Photo Barf of the Garden and Food stuffs

....with new yummy recipe.  ;)

Of course now that the photo barf of Year One with Patoots is done, we get the mini barf of the Food and Garden 2014!

With a really really mild winter and a very warm spring-ish time, we had flowers blooming and bees abuzzing early.





Our spring crop really consisted of alot of arugula that Ed allowed to go to seed last year.  We had a field of it and some "weed" ones scattered around the garden.



Of course, we can't forget our onions and garlic and peas and asparagus......








One can't forget the rhubarb!!!  We had a big harvest of rhubarb this year.  And what do we make with lots of rhubarb?  A whole of of strawberry rhubarb product!!  DUH!  One pie, one crisp, one batch of muffins, and one crisp bars.  Of course, I don't have any photos of the finished products.  Are you silly?  They when in my belly before the thought of taking a photo of it even crossed my mind!  However, the crisp bars are definitely something awesome.  Here's a link to the recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/05/strawberry-rhubarb-crisp-bars/

or here's the modified version of Deb Perlman's awesome breakfast...i mean dessert.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp Bars

Yield: 16 small bars, as shown, or 8 large ones; recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9×13-inch baking pan, where they will come out a little thicker

1 cup (80 grams) rolled oats
3/4 cup (95 grams) plus up to 2 tablespoons (15 grams) extra all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (95 grams) light brown sugar
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional, but helps firm up the filling)
1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated sugar, divided
1 cup (125 grams) small-diced rhubarb (from about 1 1/2 medium stalks)
1 cup (155 grams) small-diced strawberries
Powdered sugar, for decoration, if desired

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. For easy removal, line bottom and two sides of 8-by-8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. No need to bother (and no greasing needed) if you plan to serve them right in the pan, as I did.

Place oats, 3/4 cup flour, brown sugar and salt in bottom of baking pan and mix. Pour melted butter over, and stir until clumps form. If the clumps feel soft or look overly damp, add the remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Set aside 1/2 cup of the crumble mixture. Press the rest of the crumb mixture evenly in the bottom of the pan.

Spread half the fruit over the crust. Sprinkle it evenly with cornstarch, then lemon juice, and 1/2 tablespoon of granulated sugar. Spread remaining fruit over this, and top with second 1/2 tablespoon sugar. Scatter reserved crumbs over fruit and bake bars for 30 to 40 minutes (firmer fruits will take longer), until fruit is bubbly and crisp portion is golden and smells toasty and amazing.

Let cool in pan and cut into squares. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Store leftovers in fridge.

In late March, I started some cherry tomatoes, cherokee purple tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, jalapeño peppers, brussel sprouts, and munstead lavender.  The photos will come later....when they go in the ground and actually survive.  ;)

Now...go and try making the crisp bars...they are awesome!

Photo Barf of Patoots..Part Two

more photos of A!!  Man, I have a lot of photos.  here's comes the rest (for now)!

9 months:





10 months:





11 months:







12 months:











And so, a year has passed since Patoots joined our little family. ..... To more years in the future....

Catching Up...and Photo Barf of the Patoots Part One

What else does one do on a rainy day?  Ok....and then on sunny days when Patoots is napping (the rare occasion).  The last photo barf of A was when he was 3 months old.  Now, he's 13 months.  Geez, times flies.  I wonder how crazy this upchuck is going to be.  ;)  Let's see! 

4 months:





5 months:





6 months:





7 months:









8 months:

Crisp Winter's Day = Tahoe Blue

Ed's Parent came an visited us during the MLK weekend in Jan.  No snow storms to write home about but it was the typical winter in the west.  Sunshine and chilly temps.  Something that both Ed and I have never done is get on one of the paddle board boats and take cruise on the lake.  By lake..I mean Tahoe.  So we spent a day driving around Lake Tahoe and then taking the cruise.

The cruise had an extra element added....the thrill of breaking ice.  Much quieter than the previous times I've experienced.  :D  It was the perfect showcase of why to keep Tahoe blue.

Of course...this is no excuse for me being lazy about the photos...

Tea House from above

MS Dixie II

Glassy Lake

Blue

the kolodziejs

reflections

at the entrance of emerald bay

Breaking ice

Pack Ice

Ice

beyond the ice....glass

Tea House at water level.

Fall/Winter-ish Rock (and little bit of a photo barf).

Man, I'm terrible at this blogging thing.  You would think that now that I work form home and on the computer, I'd actually gather up the motivation to process photos and post them.  Nope.  I'm still pretty bad.  the posting come in spurts and the photos come in the form of photo barfs.  So with that, I'll try to keep the barfing to a minimum....but no guarantees!


Sometime in the fall, we did some "backcountry" bouldering. ....



And then there is always the high desert...



Prugatory...

Amy

Ed

Evan

Evan