Clematis

I am sure most of you have seen flowering clematis vines. They come in a variety of colors and like to climb.

 They are most often seen winding around lampposts, a garden trellis, or on fences. I have a Clematis Jackmanii on our front lamppost and encourage it with an attached trellis. It blooms in the spring, and often again in the fall.

I cut mine back to about 2 inches from the ground in the fall when the vine is done flowering. You will think it has died when you look at it in the winter, but come spring, the green sprouts will be noticeable, pushing up out of the earth looking for somewhere to grab hold.

Clematis Jackmanii

They are fairly easy to grow once established, but be sure and plant something near the roots to shade them from the sun.

Gluten-Free Pizza at Pete's in DC

 I miss pizza.

Pizza is one of the hardest foods to live without after you go gluten-free. So today, when I ate an early birthday lunch at Pete's with my hubby in DC, I was so excited to try their gluten-free pizza. My husband's pizza looked and smelled awesome too, but of course, that was off limits for me!

                                             gluten-free pizza with artichokes and mushrooms

I am not sure why we haven't discovered Pete's. They have 3 locations in DC and make their own gluten free crusts. They also have gf pasta which I will try the next time we go.

                                                             flourless chocolate cake

I also splurged and had the flourless chocolate cake for dessert. It is my birthday, after all, and I am not keen on baking my own gf cake that no one else in my family will touch. This cake was AMAZING! Moist, very full of chocolate flavor, and it did not taste gluten-free to me:).

Thai Fried Rice

Last night I made fried rice for dinner. I like to make it when we have a lot of leftover white rice. Or you can make the rice a day ahead of time and refrigerate it. When making fried rice in the wok, it needs to be cold and dry as well as the vegetables.  Wash and place veggies in colander for a few hours ahead of time.

I like to use what I have on hand and in the summer it is even easier since I can use vegetables and herbs from our garden. This time, I had the bok choy I bought at the farmers market on Saturday, snow peas from our garden and chopped mushrooms.

We have meat eating guys that live here, so I chopped up some leftover ham from the freezer. When adding uncooked meat or chicken to the wok, allow to the meat to sit undisturbed in the wok until it sears. Otherwise, the meat/chicken will stew and the stir-fry will be watery.

Another important tip: Do not overload the wok. Everytime you add something to it, the temperature of the wok goes down.

 Chop ingredients uniformly so they all cook at the same rate. Be sure and have everything prepped and ready to go. I like to place all the ingredients in an assembly line on the counter so I know what comes next.

 Thai Fried Rice


4 cups cold rice ( I use Jasmine rice)
4 T peanut oil ( peanut oil is good for wok cooking)
2 eggs beaten
1 cup of protein, diced ( chopped ham, pork, beef, chicken or shrimp)
2 T soy sauce ( La Choy is gluten-free)
2 T fish sauce (Asian section of grocery store)
1/2 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teas chili garlic sauce for heat (Asian section of grocery store)
bok choy,  a handful, chopped
mushrooms, 1/2 cup, chopped
1 small tomato, quartered
4 T cilantro
lime , quartered
freshly ground black pepper


Directions:


Beat eggs in small bowl, season with black pepper
Heat wok to high heat.
Add 1 T oil ( do not add oil to cold wok)
Add egg and cook, stirring around vigorously
Add ham and stir and cook til lightly brown
Add more oil
Add onion and mix with cooked egg and ham
Add garlic and chili
Add bok choy, peas and mushrooms, stir fry until lightly crisp
Add more oil
Add rice and stir and alternately press against side of wok 

Add tomato, soy sauce and fish sauce and stir
Stir in fresh cilantro and serve with lime wedges

Food, Shelter and WATER!

I love bird watching! My mother always had a feeder outside our dining room window and would grab her Peterson everytime she wanted to identify a bird she did not recognize. I guess she passed that on to me. I remember standing in the field during softball practice pointing up at a passing flock of geese. That earned me the nickname, "Goose"!

In order to attract birds to your feeder, provide fresh birdseed in clean feeders, a variety of plants and  evergreens, and moving water! Birds love water and there is nothing more entertaining than watching them splash and hop around.

My husband built a pond a few years ago and installed a bubbler that sprays water gently. This female cardinal passed that over for the more vigorous waterfall and had a great time freshening up.

Cooking with my WOK

In 2007, when first diagnosed with Celiac Disease ,and having to adhere to a gluten free diet, going out for dinner at our favorite local Chinese restaurant was no longer an option for me.  Soy sauce is wheat based  and on my forbidden foods list, along with barley, malt, and rye.

It was a big lifestyle change for me, but I figured out how to eat gluten free and pretty soon my symptoms went away. But I did miss all those delicious stir-fry dishes.

I heard about a book by Grace Young, called The Breath of a Wok ,and checked it out of the library and started reading. I liked it so much and was so eager to try her recipes, I bought my own copy. Ms. Young taught me how to cook. She explained how to use heat with fresh ingredients to create recipes that actually tasted as good or better than the restaurant ones. And they were healthier.

I ordered my first wok from a shop in San Francisco...The Wok Shop.www.wokshop.com

 A 14 inch carbon steel wok is the perfect size for a home cook. I also ordered a "spatula" which looks like a shovel with a wooden handle and a domed lid. Then I started cooking.

Click on the link below to watch Grace Young show you how to stir fry!

http://www.chow.com/videos/show/youre-doing-it-all-wrong/62228/how-to-stir-fry-with-grace-young#!/show/youre-doing-it-all-wrong/62228/how-to-stir-fry-with-gra

Buy Local

Saturday morning at the Farmer's market....is there any better way to begin Memorial Day weekend? Today will be my first visit since last year, and I can't wait! I love browsing the produce stands, chatting with the farmers and planning how I will use the vegetables for our meals.

Last year, I bought all my eggs at the market, but since they sell out quickly, I would have to go early! I enjoy the variety of eggs and feel better imagining the chickens running free on the farm.

The Waldorf Farmers Market is open from 8-1pm on Saturdays and from 3-6pm on Wednesdays. This year their location has changed. They are next to Petsmart at Festival Way on Berry Rd.

On Friday evenings, O'Donnell Lake, near Bostons, has a farmers market from 4-7pm.

 LaPlata's farmers market is at the courthouse year round~Sat. 8am-7pm and on Wed. 8am-7pm.

I bought kale, bok choy, eggs and a 4 pk of annuals. I have never cooked with bok choy before, but am going to try it in a stir-fry!

 Remember, what they have available to sell is what has been locally grown. Please do not ask them if they have any bananas!

Veggies anyone?

My husband studied square foot gardening 3 years ago and built our first garden bed.He researched extensively( really???) mixed and added the right combinations of soil, as well as made it critter proof! Fast forward to 2011 and we now have 2 raised beds, and I have become the "gardener in charge"! This year, "we" planted:

4 tomato plants
1 zucchini
1 green bell pepper
1 jalopeno pepper
2 different varieties of leaf lettuce
basil
cilantro(lots of it)
Oregano, thyme and chives (wintered over)


We had several snow pea plants that self-seeded, as well as parsley, and a boatload of strawberries! This is the first year that we have had so many strawberries, and we are thrilled!

We did install a critter and dog proof fence this year,and dismantled my husband's effective but aesthetically less than pleasing netting. Accessing the garden for weeding and harvesting is much easier now. (And my neighbors are probably happy that they do not have to hear me yelling for the darn dog to get out of my garden!)

Welcome Back!

I love hummingbirds. I love watching them zipping to and from my feeder, making their chirring sounds,fiercely protecting their turf. Did you know they are the only bird that can fly backwards?
Now that it is spring, these little wonders have migrated back, so get your feeders ready! No need to buy the hummer food with that unnatural looking red dye added...just boil water and add white granulated sugar, let it cool and wait for the magical birds to appear.( 4:1 water to sugar ratio) Refrigerate any extra since the feeders need to be changed frequently.I have read that when the females are nesting, they do not feed from the feeders, but stay with their babies feeding them spiders and insects. But do not despair, they will be back so be prepared for the best show ever! Be sure to place the feeders somewhere where you can enjoy watching them!

Hope

Since I live in a climate that has very hot and humid summers, I have learned over the years not to "fight" with a plant to survive, but to purchase varieties that thrive in intense heat and sun. Sure, I can say that, but when browsing the beautiful flowers at the nursery in the spring, I always feel hopeful that the gorgeous verbena draping out of the container will surely do well this year....!

Some of my successes have been begonias, periwinkles, marigolds, and zinnias. I really do not like begonias and refused to buy them for years! But at the end of the summer, when my garden looked like DEATH, I would see begonias that were big and blooming and made a mental note to suck it up and buy them next year.

Here I Go!!!!

I decided to try my hand at blogging....a close friend suggested I do it, so I took a few minutes to think about what I wanted to blog about? So I thought about what types of things I post on Facebook.....gardening, cooking, birds and living without gluten! I am not sure what I can say that hasn't been already said, but thought someone besides my friends, family or husband might enjoy the things I enjoy and get excited about. Like the day I ran home to grab my camera to capture a photo of an osprey eating a fish caught on the lake behind my house....or the bowl of ripe strawberries picked from our modest garden, or a photo of a home cooked meal that turned out awesome.

So, here I go!!!