And now a few After shots to go along with my Grocery Store Flowers post for Apartment Therapy- yellow mums, lilies, alstro, and carnations in a teapot...
Now joined by burgundy mums, alstro, & carnations in a spray-painted gold jar...
And ooooh, in a rare spot of sun!
A few befores&afters to go along with my recent Flower Processing post for Apartment Therapy: spider Mums before & after...
In which I frantically attempt to get things out of the garden & into jars.
The world's most low-key zucchini pickles, a combination of the Zucchini Pickles, Cafe Zuni Style from Poppytalk and Smitten Kitchen's Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw. I didn't have any turmeric, I did not take the time to crush the mustard seeds, I did not use a mandoline, I added black peppercorns and garden jalapeños, I reduced the sugar....and they worked out perfectly. Freestyle.
A certain member of the household hates the word "chutney", so Slate's You're Doing It Wrong: Apple Chutney becomes Apple Voldemort: The Condiment Which Shall Not Be Named. The apples we gathered were a little sub-par, but this stuff was fantastic on Madhur Jaffrey's Shrimp & Onion Pakoras (with zucchini & corn taking the place of shrimp).
I'm currently thousands of miles from my beloved Bar Tartine, so when I needed to dispatch some beets as well as feel a tiny twinge of that ol' marble bar bliss, I made Bar Tartine's Pickled Dilly Beets from HonestlyYUM (except our garden dill had already gone to seed, so these aren't so dilly). Bleeding Heart Martinis are imminent.
How did I ever wake up in the morning before I discovered jalapeño jelly? Toast or a bagel spread with peanut butter, jalapeño jelly, and a sprinkle of sea salt just might be the perfect breakfast. Complex carbohydrates, protein, and enough of a kick to open your eyes and make you excited to be alive. Sadly, I have no idea where I found the recipe. I was intimidated by the inclusion of pectin, but making it was as easy as jalapeño pie.
Finally, for now, we have Mark Bittman's Tomato Jam. I skipped the cinnamon and cloves and used less than 2/3 of the called-for sugar, and judging from tablespoon that I slathered on toast because it didn't happen to fit in the jars, this stuff, as the New York TImes said, exceeds expectations.
Perfect grapefruits from a coworker's family orchard.
The inevitable tangle after a trip home in my bag.
Ah, much better: about-to-be-stewed, with sugar.
The results: recipe from Pure Vegan, plate from Leah, tea from Blue Bottle Coffee SFMOMA. Happy birthday to me!
Echinacea, little bluestem, blue indigo, spirea, & serviceberry, in a pit-fired vase by Nedda Atassi from Gravel & Gold
For Christmas I gave a vase, along with a promise to keep it filled with pretty things. Stay tuned...
Hydrangea, buddleia, blue eryngium, eucalyptus
Hyacinth, sweet peas, and lots of 'em
Hyacinth, eryngium, and thanks if you can help me figure out what type of gentiana that is
Peonies, sweet peas, dahlias
Anemones, allium, blackberries, dusty miller
I must admit: this one might be my favorite since it's as much cream & grey & green as it is pink & purple...
Because sometimes you need some fluuuuuuuuuff...
Double tulips, every type of narcissus you could ever need
"Something white, creamy..."
Peonies, double tulips
Sweetpeas, peonies, fireworks grass, tiny mystery flower
"Something white"
Roses, double tulips, carnations
"Pretty, pink, from one little girl to another"
Tulips, narcissus