Broccoli!!

We have broccoli! I am so excited! Our first little bud. Check it out!

Doesn't it look delicious?

 And here's the before, after and after picture collage. I really need to take them all from the same angle so you can get the feel for how big these plants have gotten.

I can't believe how much these plants have grown in such a short time.

Dave at Harvest to Home has me on his e mail and text list to tell me when to cover the plants which is really a great idea because this has been such a no-brainer that I have forgotten about these guys a few times. This service has really helped keep the plants healthy.

Hopefully soon I will have some cauliflower to show!

Garden, Week Three!

This little guy is really growing! Check out the before and after:

I was a little concerned about this Fall edition. I didn't know if our patio would give the plants enough shade and then there was the self watering issue. When David from Harvest to Home installed the system it was leaking a little bit. I told David about it and he came right over and fixed it. The problem was my diverter. He fixed it up as best as he could but since the diverter is messed up we have to leave the water off and turn it on to make sure it gets enough water.

This of course has me a bit panicked because I am not exactly responsible in the watering department. The dogs and the cat have taken to drinking out of the toilet and staring at me pointedly when their water dishes are empty.

So far though, the plants are looking great and the watering is not an issue. I am salivating in anticipation of the crops of broccoli and cauliflower soon to come!

Garden, Fall Edition!

It’s here! It’s here! The new garden from Harvest to Home is here! 
David and his assistant Ralph delivered the new container garden last weekend and I am SO excited! 


The great guys at harvest to home were kind enough to offer me a complimentary fall garden to replace the cucumbers from the summer season. Turns out no one expected those plants to turn in to Godzilla cucumbers and they sucked out all of the nutrients in the soil which is why they didn’t produce the way they were supposed to. It was really great of David to give me a complimentary garden and I hope to do him proud this go round.

First off, they provided me with some stuff to keep the caterpillars and other pests away. David was leaving nothing to chance and he WROTE ON THE BOTTLE the water to mixture ratios. He was taking no chances on a repeat of THIS.

The garden I chose was a cauliflower and broccoli mix. I am super excited to mix up some of my famous broccoli salad and to cook up some cauliflower with cumin cream sauce. Yummolicious!

Here’s some pictures of the plants.

Hi little guys, welcome to your new home. Good luck to you!

Turkey Day!!

Is everybody in the holiday spirit? I am! After spending a relaxing weekend up north with just Mike and I and the pets, I can hardly wait to get started on my Christmas shopping!

Thanksgiving this year Mike and I decided to try something different. We went up north, just the two of us and, of course, 3 dogs, 1 cat and a 2 car loads of food.

We kicked off the feast by by making a champagne turkey, well, sort of. We did a little bit of a hybrid of that recipe. We tried a dry brine along with some fresh herbs and the champagne turkey recipe. It was without a doubt the best turkey I have ever had! Sorry, mom. :-)

Here He is, ready for the final touches

Glug Glug Glug, Mike is getting our turkey drunk

There were six new recipes in the rotation this year so it was not your traditional Thanksgiving day feast. The first new recipe was a twist on sweet potatoes. We had chipotle sweet potatoes. I must admit, I am not a sweet potato fan but these were really good. I think I may be a convert. 



We also had a brussel sprout, asparagus salad. It had pomegranate seeds and bacon and almonds in it. It was really pretty. Definitely going to make it for Christmas Dinner. Plus, there's nothing like adding a little bacon to lower the nutritional value of your greens.

We also had two new types of pie, buttermilk pie and chocolate mousse. Delish. Both of the recipes were courtesy of my dear friend Suzanne who also provided us with a great turkey tetrazini recipe which I am excited to make with the leftovers.

I confess, we were a little ambitious with the turkey buying. I got a 14 pounder for just the two of us. I know, lots of left overs. Turkey sandwiches for everyone! I did make some turkey and sour cream enchiladas and we will be mixing up turkey tetrazini for dinner tonight.

And, because I am all about over sharing, I thought I would also post before and after pictures of our kitchen.

Yes, he did help clean up. I know, Husband of the year!

But I digest ha ha, I mean, I digress. This Thanksgiving wasn’t just about the food for us. Mike and I were so happy to be able to get away and spend some time just hanging out together. In our hectic lives we don’t get to do that as often. I did miss being with my family and it was a tough decision to be away from them but I am glad we did it this way this year. 


This was a great kick off for the holidays and now I am energized and ready for the season to begin!


Oh!! Check out cheapthrillsinaz.com Beth and I are posting about some great inexpensive gifts and holiday celebration ideas. I am excited to get some posts up there. I have found lots of cool ideas!

Grandmother Huss turns 93!

 Everyone is the age of their heart.  ~Guatemalan Proverb

Sunday afternoon Mike and I made the journey over to his parent's house to celebrate Grandmother Huss and her 93rd birthday. What a treat!

After a delicious lunch of lasagna, Mike's dad busted out the guitar to lead us all in a round of Happy Birthday.

And then it was time for my favorite part of any birthday..... the CAKE!

As you can see Grandmother Huss had many helpers

It was a lovely afternoon catching up with family and celebrating this milestone. Happy Birthday Grandmother Huss!!

Wasting away again in Margaritaville

One day over lunch Shannon mentioned that the Jimmy Buffett concert was coming in October. I had never been to Jimmy Buffett so I just filed that info away without a second thought.

Then came the e mail from Jackie that Jimmy Buffett was coming and they were tailgating. I took this as a sign that I needed to see what Cheeseburgers in Paradise tasted like. I promise that is the last Jimmy Buffett song reference.

October 20th could not come soon enough!

As we pulled in to the tailgating area I could tell this was going to be a good time! The crazy hats, the RV's with dance floors on them, the margarita machines going at full blast, this concert is definitely an EVENT

We located the Griffith compound with ease and commenced with the grilling and the drink making. I am glad they didn't start without us!

Hanging with Scooter and Jackie and the rest of the Mesa crew is always a good time and tonight was no exception. There was a rousing game of cornhole and the music was going. We scarfed down some burgers and the guacamole that Mike made for us did not last very long.

The concert was great! We got a spot on the lawn up by the wall so we were out of the crowd and could just enjoy the fantastic weather as we sat under the stars and did some people watching.

I am so glad that I went! I am no longer a Buffett virgin.

Great Bowls of Chili!

 On October 15th the masses descended upon the Hand household for the 2nd annual Chili Cook Off!

Jackie Griffith was the winner from last year so she was strutting around showing off the winner's apron.

All TEN of the chili entries (double the amount from 2010) were lined up and ready for tasting.

We got smart this year and had smaller tasting cups so that the tasters wouldn't get too full from the first few tastes.

Also new for 2011, we had categories for the spiciest, the most original and the best overall recipe. I knew we were all in trouble when mom said she had "dynamite" in her freezer and she was ready to unleash it on the tasters.

As we waited for the sun to set and the heat of the day to break, everyone enjoyed chatting, listening to some Johnny Cash, playing games and painting pumpkins.  We also sampled the other treats brought by everyone. Jackie's caramel apple dip did not last long.

The tasting began at about 4:30 PM. There was a frenzy at the tasting tables and everyone was excited and ready to judge! A clear front runner for the spiciest chili was crock pot number 5.

After much fun and deliberation, the winners of the Hand Chili Cook Off 2011 were Susan Hand for the best overall recipe, Tony Scardina for the most original recipe and Irene Hand for the spiciest recipe.

It was a great time and I can't wait for next year!

Happy Birthday to ME!

My birthday weekend got a great kick off when my parents took me to dinner on Friday night!

I am very excited that we went to Le Chalet. The food is really good and it is an EVENT to go there. They have some fancy dishes like the La Potence and the Swiss Raclet and you can't miss with the salted caramel crepe to finish off your meal.

If you sit in the bar area you can watch the closed circuit tv's as they prepare your crepes. It is pretty cool watching them make them. They pour the batter, swirl it around, flip it over and then fold it up and put your stuff in it. They make it look easy.

Here are some pictures from the night.

As we were leaving the restaurant, mom spotted this cow statue which says "dookie" on the bottom of it and being the juveniles that we are, we had to take a few pictures with it.

 On Saturday the celebration continued as Suzanne and I went up to the cabin with our dogs and enjoyed the cool pines. We started the afternoon off with a little veggie platter and some Boddington's then took a walk to the watering hole to see if Jinxy would jump in and show us her Labrador roots. She did!

After working off the veggie tray we decided to head in to town to have dinner at my favorite Payson restaurant Gerardo's. We had a delicious dinner (do you see a theme with my birthday celebrations?) Then we headed back home where Suz surprised me with a cupcake from Tammie Coe's a great book and a gift card for Le Grande Orange (does she know me or what?).

On Sunday we spent the day in Payson doing some antiquing. What a blast! I got some really cute stuff for the cabin and Suz got the find of the day with an awesome lamp that was so big that it wouldn't fit in the back of my truck! Score!

 


Today (my actual birthday) I woke up to Reece's wet nose poking me in the head and some pretty flowers blooming in the front yard. Some happy birthday wishes and songs from friends and family. It has been a great 41st birthday!

Buca and Bowling, Celebrating Mom

On September 16th we celebrated my beautiful mother's birthday. I won't tell you which birthday it was but it was a BIG one and it rhymes with mixty.

Mom's day of adventure started out with a trip to Lake Pleasant to fish with my brother. It's not every mom that is lucky enough to have their own professional guide to take them out fishing. They had a great time enjoying the cool early morning weather and from what I heard lots of fishing and not as much catching. I guess the fish were still sleeping at the ungodly hour of 5 AM. 

Don't forget to book your next fishing trip at Arizona Fishing Guides (can't resist the plug for Scooter's company)

After mom's fishing adventure we met up for lunch and then we were off to shop for a cute outfit for the evening's festivities. From there we hustled on over to get a mani/pedi from Leah at Salon Sanctuary. She did a great job and our hands and feet were primed and ready for some Buca and some Bowling!

The family convened on Buca di Beppo in Scottsdale where we stuffed ourselves silly with way too much food.

Here we are before the food came, don't we look so much thinner?

In anticipation of triangle shaped cheese sticks and softball sized meatballs

And even though we were all stuffed from dinner, our very nice waiter brought over some birthday candles and a birthday brownie for us to chow on. It did not go to waste.

Happy birthday to you IRENE!

 After dinner we rushed off to make our bowling reservation and to hopefully burn off a few calories.  I won't bore you with the play by play bowling action or the, uh, scores. Let's just say that Gerry is a ringer, Kayse is well on her way to being a professional bowler and the rest of us just had fun. Here are some shots of the dork family.

Nice follow through!

Ready to get our game on

Awwww

Guess who is a poser just like her auntie?

Yeah, that was a great idea

The latest in rental shoe fashion

The cheering squad

The day and the evening were a success! We all had a great time celebrating mom on her milestone birthday.

I'm BACK!

Hellloooo internets! I am sorry I have been away so long. Lots of things have been happening so let me update you.

First things first, I am sure you are all just dying to know what happened to the little garden that could.

Well, the cucumber plant produced some interesting looking cukes. They didn't turn the dark green color that we see in the grocery store and their texture was different than what I expected. They weren't as crunchy but the skin was so thin that you didn't have to peel them you could just chop them up and eat them so that was cool. Check out the bounty that was the cucumbers.

Do you think these weird shapes are a result of project artificial insemination?

Then there are the tomatoes. The desert reds didn't come in very well. I think it may have had something to do with the great caterpillar infestation of June 2011. I have no idea where those little suckers came from but there were tons of them and they were very well camouflaged.

I e mailed the long suffering Ben from Harvest to Home and he sent me some stuff to put in the water and that seemed to do the trick. Alas I believe it was too late because we mostly got tomatoes that looked like these

But we did get a few of these

Unfortunately I can't find any of the pictures of the yellow pears except for the two nestled next to the cucumbers in the prior picture. They turned out well. The flavor was good. They were sweet and perfect for dipping in hummus or adding to pasta or salads or just eating them straight off the vine. I didn't have many to share because they were small and they went quick. Maybe two of those next year and skip the desert reds.

The guys from Harvest to Home felt bad about how the thing with the cucumbers went down so they offered me a Fall garden box. I am very excited about that. They have broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, spinach, herbs. Lots of stuff. I am not sure what I am going to try out this season so stay tuned for that. If you want to grow your own garden give Dave or Ben an e mail and they can set you up. infoAZ@harvesttohome.com

Now, harvesting the garden wasn't the only thing I have been doing these many weeks that I have been away not blogging.

We have been up in the mountains.

Look at these pups after a long day running around the watering hole

 Then Mike found a crawfish spot and we had a nice crawfish boil.

Yumm!

And then we found an Arizona Black rattlesnake in our bunkhouse. He probably wouldn't have come inside but someone left the door open all night and I am sure the snake thought it was a great idea to curl up in the shelter of our bunkhouse all camouflaged looking just like a rope on the ground.

Here he is giving us a last look before heading in to the woods

Also I got a new helmet! So now Mike will let me ride the 4 wheeler. I know, it is quite the fashion statement. And, bonus!  I can go a lot faster now that I have some goggles to keep the bugs from smacking me in the face.

We rode the bikes to the top of Diamond Point to watch the sunset. My guy's idea. He is such a romantic.

So, that was pretty much our Summer. Now that we are heading in to Fall, I can't wait to post about some of the cool events that will be happening. Fall is my favorite time of year! The cooler weather we have been panting and waiting for is on the way.

Some events I will post here but check out my other blog Cheap Thrills in AZ. This is a collaborative effort with my friend Beth. We are going to find and review some cheap things to do in the Valley.

From the depths of despair....a cucumber rises

Well, it has been a while since my last garden post and I am sure you are all just on the edge of your seats waiting to see what has transpired at black thumb central.

The cucumber plant has lost it's luster and is now in the death throws from who knows what. I was out checking on him this afternoon and lamenting to the dogs about how we won't be pickling or having fresh cucumber salads when low and behold....!

What do I spy??? A full fledged cucumber!

 

 

 

 

 

I believe this is one of cucumbers from project pollination. I didn't post about this but here's the short version.

All of my cucumbers were going from the cute little cucumber buds to, uh... dead so I did a little googling to see what could be causing this problem and gardeners around the valley suggested that they are not getting pollinated because I don't have very many bees. The suggestions ranged from hand pollinating and planting some bee attracting flowers. I did both. I planted these pretty flowers in hanging pots on the patio

And then I crossed my fingers and hoped that some bees would get interested and come my way. Ha ha just kidding.

Of course, we all know that would not be the end of project pollination. I couldn't just sit by and do nothing so I read up on how to tell the difference between a male cucumber flower and a female cucumber flower and then I read about how you can hand pollinate them. I tried it on a few of the flowers. I believe the giant cucumber pictured above is the product of my intervention and there's one more that refuses to succumb to whatever else is eating the cucumber plant. See the sad pictures below.

Come on buddy, LIVE!

What is eating you my friend?

 I tried to get a shot of the one little cucumber that is trying to grow but it is pretty windy today and I couldn't get a clear shot. Plus he may be camera shy because he knows what happened to the other cucumbers buds that I took pictures of.

The tomato plant, on the other hand,  has been very prolific! Here is a shot of the whole plant exploding out of it's cage.

Yowzers!

 

And here are a few pictures of the future pear tomatoes. There are lots and lots of them.

Now, the desert red tomato was looking like he wasn't going to do much producing so I tied back the pear because he was totally being a cage hog and now we've got a few reds coming in. Most notably there's one that I have spotted that I will give you the last two weeks of pictures so you can see how he is growing.

May 22nd

May 29th

So, I am holding out hope that the cucumber will make a comeback but if not the tomato will more than compensate!