Holy Honeydew!

If you live in the East Valley you may have heard of The Backyard Farmer aka Veggies Delivered.com Someone mentioned them in a local Facebook group and I had to try them for myself. Local produce? Delivered to my door? They take PayPal? I couldn't get to their website fast enough.

The veggie and fruit selection is not bad, but even more fabulous- they also carry baked goods, canning supplies, bulk grains, homemade soaps, grass fed beef, and even animal feed. I can't list everything they carry so please check out their website for the full list. You'll be blown away. No kidding!

We purchase chicken feed and grains frequently so I know my prices. The organic grains are the same price as the place I had been buying it. The chicken feed was very close, buy hey - no hauling- they drop it off in my driveway! Veg and fruits are a bit more than Sprouts, but usually much bigger.

There are plenty of testimonials on their website, so please check it out. Personally, I am impressed. The honeydew in the photo above weighed in at a hefty 9 lbs for under $4. Selection varies weekly. Read the "Important Info" on their website for order deadlines and delivery dates. And yes, delivery is free, but there is a place to include a tip for the driver on your bill.

Penzeys and British Gourmet Update

*** May 2011 Update - I am getting lots of hits on an old entry for Penzeys and British Gourmet so I thought I'd post an update. Penzeys has relocated to Tempe Marketplace. The store is fabulous and they are planning a location in the west valley as well. Sadly - British Gourmet has closed.***

Two of my favorite food related shops are located just about a mile apart along Hayden Road in Scottsdale. British Gourmet is on the south west corner of Hayden and Thomas. They carry all sorts of food items that are difficult to find outside of the UK. HuzBen is a big fish and chips eater and loves the malt vinegar they stock. I usually treat myself to a bottle of black currant flavored soda. They carry many more British food items than CostPlus, as well as candy, beauty products, soap, teas, and baking supplies. British Gourmet has a small freezer section when you can also pick up things like steak and kidney pie.

Half a block north of British Gourmet is Penzeys Spices. I ordered their products online and I was thrilled when they decided to open a store front in Scottsdale. They only sell the highest quality spices and spice blends. Products come in various sizes so you can buy a small shaker of something you want to try out, or you can purchase a larger quantity in a cellophane bag if you want to refill a bottle you purchased previously. (The "green" way to go!) Penzeys also sells empty bottles so you can experiment with blending your own spices and herbs.

The Farm Stand at Agritopia

With all the craziness surrounding the holidays, I forgot to pick up lettuce for our salad. There isn't much in the garden right now thanks to the rabbit that moved in under our shed. I am still nursing a damaged knee so there was no way I was going to fight my way around the grocery store to grab lettuce.

I was checking out Twitter today when I saw a Tweet about The Farm Stand at Agritopia selling spring mix for $1.50. Problem solved - the self serve stand is open 24/7 on Ray and Higley in Gilbert right next to Joe's Farm Grill and The Coffee Shop. I picked up the bag of salad mix, 2 lemons ($1.00), and medjool dates ($6.00). Fresh, local, and reasonably priced - love it!

October: Unprocessed - Friday Farmer's Market

Since we're trying to eat local and organic when possible, on Fridays I love going downtown shopping at the Downtown Mesa Farmers Market This isn't one of the larger farmer's markets in the valley but it has everything I need. Naturally there are vegetable vendors and most sell other items as well. Herbs can be purchased fresh, dried or in pots ready to plant. You'll find cheese, bread, pasta and pasta sauce, and lately Dr. Hummus has been selling and giving samples of what I think is the best tasting hummus ever. (Oh, his pita chips are excellent too!) There's also tie-dye t-shirts and craft items. Today one of the ladies was selling lovely tote bags that she made.

As you can see above the heirloom tomatoes were fabulous today. I'll be saving the seeds to start over the winter for my spring crop. They did very well for us this year. I also bought some organic cucumbers and fresh corn.

I'll be making more mayo (aioli) this week so I actually went to the farmer's market today for some eggs. If you like fresh eggs this is the place to get them. They go quickly so get there early. Crack them open and you'll see how different they are from anything you can get in the store. The yolks are a deep yellow compared to the eggs I an used to seeing. Curious about where the eggs come from? One of the vendors has a photo album, so you can see the hens along with their hen house and their grazing area. You won't find that at Fry's.

October: Unprocessed - The First Weekend

October: Unprocessed is Andrew Wilder's challenege to give up processed food for an entire month. Read more about it or join the challenge at Andrew's blog Eating Rules. I'll be blogging about my experience during the challenge and hopefully sharing some recipes. Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with readily available, whole-food ingredients.

Day Three – I’m sort of shocked that I haven’t cheated even once. Temptations are everywhere. I leave the house later than usual so I have no time to cruise over to Starbucks and blow the challenge. The community candy jar at work is stationed right at my eye level and filled with Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops. It’s taunting me. Thankfully the Costco keg of Red Vines that usually sits beside it has been emptied for the week.

No one I know is trying to change their eating habits so I am on my own. It's nothing new - I've been making lifestyle changes for a year while hubby lives on sausage and cheese. C'est la vie. I can't twist his arm.

Tonight was typical for me. For a half hour I listened to a coworker moan and groan about her “diet.” Translation – she hasn’t eaten fast food since her dinner break last night. She finally succumbed to the call of the vending machine and I thought that would be the end of it. But noooooo. She started rhapsodizing about her Baby Ruth bar as if it were the most expensive Swiss chocolate in the world. I fought the urge to throw something at her, and then I felt bad when she actually choked on the damn thing. Wow. Food karma is a b*tch.

Temptations and the lack of support are tough but when it comes to eating heart healthy, time management is probably the biggest hurdle for me. Odd hours at work leave little time to prepare meals so I handle most everything on my days off. For items that don't freeze well I fit in preparation when I can. It's not usual for me to be outside grilling chicken and vegetables at 8am or baking bread at midnight. Thanks to the challenge I can't be a slacker and stop for fast food on the way to work so I've got to find the time to prepare everything I need. It's going to be tough, but exciting too.

During my meal planning I started to make a mental list of the convenience foods I’ll need to replace in my diet, like bottled barbecue sauce. I cannot find a recipe for barbecue sauce (that I’d eat) which doesn’t include items like ketchup and soy sauce. It looks like I’ll be playing with tomatoes and spices on my day off.

For the last three days breakfast was oatmeal with fruit or an omelet made with local eggs from the Downtown Mesa Farmers Market . Lunch was a sandwich with chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, and cucumber. The bread is on my own multi grain and I pack a tiny container of home made mayo with my little blue gel freezy thing. My lunch bag gets packed with plenty of fruit for snacking.

The goal for this week is to try some new recipes with honey since sugar is off my ingredient list until November. Wish me luck!

Starting Seeds

Since the laundry room gets the best dose of sunshine, we are starting our seeds on the window over the washer and dryer. So far we've sowed the heirloom tomato seeds, both the regular and cherry tomatoes that I bought on my visit to the downtown Mesa Farmer's Market. The dill seeds were harvested from our herb garden this year. After Christmas I'll be starting more herbs, the other varieties of tomatoes and hopefully some squash and peppers.

First Experience With Solar Cooking

When summer temps get over 100 degrees here I am always looking for alternative ways to get dinner on the table without heating up the house. I happened to see a posting on a message board at the Phoenix Permaculture Guild about solar ovens. I looked at solar ovens about 10 years ago but gave up on the idea because they were too expensive to purchase and the do-it-yourself projects were way beyond my skills.

According to the conversation, solar ovens have come a long way in the last few years. There are two models that are reasonably priced and seemed to be popular among the locals. The Sport Solar Oven (above) from the Solar Oven Society and the Sun Oven. The discussion said that both were well made and suitable for use here in the Valley. The main difference is that the Sport is large enough to bake on a cookie sheet, but the smaller Sun Oven will heat to higher temperatures. Since I like to bake, I opted for the Sport which my wonderful husband purchased for me as an early Christmas gift. Although many of the experienced users said they didn't need the optional reflector, I purchased it anyway.

The more I surfed the web for info on solar cooking, the more excited I got. Not only was solar cooking a great way to go "green" but the recipes sounded easy and delicious. Another Valley of the Sun resident has been blogging about using the Sun Oven every day for a year. If you're going to purchase a solar oven, the Solar Oven Chef is a great place to start for tips and recipes.

I probably didn't pick the best day for my initial leap into solar cooking, but it was my only day off. It had been raining all night and was only about 45 degrees outside. The yard was a mud pit and it was cold and windy outside. Since the weather wasn't the best I decided to preheat with the reflector on and see what happened. The oven temp reached 200 degress in a half hour so I decided to keep the reflector on and go for it.

I wanted to start with some easy dishes. Sprouts had sirloin tip roasts on sale and I purchased some of their wild rice blend from the bulk section as a side dish. I cut the roast into 4 pieces and sprinkled it with Lipton Onion Soup Mix. No need for any water when cooking meat in the solar ovens. To the rice blend I added the necessary amount of water, some Mrs. Dash Onion and Herb Seasoning, a dash of tumeric, a little bit of salt, and half a chopped onion. The Sport comes with an oven thermometer and two black cooking pots so it makes it easy to do a complete meal at one time.

At the 2 hour mark I checked on the oven and noticed that there was condensation building up on the door, an indicator that the food is done. Not bad! The roast was perfect and was swimming in lots of broth that I used on the stove top to make gravy. The rice was slightly overdone but still tasty. HuzBen was impressed and loved the meal. I liked the "set it and forget it" aspect of the cooking. I checked on the oven every 30 minutes but I found out quickly that I didn't need to reposition the oven at all. I can't wait to try chicken and potato dishes, and maybe some baking. Anyone for solar baked Christmas cookies?

The Roast


The Rice Pilaf

Magnificat Magazine

The Liturgy of the Hours is the official set of Roman Catholic prayers designated to be prayed at specific times throughout the day by Catholic clergy and laity alike. The Liturgy consists of prayers, hymns and psalms, recited in a specified order at the specified times of the day.

I tried to pray the Liturgy, but it is complicated and confusing to flip back and forth between the ribbon page markers while trying to concentrate on the prayers. I tried and gave up on the prayers many times in frustration. The Liturgy didn’t work for me until I ran across Magnificat magazine at Mary Immaculate Books and Gifts here in Mesa.

Magnificat is a Catholic magazine that contains prayers of the Mass, stories of Catholic saints, fantastic artwork (the June cover is pictured here) and yes, the Liturgy of the Hours in a daily format.

I love the fact that the publisher has managed to pack so much information into such a compact size. Magnificat tucks nicely into my purse so I can tote it to Mass or Adoration. If you're like me and you've given up on the Liturgy of the Hours due to its' complexity - give Magnificat a try.

To see more about Magnificat and other Catholic products - check out The Catholic Company.

Follow Magnificat on Twitter.

An Afternoon of Wine Tasting and Shopping

HuzBen and I had the opportunity to attend a grilling seminar/wine tasting at Fleming's Steakhouse and Wine Bar in Chandler on Saturday. The event was a joint venture with Fleming's and Barbecues Galore.

After a few basic tips on the meats we would be grilling we all headed outside to the patio where Johnathan Pyant of Barbecues Galore showed off the Odeon, and its' CrossRay technology. The Odean has infrared burners built into the sidewalls rather than underneath, thus reducing flareups. It works with liquid propane or nature gas and it's a beauty.

When the steaks were finished we returned to the dining room and tasted the three cuts of beef (filet, NY Strip, ribeye) and the wines picked to accompany them. Bruce Duffy and Candy Taylor of Flemings's were on hand to answer any and all questions about the pairings. The food was tasty, the wine was delicious and we received quite an education. The best part - the cost was a mere TEN DOLLLARS each!

We enjoyed ourselves so much that we signed up for their class on marinades and rubs in July. (And we're planning on stopping in for happy hour next week!)

Fleming's is located in one of my favorite shopping plazas, Casa Paloma. Casa Paloma is a foodie's dream, with Sur La Table and AJ's Fine Foods just a few feet apart.

I couldn't resist. Sur La Table was having a Summer Sale. I finally purchased the Baker's Edge Brownie Pan I've been wanting, along with new placemats, napkins and a few goodies from the clearance rack I'll be blogging about in the future.

Ms. Thomas' Lovely Tea House

Last weekend while shopping for a new bed we stumbled upon Ms. Thomas' Lovely Tea House on the NW corner of Mc Kellips and Power in Mesa. Dolores at Mattress Firm had nothing but praise for the establishment and I couldn't wait to check it out. I stopped in late last week to check out their gift shop (fabulous!) and I vowed to go for tea as soon as possible.

As HuzBen is not fond of tea and it took me a few days to find a dining partner. Thankfully my step mom Susan was as excited as I was to go there.

We stopped in today for tea and some shopping. Dolores was spot on, the place is wonderful. The decor is Victorian inspired, tastefully done but not cluttered. It reminded me of tea in my Aunt's parlor many years ago. The tea settings are beautiful and they include a honey pot at the table as well as sugar cubes. The tea was kept hot by a delicate looking silver teapot warmer (see blurry cell phone photo above) that I would have purchased in a second if they sold them in the gift shop.

We had the Miss Marianne Tea, which consists of a fruit cup, quiche, scones, tea sandwiches and sorbet. Other options omitted the quiche or added soup so you could customize your afternoon tea to your level of hunger. There are also some a la carte items and breakfast offerings. The food was fresh and tasty. I do wish they offered more varieties of tea.

A big plus over another popular tearoom in Mesa is that Ms. Thomas keeps her gift shop separate from the dining area. It was nice to enjoy a quiet lunch without someone kicking your while chair trying reach the price tag on a bottle of hand lotion.

When we finished I checked out the gift shop which offers lovely gifts as well as hard to find tea related items like honey spoons, sugar cube tongs and drip catchers for your teapot. I bought a butterfly drip catcher on my visit last week and it works very well, even on my little 2 cup teapot. (see picture below)

Ms. Thomas' Lovely Tea House is located at 6620 E, McKellips, Suite 102, Mesa, AZ. Phone 480-807-5133. Hours of operation are Mon-Sat 8:30am-2:30pm. Reservations strongly suggested.

Penzeys and British Gourmet in Scottsdale

*** May 2011 Update - I am getting lots of hits on an old entry for Penzeys and British Gourmet so I thought I'd post an update. Penzeys has relocated to Tempe Marketplace. The store is fabulous and they are planning a location in the west valley as well. Sadly - British Gourmet has closed.***


Two of my favorite food related shops are located just about a mile apart along Hayden Road in Scottsdale. British Gourmet is on the south west corner of Hayden and Thomas. They carry all sorts of food items that are difficult to find outside of the UK. HuzBen is a big fish and chips eater and loves the malt vinegar they stock. I usually treat myself to a bottle of black currant flavored soda. They carry many more British food items than CostPlus, as well as candy, beauty products, soap, teas, and baking supplies. British Gourmet has a small freezer section when you can also pick up things like steak and kidney pie.

Half a block north of British Gourmet is Penzeys Spices. I ordered their products online and I was thrilled when they decided to open a store front in Scottsdale. They only sell the highest quality spices and spice blends. Products come in various sizes so you can buy a small shaker of something you want to try out, or you can purchase a larger quantity in a cellophane bag if you want to refill a bottle you purchased previously. (The "green" way to go!) Penzeys also sells empty bottles so you can experiment with blending your own spices and herbs.

More George Foreman Chicken

I love onions, but Vidalia onions are a particular favorite. Last week at Costco I purchased Oak Hill Farms Vidalia Onion Vinagrette Salad Dressing and it is tasty! It's great on salads but my favorite way to use it is to coat boneless chicken breasts with the dressing and grill them in my George Foreman Grill. The dressing is so full of flavor that you don't even need to marinate them in the dressing, just brush it on and grill. For an extra kick you can add a thin slice of onion on top if the chicken about halfway through the grilling time.

New Find For The George Foreman Grill

Many thanks to fellow Jersey Sister LadyDee who told me about all the flavors of Mrs. Dash. I was under the impression that there were still only two types of Mrs. Dash, salt and salt free. LadyDee set me straight! My new favorite is Onion and Herbs but I like all the grilling varieties as well. (Steak, Chicken, and Hamburger)

Since I am trying to lose weight, I love boneless chicken breasts on the George Foreman Grill. I usually make up different kinds of low fat marinades and let the chicken sit overnight in the fridge. Sometimes, it's too much of a hassle or I need a meal in a hurry. Now I throw on some Mrs. Dash.

Sadly, I can't find any on these newer flavors in the Valley. Thanks to my mom, who sent me a box from New Jersey over the holidays, along with the Lipton Ginger Twist Tea that you can't find here either.

Buyer Beware

I took a trip to Joann's on Sunday to purchase some contrasting fabric for the pockets of an apron I'm making out of this fabric from my kitchen curtains.

On the remnants rack I can often find small amount of fabric at a big discount so that was my first stop. I didn't see anything that would work for the apron but I did spot a colorful fleece fabric, just perfect for a blanket for Chopper. This is what it looked like when it was all rolled up at the store. Cute, right?

Back in the quilting department I found a suitable fabric for the apron and I found an awesome flannel print that will be turned into a Christmas present for someone. (I'll post about that after the holidays) I took my purchases home and started to launder everything when I unwrapped the fleece for Chopper and discovered that it wasn't exactly what I thought.


OMG!!!

Even Danica had to get a look at it. I did not imagine there would be skulls all over the print. Skulls for my sweet little Chopper?! There is no way to return remnants so it looks like my bunny is going hardcore. At least he doesn't seem to mind.

Healthier Artichoke Chicken

Healthier Artichoke Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 tbsp olive oil
1 - 15 oz can chopped artichoke hearts, drained well
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup Best Foods Mayonaise With Olive Oil*
1/3 cup fat free sour cream
1 tbsp Penzey's Shallot Pepper Seasoning

In a fry pan, brown chicken breasts in olive oil on both sides. Transfer to a shallow 2 quart casserole dish.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine artichoke hearts, 1/2 cup of roman cheese, mayo, sour cream and Penzey's Shallot Pepper Seasoning.

Top chicken with the artichoke mixture and sprinkle remaining Romano cheese on top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.


* East of the Mississippi Best Foods is known as Hellman's

Tackling The Pantry

With the Thanksgiving holiday over and having a long weekend to myself, I decided to catch up on some projects. Yesterday I finally tackled the pantry and labeled all of our food storage containers with my trusty P-Touch Label Maker. Getting this done was on my project list for 2008 so I am getting it in just under the wire.

We have a good size pantry for a house this small and quite a selection of Tupperware to help make the best use of the space. To "store what you use and use what you store" Tupperware is the best for long term storage IMHO. It is available in all shapes and sizes and it's designed to stack and store while taking up minimal space. Five gallon buckets and not designed to be opened and closed again and are not made to stack on each other.

I bake bread so we buy bulk items like wheat flour and whole grains from Sprouts. We're also made the switch to healthier brown rice this year to aid in our weight loss. Sprouts stocks short and long grain as well as brown arborio rice for making risotto. They have a rapid turnover so you know the bulk items are really fresh. Everything we buy goes into the freezer for a few days and then is put into Tupperware Modular Mates.

With their new labels I won't mistake pastry flour for bread flour ever again.

Next project - the office!

Slow Cooker Apple Crisp

8-10 medium apples (I used Granny Smith and Honey Crisp)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 T. cinnamon
1 T. grated ginger root
1/2 t grated fresh nutmeg (makes all the difference)
3/4 cup plus 1 T. butter
(optional) 1/2 t. Penzey's French Four Spice*

Grease slow cooker with 1 T. of butter and fill with apple slices. *Optional - Sprinkle apples with Penzey's French Four Spice and toss gently to coat.

In a mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, spices and butter. Distribute over the apple slices and press down lightly.

Cooking time will vary according to your slow coker. For an older model with a lower overall temperture, cook on high for 3-4 hours. I find that setting makes the apples mushy so I generally set my slow cooker to medium and cook for 3 hours.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

*Penzey's French Four Spice is a blend of Muntok white pepper, nutmeg, ginger, and powedered cloves. I find it gives just a little zing to the apples. You can order it online or check out their store in Scottsdale.

Ugly Chair Becomes A Swan

Time to talk about Ugly Chair. Ugly Chair has been a fixture at our house for years. We found it beside an empty lot in downtown Mesa more years ago than I care to remember. It was peeking out of a big pile of junk that someone illegally dumped. We were driving by in the truck and I instantly recognized the sound bone structure and limitless potential in Ugly Chair. Ok, really - we just needed a chair for the porch where HuzBen could sit smoke his ciggies away from my asthmatic lungs. It fit our main criteria of not costing anything. I wanted to do the "green" thing by recycling someone else's junk. We took it home.

Ugly Chair spent the last several years going back and forth between the yard and the porch, depending on the weather and the need for space. It got to be sort of a joke that I never seemed to get around to refurbishing Ugly Chair. As rough on the eyes as the chair was, my husband put cardboard and newspapers on the seat, covered it with an old blanket and spent many confortable hours in Ugly Chair while reading on the porch.

When my mother would visit from New Jersey I would tell her about my grand plans to re-do the chair and make it presentable. Bless her heart my mother never has a cross word to say about anything but her eyes were saying "Seriously? Hello! Put that thing out at the curb where it belongs!" In direct contrast, my father actually said on many occasions, "Seriously? Hello! Put that thing out at the curb where it belongs!" And at least once he tried to do just that when I wasn't looking. If it wasn't for our superb neighborhood block watch I'm sure he would have snuck it off to the dump while I was in NYC.

That's all behind us now because this week Ugly Chair had it's makeover. I took a Home Depot gift certificate I'd been saving and I purchased some almond colored spray paint. Joann's had leather beading cord that I used to replace the leather strips that had rotted away. The folks at Mesa Sales helped me pick out a foam cushion and some marine grade thread for the seat and the pillow. The vinyl was found at a steal for 80% off when Hancock's closed a few months ago.

Ugly Chair is now back on the porch and HuzBen and the kitties are thriled with the makeover. While no one is going to mistake it for being redone by a professional, I think Ugly Chair approves.

Food Storage - Where do I start?

Food Storage - Where do I start?

Food Storage has always been a common topic among East Valley women and not only at the local LDS churches. The Y2K scare served as preparation for a post 9/11 world where the Red Cross and the Office of Homeland Security are now preaching preparedness on television commercials.

There are many websites and message boards devoted to food storage and how to prepare for emergencies. One look at any food storage chart is enough to set a budget minded person's head spinning. It's best to just take a deep breath and remember that Rome wasn't built in a day. If you purchase things over time it really won't be the daunting (and expensive) task that it seems.

Have a plan -

Find a food storage plan list on the Internet and edit it to suit the needs of your family. Keep in mind that the best thing you can do is store what you eat and eat what you store.

Set your budget-

Not everyone can afford to pay thousands of dollars for the ready-made food storage kits available at places like Walton Feed and Be Prepared.com. Believe it or not, if you are organized you can end up with a comprehensive food storage supply for only a small weekly cash investment.

One of the more popular strategies for building food storage is the ten dollar per week method. This is a great place to start but I honestly don't think anyone could live off these items for long. How many times a week can you endure tuna casserole? Still, this is a great base for your plan.

Need a bit more variety in your meals?

Luckily for us, Valley residents enjoy the benefit of having a great food storage purveyor on nearly every corner. Yes, that's right - it's Walgreen's!

The Walgreen's supplement in your Sunday newspaper has a wealth of items that no food storage supply should be without. Last week’s sale included several three for a dollar items; Jiffy Mixes, snack size Pringles, canned pineapple and sardines. Canned mushrooms were a bargain at two for a dollar. Always check the date on canned goods and don't get anything that expires in less than 2 years.

Our personal favorite is the one-pound, cooked, boneless, canned hams. They need no refrigeration until you open them and one ham is perfect for two people. We use them for sandwiches (both hot and cold), with cheese and broccoli as a baked potato topping, or diced and mixed into mac and cheese. The possibilities are endless.

The various dollar stores around the East Valley are another great source of non perishable items but you need to check your labels carefully! Stick to good that are from the U.S.A. Watch exparation dates and don't purchase anything dented.

Invest in a few "back to basics" cookbook or cookbook specifically written with food storage in mind. My favorite is Cookin' with Home Storage, available at Amazon. You can find many articles and recipes on the web, but be sure and print them and get them into a folder or binder. You might need them when there is no electricity and internet access is not available. Be sure to include recipes that can be made over an open fire, in a dutch oven, or on a BBQ grill in case of a power failure. Think about alternative cooking vessels as well. Non stick teflon pans and glass casserole dishes will not work in a camp fire or BBQ grill. Invest in some cast iron pans and a cast iron dutch oven. You can get these at most camping supply stores and some military surplus stores like Larada's.

With instability of the economy, rising food costs, and the ever present possibility of another terrorist attack, the important thing is to start building a food storage plan now. You don't need to buy everything in one week but you do need to have a plan and stick to it.

Planting Veggies and Tales of Bunnies

Last weekend we started planting the winter garden. I scaled back on the tomatoes this year to grow more things to feed Chopper. In the raised bed Ben planted two Romas, three Sweet 100, and four or five Early Girl tomato plants along with a variety of letttuce. He left plenty of room for next week's seed planting when I'll put in more salad greens, some spinach and and several varieties of radishes.

A & P Nursery at 6129 E. Brown Road in Mesa (480) 396-8800 - stocks a nice supply of herbs. I put chives, parsley, lemon balm and basil in pots and I picked up some spearmint and peppermint for the front garden. I'm hoping it will do well in the front - it gets some late afternoon sun but it will mostly be shaded by the Lantana.

I picked up two lavender plants as an impulse purchase. Gardeners complain about lavender growing everywhere like a weed but I've never had any luck with it. Maybe this is my year.

Working in the yard this weekend brought back memories of a vistor we had back in 2003. Foster brought home a little friend (or a little dinner, depending on how you look at it). I blogged about the incident at East Valley Life and I thought I'd share the story here.




May 2003

This is what the cat dragged in last night ... or more accurately, what I was finally able get away from him!

Most of you have heard my tales of Foster, the cross-eyed cat who came with our house when we bought it back in 2000. Well, spring is here and our own four legged Hanibal Lecter is once again bringing home friends for dinner. Thankfully, this bunny will live to tell the story.

As if my neighbors didn't think I was nuts already - picture this if you will - I was running around my yard in shorts, a tank top and black dress shoes (fastest things I could slip on) for an hour yelling, "Foster, put the bunny down. You've got to drop the bunny. Mommy will trade you cat treats for the little bunny!" And finally - "&%*$#, drop that damn rabbit! " Foster continued sprinting from the front yard to the backyard all while carrying his little buddy by the scruff of the neck. I ran thru the house and yard over and over, chasing them.

In the end I was able to grab the baby rabbit who was amazingly good spirited about his/her adventure. It spent the night in the guest room with a hot water bottle and some kitten milk and will be relocated to the neighborhood church bushes this morning while Foster is locked in the house.

I hope your day had a happy ending too!