Finding the Beauty in Everything

Yesterday was Sunday.  Just about every Sunday from September until the end of May, I sing in the choir at St. Paul's.  One of the things I love best about this church is the fact that part of the worship experience is allowing the greatness of God to permeate the worship space.  This is a view from the window on the side of the choir loft.  If you look on the bottom, you can even see a mic.

This is a view out the window in the back of the church.  This is one of my views from the choir loft.

 This is the same garden from the outside.

 We not only get to see beauty outside- but the beauty brought inside.  These were the floral arrangements on the choir side of the altar.

My home floral is losing some of it's beauty. Decided that until I ear this pie pumpkin, it would add a little bit of fall to the background.

 This week, Rob bought himself a gift box.  I think the recipe might be nice- if we freshen it up a bit- which is why I set up the still life- to capture the recipe without saving the box.

 Last but not least- this is how my three sisters looked this morning.  Still only two sisters.

Peaceful Saturday

 Peaceful Saturday.  Found some of my Thanksgiving things- put them on my entryway table.  

Broke out my Thanksgiving ornaments 11-12-11

 Bought a new thyme plant at Whole Foods- forgot my camera. 
 

Bought Thyme at Fresh Market 11-12-11

Thinned out my mint plants and found some sage struggling for life- so now I have parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme! 

Found some sage!  11-12-11

Parsley 11-13-11

Rosemary

 

Wondering if I want a rosemary tree for Christmas- and if I do- will it survive inside long enough to make it into the garden. 

Dill and Cilantro 11-13-11

Dill and cilantro seem happy.  Used a lot of cilantro this week in my fresh salsa (Large tomato, fresh lime juice, fresh cut cilantro, salt, pepper, freshly ground cumin seed, onion and garlic powder- yummy!).  We enjoyed the salsa instead of diced tomatoes in our tacos.

Last night Rob went to the Taylor Swift concert.  Got to enjoy an evening on my own- not as fun as I remembered!  Getting a late start this morning!

Veteran's Day 2011

Fresh flowers 11-11-11

 
Started out the day roasting a pumpkin (400 degrees for 45 minutes) with a cinnamon stick, 8 cloves, and about a teaspoon of grated ginger.

Also roasted the pumpkin seeds for 15 minutes at the same time.  This time used a cookie sheet and parchment paper.  The seeds were crunchy and buttery yet the kernel inside was still moist- yummy!

Loved the gingersnap crust: Crush 25 gingersnaps in the food processor, add 4 tbsp melted butter, add 2 tbsp sugar- line pie plate and refrigerate about 15 minutes- bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Find another filling- mine did not set- but looked pretty!

Top photo:
Loved this bouquet that I picked up at Publix (grocery store).  Amazing how talented you can be with a nice basket and a little oasis.  I used just a 4" cubic block in a dish inserted into a nice basket from a yard sale.  Makes the front door entrance look so seasonal!

Three sisters pot 11-11-11

Very exciting!  Thinned out the first sister and found a second type of plant popping through!  So now there are two sisters!  Here is a better view of the second sister.

Three sisters pot 11-12-11

That's all for this morning!  See you tomorrow!

Pumpkin Cream Pie

 Yesterday, I was inspired by Martha Stewart's slide show on Thanksgiving Pies.  Thought it might be fun to re-work the recipes using more fresh ingredients- then post one per day.

 I started out with the first recipe: Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Cream Pie.  Instead of canned pumpkin, I cooked this darling little thing- a small pie pumpkin.
 

Didn't want to use stale ground spices, so decided to try baking the pumpkin with whole spices and see what happened.  You can see a cinnamon stick (think in future I would break it up and insert it into the pumpkin for more flavor), 8 cloves, and some fresh grated ginger.  I grated the nutmeg into the milk per directions.  These were cooked in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes and were perfect.  Plunged the halves down into my handy dandy food mill and almost nothing was left except for bare skin, the cinnamon stick and some cloves.  This worked very well as Rob decreed that they smelled like pumpkin when they came out of the oven.  Here is what I got from this little pie pumpkin:

Pumpkin in a one-cup measuring cup

 Followed the rest of the recipe pretty much as in the link, except had to substitute arrowroot for corn starch (which I think was better).  Also cooked the custard until it was thickened and this took longer than 2 minutes.  Wanted to stop when it was just barely thickened  but this custard went from runny to thick in about 10 seconds- adding the pumpkin and the butter helped cool it down and smooth it out a lot.  Right now, the pie is resting in the refrigerator.

Here is a picture of the pumpkin pie I made last week- as soon as I was able to snap a picture. Went fairly well.  Turning pumpkin into puree from last week.

Knife inserted goes through nicely

Passing through the food mill

Best part of food milling the pumpkin is that you don't need to peel it or anything- and almost all the goodness goes through.

Tasted the pie we made today at each step,  Felt the need to add more cinnamon. Other than that, this looks like it's going to be a delicious pie day!

Might make some meringue cookies soon- have 4 egg whites!

5PM- pie never set- crust was amazing might try it with real pumpkin pie but the filling is disappointing...

Three sisters- probably not- lima beans Ahoy!

Three sisters 11-06-11

Saturday- saw the first sign that the seeds were going anywhere. This was on day 7 of a 5-10 day sprouting time for all three seeds.

Three sisters 11-07-11

Three sisters 11-08-11

Three sisters 11-09-11

Three sisters 11-10-11

So far, I only see one kind of seed- and that kinds looks like the lima bean leaf on the package- so I think we have a chance of some lima beans in a few weeks!  Guess it is time to thin.  Anyone have a favorite?
 Do you think we should just stick with the lima beans or try again with the corn and pumpkin seeds?

Following up on Finding Fresh Food in Tampa

Tampa Bay Farmer's Market looks intriguing.  However, if you look at their list of products, not a lot are grown in Florida and even if they ARE grown in Florida, you don't know how local the food is.  Still it looks like a good place to go and visit.
Amy's Fresh Delivery does have fresh locally grown produce but she does not deliver to the northern part of Tampa at this time.
Cheyennes Country Thangs has a very confusing web site.  Think that the only way you can join is to email the owner.  No guarantee that their food is locally grown and some of their items probably are not Florida grown. Looks like they have a very eclectic mix of things and also looks like you can get a grow box full of vegetables already started for $65.  Not sure that I will be able to purchase food without a membership but may go up this Saturday and see what I can see.

Getting off to a late start this morning.  Tomorrow will show you Days 2-5 of my three sisters pot.

Finding Fresh Food in Tampa

Finding fresh food in Tampa is not an easy task.  People selling fresh produce in many of the local farmer's markets typically buy their produce from the same vendors as the grocery stores and set up shop in the markets.  First thing in the morning on Saturday, it may be fresher than what you might find in the grocery stores but basically it is the same thing.

Tampa does have it's own CSA.
Sweetwater Organic Community Farm sells half-memberships starting at $479 a year- payable up front- if you can get a membership- this year's are sold out.  Even if you could come up with hundreds of dollars for a share- to me the variety doesn't seem to be all that great.  You also have to come to pick up your food in a 4 hour window on Sunday afternoon.  Volunteering is a requirement but one that I would enjoy.

Then there is the Urban Oasis Hydroponic Farm.  This is a farm built on a parking lot.  It is all hydroponic and vertical- which is about the only way to go with the cost of land in Tampa.  They are more of a commercial operation.  They sell both year round and three 8-week seasonal memberships, so getting started is easier.  They also sell a hydroponic system for $500- can grow 90 plants in a 1' by 20' area.  Of course my back porch is 8 by 14- but you have to be able to open and close two doors- so have two 3 by 8 growing areas- so the volume is possible but not the configuration. Have thought about buying a short membership to try it out but the romance of a garden is a little lacking if the whole garden is covered in concrete!

Just found a new link on the CSA site- not there when I started writing this post- Cheyennes Country Things.  They sell $70 memberships for 4 weeks-more my speed.  They also have a variety of growing systems and help people start their own gardens.  Will check this out and do a better post later.  This is technically not in Tampa- but this is closer to me than some of the other places- and it has a delivery service.

Ironically, I found a very exciting farmer's market by doing a search for Christmas Tree Farms.  Somehow or other found myself at the Tampa Bay Farmer's Market.  I am planning to visit this place ASAP.  It is open 7 days a week during the day (close enough and open early enough that I can go without Rob on the weekends.  They have a spreadsheet that tells you where the food is grown- but a lot of food is not grown locally.  They also have a very interesting vendors list.  The vendors list is a post in itself. Found that there is not one but two local coffee roasters: Ybor City Gold and El Molino Coffee.  Amy's Fresh Delivery is also something that I would like to check out.  One of the hard things about buying local is that the best places are an hour away and times available are inconvenient.  Bringing them all together both online and in the store is a really good idea for someone trying to get her feet wet.

That's all for now!