Mushrooms in the Yard

Boy there are a lot of mushrooms in our yard right now. I have done a photo journal of them, though I have to admit I do not know a lot about the different mushroom varieties. But you will be AMAZED at all the mushrooms in our relatively small yard. It's that time of year...warm and moist. Anyone know what these are?

Sweet Dumpling Squash

We ate our first of the squash harvest from our garden. Cut the Sweet Dumpling in half and baked it at 375 degrees F for about an hour, with about a quarter inch of water in the bottom of the baking dish, and the squash placed cut sides down. Then mixed up some melted butter with brown sugar and added some chopped pecans. Spread this onto the halved squash and returned it to the oven for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees F. It was delicious! Squash is so easy, so tasty, and so nutritious!

Turn, Turn, Turn...

Yes, today I really got out there and pulled out what was left of the vegetable garden. Harvested a small amount of basil–now the kitchen smells like basil. Wonderful!

I cut off the heads of the giant sunflowers (sounds pretty brutal, I know...) and hung them up near the bird feeder. Hoping the birds will find them before the squirrels do. Awe! Just saw a hummer go for the sunflowers, then backed off. Which reminds me that I need to replenish the hummingbird feeders too.

It's been such a great summer. At end of these garden cleanup photos I have posted a photo of one amazing, glorious sunset that occurred on September 21st. When Patrick and I eat dinner in our kitchen we get to watch the sun go down, which is getting earlier and earlier this time of year of course. In September we were often distracted by the glorious sunsets over the mountains outside out window. It's sort of a peek-a-boo view, but great nonetheless.

Harvests

Here are some photos of the summers harvests

Garden Cleanup Begins

Today I will be cleaning and cutting back and pulling out some of the garden plants that are done. The beans and bean structure will come down. The final tomatoes will be picked and I will probably pull out the plants because they are dieing back and falling over. Unfortunately, the second round of broccoli I planted in August didn't do well, so that's coming out too. So sad. Here are some photos from this year's garden.

Breakfast Muffins

I made these breakfast muffins using almond flour, and berries as a sweetener. They are delicious! Also have in them: salt, baking powder, banana, pumpkin, olive oil, 4 eggs, chopped pecans & blueberries (I used frozen). And pumpkin pie spice and extra cinnamon. I am cutting out some wheat, dairy (except eggs, which r not really dairy...) & sugar to lessen my inflammation & reduce pain. (From the Abascal Way Cookbook).

New Blog

I am venturing to update and revamp my blog. I want to focus on gardening, cooking and art. More to come...