Tag: garden

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Fresh from the Farmers Market

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{Blueberry crumble muffins with chocolate and almond croissants for breakfast}

Our local farmers market opened today and it was sheer heaven to be able to amble through stalls of unbelievably fresh fruits and vegetables, freshly baked goods along with artisan cheeses and organic meats. The flowers were absolutely gorgeous and I wanted to purchase every bouquet that was situated in the mason jars, but decided to wait for mine to flourish at Heath.

My first purchases were aromatically baked blueberry muffins with almond and chocolate croissants to serve with freshly brewed coffee for breakfast this morning.

Next I was onto the “greens”, which consisted of a huge bunch of mustard greens, spring onions, leeks, asparagus and a few herbs; parsley, cilantro, thyme and rosemary.

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{Several ears of freshly shucked sweet white corn to steam for today’s lunch}

You could get 12 ears of sweet white corn for $2.00 and boy did I dive in for the kill. Steamed corn was definitely on the menu for lunch today. I absolutely love corn with no butter or salt, and to have a bit of room to saw into several ears without question.

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{Fingerlings to go with Sunday’s menu of steak and herb buttered potatoes}

And last, but most certainly not least were the fingerling potatoes that would be perfect for Sunday’s menu. Several of my friends and I from work have been experimenting this past week with herb butters to keep for various evening meals. Cynthia our culinary expert shared her recipes for garlic and shallot herb butters and I cannot wait to try them on either steamed or pan-fried fingerling potatoes.

Garlic Herb Butter
In a mixer combine, a stick of butter, several tablespoons of garlic and about a ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese with a dash of kosher salt. I added a touch of Herbs de Provence and et voila…. herb butter. Portion the mixture into a log using plastic wrap and that which you do not use may be frozen.

Shallot Herb Butter
In the mixer combine, a stick of butter, 1 small shallot, minced, flat-leaf parsley, rosemary and kosher salt with crack black pepper. Blend and form into a log using plastic wrap.

These flavored butters are great with crusty breads, on pan-fried steaks, potatoes or with fresh asparagus. The possibilities are endless!!

Market stylishly,
K

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Color Palettes of Spring

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{Picture of the Cherry tree at Heath last spring}

There is something about being sequestered within the winter season; seeing endless grey skies, the occasional sprinkling of white snow and navigating formidable black ice, which begins to take its toll. With the wind seriously whipping up extremely cold weather, my thoughts are focusing on the warmer days ahead.

I have already noticed the first glimpses of spring with the arrival of blue jays, cardinals and humming-birds fluttering around the property setting up their roost. Hyacinth and daffodil shoots are darting through the ground and buds are sprouting on various trees. Each weekend I carve a bit of time to leisurely peruse seed and plant catalogs. My focus has been on the color scheme of the spring garden and how the shades of each flower will unfold over the various seasons.

IMG_0764{Southeast side of Heath Garden in fog}

Since pastels are usually acquainted with early spring, I am really trying to enjoy their softer palette, but my eye is moving towards richer more vibrant colors, such as radiant reds, outlandish oranges and fabulous fuchsias. Each time I open a fashion magazine color is splashed everywhere and orange is a predominate color seen on clothes and within the touches of makeup. It is a tone I am eager to experiment with throughout the garden. I have ordered a myriad of dahlias from Swan Island and cannot wait to see this rich vibrant shade with its beautiful mixture of reddish oranges and rusty golds within the flowering blooms.

While most gardens are still dormant this is great time to let your imagination become an incredibly creative tool when drafting your spring garden!!

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{Rosemary that survived the winter season in pots on deck}

K