The ground hog ate away at my peas. They were beginning to form, the little pea pods, and the big, bad ground hog chomped on them. I sprinkled the leaves with hot sauce, in the hopes that he won’t like it. My neighbor down the block has a ground hog trap; I think the idea is you capture the ground hog, and then you have to drive somewhere to the woods so then he (or she) can come scurrying back to your garden? What joy. Like I have nothing better to do.
I actually saw him in my backyard, and if I hadn’t been in a rush yesterday, I might have been able to capture him on my camera. But I don’t want to post villains on my blog, anyway. Instead, here’s a photo of a tulip that did not get eaten by a deer:
Why is it I call the ground hog a villain, and I have sympathy for the deer? Is it just because deer are prettier animals?
Here are the flowers on my neighbor’s dogwood tree.
Here’s the whole dogwood tree.
I learned from Gail that the cherry trees bloom first, and then the dogwoods show their flowers.
See my dogwood painting.
It is relaxing to start one’s day with a garden photo. In front are grape hyacinth, a bulb that one plants in the fall. Directly behind are dianthus plants, perennials that will soon bloom. Toward the back is a promising beginning of a black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia), a perennial native to New Jersey that may show its yellow flowers in August. The background is creeping phlox.
My neighbor’s cherry tree (but it doesn’t produce cherries, alas) in front of his forsythia.
This plant is called vinca or periwinkle. I bought a sizable amount of it from someone who moved to Israel several years ago. It is finally growing in nicely on the side of my house.
A plant named for people who “care” so much about others (really, they identify with them) that they will cause their own hearts to bleed. Hopefully, this bleeding heart plant, which did not flower last year, will be much healthier than that and produce pretty pink hearts soon.
Radishes are just about the easiest vegetable to grow. This lovely seedling and other radish seedlings have shown up in my garden in the past week. About one month ago I planted some radish, dill and marigold seeds. No sign of the dill or marigolds germinating. May not be warm enough or long enough for them yet. Seeds germinate at different rates and different temperatures. Radishes are quick to germinate!
Forsythias are named after William Forsyth, an 18th century Scottish horticulturist.
My rhododendron has little green buds now. Sometime this spring I will see large pink fluffy flowers from my kitchen window.
Song of Songs 2:12
הַנִּצָּנִים נִרְאוּ בָאָרֶץ, עֵת הַזָּמִיר הִגִּיעַ
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing is come.
Last week Little Frumhouse on the Prairie (isn’t that a great name?) posted that she is hosting the next Kosher Cooking Carnival. So my mind starts churning…maybe a post on food photography?
I photographed one of the dishes I made for dinner one night. Because it was pretty. And it looks nice against the blue background. Food often looks good against blue, because there really isn’t any true blue in food. Even blueberries are really purple.
Later, I go visit my neighbor, arguably one of the best cooks in Highland Park. Last erev Yom Kippur she gave some of her Gondi, a Persian specialty of ground chicken, chickpea flour and spices rolled into balls and cooked in a sauce. Wish I had a photo of that! Are you making anything special for Purim, I ask. She said always makes something different for the Purim seudah (feast). I could tell her mind wasn’t yet on Purim.
On Friday night my husband came home from shul and said our rabbi spoke about the times one can have the Purim seudah (feast) this year. Purim falls on a Friday, not my favorite timing. Batya doesn’t have this problem. We can have the seudah at a choice of three times: in the morning, after noon, or at the end of the day, right before Shabbat starts. One then says Friday night kiddush in the middle and continues one’s meal. The latter sounds like an interesting idea, but then my husband would need to find a minyan for ma’ariv of men doing similar. We ended up agreeing on a brunch for the seudah this year. Eggs, bagels, fruit, veggies and salmon sound like a plan…
Years ago I made a Persian Purim feast… I can’t for the life of me remember what I served, but rice was certainly on the menu.
So, in the spirit of Nutrition Nerd, I’ll teach you how to make brown rice in a crockpot. It’s SUPER easy. Put in a cup of brown rice and 2 cups water. Cook for 2 – 2.5 hours. If, for some reason (you have nothing else going on in your life, right?) you forget the rice, don’t worry, you’ve just got brown rice with crispy edges. The middle is still edible.
Hope you’ve enjoyed my strung together food photo, exotic Persian dish, halachic (Jewish law) note, and recipe all in one post.
This a picture of my mom, z”l (may her memory be a blessing), posing in front of some fancy shop in Newton Centre. We used to enjoy window shopping together. I took the photo in the late 1970’s? early 80’s? It captures a little of her personality.
Links:
Books I read recently:
Books my husband just gave me for my birthday and so I intend to read:
I was telling Jill this past week if you find yourself drawn to reading about the Holocaust and want to read something perhaps a bit more uplifting or at least great literature, read anything by Aharon Appelfeld.
