berniewong.us

Roses, Birds and Peonies

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Bernie

The Roses in the backyard have been spectacular these past few days. Even after a couple of days of rain, the falling petals around the “Martine Guillot” rose add to its charm. I enjoyed this evening in the garden unwinding after a particularly busy day. Two more days and it’s “vacation” time. I am looking forward to sleeping in, a leisurely breakfast or two and maybe even an afternoon tea or dinner party to celebrate the beautiful blossoms in the backyard.

I am certainly looking forward to “catching my breath” this coming weekend and catching up on some reading and tea sipping to get me inspired for the upcoming program on High Tea I will be presenting at The Third Space. It’s going to an afternoon immersed in the ritual of tea. Delicate yet decadent sandwiches and pastries will be prepared to pair with my favorite teas. Participants will not leave hungry and can probably skip supper as a proper “High Tea” ought to be. The other thing I’m looking forward too in the near future, more baby birds in the backyard.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the birds have been busy nesting. In one of the storms, one of the Robin’s nest fell out of a tree and eggs were smashed. Since then, those Robins I discovered today have rebuilt a nest in the same tree but on a less precarious limb. A couple of weeks ago, another Robin nest appeared in the spiral topiary at eye-level. I discovered it as I got ready to give the topiary a Spring clipping. I’ve decided to hold off till after the birds are done. It was interesting to watch the nest under constructions, a lining of mud before the fluffiest layer of grasses were laid down.

The clutch of four eggs still have not hatched. I expect they will any day now. While we’re on the subject, my favorite place on the web to read up and identify about birds is The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The website contains a wealth of information and mystery birds are easily identified using the bird guide. I’ve enjoyed reading up on all the interesting behaviors I might be expecting from the birds in my backyard.

My Japanese Roof Iris bloomed recently and I arranged it in the basin on the porch holding my nest collection from last Fall. The nests were found all around the yard after a particularly windy storm. While placing the Iris in the basin, I notice a couple of the nest were being taken apart. Looks like the birds are recycling as well.

Before the rains started this past weekend, I harvested all the peonies that had opened. I’ve enjoyed their beauty and fragrance indoors each evening. If left on the plant, they would certainly look great in the backyard as in previous years but after a rain, they tend to look bedraggled so why not bring them indoors to enjoy late into the night. This has not a spectacular year in the backyard for Peonies since the plants have been surrounded with dying Dutch Iris foliage that did not even bloom this year due to the erratic weather. The best year so far was in 2011. I also noticed they were blooming earlier that year.

I arranged a few Peonies in bud vases, some with some Queen Anne’s Lace and a few I combined with some Astilbe, Hosta and Pittosporum. It’s certainly been a spectacular display of Peonies indoors this year. While harvesting Pittosporum, I inadvertently caused a commotion in the hedge.

A bird that looked very much like a Mockingbird wearing a dark fuzzy hat began squawking loudly nearby. It seems I had accidentally trespassed on “bird territory”. A closer inspection revealed a beautiful nest with a clutch of 3 beautiful blue eggs in the hedge. I have since figured out that this is a Gray Catbird.

Remember the Mourning Doves nesting in the honeysuckle I mentioned earlier? In the last few days, they have turned into fledglings. They even flew into the greenhouse one afternoon and trapped themselves in a corner. It was great “fun” coaxing them back out. Pictured are the two chicks and one of the dove parents still sitting in the nest from a few days ago. I noticed this afternoon that one of the dove parents is back sitting in the nest by itslef, maybe a new brood is on the way. I hope I catch a glimpse of the eggs.

That’s all for the “bird report” for now. There is definitely more to come as I stumble upon more nests while I tend to the garden. Thanks for visiting and we hope you stay tuned. Don’t forget to visit The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Bird Guide for all the fun facts about birds.

Posted in nesting birds, Peonies | Leave a comment

Farmers Fresh Highlights

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Bernie

It’s been a yummy time at Farmers Fresh while Sebastienne and Maria are making great progress on their beautiful house. After cooking six days in a row, I have Sunday off to catch up important things like blogging, laundry and relaxation and then it’s back for three more days before a much-needed “vacation”. As the weather has warmed, more crops that we haven’t had since last year are starting to come in. The sugar-snap and snow peas have been wonderful, I like to prepare them lightly cooked with a drizzle of sesame oil. Sweet, crunchy and fragrant. Pictured after snow peas: Interesting rind on blue cheese(“Georgia Blues” from Flat Creek), spinach salad with blue cheese and empanadas filled with sausage.
IMG_6205_resize

A popular dish at Farmers Fresh is noodles, both rice and wheat. I’ve made several variations of it in the last couple of weeks, usually tossed with Braggs sauce, toasted sesame oil and seasonal vegetables. My favorite dishes accompanying the rice noodles recently: Grass-fed Beef sirloin stir-fried with shiitake, Vegetable curry, Wild Atlantic shrimp curry and Ground grass-fed beef with Portobello mushrooms.

For the “meat and potatoes” crowd, I carved up a Pine St. Market smoked ham and made mashed potatoes with mixed herbs one day. Various versions of roasted zucchini and yellow crook-neck squash with herbs have also been a hit. Salad off course are a daily offering, my favorite one so far: lettuce, sunflower sprouts, toasted pecans and Capra Gia Feta dressed with a mustard-herb vinaigrette.

The local hens have been laying and laying. We’ve been getting almost daily delivery of the best eggs and I’ve been showcasing them in various dishes. Deviled eggs and egg salad were a fun offering on Friday but everybody’s favorite egg based dish is Quiche.

I start with a simple crust made with the great butter we get from Southern Swiss Dairy or Sparkmans. The crust gets “blind baked” before filling with whatever looks good on that particular day. Usually a combination of roasted or sautéed vegetables, cheese or meat. After the fillings are arranged, I pour over a simple custard of eggs, cream and seasonings of herbs or spices that compliment the fillings.

The quiche fillings we’ve had so far: 1.Sauteed summer squash with spring onions, goat cheese or havarti. 2.Bacon and cheese with roasted tomatoes and basil and havarti or bacon 3. Roasted Portobello mushrooms, Swiss chard, sweet onions, Dill-Havarti and thyme.
I’ve also cranked out a few soups on rainy days, my favorite one was kale and potato with Italian sausage. The only thing missing from our line-up lately has been the customer favorites of chicken potpie and chicken and dumplings. There is a lull in the supply of pastured chickens so hopefully when we get more, it will be back to normal again.

And lets not forget desserts. Great eggs means wonderful desserts as well. Cupcakes have been a customer favorite. My favorite one has been lemon-yogurt cake frosted with lavender whipped cream, lemon curd(beautifully colored from the local eggs), fresh Georgia blueberries and violas from my garden.

I also tried a couple batches of madeleines which were quite well received. I’ll definitely be making those again. Strawberries have also come into season and I’ve started offering the “favorites” from last year. Strawberry pop tarts, cupcakes and shortbread tartlets filled with cranberry goat cheese and topped with fresh berries.

It’s certainly been fun cooking with fresh local ingredients, working with happy folks and seeing the faces of happy customers enjoying their lunches at the store or taking their food to go. The “icing on the cake” this week was sitting down to a nice lunch at our counter at work made from reclaimed wood and the old columns from our house by Rob, getting a birthday gift as I was leaving work and coming home to a freshly rain-watered garden to pick a nice bouquet of peonies and Queen Anne’s lace.

Posted in Cooking with local ingredients | Leave a comment

Celebration

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Bernie

A beautiful week of flowers and great weather so far. I’m almost halfway through my “cooking everyday” schedule at Farmers Fresh while Sebastienne and Maria’s lovely home is coming together nicely. It’s been a fun week and I’ve been especially appreciative of the longer days, since it has me given extra daylight to spend in the garden after work. May is a wonderful month to be in the garden, many things coming into bloom along with the lovely weather. I’ve been harvesting peonies and roses galore and will give a full report in an upcoming post. For now, a few pictures from last week of the Clematis that is just about done blooming today and the last update on birthday festivities.
IMG_5582_resize
This year, I’ve enjoyed small celebrations here and there with all the busy schedules. A couple of Saturdays ago, it was a little impromptu “wine hour” with Paul and friends. Paul brought over a delicious bottle of wine and I set out nuts, cheese and crackers. Michael brought over a nice gouda and I had a nice piece of Humbolt Fog I got while in Atlanta.

We had a lovely time, ending with a pot of green tea and some chocolate Micheal brought over served in the Belgian chocolate box from Jane. The following Sunday, an early morning trip with Jane and Stacy to Peachtree City for a Thai Lunch and Serenbe which instead turned into our excursion to Dunaway Gardens. I’ve been enjoying the British Country Living recipe compilation and NewTree chocolate we picked up that afternoon as well.

One of my “birthday traditions” each May is a trip or two to the garden center for a few favorite plants. I picked up a few variegated New Guinea Impatiens and Wave Petunias one day last week with my birthday discount coupon at Ace Hardware. As the peonies have been coming into bloom, I’ve been harvesting them to enjoy indoors before. My “birthday harvest” was a lovely bunch of single peonies along with the last few Lily of the Valley and blue hosta.

The house filled with flowers, I pulled together an impromptu afternoon tea on Tuesday before my birthday. I tried out a new brownie recipe and made a batch of green tea madeleines which inspired me to invite folks over. This brownie recipe from Alice Medrich is definitely a keeper.

This is my first time making Green Tea Madeleines since my “experiment” and am happy to report that I was able to repeat it with good results.

For afternoon tea, the simplest treats I could pull together on short notice. I made a minted egg salad with hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, and fresh mint from the garden. A dollop of mustard added some tang to the sandwich and a little coating of backyard parsley on one side was a refreshing touch to the delicate tea sandwiches.

It was a beautiful afternoon, cool and sunny. We even enjoyed a little stroll in the garden.

I made my favorite Savoy Scones with currants and served them with homemade kiwi jam and a jar of Devon cream I got at Christmas.

Sugar bowls filled with my favorite rough-cut cubes, table set with my favorite patterns, it was a most wonderful afternoon. I made a special blend of a few of my favorite teas for the occasion.

Inspired by the “Mammoth Pecans”, I made a simple salad with local spinach, julienne of jicama, avocado and a few violas from the garden. I dressed the salad simply with a drizzle of olive oil, lemon juice and white balsamic vinegar before topping it with a few toasted pecans.

A small wheel of my favorite Green Hill cheese from Sweet Grass Dairy and a jar of homemade pickled okra complimented the tea nicely.

It was a delightful afternoon shared with the company of good friends. The perfect “last hurrah” before going back to work the next day. After tea, I enjoyed a nice evening in the garden, taking in the lovely Spring weather.

The English Dogwoods have been blooming non-stop since the day of our tea, what a lovely and easy plant. The flower chorus has since been joined by the roses, foxgloves, campion and cranesbil and many more. I’ve enjoyed my routine this week of spending at least an hour or two in the garden each evening, getting a few chores done but mainly enjoying the Spring surrounded by blooms, birds and bunnies. Yes, you read that right, we have a family of cute bunnies that hop about in the lawn nibbling on clover each evening.

The persimmon tree I planted last Fall has leafed out and is starting to produce rather interesting blooms. I’m hoping for a more bountiful harvest this year compared to last year’s. There is much more to blog about, all the wonderful treats from friends I’ve received in the last couple of weeks and the “gifts” of the garden but for now, it’s time to get ready for a good night’s rest before another delicious day at Farmers Fresh.