tomatoes in January

I am still digging up my garden.  I dug for four days last week and took a break for three.  I am back at it today.  It is one of those activities where I wonder why anyone would go to them gym when they have a garden to dig in.  Of course, I do use a shovel and nothing with a power source.  All human powered.

With my digging, I have tried to save a few plants.  I have a carrot going to seed that is just lovely.  I like the flowers.  There is one broccoli that made it through the summer and is about to have flowers to eat.  The mint patch had to be saved for mojitos and I transplanted some to make the patch bigger.  I have blanket flowers coming up that I will move through out the beds so I have more color more places.

Then there are my two tomato plants that have made it through the winter so far.  They both have tomatoes on them.  These pictured I picked up off the ground so I can let them ripen on the window sill.  I like tomatoes cooked in things or chopped very fine when they are raw.  These may just make the boyos very happy.  Part of the happy is they know they are going to be able to snack out of the garden soon.  Many times, vegetables do not make it into they kitchen.  They make it no farther then being sun warmed and eaten with dirt still clinging to them.

down and out

Everyone around here seems to be doing the best they can just to get through the day.  Joints are hurting.  People are stiff.  Others are dealing with inflammation.  Some are sick.  It has been hard to get anything accomplished.  Especially when I leave work and I need to remind myself that I that it is a job and other peoples' behavior just does not matter.

These are the times that buying myself roses or roses and peonies really helps.  It helps to have chocolate milk shakes for dinner.  It helps when your best friend tells you that her grandmother is better but wants to stay at the hospital because it is so much nicer then her apartment. 

I am hoping for another night of good sleep.  But there is bread to bake.  That should give me some time on my sewing machine.  There will be bara brith for breakfast.

quiet

I took a quiet day today.  I have been digging garden every day after work.  I have not spent the time at my sewing machine I would like but you know what?  I have enough squares for another quilt.  I need to finish the binding on the last quilt I put together.  Christmas gifts got in the way of finishing.  Soon, I promise myself.  Soon.

I have burr spines in my leg.  I did not notice the burrs as I have been digging but they are there.  A bit ouchy they are.

lemon polenta cookie

Miss A made a request.  She has been buying polenta cookies at the gourmet grocery store in town and she wanted me to figure out recipe for her so she could make her own.  I did some research.  Most polenta cookies are citrus of some type.  Many of the recipes are all but identical.  One called to me.  A northern Italy recipe from Food 52. 

My one problem with the recipe was that it uses a food processor to make they cookie.  Why?  They did give directions on how to make the cookies by hand but they really did not make sense.  I changed the directions.  Easy fix.  Easy cookie.  Yummy cookie. 

I am also giving my gluten free variation because I was asked for that too.  Different requester.  That is my life.

lemon polenta cookie

2/3 cup butter, room temperature (I used Pulgra.  The highest fat content makes tastier cookies)

1/2 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

zest of one large lemon

1 cup flour (for gluten free:  1/2 cup arrowroot flour, 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/2 cup sorghum flour, 1/2 cup amaranth flour)

1/4 cup polenta

sugar for mashing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cover a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together.  Mix in the egg yolks and lemon zest.  Mix in the flours and polenta. 

At this point, I took about half the dough.  Rolled it into a cylinder and wrapped with parchment paper.  I then put it in a freezer bag so Miss A can slice off cookies and bake at her leisur.

If the dough is not been frozen, take a small teaspoon of dough and roll into a ball.  Place it on the baking sheet.  Do this until the sheet is full.  Put a small amount of sugar in a saucer.  Press the bottom of a glass into it.  Mash a ball flat.  Repeat.  The glass will need to be redipped every time.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Yumminess.  But the do look like a lot of other cookies I make!

By the way and totally off topic, I cannot tie my shoes.  Badly enough that I get teased about it and other people have started tying for me.  Sigh . . .

go devil

We like watching Discovery's Alaska: The Last Frontier.  As we told our neighbors down the mountain from us, it reminds us of the mountain even when we are living five minutes from downtown.  Just a little bit more remote maybe.  I think there are the same numbe of characters though.  We have fun when we are there.

On Alaska:  The Last Frontier, Otto had built a Go Devil.  It is a log sled.  Since we are going to have many trees to move, which will be many times in the form of logs, the boyos decided to build a go devil. 

I think every male in the shop had input.  It so so completely over engineered it is hilarious.

But they all had fun.

And we now have a sled to attach to the tractor to move logs.  Or maybe a four wheeler when we get one.  This is actually not the final version.  Paint got added to protect the metal.  It was hauled in a Subaru up a mountain to its home.

Yes, this is my life.  Like I can dig in the garden with an apron over my work dress, stockings, gloves, and boots and get less on me then when I go eat tacos.  True story from this evening.  So very me.  But the dug garden is much bigger!