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The red-shafted flicker woodpecker in my garden.

Now that the temperatures are starting to drop and a lot of the work has come to a hault in my garden, I’ve turned my attention to attracting feathered critters into my landscape with the use of bird feeders.  Birdwatching may sound mundane and boring but once you start attracting birds into your cold weather garden it is far from dull and is often called a free ticket to the theater of nature.  Once you add fresh water and some bird seed you are guaranteed to always have a show. 

With the cooling temperatures birds need an extra addition of fat to help them survive so adding suet cakes is an important accompaniment to their fall and winter diet.  I am  so happy to have the ilusive red-shafted flicker woodpecker (shown above) frequently visit my garden since I’ve set out out the fatty suet cakes and bird seed.   If you’re not one to use animal products (most suet is beef kidney fat) you can easily make a big batch of vegetarian suet cakes and store them in the freezer for future use.  I found an easy recipe at www.suetbirdfeeder.net:

Wintertime Vegan “Suet”
The birds won’t miss the meat and your kitties will love to watch the action!

2 cups peanut butter
2 cups vegetable shortening
2 cups flour
6 cups cornmeal

Melt peanut butter and shortening in a large pot.
Stir in flour and cornmeal.
Turn dough onto a waxed paper lined 13×9″ pan.
Cut into rectangles for use in a suet feeder.
Suet can be stored in a freezer.

Here’s another easy project that I’m going to try soon.  All you need is a toilet paper roll, some peanut butter and bird seed!  Easy right? I’m sure the birds will love it.

Have you heard of peanut butter bird seed balls?  I made a bunch last year and they were gone in no time.  Hopefully I kept a lot of birds alive with all the fat I fed them! Click on the image for the Bird Seed Balls recipe…

 I hope these recipes and tips have inspired you to attract birds to your fall and winter garden.  What birds to you attract to your yard in the colder  months? I’d love to hear from you and even see photos.  You can share them with over on my Facebook page or via Twitter.  Tweet tweet!

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 The combo of caramelized sugar, butter and crunchy sea salt just cannot be beat!! WARNING– HIGHLY ADDICTIVE 

 

PUMPKIN SEED BRITTLE

(note: use caution when making any brittle recipe because the sugars get extremely hot when melting)

*3/4 cup raw pumpkin or pepita seeds–lightly toasted in the oven with a sprinkle of sea salt and drizzle of olive oil

2 TBSP unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar in the raw ( turbinado sugar)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/2 TBSP ground cinnamon

dash of ground black pepper

sea salt to taste

In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with chili powder, cinnamon, pepper and vanilla extract. Stir in both sugars, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes to avoid burning. The sugars will eventually clump and melt. Add pumpkin seeds and mix well. Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet that has been covered with parchment or wax paper. Spread thin, sprinkle with sea salt and allow to cool. You can pop it in the fridge to speed up the process. Once the candy is hard, just break into pieces and serve.  Two hungry adults will finish this off in no time! Double or triple the recipe for parties.

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Spaghetti squash is admired for it’s spaghetti-like strands it gets when cooked and scraped from its shell. Available year round, spaghetti squash is low in calories (1 cup has 41 calories), is high in fiber and a “friend” to those on low carbohydrate diets. Today’s recipe is one that you would traditionally make in the fall/winter months. Since it was unseasonably cold and snowy last week I was craving something healthy and full of carbs. With the addition of green cardamom pods this soup has a complex flavor with a fresh lemony flavor.

•  1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 head of garlic, top sliced off (optional)
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 8-10 small red potatoes quartered, skin left on
• 1 spaghetti squash, left whole, prick skin with a fork
• 4-6 green cardamom pods
• 1 tsp curry powder
• Sriracha to taste (optional)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 branches of fresh thyme and/or rosemary
• 5 cup water or broth
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

 Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Place onion, garlic, sweet potato, carrots, potatoes on baking trays and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Prick spaghetti squash with a fork and place on a baking dish. Bake for 30-40 until tender. Note: spaghetti squash may need 15-20 minutes more baking time.

When spaghetti squash is cool enough to handle, cut in half, remove and discard as many seeds as possible. With a fork scrape the “spaghetti” strands out and place in a soup pot. If you like roasted garlic squeeze the garlic cloves into the soup pot. Transfer remaining vegetables to the pot and add cardamom, herbs, bay leaf, curry powder, and 5 cups water or broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

Discard the bay leaf and herb branches. Transfer to blender and puree soup until smooth. Season with salt, pepper and sriracha. Serve.

Serves 6

Note: Cardamom is the second most expensive spice behind only Saffron. If you can’t find it your local grocery store I’d recommend ordering from www.MySpiceSage.com

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Borage is new to me.  I admit I knew nothing about it until I sowed some borage seeds that were given to me.  As the plant started to grow I realized that I had no idea what to do with it.  Is it a flower, can you eat it, is it mainly for medicinal purposes? After a recent discussion on my Facebook page I started to learn that borage has many uses, it is edible, medicinal and ornamental. This led me to do more online research and I’m excited to share with you what I have learned about this wonderful plant.

1. Borage, also know as “starflower” is considered an herb, is an annual and is self seeding.
2. Borage attracts beneficial pollinating bees to your garden and makes a good companion plant for strawberries, squash and tomatoes.  The flavor of the tomato is also improved when planted with borage. 
3. Young leaves and flowers are edible and have a light cucumber flavor. Use leaves to make Hank Shaw’s Borage and Ricotta Ravioli  or Mario Batali’s Borage Fritters. Use the periwinkle blue flowers as a cocktail garnish such as in the La Guera by Chris Bostick.  Or you can make fancy ice cubes.  Check out these Google images where borage flowers are used in salads.  Stunning! (Go light on the flowers as they have a mild laxative effect.)

I’ll take more pictures along the way and look forward to sharing future recipes that include my new found herb…borage.

Garden Guides has more culinary and medicinal uses for this versatile plant. This list is endless. 

Happy planting!

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Food confession…I have a soup fetish.

Soup is my comfort food no matter what time of year.  Whether it be silky creamy soups, hearty chunky veggie stews, chili or cold gazpacho, I’m always drawn to making soup.  Making soup is therapy for me.  I’m obsessed.

I have several soups that I make at home but, to be honest, I don’t use recipes.  So my goal from now on is to write down the recipes of soups I make so I’m able to share them with you. 

What’s your favorite soup?

Carrot Orange Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 sweet red bell pepper, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb. carrots, diced (peel skins if you’d like, I left mine on)
• 2 tbsp. peeled and minced ginger
• 5 C. broth
• 1 C. coconut milk
• 2 tbsp. orange zest
• 1/2 C. freshly squeezed orange juice
• Sriracha to taste (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• Sriracha cream garnish (optional)
• Cilantro leaves garnish (optional)
• Pickled ginger garnish (optional)

Directions:

In a large soup pot heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions and garlic until soft.  Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Add bay leaf.  Next, add sweet red pepper, carrots and ginger and saute and additional 5-10 minutes, until carrots are soft.  Do not brown.

Add the broth and simmer over medium to medium low heat for approximately 20-25 minutes until vegetables are thoroughly cooked.

Take pot off the stove, fish out the bay leaf, and in small batches puree soup in a blender until smooth.  Return pureed soup back to the pot and add coconut milk (optional; add if you want a creamier soup with an Asian flair), orange juice and orange zest.  Season with salt and pepper and add a healthy squirt of sriracha, optional of course. I always add sriracha because I like to catch my mouth on fire.

Serve up soup in bowl and garnish with Sriracha Cream (1/4 C. sour cream mixed with a squirt of sriracha) and cilantro. 

Enjoy!

serves 4-6