Saturday, June 23, 2012

Broccoli Romanesco Parmisagna


I have a broccoli romanesco plant that overwintered in my garden and was starting to get ready to harvest last week. I ran into a challenge since I didn't realize it wasn't a "normal" broccoli plant until I was checking it out and saw it's pretty, bright green spikes.

I did some research and found out it is closer in taste to cauliflower than broccoli and needs a little extra love to make sure the texture turns out right. I sauteed it first with some garlic and steamed it before adding some parmesean.  My two year old "helped" me cook and was SO excited to eat it when we were done. The grown ups liked it, too. In fact, I just ate a huge bowl of this (and just this) for dinner.

If you don't have a garden to grow your own, you can also get it at farmer's markets and natural food markets when it's in season, which won't be until the fall in most cases. But that's what Pinterest is for, right?

How to Make Broccoli Romanesco Parmisagna


Ingredients
1 head Broccoli Romanesco
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese plus extra for garnish is desired.



Cook it up!
1. Wash the broccoli and cut the florets from main stalk

2. Heat some EVOO in a pan. Add two gloves or crushed or minced garlic and sautee for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the broccoli and saute for approximately 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pan and cover with a lid to allow broccoli to steam for approximately 10 minutes.

4. After 10 minutes, remove the lid and allow to cook uncovered for up to 4 more minutes to allow any remaining water to cook off.

5. Dust broccoli generously with grated parmesean cheese. Cover pan and turn off heat. Allow to sit for 2-3 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Serve it up with dinner and enjoy this tasty vegetable. My one head of home grown, organic, broccoli romanesco made enough for 2 generously sized adult sides and some snacking pieces for the toddler. Although I'll admit that I pretty much just ate a large bowl of it for dinner.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Duct Tape Rainboot Rescue

Five years ago I was so excited to get a great pair of purple rainboots with cupcakes all over them from Target online. My boots have served me well through many pacific northwest rainy seasons, muddy corn mazes, and puddle jumping. Recently, though, I realized my beloved rainboots were done in. The rubber was just too old and was starting to crack in a lot of places. When your rainboots are no longer rain proof, that's a problem!

I'd been trying to scope out some new rainboots but due to my feet of very large size in combination with my budget of very small size- it had proven to be a tad difficult to find something that would work for me. I'd considered trying to repair my boots with pretty duct tape but didn't want to spend the money on two rolls of patterned duct tape only to find out that it wouldn't work - then I'd have even less to spend on new rainboots!

I was so excited to be picking some garden things at my local dollar store when I saw that they were carrying small rolls of patterned duct tape. I figured a $3 risk was a risk worth taking! I grabbed 3 rolls of zebra print duct tape and spent about 45 minutes waterproofing and snazzifying my old boots.

These were what my boots looked like before:

This is what they look like now:

Some tips on rescuing your rainboots with duct tape:
  • This should go without saying but: Start with clean boots. Tape sticks better to clean boots and will make them more waterproof.
  • If you're using patterned duct tape, over estimate how much you'll use and buy accordingly. I ended up needing close to 30 yards for mine (3 dollar store rolls).
  • Use the good stuff underneath. Use high quality tape (silver duct tape is fine) you already have on hand to patch holes and reinforce weak areas or seams first. The pretty stuff will cover it up anyway.
  • Wear your boots while you tape the foot area. Especially if they are already a bit snug
  • If your existing trim is in good shape, don't cover it up. Work around it and use it as your guide (like I did with the purple parts in my photos).
  • Work in pieces. Tear off strips and layer them in different directions. Don't try to wrap the tape around in a continuous piece.

In the end, it's kind of like paying $3 for a new pair of boots! Plus now the old ones didn't have to take up space in a land fill.

Love it!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

2012 Home Garden Update: May

I got a late start on my seeds this year so I'm not going to be able to grow as much from scratch as I had originally hoped.

This is my 2012 seed starting operation. I'm re-using single serve yogurt and food cups and colored craft sticks from my dollar store.

Two weeks later...

I'm working on filling in the front of my courtyard with white and purple sweet alyssum. I'm hoping it will fill in nicely and re-seed on its own so that I can have some low maintenance flowers. I'm also seed starting some candytuft, aubrietta and rockcress so that I have some true perennials there, too.

This rose bush came with my house and was cracked out on chemical applications and not very happy when we got here. Three years later, with some love, pruning and compost, it's so beautiful and happy. This is the first bloom of the season. I have lots of buds waiting to burst open, and I'm hoping to make rose petal vinegar and rose petal jelly.

The aphids have arrived a bit early this year. I bought a small package of live ladybugs and released them in my garden overnight. This is the first year I've used ladybugs and was surprised that since releasing them, I haven't found a single ladybug on my rosebush (where aphids tend to congregate) but I can almost always count on finding at least two hanging out on my lavender plant (which as far as I can tell is pretty pest free) at any given time.

My container strawberries are blooming. I followed my own advice on how to increase yield by plucking off the first flowers and berries of the year to get a better yield. They are re-generating large beautiful berries now and hopefully in my June update, I'll have ripe red strawberry pictures to share.


Saturday, June 2, 2012

Gardening Quick Tip: Strawberries

Oh, the first strawberry flowers of the season! I get so excited when I see them because sweet fresh berries are just around the corner.

What can you do to help increase your berry yield? It seems anti-intuitive: Pick off the first flowers and small berries.

See these? They seem so sweet. No, friends: they are the enemy.

If you leave these tiny flowers, your plant will make tiny berries. Pick off the first tiny berries and flowers and your plant will think it's under attack and respond by making even more and bigger berries....which means more strawberry shortcake for you. You're welcome.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Broccoli Romanesco Parmisagna


I have a broccoli romanesco plant that overwintered in my garden and was starting to get ready to harvest last week. I ran into a challenge since I didn't realize it wasn't a "normal" broccoli plant until I was checking it out and saw it's pretty, bright green spikes.

I did some research and found out it is closer in taste to cauliflower than broccoli and needs a little extra love to make sure the texture turns out right. I sauteed it first with some garlic and steamed it before adding some parmesean.  My two year old "helped" me cook and was SO excited to eat it when we were done. The grown ups liked it, too. In fact, I just ate a huge bowl of this (and just this) for dinner.

If you don't have a garden to grow your own, you can also get it at farmer's markets and natural food markets when it's in season, which won't be until the fall in most cases. But that's what Pinterest is for, right?

How to Make Broccoli Romanesco Parmisagna


Ingredients
1 head Broccoli Romanesco
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese plus extra for garnish is desired.



Cook it up!
1. Wash the broccoli and cut the florets from main stalk

2. Heat some EVOO in a pan. Add two gloves or crushed or minced garlic and sautee for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the broccoli and saute for approximately 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pan and cover with a lid to allow broccoli to steam for approximately 10 minutes.

4. After 10 minutes, remove the lid and allow to cook uncovered for up to 4 more minutes to allow any remaining water to cook off.

5. Dust broccoli generously with grated parmesean cheese. Cover pan and turn off heat. Allow to sit for 2-3 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.

Serve it up with dinner and enjoy this tasty vegetable. My one head of home grown, organic, broccoli romanesco made enough for 2 generously sized adult sides and some snacking pieces for the toddler. Although I'll admit that I pretty much just ate a large bowl of it for dinner.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Duct Tape Rainboot Rescue

Five years ago I was so excited to get a great pair of purple rainboots with cupcakes all over them from Target online. My boots have served me well through many pacific northwest rainy seasons, muddy corn mazes, and puddle jumping. Recently, though, I realized my beloved rainboots were done in. The rubber was just too old and was starting to crack in a lot of places. When your rainboots are no longer rain proof, that's a problem!

I'd been trying to scope out some new rainboots but due to my feet of very large size in combination with my budget of very small size- it had proven to be a tad difficult to find something that would work for me. I'd considered trying to repair my boots with pretty duct tape but didn't want to spend the money on two rolls of patterned duct tape only to find out that it wouldn't work - then I'd have even less to spend on new rainboots!

I was so excited to be picking some garden things at my local dollar store when I saw that they were carrying small rolls of patterned duct tape. I figured a $3 risk was a risk worth taking! I grabbed 3 rolls of zebra print duct tape and spent about 45 minutes waterproofing and snazzifying my old boots.

These were what my boots looked like before:

This is what they look like now:

Some tips on rescuing your rainboots with duct tape:
  • This should go without saying but: Start with clean boots. Tape sticks better to clean boots and will make them more waterproof.
  • If you're using patterned duct tape, over estimate how much you'll use and buy accordingly. I ended up needing close to 30 yards for mine (3 dollar store rolls).
  • Use the good stuff underneath. Use high quality tape (silver duct tape is fine) you already have on hand to patch holes and reinforce weak areas or seams first. The pretty stuff will cover it up anyway.
  • Wear your boots while you tape the foot area. Especially if they are already a bit snug
  • If your existing trim is in good shape, don't cover it up. Work around it and use it as your guide (like I did with the purple parts in my photos).
  • Work in pieces. Tear off strips and layer them in different directions. Don't try to wrap the tape around in a continuous piece.

In the end, it's kind of like paying $3 for a new pair of boots! Plus now the old ones didn't have to take up space in a land fill.

Love it!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

2012 Home Garden Update: May

I got a late start on my seeds this year so I'm not going to be able to grow as much from scratch as I had originally hoped.

This is my 2012 seed starting operation. I'm re-using single serve yogurt and food cups and colored craft sticks from my dollar store.

Two weeks later...

I'm working on filling in the front of my courtyard with white and purple sweet alyssum. I'm hoping it will fill in nicely and re-seed on its own so that I can have some low maintenance flowers. I'm also seed starting some candytuft, aubrietta and rockcress so that I have some true perennials there, too.

This rose bush came with my house and was cracked out on chemical applications and not very happy when we got here. Three years later, with some love, pruning and compost, it's so beautiful and happy. This is the first bloom of the season. I have lots of buds waiting to burst open, and I'm hoping to make rose petal vinegar and rose petal jelly.

The aphids have arrived a bit early this year. I bought a small package of live ladybugs and released them in my garden overnight. This is the first year I've used ladybugs and was surprised that since releasing them, I haven't found a single ladybug on my rosebush (where aphids tend to congregate) but I can almost always count on finding at least two hanging out on my lavender plant (which as far as I can tell is pretty pest free) at any given time.

My container strawberries are blooming. I followed my own advice on how to increase yield by plucking off the first flowers and berries of the year to get a better yield. They are re-generating large beautiful berries now and hopefully in my June update, I'll have ripe red strawberry pictures to share.


Saturday, June 2, 2012

Gardening Quick Tip: Strawberries

Oh, the first strawberry flowers of the season! I get so excited when I see them because sweet fresh berries are just around the corner.

What can you do to help increase your berry yield? It seems anti-intuitive: Pick off the first flowers and small berries.

See these? They seem so sweet. No, friends: they are the enemy.

If you leave these tiny flowers, your plant will make tiny berries. Pick off the first tiny berries and flowers and your plant will think it's under attack and respond by making even more and bigger berries....which means more strawberry shortcake for you. You're welcome.

 
Design by Free WordPress Themes | Bloggerized by Lasantha - Premium Blogger Themes | Facebook Themes