Gardens in bloom

My garden.

My garden has finally started to take off. When my complex put in some raised beds I jumped at the chance for some gardening space.

While they became available at the middle of July - which is really late in the growing season - I crossed my fingers and planted anyway.

Some of my neighbors who planted early in the season are now reaping an abundant harvest.

Yellow tomatoes.

One of my neighbors has so many yellow tomatoes this season that he has started giving them away.

I started making gazpacho which eventually turned into tomato and sweet potato soup.

Yellow tomato and sweet potato soup.

I sauteed a shallot with some olive oil and added in a pinch of basil, oregano, black pepper and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.

They I added 5 chopped yellow tomatoes and 1/2 cup of chicken broth.

Everything simmered for about an hour then I added a 1/2 cup of chopped sweet potato and let it simmer for another 20 minutes.

A quick blend with the hand mixer and I had a wonderful creamy tomato soup with just a touch of spice.

It feels nice to be back to blogging!

Savory oatmeal and running step two

I think I need to get a new pair of running shoes.

The heels on both shoes are worn almost all the way down on one side.

The treads are worm completely off the heels.

So, even though I am still at the walk/shuffle stage - I am going to invest in a new pair of running shoes.

To fuel my second step into my 'getting back to running' program I made some savory oatmeal.

Oatmeal topped with pureed sweet potatoes with a dollop of greek yogurt and a sprinkle of slivered almonds.

This combination turned out great. I mixed it all together and finished the whole bowl!

I also had a 1/2 a banana:

I also broke out a gift my sister brought back for me after her trip to Japan.

A ceramic lemon juicer.

I know it is meant for lemons - but it worked pretty well for making fresh squeezed orange juice for one.

An espresso cup size of orange juice and a cappuccino cup size of coffee.

What I am really liking about the 100% Kona coffee? I can make it really strong and it never gets bitter. Definitely my kind of coffee!

Time to go walk/shuffle...

Greens for all

I decided to make asian style collard greens for myself and fish flavored collards for the beasties. 

It all started with the greens - 

Freshly washed greens

I

Remove the tough stem

Leftover sweet potato chopped

I put together the makings for an asian style sauce that included the local honey I picked up at the farm stand, garlic, green onion, ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil (not in picture)

Next, I blanched the greens in boiling water for about 1 minute. The greens got fished out and the sweet potatoes went in for a 10 minute boiling bath.

This morning I realized that the container of kibble had dwindled down to mere crumbs - so since the pet store was not open at 7am - The dogs had a breakfast of brown rice, sauteed halibut and nori. I left the residual fish bits in the pan (nope, that had nothing to do with being completely lazy - really:-) so after the greens were blanched I added a bit of olive oil to the said dirty pan and gave 1/3 of the collards a quick toss and added in some of the cooked sweet potatoes.  

You can see bits of crispy fish on the sweet potato in the background - mmm doggie heaven!

Connor was very excited to get to eating!

After finishing her own bowl - Abby had to come over to make sure Connor had not left any tasty bits behind.

Sorry, Abby, there was not a bit left.

After cleaning out the saute pan, I added a small amount of olive oil and sauteed the rest of the collard greens for about 7 minutes. Then I turned off the heat and added in the sauce mixture. I let this cook till heated through and added in the sweet potatoes.

An extra sprinkle of green onions for good measure. 

I was expecting the collards to be slightly bitter but the honey in the sauce really balanced out any lingering sharpness. The collards turned out almost creamy and with the meaty texture of the sweet potatoes and the occasional bright burst from the ginger - it really turned out to be a wonderful dish.