"How Did I Get Here?" and Pickled Baby Leeks

So, this morning I found myself in my backyard garden wearing only a wet bra and a towel, turning compost in the blazing heat. After a moment, upon hearing a close-by neighbor's voice, it dawned on me that, uh... I'm in my underwear, um... in my backyard... ahem...holding a shovel and standing over a pile of composted, well...garbage. How did I get here?!

It started with those famous words: "I'm just gonna run out to the garden to snip [insert random vegetable/herb/flower here]." Today, it was collards that had to be harvested. And they really did; I cut off the last salvageable leaves and then pulled up the spent plants. While I was out there, I realized it is July. And it is HOT. And I am a fool to believe I will keep producing food through a Florida summer of heat, humidity, bugs and weeds. So I harvested most anything left: a handful of leeks started too late (so small, I'll call them baby leeks), a few tiny onion bulbs and some hot peppers. I cut some herbs to try and root... and some thyme blossoms to research if I can eat them. I yanked up some non-producing tomato and pepper plants... you get the picture.

After my frenzy of dismembering the garden, I was spent and drenched in sweat. So, still wearing workout clothes from a morning tennis match, I stripped down to my undies on my back porch and quickly jumped in the pool. Ah, sweet relief!

Revived, I wrapped myself in a towel and headed into the kitchen to rinse off my harvest. Herbs into jars of water, leeks rinsed and cleaned, collards washed... towel around my waist now, in the privacy of my kitchen. I took a handful of discarded leaves out to the worm bin on the back porch and was greeted with a huge plant growing up from out of it with a massive root system taking over the whole bin. After picking through roots and worms and vermicompost all compressed together, I discovered a corn cob was the source (a discard from my failed corn growing experiment). Well, I thought, I'd better get this out of here into the bigger compost bin out back...

But last weekend, I'd dumped all my pretty-much-finished compost into an empty raised bed where I can better turn it and finish it off. So there I was, in the middle of my backyard, wet, in my underwear & towel, holding a wildly-sprouted corn cob in one hand and a shovel in the other. And that, my friends, is why you should never judge that "crazy lady next door" ... she might just be a fledgling homesteader!

Here's what I did with those baby leeks, onions, and hot peppers...

Spicy, Pickled Baby Leeks

6-8 ounces ramps or cleaned and trimmed baby leeks
1 cup brown rice vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1/2 cup pure cane sugar
1 cup water
1 T kosher salt
1 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
1 tsp. black peppercorns
3 sprigs of fresh thyme

Trim the roots from the ends of the leeks. Cut the dark green ends, keeping them as close to the same length as possible. Pack the ramps or leeks in a clean canning jar, or jar with a tight fitting lid. Combine the vinegar, sugar and seasonings in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the leeks and let cool. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours, or up to several weeks.

Homemade Pizza Night

We eat a LOT of pizza here in my nest. Most of it, I admit, we bring in. It's my fall back for a quick, dinner that can be delivered to my door, or swung through and picked up. Occasionally we'll make our own using the ready-made dough at the bakery. However, I've been on a real make-it-myself kick lately, so last night everyone helped to make totally homemade pies.

For the dough, I followed the recipe in Feeding the Whole Family, using a multi-grain pastry flour and unbleached all purpose flour. It was really easy to make and delicious - even my pickiest chick gobbled up four pieces of this wholesome pie. (Do you own this cookbook? If you don't, you should... it's by far my most used and loved kitchen resource.)

Next primary ingredient: pizza sauce. I kept this simple too, following a foodie-favorite tomato sauce recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen (another fave kitchen resource) that's been all around the internet for years. This is all I had to do for a buttery, rich sauce: dump a jar of my homecanned tomatoes in a pot, add 5 tablespoons of butter and an onion, halved. Simmer 45 minutes. Remove the onion. Done! I also pureed it with an immersion blender, as my littles like it smoooooth.

Everyone got a dough ball to shape into their own personal pie with choice of toppings, which included mozzarella cheese, fresh basil from the garden, pepperoni, Italian chicken sausage, sauteed mushroms and onions, pepadew peppers, and some leftover ricotta cheese. The kids kept it basic, but look... DaddyBird made a calzone!

My pie was very "rustic" looking 'casue I couldn't get it off the paddle and onto the pizza stone. In frustration, I flipped and flopped it off and it went all wacky. Not my best kitchen moment. Nor my best lead-by-example parenting moment. 

But it was delicious, none the less. The final verdict... homemade pizza night was a win! Aside from my brief meltdown, it was a great, fun way to get everyone involved it the kitchen. Now, if only the clean up had the same mass appeal (many thank yous my love!).

Happy Summer Solstice!

It's heating up here in southwest Florida, but my garden's still growing! Here's a peek at what's blooming and growing...

Sunflowers and zinnias.

Bananas in bloom.

Baby watermelon.

 Thriving collards.

 Basil.

 Rosemary & chives.

Cosmos.

When you can, stop by and view the full Summer Garden photo album on my Facebook page. And please, share some pictures there of what's growing in your summer garden!

Going Bananas, Part 2

Thanks for the yummy banana ideas, ya'll! I spent my morning monkeying around in the kitchen and made these delicious "monkey muffins" - half are whole wheat banana chocolate chip and the other half are the same, plus raspberries. The basic recipe comes from my dear friend's blog, appropriately named The Laughing Monkey. Thanks Rose!

I also canned 10 jars of Monkey Butter, which is just bananas, pineapple, coconut, lemon juice & zest and lots of sugar. This stuff is sinful, folks! I plan to stash most of it away for gift giving. See what's left of my bananas in the background? There are 8, which are getting peeled and going in the freezer for a"banana milkshake" and a "kalicious smoothie," ideas courtesy of readers (see comments under Going Bananas). Thanks Cathy & Laura... can't wait to try your healthy concoctions!

Going Bananas

I've got bananas ripening faster than my little monkeys can eat them! These beauties are right off one of our backyard banana trees. I'm thinking about making some monkey butter (a tropical banana jam); I tasted this for the first time at my last food & craft swap, but wasn't lucky enough to snag a jar, as it was super popular. Thinking about banana bread too, and ran across this recipe that made my mouth water.

Do you have a favorite banana use/recipe? Please share - quickly!

Little House in the Suburbs

Over the past couple months, I've been reading the Little House books to my girls and they're completely enamored with life in the big woods and on the prairie. So when we created an outdoor play area in the backyard, they quickly dubbed it their "little house," and much pioneer-inspired domestic play has ensued.

In creating this space, my goals were to make it natural and to spend very little money. First, we sectioned off a shady area in the backyard, using my neighbor's shiny white fencing as a backdrop and old, unused landscape timbers from our front garden. Straw from the local feed store became the floor. And tree stumps I found curbside in my neighborhood (I'm a notorious curb shopper) became a table and chairs set.

Next, I shopped my garage and found a kidsize wagon (a yardsale find from years ago) for hauling stuff around, and a former marketstand / kids' gardening bench that awaited its next incarnation.

I filled the stand's shelves with the only purchase I made...pots and pans from Goodwill. And the beginnings of a mudpie kitchen & bakery were born!

I have a lot more ideas for this space, and look forward to watching it develop organically as summer play goes on. I've been trolling my surrounding neighborhoods on garbage day, watching the curbs for a table like this for a sand element. And I'd love to create a nature art easel like this. A salvaged mailbox is on my list, as are buckets of shells and rocks ...

For more inspiration, check out this mud pie kitchen and this "little house" and these cool tire planters, as well as this sweet space. And if you've got some great ideas for a natural kids play space, please share! 

Summer Inspiration!

Summer is upon us. It's hot, school's out in two days and ... the Summer Issue of two of my favorite publications are live! Find seasonal inspiration for the whole family in the latest issues of:

 and

I'm so honored to be a part of these beautiful magazines. Please stop by and read my articles on Keeping a Mindful Garden Journal and How to Host a Food Swap. I would really love for you to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Happy Friday and Happy Summer!