Spring

I almost feel guilty sharing these pictures because I know a lot of the country is still knee-deep in winter, but it's been spring here for some time and now all the flowers are blooming!

My favorite blooming tree, our peach--which oddly enough has magenta flowers--isn't blooming yet. We pruned it pretty severely this winter so it's to be expected. This is the apricot.

These are grape hyacinths, taken five minutes before tiny toddler picked them all for me. ; )

So what is happening where you live? Spring? Winter?

Don't forget, there's still time to enter a drawing for one of two gorgeous pendants!

What's blooming?

I am a writer but one of my other passions is gardening and cooking. So I thought why not indulge myself a bit? So I'm going to try to post something about either of those subjects each Friday. This are one of my favorite spring-time flowers. Here in zone 9, ranunculus bloom in April and May. This is one of those lovely, generous plants that bloom the more you cut! And as most of you know, I love cut flowers. I don't remember the exact type of flower this is but I love the vivid color. They glow in the sunlight. Ranunculus bloom in a wide range of colors though so take your pick! They grow from a bulb-no seeds-and will eventually spread. I have a cluster of them planted with my purple anemones. (I know my husband took a picture of them, but it's past time for the anemones already) Trust me, it's a gorgeous display. These are planted with pale purple creeping thyme.

A little competition is good for the soul

Ok... last night, when I couldn't sleep, I had the perfect title for this section. Of course now I can't remember what it was.

Besides writing, I love to play in the garden or kitchen. My husband is as enthusiastic about food as I am. Not just eating it, but cooking as well. He was like a kid at Christmas when our Pampered Chef order came in. Gardening... not so much.

Back on subject.

So, on Mondays, I decided to torture share with you a few of my adventures in the garden or as I experiment with food.

This weekend I got to play with a lot of oil! Really hot oil. I don't usually deep fry. It's messy and I hate pouring a bottle of oil into a pot. It just seems like so...much. But my husband and I were talking about what to make for dinner and he mentioned he was in the mood for hamburgers. I usually jump at anything that has to be cooked outdoors so I agreed. Then he innocently asked if I'd ever made onion rings. I hadn't. So, as he knew it would, I was challenged.

After searching through recipes on the Internet, I have now made onion rings!

What do you think? Of course that was only part of the meal. While I fried bacon, and cut veggies (all fresh from the local state college...and oh so good.) he added spices and such to the hamburger meat, threw the patties on the BBQ and Voila!

I know, not much on presentation but Oh. My. Gosh. I swear my husband put magic in those patties. So, so good.

After dinner, as we sat on the couch, unable to move, my hubby turns to me and says do we have anything sweet in the house? I mention brownies. He says, nah, that'll take too long. So I bet him I could make brownies in 30 minutes. Of course he took me up on that bet. (We're a little competitive) Besides. I won.

Chocolate, chocolate chip brownie with walnuts. Also not the best plating, but hey, I was under a deadline. After he ate his brownie and downed a glass of milk, I asked him if he knew how long it took brownies to bake. He didn't and was surprised when I told him. (25-27 minutes) See, I have a little magic of my own.

What did you last cook/bake that really excited you?