it. Once it was cultivated, we added the path. Last year, she gardened in the little area where she's working in this picture. This year, she has a lot more space to experiment.

Clarence and Julianne built this tee-pee last year for her sweet peas. She planted more this spring and they are starting to come up.

Julianne used to love winter. She loved the snow, building snowmen, sledding. Not this year. This year she tolerated winter by looking through seed catalogs and asking her dad how much she could order. She has become a gardener.

This is my post for the From Seeds to Harvest garden challenge being held at Teaching Good Things.

Well drained spinach

What do you see?



The label calls this a potato ricer/fruit press. I've never used it for either of those things.

What I see is a spinach draining tool extraordinaire. It is a rare frozen spinach recipe that doesn't use the spinach after it has been "thawed and very well drained".

When a recipe calls for well drained spinach, I call for the potato ricer. Oh, I used to load it into my colander and squeeze the water out of it as best I could. My hands and colander would be covered in bits of spinach but there'd still be quite a bit of water left in the spinach.

No more.

Clean hands. Very well drained spinach.

My first ever submission to Kitchen Tip Tuesday. Head over to Tammy's Recipes for more shared tips.

Awards with bad pictures

Last Wednesday night, Allison got her year-end badges for our church's CLC program. Bad mom that I am, I completely forgot to have her wear her sash. Just pretend you see a blue sash covered in awards from previous years, ok?

Then, Sunday morning, the girls were recognized for their year in quizzing.

Sunday morning Allison was also awarded the John Wesley award-the highest award in our CLC program. You earn it by completing the requirements for all the badges from 1st through 6th grade.

If you'd do me a favor and pretend you see that blue sash, covered in even more badges than before, I'd really appreciate it. My brain can't seem to remember details like "She's getting her award this morning, she needs to wear the sash."

Garden update

For the From Seeds to Harvest challenge this week, I thought I'd update on a couple things other than the potatoes.



Clarence started romaine, spinach, and some Asian greens quite early and we've been enjoying them for a few weeks now.

We've had a couple nice surprises in the garden this spring. The radishes and the light green lettuce in the bowl are self-seeded bonuses Clarence found when weeding the parsnip patch. (Yes, Mom, I do still hate parsnips. Clarence grows them for his dad. Last year I think the total harvest was four parsnips. You'd think I'd been out there weeding them, wouldn't you?)

Clarence transplanted his "bottled" orange pepper plants into the ground in the hoop house about a week ago. The cold weather we've been having convinced him to plant them inside, since they already had peppers forming.

We've been worried that they'd go through major transplant shock since they were so far along but, so far, so good. I'm really hoping they continue to thrive.

Clarence topped off the strawberry tower with compost and planted green beans in it this week. The winter seems to have killed all the strawberries that were in it (although they cover the ground around it) so we're going to find out how beans work in it. If they grow well, it will be much nicer picking!

The girls each have their own garden areas, too, but I don't have any pictures of them yet. Hopefully, I'll get some pictures soon and be able to update on those, too.

For other gardens participating in the challenge, visit Teaching Good Things.

Jar cozy

This is Julianne's latest project.



No pattern, just a picture Kathy sent in an email along with the question "Can Julianne make these?"

It isn't as simple as it looks to me, a non-crocheter. She kept working to get a good fit. She says this is about her fifth attempt.

I'm continually astonished at her ability.

Jicama slaw

The big round thing in the back of the picture is a jicama.

On several occasions when I've been buying one, the cashier or a customer behind me has asked me what it is and what to do with it. I don't know what other people do with it, but I make slaw with it.



I'll share my recipe with you, but I must forewarn you that it isn't much as recipes go. It's more like a guideline-which, if you know me at all, you know that I consider all recipes to be guidelines. So, I suppose, that makes this a perfect recipe for me.

When I was counting my weight watcher points (like I should be doing now), I think it figured out to be one point or less and that was only because of the raisins. They really are essential to the dish so don't begrudge the point, ok?

I started making this slaw in an attempt to copy the slaw we were served at Rainforest Cafe several years ago. I was surprised by the flavor when I tried it-it's kind of sweet. I'm not sure how close mine actually comes to theirs, but we like it.

I recommend making it a day ahead of time, if possible. The flavor improves significantly upon standing. A food processor or Salad Shooter makes all the shredding go quickly.

Jicama Slaw

1 Jicama, peeled (this one was a monster at over 3#-usually they're a bit smaller)
3 carrots, peeled
1/2 head cabbage
1 bell pepper (1/2 red & 1/2 yellow is pretty but I had green on hand. Shop at home.)
1 cucumber, peeled
1/2-3/4 cup raisins, soaked and drained

Pour about 1/2 cup boiling water over raisins. Allow raisins to soak 5 minutes, then drain and set raisins aside.

Shred jicama, carrots, and cabbage; place in large bowl. Dice or make short strips of bell pepper; add to bowl. Cut cucumber in lengthwise quarters, then slice and add to bowl. Add drained raisins to bowl, toss to mix.

That's it. I didn't forget the dressing, either. There isn't one. How easy is that? Adjust the amounts of the ingredients as needed. If you get a small jicama, you can use less of the other stuff, of course.

Note to raisin haters: Put them in anyhow and pick them out when you eat it. I think they are that important to the flavor.

I'd love to hear what you think if you try this.