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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Nettle Soup!

Well, here's lunch. I based it on a recipe from http://lemonbasil.blogspot.com, but here's my version....

* 3 Tablespoons olive oil
* 2 shallots, minced
* 2 garlic cloves, minced... Read More
* 1/2 cup chives
* 1/2 pound wild nettle tops
* 1 qua
rt veggie broth
* Salt and Pepper
* 1 cup half and half

Procedure:

1. Saute shallots, garlic, and garlic greens in olive oil. Add nettles.
2. Add broth and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and simmer until the nettles are very soft, about 8-10 minutes.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste, add half and half, and puree using blender.
5. I browned up some shallots as a garnish.

It was a bit thinner than I usually enjoy (I'm a stew girl!), but was delicious!!!

Now, to
wait a few more weeks until more nettles pop up. I am now on nettle duty at the garden! Yummers.

The nettles... note the gloves. They were tricky to work with! I just used the top leaves of any given plant.










Shallots and chives and garlic. I love shallots.











The soup itself. It tasted almost like fresh green pea soup. But better. Absolutely awesome.










Now I just need to find a good purslane recipe, because that is the other weed that is absolutely rampant in the whole garden! Yay for weed eating.

With the leftover nettles bits I am making a nettle tincture (medicinal) and nettle "tea" for my garden... just soak nettles in water for 2-3 weeks, and use the resulting liquid as fertilizer.

I totally slacked on vegan eating today. But tomorrow... vegan Swedish meatballs with a vegan cream sauce.

What I've been up to today...

Gardening!This is my garden space. It's at the Day Street-Roundhill Community Garden in Jamaica Plain. This will be my 6th year in this plot.

My plot, on April 18









Again, my plot. Ths is my beloved tarragon (in the back), chives and sage:












Part of my clean up duty was helping to get rid of all the nettles. Yay! Free food. I made an amazing nettle soup, which I will showcase in my next post. Yuummmyyy.

What will I grow this year? Basil, definitely. Haberneros. Radishes, because Misha loves them. Arugula. And I just got a lavendar BUSH, which is a few years old I'm not sure what else. Maybe chard.

But anyway. That's my day. Garden and cooking.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Back soon.... sorry for the hiatus

I've been pretty sick for a few weeks and now I have a bloody head cold to top it off. Don't really feel much like crafting. Mostly I just feel like curling up in a small ball and crying. I hope this weekend I feel better, because I won some nice Unity Stamp blog candy and another little blog candy, and I want play with my new toys! Bleh. I owe people treats too... they are coming soon.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Paper Craft Planet Sketch Challenge Card- SK032809


Another card from my lovely blog candy win. This one is for the Paper Craft planet Sketch Challenge.
Paper: Autumn Leaves
Cardstock: Close To My Heart
Flower: Autumn Leaves
Rubber Stamps: Close To My Heart (swirls) and unknown (Thank You)
Ribbon: Autumn Leaves

Caardvarks Challenge Card


Well... yay! I got to use my goodies that I won in the blog candy. Oh this poppy stuff is fun to play with!! Anyway, I made this card for this week's Caardvarks Challenge. Here it is.
Paper: Autumn Leaves
Cardstock: Close To My Heart
Ribbon: Autumn Leaves
Flower: Autumn Leaves
Rubber Stamps: Autumn Leaves and Unknown