Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Move over Martha Stewart...

I guess it's living in Indiana, but all the farming has gotten to me and I took my first SMALL step at making something from (mostly) scratch. I bought 3 herbs at our local farmer's market and planted them when we got home. Later, I decided to make some flatbread pizzas (one I created without a recipe). I went out to my little herb garden and plucked off a couple basil leaves and gathered a bunch of cilantro. It was SO YUMMY! I felt like a total kitchen diva! Which is hilarious b/c the "recipes" weren't that hard. My grandma would laugh b/c she used to kill the chickens on her farm and then cook a meal TOTALLY from scratch with it. It just felt cool to be using fresh ingredients, especially ones I planted myself.
From left to right: Cilantro, Basil, Common Mint

The flat bread pizzas. BBQ chicken with cilantro, onions, peppers. Chicken Ricotta with basil, peppers, and onions.


We are making some changes to our backyard and I am hoping to try planting vegetables soon. I think that would be really cool! I'll keep you posted!

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We're off to the library soon so that Faith can claim her 2nd Prize from the Summer Reading Program and I can check out the FINAL book in the Mitford series. I've really enjoyed meeting Father Tim and all the townspeople of Mitford. I will miss them! The good news for me is that my mother-in -law is just starting the 1st book so I can relive the series a little bit through our discussions!

9 comments:

Kelli said...

great job with the gardening and cooking! those pizzas look awesome. :) and congrats to Faith for doing a great job with the reading!

Jerri said...

I'm turning into a farmer here in NO VA too! I got my tiller working in June, and I planted lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash, zuccini squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, corn and peppers. I also planted some flowers and coleus from seed. Don kept everything watered while I was at camp, and I noticed some flowers on some of my plants when I got back. I also planted some basil, oregano, and cilantro. My basil is big enough to cut leaves off of, but the rest isn't. I had to cut back some of my trees to have enough sun in the back yard. Next year Conner might be interested but I know he will be the year after. Is Faith interested this year? Grace Sundling was my inspiration--Martha Stewart is too intimidating for me! :)

Laura Scott said...

Pizza's look yummy! We grew a garden this year and we are one of the few getting to enjoy tomotoes right now. Our zuchinnis and watermelon are massive, but the carrots, onions and peppers were a flop! Maybe we will do better next year. If you want a good book to read, I recommend Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. ACU is handing the book out to all incoming freshmen in September. It was an incredible book! I couldn't put it down. It's about a friendship that forms between a homeless man and a millionaire are dealer. It was so inspiring! Miss you!

Laura Scott said...

sorry...millionair art dealer

Katherine said...

umm . . . fresh herbs. We've gotten a few potted herbs in our CSA boxes from the farm, and I transplanted them. But seeing as how the deer have already mowed down the sunflowers that came up in my deck boxes, I'm not holding my breath that our herbs will last long. :(
Those pizzas look so yummy!

Murray Sanderson said...

I just want to verify that indeed the pizzas were delicious, and the fresh herbs were a great addition. Then last night, Jaime made this incredibly yummy yet nutritious dish with grilled chicken, 3 kinds of bell peppers and some fancy cheese. Wow, I'm a lucky guy.

Murray Sanderson said...

If Jennie P, Amanda T, or Emille J reads this comment, would you guys consider inviting me to be able to read your blogs? I'd love to keep up with your families...and I promise I"m not a stalker! :)
Thanks,
Murray
murray@nccoc.org

Anonymous said...

Way to go! I've pondered the idea of an herb garden. When Matt and I first got married I made the "All C garden"...carrots, corn (yes I had large stalks in my teeny tiny yard) and cucumber. The cucumber was the only thing that produced any fruit. Good luck with yours.

Amanda said...

Those pizzas look totally yummy:) I have some basil and something else I can't remember the name of planted in little pots on our back deck. I've successfully killed the other four potted herbs that I got from our CSA:) I really love that basil, though, and I'm working really hard to keep it alive! We miss you guys. I can't believe Eli's one (I know that's such old news, but I still can't believe it). It was fun to see Murray in Defining Moments (also old news:). I need to read/comment on blogs more often so I can be a little more up to date! Murray, just let me know what e-mail address to send an invite to and I would be happy to:)