Foodie Friday: Lamb Chops

This is the first time I made lamb chops, not on the grill. And I don't think they turned out right.  I'm not saying they didn't get eaten.

From the Potager, I mixed rosemary and thyme.

I added fresh minced garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.

I spread this over the lamb chops and let it sit at room temperature for an hour.

The rack got cute little foil caps to protect the bone ends and went into a 400 degree oven for 7 minutes and then finished off in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes longer.

I forgot to take pictures of it when it was done. It was prettier than what you are looking at, which is a few pieces that had been thrown back in the oven to cook a bit more. I know lamb chops should be rare, but these were a bit too rare.
I am so not ready to be a food blogger!
But I am loving the fresh taste imparted from the herbs still available in the garden. Have a wonderful weekend!

Winter has arrived

Temperatures in the teens, a brief snowfall last night ...it looks like winter has found us!

"And finally Winter, with its bitin', whinin' wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow."
Roy Bean

Wordless Wednesday - Oh Christmas Tree

My daughter went to Toronto and all I got was...

Let me start by saying I didn't want anything from Canada. I have enough things in my home. But being the thoughtful daughter she is, when she went on the tour of the Steam Whistle Brewery and found out that the cups they serve the sample beer in are 100% compostable, she immediately thought of me and brought them home for my compost pile.  I love it!
Steam Whistle Brewery uses all natural ingredients in its beer and renewable resources in its brewery. It has won awards for being green. If I drank beer, I'd probably lean toward a conscientious company like Steam Whistle.
In the meantime, I will proudly add their cups to my compost pile. They are supposed to break down in 50 days.

We'll check back on them in two years. I use a three bin pile, so the current pile will be stewing and composting next year. I have no intention of digging through it to see if the cups have decomposed.
But hat's off to a company that cares, and thanks to my daughter who hears compostable and thinks of mom! <3

A New Year

Happy New Year! This is the time of year when we all set goals - to lose weight (check), to get more organized (check), to post more regularly in my blog (check)...
It is the season of planning.
This month my gardening goals are:

• Go through all those seed catalogs by the side of my chair and place a timely order
• Sharpen and oil all of my gardening tools
• Plant some onions late in the month since they took so long to grow last year!

Aside from the Halloween snow, this has been a mild winter. Thanks to that, I still have rosemary, thyme and parsley available for picking in the Potager.

And still blooming in the potager are the lenten roses I bought on a clearance rack at my grocery store. Don't you love when a clearance rack whim performs well?
It is so nice to see flowers at this time of year.

The turnips are still in the Potager - for a day or two.

The temperature is supposed to drop next week, so the turnips will be picked for dinner or soup tomorrow or the day after.



2011 was a challenging gardening year. I am looking forward to 2012 being more successful. With every passing year, I gain more experience.

I wish all of you a happy and healthy New Year.