A Sunny Day!

Sunshine!!! Real sunshine! Not saying it was warm today... Still exciting tho, and I go out in it and did work up a sweat. I gathered leaves to use as a layer in my beds only to discover that they aren't the right kind of leaves! Grrrr! I am really glad I asked about it... They are maple leaves and don't decompose very well. I thought they were oak tilll I took a closer look and they are partly decomposed... Off to the compost pile I will build with the whole storage tub of leaves... the upside is that I cleaned the front, hm, it's not a yard and it's not a patio... I don't know what to call it, it's kind of a pair of side walks with a little patch of dirt around a tree and it's roots with a half ass path of cinder-brick-ish stepping stones broken by aforementioned roots... I have got to find a way to spruce it in spite of my upstairs neighbors insistence of not trying to polish a turd... He wanted me to leave the cigarette buts which I now loathe, from the last tenant because the neighbor has this idea that it's thief repellent! Yeah well sorry bud I picked all that up, I even picked up after the stray dog that exploded the trash everywhere disgustingly all over the driveway. The driveway and the area in front of my place where pretty bad with bits of trash already, well I tidied the heck out of it... It still kind of looks like a mess because I don't think the bushes have ever been trimmed. I don't think anyone ever raked either. I need a rake. I hope the Land Lord appreciates all the work I put in and will put into this place because I have to admit I feel he's lucky to have Winter and I. I actually talked to him not to long after I woke up this morning. He called to check in and talk about garden stuff... someone upstairs must have been going on about my plans.. fine, whatever it's not like I don't already talk to the land Lord/owner about everything I plan to do every chance I get... Well apparently my landlord thinks my upstairs neighbor friend wants me to garden in the corner behind the shed not because it has the best light but because he doesn't want my garden in his way... The Landlord says that spot is fine as long as I leave space for him to store stuff just in case he needs too store stuff... He actually suggested the other corner of the yard because he said it gets the morning light and it gets a little bit of shade in the later afternoon when it is really hot in the summer which is exactly what Winter said and it's where I wanted to put the garden in the first place... He said I should check with my gardening group and see what they say... I am getting so many mixed signals on where to put the garden beds.... and the weather really hasn't been cooperating with finding out where the light falls and I have to keep in mind this is a different beast in the summer too... I woke up too late today to get a real good idea of the directions of the light and such for the morning... I am leaning towards the left corner opposite the shed where my imagination first put the beds... LadyFern suggested  roses as a fence! I LOVE this idea! Now who has rose cuttings! Lets do this! I hope I can pull off cutting because I want tons of roses! I am really annoyed today because I was so amped up by the sunshine that and Winter said he'd help me shop around for supplies... I waited for what felt like a zillion years.. I get that the car is important but he's been working on it so much lately and keeps putting off the gardening. I totally missed out on the free topsoil. The car thing was supposed to take 2 hours and by the time he was ready to go it was completely dark, when we got to Lowes we had an hour left and we had other stuff to get that came before garden stuff. All I got to look at was the latticing... which I don't think will work for the compost area after all... There is this galvanized mesh stuff that might work held up by heavy metal stake thing-ies that we saw there that come with wire wrapping stuff that could be used to hold on the mesh to contain the compost pile... We were ushered out at closing and it sucked because I was so not done yet. Super frustrating because I have been super looking forwards to this shopping all week! Gr. Anyways trying not to dwell on it. So also today I got a whole bunch of info on tomatoes... I didn't get them planted yet, I am going to get it done tomorrow if it kills me =P Please be sunny again tomorrow I am so sick of snow and ice!!!   

While I was looking up tomato info I found some recipes! =D ...and a great quote. "You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who cannot repay you." - Ruth Smeltzer

Classic Fried Green Tomatoes         4 to 6 green tomatoes salt and pepper cornmeal bacon grease or vegetable oil ( I prefer olive oil)

Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 - 1/2-inch slices. Salt and pepper them to taste. Dip in meal and fry in hot grease or oil about 3 minutes or until golden on bottom. Gently turn and fry the other side. Serve as a side dish - delicious with breakfast! Keep warm in a low 200° to 250° oven if frying in batches. There are plenty of ways to coat and fry your tomatoes; use bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, cornmeal, or flour. Some people dip them in beaten eggs before dredging, while some just dredge then fry. Salt and pepper them first, and use a little bacon grease for flavor if you have it.

Fried Green Tomato Sandwich Recipe For the best Fried Green Tomato sandwiches be sure to use the larger, center slices of the tomatoes, and use the strained bacon grease for frying the green tomatoes. (use only as much as necessary, along with the olive oil.) For the "lettuce" in this BLT, use arugula or any other green you like. ·         8 slices, thick-cut bacon ·         3/4 C all-purpose flour ·         1/4 C stone-ground cornmeal ·         Salt to taste ·         Black Pepper, freshly ground, to taste ·         1 C milk ·         1/4 C olive oil, plus more if necessary ·         3 or 4 large green tomatoes, sliced 1/4" thick ·         1/4 C prepared mayonnaise ·         1 T prepared chili sauce ·         8 slices lightly toasted rye bread ·         1 large bunch or 2 small heads of lettuce Just when you think have more tomatoes than recipes, you will discover another one, such as the …..

Green Tomato Cake

• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup shortening -- melted
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup raisins
• 2 1/2 cups diced green tomatoes
• coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream sugar, shortening, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Sift flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg into egg mixture. Blend together. Stir in nuts, raisins and tomatoes.
Pour into greased 9x13 inch pan. Top with coconut if desired. Bake for one hour.
Serves 12.

Green Tomato Mincemeat

Ingredients:
6 green tomatoes, chopped
1/2 teaspoon allspice
6 tart apples, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup currants
1/4 cup vinegar
1 cup raisins
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup unsweetened orange juice
1 teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy pot. Simmer until thick. Makes about 3 quarts. Freeze mincemeat in one-cup portions.