I may get impatient for the harvest. I may worry that my flower beds are too sparse. But, something I never forget to do is to take pleasure in the bits of beauty the plants in my garden create. I’d much rather look at the plants and watch their progression than weed. And I often do.
I missed last month’s Cottage Cooking Club, so this month I decided to take on only one new recipe and try and catch up on the June recipes I’d chosen.
Marinated Courgettes (Zucchini) with Mozzarella
My pick for this month was one I knew Kevin and I would both like. Zucchini is one of our favourite vegetables and this marinated salad is perfect for a hot summer’s evening. Even if it requires turning on the stove for a short while. The zucchini is supposed to be cut into long, thin strips, but I picked up some zebra-striped courgettes at the market and didn’t want to lose the stripey effect, so I cut them into thin medallions instead. My favourite part of this salad was how intense the lemon zest and garlic become once infused into the olive oil. Those flavours permeate the zucchini, along with the basil I’d picked from my garden. I also enjoyed the contrast of the cold bocconcini (in place of buffalo mozzarella) against the room temperature salad.
Once my own zucchini moves beyond the blossom stage, I’ll be making this salad often.
My June was busier and more eventful than I’d like, so cooking and blogging had to take a bit of a back seat. I didn’t have time to make all of the dishes I thought I would, but here’s a short round up of the ones I did get to try.
Vegetable Tempura with Chilli Dipping Sauce
First up, gluten-free vegetable tempura. I used Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for tempura, substituting a gluten-free flour mix, and then served the tempura with the River Cottage dipping sauce. You can read about my mishaps in this post, but the tempura, once we were able to sit down to it, was a hit. I loved that Kevin had an opportunity to eat something he hadn’t had since having to go gluten-free, but I’m not a fan of deep-frying, so I don’t think we’ll be revisiting it any time soon.
Honey Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
I’m a huge fan of simple treatments for summer produce. It comes and goes so quickly, why hide its flavour? That said, I can always get behind a technique that doesn’t mask flavour so much as intensify it. Roasting tomatoes does just that. The River Cottage method is simple, tomatoes tossed in a bit of honey, olive oil, and garlic, then cooked in a slowish oven. But what you get is even more amazing than the tomatoes straight off the vine. I used cherry tomatoes, unseeded, and got a lot of delicious juice with my roasted tomatoes. That’s something you might want to avoid with bigger tomatoes, but here it was a gift.
I made these for my parents, taking a little taste for myself. The tomatoes reminded me of a honeyed sauce and that’s how Mom and Dad used them – they made a big pot of pasta and tossed it with the tomatoes, juice and all. A heart-healthy, flavourful meal.
Frittata with Summer Veg and Goat´s Cheese
This is my favourite dish from River Cottage Veg so far. I used a big pile of spinach, along with radish leaves, garlic scapes, thinly sliced radishes and green onions, and fingerling potatoes. I added some rosemary and thyme, then finished it with goat cheese. There’s nothing better for brunch than frittata, as far as I’m concerned. This one was so full of vegetables, it didn’t need any accompaniment, really, but I served it with salad from the garden, anyway.
I love how easy it is to eat healthily in the summertime, don’t you?
Intrigued by this month’s recipes? Buy the book and join us.
Here are the links to the rest of the group’s posts for this month. I encourage you to check them out – you’ll meet some wonderful bloggers and get some great inspiration for vegetarian eating.
I’m a week behind with French Fridays, once again. Everyone else is writing about their adventures with Coddled Eggs with Foie Gras, but I’m going to tell you about deep-fried zucchini blossoms.
There was a little drama involved in collecting the blossoms for this recipe. I have two zucchini plants in my garden this year, but I wasn’t sure whether they would be ready in time for last week’s posting or not. At the beginning of the week, I could see that there were about six male blossoms getting ready to bloom – I thought I could safely take four and leave two for the bees. I watched them carefully and when they seemed like they’d be ready the next day, I went and got a variety of vegetables to batter and fry with them, along with the ingredients for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s
chile dipping sauce.
I went down to the garden the next morning and all six blossoms were gone. I don’t know if they dropped off the plants and shrivelled into nothing, or they got harvested by another creature who knew how good they were. In any case, I was disappointed.
Luckily, I only had to wait a few days more before I could try again. I harvested four blossoms, carefully laid them on paper towel and kept them in the fridge until it was time to stuff them. I used an herbed goat cheese to stuff mine, instead of the titular shrimp. I was surprised at how easy the blossoms were to work with – I had them cleaned and stuffed in much less time than it took to prepare the rest of the vegetables. I also substituted an equal weight of gluten-free flour for AP flour and the batter turned out perfectly.
However, I wasn’t quite finished with drama yet. My over-sensitive hard-wired smoke detector went off when I was about halfway through the vegetables I deep-fried along with the blossoms, so I had to abandon my cooking and wrap bags and tea towels around the alarm until it stopped.
All of the blossoms had been cooked and there was a plateful of vegetables for us to dip in the chile sauce, too. It was an enjoyable snack and the blossoms were delicious.
I’m not going to be repeating it, though. I’m not enough of a fan of deep-fried food to wrap towels around the smoke alarm very often at all. And the rest of my zucchini blossoms are being put to work producing enough zucchini to overwhelm me at the end of the summer.
This month, French Fridays is doing something a little different – four Doristas were asked to pick recipes and this perfectly seasonal, perfectly elegant pick was courtesy of Diane, from Simple Living and Eating – drop by and thank her for me, won’t you?
Find out what the rest of the French Fridays crew thought about this recipe: Shrimp-filled Zucchini Blossoms
Our recent heat wave has had me feeling like this cat – ready to curl up in a cool, dark corner to wait it out. The problem is that there’s just too much going on here in the summertime. So, it’s sunscreen and lots of water, braving the heat to make it to at least some of the shows, festivals, and concerts that are happening around the city.
Of course, the biggest event of July is always the Vancouver Folk Festival, but there’s a lot more music out there. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden’s Enchanted Evenings series, Vancouver Early Music’s Summer Festival, and CBC’s Musical Nooners are a few of the other events waiting to fill your ears this month. Or perhaps you’d rather combine your music with a little dance at the Robson Square Summer Dance Series.
You can fill your eyes with theatre, art, artifacts, and more at Bard on the Beach, the Queer Arts Festival, Babes & Bathers, or the Summer Cinema Series.
There are festivals happening around the region this month, too, like Surrey’s Fusion Festival, Aldergrove Fair Days, or North Vancouver’s Caribbean Days Festival.
And Foodies need have no fear – there are plenty of events coming up for you, too. If Food Cart Fest is too broad a canvas for you, you can get specific and head for Brewery and the Beast for a more beer and meat focused experience. Heck, you can skip food altogether and just sign up for a brewery tour instead.
There’s even a craft fair this month, Circle Craft’s Summer Market, for those of you who would rather get their shop on.
Of course, the most tried-and-true way to beat the heat is to embrace it and Vancouver has plenty of beaches to allow you to do just that.
As for me, I’m keeping my eye out for the ways my neighbours are celebrating summer. There seems to be something interesting around every corner these days.
Today’s post should be about delicate zucchini blossoms in a tempura-like batter, but I’m not there yet – or rather, my garden is not. I am short on blossoms as yet, but that should correct itself by tomorrow or Sunday, latest.
Instead, I’m catching up on the two previous weeks’ dishes, which were so simple it makes me wonder how I let life get in the way of making them before today. They were perfect for a hot summer’s evening graze, which also included hummus, salsa, and crudités. (Not that it qualifies as hot here by the rest of North America’s standards, I’m aware.)
Guacamole with Tomatoes and Bell Peppers
This recipe came up in the rotation on the last Friday of June and was whipped up in my kitchen in less than fifteen minutes today. The recipe calls for the guacamole to be presented chunky or smooth. I chose smooth and used my food processor to make it, instead of a mortar and pestle, as Dorie does – mine isn’t big enough.
I used a little too much jalapeño for Kevin’s taste, but I enjoyed the bite. The inclusion of the tomatoes and red pepper made this guacamole reminiscent of a green avocado salsa, though I think I like this recipe better. Tomorrow, it’s going to be even spicier than it was today, so I’m going to pick up some sour cream to cut the heat. Along with corn tortillas and some vegetables sautéed in cumin and oregano, I think we’ve got tomorrow night’s dinner covered.
Tomatoes Provençal
For the month of July, the choices for each week’s assignment were made a little differently than usual. Four of our regular participants were each asked to pick one recipe and to start the month, Kathy of Bakeaway with Me chose Dorie’s Tomatoes Provençal.
Local tomatoes are starting to show up in the markets and roasting them is such a nice way to deepen their flavour. I was especially pleased with the topping – minced garlic with a mixture of herbs from the garden. I love being able to go outside and take as much as I need from the plants in my backyard. It’s one of the many pleasures of summer, isn’t it? I used basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and chives. Nothing else was needed but a little salt, pepper, and olive oil.
We loved these tomatoes, so much so that I saved the leftover juices to use for salad dressing or cooking down vegetables for the frittata I’m planning for later this weekend.
If I were you, I’d give them a go and then visit Kathy’s blog to tell her what a great choice she made.
Find out what the rest of the French Fridays crew thought about the Guacamole with Tomatoes and Bell Peppers.
You can find links to everyone else’s posts on last week’s recipe here: Tomatoes Provençal
Today Roxy went for her annual vet visit – a wellness exam, according to the bill. And she is indeed well, even earning ‘dog of the day’ status for not freaking out during the exam or booster shot. We left with precautionary dewormer and preventative flea treatment (it’s going to be another hot summer). It got me thinking about how the concept of a good dog owner has changed over the years.
It seems more complicated than it did when I was a kid. Our vet wasn’t too concerned with shots, beyond the puppy years. Kids and dogs wandered all around the neighbourhood and if someone had said dogs didn’t belong in the playground, even adults would have laughed. We fed the dogs whatever dog food was sold at the grocery store, gave them scraps from the table, and tastes of whatever we happened to be eating. They got flea baths or flea collars every summer, but they didn’t go to a groomer unless they were show dogs. All the dogs in our neighbourhood seemed none the worse for wear.
These days, you have to be more careful – choosing food that you can be sure was made with safe ingredients, visiting the groomer at least a few times during the year, keeping them on leash and out of playgrounds, and scheduling check ups, tooth cleaning, and booster shots with the vet.
I’m not particularly nostalgic for the old days, but I do think there should be places for dogs to run off leash and times (realistically, short times) when they can shed the perfectly-groomed-city-dog look and get as muddy and messy and smelly as they please.
And there are also ways we could be doing even better:
We’ve stopped sending biodegradable food scraps to the landfill, so it’s probably time to stop dumping biodegradable dog waste there, too. The most environmentally friendly options are pick up by dog composting companies or simply flushing it down the toilet. (But don’t send your cat’s waste down the toilet – even after treatment, it’s still toxic to ocean life.) The biodegradable bags, unfortunately, have to go to the dump, where they probably won’t break down very quickly. There are plenty of other ways you can be an eco-friendly pet owner, too.
Keep your dog, and everyone else’s pets, protected by keeping their vaccinations up to date and using preventative flea and tick treatments. Ticks are on the rise worldwide and some vets are now recommending year-round protection against them.
It’s important to have your dog tattooed or chipped, sure, but you should also get them licensed. It doesn’t just mean avoiding a fine if they get picked up by animal control, it also means getting a more accurate census of the number of dogs in the city, which can translate to more city resources being allocated to amenities for dogs and their owners.
Don’t support puppy mills – get a dog from a well-respected breeder, or better yet, adopt one from a shelter. Then, make sure they are spayed or neutered when the time comes.
If you live in a potential disaster zone, as overdue-for-an-earthquake Vancouverites do, make sure you have a disaster kit for your dog, alongside the ones I know you are not procrastinating about making for the human members of your family.
And don’t forget to support the folks in your community doing good work on behalf of the canines in our community. Donate, volunteer, recommend – those shelters and rehabilitation centres, along with dog advocacy groups, could use your support.
If you follow French Fridays, you might notice that the fish in the dish above isn’t the one called for in this week’s recipe. My local fishmonger is an Ocean Wise establishment, which means they carry only sustainable seafood. It also means there was no skate in sight there, as it’s currently being over-fished worldwide. So instead of skate, I picked up halibut, which is a firm-fleshed recommended alternative. It’s also one of my favourites, so I was pleased to make the substitution.
A lot of conversations about ethical and healthful eating in my house revolve around my partner’s choice to move toward veganism and my philosophy of eating meat less often than I eat vegetarian. But another important part of all this, for me, is where food comes from. Sourcing wild or humanely raised meat is something I strive toward (though I don’t always succeed). I also think the same attention needs to be paid to non-animal food, as well. So, I’ve been following the controversy around Jeanette Winterson and the rabbit with interest. Many of these questions are being discussed in the wake of the Twitter frenzy her photos created. There certainly doesn’t seem to be one answer to the question of what ethical eating looks like.
In the case of this French Friday, the sustainable choice was also a delicious one. If only all ethical decisions had outcomes so rewarding. Halibut was perfect for pan-frying and serving with tangy, brown butter sauce. I couldn’t believe how well the cornichons fit into to the dish – their crunchy tartness was a nice contrast to the tender fish. I usually bake fish, but this dish reminded me that I should get my skillet out more often.
Not much else is needed for accompaniment, as Dorie points out in the head note to this recipe, so buttery rice and steamed vegetables made good companions for the fish – a perfect summer meal.
I cheated and just took a quick snapshot of the dish after saucing it, because I was eager to eat and didn’t feel like letting that beautiful halibut get cold. If you want some gorgeous photos of this week’s dish, you’ll have to go and see what the rest of my French Fridays colleagues got up to: Skate with Capers, Cornichons, and Brown Butter Sauce
This post will have to serve for both this week and last, as I was laid low with a nasty flu over last weekend and into this week, so I’m just catching up on life now.
I made the salmon rillettes earlier this week. The combination of poached and smoked salmon is fantastic, especially when combined with chile pepper,spring onion, pink peppercorns, and lots of lemon. I halved the recipe, but it still made quite a bit of this spread. I can see serving half as an appetizer and saving hoarding the rest for sandwiches the next day.
The crab-avocado “ravioli” came together in less than half an hour this evening. The fussiest bit is slicing the avocado to make the ravioli, but the one I picked was just barely ripe, so it held together quite well. I couldn’t get fresh crab meat – there is some sort of supply issue right now, according to my fishmonger, but the canned stuff wasn’t bad, I thought. I quartered this recipe, as crab doesn’t keep very well and there’s only two of us. It still made enough for a small plate of “ravioli” with enough left over to put on toast later. I thought the combination of lime, cilantro, and shallot worked well with the crab, but am I a cretin for wishing there had been a little cream or mayonnaise in the mix, too? Probably.
These were both delicious appetizers that I’ll be making again. This group has been a boon to my entertaining recipe repertoire – so many of the light and first course recipes have been winners, haven’t they? So much so, that I keep imagining that if we ever had a Dorista potluck, we could safely cover the table with enough delicious pre-dinner nibbles that we’d never make it to the main course.
Find out what the rest of the French Fridays crew thought about this week’s recipe: Crab-Avocado “Ravioli”
You can find links to everyone else’s posts on last week’s recipe here: Salmon Rillettes
I was provided with a gift certificate by Driscoll’s to purchase ingredients for this recipe and I received a copy of Baking Chez Moi for participating in the Google+ chat. However, all opinions are my own.
For me, the beginning of summer is marked by the beginning of strawberry season. And the best way to celebrate the start of summer is strawberry shortcake. No wonder June 14th has been declared National Strawberry Shortcake Day. (It might be an American holiday, but I’m choosing to apply it to Canadians, too.)
One of the things I love best about strawberry shortcake is that it can be dressed up or down for any occasion. It’s as at home at a family picnic as it is a formal tea. It’s also a dessert that comes in many incarnations, causing arguments amongst those who champion the sponge cake variety and those who staunchly support the sweet biscuit version. Although I’ll gladly accept a plate of sponge cake smothered in whipped cream and berries, it’s the biscuit version that I think of as the real McCoy.
So, I was excited to be invited to join a Google + Hangout on Air a few weeks ago, to join some fellow bloggers to talk about just that sort of strawberry shortcake with baker extraordinaire Dorie Greenspan. If you’re a regular reader here, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of her recipes and have been working through her last cookbook, Around My French Table, with a great group of bloggers for French Fridays with Dorie. I knew the recipe would be stellar, but I was also looking forward to the opportunity to ask Dorie for tips and tricks for making this shortcake as good as could be.
Dorie told us that she invented this recipe after learning that strawberries are closely related to roses. She also enjoys adding an element of surprise to her desserts, so the subtle flavour of rose and the two textures of the strawberries in this recipe add interest, elegance, and a little playfulness to these shortcakes. I also loved the hint of lemon in the biscuits.
My question for her was whether or not the tops of the biscuits, and the less-than-perfect ones, could be used for a trifle-like dessert. She thought that would work well, layered in a jar, with each layer of biscuit soaked in the juices from the compote. I did a little riff on this idea when I made the shortcakes, layering biscuits, berries, compote, and whipped cream into champagne glasses for a pre-dinner parfait. I even added a layer of rhubarb curd to the middle. It was the best cook’s treat ever.
Here is some more of the advice she shared with us:
Driscoll’s, the sponsor for our Google + Hangout, kindly provided us with gift certificates to purchase the ingredients for this recipe. Their berries were large, ripe, and incredibly sweet, which sets them apart from most supermarket berries. I would happily buy them again.
I was quite pleased with how this recipe turned out for me, with Dorie’s tips in hand. My shortcakes rose beautifully. I followed the recipe exactly, though my shortcakes were without the candied roses. My roses are only now starting to bloom, so I will be trying my hand at the candied roses soon. Because, of course, I will be making this recipe again. Dorie’s shortcakes were a huge hit with my family.
You can find the recipe on the Driscoll’s website. They’ve also been kind enough to allow me to share it here.
Dorie Greenspan’s Double-Strawberry and Rose Shortcakes
Shared with permission from Driscoll’s Berries and Dorie Greenspan
INGREDIENTS
Rose petal decoration
3 unsprayed roses
1-2 very fresh organic egg whites
granulated sugar
(or store-bought candied rose petals)
Strawberry compote
3/4 pound (about 3 cups) Driscoll’s Strawberries, hulled
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon pure rose extractLemon-buttermilk biscuits
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (plus more for sprinkling)
freshly grated zest of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into
small cubes
3/4 cup cold buttermilkWhipped Cream
1 cup very cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon pure rose extract
1 tablespoon cold sour cream, optional
red or pink food coloringTopping
1/2 – 3/4 pound (about 2 to 3 cups) Driscoll’s Strawberries,
hulledDIRECTIONS
Rose Petal Decoration
Several hours ahead or the day before, separate the rose petals, rinse them quickly in cold water and pat them dry. Put one egg white in a small bowl and whisk until it’s foamy. (You may or may not need the second white.) Put the sugar in another small bowl and place a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat on the counter. One at a time, dip a petal into the white and let the excess drip back into the bowl. Drag the petal through the sugar to coat both sides very lightly. Dry the petals on the paper or mat in a cool, non-humid place for at least 6 hours or for as long as overnight.Strawberry Compote
Coarsely chop the berries and toss them into a small saucepan with the sugar. Put the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring, for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the juices are slightly thickened and syrupy. Scrape the berries and syrup into a bowl, stir in the rose extract and cool to room temperature. (You can make the compote up to 3 days ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator.)Lemon-Buttermilk Biscuits
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.Put the sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl and, working with your fingertips, rub the ingredients together until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the rest of the dry ingredients to the bowl and whisk to combine. Drop in the pieces of cold butter and, again using your fingertips, crush, rub and blend the butter in. You’ll have flakes of butter and small pieces and this is just right. Pour the cold buttermilk over the mixture, switch to a fork and toss and stir everything together until the milk is absorbed – your dough might look like curds, but that’s fine. Don’t stir too much, too vigorously or for too long and if there are a few dry spots in the bottom of the bowl, ignore them. Reach into the bowl and knead the dough gently, folding it over on itself and turning it over 6 to 8 times.
Dust a work surface lightly with flour, turn out the dough and, still using your hands, pat the dough out until it is 1/2 inch thick. (The thickness is what’s important here.) Using a high-sided 2 inch cutter, cut out biscuits and place them on the baking sheet. Pat the scraps together until they’re 1/2 inch thick and cut out as many more biscuits as you can. (The leftover dough can be cut into biscuits, but they won’t rise as high or as evenly as the others – you can keep them as your baker’s treat). Sprinkle tops with sugar.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the biscuits have risen gloriously and their tops and bottoms are golden brown. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and allow the biscuits to cool until they reach room temperature. (The biscuits can be made up to 6 hours ahead; keep them uncovered at room temperature.)
Whipped Cream
Working with an electric mixer, beat the cream just until it mounds softly. Still beating, add the sugar, followed by the vanilla and rose extracts. When the cream is fully whipped and holds firm peaks, quickly beat in the sour cream, if you’re using it. To tint the cream, beat in just one drop of coloring; continue adding coloring a tiny drop at a time until you get the shade of pink you want. (The whipped cream can be made up to 3 hours ahead and kept tightly covered in the refrigerator; whisk a couple of times before using.)Topping
Just before you’re ready to put the shortcakes together, stand the berries up and, using a thin-bladed knife, cut each berry into 4 or 5 thin slices.Assembly
If you’d like to pipe the whipped cream, either spoon the cream into a pastry bag fitted with an open star or plain tip, or spoon the cream into a zipper-lock plastic bag and snip off a corner. Alternatively, you can simply spoon on the cream.Slice off the top of the biscuit to create an even surface for piping the cream. Save the tops to nibble on later. Put a teaspoonful of strawberry compote and syrup in the center of each biscuit. Pipe (or spoon) a circle of whipped cream around the compote, leaving a bit of compote uncovered. Finish each shortcake by pressing two or three slices of strawberry together, fanning them out a little and placing them, broad side down, in the center of each cake. Add a rose petal for the finishing touch. (If you have any extra compote and/or cream, cover and keep in the refrigerator to enjoy at another time.)
Arrange the shortcakes on a platter. Scatter the remaining rose petals around the platter and serve immediately.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t spend the winter worrying if I’ve made the best use I could of storage vegetables. As good as they are, the selection is small enough and their shelf life is long enough that I’m ready to move on as soon as spring arrives.
That’s when my anxiety begins, from peas to tomatoes, from rhubarb to peaches, warm weather produce has its short turn on the stage before retreating for another year. Every year, I make grand plans to use each of those fruits and vegetables in multiple recipes and every year my accomplishment consists of not missing them entirely. Bonus points for freezing a bag or two along the way.
I’ve meditated – I know that being present in each moment is a healthier path, but I can’t help feeling a growing sense of panic when I realize that one of my favourites (or that one I keep saying I’m going to try, year after year) is disappearing from the markets. I also seem to manage to make the recipes I’ve loved since childhood more often than experiment with the masses of new ones I bookmark each year.
This year, I’m batting above my average (at least, I think that’s what I’m doing – baseball metaphors are not my forte). One of my mother’s friends gave her an enormous bag of rhubarb and I’m crossing a few of those new concoctions off my list.
My favourite so far is rhubarb curd. I used Lara Ferroni‘s recipe and went ahead and made the rhubarb bars, too. The shortbread topped with baked curd is heavenly, though I think that next time I’ll have a little beet juice ready when I make the curd, to punch up the colour. The bars only used half the curd, which I’m reserving for some parfaits that are going to show up here soon. If you make this, I recommend baking a visitandine at the same time, as it uses up four egg whites. If you have any ideas for the other two, let me know.
There is still quite a bit of rhubarb left, so there’s definitely some roasted rhubarb and a strawberry-rhubarb crisp in the offing. I might try one of the savoury rhubarb recipes I’ve been eyeing, or I might revisit this recipe or this one. With a bit saved in the freezer, I’d say I’m actually making good use of rhubarb this year.
Now, if I can just stop thinking about all the things I meant to do with spring peas or the fact that strawberry season has arrived.
One Wet Foot 