Backyard Garden

It is that time of year and this year it is early. We went strawberry picking on Sunday and got 35 pounds of pure summer. They are the most lovely fragrant strawberries and not like anything they pass off for strawberries at the supermarket all other times of the year. We froze half and made jam from the other half. I broke our white sugar fast to make jam, which takes a lot of sugar and it needs to be subtlety flavored so you can actually get the flavor of the fruit. There is something magical about jam in January when you crack open a jar and can smell and taste the fruit as it is the day you pick those berries. I think I will always fall back to plain sugar for this process, because of the amazing results. We went to Stevenson's in Wayne, Maine again this year because they consistently have good berries every year. Although I almost went to a new place that opened and is organic. I am hoping next year we have time to try them and see what they have to offer for the extra dollar

We picked up this new cookbook becauseI had heard about it and I happened to see it at a bookstore (that unfortunately is closing). I have skimmed it several times, finding some great looking instruction, beautiful pictures of delicious food and simple looking recipes. I am very excited to learn some new techniques for cooking different foods as each section has a "guest chef". Already I would suggest it to anyone wanting to be a better cook and to lean toward seasonal and simply good tasting food.

I wanted to show off some other pictures of completely successful tasty bread from the 5 minutes a day bread book. I did the Brioche recipe which is full of eggs and honey. Very moist and lovely bread, the plain loaf was good and the one with the chocolate ganache swirl was out of this world. Next time I will work on the swirl being better centered but other than that it was amazing.

Don't miss out on rhubarb, even though the flower buds look like some kind of alien egg pod, it is very delicious. I was introduced to raw rhubarb sticks dipped in sugar for the first time this year and it is lovely. Things to keep in mind: do not eat the leaves, do not eat the roots, only the stalks. if you eat it raw peel the skin off the stalk. I had always had it cooked and honestly that has been fine with me, it tastes just like another fruit, which is kind of weird because it is a stalk. It is full of vitamin C and Calcium so take advantage of it while it is around!

The front porch was taken over by my seedlings. I brought a truckload up to my parents over Memorial weekend to plant in the big garden. We got a lot planted, but still need to do more. We also need to fill our beds here in the backyarden. I hesitate though because we have groundhog around again and I know it will demolish my yummy cabbages. We need to utilize the have-a-heart trap soon!