I saw mention of Victory Gardens in a post on a website I frequent. It sounded familiar but I generally paid more attention to the boys in school then to my history teacher’s ramblings. So after a quick Wiki check it seems that good ol’ Uncle Same encouraged people during WWI and II to grow their own fruits, vegetables and herbs to reduce the stress on the public food supply. (I do remember learning about food rations) Everyone from New York City apartment dwellers to Iowa homesteads got into the act.

As we get further and further into a recession why not think about planting your own “Victory Garden”? Victory over rising food costs, victory over large growing corporations, victory over unhealthy pesticides.

If you have room enough for a pot then you have room enough to grow a vegetable or few herbs. 4 tomato plants will produce more than enough tomatoes for your family and your friends.

I have a very small raised garden with tomatoes, squash, lettuce, cucumbers and bell peppers. I bought 4 tomato plants for less than $5 and am filling my freezer with enough to last me all year long!

My deck and my window sills are full of herbs. They are beautiful, grow like weeds and smell like heaven! I harvest my basil on a daily basis and it just keeps growing.

Use all sorts of herbs in your flower beds. Lettuce can make a beautiful addition to your borders or potted arrangements.

Have you seen the price for a couple of sprigs of fresh herbs in the grocery store?? Walk past them – go over their garden center and pick up a potted herb. It’s not only cheaper, it’s much more convenient. You pick what you need and it keeps growing back. It doesn’t go bad sitting in your refrigerator. No – It just gets healthier and produces even more! It’s a no brainer folks.

Find some space and grow something. As a matter of fact grow a whole lot of something! Once you’ve got all you can use, sell your surplus to a local restaurant (or a personal chef) and use that money to buy someone else’s surplus from their Victory Garden. Or better yet barter your tomatoes for their corn. It’s a win-win. You get the thrill of watching your seeds take root and produce fruit, you get to eat healthier and much more delicious vegetable then are available at the grocery store and you get to save money!

This weekend was busy with band business as opposed to food business. The Cass County Lamenters were asked to perform at El Dorado Springs, Missouri’s 127th founders day celebration.

Never heard of El Dorado Springs? That’s OK, I hadn’t either, so I’ll share with you what I now know. El Dorado Springs was founded in 1981 on a natural spring that was said to have healing properties. It was quite the hot spot a hundred years ago as people traveled from all over the country to drink the mineral laden water. It’s now a town of about 4000 located on the border of the Missouri Ozarks and the Kansas Prairie. It’s charming middle America at it’s best and at least the night we were there, gave us the feeling of stepping back into our childhood.
The city puts on a three day founders festival every year and it’s quite the shindig.

The community band which never practices but site reads it’s music is emceed by 97 year old part-time promoter/ full-time beautician Lillian Sunderwirth

While this weekend wasn’t about food, that’s not to say there wasn’t plenty of food to be had! As a matter of fact I think I’ve discovered the new food pyramid!

Corn dogs are healthy right? I mean “corn” is a veggie.

And for a religious experience how about some Tornado Taters and the Almighty!

We walked around a bit in the 90+ heat, turned down the man passing out “free New Testaments” and found our way to a blissfully air conditioned corner bar. We hid from the oppressive heat until time for our show. I didn’t get any pictures except this one from my phone but you can see it was a very rowdy crowd,

We shared the stage with “The Great Rondalo” and “Duke Mason”

It was dark when we left the stage and cool enough to venture around again so Toast, Kaite and I left the boys behind to explore the carnival. We managed to ride the Ferris Wheel but were RUDELY kicked off of the Merry-Go-Round. I guess the blue chicken is reserved for cute little girls with pigtails.

We had to leave around 11:30 to make the two hour trip back home. I would have liked to have stayed longer but Troy had two more shows with two different bands on Saturday. A weekend full of music, carnivals and corndogs! You can’t beat that.

or something like that. I thought in the interest of full disclosure I should post a picture of what was supposed to be dinner tonight. I was poaching chicken breasts for a pesto chicken pasta dinner but got forgot about them on the stove.  Looks like take-out pizza is now on the menu!

Bon Appetite?

This week is a blissfully slow one for me so I’m using the extra time to try recipes and get caught up on my paperwork. I am booked every day next week. My garden is very lush and green but the vegetables aren’t ripe yet. I should be able to start harvesting in the next few days. In the meantime my mom sent me home with some great looking zucchini. I love zucchini but was really in the mood for something sweet. Solution? Zucchini Bread! If you’ve never had it, I know your turning your nose up at me right now, but this stuff is so sweet( yes there’s a lot of sugar) and moist you’d never know you were eating your veggies. I took a basic recipe and tried to make it a little healthier, It turned out marvelous! I wish you could smell my house right now, the scents of cinnamon and baked goodness are drifting in the air. mmmm….
This bread is a great way to use up all that zucchini your neighbors give you over the summer and it freezes wonderfully for later!

Zucchini Bread
1 and 1/2 cups white flour
1 and 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 cup egg substitute (or three eggs)
1/2 vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce (if don’t have use 1 cup of oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons of cinnamon
3 teaspoons of vanilla
3 cups grated zucchini
I added 1/2 cup of flax seed but you could add walnuts or leave them out completely
1.Sift together dry ingredients in one bowl
2. In another bowl beat eggs, applesauce, oil, sugar and vanilla
3. Mix dry ingredients into the wet ones until mixed well
4 Stir in grated zucchini
5. Pour mixture into greased bread pans and bake at 325. (fill about 3/4ths full)
My regular sized bread bans baked in about 45 mins. my mini loaves took only about 25 mins. Insert toothpick to test for doneness. If your toothpick comes out clean they’re done.

My mom called to tell me that she had an abundance of blackberries out at her place if I wanted to stop by and pick some. YUM!!  I got up bright and early to make the short trek out to the country.  She’s got a beautiful place (Troy and I were married there) and it was a gorgeous morning for being outdoors.

I am a blackberry picking virgin so when I showed up in shorts and a tank top, carrying a small bag, my mom just shook her head and told me to wait there. She came back out with long sleeve flannel shirt and a bucket. “You’ll need these”.  I did.

The berries were plump and ripe. They practically burst when went to pick them. Each cluster of berries is fiercely protected by a branch covered in tiny thorns. The prickly thorns grabbed and tore at my old flannel shirt. Although they scratched and pulled on my worn cotton sleeves, my arms, for the most part remained unscathed - Thanks mom.  My fingers on the other hand received their share of pricks. Since they were  stained red and purple with juices from the berries,  I’m not sure if they bled. It’s probably better that way.

I stood out there in the row of bushes, listening to the swallows and the buzz of various insects and thought of many parables. I felt like Solomon as I pondered on the lessons that picking blackberries can teach us. Of course now that I’m back home they have all escaped me, something about the sweetest berries being hidden in the deepest, thorniest parts of the bushes and how you have to reach through, knowing you will probably get pretty scratched up but the reward being worth it. Yes, country air turns me into a philosopher.

After I had collected a bucket full. I went back up to the house to sit on the porch with my mom and step-dad. They were reading the paper and enjoying the cool summer morning.  I sat and looked out over the countryside trying to soak it all in before I left.  There is a garden on the hill by the porch, and I was fascinated by a small humming bird feeding on the nectar from the orange trumpet flowers. I’d never seen one before. I grabbed my phone to take a picture, but my mom said not bother that it would never stay around long enough. This time she was wrong. it not only stayed but as I crouched down to snap a photo. It came over to me  and started curiously buzzing around my head. It was magical. I got a great pic that makes the little guy look like regular sized bird, but in actuality he was barely the size of my thumb!

What a perfect morning! Now I’m off to search Blackberry recipes. I’m thinking cobbler.

Oh my Gosh what a whirl wind these last few weeks have been!  At the end of June I finished all my classes at the Culinary Business Academy and passed the required tests. I am now a member of the United States Personal Chef Association which has been an incredible help with the start of this journey. In July I obtained all the required business licenses for my new business and started getting the word out.  I haven’t spent a dime in “real” advertising yet, just newsletters and press releases but that got me busy and quick!

It truly has been trial by fire but so far everything has worked out great. I’m getting to meet some wonderful people. The best part about this business is that I feel like I’m finely doing something that actually matters. Last week I got the privilege to provide meals for a women who just came through a double mastectomy. She won’t be able to lift her arms for a few weeks so her friends got together and purchased my services.  I felt so blessed. Yesterday I was hired by a client who reminded me so much of my oldest son. He had to be in his mid-twenties and was raising his two year old boy as a single dad.  My heart went out to him. I wished I could have cooked for all of these clients for free, but I am keeping my prices as low as I possibly can.  I just love having a job that doesn’t require me sitting behind a desk, stressing over decisions that really don’t matter a hill of beans in the scheme of life.

Best of all, I am home so much more now. My boys are growing up fast and I am once again so blessed to be able to enjoy spending time with them this summer. They are also my guinea pigs for testing all my new recipes!

I”m going to try to get back into the blogging routine. Actually I’m trying to get in a routine- period. It’s a little overwhelming but I’m sure any new job is. I just need to remember why I am doing it.  Come to think of it, I really need to write my online friend Bill a letter of gratitude. He is the most wonderful man who’s blog The Dying Mans Journal really got me thinking. I knew I was killing myself with my corporate job, it was literally making me sick. His posts made me realize that no one is guaranteed a long life and that we should never take it for granted. I started dreaming about what I really wanted and putting my priorities in order.  God gave me a passion for cooking and for people so why was I killing myself at a job I hated, managing projects that I didn’t give a flying fig about….all they were doing was working me into an early grave - So thank you dear Bill for your wisdom and inspiration.  You are a true earth angel!!!

Of all the lessons I’m learning in this crazy magical time one of the most important is breathe - just breathe!

I know this blog is supposed to be about food and my journey from the corporate world into the culinary one, but so far I’m just taking things slow and basking in the peace of being home for the first time in what seems like forever. I’m not planning on working full-time until we get back from vacation the first week in June. So for now I am trying out new recipes, playing in my garden and finishing the odd projects around the house that have been hanging around for years.

The sun is shinning, everything is green and my seeds have sprouted. LIFE IS GOOD

Thought I’d share a few pictures I took this morning.

My lettuce is coming up

My herbs are begining to flourish

My bleeding hearts are blooming

And my garden gnome is smiling

It doesn’t get much better than this!

I got this off Spyder’s blog and couldn’t resist. It is the most important meal of the day after all!

You Are Granola

You are creative and inventive. You don’t do much the ordinary or normal way.You like to explore new ideas and lifestyles. Something isn’t for you just because other people do it. Quick breakfast fixes are definitely not your style. You’re the type most likely to cook yourself an amazing homemade breakfast.

…Ok it was the furthest thing from a chapel, but I did attend a wonderful wedding this weekend. It was held in beautiful loft with hardwood floors, exposed brick walls and a fabulous view of the city. Not your typical couple, not your typical wedding. The groom wore jeans and cowboy boots and the gorgeous bride wore a vintage beaded strapless dress that showed off her tattooed arms. There were aluminum buckets filled with PBR and a table set up with large bottles of Jim Beam and cans of coke. This was my kind of wedding!

We were blessed to be able to a part of this event. Our band, Cass County Lamenters got to play for the reception. It was so much fun. We specialize in sad old cry in your beer type country music and the crowd both young and old seemed to appreciate it. Many were singing along or taking a twirl on the dance floor. It was probably the best time I’ve had singing.

On top of getting our songs ready the bride offered me the opportunity to help cater. She had most of it catered but at the last minute (Thursday ) was worried she did have enough food. She asked me to provide some veggie trays, bread/dip bowls and chicken skewers) It was a little daunting but I did it! I decided to make Vegetable bouquets that thanks to help from my Sous chef (Hubby) turned out beautiful, I also made bread bowl and spinach dip. I made the loaves myself. The chicken skewers took the longest. I marinaded 12 lbs of chicken in a rosemary marinade and then grilled them on my tiny little Foreman grill. It took a while but they turned out great and I served them with a 3 citrus aoili. YUM!
With lots of prayer and a little planning,everything turned out fabulous. I got see some old friends and meet new ones. Everyone had a terrific time. Every wedding should be so fun!

Some Pics!
Veggie bouquet and view of Kansas City

Bread Bowls

The wiskey table

Cass county Lamenters

Did I mention hardwood floors?
My feet at 4pm

My feet at Midnight

My buddy Toast  (who got it from Average Jane) asked for readers to post their ugliest and/or tackiest home decor items. If ever there were a post was made for me, this would be it. I spend almost every weekend scouring thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales searching for treasures. I’m attracted to to colorful whimsical odd characters (just look at my husband) and I love to fill my home with them.

BTW - My obsession had moved to the outside too. I love my garden gnomes and strange garden creatures. I cried when I went to move my  Donkey Planter I got on a trip to Matamoros and it crumbled in my hands.

I excitedly went to grab my camera and start shooting, and after three pictures the darned thing let me know it was out of batteries. So these may not be the ugliest as I didn’t get to photograph my vintage Harlequin lamp, or my flamingo pictures, or my picture of a of a young women with extremely large feet drinking from a coconut…but these will give a taste of my tacky decor.

I’ve never met a chicken I didn’t like. My Kitchen window is full of them and in the midst of the group of colorful poultry sits a happy little pink pig teapot.

I had to beg the thrift store girl to climb up on a ladder and sell me this guy. She refused telling me that the stuff up on the top the shelf was to ugly to sell and wasn’t even priced. It took two trips but I finally convinced her.

Awww my coveted fish lamp. It came with a house my mom lived in for a while. I begged for years to obtain it and finally last Christmas it was wrapped and under my tree.

But by far the absolute ugliest/wierdest thing I have in my house would be Mr. Chickenwig. No, that’s not mispelled, my equally odd husband named him…but I must agree it’s fitting name.

So lets see it. Post of picture of the the oddest/tackiest decor in your home!