Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Garlic Roasted Chickpeas With Feta, Mint, and Lemon

We are a garbanzo bean lovin' household, so we'll eat 'em pretty much any old way you make 'em, but somethin' about this was so dang good.


Feta is good on anything, as far as I'm concerned.  And garlic, um, I'm trying to think if I ever make a meal without it.  The lemon and mint just brightened the whole thing up - it tasted like summer - fresh basil would have been delicious, too.  So.  Good.


Here's the link to the recipe:  Garlicky Roasted Chickpeas with Feta, Mint, and Lemon


To go with, I made one of my favorite, easy side dishes....baked tomatoes.  The whole family tears these up, as well.  Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and some cheese up on top.  They're so dang good like that.  I threw them in the oven at the same time as the chickpeas.  The Dad grilled up some steaks I had marinated, to round off the meal.

Here's dinner on my plate:








Easy prep.
Fast cook time.
Delicious.


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Monday, April 28, 2014

The End Of April In The Backyard

I sometimes wonder what the folks who are here for the food think when March rolls around, and the recipes are few and far between for seven months.  Obviously we're still eating dinner every night, but the garden is way more exciting. I did make a few new recipes last week, though, one of which was voted, "make again soon", by The Dad, so I'll try to get those posted sooner than later.

On with the show....

I dug and dug for the tag for this Heuchera, and couldn't find it in my stash.
I wanna say it was peach-somethin' or other.
I've never had a whole lotta luck growing them, but this one has surprised me this year.
It may not get yanked after all.


It's under the big tree in back, surrounded by Evening Primrose.
I'm pretty sure the Hosta in the background is 'Tiara', but I have another one really similar that could also be it, so I'm not positive.
I love the yellowish edge to it.


One of the little potted trees that I've had the longest is poked in under the tree right now, too.
My little Tamarack.
Tell me he isn't the cutest dang thing you've ever seen.


They lose their needles, so every spring I hold my breath until he shows signs of life.





All my little conifers are getting their new fuzzies - love.
This guy won't get much bigger, so he's in the ground.
He's a Juniper 'Gold Cone' and right now he's only about 4 1/2 feet.






My mom got me this tree a few years ago.
It's a Japanese Cedar, aka, Crypto. J. 'Sekkan-Sugi'.
It's about 10 feet or so, in the ground, but shouldn't get too much bigger.
He's got quite a bit of brown up at the top, I hope he's okay.




The rest are in pots and, honestly, I have no idea what they are.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm terrible at tree identification.
I think this one came from the Rock Farm.




I dug this one up from my mother-in-law's property in Northern California when we were visiting nine years ago.




My mom just brought me these next two from the woods.
Legally, of course, ahem.







I have several more out front, I'll have to get pics of.

The neighbor's lilac that I steal from is solid flowers.
It's the same house with the gigantic rhody.
It's kinda nice that they don't do a thing in their yard.
It makes for a better view.





Their fence is another story.  It's Jimmy rigged in half a dozen places.
You can sort of see it leaning away from our yard in this pic.
The only thing holdin' it up at this point is all the shrubs they never prune.
Ha!


I can't remember where this fern came from.
I must have bought it, but there's no tag to be found.
I looked online and it might be Dryopteris erythrosora.
Say that ten times fast.
The new fronds are orange.
It's pretty cool.
It's just barely comin' now.




That's it for now.
It's supposed to be beautiful weather all week.
In the 80's even!
You know where I'll be.

Shameless plug alert:  
Just a little reminder that you can purchase my floral photographs in my Etsy shop.
If you see one in a post that isn't in the shop, shoot me an email and I'll list it for ya.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RindyMae

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Thursday, April 24, 2014

New Babies

I made it to the Leach Botanical Garden plant sale for the second year in a row.  So fun!


I'm sorry to say, I've yet to visit the actual garden. It's sort of pathetic, considering it's minutes away.  (She says as she bows her head in shame.)  A local blog that I read just recently did a post about it and the pictures are gorgeous. It's the epitome of Oregon in spring.  Green, green, and more green.  You can check it out here:  Green Morning

My neighbor's actually got married there.  Many moons ago. They're in their late 60's.

Anywho, here are the new babies I brought home with me.


So up first, I couldn't leave without this cute little narcissus.
His name is 'Hawera'.



This was new to me.
I love the color of the leaves.
Mukdenia 'Crimson Fans'.
Word on the street is, the fall color is super fantastic.


I'm so in love with the two Lewisia I bought at the sale last year, that I had to buy two more.



I had a Pasque Flower years ago at a rental.
I decided I needed one again.
Pulsatilla vulgars.


This was another new to me plant.
Spring Pea, Lathyrus vernus.


The next one is to the left of the sweet pea.  You can see the photo tag sticking out of it.
Anemonopsis macrophylla.
I'm pretty excited to see this one bloom.


I've wanted one of these forever.
My mom got it for me as an Easter present.
She got my sister one, too.
Allium Cristophii or Star Of Persia.


Again, never heard of this before, but had to have it.
Uvularia grandiflora, aka, Large Flower Bellwort.


This little guy didn't have name, but he was too cute not to come home with me.


The rain let up enough the other morning for me to plant everything.
Here's everyone in their new homes, with my helper.


















































These last two, I didn't get at the sale, but they're still new babies.
My aunt gave me this little maple for Easter.
Isn't he cute?!





And this clematis jumped in my cart at the grocery store garden center.
It's called 'Early Sensation'.
I stuck him in a pot by the garage.
I'm hoping that's a big enough hint for The Dad to build me the trellis over the garage door that I've wanted for yeeeeaaaaars.






I hadn't decided on a home for my Allium when I was out taking pictures, but I did get him in the ground this morning.  And the bud was starting to open!
And....guess what I spotted poking up out of the ground yesterday?
My salvia patens.
What?!?!
Of all the things to make it through such a cold winter.
So exciting.
Off to accomplish something productive....

Shameless plug alert:  
Just a little reminder that you can purchase my floral photographs in my Etsy shop.
If you see one in a post that isn't in the shop, shoot me an email and I'll list it for ya.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RindyMae

Please see my sidebar for the parties I link up to.








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