I am not the biggest fan of Valentine’s Day. It could be the years of working for one of the companies that made it up. It could be that I despise all commercialism. Or it could be that I don’t need an excuse to tell my sweetie I love him. Whatever it is, we don’t do Valentine’s in this house.
So when some good friends asked us to join them for dinner on Valentine’s Day (at one of Tacoma’s most expensive restaurants) it wasn’t just the price that made me say no. Instead we elected to invite their whole family to our house for a nice dinner (and a just a little kitsch).
For the meal I served:
Avocado Seafood Cocktail with Chipotle Adobo Dressing
Cabbage Slaw with Orange and Pumpkin Seed Dressing
Black Pepper Honey Steak
Melting Greens
All of the recipes were out of the Splendid Table cookbook and I settled on them because of their (somewhat) seasonal nature. Granted, the seafood cocktail did include grape tomatoes and bibb lettuce (avocados are never in season here) and Cabbage isn’t 100% in season, but close enough.
Just the thought of spending a nice evening with good friends and sharing a meal is what makes the day special.
Happy Thanksgiving!
We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. At the current moment we have reached our $3000 (gross sales) goal. With about $650 more in sales we could be close to having $3000 in profit! That would men we could almost double what was sent to Baby Home #2 last year (that was $1700).
There are only 2 more days to order truffles and caramels. We will take orders until midnight on November 27th. If you haven’t placed your order yet do so quickly. If you have placed your order thank you very much. The Baby Home is very excited to make the childrens’ Christmas a little extra special.
If you have tried to order and the system won’t complete the payment portion please contact us. We are aware of some problems with being able to complete some credit card transactions. The system is secure it is just an issue with Paypal (we always have at least 1 glitch with them every year). We will make sure you can arrange payment so you can get your order. We don’t want anyone to miss out on the deliciousness.
As always, if your waistline won’t allow candy please consider making a donation to Sweet Hope. There is a donate button on the ordering page of our website. Donations are welcome all year long.
Thank you to everyone for doing your part to spread the word. We can’t do this without you.
In the hustle and bustle of life I completely forgot to let you in on a little side gig that I do. Not that Sprouting Off isn’t yet another side gig, but this one is important.
In 2006 my husband and I sold and made chocolate truffles and caramels to raise money to bring our son home from Russia. After our son was home we were repeatedly asked to make the candy again and we did… and did and did. That one little fundraiser turned into a very large production that consumes the better part of 3 months for me. Which would also explain my significant lack of posting about gardens and garden related topics.
Every year we sell chocolate truffles and caramels and we give the money away. We’ve given it to other families adopting children and last year we gave it away to our son’s former orphanage. This year we are doing the same thing. Only this year, we are making more varieties of truffles and caramels in the hopes of sending even more money.
Check out the website for Sweet Hope. It explains the whole story much better than I can throw together in one blog post. If you go to the ordering page (since you are going to order, right?) and click on the photos of the candy, they get bigger. I hold no responsibility for any drool that may end up on your computer screen, desk or keyboard.
100% of the profits from the sale of Sweet Hope candy goes directly to Baby Home #2 in Khabarovsk, Russia. The candy comes gift boxed and makes great Christmas gifts. All orders ship on December 16th, just in time for Christmas. You (or your loved ones) get candy, and a child gets a Christmas.
When I became a parent I was very excited to enter the world of mommyhood. Children mean built-in friendships don’t they? I was dismayed to find the world of moms often catty and unappealing. I am a very shy person by nature. However, my family would argue that point to the death. The truth, is I’m resistant to change and meeting new people qualifies as change. Every time we are asked over for a play date I fret. Will I open my mouth and make a fool of myself? What if my child behaves badly or has one of his signature meltdowns. Small stuff, but fret nonetheless. You would think that with over 2 years of preschool under my belt that I would fret less. Not so much.
This afternoon we attended a playdate at a preschool classmate’s home. We’ve been trying to set this up for weeks, but well… I get distracted by shiny objects and it just hasn’t worked, until today.
I must say I had a lovely time and got to know what I hope will become a new friend. Someone quirky like me (in a good way) and easy to talk to. My son had a wonderful time and behaved himself nicely (despite the one near catastrophe).
Oh wait… this isn’t the mommy blog is it? Darn it. Bet you thought I got confused there for a minute. I’m getting to the point. Keep your pants on.
I mentioned to the other mom about my chocolate “business.” I went to pull out a business card (which I totally left at home) and while I was rummaging in my bag she handed me a business card. It just so happens that this mother owns Trails of Crumbs Bakery. Even better, she writes a blog too. Honestly, what mom doesn’t write a blog these days. I assure you, this is not a mommy blog. It is a blog loaded with recipes and photos of delicious baked goods. Check it out. You can have a little piece of Tacoma delivered right to your door.
What does this have to do with gardening? Nothing. I just like cookies.
We are starting to get creative around here as to what to do with the hoards of tomatoes. Last week I canned 5 quarts of salsa, gave away 5 bags and dried about 2 pounds. I am doing my best to not let anything go to waste.
Since I have a wide variety of types of tomatoes (and none are dedicated “sauce” tomatoes) I thought I would give drying a try. I was lucky enough to receive a food dehydrator from mom a few years ago that comes in handy ever now and again. I pull it out during apple season to make chewy apple chips or banana crisps. I pulled it out a few weeks ago to dry some peppers that were on the verge of going bad.
I did some looking on the internet to make sure that using a food dehydrator for tomatoes would actually work, and sure enough there was plenty of information. In addition I recently purchased “Canning & Preserving Your Own Harvest” by Carla Emery & Lorene Edwards Forker at the suggestion of Willi at Diggin Food. The writers of the book had a great idea on preserving dehydrated tomatoes. It doesn’t even require boiling giant pots of water.
My version is slightly different than the book, but this was a trial run.
Clean all of your tomatoes. Spray the racks of the dehydrator with cooking spray (if you don’t oil the racks you will say bad words later, learned this with apples and bananas). Slice tomatoes in 1/4″ slices and remove the white core part. Place on dehydrator racks without the tomatoes touching. Turn on dehydrator and let go for what seems like eternity (mine went all afternoon and night). 1/2 way through the drying swap the racks. Put the top ones on the bottom and the bottom ones on the top. The tomatoes are done when they feel like leather and are still pliable. Some of mine were a little crispy. Turn off the dehydrator and let them cool. Once the slices are cool put them in a bowl and toss them with a little plain white vinegar. Take them out of the vinegar and pat them dry with paper towels. Allow them to dry completely. Place them in sterile jars and cover with olive oil (I happen to use grapeseed oil since I’m quite allergic to olive oil). Place a lid on and keep them in a cool dark place. Apparently you can keep them for up to a few months. Refrigerate after opening. So simple! They look pretty to boot.
Today my husband and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. By celebrated I mean we took the train to Seattle (or at least part way) and spent the afternoon learning about why my cat pukes. Oddly enough, it isn’t because he hates me. My husband was in charge of today’s activities because he was the one taking the day off of work. I on the other hand thought to plan a lovely date night for us on Friday. I even found a babysitter that I actually paid instead of asking my mom to watch my child.
There were two reasons for planning date night last Friday. First, it was our anniversary. Second, our local cinema was showing Food, inc. If you have never seen this film I highly suggest that you find out where the closest cinema is and see it. It opened in June so there are very few theaters showing it these days. We were lucky in that our local cinema brought it to town.
Now one would think that seeing a film about the industrialization of the American food system is not that uplifting of a date. On the contrary. We walked out feeling that we were actually doing something to make a difference in the way we eat.
In addition to seeing the film we had a lovely dinner at our favorite restaurant, Primo Grill. A place where the chef takes care to find locally sourced ingredients. After dinner we had a little extra time so we stopped by King’s Books for some browsing. However, browsing in a bookstore never means just that. I walked out with a 1950 Gardening Handbook to add to my vintage garden book collection and 3 new and used books on food in America, Organic, inc., Fast Food Nation and Recipe for America.
With all of this hyper-localism and sustainable eating we got to thinking about what we could do to spread the word of why eating local is a good thing. This blog is a good place to start. So is your next meal. You can make a difference, one meal at a time.
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