Category: Seasons

  • Peach ‘n Pecan Pancakes

    I love summer… mainly because it’s not snowing, but also because we actually have fresh fruit. Real fresh fruit, not Giant Eagle fresh fruit.

    Peaches are in full swing right now, and we’ve had bags of them on the counter for the past couple weeks. Since we have lots, C and I made our basic pancakes and added some peaches and pecans for a nice southern-style breakfast. Peach and blueberry would probably be pretty good too. Maybe next week.

    Peach and Pecan Pancakes (makes about 18)

    • 2 cups flour
    • 1/4 cup sugar
    • 1 heaping Tbsp baking powder
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 cups milk
    • 3 Tbsp melted butter or coconut oil
    • 2 medium/large peaches, finely chopped
    • 1/2 cup chopped pecan

    Mix the wet ingredients in a large bowl (not the peaches or pecans yet). Add the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing to incorporate, but not overmixing. Add the peaches and pecans, and fold into the batter. Ladle onto a hot griddle or frying pan, flip once, cooking about 3-4 minutes per side. Simple as that.

    If you’re feeling fancy, or taking pictures, put a couple slices of peach on top of a stack, then drizzle the whole thing with your homemade maple syrup.

    peachpancakes

  • First asparagus

    When we moved into our new house, I planted a bed of asparagus in the front, so I’ve been waiting for several years to enjoy the fruits (or vegetables) of my labor. You don’t want to eat it the first year, and not much the second, so it gets nice and big and strong.

    So last year, when we were able to eat it, we had an early warm spell followed by a hard freeze that pretty much squashed those hopes. Thawed, mushy asparagus is not good.

    So this year, while the first couple spears up were similarly frozen, we’ve been picking every couple days to keep up with it. It’s such a seasonal treat, gotta enjoy it while it lasts!

    asparagus

  • Happy Spring!

    Here in northern Ohio, we are still waiting. Usually by this time, we’ve had a stretch of sorta nice days to whet our appetite, but outside of a few widely scattered periods, nothing so far. The good is that, unlike last year, when we had a week-long stretch in the 70s in the middle of March, nothing is leafing out or starting to grow (only to get frozen to death a week later). The bad is that… I’ve had enough of winter 2012-13. Yes, I like the different seasons, snow, blah, blah, blah. After a point though, I don’t care anymore and I just want it to get warm and green.

    Seeds have been started, and some things will be ready to go outside in a couple weeks, if the ground ever thaws.

    The dogs are tired of frozen stuff too.

    I tapped some trees two weeks ago, and had a nice two-day stretch of sap flowing, at which point the temps dropped below freezing, where we remain. So, maple season 2013 has still yielded nothing, with no plans in the immediate future (forecast is for below freezing for the rest of the week with a lake effect snow warning for the next two days – yay spring!).

    springsap

    C needs to get out of the house too. We venture out occasionally, but not enough.

    We’re getting a little stir-crazy around here.

  • A DIY cold frame

    A DIY cold frame

    DIY Cold Frame - lifefromthegroundup.us

    Since reading the Four-Season Harvest earlier this year, I’ve been motivated to try my hand at growing vegetables through the winter. In northeast Ohio, that means mostly hardy greens, and “growing” really means “not killing” – there’s not any growth taking place because the days are so short, but with some protection from the elements, things can at least survive. So while I’m not at the point where I’m ready for a hoop house, a DIY cold frame seemed like a logical place to start.

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  • Winterfest 2012

    Was not as warm as Winterfest 2011. Nothing like that icy wind coming off the lake that cuts through every layer of clothing. Ahh, Cleveland.

    It was still fun though. We didn’t spend nearly as much time down there this year, but got to see the lights, fireworks, and food trucks again. Several times now since then, C has associated Christmas lights with food trucks. Chip off the old block, that boy. By the time we made it back to the car, he was fussing because he was so cold, which almost never happens, but on the car ride home, we were able to reminisce warmly.