Garlic Woes.

As a novice gardener, I (the songbird) tend to take on ambitious projects with little fear and reckless abandon. At the beginning of November, one such project began. Inspired by my east-coast Dad's garlic bounty, I set out to grow my own.

Let me begin by saying, my Dad is a garlic master. He has his own, custom strain. He has introduced genetic variables along the way to keep his garlic strong. He frequently taste-tests raw cloves to ensure their pungency, flavor, and overall "garlic rating" before planting them in his next crop. In short; My Dad is a Garlic Master. 

I am not a garlic master. In Fact, this year's crop is my first. 

Per guidelines in Sunset Magazine (your guide to living in the west), Late October/Early November was the time to set out your garlic crop. I did it. I purchased promising looking fists of garlic from the local market, amended the soil in our raised bed, and set the cloves out spaced appropriately. All seemed to be going well. I felt good about it, even.

Shortly after setting the cloves, disaster struck. I went to examine their progress and was amazed to see the bed upturned, the cloves laying vulnerable and naked in the equivalent of the fetal position for garlic cloves on top of the cold, sandy dirt. It looked like a crime scene. I hastily reburied the little garlic bodies, gave the soil a firm pat, applied water & attempted to erase the gruesome scene from my memory. 

A few days later, I again went to check their progress. The scene was the same; bed in a state of dishabille, garlic cloves laying like wanton, drunken frat boys in the dirt, naked roots reaching out to touch something tangible in a dark, cold world. Again, I uttered some appropriate curses, replaced the cloves, and got on with it. 

This same scene has replayed several times since with no evidence as to the culprit. I just replaced the cloves today, for the umpteenth time, covered them with a liberal top-dressing of compost & places a piece of lattice over top to protect them from critters and vagrants. Wish me luck!

Boxing Day

As is true for most people in the service industry, our holiday celebration is happening today, on Boxing Day.

David is busily preparing our holiday feast- Smoked Turkey with Sausage, Porcini and Brown Rice dressing, and a simple chopped salad with a home-made ranch dressing featuring herbs from our winter garden (namely creeping oregano and sweet marjoram, two of the few things that thrived this season in our sandy soil). I am snuggled up close to our "faux" electric fireplace, mug of kahlua-spiked coffee in hand, consulting the inter-webs for gardening advice.

Since our move to the left-coast last January, we have been trying to figure out the anomaly that is Central California. Frankly, it's like a whole different world compared to the humid summers and frigid winters of the East Coast. People go outside every day, standard dress is in layers, and triathletes abound. Crops grow year-round. Everyone drives a hybrid. All the plants & birds & rocks & things are not the same.

After the initial shock, we did our best to adapt. We bought cruiser bikes. We planted a garden. We ventured out on the town. A year later, we are still like new-born giraffes, toddling forth on spindly legs hoping to keep up with the herd, and attempting to not be eaten by lions and hyenas.

....so maybe that's a bit dramatic, but needless, we're still adjusting. Here, we hope to chronicle our progress, our successes, our failures, etc.

TODAY'S SUCCESS: Anise Drop Cookies

I have been attempting to make these little buggers ever since my Grandma passed some years ago. Today, we baked them, and they were perfect, crispy, heavenly drops of goodness. The recipe came from All Through The Year Cheer & we adapted it to be gluten free, as follows:

Anise Drop Cookies

(Yield: 12 cookies)- *We Doubled this batch, and our yield was 32, 2" cookies

1 egg

½ c sugar

2 drops anise oil- *We omitted this, it is VERY IMPORTANT to use anise oil and not anise extract, the alcohol in the extract will affect the eggs.

½ c flour- *We substituted Bob's Redmill Gluten Free Flour Mix (1 cup total for double batch) plus 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum

1 tsp anise seed *We doubled the amount x2 (4tsp total) of FINELY GROUND STAR ANISE seed, to stand in for anise oil.

¾ tsp lemon zest

Pinch salt

Butter, to liberally grease the baking sheet *Liberally is an understatement. We recommend using parchment or aluminum foil liners, in addition to the grease.

Cream together the egg, sugar, and anise oil until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, anise seed, lemon zest, and salt. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet (the dough will be thin, almost like cake batter). Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet, 1-inch apart. Let stand 12 hours or overnight (dough will harden). Bake at 300F for 20-25 minutes until the cookies are puffed and look like mushroom caps, and the bottoms are lightly golden.

Here's Ours, aren't they pretty?