Chicken Tortilla Soup

Mondays are always super busy for me. (I do the bookkeeping for two businesses and I take weekends off, so I have to play catch up on Mondays.) We try to eat meatless on Mondays, or at least to eat a non-meat-centric meal, and I am not against cutting a corner or two to get there on a busy day. Today I made chicken tortilla soup with (organic) Pacific Tortilla Soup Starter and some add-ins.

I heated the soup base and added in 1 1/2 cups of whatever I had. (I added rinsed canned black beans, corn frozen from last year's garden, and some left over chopped chicken from last night's dinner.) I grated some cheddar cheese, chopped some onions from the garden and some fresh cilantro, and crushed up some tortilla chips for a garnish. Salad from the garden and a frozen loaf of bread reheated and dinner is served.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

If you, like me, are still getting asparagus from your asparagus patch, but are getting weary of steamed asparagus, asparagus frittata, and such, I have the solution for you. Cream of asparagus soup. The recipe is a take on one from How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman's wonderful giant red cookbook.


1 pound fresh asparagus
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want the soup to be vegan)
1 medium baking potato
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup half and half or light cream (skip this for the vegan version)

Trim the asparagus and cut into 2-inch (or so) pieces. Peel the potato and cut into 8ths. Cook the potato and asparagus in the broth until tender-- 15 minutes or so (test with a fork.) Allow to cool slightly, then blend it all in a blender until smooth.

If you're going to eat it right away, continue with the recipe. If you're cooking ahead, or planning to freeze it, then stop and refrigerate or freeze.

When you're ready to go ahead with it, reheat the pureed soup gently, adding salt and pepper to taste. Add the cream or half and half if using, taste again, adding more salt and pepper if needed, and heat to the temperature you like. Makes 4 servings of approximately 1 1/4 cups each.

Thank Goodness I Didn't Plant!

As you may remember from my last post, I was wondering whether or not to plant the tender parts of my vegetable garden, based on the "last frost date" for my area. Well, I didn't, and am I glad I waited! Last Friday night we had frost warnings.

I covered tender foliage of hostas with bed sheets. I'm glad my front yard isn't very visible from the road. Pink flowers, blue plaids and everything in between made a giant crazy quilt looking down on them from above.

The forecast Friday night was for mid-30's and clear skies-- an almost certain frost situation. As it turned out the low was 27 degrees. Eek! The grapes lost all their primary leaves, the persimmon may be gone to fruit tree Heaven. Even the cole crops and tiny beets that were supposed to take a frost are yellowed out. We had a light frost again on Saturday night. If I had planted any of the tender veggies, I'd have lost them all.

Now I have to make a hard decision. Do I replant now, losing 4 weeks of growth on some of the plants? Or do I wait the yellowed plants out to see if they recover, taking the chance of losing 5 or 6 weeks instead if I end up having to replant? What would you do?

To Plant... Or Not to Plant

According to all the charts, the last frost date for my area is May 5th. So I should be getting ready to plant all the stuff that is recommended to be planted a week or two after the last frost date-- tomatoes, corn, peppers, eggplants, squash and zucchini, melons, basil... I would hope for a buffer zone of a week or two without frost threat between the last frost and the planting date, right?

Well, tomorrow's weather (one week exactly after my charted last frost date of May 5th) the lows are predicted to be in the 30's. The soil temperatures, which I don't measure, but instead judge as I am weeding and breaking up the soil by hand, are still cold. Bean seeds, which I would normally be planting next weekend, would languish in the soil, at best doing nothing and at worst rotting in the cold damp soil.

So, the question: To plant, or not to plant. If I do plant, I risk having to plant again when the plants are frosted or the seeds rot. If I don't plant, I risk the delay of the crop, and, since part of my plan is to feed myself and my husband in large part from my garden, the delay of my food supply.

Onions from Seed

I can still remember the first Farmers' Produce Auction I went to in Mt. Hope, Ohio. The items for sale that most impressed me were the crates of Candy onions. They were big and round and looked pretty as a picture-- too pretty, almost, to be real.

Last year I tried to grow them (from starter plants that came in bunches) in my vegetable garden, with not much luck. My planting was delayed, and the plants had dried up a good bit in the bundle before they were planted. This year I'm going to try to grow them from seed under lights, transplanting them when the soil can be worked.

My last expected frost is May 5th, so the time to seed them indoors is now through February 10th. If your last frost date differs from mine, check out this chart from Johnny's Selected Seeds and plug in your frost date. This will give you a planting timetable specific to your area.

I will plant them in a premoistened soilless seeding mix (I use Metro-Mix® 360 from Sun Gro Horticulture, but other soilless seeding mixes would work as well.) I'll moisten the top layer before I plant, then I'll cover them lightly with soil, press the soil gently to make sure the seed is in good contact with the soil, and water them with a plant mister so that I don't take a chance that the seeds might be dislodged by the water. I'll put them under lights and on a heat mat until they germinate, which may take a week to 10 days. I'll check them daily and water (again with the mister) when the soil begins to dry out.

Happy New Year!

2013. Does this year seem unlucky or lucky to you? Or is it just a number?

After all, the year does not really begin or end. Time and a calendar are boundaries set up by those people who need beginnings and endings, boundaries and borders, to make their lives seem neat and tidy, started and finished, intended and accomplished.

To an Ohio gardener, life is a cycle. December is a rest, not an ending. January and February are a respite (for the garden as well as the gardener), not a beginning. The time when any gardening done is done indoors or truly indoors (in the gardener's mind!) is an important time, too. Planning, dreaming, sorting out the "I wish I could"s from the "I believe I can"s-- these parts of the year are as important as the actual digging, planting, harvesting parts.

It's a time for thinking, planning for the next seasons. And a time for looking forward to the results of efforts we've already made (planting perennials and bulbs, receiving seed orders.) I hope that the anticipation of snowdrops and the memories of daffodils sustain you throughout this snowy month. The earth will reawaken. The sun will shine on your back as you dig in the dirt.

It's coming. Can't you feel it?

Processed vs Real Food

"MSG is used to create fat mice so researchers can study obesity. MSG is an excito-toxin that stimulates your brain to eat uncontrollably. When fed to mice, they pig out and get fat. It is in 80 percent of processed foods and mostly disguised as 'natural flavorings.'" (From the Huff Post.)

Obesity is an epidemic in our country. According to the article "68 percent of Americans are overweight" and   "from 1960 to today obesity rates have risen from 13 percent to 36 percent and soon will reach 42 percent." In order to fight this epidemic we need to eliminate most, if not all, processed foods from our diet. Real food, prepared from its natural state with no added preservatives, is always the better choice.

 Grow your own, cook at home, shop your local Farmer's Market. Eat real food. Simplify your choices and enjoy better health.