Tag Archives


Growing Broccoli – Italian Style

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Christy

Each year it’s exciting to try growing new things. This fall we planted an Italian broccoli previously unexplored: Cavolo Broccolo a Getti di Napoli

That’s a mouthful. Basically it means that it’s a broccoli from Southern Italy, specifically Naples, that has a sprouting behavior. “Getti” literally means “jets” in Italian. It shoots out little
heads of broccoli, but more than that, the leaves are edible!

Broccolo a Getti di Napoli seeds

I picked up these seeds at the LA Garden Show at the …
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Kidney Bean Bonanza

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Christy

With cool weather upon us, it’s time for soups and stews. What better way to showcase the often-neglected kidney bean (it’s not just for the salad bar) than to highlight some of our favorite dishes
made with this crimson legume?

I’ll confess, I didn’t grow kidney beans this summer, but I will someday. In the meanwhile, we buy them dry and soak them overnight to make great meals. We cook them for about 15 minutes in a
pressure cooker and voila!  Perfect beans.

Cooked …
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My First Chile Relleno

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Christy

It might seem crazy to grow something in the garden specifically for one dish, but when it comes down to it, there’s something to be said for seeing a meal
through from start – as in seedling – to finish. This is the case of our poblano peppers.

We grew poblanos for one reason and one reason only – to make chile rellenos. Not that I even knew how to make them, but it was about time to learn.
…
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Growing Quinoa – A Complete Protein

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Christy

This is my second year growing quinoa, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t documented the process yet. So – without further delay…

How to grow quinoa:

The first thing you need to know is that while quinoa seed heads are covered in saponin (a natural soap that keeps birds from eating them), the seeds that you plant are somehow going to be
completely appetizing to birds in …
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The Return of Lavender Ice Cream

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Christy

My first experience making lavender ice cream several years ago did not end well. As mentioned in a previous blog entry, I somehow released
all the camphor in the blossoms and ended up with Vicks Vapo-Rub ice cream. Since then I’ve vowed to attempt another batch, but it wasn’t until our trip to Ojai in June that I discovered what
to do differently. In case you missed that trip to the U-Pick day at
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Chard on the Brain – Recipes for an abundance of Swiss Chard

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Christy

When a gigantic bouquet of Swiss Chard appeared on the porch the other day, an image of the jam-packed fridge came to mind. This was going to
require some thinking. It was time to pull out the big guns, and by “big guns” I mean that it was time to ask the Gardenerd Community for help.

I put a call out in the last Weekly Update and got a couple of good recipes from fellow chard lovers. …
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The Case of the Vanishing Tomato Cobbler

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Christy

It was a hot and sultry day, and someone was hungry. The freshly picked tomatoes were staring at us from the counter saying, “MAKE SOMETHING with me!”  We had no choice but to answer the cry.   Within a few minutes, the oven was as hot as the weather outside, and those tempting tomatoes were headed toward their destiny. What …
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A Heaping Bowl of Failure Sorbet

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Christy

I tried. I really tried. I followed the instructions, but something went terribly wrong.

After finishing my latest read – Cooking with Edible Flowers, by Miriam Jacobs – I felt inspired to make sorbet with the abundant lime geranium growing in a pot out in the garden. Miriam doesn’t
have a recipe for lime geranium sorbet, but the internet does, so I grabbed one from Susan Wittig Albert’s All About Thyme website for scented geranium sorbet. It seemed easy enough, and I’m
…
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15-year old Strawberry Pie

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Christy

Have you ever had a recipe lying around that you keep for years, just knowing that someday you’ll make it?  Year after year, I’ve
flipped through my binder of torn-out recipes from magazines that I’ve collected over time. My eyes have landed on this one page a hundred times, and each time I’ve promised myself I’ll make
it. This week I finally made good on that promise – 15 years later.

…
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Kumquats R Us

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Christy

Let it be known that the kumquats are here. Lots of them. More than we know what to do with.

We planted a kumquat tree as an appetite suppressant for my husband. During “snack attack” moments, instead of opening the refrigerator, he wanders out to the front yard and eats a few kumquats. (He
also drinks grapefruit juice for the same reason). The flavor is so powerful – that combination of tart and sweet – that he desires nothing for several hours after …
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