The Purple Orb

Once upon a time, in the Land of Tallers and Smallers, a young girl followed her mother into Whole Foods. She was given free reign and hopped her way through the produce department. Her long golden hair bounced off her back as she lept from sunny oranges to cherry red apples to prickly pineapples to green zucchinis to crimson red bell peppers.

As she danced about her favorite colors of the rainbow, her eyes set upon a deep purple orb. Small hands stretched out to grasp a mysterious vegetable, whispering her name.  She raised it high, calling out, "Please, Mama? It's purrrrr-ple! Please?!" Smiling her mother replied, "Yes, Princess." Into their basket went the gorgeous ball grown from the ground.

Returning to their castle, carrots, red onion, and the beautiful purple orb find themselves sliced and grated into a large bowl, where they meet up with two tablespoons of sugar.

While the vegetables soften under the sweet, the Taller places olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and chopped green onion or shallot upon the counter for the Smaller Princess to make the dressing.

After a couple hours of the clock pass, the Smaller pours on the dressing as the Taller gives the Purple Cabbage Salad a thorough mix.

The Tallers and the Smallers - including one Princess - of this castle devour this crisp delight all year round.  And what left overs the Tallers can keep the Smallers from gobbling up, are even more delicious the next day, and the day after that.

The End.

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Side note:  The Queen of this castle made this once before without sugar and while there was plenty of taste, it is far far crunchier.  The sugar softens the cabbage as it 'cooks' it and the King insists the sugar is necessary.  So, in this Land it all depends on who is slicing and grating when the vegetables first meet.  Thankfully, they can meet in the middle and keep the sugar to hopefully, a non-obscene amount - a li'l less than two tablespoons for a large batch when she makes it, a li'l more when he makes it.

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Got Artichoke?

We do!  Wee girl & I picked up a 2 1/2" artichoke starter plant from a local organic farm (well, the plant was started at a local organic farm, which we bought at Whole Foods) last year and planted it in our veggie garden.  And apparently, that little arti plant really liked its new home!

It started so small and now, it's almost up to the top of the fence with a half dozen artichokes growing on it.  The initial plant was $2.50 and with the price of artichokes today (saw some on sale at Safeway for $3 each the other day), if we even get one good one off of it (though it looks like we'll have many more than that), it will have paid for itself in full.

Pretty cool, huh?!  We think so.  We're also nurturing our boy's strawberry plant, in hopes it produces more yummy fruit for the third year in a row now.  And our graphed apple tree blossomed for the first time this year and already has little mini apples growing on it.  All of this and we haven't even planted any new vegetables yet.  Yup, pretty cool.

What's growing in your garden right now?  Anything new you plan to get into the ground or a pot this month?

I thought nothing could ruin dinner faster...

Brussels sprouts, blech.  As far as I was concerned, the only thing worse than those little nasty cabbage like sprouts were lima beans.  Actually, lima beans still rank at the bottom of my list!

As a kid, Dad loved them.  I don’t think anyone else was much of a fan.  Though, my distaste for those gruesome balls of green was far greater, I think.

And what’s worse?  They were usually from the freezer. 

Oh wait, it gets worse still.  If they were served on my plate, I had to eat them, all of them.  My taste buds cried out in horror.

It’s not as if I was a kid with a limited palette.  While most kids’ favorite food item was from the more standard fair of pizza, tacos, or spaghetti, I loved seafood, a mean stir fry, and even shucked oysters on the rare occasion I visited family in Virginia.

But, brussels sprouts?  No. Thank. You.

Brussels sprouts were on my hit list back then and continued to reside there well into my thirties.

I was madly shopping for our 2010 Thanksgiving dinner and by my fourth grocery store, I still had not picked up a vegetable when I saw this gorgeous baseball bat sized stalk with dozens of green bulbs climbing it.  So struck by its beauty, it took me a few minutes to realize what it was.

I’d come upon those dreaded brussels sprouts, presented in its organic state and suddenly I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.  As much as the flaming orange, red, and yellow bell peppers sang out to me, or the comforting cry of our favorite friend, zucchini, called, or the green bean Thanksgiving standard whispered my name, I was deaf to all of them.  My eyes were locked on my target and would not deviate until I gave in.

I left wondering what on earth I was doing. Had I lost my mind?  Seriously, had I just ruined our Thanksgiving meal?  And my goodness, what would my husband think?  He couldn’t stand brussels sprouts just as much, if not more.  Considering he was cooking, I thought I was crazy not to factor his distaste for them into the equation!

To my surprise, he started laughing when I pulled out that big green, bulbous stick…I mean, stalk.  He quickly had the kids giggling as well.  And suddenly, he was game to give brussels sprouts one more try.

We opted to roast them as we had yet to miss with that method.  And just in case they were as hideous as we remembered, he fried up a couple strips of bacon to crumble on top.  He rationalized that everything is better with bacon.

Thanksgiving day, everyone watched the sprouts come off the stalk, one by one, as if it was a grand new spectator sport.  Those of us in the peanut gallery had many a how-to opinion to offer.  And then they were off the stalk, halved, misted with olive oil, sprinkled with a wee bit of salt, and into the oven they went.

Sitting down to the dining table for dinner with a beautiful turkey, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, the most scrumptious dressing, and those roasted brussels sprouts.  I was apprehensive, to say the least.

We grownups, having been tainted by nasty balls of green on our plates as kids, had to put on brave faces to try our first bites.  But, the kids, who had been so excited by our new brussels sprout adventure, they dove straight in.

Eyes widened.  Could this really be?  Our surprise was palpable.  And our conclusion was drawn with that first cautious bite.

Move over artichoke!  Move over zucchini!  Move over bell peppers, cauliflower, Japanese eggplant, spinach, crooked neck squash, and all varieties of tomato!

Move on over and make room for another favorite vegetable to join the ranks!

Brussels sprouts.  No bacon needed.  Who knew?!

Thanksgiving 2010 Brussels Sprouts

Roasting them was the key for us and bacon never again necessary!

This tale o' brussels sprout was in response to the RemembeRED prompt to write about our favorite fresh fruit or vegetable, from The Red Dress Club.

A Keen Party

Last night, the clock ticked down towards the dinner hour and I had no idea what we were having.  So, we needed something quick & easy.  After ransacking the pantry & fridge, inspiration struck!

Organic quinoa to the rescue!  The cool thing about quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is that its both a gluten free grain and a protein. 

So into a saucepan went chicken stock, water, a head of minced garlic, and a little salt to start the party.  The guest of honor, quinoa, joined the party hosts after taking a quick shower in the sink. 

While they were partying (at a full boil), a chopped onion, two chopped zucchinis, one cut up roasted yellow bell pepper and two of its red cousins attended another party in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and paprika.

When the quinoa was done enjoying the saucepan party, it was fluffed with a fork and alternately layered in a bowl with the skillet party goers.  They had a meet and greet and were gently mixed up in order to get to know all the party guests better.

This combined party in a bowl then attended a family party and was introduced to a plate, a fork, and four hungry mouths!  The family party goers all agreed that this was a keen quinoa party worth repeating!

Oh yes.....all the quinoa party guests apologize that the quinoa was gobbled up before the paparazzi could get through security and start snapping pictures of that completed keen quinoa party in a bowl.  But, if you are not familiar with the star, quinoa, you can go here to learn more & see what it looks like!

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This particular party guest will be partying on and linking up here:

Don't forget to get Tickled Pink with Holly at 504 Main!!

'Mater Moment

Our garden is growing with gusto and Hubby & I enjoyed the first tomato of the season, off the organic vine. 

Our sweet boy got so excited when he saw the first tomato turn red, that he promptly picked it....probably a couple of days early.  No worries, it ripened up the rest of the way on the counter.  Hubby sliced it up, passed around the sweetest tasters for all of us to try, and then made us BLTs for lunch with the rest of it.  Would you believe that was my very first BLT?!

Here's another question for you, what kind of tomato is this?!  We have no idea.  Its shaped like a heart, super red, sweet, and this one is almost, but not quite, the size of a tennis ball.  The vine is between four and five feet tall (its hard to tell because after it grew out the top of the tomato cage, it started following along the low 'fence' we have around the garden to keep the cats & critters out of it).  Whatever it is, its delish and producing like crazy.  Now, we're just waiting for more to turn red!

Oh yea....as spoiled as I am to be able to go outside to take pics most of the time, there is one challenging aspect...our kitty cat, Bonnie.  Bonnie, meet Tomato.  I'm sure she was mighty disappointed that what I had brought out was a treat for us and not her!

Does anyone have a tasty tomato recipe they want to share?  Please do!  It looks like we're going to have quite a bit this summer to slice, dice, and taste. :>

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If you were coming here, looking for something creative....say, that composition book that I said I started (in my last post)?!  It will be going up on Tuesday or Wednesday, so please do come back.  I think its coming out pretty cute! :>

{Smile} Worthy Garden Delights, Movie Madness & Friends!

My Grown Up Card is back in my possession again!  It had been a very long time since I have had the opportunity to get away, overnight, without any responsibilities or worry.  It felt like I was taking a deep cleansing breath.  And now, I'm happily home with hugs for my Hubby & kidlets!

Would you like to hear a few highlights from the weekend??

Just before I was ready to leave, Hubby mentioned that there were two huge zucchinis that he was going to harvest & cook with dinner from  himself & the kidlets that night.

Since I wasn't going to be home for dinner, I wanted to take a pic of our first zucchini harvest. I grabbed an 8" pretty yellow plate from Sur La Table that I was sure would be the perfect piece to hold them for the photo.  My mouth dropped open when each kidlet came running up to the backdoor with a huge zucchini....both longer than 8"!  Oh well....the plate was pretty & it definitely demonstrates how big those zucchinis were. 

Hubby cubed them up & cooked them with our favorite gluten/casein/soy/nitrite/nitrate/msg/preservative/antibiotic free Polska Kielbasa and added them both to Tinkyada brown rice pasta spirals for a delish meal that he & both kidlets gobbled up!

Let's zip to off to my playdate, so to speak, shall we?

Jenn & I met up with three other women for dinner (Fuzio...new to me) & drinks (I had the Watermelon Itch).  After lots of chatting and laughter, we walked to the theater to see Eclipse and yes, I enjoyed it.  Though, I don't think it had the same effect on me as it did the group of teenage girls that were gushing, "Oh My God!!  That was the best movie EVER!!!"  {Insert chuckle here.}

After the movie, Jenn & I headed back to her place for what else?!  More chatter, of course! :>  And then, we took the concept of a movie night quite literally.  While talking, I mentioned that I still had not seen Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.  So, guess what Jenn pulls out?!  Yup!  We then proceeded to watch the Alice Blue-Ray on her 52" TV (my tv has TV envy, for sure!)...it was gorgeous....like watching it in the theater, up close & personal.  All those vibrant saturated colors.....SWOON!!!

Speaking of colors, the next morning Jenn made a veggie pasta salad for a BBQ she was going to that evening and I loved the bright vibrant colors so much, I just had to take its picture!!  (I think I still had those great green zucchs on my mind!)  It had tri-color pasta, zucchini, crooked neck squash, mini bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, and fresh spinach in it.  Doesn't that look delish?!

Whenever I am out driving, I am always amazed at how quickly I move from small town, to big city, to gorgeous country.  While I was driving out on Saturday, the tractors were out cutting this field of hay and on the way back the hay bales made me smile.

What has made You smile today?

Celebrating {Life} & Independence Day

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Wishing all of my friends in the United States a very

Happy 4th of July!

Guess what greeted Hubby when he was checking on our veggie garden last night?!  This beautiful and scrumptious organic crooked neck squash literally popped off when he moved a large leaf to see what might be growing!  We were already roasting some organic zucchini (purchased, as our zucchini are still growing), so we added this beauty!  You can't get more Garden to Table than that!!

{Life} is my One Little Word for 2010 and this beautiful veggie is a product of part of what and why I chose {Life} as my word this year.  The whole family has been in on this veggie garden, from planting it, to tending & watering it, to now harvesting & eating from it.  We are growing life, living life, and personally, loving the life that this small garden is bringing into our lives as a family.

Hubby will be barbequeing later today and even later, we will pull the telescope out to stargaze and watch some of the high fireworks set off for the show at the high school from our backyard.  What fun have you been having this weekend?  And if this is your holiday too, what does it hold for you?

One Little Word Update

When I chose my One Little Word for 2010, I chose {Life}, and while there were many reasons to choose that word, one particular reason swayed me. Before our daughter arrived a few years ago, we had our veggie garden and loved it! We loved planting it as a family, watering it, checking on it, picking from it, and cooking with what we grew.....all as a family. Once we had our wee girl, we didn't replant. And I have missed it....a lot.

So, to remedy that, my wee girl (who loves her fruits and veggies so much that we often have to bribe her with a veggie to get her to eat the main course on her plate) and I have been bringing home 2 1/2" organic starter plants the last couple weeks.

And now, tomatoes, chives, and parsley are in the ground, in planters on the deck, and in an old antique wash basin. Sharing those homes are a few other herbs & veggies, including:

Sage

Yellow Bell Pepper
(that was a wee bit chewed up by the time it got into the ground
...not sure that it happened before or after it arrived home)

Red Bell Pepper



And our boy's sweet strawberry plant! Can you believe it was only a couple of leaves big when he brought it home in his backpack from a local Ag Fair??!!

And since I took these pics, zucchini, rosemary, Japanese eggplant, peppermint, crooked neck yellow squash, and artichoke organic 2 1/2" starter plants have followed my wee girl and I home and are waiting to stretch their roots out in some deeper soil!

We are all having a lot of fun and enjoying having a veggie garden again.....or in the case of our wee girl, for the first time. It feels good to plant {life}, help it grow, eventually harvest it, and bring it into our kitchen to better our lives!

What's growing in your garden this season?

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Oh yes....one last thing, my wee girl, our Princess, came running up to me the other day with excited words spilling out of her wee mouth, "Look Mom!! I spelled 'Disney'!!!"


When I told her what it really spelled, she was tickled and proceeded to write 'Princess' on every single thing she could get her hands on! That was one great big little thing that made me Smile!!