Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category

Back in, probably February, Dan planted mesclun mix seeds in a terra-cotta planter on the back steps. I had told him they would last all summer, but I neglected to specify that he should sprinkle a pinch of seeds each week for the summer. So he planted the whole seed packet all at once.

April 25

This is from last week, so it’s a little smaller now, but we definitely need to eat more of this. I also added a couple of parsley plants in there. It couldn’t be easier to grow – just sprinkle the seeds on and keep it watered.

May 15

I visited Turkey with my mom, my aunt Betty and Uncle Ray, and some friends of theirs, in May 2001. While there, we took a tour of Ephesus, an ancient Greek and Roman city that, in Roman times, was the second-largest city in the world, after Rome.

The tour guide told us that these symbols – a heart, a woman’s face, and a footprint – carved into the street, pointed the way to the town brothel. One’s foot had to be at least as large as the footprint in order to be admitted to the brothel. More Turkey pix are here: Turkey 2001

This is my entry in the Photo Friday Challenge. This week’s theme is Symbols.

Last weekend, I was planting marigolds in the veggie garden, for some color and to help keep pests away, and this plant had to go – it was right where I needed to put a marigold in order to get the symmetry I like in my garden

I thought it was an onion, but when I pulled it out, I saw it was a head of garlic – and a good-sized one, too.

That reminded me that in the kitchen, I had a head of garlic with sprouts on the cloves, so I got that, separated the cloves, and planted them in the garden, so this fall, we’ll have more homegrown garlic. For the record, I planted them between the pepper plants (so I can find them again).

I’m entering this recipe in a contest the Virginian-Pilot, our local newspaper is having – they’re looking for recipes that use fresh, tasty strawberries, since they’re in season now.

Last year, I visited my sister and her family in Temecula, Calif., and we went to The Temecula Olive Oil Company for an olive-oil tasting. They also had flavored balsamic vinegars for tasting, and as soon as I tried this fig-vanilla balsamic, I knew I had to have some.

After we got back home, I made up this recipe, and it’s wonderful, if I do say so myself. My mint is bursting out now, too, so it’s definitely time to make it again.

Fruit Salad with Fig-Vanilla Balsamic Vinaigrette
Serves 2

1/2 cup hulled and quartered strawberries
1/2 cup diced cantaloupe
4 California Mission figs, sliced
1/2 cup diced feta cheese
1 tbsp. fig-vanilla balsamic vinegar, or regular balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. fruity extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. chopped fresh mint, plus 2 sprigs for garnish
3 cups chopped or torn romaine lettuce

Combine fruit and cheese in a medium bowl. Place vinegar in a small bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Whisking constantly, drizzle EVOO into the bowl. Stir mint into dressing. Pour the dressing over the fruit and cheese and let stand 10 minutes. Divide romaine between two salad plates and serve fruit and cheese mixture over romaine. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

This cool box turtle appears to be a resident in our yard. Dan found him on the patio and his shell was all dirty – they burrow into the dirt for the winter. So Dan sprayed him off with the hose (“Hey, it’s raining! Hey, it stopped!”) and we admired his beautiful shell. I hope he decides to stay. We have plenty of bugs for him to feed on.

The lettuce is in very good form this year: romaine, red leaf and butter lettuces are giving us way more than we can eat. I gave Mom a big gallon-size bag of it to take home last weekend. And we have baby peas! There are also some beans in the top right and green onions behind the peas.

We can really get a lot of food in a relatively small square garden. We won’t be buying salad greens for another month, and we had frozen peas from last year’s garden till February.

Mixed lettuces and peas

Baby peas and chives