Blackberry breakfast bars

The recipe may have said "breakfast," but the entire batch of bars disappeared within an hour one Saturday morning. Am I ever so glad we froze extra blackberries when these were in season!

Blackberry breakfast bars
(from www.oregon-berries.com)

2 cups fresh blackberries
1 cup quick cooking rolled oat
2 tbsp. sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. water
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine/butter melted
1 cup all purpose flour

For filling, in a medium saucepan combine berries, sugar, water, lemon juice, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncover, for about 8 minutes or till slightly thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, oats, brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir in melted margarine or butter till thoroughly combined. Set aside 1 cup of oat mixture for topping. Press remaining oat mixture into an ungreased 9x9x2-inch pan.

Bake in a 350° oven for 20-25 minutes. Carefully spread filling on top of baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture. Lightly press oat mixture into filling. Bake in the 350° oven for 20-25 minutes more or until topping is set. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 18.

Growing garlic: Plan now for fall

Growing garlic is about as easy as it gets. Put a bulb in the ground in the fall, wait through the winter, and in late spring or summer (depending on the type), you get fresh garlic. There's nothing that compares to it. Not the bottled kind, nor the white papery, decaying bulbs at the grocery store.

The problem is, it's not a cheap habit. If you're ordering, you need to think about it now, and prepare to spend $8.50 or more per half-pound of garlic. And if you want multiple varieties, you better have ground space and serious cash. It adds up quickly!

Or you can start shopping now. Keep an eye out at your farmers markets for garlic. (A word of note: It goes quickly, so arrive early in the day!) Store back a few bulbs for fall, and you'll be ready for planting with a more manageable bunch.

This weekend, I managed to get some early spring heirloom garlic for 50 cents a head. For three dollars, I even with my tendency to cook using lots of garlic, I'll have plenty to plant come October!

If you're thinking about using the types at the grocery store, I'd advise against it. I've had no luck with regular or organic garlic varieties sold in the shops. Good luck!

Views from Puerto Rico

I realize most of the country is on vacation in some form or fashion this weekend, so I'll join the club.

Here are a few photos of part of our country you might never see. Last week, I was blessed to see a good friend who's spending this year in San Juan. While it's part of our country, it's a radically different culture and a vastly different climate. So enjoy the views!

Originally posted at the Green Phone Booth May 29, 2010

Persistence, patience and a princess

Patience is a virtue. And tonight, my princess learned that things can be worth the wait.

This tale starts with a night like many other nights. A casual drive home from daycare. A discussion of all highlights of the day: from what was eaten at snack to who fell down or got into trouble.

Then, as we turned a corner in our subdivision, I saw it. A pink dressing table, complete with mirror and stool, stood at the side of the road, beckoning to be saved. No princess would be complete without one. At least that's what my daughter has mentioned from time to time.

Nevermind that her birthday was next month; cost and reality of a child's fickleness meant that a gift of this nature was not in the making. But a freebie was worth the consideration. I pulled to the side of the road.

It was technically free, but it would come at a cost. The thing was covered in grime, smudges I suspect (hope) were simply mommy's makeup, and in a few cases, things I'm just not sure I'd want to know what they were. (To give you a sense, the pictures were after a good hosing off!)

I walk to the car and sigh. And I propose a solution. "It's gross, really gross," I tell my daughter. "If you want it, you're going to have to help clean it up and clean up your room so it can go there."

She eagerly agrees. And I pick up the encrusted dressing table and toss it in the back, hoping nothing too disgusting makes its way inside.

Yes, my daughter has learned another lesson tonight: How to scrounge at the tender age of four. I guess she's ready for college.

After dinner, I cart the thing to the backyard and hit it with a power wash. Or two. At least half the dirt and the crusty stuff is gone. Then I summon the troops.

Both troopers come outdoors with rags and a small bowl of baking soda, ready to help.

The toddler lasts a few minutes before he turns to the hose, soaking me in the process, cackling enthusiastically. My daughter, to her credit, keeps scrubbing until I announce that with the heat, it's time to quit for the evening.

While it's not quite perfect yet, we're down to small smudges that I can take care of quickly on my own. And as soon as that's accomplished and the bedroom is successfully tackled, this might actually make it indoors.

What you don't see here is the face of a pretty princess, dressed to the nines in her frilly pink swimsuit, perched on a freshly washed stool by her freshly washed dressing table. With the smile of satisfaction and pride on her face.

Because something she waited for and worked for finally came to be.

I hope it's a lesson she'll remember for years to come.

Radish stirfry? An unusual recipe to share

Indiana this week got rain. A lot of rain.

As a result, when I finally stumbled into our garden Friday night, I was greeted with serious changes. My peas must have grown several inches. My garlic now dwarfs my toddler. And radishes were everywhere.

I picked an entire basket of radishes, which sat on my counter, muddy and ignored, until morning. And while our family enjoys the sauteed radishes, it's time to expand our repertoire.

So I did a search for radish recipes. And stumbled on to a very unusual idea: Using the tops for your dinner. Recipes exist for everything from soups to stirfries using the leafs rather than the roots of radishes. Who knew?

So instead of getting one dish out of the radishes, I'll get two. A good thing because, as I found with this dish, radish tops look far too close to lettuce for my little guy.

I settled on a stirfry of the radish leaves, similar to stir-frying bok choy. (The original recipe for Spicy Stir-Fried Radish Greens and/or Swiss Chard appears here.)

After thoroughly washing the leaves (the most time-consuming part of this process), I roughly ripped appart the leaves, removing the stems.

I heated my wok with about 1/2 tablespoon of peanut oil and added the radish greens and 1 tsp. minced garlic.

As I was tossing the leaves, I mixed on the side 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon honey and a splash of hot sauce. (Keep in mind two of us like things mild.) As the leaves wilted, I added the sauce, tossed quickly, and served.

The verdict? Mixed. I thought it was fine, with a little extra salt. My husband looked at me with one eye raised and turned to the kitchen to make some very bland rice. (To his defense, he did try it, and noted it had a slightly citrusy taste.) And the 4 year old? She settled in with a bowl of it, eating every last bite.